[Get The Curse Music]

Clement Meyer is somewhat of the youthful upstart. Emerging back in 2007 through Get The Curse, his influential electronic music blog focused on dirty house and electro, he’s seen his stock rise quicker than eco-energy. First earning a residency at hipster Parisian haunt Social Club, he’s since become an associate (and eventual co-owner) of Fondation Records with Danton Eeprom, lined up residencies at East London’s T Bar, and released the double A side Get The Curse on Seinan Music with apparent partner in crime Olibusta. Now he’s launched the Get the Curse Records imprint and begun its tenor with his own Midnight Madness EP. It’s not that this type of rise is unusual in the slightest, with cats such as Fredski from Tartlet Records, or fellow Social Club resident and infamous blogger for Fluokids, Casper C rising in a similar fashion. However, unlike some of his contemporaries, Clement’s music has a maturity that seems to reflect more than his age.

Take this EP for example. The title track has something of a timely and dark electro-house feel to it circa Tiefschwarz’ “Issst.” Building with precision from a tight, stab heavy groove and what sound like creepy castanets, we’re introduced to the track’s motif circular horror strings dipping in and out of the mix. It’s a strong utilitarian dance floor track that one would imagine being an ideal accompaniment to Superpitcher’s hair raising “Lick The Pipe” on Kompakt. All slightly irritating frequencies which are both body moving and unnerving in equal amounts. Olibusta’s remix is also noteworthy. Subtracting the electro elements, Olibusta begins with a more percussive take on stripped back tech-house, sounding surprisingly similar to Gui Boratto’s earlier work. Initially concentrating on the incredibly sparing use of synths to interject the groove, he then goes into a strangely eerie Detroit techno lean using an effect-ridden Rhodes A-line.

Dublin-born, Berlin-based producer Sian brings a little Berlin to the table with a bounce heavy loop fest on his remix of B-side “A Bucket Of Blood.” Chunky bass lines, subterranean rising bleeps and sonar pings rule the day. As one would expect, it’s tightly produced, but a little disappointing when compared with his recent tracks such as “Apple Tree” on Aus Music or the killer “Byzantine Conduit” on his own Octopus Recordings. Last comes Clement’s original “A Bucket Of Blood,” which continues on the horror tip, this time firing frequencies of almost irritating alarms while layering urgent flat whines atop staccato subbass. Like “Midnight Madness,” it’s practically forcing one to move through a sense of discomfort. Whether this is the ideal strategy for the dance floor is questionable, though considering his rather swift succession of successes and the conceptual tightness of the record, I imagine he knows what he’s doing.