Ramadanman & Appleblim: Void 23 (Aus)

One choice new cut from dub-tech artists Ramadanman and Appleblim, putting their talents together in what is a decidedly slower dancefloor track. The duo aims more for something of a house groove here, with a four-to-the-floor kick and less frantic tempo. It doesn’t pack the same wallop of Appleblim’s last 12" for Aus, which flirted with some microhouse cut-ups amidst the groove, and instead this one rolls along at a steady pace, building and varying but never straying too far from its template. It’s a surprisingly conventional and patient track considering the more energetic records each act’s released on his own, but like most minimal techno, it’s hardly as minimal as it seems — within that repetitive blueprint there’s quite a lot of subtlety and variety. It recalls perhaps the less obtuse days of Villalobos’ backcatalogue or the more techno-leaning releases from Cadenza — rest assured, this is not a house record and in fact there’s hardly even a bassline. Carl Craig’s re-edit on the B-side lends it a cachet via his name alone, but since it’s an edit and not a proper remix I’m afraid it comes across as a formality. He does emphasize the stabby bass tones of the original a bit more persistently, but sadly it feels like a missed opportunity though it may have appeal for DJs. The original is quite good though, and hearing it reworked in a variation certainly doesn’t hurt — worth checking out as the line between post-dubstep (or whatever we’re calling it this week) and minimal techno and tech house gets even blurrier.

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