Articles
Robert Henke
Deepchord and Soultek

Albums
Amoebazoid
Boy Is Fiction
BTB
Calika
Vic Chesnutt
Enrico Coniglio
Eric Copeland
Deadbeat
Deepchord : Echospace
Ditch
Terrence Dixon
Brian Ellis
Reinhold Friedl
The Green Kingdom
Marc Hannaford
Hrsta
K. Leimer
Lights Out Asia
Nebula 3
Netherworld
Le Peuplier de Simon
Po
Portable
Lou Reed
Jeffrey Roden
Skallander
Swod
Gregory Taylor
Telephone Jim Jesus
Pau Torres
Tunng
Rolan Vega
Robert Vincs
Warmth
Otomo Yoshihide

Compilations / Mixes
Sander Kleinenberg
One Point Two
Total 8

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
Adultnapper
Arrow!!!
Ascoltare
Beneva vs. Clark Nova
Cinematic Orchestra
Deepchord : Echospace
Easy Changes
Fink
Peter Grummich
The Heavy
Isomer Transition
Laptik
Larytta
Nadja
Pendle Coven
Polvere
Redhooker
Spied
Andy Stott
Torrance & Hochstrate
Andy Vaz

Andy Vaz: Humanization EP
Yore

“Style is the answer to everything…” a male voice intones during “One for Charley,” the concluding cut on Andy Vaz's Humanization EP, and no better words might be used to describe the Background head's glorious contribution to Yore's 12-inch series. Naturally, the material's deep fusion of House and Techno is given the lush production treatment we've come to expect from Vaz but the EP is also, without question, his most dance-floor-oriented release with all three tracks exuding a laser-sharp club focus. Another distinguishing feature is that the material locates a perfect middle ground between exuberant extroversion and carefully calibrated restraint. Of course, Vaz is no stranger to the world of minimal Techno—in his Background releases, he's been pushing the sound for years—but his sound is rendered even more irresistible when wedded to Yore's sleek Detroit-edged vibe.

Setting the EP's tone with an infectious, eight-minute journey, the A side's “Humanized” breezily moves through episodes of locomotive swing and jazzy technofunk. Having been tested live over the last three months, the flip side's “You Got?” regularly incites “hands-in-the-air” results when played during club dates. While a female singer repeatedly chants the mantra-like title, a disco-house strut grows around it, powered by classic ‘70s bass lines and horns; the tune's as funky as it gets, and oozes serious hit potential. Shifting stylistic gears, the aforementioned deep house cut “One for Charley” becomes even more alluring when Berlin's Tilman Ehrhorn lays enticing sax melodies over Rhodes keys and a classic swinging groove. Much like the inaugurating Yore releases by Rick Wade and .xtrak (Todd Sines), Vaz's Humanization EP feels both old-school and contemporary, and represents a bold new stage in his ongoing musical evolution.

September 2007