When it comes to your Technos, Houses and your Dubsteps, I often judge a tracks quality by just how sick it makes me feel. How it's thudding and squelching, its bumping and grinding brings me back flashbacks of sweaty gyration in dank Berlin cellars or early morning techno-shuffling in fag end carpeted house parties and how those memories make me come out in cold sweats with a balmy brow. A dance track is truly out of this world if the rise and fall of its synth line makes my stomach rise and come crashing back down with a phwop as I remember the bus journey home from a South London club at seven in the morning along with all the office workers in their crisp suits and freshly showered aroma as I melt slowly into my shoe. For years after and to this day, just the mention of London's Whirly Gig club night would make me come out in sweats and my arms start to shake at its memory. That riff from Insomnia by Faithless will always, without fail make my face hot and my eyes glaze, no matter the time of day. It's enough to make me desperately reach for the wholesome jangling of anything by Simon and Garfunkle as a sweet, sweet medicine.
Pressure by Ability II makes me lunge for the nearest container large enough to hold the rapidly rising contents of my stomach - it's that damn good. Released in 1990, Pressure seems to be the only release from Ability II and the only other information I can find about the producer doesn't bring much excitement - apparently Ability's real name is David Duncan. Fascinating.
The track itself builds like the best Techno does. New elements clamber into one another until there's a seething mess of grumbling bass, ticking percussion and dissonant vocals. It's quite a slow-burner but brings images of writhing warehouses just getting started at 5am and walls groaning from taking a techno bass pounding.
It comes along with a Dub version which makes everything all the more sparse and body-warping. I think I prefer the tinkling, never ending synths of the Dub as elements gradually fade and swell in a tide of churning synths and tumultuous percussion.
The reissue from Major Problems has a remix by Luca Lozano that sounds as if it's pumping up the BPM a little, making Pressure into a dance floor killer and making me about as sick as a dog. Vomiting never sounded this good.
Ability II
Pressure
Major Problems
12" Vinyl out: 30/01/2017 at Phonica Records
