- Five years in and enigmatic Berlin label SUED has started to look like a fascinating study in opposing forces. You have SVN, the former punk who barely engages with dance music; and then there's co-founder SW., whose practice is far more nostalgic, with his superb Reminder series looking back to classic Detroit, Chicago and UK productions.
Freaks have a way of sniffing each other out, and there's a porous feel permeating SUED and closely related outposts Sex Tags and Acido. The founder of the latter label, Dynamo Dreesen, is on board for SUED's 13th release, as are SVN and arch bassbin deconstructionist Dave Huismans, AKA A Made Up Sound. It's the second 12-inch from this trio, following a 2015 Acido record, and it sees them exploring unruly, dubby, percussive jams that fit into a tradition spanning back to the Düsseldorf School.
"A1" is a solid, off-kilter house cut. The trio keeps things under boil with an insistent three-note bassline, which serves as the backbone for playful experiments and sets the stage for the B-side's world of echo. "B1" evokes DJ Sotofett's low-key drop for FIT Sound, "Tribute To 'Sore Fingers," in the way it goes for dubbed-out psychedelia fueled by clattering hand drums. The nearly eight-minute jam is intensely melodic, but there's nary a synth or bassline to be found. Instead, each shaker, tom, whistle and bell serves a dual purpose—there's a subtle tonal quality that allows the trio to build a wall of nuanced melody out of percussion. Around the five-minute mark, someone starts tweaking the Roland RE-201, an effect that could be disorienting under the right circumstances.
"B2" begins with queasy arpeggios, a martial half-step and a creepy bassline that's eventually swapped out for a relaxed pad, switching the mood like the first hues of purple dawn. Though the A-side treads closer to modern experimental DJ fare, the other cuts position these producers as heirs to the fried legacy of krautrock innovators like Cluster and Michael Rother.
TracklistA1 Untitled
B1 Untitled
B2 Untitled