With its 15th release Uncanny Valley continues its impressive run of intriguing house music. So far confined to underground cultdom, the Dresden label returns to the various artist EPs that made its first two outings so arresting – a pair of undisputed classics that sported material from a number of relatively unknown producers.
The same can be said for the German imprint’s latest jaunt, or at least in the sense that it features one lesser known artist: Eltron John (a disco producer who has made fleeting appearances on Pets Recordings and more recently The Very Polish Cut Outs). He comes up trumps here with his fantastic remix of pop star Monika Brodka (winner of the third series of Polish Pop Idol in 2004).
Whilst maintaining Uncanny Valley’s inclination for off-beat house music as well as sturdy 4×4 drums, Eltron courses some real warmth through his rework of ‘Varsovie’. A dawning shimmer of bass mingled with Eltron’s strung out vocal hum (providing his own vocal over the top of Brodka’s) is at once ethereal and touching, while the flicker of guitar and cowbell add to an irresistible groove.
The rest of the EP is decidedly tougher and comes from a number of now-familiar Uncanny Valley stalwarts: Sandrow M’s harsh techno remix of Alex Ketzer wields some raw and terse drum programming; Cuthead’s ‘Splenda Daddy’ is a wonderfully wonky, wobbly cut of rugged acid house. The EP rounds things off on a high note, as Jacob Stoy slings some loose and organic tribal percussion repetitiously over eerie chimes and tinkles.
A great Uncanny Valley package as always, but the real treat comes from Eltron John, whose cut evokes a similar sound to Pional or John Talabot.
Uncanny Valley | May 2nd
