Three-one-three area legend Blake Baxter, the Prince of Techno, is not stuck in the past, if we may think so because of his reissues for Mint Condition. Recently he has produced new tracks for Killekill, and Baxter’s latest appearance comes on Four313, a new label from Detroit. He shares the split EP with Thomas Barnett, another seasoned artist from Motor City who once co-wrote Rhythim Is Rhythim classic “Nude Photo” and later set up a label called Visillusion.
Baxter’s sensual voice is spreading the message of eternal love in “Agape”, a velvety deep house tune for filling a day with joy, while “Let’s Get It Started” is pretty hawkish compared to the previous, a pumping chord-driven jam for shaking up the floor. The flipside celebrates Barnett’s comeback, who opens with stimulating bassline in tranquil Detroit tune “Mandela Effect (Groove Slave Mix)”, and stages fireworks of synth leads in pumping and grooving “Magnetofunk”. Decent club material from the two, packed into the sleeve with appealing monochrome design.
Points: 8 of 10
Buy vinyl from Juno (UK)
Buy vinyl from HHV (DE)
Buy vinyl from Rush Hour (NL)