With only two official releases under their belt Audio Culture is making a name for itself as one of our go to labels for mutated garage and techno. Last December they kicked things off with “Sweat”, a sub rattling floor filler, from Presk and Cinnamon. Keeping in the duo spirit this time around they’ve tapped two of the UK’s finest up and comers, Hackman and Tessela. Hackman, who over the last few years has unleashed his brand of melodic house music on the world through Well Rounded and Pattern, is readying his debut album. Then there’s Tessela a name that popped up last year through his EP on All City and more recently through his Punch Drunk release “D Jane / Channel”. He’s also the man behind Truancy Volume 35. The results of their collaboration, “Now I’ve Lost My Number 4”, are two relentless tracks that look back at some darker garage of the last decade, but are still firmly rooted in the current underground scene.
Stream: Hackman & Tessela – Now I’ve Lost My Number 4 (Audio Culture)
The title track “Now I’ve Lost My Number 4” has a fair amount of tension and ambience in the intro, all of which readies you for a bassline on par with something from Untold. For the most part the bassline is what pushes the track although Hackman’s signature chopped samples make their way into it. The kitchen sink percussion that’s become a staple in Tessela’s recent material is present, but toned down quite a bit, in comparison to a track like “D Jane”. So think of an aggressive and physical bassline paired with intricate percussive elements. “Feel Like Loving Me” is in the same boat, it has a bottom end that has more in common, characteristically, with dubstep then anything else. In the background there’s the faint sound of hollowed out melodic stabs and its fair share of noisy and soundtrack-like effects. The standard glue, four-by-four kicks and typical hi hat arrangements, hold everything together. Since Presk was the first artist to release on Audio Culture it’s not all that surprising that he’s was tapped to remix “Feel Like Loving Me”. His mix has a bit more structure; it uses less of the wild bass and instead makes those hollow stabs the center of the track. In the end it becomes a very subdued track, which is a nice contrast to the original, considering how much movement there is in it.
Hackman and Tessela aren’t reinventing the wheel here; the bass music, techno hybrid has been doing its rounds for the last year or so, but this is a solid one off release from the duo. The elements work well and there’s no denying these will move bodies in a club near you (hopefully).
Hackman and Tessela’s Now I’ve Lost My Number 4 is out now on Audio Culture.
