MOVE D: Quit Quittin’ (Uzuri Recordings)

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Posted on Mar 4th 2008 01:18 am

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Move D: Quit Quittin’

MOVE D
Quit Quittin’
UZURI002
Uzuri Recordings 2008
04 Tracks. 27mins12 secs
Format 12″

‘The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new.’ So begins Samuel Beckett’s grim and funny book Murphy. And the nothing new is often what the modern listener comes across when they pick their way through the morass of new music pumped into our radios and on to our TV screens on a daily basis. At the same time, it sometimes feels like electronic music, while still a relatively new endeavour, has been playing out on repeat ever since the Detroit legends dropped their first twelve inches in the early eighties. And the same thought comes to mind when listening to this, the second release on the fledgling Uzuri label.

Whilst not in any sense a failure, it would not have been a surprise to hear this record in a nightclub in the mid-nineties. Hand-claps, acid grooves and allusions to Frankie Knuckles all help give this record the feel of a retrospective nod to the masters. But then perhaps that’s to take things too seriously. Move D, long-time ambient techno creator and Pete Namlook collaborator, has put together a four-track homage that slows down the house music concept to the point where it no longer feels like music you can really dance to. In a way, it’s a sound on the edge of house, which prompts other thoughts – like does it really stand up as music to listen to away from the dancefloor.

The short answer is, well, maybe, for this EP has enough energy and rhythm to keep things ticking along without ever really attempting to pull the rug from under its own creeping sense of complacency. Opener Quit Quittin’ slowly insinuates its way into effect, rising to a sustained barrage of acid pulses that assail the track’s hand-clapping, Annie Lennox sampling undertow. Jus House, probably the highlight of the EP, is carried along by a bass-line that twists through a lazy house groove, bolstered intermittently by warm shimmering strings that build their way up before evaporating into the distance. Yet whenever the track feels like it is about to take off, it seems to retreat, unsure, back to its own starting point.

The track in a way typifies the twelve inch, which constantly looms with ideas that are never developed. This is both intriguing and, unfortunately, frustratingly limiting. Sisters and Brothers and Crashed Jazz continue in a similar vein, their warm sound and smart production rounding off an EP that wins no prizes for innovation, but whose richness and simplicity must be applauded.

The release undoubtedly builds on the promise of Uzuri’s debut EP by Leraso, but the label’s sound will have to expand beyond straightforward homages to Chicago if the imprint really aims to grab the attention of the beleaguered modern listener.

3.5/5

Icon: arrow Move D (MySpace) | Uzuri Recordings (MySpace)

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