STL - If Time Would Move Backwards

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  • If the lo-fi house of acts like Mall Grab and DJ Seinfeld is an entry point for the next generation of dance music fans, you hope they'll eventually stumble upon the work of STL, AKA Stephan Laubner, the German producer who was a grandmaster of the sound way before it had a name. His latest EP, If Time Would Move Backwards, is another cracker, presenting four bewitching club cuts in the classic Laubner mould, full of crunchy drums, grubby melodies and basslines as thick as tar. Laubner's last EP, Nonzero Sonics, was dubby and slow-moving, but he's perkier here. The melody on "Spy Vs Spy," the record's strangest track, is bright and uncontrollably jerky, as if someone were fiddling with the FM dial. The off-kilter drums don't help, giving the whole thing a nauseous strut, like a drunk navigating the stairs. "Atomsmasha," by contrast, is metronomic in its march, with a hefty bassline churning away under a four-note synth line and the faint rattle of maracas. It's simple but totally engrossing, the kind of killer locked groove Laubner knocks out for fun. Things get even better on the B-side. Both tracks skew traditional deep house, though "Summer Breeze & Brotherhood" is more upbeat, the touch of distortion on the gorgeous melody invoking the haze of a hot day. It's a track, as the title suggests, for dancing in the sun with your nearest and dearest. "Freebird," the longest cut by a couple minutes, is mellower and busier, with strings, soft piano, faint female coos and a moving synth motif slowly swirling atop fuzzy kicks. Somehow, it all comes together beautifully.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Spy Vs Spy A2 Atomsmasha B1 Summer Breeze & Brotherhood B2 Freebird
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