Nicole Moudaber ‘Where Shadows Lie’ EP (Intec Digital)
Moudaber’s renown as a DJ has centred on delivering blisteringly well drilled sets of house and techno, for the most part rolling rhythms and pummelling grooves inter shot with occasional bursts of melody – which is a neat snapshot of what’s on offer on this EP. The title track is so metallic from the off it strays dangerously close to monotony, only to erupt at tyhe breakdown into via a brilliantly sinister synth. The rest is a killer noir groove, well rewarding those with the patience to stick it to the four minute mark when this finally splurts into life.
The money shot though is the flip, the confusingly punctuated ‘Old Soul “Young But Not New”‘. Here the sense of foreboding is ratcheted to even more intense levels, the kind of bristling dark funk that comes under the harder spectrum of the genre’s over arching heavy hitters, Slam, Garnier and Craig among them. There’s an airport announcement, tablas and harsh pads adding to the intensity, before a breakdown Vangelis would be proud of hurtles in. Moudaber has been closing sets for Drumcode and talking this record up in the media for a few months and it’s easy to understand why – you can imagine this being an anthem for the final season Carl Cox gifts to Space. This is techno at it’s coldest best, and absolute monster of a record that sounds unbelievable over a huge system. Take a bow Nicole.
5 out of 5
Reviewed by Jimmy Coultas
