Fidget’s long dead and gone – I said it wouldn’t last, didn’t I? Cast your mind back 8 months: all of us (pelski included) dizzy and high on a whim of wonky, buzzy basslines, with entire forums forged around this alleged ‘fidget’ (Potty Mouth Music) and named blogs and artists after it (The Fidgitive?), as thought it was deserved of the whole genre review page it was given in the monthly IDJ mag. Just as the modish nu-rave in 2006 and the noisey, fuzzy distortion of 2007 passed with few remnants, so has fidget. And out of the mist stumbled a more stripped-back sound; a sound there to nurse us through the banging, achey comedown of fidget house; to pick us up from the aftermath of all the maximal clamour. That’s not to say we won’t get bored of bumpy house beats and congo clangs. But for now, one label has risen from the ashes of fidget and maximal to grab the tastemakers attention with its soothing grooves and creative samples: Sound Pelligrino, an offshoot of the ever-excellent Institubes.
Renaissance Man, Solo and Zombie Disco Squad’s releases so far have astounded, with each production sounding as inventive as the next. But never lapsing into anything too convoluted; always keeping it simple.
[n.b. many, but not all, of these tunes have been reduced in bitrate quality as one or two are due for release and the full version should be bought from beatport, juno, etc]

The latest Sound Pellegrino release is from Berlin very own Momma’s Boy (Mikix The Cat’s other alias). Bouncy house riddims jump admist echoey synths and a shouty snippet of a hip hop vocal sample.
Momma’s Boy grabbed my attention a couple of months back, however, with his similarly bumpy remix of Franco-Argentine artist Douster, on Sound Pellegrino:
Douster’s got a burgeoning discography already, having produced some dazzling remixes of Zonora Point, Three 6 Mafia, Crystal Fighters, Bryan Cox, Digital Manges, Lovely Chords, N.E.R.D., among others. His original material’s been top notch too with ‘This Shit’ a personal favourite of mine, mashing ho

use piano chords, squelchy bass, minimal progressions and even an angry hip hop vocal sample – buy it from Juno
here. His latest capitalises on those tribal percussion sounds, (‘post-baltimore riddims’ as Sound Pellegrino head-honcho Teki Latex coins the sounds), with some added belched bass:
And here’s another familiar face – or
faces, rather – Renaissance Man is not, in fact, one man, but two. An

d have appeared numerous times on YCCMP. My last post saw Downtown’s (one half of Renaissance Man) stirling remix of Mixhell and a couple of weeks back their remix of Xtatic Truth, as well as Riva’s remix of ‘What Is Guru’.
Released on Kitsune last week Rythym (intentionally spelt incorrectly, before pedantic know-it-alls exact me below), swoons with whispered vocals, techy, soft beats and a bubbling synth hook. Sharklsayer remixed Renaissance Man’s incredible Spray Can and can be found HERE, and now Renaissance Man have returned the favour by offering a gentle pattering, minimal touch to fellow Finn Sharkslayer’s ‘So Sincere’:
Bonus: