After last year's massive 26 Miles EP, Gavin Herlihy is back on Cadenza, and he comes bearing what can only be seen as an instant anthem. Remember those foam toys, the ones where you just had to add water, and they'd swell into wonderful, unexpected shapes? "Back Burner" is a lot like that, but no water needed: just a needle in the groove, or a laser across the aluminum, is enough to send this sucker ballooning to enormous proportions. It begins with a loop of standup bass and rippling cymbals. It's understated, even delicate, but right from the start there's something electrifying about the cadence. It's a rushing, skipping groove enlivened by a hint of a voice deep in the mix. And from there it only gets more intense. First there's an eerie, wordless vocal loop, a bluesy falsetto croon that sounds like a freight train barreling across open space. The
percussion digs in: meaty kick drum, flashing tambourines and a steady patter of hand drums. Tersely plucked funk guitar adds to the polyrhythmic flux, like sticky, elastic spiderwebs strung between the beats. And high, lonesome wildpitch strings break it all wide open, bringing a delicious sense of relief. It's huge: a spine-tingling, hair-raising, sex-and-laughter kind of rush. "Think" is just as powerful, but it courts a different kind of intensity. This time it's all about the hips, with a brute, half-speed bass line leading the way. Like classic Chicago house, this is raw, unvarnished stuff, with hard-edged congas, cowbells and hi-hats getting as nasty as they wanna be. There's a looped vocal—a cry of desire or pain, take your pick—that adds to the urgency, while plunging chords and trim analog synth leads add depth to the mix. It's hard to believe that something this insistent
could feel so soothing. More

After blazing a trail through all things House and Techno over the last year our favorite Irishman returns to the Kindisch sandbox with 3 funk-shoveling dance floor weapons. The last year has seen him contribute remixes and releases to an onslaught of respectable labels including the likes of Ben Watt's Buzzin' Fly, Sven Väth's Cocoon and Luciano's Cadenza. Ok, put your tongue back in your mouth and let the music wipe up that mess you just made on the floor. Hefty and hulking right from the beginning 'Tension, Release' is a carnal beast of heavyweight House. No 'girlie-man-back-in-bed-at-4 A.M'. House here. This is 'look-down-at-your-watch-say, "screw it" and-soldier-on-to-the-after-party' beats. Fully equipped with heavy artillery consisting of ray gun synthesizer effects, chanting vocals and warped clunking bells. This is a versatile and unique tool that will be applauded by DJ's from many different genres. 'Expression' is a testament to Gavin's sound. You can here his signature touch on the track right through the bubbling melodic bass line, finicky detail to sound design and his ability to effortlessly layer sounds. This is one of those tracks that has his mark all over it, proving he is not just following the pack. There is not too much that is random about 'The Random'. An upright guitar bass line are the backbone of this bad boy, but really what whisks you away and off your feet is the modulating filtered pads. Their simple melody spreads warmth and feeling like a fireplace in a chilled Norwegian hut. People like Gavin are why electronic music is moving forward. Technology has given us endless possibilities as well as the means to attain them. There is so much room to explore, and Herlihy is one of those people who are not afraid to put on the hard hat and jump in head first. He is definitely one to watch for the future, which is just fine with us.

More

When Cadenza invited Gavin Herlihy to come on board, he showed up on the label's Swiss doorstep with suitcases absolutely bursting at the seams—spilling over with rubbery bass lines, silvery percussion, and strange samples with a faded, postcard patina. (Also, two of the most evocative titles in recent memory.) Wherever the Irish-born, Berlin-based producer has been on his travels, it was clearly one hell of a journey. From the sound of "Underneath the Wind Machine," he must have made at least one stop on the Italian Riviera: the song's climax features a slow swell of mandolins that evoke the hot breeze ruffling dog-eared pages at a seaside café. But this isn't musical tourism. Herlihy takes his sweet time building things up, with dry electronic percussion shuddering in place beneath subtle synthesizer gusts; it's more than three minutes before the sound of a lone, plucked arpeggio can first be faintly heard, and then another, rising with a hummingbird's motion. The remainder of the track all but sweeps you off your feet, between the fantastical melody and a driving, housey groove. "Train Dodging," true to its title, is all about hijinks on a hairpin curve. Whereas Herlihy's productions can often be deeply melodic, this one pours all of its energy into a bounding, propulsive groove. Hi-hats, woodblocks, bells and bass trade syncopations, tumbling over one another in a breathless game of percussive leapfrog; fat, battered 909 snares push it all forward with martial riffing. The suggestion of a melody flashes by in scraps of sampled horns and voices, like blurred forms glimpsed from the passenger window as the train goes hurtling down the rails. It's a white-knuckled ride with a wide-eyed grin.
More

Gavin Herlihy has long been one of dance music's most respected journalists and DJs, and with two acclaimed releases on Mood Music last year and more recently a brace of top-drawer remixes for UNKLE and Alexkid, he's fast becoming one of its hottest producers. Freshly relocated to Berlin, his debut 12" for Kindisch, 'Opium Haze', confirms his status as a skilled and innovative player on the house and techno scene. 'Opium Haze' is as heady and intoxicating as its title implies; an effortlessly psychedelic piece of music that's nonetheless firmly rooted on the dancefloor. It begins with a clicky, funked-up conga tattoo cloaked in disorienting effects which partly obscure the jazzy melody rising up from the mix's depths. Out of that sticky, dubby fug emerges an insistent, upward-tripping piano line and synthesized string stabs - together forming the kind of rave-ready hook that'll cause immediate damage in the club. Herlihy is superbly heavy on the edit, using an Eastern woodwind sample, disembodied voices and various percussive elements to deliver build after build, drop after explosive drop. 'Opium Haze' is a hugely satisfying piece of music, and a club anthem-in-waiting. 'Professional Exit' is a more stripped-down but no less accomplished affair, driven by a warm, rippling bassline and phased electronics. Before the percussion intesifies and interlocks, offsetting a sparse one-note synth line which hangs in the air, thickening it with understated drama. At once seductive and unsettling, experimental and club-oriented, 'Professional Exit' is indeed a professional end to a highly professional 12".
More