In the mercurial culture of dance music, producers who don’t maintain a steady output may notice the musical climate change between their releases. For Frank Timm, the Berlin-based producer known as Sound Stream and Soundhack, an infrequent release schedule has rarely made a difference in the rapturous reception his EPs often receive. Yet in the two years since his “Live” Goes On stunned many, both the disco/funk sound from which Timm derives source material and similarly sample-intensive arrangements have grown more popular. With plenty of time between records I wondered how one of music’s most skilled editors would refine his approach to compensate for this sample-thick environment. His latest Sound Stream EP, All Night, suggests not much has changed (indeed, its title cut is already known from its appearance in Tama Sumo’s 2009 Panorama Bar 02 mix), a fact which will please many but leave others somewhat disappointed.
While deftly cut samples have always been at the heart of Sound Stream’s aesthetic, the shapes they have taken has varied appreciably between tracks and releases. However, many of the patterns and sounds appearing on his fifth EP are familiar within his back catalog and to current peers such as Motor City Drum Ensemble or Soul Clap and their cohort. The increasingly common trope of looped crowd noise provides texture to the title track whose bass-popping grooves have a pleasant bounce but hardly any variety, especially when stretched over eight and a half minutes. “Deeper Love” fills the air with a handsome, filter-sculpted progression and deck-shuffling clap clusters that, while easy on the ears, do little to distinguish the track as a Sound Stream original. The most redeeming moments arrive on “Tease Me,” an energetic tune punctuated by the quickly cut string samples surrounding its grainy vocal sample. Although it wouldn’t sound out of place in a mix of early Daft Punk tracks, the strategic pacing and adept handling of fluttering repetitions push it several notches above most contemporary takes on filter-house. Whether or not Timm was alarmed to find house music moving closer to his wheelhouse, All Night is an enjoyable but conservative record from a producer who routinely eclipses himself.
Nice one! Loving this sound.
Can we talk about the total Moodymann breakdown on “All Night”?
I wanted to describe it as a Moodymann but so many other people have used it I didn’t want to solely credit him with it and have people saying, “Well X, Y and Z did it, too!” But you’re totally right, it’s definitely borrowed from KDJ’s oeuvre.