The Knack

There is a lot of new music around right now and keeping up with it sometimes feels like a job in itself. Bandcamp Friday, the first Friday of every month, brings umpteen emails to my inbox, many of which are essential. The difficulty is in keeping up and not missing something good. One of yesterday's Bandcamp Friday treats was a new release from 10:40, a track called The Knack. Built around crunchy drums, a deep piano two note riff and a snatch of a female vocal, The Knack is a steamy, insistent thumper, the sound of pressure building and bodies moving. There's some Belgian EBD inside it's grooves/ bytes and the feel of darker, sweatier house music. The more you listen, the more it gives.

The Knack comes with two remixes, one by Ed Mahon and another by Jezebell. Ed pulls the deepest of synth basslines to the fore and crashing handclaps with a rhythm that is both fast and slow (as Martin Hannett might have demanded). The Jezebell Feeling Moody Remix strips it back to the core, streamlining it in a house rocking and the body rocking. The rhythm that comes in at one minute thirty takes no prisoners, puts its head down and thumps.  All three can be bought here. 

Also out this week is a new release from Jezebell, an EPs worth of edits out on Buenos Aires label Diavol, four tasty 2022 takes on Laurie Anderson, Herb Alpert, The Notorious B.I.G. and Kajagoogoo. All four are worth the price of entrance but in particular the digital stutter and bump of Re-birth (originally Laurie Anderson's Born Never Asked) and Vibrations Hitatchi Dub, a sleek electro stepper edit of Tijuana brassman Herb Alpert with muted wah wah trumpet, synths and timbales bouncing around. Buy here. Then press play and replay all weekend. 

Edit: all the edits are now available at Jezebell's Bandcamp site here, name your own price/ free.