MAXXRELAX DANCE FLOOR 12inch SELECTION - FEBRUARY 05 -

SELECTED BY : MAXXRELAX

01. System 7: Planet 7 (A-wave)

System 7 sample Sander Kleinberg's 'My Lexicon' which James Holden duly remixes into a mid-paced dance floor killer. Holden, using the bare essentials and building a huge track around the killer riff, slowly builds the track around growling pads and dub effects over a simple but effective clicky rhythm. Great to see a producer from the progressive camp opening-up his production style with recent releases on his own label, Border Community, and Crosstown Rebels. On the flip, Son Kite delivers a trademark progressive trance remix.

02. Jeremy P. Caulfield: Cavalcade EP (Kompakt)

Jeremy P Caulfield delivers a driving tech-house track with 'Swaggersaw' which gets top marks with its dubby production and excellent programming. Guaranteed for serious dance floor action. On the flip, 'Grotbox' build around a harder techno loop and a growling synth melody to great effect for some serious machine funk and robot dancing. Both tracks make great use of the gritty sounds Caulfield is getting a name for. Very impressive.

03. Furry Freaks: Mixed Messages EP (Miso)

Charles Webster unleashes a couple more gorgeous tracks on his Miso label. 'Lament for a Dead Computer 1' opens up with soft electro synths which combine with rising eastern melodies before locking onto a typically beautiful micro-house beat. 'Lament for a Dead Computer II' uses a more typical house drum-loop with the floating bass-lines and the first two tracks hint towards a new techier direction for Charles in line with his already classic remix of Justin Martin's 'Sad Piano' released on Buzzin' Fly last year. My pick of the EP is the last track, 'Tearful', with its funky guitar lick, pulsing rhythms and classic house melodies. Beautiful morning music.

04. M83: Run into Flowers (Goom)

A bit late to be reviewing this single from M83's last album 'Dead Cities, Red Cities and Lost Ghosts' (the new album should be out by the time you read this) but this is essential and deserving a review. Jackson turns in a massive remix of the My Bloody Valentine-esque original suggesting the French producer is destined for bigger and better things. The beautiful synths melody is used to dramatic effect over a squelching break beat whilst micro samples from the original are sprinkled around to great effect. Emotive Machine music of the highest order.

05. Run Jeremy: Windowlicker Edits (Lickit)

The mysterious Run Jeremy turns in two killer 4/4 edits of Aphex Twin's twisted classic 'Windowlicker' doing just about enough (and not too much) to ensure an essential release. Go get.

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Maxxrelax Profile

Max has been playing at outdoor festivals, clubs and fashion shows since 1997 including appearances with artists spanning a wide range of electronic music such as A Guy called Gerald (K7), Mike Maguire (Juno Reactor), Why Sheep? (Third-ear), Kaito (Kompakt), Eye (Boordoms), Infusion (Marine Parade), Circulation and the Space-djz (Novamute). He has been involved in organising events from free parties in the Black Mountains (Wales) to Sputnik (www.sputnik.ac) events at Club Air, Tokyo. After hooking up with the Tripster crew he has been involved in the Sputnik Magazine, Sputnik Beach and the legendary Psychedelic Garage (www.psychedlicgarage.com) warehouse parties in Tokyo.

During his DJ career, Max has played in countries spanning the globe including the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Italy, South America, South East Asia and the US. Since the latter half of 2003, Max has been concentrating his time on music production, playing less regularly and trying in order to develop his skills in the studio. In light of this change in focus, he Djs much less regularly although Max still finds time to play at special events including the first Polish Techno Parade in Wrocklaw (Poland) (www.parade.pl) as well as events in Lisbon, Berlin and London in 2004. He will also be returning to his native Japan for a few gigs in and around the Tripster Bus (www.tripsters.net) and elsewhere in August 2004.

Max also runs a show on internet radio (www.samurai.fm) through which he showcases friends as well as artists he respects. Since starting the show, Max has showcases guest mixes from a variety of artists including MixmasterMorris, A Guy Called Gerald, Charles Webster, Chicken Lips, The Bays and Benbencula Records, as well as his own radio and club mixes.