Citizen Kain – About

A nice easy one to review this, cos there's only two mixes, and it's quite a simple kinda track. But sometimes the simple ideas are the best.

In this case, the simple idea Citizen Kaid had was to take vocal samples saying "it's all about the music" and "house", then chop and loop 'em up over a no-nonsense, heads-down club chugger of a backing, notable mostly for its looping bassline and stabs that sound like a digitally distorted trumpet. And it works, big time – it's hard to imagine any halfway-decent club floor not rockin' to this.

Label boss DJ Fresh supplies a rerub on the flip that's essentially the same but with slightly busier, more techno-y percussion, some extra rising synths and a breakdown in the middle. Either's good*.

It is, indeed, all about house.

Out: Today

About: As I just said "label owner DJ Fresh," you've surely already twigged that this comes on French label Freshin Records. They're on Soundbook and Cloudface, don't you know?

*If REALLY pushed I'll go for the sparser, housier original but like I said, either's good.

Da Fresh – Mind Funk'd

I'm not a big techno man, as you know… but it is nice to get some decent techno on TIWWD every so often and this is definitely decent techno.

Mind Funk'd comes from Freshin Records label boss Da Fresh, and there's just two of his own mixes to choose from. The Original Mix uses driving but quite house-y 4/4s as the basis for a nagging, off-beat bleeping synth hook, topped off with various other FX and sci-fi stabs for good measure, while on the Dub, things get even more sparse n' stripped, taking us to the fringes of 'minimal' territory but still with that head-frying synth in full effect.

A techno club groover that's got enough energy and enough unique charm to potentially win it friends outside of techno circles as well.

Out: Today

About: Freshin, a French label specialising mostly in techno and tech-house, can be found here, here and here (website, Facebook, Soundcloud)