Various Artists - The Wurst Music Ever Pt. III

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  • If you've heard the earlier installments of The Wurst Music Ever series from Roy Dank's Wurst label, you know what to expect from the third: juicy analog sounds, somewhat slower tempos and a vibe in keeping with Permanent Vacation's school of throwback house. The record kicks off with Nick Chacona & Anthony Mansfield's "Tase the Wizard," a contender for the three EPs' best track. (It certainly wins "best title" hands down). Structurally, it's nothing fancy: just a jittery, Italo-inspired bassline over a cracking disco beat. It's the same recipe that Todd Terje used for "Ragysh," and here, as well, the proof is in the pudding: Chacona and Mansfield have a storyteller's sense of timing, and they know when to lean on string pads and tambourines for maximum effect. It doesn't hurt that their synths sound like a million bucks. Portland's The Miracles Club keep up their reverent homage to classic house music with "I Can't Help It," suffused in overdubbed piano chords and faintly squelchy synth bass; as with previous work, it stands at a wispy remove from its vintage inspiration, with Honey Owens' breathy quaver tracing curlicues in the space between then and now. It's decidedly not the real thing—more like a copy of a copy of a half-remembered thing—but it's neither kitschy nor twee. Between punchy bass and crisp sense of swing, it's probably the closest that The Miracles Club have come to their ideal. New York's Ulysses closes out the EP with "Soular Power," a super-slo-mo slice of synth disco. It's of a piece with tracks like Burger/Voigt's "Wand Aus Klang (Partial Arts' Finsbury-Tamarama Psych Extension)" and Space Dimension Controller's "Simmering Emotion," tracks that dial down the disco impulse as though from 45 to 33. Like the Partial Arts remix, "Soular Power" fills in the spaces with synthesizers dripping with Krautrock bombast; it looks east, to India, for its bells and twanging strings, while a touch of talk box rounds out the trance-inducing picture.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Nick Chacona & Anthony Mansfield - Tase The Wizard A2 The Miracles Club - I Can't Help It B Ulysses - Soular Power
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