Shlomi Aber - Chicago Days / Detroit Nights

Written by the B&B Crew

Shlomi Aber has been delivering a series of ace cuts on labels such as Cocoon, R&S and Renaissance over the past few years and he's now about to drop his second album Chicago Days/Detroit Nights on Josh Wink's Ovum Recordings. Here's the full analysis.





The new album reflects the Tel Aviv-native passion for all things house and techno, but also refers to minimal, jazz, and even contains bits of acid. The result is a very diverse and warm album that mixes Shlomi's signature melodic minimal house grooves to a sound that's based upon the tunes from way back in the day, when beats from Detroit, Chicago and New York ruled the airwaves. To get to such a crossover sound isn't easy, but we must say that Shlomi has squeezed out a very balanced album that definitely lives up to its name (which is hardly a surprise if you know that the man's been crafting cuts for over 12 years now).

It's got all the classic elements (909-style rimshots, cymbals, grooves that seem to last for ages...), but then in a 2010's cover, so to say. Take Tap Order for instance. This one packs a nasty New York house rhythm sprinkled with chunky drums, while the menacing Groove Mechanism relies more on early 2000s European techno. Slow Dancer, a tune that's capable of making the whole floor smile at once, adds some quirky, very vivid house with minimal elements to the album, but the tune that really does it for me is the heavy, soaring Black Funk Hi, which is a very repetitive techno funker based on a cool vocal snippet and downright evil hi-hatting.          

So, any weak points as well? Very few. Each tune on the album is very well produced and it's hard to detect any flaws. Although the album itself can be described as a melting pot of 20 years of house and techno, the result is actually very consistent and highly adventurous.

Our verdict:
Shlomi's second album is one lots of DJs would sign for on the spot. Sound wise it's not too original (tunes that blend oldschool to newschool sounds are being released by the dozen), but the warm, playful and melodic vibes that Shlomi brings to the fore are irresistible. Recommended for the house and techno minded.

Rating: 7.7/10
Label: Ovum Recordings
Release date: September 27th, 2010

Tracklist:
1. Taped and Gorgeous
2. Tap Order
3. Groove Mechanism
4. New York Dreamer
5. Slow Dancer
6. Sketches (Shlomi Aber Vesion) Feat. Kenny Larkin
7. Black Funk Hi
8. Propaganda
9. Create Balance
10. Basic Roots

Check out Shlomi Aber's discography on iTunes

← Fabric54 - Damian Lazarus		Gilles Peterson: Worldwide →

Tweet