- Rekids's greatest contribution to house and techno has been their devotion to repetition, applying contemporary decorative touches to the bare-bones template of tracks like "Phylyps Trak II." Radio Slave has led the way with an incredible degree of success, but friend and compatriot Spencer Parker is no slouch either, with pieces like "The Improvised Minotaur" and "Yogoto" hammering away at well-worn house tropes with assembly-line persistence. Parker's latest for Buzzin' Fly, "The Beginning," offers no surprises for those familiar with his work with Rekids, but its corralling of prime Chicago motifs and motorik chug result in an irresistible sun-kissed anthem.
The rhythm could belong to any number of practical tools, so we're left to admire the clanging piano chords and dub pulse, riffing and writhing like Steve Reich wrestling Technotronic. There's not much to it, delay and reverb smearing the mid-range into faint streams and tracers, but the simplicity works wonders. Luciano disciple Michel Cleis trims the piano into a neat clip, the bassline into a staccato stab, and flattens the percussion, but resists succumbing to Cadenza-esque cliché. For all the kooky synth flutes and firecracker hats flapping about, Cleis sticks to the ground, congas and maracas adding tribal hints but remaining resolutely functional. Cleis's version is more interesting, but the original is where the fun lies.
Tracklist A The Beginning
B The Beginning (Michel Cleis Remix)