John Starlight - Shadowbreaker

John Starlight, "Shadowbreaker (original)"

John Starlight, "Shadowbreaker (Boys Noize Remix No.1)

John Starlight, "Shadowbreaker (Boys Noize Remix No. 2)

Here's some huge electro-y madness for everyone to get back into the groove of things here. John Starlight is an alias of Zombie Nation, the better known project of Mr. Splank. He's a well-regarded techno producer and DJ, with releases on Kompact recently. If "Shadowbreaker" is an example of what techno sounds like today, then it's definitely not what I expected. This one reminds me of the "Acid Never Sleeps" jawn we upped last week, a minimal, bottom-heavy, echoing club track that doesn't really seem like it should be. The original version has this wonderful creakiness to it, literally, as it sounds in the beginning like a sample of a door opening. From there, you get a nice, acid-lite song that has great, heavy drums and a crackling bass that never detonates, sadly.

Boys Noize bring two remixes, not quite sure why, to be honest. It's the first one that kills, imo, as the German boys let the bass loose in the second half of the song. Having heard Dave P spin a few weekends ago, opening for MSTRKRFT, what made his set so amazing was the use of tension. That buildup of a minimal track, even extended a bassless interlude until the crowd was ready to go nuts and then BOOM! He would drop a huge bassline and things would go to the next level. Boys Noize have utilized that on the first remix to great effect, adding in some great synth, haunted house sounds along the way. Remix 2 isn't bad; in fact, it sounds a helluva lot like the first one, so I'm not really sure I understand the intent there.

-Completely unrelated to anything, but did everyone see this article about the prevalence of men on the "down low"? A study of New York City men pegged the number at almost 1 out of 10. Is this possible? Am I that naive to think that this number is incredibly high? I mean, what the fuck?

-I just wanted to say that it has been a full month without a drink! What a horrible experience, yikes! I don't think anyone realizes how essential alcohol is to social life and dating. But, with the help of my partner in crime MR, we did the damn thing. I'm going to keep going and try to do 2 months, as I think that the good effects are outweighing the awkwardness and diminished fun. Onward and upward, my dear readers.