- Former Dissident honcho Andy Blake told RA's Will Lynch this past January that we could expect a 12-inch per month from In Plain Sight, his fledgling house imprint. If he's running a touch behind, we'll forgive him: three releases by the summer ain't bad for any label, and the latest, from Cambridge producer (and, full disclosure, occasional RA contributor) Semtek, has enough ambition for a handful of EPs. The driving "Couer De Lyon" fits the label's remit perfectly, its crisp hi-hats pushing classic deep house chords over bumpy vocal samples. It's got a dirty groove with plenty of space for fancy footwork, but I wonder if Semtek could have benefitted from throwing just a bit more grit into his squeaky-clean sounds.
"Beauford" is a different animal altogether. Thirteen-and-a-half minutes long and far less expansive rhythmically than its counterpart, Semtek's big B-side takes things to a decidedly techno place (though more of the sort practiced by John Daly in his early days than what you'd hear at Berghain). Mysterious and pitch-black, its rare flashes of color really snap the dance into focus, more than proving the worth of its extended runtime.
Tracklist A Couer De Lyon
B Beaufort