Belgian label R&S has an extremely rich history and has been responsible for putting out some of the best house and techno over a span of nearly twenty years. They have released records for some of the most influential electronic music artists, including the likes of Aphex Twin, Model 500, Juan Atkins and Dave Angel. With the re-launch of the label in 2008 we were treated to a number of re-mastered albums and in Sept, the first new single for years - the massive Eyes Wide Open / Ingonito from Radio Slave. October 2008 saw the long awaited release of the In Order To Dance compilation - a collection of the label’s finest moments - with added remixes from the likes of Audion, Prins Thomas, Tom Middleton, Optimo and Boyz Noise.
This year has seen R&S venture into the world of UK bass music, yet they have continued to maintain the extremely high standards of other releases and have also continued seeking out the most exciting of electronic artists. Most notably we saw the epic CMYK from an extremely talented James Blake get an airing and now Pariah gets his second release on the label, the beautiful Safehouses EP.
The opener for the EP, The Slump, begins life with an old electro feel and a nod to classic house sounds. The percussion is warm and unobtrusive which aids the claps in building up and up into the stunning bass drop which absolutely rips the subs a new one. The tune rolls on with a floating ambient feel taking on board the vintage electro vibe intertwined with a garagey vocal and dub heavy bass.
Prism is a track which will doubtlessly be pricking a fair few ears across the board, it’s immediately obvious that this is something special. An acid house inspired bassline infects the track from the start and effortlessly lends itself to accompany the half-stepping beats and subtle blends of electronica and garage. The big female vocal enters in the breakdown and the tune then steps up to be elevated to a genuine highlight of the year so far – a complete club smasher this one, guaranteed to connect with the whole crowd.
The third track on the EP, Railroad, heads down a slightly more traditional pathway with the beats being pretty characteristic of the current garage sounds seen throughout the scene. However, it’s still an excellent track and definitely shines a light in doing modern garage extremely well. The 2-step beats are intercut with the classic jungle break and the synth melodies offer up a beautiful lead. Next up is Crossed Out which continues the garage feel although without the edge of the other tracks on the EP and does seem to fall to the wayside a little when compared to the other tracks.
Last up we have C-Beams and Safehouses, the former being a journey into the glitchy hip-hop sounds common to producers like Flying Lotus or Blue Daisy, and the latter track is a gorgeous field recording ambience with subtle synth lead changes and an stunning end to what is an amazing EP, showcasing the talent of one of the UK’s most promising new producers.