- Roger 23, AKA Roger Reuter, tends to work quite slowly on releases that bear his own name, so it's a relative surprise to see two pieces of vinyl come down the pike in quick succession. Luckily, it's clear that both are of the usual Reuter-quality. The first, reviewed in these pages, was a deliciously dark record. The second, the one you're reading about now, sees Roger in a similar mood, taking the knife to Massimiliano Pagliara and then working in conjunction with him on the B-side.
The A-side, where Reuter is allowed to work unfettered, is the star of the show: It begins with a thunderstorm, and gets even more epic from there: It's a propulsive dub techno stomper whose grinding gears are exposed throughout. Unlike much up-tempo dub techno, though, Reuters peppers it with pop elements. A shimmering melody flutters in and out of the stereo field like a ghost, a voice wandering around the word "heal." Reuter is never content to let a groove go without making sure that something else is tugging lightly at your heart strings—or is about to. "I Hear You Say (23 Seconds Too Late)" is more straightforward dance floor fodder. Dub techno at a beatdown pace, it does little to distinguish itself. A very nice production, and perhaps ideal for a warm-up set, but one wonders what might've happened if Reuter had worked alone on a remix as he did on the A-side.
Tracklist A1 H-EA-L (R'23s Healing Medicine & Anti Depressiva Dub)
B1 I Hear You Say (23 Seconds Too Late)