- Evan Baggs returns with a little something for both day and night, with some help from DJ Qu.
- For someone who keeps such a low profile, it's incredible how prescient Evan Baggs has been this whole time. He started out playing lean, deep house at the end of the minimal era, was an early proponent of the spacey techno you hear at clubs like Hoppetosse and was one of the first to start mixing it all with UK garage. Given this range as a DJ, his production has been remarkably singular, focused on paranoid and sinewy techno and electro hybrids. That said, he showed a softer side on his last release, a white label for Francesco Del Garda's Time Passages where the standout track, "With Awareness," was downright bubbly. His newest 12-inch, The No Illusions EP, picks up where that one left off, split between tracks that work as well in the shadows as they do in the daylight.
Baggs continues the (relatively) sunny vibes on both versions of "Ideas & Concepts." The original has a day-drunk fuzziness as synth twirls duel on either side of the stereo field with little pulses of sub bass accenting the vocal. The DJ Qu remix is deep house run through a compressor—other than the occasional splashy snares, the percussion sounds like it's coming from an industrial strength photocopier churning out page after page.
The other two tracks are solid examples of peak-time Baggs: prickly basslines and taut synth melodies over minor key chord progressions. Either track would work well in a set by Baggs or any of the other people he shares a bill with most weekends. But what's always set Baggs apart from so many of his contemporaries is the risks he takes as a DJ (there aren't many people who touch down in New York to play a ReSolute party but also turn out a showstopping jungle set). On "Ideas & Concepts," (like his last EP for Time Passages), Baggs takes similar risks in his production. The No Illusions EP has plenty of what we expect from Baggs, but also shows how good he can sound when working with bold, bright sounds.
TracklistA1 Ideas & Concepts
A2 Elixir
B1 Ideas & Concepts (DJ Qu Remix)
B2 Neutral Zone