- Despite co-running Desolat for four years, Martin Buttrich has only just got round to releasing a single on the label. Happily, it's a cogent start—not jumping out as something particularly unique, but making up for any lack of inventiveness in its diamond-cut efficiency. "Rocket," for example, has among its numerous sounds a growling analogue sawtooth bass, slow almost-vocal pulsing and a pluck that creeps up and down and vibrates with granular delay. Despite a number of them coexisting at any given time, they're all clearly differentiated from each other in frequency and space. As a result, you have both the punchiness of tech house and the moodiness of deep house, without it sounding busy in the least.
There are hints of wooziness, and even more in "Magic Market," which is winding and intoned with Asian mystery. In contrast, "Fireball" is more jacking, with less melody but edgy electro FX instead. It's more unassuming than the rest, something that "20 Ways" takes further into something slithering and surreal. There's enough of a stamp on them all to keep them from falling into bland fodder territory. But the real stamp here is how cleanly they're executed.
Tracklist 01. 20 Ways
02. Fireball
03. Magic Market
04. Rocket