- Peter Van Hoesen rounds off what has been a remarkable year with the first in a series of collaborative projects on his label. Featuring remixed tracks as well as new material from artists associated with Time 2 Express, unsurprisingly, the focus remains on heavy dance floor techno.
First up is Norman Nodge, whose take on "Above 90" is dominated at first by shuffling metallic drums, but which soon get sucked into a noisy, filtered vortex, where they, along with chirpy percussive slivers and acid gurgles, vie for attention amid the dense wall of sound. Modern Love's Pendle Coven is next, with a remix of "Liss01" that counterbalances eerie chords with dance floor functionalism. On balance, the focus is mainly on the bass, but its primal force and resonant sound guarantees that the approach is never anything short of effective.
On the flip, Finnish producer Samuli Kemppi shows why techno labels are so keen to sign his productions. "Rymd" is based on just a few components, but its slamming, insistent rhythms, droning, repetitive bleeps and lurching bass require no additional enhancement, while Van Hoesen's Sendai side project with Yves De Mey dispenses with any niceties to yield "Rottingabugh" a roughly-hewn track, its grainy, distorted bass and breeze block beats hitting the listener in the gut.
Tracklist A1 Peter Van Hoesen - Above 90 (Norman Nodge remix)
A2 Peter Van Hoesen - Liss01 (Pendle Coven remix)
B1 Samuli Kemppi - Rymd
B2 Sendai - Rottingbaugh