Dan Curtin / Stolen EP
Vinyl
Leviathan Sounds / Released March 2012
What does it sound like?
Bristol seems to be something of a hotbed for decent darkroom imprints at the moment, what with Elastic Dreams’ recent output, and the label responsible for this, Leviathan Sounds, also seemingly hell bent on doing the business. We’re certainly not complaining.
Decade-spanning veteran Dan Curtin (who’s had releases on the likes of Mobilee and Tuning Spork, by the way) teams up with the West Country organisation to deliver Stolen; a driving piece of heavy four fours that takes roughly ten seconds to drop, and then doesn’t really let up from there. “I’ll steal your kisses and run away“, we are threatened in spoken word, all the while rolling basslines and pedal to the floor cymbals add to the warehouse vibe, which is only accentuated by the arrival of a some stabbing sirens, ensuring things stay just the right side of techno to secure crossover appeal aplenty.
A second original track, The Night Will Set You Free, belies its rather ravey title by opting for a more straight up house atmosphere, with warm pianos, flashes of synth and a heavier, wider though less energetic low section, focusing things on a slightly crazed organ to offer something at once deep and groovy, but still rather punchy. Finally the Postharmonix re-working, which sees Curtin take the tempo down a little when compared with the source material, introduces plenty of addictive bleeps, which work in that filthy, jacking kind of way.
What highlights can I expect to hear?
Stolen, in its original design, is nothing short of a bomb, and as such steals the thunder here.
Where can I buy it?
Decent stores using decent distributors.
