- October's wide-ranging mix for the excellent Sonic Router blog confirmed my suspicions about Julian Smith's sonic universe: It's a bigger than you might think. While nominally house and techno driven, Smith's selections (including his own productions) sounded fascinatingly otherworldly—even when he was using tracks that I had heard elsewhere previously.
The same goes for his latest 12-inch for Ripperton's frequently engaging Perspectiv imprint. "Ghosts rumbling in the machine" are the notes that I have written down about the track, and that's exactly what the opening few four minutes sound like, with a steady beat barely holding a variety of ominous sounds together before a bassline comes in and really scares the hell out of you. Wrapped up with the bassline is the sort of "melody" that Ben Klock and other purist techno-philes specialize in—a sort of two-note industrial machine gone off the rails. Smith builds more around it, including a healthy riff and shivering notes as the track launches into its propulsive second-half, but it's never quite as captivating as when Smith is constructing the framework one tiny piece at a time.
It's rare that you get to say that Tobias Freund is providing the relatively straightforward version on a 12-inch, but there ya go. Freund's rotating undercurrent keeps things moving resolutely forward throughout with plenty of Smith's ghosts emerging from the darkness to haunt you throughout. It's a stunning remix of already excellent source material, taking the downtempo floor-wary original to a place where art and dance can meet comfortably.
Tracklist A My Left Tool
AA My Left Tool (Tobias. Remix)