- The second release on DVS1's Mistress Recordings is as intriguing as the first, falling gracefully into the cracks between house, techno and electro. The producer is Marquis Hawkes, known for his excellent rough and ready house EPs for Dixon Avenue Basement Jams. Here he debuts as Juxta Position, a project in which he discards his usual boisterous energy in favour of something sterner.
"Mercy" and "The Darkness" both draw on warehouse techno's spartan dynamics, but are spiced up with the trappings of house—in the case of the former, a methodically sliced vocal sample; in the latter an infectious swing carried by scalpel-sharp claps and hi-hats. The result is a pair of extremely simple but stylish tracks more or less guaranteed to get a dance floor trudging along in downcast unison (no bad thing, I should add). After all that darkness, "Mazury"'s luminous synthcrobatics are all the more striking. This one's the real draw and, with its kinetic electro beat (cheeky cowbell and all), it feels like a partial return to the playfulness of Hawkes' past output. As the melodies stack up, there's a sprightly naivety that's similar to Aphex at his fluffiest—but a rock-solid wall of sub-bass is a reminder that Hawkes means business.
TracklistA Mercy
B1 The Darkness
B2 Mazury