Deepgroove - Kaleidoscopes

You've just gotta love the attitude of VVWI Recordings - there's always some envelope being pushed, or something that makes you think; and you could say that without even hearing the music. Just read the blindingly good copy on their website and you know that there's an operation that gives a massive damn about everything it does, but importantly, given that we're in an industry almost bereft of irony and self-awareness, they also get the joke.

And this release is what I come to expect from them, where one is loathed to pigeonhole it in a particular sub-genre. Let's say if you're after a trend-following filler that ticks a box then look away now, but if you're after something that you can mix with techno and tech house that is both wonky and musical, then there'll be something for you here.

Deepgroove have excellent form for making music that scares the shit out of you, but what I particularly like about Kaleidoscopes is that even though it ultimately scares the shit out of you, they are less blatant about it than some of their previous releases, instead relying on a constant undercurrent and a very twisted feel to the instrumentation used in the breakdowns, which gradually creep up on you above the constant gallop of clicks and alarming noises that suck in and out. This is a far more intricate track than it appears on first listen - a club sound system would bring out the subtlety of the layers to make it usable at peak time but it is also sufficiently unhappy to be used earlier in the night when people are forcing their first gurn.  

Then Tim Sheridan tears up the rule book in characteristically brilliant style with the Kaleidosonic Mix. Everything is perfectly normal until a show-stopping grand piano appears from nowhere to cue a long and twisted breakdown, but when it kicks back in to something that is no more intense than the build up, some may feel disappointed; but remember, this is Tim Sheridan - there is bound to be something afoot, and for those of us willing to concentrate on a song for more than 5 minutes, we are rewarded with complete and utter euphoria, made all the better by the fact that it comes out of nowhere.

The piano returns to jab us in the chest, but this time it is accompanied by some spacey plucks and then the warmest, dreamiest of string pads, combined with a zillion other little noises.  It's an absolutely magnificent breakdown - it gets you as high as the big room trance of yesteryear but in a far more intelligent way… G sharp, F sharp, A sharp... just three black notes next to each other on a piano… not rocket science on the face of it, but the genius lies in the fact that we don't hear any of these happy notes for five minutes, so when they come, it completely floors you, and even if you don't give a monkey's about what the notes are; if you're on a dancefloor, it'll blow your head off. After the break there's little reference to the enormity of what's just happened, but you don't feel frustrated in any way at all - there's a nice nagging loop to keep things interesting and it sounds a lot more credible than if it had stayed euphoric to the death.

Sheridan's dub is also worth listening to.  How many times do you see a dub version that is just a weaker re-hash of the main mix?  Not this one, because while on balance I probably prefer Sheridan's main mix, this dub has it's own character. Again, Sheridan displays a great attention to detail by adding a couple of notes to the pounding sub bass which actually makes the song feel a lot different, considering the structure is broadly the same as his other mix.  It's these little details that make the whole release a mighty rewarding listen.

The Gentleman's Club mix, again, evolves nicely throughout the song and doesn't loop in the conventional way. The twisted greatness from the original remains but the gallop only comes late on, with minimal noises flying about and a nice throbbing sub bass.

This really is top notch stuff with an attention to detail way beyond most - I dearly hope people take the trouble to get it.