I like this. It's one of those records, for me, that you go "I feel like I shouldn't like this, but I do." For that very reason I nearly didn't write about it, because it's quite far out of my comfort zone of music that I feel qualified to comment on… but then I remembered that being non-genre-specific* is part of the reason This Is Why We Dance exists, so……so basically, although billed as techno, both tracks – Shockz itself and B-side Hertz – operate in that zone where techno, progressive house and trance mingle. Probably on a mid-90s dancefloor, sweating, with their tops off and their eyes rolling. It's straight-up pounding, rolling dancefloor bizness, hard and pumping but with a strong funk edge, made for moving your body, or rather made for moving lots of bodies in big, dark rooms. Preferably served with smoke and strobes (poppers optional).
And as I said, I rather like it… particularly Shockz, which does hard-but-funky in a way that not many can**.
Out: This week
About: This is on Umek's label 1605. I get sent all their stuff but it's usually a bit too linear and, well, techno-y for me. So it's nice to be able to show some love for once! Here's the 1605 website.
*Non-genre-specific but EXTREMELY subjective, judgemental, idiosyncratic and petulant, I hasten to add.
** Whatever the genre. TDV was the god of hard-but-funky, for me, cos he could play hard-as-nails German techno and make it sound groovy as a bastard. But in breakbeat, D&B, techno, whatever, there are those odd/DJs producer who can go hard but still keep the funk. Think how groovy Chus & Ceballos or Wally Lopez's shit is compared to 1001 tedious tribal house producers, for example. It's all about the funk. Always.
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