Hardfloor 'Two Guys Three Boxes' - A Music Review

It's no secret I'm a fan of electronic music, and one of the things that keeps me going with this daily dose of electro dope blog is a love of music; the chance to constantly discover new artists to listen to. But there's nothing that excites me more as a fan of music than 'event' albums. What's an event album? It can be a dope compilation that marks the evolution of a sound moving forward, a new artist that creates an incredible long player, or respected artists who continue to come correct with the dope goods, even years after their first foray in the scene. Artist's such as Underworld, Chemical Brothers, and the legendary German duo of Hardfloor  come to mind. When I first got word of new Hardfloor material for 2010, my ears pricked up immediately. When I found out it would also include collaborations with vaunted electro producer E.R.P, I knew it would be a wrap. Back in March of 2009, I'd done an electro showcase mix for the Vocode Project that had a Hardfloor remix by E.R.P that blew me away - the incredible acid sound of Hardfloor set to deep melancholy electro, a track that built and built, with each twist of the silver knobs it brought out more levels of funk, more levels of finesse... back in the early 90's they used to call Harthouse records 'Liquid Monster Trance'.. this was liquid monster acid funk on a totally different level. With "Two Guys Three Boxes", Hardfloor nails it. From the opening acid riffs of 'Mesmerizing Liquids', the playful grooves of 'In Acid We Trust' all the way to the tip-of-the-hat to the harthouse years of 'TB Or Not TB', each of these tracks not only intensifies the kopfnicken factor, but is also absolutely uniquely Hardfloor in its sound. Producers worldwide have been using the silver box for over 3 decades now, but there's only a few artists in the game that have been able to create their own unique and identifiable acid sound with it. Hardfloor is one of them, and still on top of their game. You know how Hendrix made those guitars scream in only the way he knew how? The Hardfloor boys do the same with the TB-303. Wrapping up this most stellar of LP's are the two collaboration tracks with E.R.P. The first of these, '4th Dimension of the 5th Ward' is full of nods to classic 80's funk records with deep warm synth tones, a blanket of dopeness that invites a warm cuppa and perhaps a spliff or two. The second, 'You Know The Score' captures exactly that vibe that so threw me in the March 09 electro showcase mix. This is pure deep electro. Acid grooves that seem to reach out from the speakers and invite you in. Electronic music that is haunting and funky at the same time - one of those tracks that could have been made in 1992, or 2052. Timeless. Without a doubt, recommended. The first single, "Silver Submarine" with remixes by DJ Pierre is available now both in vinyl and digital format. You can pre-order the limited edition coloured vinyl as well as the regular vinyl album directly from Hardfloor. Shipping in November 2010. Digital versions to follow. Listen to the album snippets below. City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed