Jochem Paap, Rotterdam based DJ has released another album, "Loudboxer." It is accompanied, on the vinyl version, by an album of "locked grooves." I must admit to wondering what a locked groove was. I popped the album on and sat back. "Thump, thump, bang bang" went the track. "Thump, thump, bang bang" it continued.
After "Thump, thump, bang bang" ad infinitum I began to wonder if I was missing something. It was at this point I realised in my naivity what a locked groove was. The needle hadn't moved from beyond the first groove in the vinyl. This is presumably useful if you are a DJ, looking to steal sounds, and as such, is a very generous move from Jochem, allowing easy access to his sounds. The album itself is a tad repetitive for these ears, although I'm sure techno heads would have a field day.
However, taking the tracks individually, they do have an appealingly spooky ambience to them, with echoey synth noises backed with pounding drums and unusual samples. Track 1, "Re-enter", especially sounds interesting, although the next few tracks are more or less re-mixes or re-interpretations of this.
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The latter half of the album doesn't really appeal to me at least, being too much of the bangin', hands in the air techno which has never really appealed. However, if that's your (record) bag then this will be for you, and judging by the sampled cheering on the album, this sort of stuff goes down well in the right clubs. It is perhaps a little intense but then I suppose that's the point. Suddenly I feel very old... (4/10)
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