Krystal Klear - Squad / Turn Valve

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  • The first release by Krystal Klear on his new label Cold Tonic is a pair of simmering club tracks that reference his influences—funk, boogie, '90s Chicago and Detroit house—in quite different ways. After a slightly woolly opening, the first half of "Squad" boasts a writhing funk bassline. It's most powerful when Krystal Klear mutes it to foreground a tumbling drum pattern, and it feels like he's pulled the bottom out from under the track. It re-emerges even stronger, making the spindly drums seem pale, but it dissipates once again as the track makes an about-turn about halfway through, morphing into something more tasteful and functional. "Turn Valve" is more clinical, its tight mesh of drums and blooping synth stabs corralled into a spartan groove. Crisp-edged kicks and snares ring out sharply, the whole thing sounding like dance music stripped to a gleaming skeleton. Its title is apt, too, reflected in the airless, high-pressure atmosphere generated by its handful of parts.
  • Tracklist
      A Squad B Tun Valve
RA