PJ - Glaze/Skunk

‘Glaze’ is the one I like better of the two. It’s a fairly straight-up bit of minimal tech house but with some excellently quirky bleeps, pops and squeaks pinging away to make up the majority of the track, along with a huge, droning bassline rumbling away constantly underneath. I reckon it sounds like people playing Game Boy in a sewer under a motorway – the echoey bleeps are like old-skool videogame sound effects, and the incessant humming of the sub-bass gives the impression of nearby evil machinery. Beats-wise it’s fun yet not overdone, with some sections having a great driving techno feel, plus a cheeky little break in the middle livening things up a bit. Doesn’t exactly ‘go off’, but it’s got a uniquely quirky and likeably techy attitude.

“Skunk’ is a little more straightforward, with more emphasis on the techno-like beats than ‘Glaze’. It’s got some similarly wacky clicks and bubbling pops washing over the top of the hopping bassline, but it doesn’t have the same kind of light-hearted appeal. Instead this has a moodier tone to it, albeit without quite going chunky, hard, dark, or anything enough to really take its initial promise the full distance. As far as funky electro tech goes though, it’s all in working order, only without the same wacky ‘zing’ as ‘Glaze’... in my opinion, anyhow.

An interesting couple of tunes though, and a great start for both PJ and Infamous Light Recordings. James Zabiela apparently played ‘Glaze’ in Miami to a great response, and other DJs including Tyler Stadius and James Holden have also given their thumbs up. They’re definitely worth a listen at www.beatport.com, but be warned that you’re only going to experience their full sub-bass glory if you play them darned LOUD!