DENSE & PIKA レコード& CD

Review: Last time out, Dense & Pika (AKA long time studio sparring partners Chris Spero and Alex Jones) were collaborating with the mighty Adam Beyer. Seven months on, they return to the Swedish legend's Drumcode label with a three-track techo assault of their own. They begin with the rather impressive "Suki", a brilliant fusion of tactile, off-kilter organ riffs, trippy electronics and a driving but rubbery techno groove. It's warm and evocative, despite its heavyweight nature, and sounds like the sort of cut that will have dancers reaching for the heavens if dropped at the right time. Elsewhere, "Little Sun" brilliantly flips between thunderous, redlined techno and near horizontal wooziness, while "Lanky" sounds like Lil' Louis classic "French Kiss" re-imagined for the Euro-techno generation.

Review: Chris Spero and Alex Jones really found their sound a few years ago when teaming up as Dense & Pika. Those first couple of releases on their eponymous imprint are the stuff of legend now, not to mention the ones that followed up on Scuba's esteemed Hotflush imprint. For the Calf EP, it's served up courtesy of Adam Beyer's Drumcode, a fitting home for their tough and functional techno tools. Wasting no time messing around with the peak time destroyer 'Edging Forward" which chugs through the audio spectrum like a steamtrain, there's more adrenalin to be found on the dusty and stripped industrialism of "Drag 'N Drop" which is reminiscent of the Klockworks or the Fachwerk sound. We also enjoyed the Chicago hard house sounding title track, which gives an obvious nod to Windy City legends like Relief Records or Kne' Deep.

Review: Last year saw Dense & Pika make Hotflush their home after Alex Jones and Christopher Spero's project first surfaced via a select few White Label releases. Aside from a remix of the Woolford classic "Erotic Discourse", Dense & Pika have been notably quiet on the release front so this new four track slab for Scuba's label will be most welcome. Already in possession of a warehouse-ready style of techno, the Klank EP suggests it's been further honed in their time away from the spotlight with the title cut a particularly weighty production that has a low end which growls like a dragon. From here the pair enter submerged depths on "Wandering Hands" before the B Side signals a return to more chaotic fare with "Slowhand" and "Slacker".

Review: If Scuba's "Adrenalin" was Hotflush's attempt to infiltrate the festival banger circuit, then the lead track on this EP from Dense & Pika is the label aiming for the top of the peak time techno charts. The prospering project of Glimpse's Chris Spero and Hypercolour co-founder and producer Alex Jones, Dense & Pika take no prisoners on "Move Your Body Back" mangling the garbled remains of Liam Howlett's Prodigy presets and throwing them over a thumpingly aggressive techno beat that only pauses to growl out the titular refrain. "Lack of Light" is borne from the same template, yet adopts a more percussive approach. Final track "Backstage Mute" marauds largely in the sub bass area and sounds like the second coming of Fidget house.