Locked Groove - Keep It Simple

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  • After a sterling turn on Turbo, Tim Van de Meutter, AKA Locked Groove, returns to Hotflush with a further slice of shifting, restless techno. "Keep Running" is a little less glossy than Hotflush debut "Rooted," and like its title would suggest, it's a marathon. Favouring the same thick, brute textures as his Turbo work, "Keep Running" is all about the big clomping hunks of metal he calls drums, subtly morphing over a bouncy and overdriven bassline. Just when you think that's all there is to the track de Meutter throws in a pumping chord motif that sends things reeling into climax. With its leisurely yet insidiously epic pacing, "Keep Running" can't help remind me of Len Faki's "Rainbow Delta," another track that made peaktime pyrotechnics out of what seemed like simple, unassuming elements. The B-sides are simpler affairs, utilizing the same formidable grasp of texture and maximum impact as "Keep Running." "Aller Simple," with its persistent chord progression, is arguably even more melodic than the A-side, but its brutish breakbeat doesn't carry the same gliding momentum, while "Even" is a downcast thumb-twiddler that dips into the same deep house territory as "Change" on his first Hotflush EP. With a lead track that might be his best yet and two lesser but still competent tracks, Keep Running continues a strong year for the Belgian newcomer.
  • Tracklist
      A Keep Running B1 Aller Simple B2 Even
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