- House music's fondness for nostalgia has meant it has long been usurped by other styles as radical counterculture du jour. But it was never really concerned with claiming that throne in the first place. House is a feeling, as the story goes. As long as bodies move, love is felt and states are altered, then that kick will live to beat another bar. That might well be the ethos, but it won't stop the naysayers bemoaning the retrograde trend within the current scene to imitate the classic sound of times past. Before they do, however, they should consider Iron Curtis' take on the matter.
His inaugural release for new Berlin label Jack Off might shine in '90s dayglo, but Johannes Paluka (the man behind the Curtis) can hardly be accused of fastidiousness in his approach: the tracks are as present-minded as historically inspired. Chords and basslines in both "Just Us" and "Favonian" are era-specific, no question. So are the 909 beats and claps. But Paluka sets his tools behind a formidably modern wall of sound against which every roundly enveloped waveform resounds with extra gusto. Supplementary layers of bass ricochet off one another with agility while percussion lines criss-cross in ever-changing patterns. Falko Brocksieper's remix of "Favonian" is instantly less impacting, but from it emerges a warm-up dub to temper the record. The classics might tug the strings of sentimentality, but this (especially "Just Us") is the feeling right here, right now.
Tracklist A1 Just Us
A2 Favonian (Falko Brocksieger Remix)
B1 Favonian (Original Basement Dub)