Luna City Express - Crazy Planet EP

  • Share
  • Marco Resmann and Norman Webber are two exhaustive Berlin talents that have been DJing/producing as Luna City Express since 2004, releasing on Highgrade, Mobilee and Einmaleins under various project names. LCE’s cut-up, rogue style dips into jackin’, deep and tech house, always with a touch of futurism and a cosmic dub tinge. They’ve been consistent on Tanzmann’s Moon Harbour Recordings over several releases, and latest offering ‘Crazy Planet’ is four slabs of solid dub house served up hot, sweaty and out of whack (like the weather now). A1 is ‘Met Harvey in a Bar’… one for the Love Parade maybe? It kicks hard and dirty with tin pot percussion, a solid groove (not Dave Taylor) and vocal stabs. Well-suited for breezy bars and clubs. Title track ‘Crazy Planet’ starts slower, hi-hats and amusing bubblegum samples swinging into deep house with a corroding bassline, soft chords and a dose of jackin’ for the later hours. You can tell they are really having fun in the studio on this one, and while the influence of the likes of Steve Bug and Hipp E are obvious, like compatriot Bug, LCE are rooted in deep house, tuning the Chicago and Detroit roots of the sound for the discerning ear. ‘Mars Attack’ is up first on the B, a straight-up 4/4 bouncer with vocal pokes punching in ‘My Way’ and ‘That’s Right’. This number jerks more than the others, the fluency is not as strong and the soft piano keys sounding slightly dated – people on the dancefloor would slow to sip more JD. On the B2 'Kick Your Ass', samurai knights jostle with your kebab – this one is feisty with chilli sauce. Percussion and gremlin samples build and build around a refrain of ‘I am going to kick your ass’ before a straight-laced ninja bassline leaves no explaining. The first two tracks are key here, techy and bouncy with a hint of humour for those long summer nights – I could imagine Audio Soul Project or Rhythm Plate rinsing them in Club AKA midweek. The last two rubs don’t hold it down so well, but one or two usable cuts on a four-track house record is plenty, and standard these days. The first two would definitely drop well with some of Claude Von Stroke’s whistles or chimps, and bits of Bearfunk Entertainment. Candid and smiley, these two can carry the torch from the Love Parade to Ibiza.
RA