wait a second! #1

albums covered this time will be

Tim Baker's second album, Audio Implant (ER010) was released in 1999 on his own Elephanthaus Records. Despite the fact that his record label has "haus" in its name (handled by Real Haus Music ASCAP), and the fact that this late legend moved to Chicago, Illinois from his native Detroit, Michigan, Baker is usually considered to have been a techno producer and DJ, though obviously these things aren't always as cut and dry as some genre snob purists would want. If we're to call it tech house (as a compromise or otherwise), it is of the sort that has a foot firmly in both camps. In additional to their delightfully monotonous yet grooving chords and percussive variations, have constant pulses throughout, beyond just the kick drums, Brave and Scorpio both have that make it almost impossible not to dance. Continuing the astronomical theme of the previous song, Black Nebula feels like a collision of a few different cuts, making this highly tracky number well suited to dropping in one's set at different points of its runtime and/or that of your mix. Appropriately enough, Throttle picks up the energy which it delivers with some use of weaving melodies, some claps, rides, rims, and Latin feeling percussion, and being another tracky one, would suit ease of mixability. Soul Provider has some great clave work, and at times feels almost overloaded but not quite, it also has some nice synth brass fanfare, and a disco-y feeling which (along with the wireframe cover art for both albums) presages Ken Ishii's 2002 album on his 70Drums label, Future in Light (IDCK-1001). Forgotten Frequency is a lovely chugger with a highly insistent groove but never feels daunting despite being near relentless. Get-to-Go or Get-to-60 might have some house-like chords and some bongos but much of the percussion's metallicness is also on display.

tracklisting
A1 New Life Form [5:47]
A2 Brave [5:20]
B1 Scorpio [5:30]
B2 Black Nebula [5:55]
C1 Throttle [5:52]
C2 Soul Provider [6:00]
D1 Forgotten Frequency [6:33]
D2 Get-to-Go [4:56]
CD bonus tracks
9. Recycled Life
10. Vision


Robert Hood really needs no introduction so I'll launch right into this, his second album under his own name, Nighttime World Volume 1. In addition to the dice evoking casinos, the art on the label of the two 12" records that make up this album tracklisting
A1 Behind This Door [5:05]
A2 Nighttime World [5:25]
B1 Episode No. 19 [3:48]
B2 The Color of Skin [3:46]
C1 Electric N****r Pt. 1 [7:56]
C2 Nighttime [4:32]
D1 Untitled [7:24]
D2 Stark Reality [5:47]


Paul Souter, better known as Paul Mac (not to be confused with songwriter/producer Paulmac) is like many of his generation used a number of aliases at various points in his career, though this is the best known of them. This British producer/DJ is also a highly in demand mastering and mixing engineer and co-owns Hardgroove Mastering with Ben Sims. You may have heard the expression "When push comes to shove" and wondered to yourself, "What then?". Hopefully, the sophomore release by Paul Mac can answer that for you. Despite what you may expect from the variety of techno this style is known for, although the grooves are very very steady, this album isn't tough in any sort of menacing way. There's a good mix of both loops of sampled drums and well-programmed drum machine patterns aplenty. It's hard to know how to write about this one. It may sound like I'm damning it with faint praise by saying that it's a highly accessible hardgroove album that can easily appeal to people who aren't dyed in the wool techno heads but that's exactly what this album is and what a godsend it is that such a thing even exists.

tracklisting
A1 Worth Worrying [3:57]
A2 Sizzle Season [4:56]
A3 Bitter Acid [6:27]
B1 Malibu Slump [6:04]
B2 More Over [4:38]
C1 Other Giants [6:02]
C2 Random Agenda [5:37]
D1 Point Test [5:05]
D2 Bass & Beats [4:55]
D3 Back & Forth [5:01]
CD bonus tracks
Cards on the Table (added after More Over)
The Very Thought (added after Random Agenda)


Fumiya Tanaka