Kolomensky
Recovery EP
Clandestino/UK/12
This is only the fourth release from Clandestino, the label and party that reside in Leeds, one of the finest cities in the north of England. This release is by Russian producer Denis Kolomensky, part of the ИДА crew of promoters, DJs and producers who throw parties in the Moscow venues Simachev Shop & Bar and Dewar’s Powerhouse.

Recovery EP is a strong outing for Kolomensky and shows him to be adept at navigating the house and Balearic areas of dance music. “Recovery” is a bouncy, rolling and percussive house track with a simple, but effective, bass line, tough drums and swirling synths that build to a crescendo and make the track a real rousing, emotional number that will easily rock dance floors.

“Recovery (Felix Dickinson Remix)” is a remix of the track by none other than…wait for it…Felix Dickinson. Dickinson has been a doyen of all things that cross the axes (the plural of ‘axis’, not hatchets btw) of house and Balearic since many of you were knee high to a grasshopper (not me though. I’m an old c@#t). He ran the now much sought after Ugly Music label, produced deep house tracks with Jaime Read as L.H.A.S. Inc. and has released material on a wide range of labels such as, International Feel, Is It Balearic?, Dave Harvey’s Futureboogie imprint and Jacques Renault’s Let’s Play House stable.

Dickinson’s mix of “Recovery” is a twitching, menacing, jacking thing that rolls darkly along the contours of your psyche, bringing you into a miasma of seldom-realized, shadowy fantasies, I guarantee it. It features a pared-back, throbbing bass line, nervously flinching claps and a moody melody line that reminds me of Parallax Corporation’s remix of I-f’s “Theme From PACK” for some strange reason.

On the b-side “Santa Monica” is a breezy, yet tough, 100 bpm, white isle cruiser that sounds like the bastard child of the chimes from “Wrapped Around Your Finger” by The Police and a classic Def Mix dub. It’s got a chunky, loping bass line and superb keyboard textures draped over it. One for a slow build or gradual comedown. Proceedings come to a close with “Santa Monica (Balearic Gabba Sound System ‘Dirty Monica’ Remix),” a more ambient and naughty take on the original by the Italian DJ and producer Enzo Elia.

This is a solid EP if you like your Balearic gear or are fond of no-nonsense house music with no jazz, minimal, micro or other unnecessary prefixes. They say it’s grim up north but, to be honest, by the sounds of things it seems quite gorgeous. This one drops on September 21st. Christopher Orr