If Phace and Misanthrop had learned to play drums and guitar in their youth they probably would have ended up in just another Stoner Rock venture that’s about as necessary as there are still notes to discover in a good old minor pentatonic. Well, probably. Yet with the two barricading behind tons of abstract electronic equipment and shrouded in a veil of 80s nostalgia, madness and saturation, they continue their march on the forefront of modern electronic music with yet another two banging examples of heart-warming, belly-caressing dancefloor overloads.
The first thing that springs to mind with their first collaborative single after the much and righteously acclaimed Motor EP is the genuine simplicity with which they encapsulate their inherent criticism: Sex Sells is definitely not a marketing gag to raise sales, and the apparent cheapnis of the artwork doesn’t strike me as accidental either. However, as we approach the song it quickly becomes clear that the most philosophical of all the dnb acts does not refrain from dirt, and I mean dirt on all possible layers: Sex Sells is as filthy a track as it is a promise, laden with wild frequencies, nasty overtones and so much testosterone it becomes challenging at times to see the twinkle in the eye. I love it.
On the flip we find the long-awaited Nordwand, and anyone who has seen them recently is likely to experience convulsions of rapture as they relive the heavy steps in the snow that led them to the experience the tune (and often the set it started) beholds: a montane utopia of bass frenzy unfolds as a sleigh ride with the avalanche, and the sublime sense of height will even please the mountain-spoilt Austrian – and in fact even render him helpless with a profound sense of vertigo. So pack your snow shoes, head on over to their site and get the tunes while sex is still selling.
Phace & Misanthrop – Sex Sells / Nordwand (Neosignla Recordings)
