- Highgrade is a tech house label. Tech house might not the most lauded of musical forms, consisting by and large of functional tracks with one thing on their mind: keeping the groove locked, hypnotic and danceable. Highgrade does it in spades, with release after release that always manage to keep things funky.
Anthony Collins is from Paris, not exactly a tech house stronghold, but he's cut from a slightly different cloth to his brethren. His first outing on Highgrade doesn't necessarily bring anything new to the table, but you can't argue when it's this well arranged. In its original form, 'Cannibale' pushes all the right buttons. A simple melody sits on top of a rolling bassline with nice attention to detail, surrounded by subtle sonics that ebb and flow with a lightness of touch. More deftly layered than a black forest gateau and twice as tasty.
The Tom Clarke and Daniel Dreier remix respects the original by doing very little. It's almost as if they took out the glitches and subtleties because they knew that if they removed anything else they would have to improve on it – a difficult task. It feels more cavernous than the original, but it lacks warmth.
'Bla Bla Bla' is an interesting flipside to 'Cannibale' with a Detroit-inspired ambience. There's a rawness to it, but it still comes across as very polished, gaining a shrewd momentum that just stops short of pandemonium when you least expect it.
All three tracks are very playable and well-produced, and overall this is an accomplished release that bodes well for the future.
TracklistA Cannibale
B1 Cannibale (Tom Clark & Daniel Dreier Rmx)
B2 Bla Bla Bla