Jennifer Cardini looks set to top a special 2016 for her Correspondant label with an EP from shadowy German duo Die Wild Jagd.
As per usual, Cardini’s label does not define, or even confine, itself to the constraints of just one style or genre – for the first EP of 2017, the focus is on bludgeoning, heart of darkness techno coming straight from an analogue bunker, buried deep inside Berlin’s rich musical landscape.
The EP opens up with title track ‘Geisterfahrer’ – or ghost driver – and sticks to its namesake of going against the grain with notable force and rhythmic power. a slow rhythm is juxtaposed with a pulsing synth melody, parping and spluttering over cymbal crashes and echoing, distant FX creating an impending sense of foreboding in the distance.
‘Drachenfels’, named after a hill on the German mainland. Said to have been formed by layers of mounting magma that could not break through the surface. As such, the track progressively builds up, ripple by ripple as a slow, chuggy bassline begins to unfold tentatively, as the flow of rhythm begins to thicken and the depth of the background effects begin to go ever deeper, before beats finally kick in around half way through the track.
Finally, noise rockers turned industrial disco fiends ‘Factory Floor’ take a break from their usual endeavours to remix the title track. Bringing a more electro-tinged, rigid and sturdy beat into the mix, the DFA signings’ clapping 909 drums punch holes through a thick layer of sub loaded bass. Dubbed out drums and swooshing, mechanical stabs puncture the plain as a biting groove starts to unfold. A brilliant end to a rather left-leaning EP.
Die Wilde Jagd – Geisterfahrer (Correspondant) is already available to buy here.