out of the ashes of bristol’s caravan comes tanstaafl (there aint no such thing as a free lunch), the new label run by dj/producer october alongside his berlin brethren john osborn. caravan was a devilishly independent label that offered up the boss’ own twisted technoid concoctions as well as experimental disco from antoni maiovvi and the earliest offerings of tim green as tg. and, judging by this inaugural, release it seems tanstaafl will be just as individual.
it’s osborn who steps up – with some studio engineering help from october and a cameo from appleblim who provides the late appearing melody – with ‘epoch4’ and ‘epoch4 [version]’ getting the ball rolling. throughout its 8-minute length, the deconstructed house offering dips a toe into many different waters… from chattery chicago claps to deep detroit synths and a brooding sense of bristol bass, but everything is coated in a burnt analogue hue and brims with a loveable organic toughness.
nothing more is asked of you than to bask in the warmth and rawness of the spaces – large spaces – marked out by spraying synths, guttural kicks and diacritic cowbells. there’s no real groove to speak of; this track is more about suggesting what’s round the corner rather than ever showing you; more about control and restraint. the [version] is like the original but after a wee snuff – slightly crisper and rather more eager to be unleashed than its counterpart, but never does it break free, instead balancing finely on a knife edge. as a result, you want more; more from osborn, more from october, more from tanstaafl. i can’t wait.
[...] of a relic from his time as a dubstep dude way back when – and now runs tanstaafl with john osborn. having recently released on new brizzle label smorgasboard, his next outing will be on the [...]
[...] house music. the a-side and titular track is like a lost relative of john osborn’s recent ‘epoch’ workout on his own tanstaafl… all firm house frameworks, overtly snappy snares and warm, [...]
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