Articles
Christopher Tignor
Spotlight 13

Albums
Advanced Dreams
Federico Albanese
Matthew Barlow
Bruno Bavota
Black Unicorn
Bolder
Borghi & Teager
Carla Bozulich
Chris Campbell
Colo
Deadbeat / Paul St Hilaire
Detroit Swindle
Donato Dozzy & Nuel
Yair Etziony
Lewis Fautzi
Hammock
Mark Harris
Hideyuki Hashimoto
Kodomo
Listening Mirror
Lost Trail
Lucy
Machine Code
Yann Novak
Opitope
Origamibiro
Pinkcourtesyphone
Michael Robinson
Mariano Rodriguez
Dana Ruh
Janek Schaefer
Sketches for Albinos
Jakob Skøtt
Talk West
Christopher Tignor
Wen
Scott Worthington

Compilations / Mixes
Generation Hyper
Sharam Jey

EPs / Singles
Children of the Stones
Dexima
Dexta & Hyroglifics
dock 1
Dream Weapons
Dr.Res
FFM Vol. 2 EP
Glory Club
Nightstalker EP

VA: FFM Vol. 2 EP
Smile For A While

It's not uncommon for an EP to feature a strong track or two but be dragged down by others of lesser quality. The FFM Vol. 2 EP is that rare case where all four of its pieces are equally memorable, something perhaps explainable by the fact that its contributions come from four producers (Frankfurt-based producers specifically)—Oliver Achatz, Honeo, Eddoh, and Martin Heimann—rather than one only.

A splendid tone-setter, Achatz's “Machine Love” rolls out a sultry groove and takes on a soulful edge via the vocal contributions of a male singer. Factor into the equation funky percussive swing and a beefy synth presence and the result is a seductive and hard-grooving slice of late-night house music that fires on all cylinders. Somewhat slinkier by comparison, Honeo's “HouKlaSam” oozes as much polish and craft as Achatz's though digs into its deep house swing with a tad more ferocity. Imagine a wordless vocal exhaling across a club groove's syncopated snap and you'll have some idea of the tune's character. Apparently Honeo's been producing tracks since 1968, and the music on display here exudes a confidence and effortlessness one might expect from a producer with so many years under his belt.

On the B side, Eddoh infuses his late-night banger “For What Will Come” with a dash of melancholy, so much so that a tug of war seems to be going on between the emotional fallout of dashed romantic hopes on the one hand and the track's otherwise wide-screen arrangement and exuberant flow on the other. At EP's end, Newmen member Heimann smoothes over Eddoh's rough patches with “Viol,” an even-keeled cut whose rich, synth-heavy atmospheric design likens the track as much to a soundscape as club cut. It's quality stuff from start to finish, and its twenty-eight minutes may very well leave you, as per the label name, smiling for a while.

March 2014