Famed for its fish, fog and cable cars, San Francisco is also home to Charles McCloud Duff AKA Matrixxman, our guest vinyl selector for this edition of Electric Selection. The deejay and producer, who in the past has tussled with muscular Chicago basslines and futuristic tech, is gearing up to release an EP that he’s described as “a Jungian-like approach expounding upon and unifying seemingly disparate archetypes of deep house and techno”.
We decided to put the Bay Area wordsmith’s pen to the test by giving some love to six of his top recent slabs of wax.
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HUERCO S
‘AVERDIGRIS READER’
(PROIBITO)
“Where do I even start? The textures and emotions conveyed on this 12” are off the chain. ‘Emotional austere bangers’ would be my preferred category for this record. My personal favourite is ‘Track 3’ which starts off with a slightly menacing yet soothing sustained singular note, modulating in and out of tune. Then those chords come in. Jesus. This is that real futuristic dark-ass deepness right here. Keep doing what you are doing homie, because this is some cold shit you are making.”
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DEETROIT
‘CONSPIRACY EP’
(UNKNOWN DEETROIT)
“Stripped back, raw, minimal yet soulful house with perfect amount of grit. Joints like ‘U Feel It’ demonstrate an impeccable ability to blend multiple Roland drum machines seamlessly. Just when you think it can’t get any better the vocals slide in and it’s pure house perfection. Whoever the hell this is, they’re totally killing it. Do yourself a favour and pick up anything you see with ‘Deetroit’ on it next time you are in a record store.”
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FRED P/KAI ALCE
‘FINALE SESSIONS SELECT VOL 1’
(FINALE SESSIONS SELECT)
“Fred P is just so nasty. I f*cks with this dude, hard body. The title joint ‘Ram’ is a subtle number exercising precision and restraint. The driving chords pan gently to and fro, providing an enchanting yet transcendental ambiance for the hypnotic steady groove. Obscured and looming in the distance, ethereal vocals slowly zoom in and out of focus. This shit is beautiful. If you played this to people on psychedelics it might engender a mass catharsis on the dancefloor.”
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VIN SOL
‘WESTERN WAYS EP’
(SOO WAVEY)
“Much to the chagrin of your readers, I find myself here plugging a record that I am affiliated with – albeit with just a feature on one track. Nevertheless, I can’t help but feel proud to have this coming out on our label. Vin Sol takes you on a journey here that really encapsulates our ethos at Soo Wavey. While ‘Cookies’ offers more straight forward and up front club vibes, the real gem to me here is ‘Pyramids’ as it sounds like some long lost Larry Heard track from the 1980s. Wow.”
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GENE HUNT
‘LIVING IN A ROOM EP’
(HARDMOON)
“For all of you alt-bro violators that don't know yet, Gene Hunt was around since back in the Music Box days doing the damn thing as a prodigy of Ron Hardy. You can’t front on the truth. Listen to those whistles while he beats up the box on GH-326. Fierce as hell jacking vibes that would potentially scare your neighbour’s kids. I’m loving it.”
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DJ SLUGO
‘LIVIN’ IN THE GHETTO’
(GHETTO HOUSE CLASSICS)
(Reissue of the 1995 Dance Mania original, ‘Livin’ That Ghetto Life’)
“Minimal utilitarian hood club workouts. Tracks like ‘Work It’ prove that you really can't go wrong with just a proper TR-808 beat and a catchy vocal sample. As a producer who tries to abstain from overproducing tracks, I naturally have a penchant for those whose works employ a Zen-like restraint in their arrangements. Upon giving this 12” another listen, I am fairly certain Slugo did not use even one single synth on this vinyl. Just drums and samples. Genius!”
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Related: more Electric Selection 12” round-ups
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