Various Artists - Universal Quantifier [Halocyan Records Promo]

Coming in as the best, most fascinating physical promo format these days was the new, recently released "Universal Quantifier" compilation put on the circuit via Halocyan Records. A card-sized, classy looking, partly coated aluminum piece with a fully revolvable USB-port that holds all 24 tracks of this compilation, a huge bunch of pack shots, liner notes plus an additional quadruple set of Dntel remixes - one of the best prepared press promos we've come across for a long time and, on top of that, including a very fine selection of contemporary quality electronic club music catered by an illustrious bunch of contributing artists. Starting into the first half of the pack we see xxxy crossing borders of Electro and FutureGarage with his massive "Bash" which is a very well-named Bashment piece indeed that pleases bass modernists and UK Garage tradionalists alike whilst Chrissy Murderbot fuses bubbling bass notes with loads of scifi undertones and a kinda electroid feel that blends in perfectly into both Detroit Electro and UK Bass sets for a reason and cold floors advanced dancefloors with the return of hoover noises. Friends of UK Funky and sweet, dreamy oldskool'ish piano licks will be pretty pleased to see Hackman touching their soft spot with a sweet early morning jam named "Semibreves" before (Dub) Techno headz get their first fix with Sumsun's super bass heavy "Avey Oliver" which is a true statement in terms of seeing club music as body music. All clubs better provide a proper P.A. when this one's battered into a heaving crowd. Staying on a straight, but more frolicking 4/4 tip we've got Mr. Paul Woolford serving a nice menu of chatoyant synth works riding on a slightly 'troity TechHouse / (Neo)Trance foundation that is about to stand the test of time for a reason and might easily turn into a future classic clubwise. This also goes for the stab heavy, uplifting and The Third Man-produced ClubTechno hybrid called "Red Boxing" that introduces some echoes of UK Funky to more uptempo tech floors before Arkist's "23 Summers" brings back the some very detailed beat and sound programming in Future Garage whilst lifting vocal bending to the next level. Not "23 Summers" but a 23rd century urban lovesong with loads of lovely chords and sweet synth bits. One for the Drum'n'Bass headz on the floor is ASC's tune "Sonic Assault" which is a truely skeletal ride to the dark side basswise whilst minimalistic melodies are meandering like polar flares - that's what we call a sweet example of epic beauty in bass. With Raudive - also formerly known as Oliver Ho - we see a pretty appreciated purveyor of classy, no bullshit attitude Techno weighing in more than one and a half decades of productions experience in his tune "Last" whilst DJ Pierre's HEY Wildpitch MX of Dosem's "Attica" is nothing less than a raw BassTechno monster that's about to kill some weak ass nuskool ravers on the dancefloor - get ready for serious LFE ('low frequency explosions') that are made to destroy and some really great samples from an oldskool Gabba anthem. Closing the first CD1 of "Universal Quantifier" with Minilogue's so-called "Ocean Of Love"-Mix of Sumsun's "New Piano" we see the term of Intelligent Techno rise again with a neverending subaquatic intro sequence and deep, thrilling beats spiralling through a universe of floating, string heavy beauty and an impressive total runtime of approximately 17 minutes. Opening CD2 it's Artifact's "Cry" that beams us straight to the center of a heaving, pumping and especially glitzy House music floor, working the crowd to a maximum effect with a slightly techy and well ecstatic attitude. That ecstatic feel bound to a primetime brockout is also to be found in a deep, but well stab-heavy remix built French Fries for xxxy's "Bash" which is a stripped down, sexy ass 808 UK Garage tune for lovers of more intimate venues whilst Legowelt's rework of Chrissy Murderbot's "Friendship" is more of trademark Legowelt tune, focusing on straight 4/4 and playful, 'troity melancholia with a positive vibe. The next remix to come is Extrawelt's so-called "Griddle RMX" for Paul Woolford's "Pursuit", a deep functional TechHouse affair touched by DubTechno and a very Acid-infused low to midrange synth sequence that's about to set floors on fire. With Max Cooper's remix of Aki Latvamäki's "It Is Not Now Either" another TechHouse soldier is at the controls here, providing loads of low frequency bass, hollow snares and a more tool'ish albeit trippy feel alongside some quirky breakdowns and mazy strings - one of the rare weaker moments in the "Universal Quantifer" universe. Coming up next is Stabber's "Huh!" remixed by Randomer who builds a stomping, muscular fusion of ElectroTech well infused with rolling background amens, killer breaks and massive bass artillery as well as supercut, well-familiar vocal bits - all this falls into place as the essence of a ravers heaven, providing ultimate brockout moments whenever played out. Large tune! Not that large but still made for dancefloor pleasure is the collaboration of Arkist and Appleblim named "Addict", turned into a solid piece of dubby, uplifting, glitzy ClubTechno by Komon. With Kangding Ray's remix of ASC's "Sonic Assault" we see a calm, fever'ish broken beat slowly turning into a more 4/4 driven, tribal'esque structure that - despite its atmospheric overall feel - is able to seriously do damage to unprotected eardrums... and innards. Another one from the - beatwise more complex - bass side of things is the collaborational rework of Raudive's "Last" crafted by Al Tourettes and Appleblim who're turning the technoid original into a cleverly swinging FutureGarage tune with an iridescent main motif and shiny strings. As a contrast to this fascinating dancefloor cut Dntel's "Peepsie" is transformed into a lovely, relaxed and well-floating PostStep / AmbientBass cut by Hyetal that is followed by the second rework for Stabber's "Huh!", a quite hypnotic, hardstepping PostJungle / Future Jungle vision crafted by Matthias Zimmermann - seemingly this guy has a bright future to come as his complex beat chopping is nothing less than amazing. With Jason Potratz' "Absent Center" borders between hard, super tense, 'troity Techno and banging Hardcore seem to blur before the great Joey Beltram delivers a highly energetic, big room Techno cut with his remix of Dosem's "Atica" - a perfect closing tune for this compilation and a huge dancefloor smasher. Additional reworks of Dntel tunes included on the promotional USB card are provided by Slackk, Maxmillion Dunbar and Sei A, covering a spectrum from UK Bass-infused Detroit Techno, well-experimental SloMo Tech featuring strangely hypnotic, meandering drums and weird flange effects as well as classic techno with a deeper, athmospheric twist, nicely rounding off this great and highly recommendable accumulation of tunes from the Halocyan-imprint.