In this week’s cut we and Filter Musikk highlight four new records by Danish artist and Help Recordings man Central
“Limiting oneself at the beginning will have you thinking in a certain confined direction and bring up a lot of uncertainties. I start working by eliminating any concepts or ideas, and just focus on what comes out.“ Back in 2019, when Central (Natal Zaks) sat down to talk to us on a sunny afternoon in Oslo, he could have easily capitalised on a momentum that saw him courting the likes of Dekmantel.
The in-demand producer and DJ from Århus in Denmark had enjoyed a phenomenal trajectory early on based on his first releases, but instead of pandering to the masses, his focus turned inward consolidating what was already there and establishing an artistic sincerity and authenticity that few can claim in the world electronic music intended for clubs.
After over a decade, Central (including the various aliases) has become a name you can trust in any record shelf. Through his label Help Recordings, he has become known for his consistently good releases, facilitated by his own label. Whether delving deep beyond House music’s borders as Central or glistening in the balearic hue of a mediterranean sunset as Tineman, there’s an understated integrity to every release from the artist.
From EP’s and cassettes to his debut LP Om Dans, Central has delivered each time in his unique way, setting a distinctive tone with each while consolidating his musical portfolio. It’s something record enthusiasts flock to, and always something that although contemporary lives out of its own time.
Often only available on the vinyl format and in rare numbers Central’s records, especially on Help Recordings are distinctive contributions to any record collection. Filter Musikk has long been singing the praises of Central and his work, and new records often take pride and place in the shelves of Filter. With a shipment of new and represses arriving at the Oslo record store this week, Roland Lifjell and Sverre Brand pick through some of the latest additions from this catalogue for the latest Cut with Filter Musikk.
*Catch Roland Lifjell at Jaeger this Friday
The tile track is a perfect example of Central’s sound. Keys that cut deep and stoic rhythm patterns always lay the foundation for something less than rudimentary. It all builds to a bubbly exchange between two melodic refrains that chirp alongside a sonic atmosphere redolent of a summer day.
If this is Central’s idea of life it certainly sounds like a good life, with 4 tracks stepping in the same ebullient step. The music lives somewhere between Daft Punk and Gil’bert with Central putting his own unique twist on the more uplifting regions of House music.
There’s always something a little off-kilter there like the doubling up of hi hats that sound like they are just about to go out of sync on Even and Footmix or the erratic arrangement of Livet. The unexpected is never too far from a Central track, without dropping off completely over the left-edge.
Picture indulges Central’s more Techno leaning inclinations. The alias is often harder, faster, more repetitive and at times wonkier, delving into everything from ambient soundscapes to ghetto tech.
Soft Rock is an obvious misnomer; rigid percussive workouts and clanking metallic designs imparts anything but soft. Even the ambient introduction of Iridescent conveys a sense of uncomfortable anticipation like a continuous moment of tension in a thriller film.
Sonically it’s never far from the main moniker’s sound, but being more concise and more repetitive with a harder slant, it’s more impulsive, impetuous and physically engaging.
From the unexpected to more of what we know from Central. More of the Deep solid foundations, built from the foundations of House, expedited through the sounds of synthesisers rather than samples.
Plask finds the producer on a progressive slant with elements whiling away the time in ascetic sonic expressions. Introverted to the point of psychedelia at times, pads and keys swirl in some miasmic drain hole that never quite resolves. It carries the listener on wave after wave, determined by the relentless pulse of the tracks.
On Jackfruit, the whispers of a vocal sample haunt the fringes of the track, but like everything else it falls into fathomless abstraction. It features the same devices from Livet where two sets of hi-hats phase out of sync on occasion giving the record, much like Livet and otherworldly feel.
In the fourth 12” released in the same month from the same artist one would expect to see a pattern emerge in these tracks, but banana throws you completely off-guard, even in the context of the other Picture track. From the more perfunctory designs of Soft Rock, Banana sounds like a left-field experimental record, but it’s still firmly rooted in Central’s approach to Techno.
Percussive elements chug and push at the conformities of a traditional 4/4 while brooding atmospheres strike an unnerving chord.
Sea is the only track where percussion, and especially the kick dominates again and the closest the artist gets to the sound of Soft-Rock, where energy and the pulse of the dance floor remain the first thought.
It’s impressive in the context of all 4 records that Central can be found moving between vastly different sounds, tempos and genres and yet retain something uniquely his. For an artist this productive it’s easy to fall into tropes especially when working on records so close in time, but Central manages to avoid it all and gives us four records that both consolidates and expands his repertoire as an artist.