David Labeij - Ode To The P
Written by Youri Jozee
EP Review - Dutch live-act/producer and member of the respected Polder outfit David Labeij returns with a brand new EP on 2000 and One's Remote Area imprint. Here's what we think.
David is often labeled as one of the hottest names in 'Amsterdam house & techno, a somewhat questionable name given to the fuse of minimal, house and techno that is currently dominating the city. But let's not loose ourselves in end -and pointless discussions on tagging here: it's the music that matters. The Ode To The P EP features three tracks. First up is the title track that sounds like a fusion between Chicago house and Steve Bug-ish beats. The track takes its time to build up, which makes the first half a bit of a looped affair, but the climax luckily features some nice pianos and bass to make the whole thing worthwile. A job well done.
Old Dreams on the flipside sounds like one of 2000 And One's tunes, merging oldschool house vibes to uptempo minimal techno elements. The buzz saw in the middlepart and the bass melody riddle near the end sound pretty sweet, but the samples and track structure make the overall a bit too middle-of-the-road to stand out.
The digital version of the EP comes with an extra tracks titled Capture, a midtempo, somewhat dubby affair that has a nice summer ring to it. The tune revolves around a flanged synth melody that sounds a bit too dissonant at some points and also lacks the dynamics to stay fresh. Sad to see a promising track resulting in lame looping.
Final verdict: We've heard much better stuff David Labeij over the past few years. Although the tracks are marked by a solid overall production, their structures and patterns are simply too much blah-blah to convince. This makes the Ode To The P EP nothing more than an ordinary EP. Let's hope we can expect some more exciting stuff soon.
Rating: 6.0/10
Label: Remote Area
Release date: July 21st, 2010
Tracklist:
1. Ode To The P
2. Old Dreams
3. Capture (Digital release only)
