Sparkhouse / Jacksonville: Inbetween / Sub Rosa
Doppler Records

Doppler Records returns with its third release, a double A-side outing featuring well-groomed tracks by Sparkhouse and Jacksonville. Sparkhouse's “Inbetween” works a lush house pulse into a smooth lather that's perfect for the early morning or twilight hours. While the tune's no barnburner, it heats up three minutes into its ten-minute run and, nothwithstanding a brief detour into beatless dub territory, coyly maintains an insistent surge for the duration. The track reaches its sonic peak at about the seven-minute mark when melted chords, jacking beats, synthetic washes, and querulous melodic fragments come together to create a quietly grandiose effect. Jacksonville's “Sub Rosa” digs into its backbeat house groove from the first moment and then supplements it with vocal accents, a deep bass line, and funky percussive touches. A drawled voice motif and synth squiggles drape themselves over the pulsating house beat as Jacksonville takes the track ever deeper. Little bio data is available on the two producers aside from the note that Jacksonville hails from Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, but the tracks speak loud and clear all by themselves.

April 2010