Browse by Artist: MARK E

Artist:	MARK E
Title:	Codsall Juniors
Label:	ENDLESS FLIGHT (JAPAN)
Format:	12"
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	EF 017EP

After his gorgeous releases for Running Back and Internasjonal, Birmingham-based Mark E is the hottest nu-disco artist at the moment, and here he delivers two razor-sharp tracks cut just for the floor. You might recognize the A-side's "Codsall Juniors" from KZA and Toshiya Kawasaki's solid mix for Endless Flight's I'm Starting To Feel Okay Vol. 3 CD. What does the E in his name stand for? If this 12" is any indication, the word is "ecstasy."

Artist:	MARK E
Title:	Stone Breaker
Label:	SPECTRAL SOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	SPC 103CD

This is the debut album by prolific UK music producer Mark E. The album format doesn't lend itself to four-on-the-floor electronic dance music. There's no recreation of the seamless, intoxicating thrill one finds in a night out dancing, and less savvy folk might find the idea of listening to an hour's worth of repetitive, 7-minute+, machine music to be, frankly, boring. But they probably haven't listened to Mark E's Stone Breaker, which is riveting in its primal simplicity. From the opening, gut-punching kick drums of "Archway" through the ecstatic triplets of closer "The Day," Stone Breaker means business. It's a record of pace and determination, full of classic house touchstones and steady, almost militant tempos, a reminder that electronic dance music is supposed to be forceful, if not altogether mean. Not once does it break its step or err from its course -- it owns you, your body, and your mind from beginning to end. Of course, it wasn't supposed to be an album. When Wolverhampton-reared, Birmingham-based Mark found himself with some free time in mid-2010, he hit a stride in his productions, and an assortment of tracks that could have easily wound up on various 12"s started to pile up. Almost by accident, Stone Breaker came into existence, full of confident, darkroom house that owes as much to Chicago as it does to the cosmos. Percussion-wise, there's not much diversity here, but that's really the point: bombarding your inner cranium with hypnotic, earthquaking acid loops, their hi-hats and snares sounding more like weaponry than musical instruments. But, there's also plenty of warmth -- buoyant, spine-tickling jazz chords, floaty, staring-at-the sun disco dances and static-y, soul-drenched curveballs, all of which elevate Stone Breaker from a great set of DJ tracks to a great set of tracks for anyone, anywhere.

Artist:	MARK E
Title:	The Day
Label:	SPECTRAL SOUND
Format:	12"
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	SPC 105EP

Pitching things down to a basement lounge floor crawl, the Midlands DJ/producer Mark E wraps his always-chugging kicks and snares in serpentine synth-bass, jazzy, tripleted hi-hats, and moaning, wordless soul vocals. "Special FX" will have sample hounds -- particularly those with a thing for classic electro-pop -- salivating. Prins Thomas shows up on the flip for an 11-minute revamp of "The Day," ending up with something that could have emanated from a Camaro at some point in the early '70s.

Artist:	MARK E
Title:	Oranges
Label:	SPECTRAL SOUND
Format:	12"
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	SPC 107EP

The magic of classic house music has always been in the way it finds a soul in the machine, the warm organic sounds from cold circuitry. And tracks don't come much warmer or more organic than "Oranges," a glorious eight-minute slow-burner that's the second single from Mark E's 2011 release Stone Breaker (SPC 103CD/LP). The "Space Dub" version on the flipside is a Lindstrøm-esque reworking that transports the track through space on a wash of lambent fuzz-toned synths.

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