- Nicolas Lutz channels '80s horror with a wink and a grin.
- The cover art for Nicolas Lutz's second foray into production (with Barcelona-via-Argentina producer Tunik) features a ghoul wielding a knife. On the title track we hear a Friday The 13th minor chord sequence swimming in reverb, a slow-and-steady kick drum accented by distant siren wails, a claustrophobic bassline and the occasional industrial guitar riff. If this sounds all a little bit much, I think that's the point. The song is purposely meant to mine that '80s horror movie vibe where the goofy and creepy meet (I mean, Lutz's production debut came under the moniker Draculas Lutz, after all). He's made a name for himself as one of the world's most in-demand purveyors of dark and acidic '90s techno and electro, and while we get some of that here, Sentimental Stab has a hint of humor to it, feeling out the campier corners of industrial and EBM. "Sombras" features crisp snare rolls and a ridiculously squishy Reese bass that make the synth shrieks sound silly rather than sinister.
The other two tracks are closer to the type of techno we'd expect Lutz (or one of his many disciples) to play. "The Rupture" is the one most DJs will favor, with its dense and knotted synth lines fighting for breathing room and the record's most mixable four-to-the-floor rhythm. Barnt's remix of "Sentimental Stab" dials back the B-movie motifs and tightens the percussion to turn it into a pretty but functional piece of techno.
Listening to this EP, I asked myself: is Lutz the coolest person in techno? With his punk yet precise attitude to mixing (not to mention tattooed bravado), obsession with unearthed records (what Craig Richards has described as his "discipline"), and seemingly endless ability to find new and exciting producers from South America through his label, My Own Jupiter, the smart money may be moving towards him. But this collaboration with Tunik shows off a different side of the Montevideo bad boy. No longer the cool kid smoking cigarettes in the bathroom, the best tracks on this EP are the ones where we catch Lutz and Tunik giggling and nerding out, poking just a bit of fun at the former's own persona.
Tracklist01. Sentimental Stab
02. Sentimental Stab (Barnt Remix)
03. Sombras
04. The Rupture