- Fresh from their joyous Saturday I'm in Love compendium, Hamburg's Diynamic label here present two new acts, two singles and a Solomun remix; three accomplished explorations of a number of current trends.
Germany's AMT8 gives us "Altweibersommer," which blends the bounce of Sebo K with the skip of Johnny D without wholly capturing the delights of either. No matter, for the robust tones soon collapse into neat melodic hooks, taking a surprising yet not unwelcome course towards minimal trance. The expectant fizz that flutters around the breaks lifts this from standard melodic house fare. Po-faced Solomun's take on all this is to flatten the emotion, spreading the remaining elements liberally over a snaking Chilean-esque rhythm, with cowbells, castanets and strings brought in for further decoration.
The energy level steps up for "Sacrament of Shamens" by Ukraine's Drive D. & Goshva & West Boy, which lays a prescient tribal sample over a beefy drum track which sizzles like electro-house. Like "Enfants," or more so "Watamu Beach," the core is a fragment of chorus, chopped, looped and processed, but rather than rely on rote-repetition to create meaning, the Ukrainians are impatient, twisting the voices until they swell and crash like waves. These are all solid pieces, but "Sacrament of Shamens" is outstanding, the marriage of electronic and sampled elements nimbly avoiding cliché and packing a real emotional wallop.
TracklistA Amt8 - Altweibersommer
B1 Drive D. & Goshva & West Boy - Sacrament of Shamens
B2 Amt8 - Altweibersommer (Solomun Remix)