- Things have taken off very quickly this year for Danielle Godiva, having won a place in a competition on breaks mainstay Meat Katie's Lot49 label, and reaching the final of Letsmix.com's Next Generation DJ contest. She's been producing sporadically since the '90s, so there's lots of skill in these tracks. Pro is different from amateur, however, and there's plenty still to learn; the two tracks on Avis / Decreet may show that her transition from one to the other was recent, but they also show promise.
A soft barrage of harmony runs through "Avis," and the glassy electronic breakbeat that accompanies it is reminiscent of Modeselektor with its sharp clicks and distorted kicks underlaid with subbass rumble. She plays around with the drums a lot, and generally tweaks stuff around nicely, but since it's quite harmonically dependent, it could do with more new ideas, or new takes on the old ones. Perc fills two gritty insectoid filth pits, the first with slamming offbeat kicks which lay themselves down unarguably, and the second with a driving 4/4 and little syncopated clicks which go well with the repeating synth line from the original. Both are industrial; airy and surreal, but tense, charged and unbearably claustrophobic.
"Decreet," like "Avis," sets out a good premise. The rhythm track is complex and bitty, while dense chords descend upon us hammering. Other elements are added, but since they're ancillary to the main ones, it again survives largely on the basis of the rhythmic twists and little else. !Organism label head Jan Stricker wisely takes those descending chords and gives them prominence over a rolling jet-black foundation. He shifts them a bit, giving his remix a random, demented vibe. Good idea. The remixes support the originals well here, which, although basically just lacking in one or two new stems, point to a newcomer who'll be interesting to watch.
TracklistA0 Avis
A1 Avis (Perc Stepping Mix)
A2 Avis (Perc Windjammer Mix)
B0 Decreet
B1 Decreet (Yan Stricker Ka Mix)