Tech house buddies Martin Eyerer and Chopstick have reunited for a three-track EP due out on Eyerer’s Kling Klong Records next month (April 2nd).
‘Get Up Rockmachine’ will be the duo’s debut collaboration on the label and marks their first foray into the studio together since ‘Electric’ and ‘Make My Day (Haunting)’ were big hitters for them all the way back in 2006/7.
Both original tracks are based around quirky and amusing, largely spoken-word vocals, each of which tells its own story and makes for a brace of records the like of which you probably won’t have heard recently. As a pair, they bring a peculiarly refreshing sound that’s going to lend itself well to the fast-approaching summer season – think offbeat pop sensibilities sured up by a foundation of classic house.
‘Get Up’ is the more story-led of the two, with little to speak of in the way of singing – in fact, there’s no singing at all; rather the late-night, heavily intoxicated memoirs of a London clubber, who meanders unashamedly through his thoughts on the edge of the dancefloor as he toys with the idea of getting up for a dance. This is a cut for the wee small hours with chunky, squelchy bass, thumping percussion and a bold, brassy yet warm lead full of dynamic modulation and harmonic distortion.
Defected’s artist of the moment, Sonny Fodera turns ‘Get Up’ it into a peak-time, big-room number featuring a massive single-chord rhythm piano in the vein of some of the most notable piano house classics of the 90s. Tight, pumping drums and a smooth yet expansive bassline that swells beneath, make for what Kling Klong quite concisely sums up as a “typical slamming remix” from the Londoner.
‘Rockmachine’ adds a touch of song into the mix, albeit in a very eccentric way that’s strikingly reminiscent of early noughties X-Press 2. Not ‘Smoke Machine’ as you might have first thought but instead their 2002 chart-topper, ‘Lazy’. ‘Rockmachine’ has the whole whole pop-house vibe of ‘Lazy’ completely nailed, but with an added dollop of bizarreness which makes it, to my knowledge, unlike anything that has gone before.
In short, a genuinely distinctive EP from Eyerer and Chopstick that dares to push the boundaries of what you can get away with on the dancefloor. With so much going against the norm, there was always the chance it could’ve backfired, but with glowing reactions from Doorly, Technasia and Ramon Tapia, it seems they’ve pulled it off in style.
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