Review: Legwork – Buckshot Ep

Four varied tracks of dancefloor techno as serious as it is skippy. The synth hook of opener Buckshot slithers round the ticking hi-hats like an 8 bit anaconda. It's funky like proper Detroit techno is funky, melodic without being trite, and hard without being harsh. All in all, a fine way to kick things off. The remix from San Francisco's Matrixxman follows. He ups the tempo and burrows further into the groove, taking Buckshot into Jeff Mills territory, tighter, darker, but no less funky. 

Flip side Mean 2 Me is built around a yearning female soul vocal that could easily grace a chart bound shuffler from the Black Butter camp. Thankfully there's not a tired Korg M1 bassline to be heard, and the duo opt to keep things spartan, leaving the majority of the track as the vocal line rolling round heavy, floor filling kick drums. It's elegant in it's simplicity, and a quite different prospect to the deeper techno of the A Side. Final cut Key 2 Me introduces some jacking Dance Mania-esque stabs to the mix, a cheeky house number to round things off. It's rare to get an EP where you get four tracks with not a duffer amongst them, but Legwork have pulled it off. Out on Legwork Records (where you can hear some snippets) on September 14th, and well worth a look.