It feels like Modern Love’s family is in the middle of a rave love affair. For starters, there’s the mysterious author of the Hate series de- and reconstructing high-speed darkcore; Andy Stott has got in on the act with the Daphne releases, nudging the rave aesthetic towards the house and dubstep compass points and now Claro Intelecto aka Mark Stewart follows suit with New Life. Making no bones about his record’s intentions is one thing, but refusing to sugar-coat his interpretation of the past or to view it from behind rose-tinted glasses are entirely different matters.
This Stewart achieves on “Back In the Day”; beginning with what a slightly out of tune riff that sounds like the halfway house between a long-forgotten hardcore record or the stab in Dave Clarke’s “Red 2” — if I was going to be controversial I would say the halfway house is imaginary and these elements are interchangeable — the riff hangs in the air until one of Stewart’s trademark dubby beat patterns kicks in and a spray of liquid metal percussion propels it toward the dance floor. That Stewart does not seek to use this artifact to enliven the arrangement but instead drags it into a more morose place than he usually inhabits speaks volumes for both the track and his integrity. After all, we can only stand a finite amount of producers reminding us how great it was back in the day — it was and it wasn’t — and Stewart deserves praise for not adding his voice to that chorus of approval. Flipside “New Life” shows that Claro isn’t a miserable old soul. Based on another sample, this time what seems like a shimmering chord sequence from an old record by UK deep house collective DiY, the melodic twists and turns undulate like dust in the breeze but don’t stray too far thanks to a backing that sounds like Stewart’s take on U.S. tribal house. Out of his comfort zone but totally unfazed by his surroundings New Life marks a new beginning for Claro Intelecto.
My favorite CI release so far. Totally feelin’ the “Back In the Day” cut…
“Based on another sample, this time what seems like a shimmering chord sequence from an old record by UK deep house collective DiY”, it sounds pretty damn close to the chord sequence in Technotronic – Pump up the Jam.
Uh, dudes this bites one of Todd Terry’s big 80’s records. This record is a straight jack of Can You Party by Royal House.
This should have been credited as an edit, because it ain’t much more than that. If you take away the sample and the vst effects, there ain’t much there.
A hundred producers have used that chord progression, I don’t think it belongs to anyone anymore. It’s like the Amen break — it’s what you do with it, not if you use it.
I just don’t know how this review got past the editor without a mention of the original.
This isn’t some dusty $200 dollar obscurity. This record was as big in NYC as No Way Back or No UFO’s were in Chicago or Detroit. It is an obvious 80’s dance cannon record.
But even the Royal House track you mentioned isn’t the originator of the riff, which Todd Terry used in a different way than Claro Intelecto. I listened to both tracks back to back and while there are similarities it would be a stretch to say Claro Intelecto jacked it wholesale.
Interesting, where does it come from originally?
Both tracks seem to use the first half of the piano riff in Marshall Jefferson’s “Move Your Body.”
just to add to this, one side of this record sounds like a lot of hardcore records i used to listen to when i was younger. i regret not being able to recall any of the names, however, as you may be able to appreciate, it was a blurry period. whether or not those hardcore records were inspired by todd terry or other us house producers, I just can’t say, but as it is a review, it is entirely subjective. i could for example say that it reminds me of the sound of a group of rare brown-eared owls in mating season and that too would be valid as it’s based on an opinion. the problem with this music is that it’s very hard to know where one producer is ‘inspired by’ and where another has borrowed sounds/riffs from another producer. as regards the claim that adamm made, the reference was to the other side of the record, which does sound remarkably similar to a track from the first DiY compialtion – again, the name evades me, but if you are really curious it is available to buy and then listen to on discogs…