Todd Hutlock: South African producer Berry made a big splash in 2006 with three twelves (and a remix single with takes by Dominik Eulberg and Gabriel Ananda) and a download-only EP, but it was this, his debut release, that still sounds the strongest to these ears. On “Fillertet 2,” a series of rhythmic typewriters, ticks, phasers, and God knows what else assemble themselves into marching formation and bubble and twitch their way into your synapses and feet simultaneously, until suddenly your needle starts to buzz and malfunction. Is there a short in your cartridge? No, but the buzz keeps growing and growing, flitting between the speakers, increasing in frequency and fluttering to a gentle landing, leaving you breathless. By the time the break is over and the beat comes back in, you’ll be a sweaty pile of nothing on the floor. Gawd-DAMN! On the flip, “Polytet 3” is a similar sort of twitchy boogie with charms all its own, the buzz replaced by a steady, sinister hum and a shuffling static burn, but the dynamic on the A is what will keep you coming back for more and positively wrecking any dancefloor that can stand it. One of the best cuts of 2006, cursed by being released the first week of January in a genre that turns over faster and faster every year.

Todd Burns: Something changes halfway through Shane Berry’s “Fillertet 2.” A vacuuming nearly all-encompassing static takes over the track and begins to fill all available space. It then eventually envelopes the casual beat and melody to the point that they fade away and disappear and are replaced by a deep bass tone, only to return after the static has completely washed away any memory of the opening two minutes of the track. It’s an amazing trick, but one that makes me wish the entire song had been composed of it. That same static menaces at the edges of “Polytet 3” and then once again takes center stage halfway through in a similar fashion, riding, this time, at the periphery. The static takes a backseat on Berry’s second 12” for the label, released in March 2006, but remains a part of each piece in some way: on “Sigh” it adds color to the edges of each snare hit. It’s an odd affect, one that doesn’t always work (“For a Moment” seems like a retread)—but when it does, like on “Fillertet 2,” it adds a sort of millennial dread that works wonders on the decks.

Trapez Ltd 040 / 042
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