Central-Up and Down (2x12"LP)

Label: Help Recordings
Listen: Link

Year (release): 2022
Genre, primary: Dub techno
Genre, secondary: Deep house
Catalog number: HELP020
Country of origin: Denmark

Nearly a decade on from the early releases, it's still hard to quantify the Aarhus sound. Just take a look at what Natal Zaks, AKA Central, has been up to for the past three years.  For a producer never content with one sound, Softness and Up & Down are refreshingly familiar, with his staple late night grooves only briefly interrupted by the occasional ambient swell. 

Both albums start out with Central in club mode. On "Anix, the kicks are just ever-so-slightly blown out, but then Zaks introduces a watery sounding synth. The melody however, is cut into quarters, so we only get a full glimpse of it every four bars. "Moulder" is a bit faster at 130 BPM but still understated, as Zaks adds more hidden nuggets—a broken chord there, some reverb, what might be birdsong. It's these little embellishments that call your attention inwards across the four discs: the croaking-frog-like synth on "Ain't OK," the UK garage swing of "With Me," the rapidfire drum fills on "Motta" or the stand-out lead line and French touch chords on "Leggin."