FaltyDL – Hardcourage b/w Our House Stab (Ninja Tune/ August 20 2012)

By Maya Kalev

Drew Lustman, like Aaron Funk, is one of those producers whose name is so good you wonder why they come up with a musical moniker. Nevertheless, this producer has decided to go by the name of FaltyDL, and since his stellar debut album Love is a Liability on Planet Mu all the way back in 2009, he’s honed his sound from what was essentially an Americanised version of UK garage to the multifarious, eclectic style of his new release on Ninja Tune, ‘Hardcourage / Our House Stab’.

FaltyDL applies his disparate influences and incredible production skills to create music that is at once nostalgic yet perfectly modern. These two tight dancefloor tracks are no exception, delighting with their technical finesse and complexity. ‘Hardcourage’ starts off with warped, pitch-shifted vocals and a simple enough 4/4 kick. These give way to a deep groove and footwork-inspired polyrhythms in a track that nods to dub and jazz influences while remaining eminently danceable.

‘Our House Stab’, at a similar tempo, begins a little lugubriously, with more than a touch of Burial-esque night-bus gloom. Yet this too gives way to a dancefloor track proper, with a distorted female vocal sample, a snare straight out of classic jungle records and a funky stab – the track title is refreshingly un-opaque – that screams ‘rave’ yet doesn’t detract from the murky atmospheres that make the A and B sides cohere wonderfully.

The 12” and digital version are both out now on Ninja Tune.