- Four uncut gems from the king of Baltimore club.
- While the analogy isn't perfect, Glenn Brand AKA DJ Technics is to Baltimore club what Anthony "Shake" Shakir is to Detroit techno. The two are both responsible for establishing a template for their respective genres while also redefining what those respective genres can be. But unlike Shakir, who has received the retrospective attention he deserves, the choppy, party-starting breakbeats and laissez faire sampling that defines Brand's music hasn't gone global in the same way. That feels like a criminal oversight.
Alongside other originators like Diamond K, Dukeyman, and DJ Rod Lee (with whom he ran the scene-defining label, Club Kingz), Brand put out some of the funkiest—not to mention raunchiest (Exhibit A: "I Just Wanna Fuck")—Baltimore club tracks out there. And now four of his best, released in the late '90s and early 2000s, are being reissued through Dr. Banana and Alec Falconer's Baltimore-focused sub-label, Butter Notes. Across Change Positions / Party People, we hear—like Shakir—a fondness for stargazing melody offset by drum machines pushed to their limits. It’s in this tension between the drums and the synth work where Brand really forged his own Baltimore club niche.
Case in point: "Go Down." Originally released in 2002, the breaks are blown-out deep into the red so that the Mystikal sample hits even harder. But Brand lets in the occasional piano house melody waft in, giving the track a momentary R&B swoon rather than porno B-roll thrust. DJs like Ben UFO have long been champions of Brand, and the juxtaposition between aggression and sensuality is what makes his tracks secret weapons. "Change Positions" is the most sought-after cut on this 12-inch (judging by resale prices, anyways). It’s easy to see why: the raw drums and pulsing bass are ferocious, but they're carefully offset by billowy pads, evoking second wave Detroit techno.
Change Positions / Party People is an important and necessary introduction to the work of DJ Technics. Many of his tracks, like Baltimore club music more generally, are extremely hard to find. These were white labels released in limited runs across a number of aliases with samples that were never cleared. Many of these releases circulate solely on mixtapes and as incomplete Discogs entries, but would absolutely set off the biggest European festival stages. And who knows, maybe this timely retrospective could help kick-start a Baltimore club renaissance that is long overdue.
TracklistA1 Technosis - Change Positions
A2 DJ Technics - Go Down
B1 DJ Technics - Party People
B2 DJ Technics - Think Dub