DJ Sotofett - Percussion Mixes Vol. 1

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  • DJ Sotofett has made all kinds of music with all kinds of collaborators. Even last year's excellent debut album felt as much a showcase of his rolodex as his production prowess. It works because Sotofett's talent is understated: he has a way of subtly making his mark, working out a smooth, stony signature that's unmistakable yet never predictable. His latest 12-inch is as unusual as any, pairing a solo track with an edit of an Arab ensemble. The key is in the EP's title. Both sides are all about the drums, and on the solo "Tribute To 'Sore Fingers,'" it's almost to a fault. Imagine something off Drippin' For A Tripp's back half sharpened into a straight-up tool. It's eight minutes of drumming kept afloat by some earthy hand percussion, weaving itself into a web of rhythmic tangents before tapering off into the spacey back half. The track has its moments, particularly in the low-end, but there's not much to it. The flipside, an edit of Abu Sayah's "Houran" (due out on Versatile later this year), is the real reason to grab this record. Sotofett takes the original, an enticing mixture of chiming metal, choral vocals and Sayah's unmistakable yarghol, and undergirds it with a descending bassline and a broken house beat. His kicks are startling at first, but they form a strange geometry with the rhythms that dance above it, creating a polyrhythm that feels like a canny fusion of musical traditions. It's a great example of Sotofett's odd, but reliable, touch. Sometimes all it takes is the right drum in the right place to make a track really pop.
  • Tracklist
      A "Tribute To 'Sore Fingers'" B DJ Sotofett Meets Abu Sayah - "Houran (Percussion Mix)"
RA