- Crisp and quirky club tracks from Frankfurt.
- By the time the Frankfurt-based label OSMAN released its first record in 2018, there was already a sense that producers in the area had developed a specific sound: colourful, jacking, crisp and quirky. There's a lot of cross-pollination between the local constituents—OSMAN's latest comes from Martyné, cofounder of the trendsetting Traffic label—which adds to the impression that there's an overall stylistic tendency uniting the music scene there. OSMAN's niche so far seems to involve higher doses of electro, breakbeat and UK bass, and that's what Martyné delivers on SFX|EFX.
Martyné is the type of producer who can assimilate a wide range of influences into his vision. His touch is always apparent in his choice of drums, vocal samples and tonal sounds, whether he's working with 2-step elements on a record for Traffic or trance-inducing, interlocking melodies on a GOSU 12-inch. On SFX|EFX, his voice manifests in the offbeat-accenting bassline and flangey hats on "Make My Day," the wonky synth emissions on "Efx L Sfx" and the matter-of-fact female vocal on "Loopy Schneider." There's a touch more rudeboy energy at work here compared to crystal-clean records like Deathstar or TP Project, particularly in the grimey wobble bass tones on the breakbeat-electro hybrid "Loopy Schneider" and the bassline-tinged "Efx L Sfx." Martyné's ability to bend styles toward his own makes his output not just reliable, but remarkable.
TracklistA1 Loopy Schneider
B1 Make my Day
B2 EFX l SFX