Pig & Dan - Oh Yeah

  • Share
  • Pig & Dan surely need no introduction, right? No? OK, well Dan Duncan & Igor Tchkotoua (Pig), who form the duo, have been producing music at first independently and now together since the late 80s. They've been known to write 2-3 tracks per week, which lead to the formation of their labels Submission and its sub(sic) labels, Tecmission and Outmission. This time round however, we see them on Sven Vath's Cocoon label for its 18th release. Usually I wait to the end of the review to pass judgement, but this time I'll start like this: "Oh Yeah" is a killer little number - an intelligent, teched-up cool stomper of a house track which would sit very nicely in the middle of a peak-time set. Progression wise, in the first couple of minutes it goes through some cleverly varied and textured synth work, sitting on top of a deep hypnotic bell-like bass and groovy beats. Losing the kick but keeping a lot of percussive energy, the breakdown sees Yello's most famous release nostalgically sampled once again, as the track twists itself into something closer to techno for the main part. We hear the vocal again, the original bass is replaced with a higher new arpeggiated line, and intensified rhythmic elements come in: some percussive, some synthetic, and some metallic. Effortlessly segueing to the outro (again, no pause for breath here), we're back to the initial groovy elements, with a touch more percussion which keeps the energy up nicely. Despite not being the title track for this release, the B-side "Micro Kitchen" is probably the main reason people will be picking this one up . Starting with rhythmic style similar to James Holden's remix of Andre Kraml "Safari", Pig and Dan soon lose the resemblance and gradually build the electro-influenced synths until the short breakdown hits, and at least half of hell breaks loose. A deep flanged bass slowly reveals itself as the snare keeps pace and an acid line starts to peak, only to go into a heavily panned and increasingly reverbed fit. A new electro lead then starts ticking all the boxes in your head that say "Yes, it's time to go crazy now". Add the kick etc as the breakdown ends, and you've got a party. Complete with interesting outro (a short break with kick, a deeper, bouncier bass riff, and some acid variations), and my only complaint is that I haven't heard it in a club yet. So, two solid dancefloor numbers aimed at the busier hours of the night, of great quality and using some very current elements in dance music without bandwagon-jumping or overdoing it. A lot of labels are putting out 12 inches with two (or more) original tracks these days, rather than a remix on the B, but it's rare to find an artist that can deliver two good singles at the same time.
RA