Events to Love: As You Like It & Public Works Present - Quality
As San Francisco slowly inches its way onto the global radar, talents the world over are beginning to make their trek to the City by the Bay, to see what all the fuss is about. The result? Events with lineups so jealousy-inducing even Berliners might very well be biting their fists at this one, happening this coming Friday, May 20. The folks with As You Like It are teaming up with Public Works for Quality, featuring Scuba vs. SCB (Hotflush), Martyn (3024), and Deniz Kurtel (Crosstown Rebels). If you’ve been following this blog for any amount of time, you know that’s plenty enough to scream about, with little introduction. However, in case you’re new, here’s a bit of listening homework.
RA198: Scuba Vs SCB by Gurps on Mixcloud
2010-05-21 - Martyn @ La Boum de Luxe, FM4 Radio by 3024world
CRMCD013 - Deniz Kurtel “Music Watching Over Me” (Album Edits) by Crosstown Rebels
In other words, we cannot recommend this event enough, and really:
See you on the dance floor.
Best Release of the Week | Deniz Kurtel | ‘Music Watching Over Me’
In the last year, Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels label has gone from relative obscurity to becoming a bellwether, so it’s no surprise to see a lot of buzz about their most recent release by a brand new face, Deniz Kurtel. Her album, Music Watching Over Me, is out this week, and is already drawing quite a lot of positive attention, following the release of the first two singles, “Yeah” and “The L Word”.
At first listen, Deniz’s influences are immediately apparent. Sprung from the house of Wolf + Lamb, her sound gracefully merges the minimal aesthetic into Chicago style house, and the result sounds both derivative and innovative in a very satisfying way. In fact, it’s fair to say the amount of restraint Deniz shows in her compositions has resulted in something that is equally at home both in headphones and on the dancefloor. Her treatment of vocals is neither to place them as a centerpiece nor in the background, instead allowing them to fall into the soundscape with ease, her use of synths is sporadic, but effective, relying heavily on analog sounds with very little trickiness attached, while her drum patterns somehow manage to toe the line between barely driving and intricately dense. The overall effect is a body of work that sounds effortless in its craftsmanship, in spite of what painstaking care has clearly been taken every step of the way.
In all, it’s difficult not to draw comparisons to Ellen Allien’s emergence in 2001, and it has certainly been about that long since there’s been a new female producer to add to this particular boys’ club. I most certainly look forward to hearing more from her, as a voice this fresh commands recognition.
You can listen to a preview of the entire album below and it’s available now at Boomkat.
CRMCD013 - Deniz Kurtel “Music Watching Over Me” (Album Edits) by Crosstown Rebels
