(Simple Records)

What do you get when you put Tam Cooper, one third of Precision Cuts, together with Will Saul, the leading man of the minimal and tech house scene? A bloody good tune, that’s what. The cleverly titled Sequential Circus is the latest release on Simple, and marks Saul’s re-introduction in to the production world after a quiet 2006 spent mastering and releasing other producers’ music on Aus and Simple recordings.

A fantastic slice of haunting, deep, melodic tech house perfectly suited to a warm up set, Sequential Circus is (excuse the cliché) a mix of the sounds of the old and new. Featuring futuristic synth stabs and subtle acid squelches mixed with stripped-back analogue percussion, deep moog-style bass and warm, melancholy strings that hark back to the days of early Detroit, the tune feels like it’s in some sort of a time-warp, trying to bridge the gap between the mechanical present and the soulful past.

Luckily it succeeds, creating a track that’s not quite happy being associated entirely with the “good old days” of Detroit, but at the same time not willing to fall in to line with the present day’s obsession with all things mechanical, noisy and generally unmusical. The deep, warm bassline is definitely the highlight of this tune: it’s so subtle that it sits perfectly underneath all the layers of the track, but at the same time has plenty of punch to make it absolutely devastating on a big sound system. But despite it’s strength, the bassline doesn’t take away from the brilliance of the analogue strings and sweeps, which give the track so much atmosphere one almost expects some fog to emerge from the front of the DJ booth. Absolutely outstanding.

Canada’s Konrad Black turns in a stellar remix on the flip side, transforming Sequential Circus into a dark, crunchy tech house roller perfect for a 3AM head cave. Black goes for a stripped-back approach similar to the original, utilising only a couple of percussive layers, a simple stabby bassline, and some filtered synth stabs and washy atmospherics. However he completely switches up the feel of the track from warm and inviting to well… dark and scary. But not so dark and scary you’ll crap your pants, cry for mummy and leave the dancefloor. You will crap your pants and cry for mummy, but you won’t be able to stop moving.

Utilising very little of the original’s elements except for the odd hint of some of the analogue synth sweeps, Black adds his own killer main synth line that’s oddly reminiscent of the early rave sounds, his own bassline that is best described as acid meets moog, and lots of atmospheric sweeps, washes and even some white noise that spreads out the elements in the track and it gives the listener the feeling of being lost in space. A quality take on the original indeed.