- Klasse Recordings co-founder Mr. Ho has long used his label (and sub-label, Klasse Wrecks) to release his various collaborations and techno permutations, all of which have an infectious playfulness to them. More often than not, Ho's records include co-owner Luca Lozano, who adds a more serious edge to the music, but now he joins Austrian producer Florian Blauensteiner for a second time on The Hunt. Where 2013's Gratitude EP was a celebration of big, bass-driven house music, the pair's new 12-inch is more about broken grooves, ear-catching FX and dance floor levity.
Both "The Hunt" and "Ammunition" waste no time establishing their meaty rhythms, and rarely take a breather from their mid-120 BPM pulses. The latter makes wide strides back and forth as it gathers percussive momentum, while the former deliriously bounces and skips in place, only pausing for a few measures to toy with glittering keys and then drop them entirely. It's endearing how single-minded Ho and Blauensteiner's tracks are.
On the B-side, SW. indulges in the opposite. The SUED label boss plots a winding course for his "Amnesia Mix" of "The Hunt," moving at a jaunty pace through nearly 10 minutes of busy drum patterns and spacey synth work. As much as the tune plays like a zoned-out jam session, there's just enough structure and arc to keep it from going off the deep end. If SW. doesn't overshadow his counterparts on the A-side, he at least gives them an ideal contrast.
TracklistA1 The Hunt
A2 Ammunition
B1 The Hunt (SW. Amnesia Mix)