- The anomalous acid house legend Baby Ford returns for an outing on Sender, his first for the label since 'Plastic Smile' under his Minimal Man alias in 2005. The output of man who once earned the accolade 'the great white hope of British house music' has slowed somewhat in recent years, but like a good wine brought out from the hidden cellar, his longevity makes him a rarity worth tasting.
This time around Ford teams with Benno Blome, commander-in-chief at Sender (who incidentally supplied the remix on the flip of 'Plastic Smile') on 'Smoke Machine', an uber-cool techy number seething with synthy-bass. With plenty of minimal house to sift through at the moment, a track like this manages to stand out: it is peculiar yet effective, and very much in the vein of Minimal Man’s 'Chicken Store' – one of those neat little smoky affairs which should get the club swingin' at an early point.
Jumping to the flip, Bruno Pronsato, a relative newboy who has released on Under_line as Osvaldo, toughens up the original, if only slightly, calling on tribal drums and warped metallic tones to make his point. It’s a track that reminds me of the glut of tribal house that once existed, Steve Lawler goes minimal if you will: it’s monotone, it’s dull and it doesn’t do anything to enhance on the original. Standard loop-tool set material for those gap-filling quieter moments.
As one would have expected from the get-go, it’s the original from Ford and Blome which shines here - a solid, floor-worthy piece of old-skool warehouse meets minimal techno.
TracklistA Smoke Machine
B Smoke Machine (Bruno Pronsato''s Easy On The Eyes Remix)