Artist: Nukes
Title: Seismographic
Label: CP Recordings
By: Nick Williams | 24 January 2006
Tracklist:

• A1: Original Edit
• A2: Habersham Mix
• B1: Nukes 'Scratch Build' Dub
• B2: Tangleray 'Landslide' Mix

Nukes "Seismographic"

Toyko's Masanori Fujimoto is showcased here on CP Recordings with his earth rumbler, 'Seismographic.' With a release already on Cass' Sabotage Systems, one would expect a psychedelic tech house stormer from this young producer, and that is exactly what he brings. For their 12th release, CP Recordings have also enrolled Damon Fonooni (aka Habersham) and Canberra's Tangleray to provide the remixes. Although Habersham's reputation precedes him, Mikah Freeman & Ross Mcgrath need a bit of an introduction. They hail from Canberra, Australia, and have some releases on Vance Musgrove's label, Ashton Shuffle. Ross has also done some production work recently with Musgrove for [EQ] Grey with the breathtaking 'Freakout' released last year.

The original mix kicks off with bouncy house beats and percussion that take on a very shuffley feel with reverses and sharp drum patterns. Horn swirls enter and create an ambiance that widens and widens. Key stabs pepper up that shuffley feel, while growls and vocoded noises creep and bubble up from underneath the kick. Those growls come up from the depths and that is what creates the song. You will feel the earth shaking if hearing this song loud enough. A mild, yet smooth progression takes hold until it breaks down to just the kick and shuffles. Another bassline creeps in a bit with the percussive elements layering on top of each other one by one until you find yourself right back into the groove. This is a very simple track, but would be very effective in an opening set.

So what does Habersham do to this song? Damon takes it and stinks it up to high heaven. His remix is more in the vein of older productions, as I believe it to be much more accessible than his more recent material. We start with a great bass note and builds from there. As the percussive elements filter on, the bass note oscillates little by little. Swirls and sharp, noisy hats build energy until a rounded bass stab enters on top of that bass note. The stab is effected and it turns into a resonated melody line slowly but surely. Growls and whips in the bassline grasp you. The layers just keep on building and building. You know this needs to be heard LOUD to really appreciate the intricacies in that bassline. It is so crisp and clear and the sounds piece together so well. It all builds until you think it will hit, and then he goes ahead and changes the groove on you and you know that you will have to wait a bit longer for that grand release. Over this new groove and bassline, the elements from before filter back in with distortion and then… right back into the original groove from before. The bassline now shifts and bends as white noise gets filtered in and out until all you have left is a filtered bassline and scratchy noise. When the kick comes back in you can’t help but feel that energy. I can’t stress how great this track is for building the energy on the dancefloor, especially if you want to bang it out immediately after playing this track.

Nukes' second version of 'Seismographic' is a bit more driving compared to the original, yet still manages to turn up the dial on the funk-o-meter. That same shuffley feel still is maintained, however the snare is held back a bit more here, giving the track a bit less energy, in comparison to the original. The atmosphere is also more subdued, as the sounds seem to come at you more. The only sound that moves around you is in fact the bassline, which surges side to side in its oscillations. The key stabs are a bit different here, and there is a new vocal loop that breaks up the rhythm, but everything here is more in the forefront.

The second remix comes to us from Canberra's Tangleray. They take the cake here for peak-time stormer of the bunch. This is a cross between tech-house and trance, with thick digital vibrating beats. Although the beats sound robotic, the background bass has this jazzy swing to it, which definitely peaks my interest. The breakdown brings in a metallic sounding pad that prepares us for a burbling twinkly melody that pans and filters around. A driving bassline with stutters here and there keep my interest as the bassline thickens. The breakdown breaks everything down with digital distortion until it is a pile of digital noise, then gated to the beat. This gating is what really caught my eye as it occurs in a way to create a frenzy on the dancefloor. When we come out of this, melodic pads take over the atmosphere and we glide to the finish. A great peak-time mix that takes influences from all over, and brings them all together in a fantastic display of pseudo tech-trance.

I would have bought this release solely for Damon’s mix, but I must say that I enjoy each track. They all have their own vibe, and are all executed extremely well. Habersham has some stuff on the horizon to look out for as he has collaborated with Luke Chable and Phil K on the new Lostep album, due to come out soon, as well as remix work for his friend Darius Kohanim on Hunya Munya in the near future.