Article
2012 Artists' Picks

Albums
36
The Alvaret Ensemble
The Boats
Dadub
Day
Enduser / The Teknoist
Alejandro Franov
Christoph Funabashi
The Inventors Of Aircraft
Kostis Kilymis
krill.minima
Lau Nau
Madera Wind Quintet
Todd Matthews
Lubomyr Melnyk
okamononoriaki
The Outside Agency
Oyaarss
peterMann
Pleq + Philippe Lamy
Roach & Metcalf
SaffronKeira
Martin Schulte
Jay Shepheard
Tape Loop Orchestra
Techdiff
TM404
Yard

Compilations / Mixes
Darkroom Dubs Vol.3
Petre Inspirescu
Pop Ambient 2013
v-p v-f is v-n

EPs / Cassettes / Singles
Alis
Arkaik
Babi
Bee Mask
Bungle
drcarlsonalbion
Fescal
Fluorescent Heights
William Ryan Fritch
Greyghost
Junction 12
Lind and Loraine
Alessan Main
Martinez
Mikal
Show Me The Future
10 Yrs hhv.de 45 Vol. 10
Wolf Cub

Alessan Main: El Bruto EP
Konzentrisch Music

Konzentrisch Music's second release comes from DJ-producer Alessan Main, aka Cristian Alexander Soto López who entered the world in 1991 in the Chilean city of Coihaique, runs the Amethyp Music label, and cites figures such as Alex Niggemann, Loco Dice, Marco Carola, Matthias Tanzmann, and Luciano as influences. Main himself is represented by two originals, with the EP rounded out by remixes by Hitch (Eduard Clarà) and Maertz (Konzentrisch Music label owner Mark Maertz).

Main's first original “El Bruto” is a real thing of beauty, an eight-minute stormer whose crisp 4/4 receives a distinguishing boost from a catchy wooden flute sample. Its club qualities are solidly accounted for in the grooving bass rumble, claps, and driving pulse, but López elevates the track by extending its reach into a more evocative realm through the addition of exotic touches, be it the flute or voiceover. Hitch contributes two remixes of the track to the release, the first a hard-grooving affair that dispenses with the flute sample to instead concentrate almost exclusively on the tune's muscular bottom end, and the second “dub” mix a stripped-back version powered by a slinky hi-hat pattern and a bass line that's as thunderous as it is bone-dry. Main's “Intelligent” is strong, too, a jamming swinger that's more clap-happy than the other original but just as forceful, and colourful also in its array of sonic detail, percussive and otherwise. In his makeover, Maertz arguably improves on “Intelligent” by injecting it with a feverish deep house vibe and adding a funky bass line that gives the original an undeniably powerful kick.

February 2013