- Both Philpot and Phil E have hit something of a purple patch recently, with Philpot releasing a few of 2007’s best EPs (Koze’s ‘Cicely’ and Break SL’s ‘Trombone’ spring to mind), while also providing the springboard for Baumann to release his own material as Jackmate. If you haven’t checked out the Blackbox LP, do so—it’s great.
Phil E, which Blackbox was released on, is the more techno-oriented arm of Philpot, and here you have two really exceptional (and quite different) cuts on offer. The concept appears to parallel that of Liebe*Detail, with two strong sides (effectively a double A-side) by two different yet equally talented producers.
‘Sweet Heini’, produced by Move D with soupy sub-woofing conspirator Bouillabass a decade or more ago, has lost none of its impact. The whole shebang is propelled along by some very metallic, heavily filtered drum hits and a relentless, buzzing, insectoid bassline. There ain’t much to it, but it’s incredibly driving and atmospheric—this is a track that seems to be yearning to stay out late, candy flip, then bug out in an anonymous field somewhere.
The contrast with Jackmate’s ‘Buccaneer’ is stark. Baumann’s contribution begins with a dry skeleton of a groove that gives no forewarning of the direction it’s heading in. Things seem to be building towards a slow, dry hump against ghetto-tech, then suddenly a xylophonic melody chimes in, radically altering the sense of the track and bringing everything to a ‘closer’. As always, Baumann writes his tracks properly, so both the intro and outro give the DJ an enormous amount of scope for moving in whatever direction once the tuned percussion has shown you its mallet and ding-dong.
This is really excellent, classy stuff, what can I say? Two great subtle, effective tracks by two of the best in the business. Top notch.
TracklistA Move D & Bouillabass - Sweet Heini
B Jackmate - Buccaneer