[Smallville Records]

Hype-mongers have been talking up Smallville Records recently as label of the year based on a mere two releases, “Silent State” from STL and “Touch” by Steinhoff & Hammouda. Not that they haven’t both been excellent, but it seems some are only just realizing what long term admirers have known ever since the first hand-stamped release in 2006. Unlike that other famous record shop cum label, Smallville haven’t embarked on the empire building Kompakt had achieved at the same point, but nonetheless they’ve left quite a mark on the techno and house landscape. With distinctive artwork provided by Stefan Marx and a quiet, unassuming air in keeping with their name, Smallville have steadily built up an extraordinarily back catalog that features, among others, Move D & Benjamin Brunn, Sven Tasnadi and Sten. Celebrating five years of the record shop, Smallville now showcase these talents across four slabs of vinyl and eventually a CD entitled And Suddenly It’s Morning. The compilation’s title gives a clue to its intentions — music so entrancing it becomes possible to lose all sense of time, until the dawn light begins to seep through the blinds. This split, between Lowtec and Dimi Angélis with Jeroen Search, is the first installment, and fully delivers on that promise.

Dimi Angélis & Jeroen Search’s “Our Life With The Wave” is based on samples of the Waldorf Wave synth provided by Mike Huckaby’s excellent Octavio Paz-referencing project. Opening with a bounce reminiscent of early Speicher releases, this is much harder than usual Smallville fare. Yet the dubby echoes and cosy pads bring a familiar warmth and depth similar to others on the label, notably the mysterious DJ Swap. On the other side, Jens Kuhn aka Lowtec’s “Meandyou.dub” is a tribute to a Manchester based club-night that has played host to his own label Workshop. In the same way that last year Move D was rediscovered by a whole new audience, it seems that in 2009 Lowtec is receiving similarly overdue plaudits. This piece is another of his unusual recipes, throwing together a handful of ingredients to make a tasty whole: tart claps, Hammer Horror synths and creeping bass that should mark the start of many a party. One for early, one for late; both so bewitching the morning really will be unexpected.