DJ Jus-Ed Presents Nina Kraviz - First Time EP.

Label: Underground Quality
Catalog#: UQ-023
Format: Vinyl, 12", EP, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 25 Sep 2009
Genre: Electronic
Style: Deep House


A1. Your Gonna Be Mine
A2. FREE Featuring Raphael M.
B1. I Don't Know Why...
B2. CPT Time Featuring Jus-Ed

Of the six promotional mixes made for Underground Quality's recent visit to Berlin's Tape Club, one stood out in particular. Nina Kraviz's effort moved in unpredictable ways, crawling in its opening six minutes with hardly a beat to its name, and featuring plenty of spoken word snippets and abrupt shifts. With the other five artists providing examples of what they might sound like in a club environment, Kraviz's mix stood out because you probably couldn't dance to it. It was Kraviz in an intimate setting; far weirder, and far more wonderful.

Two of the tracks on that mix make it onto her first full EP for Underground Quality. Opener "Your Gonna Be Mine" (sic) is one of them, and you can immediately hear how far removed she is from the deep housers around her. The beat is just enough to nudge things along, while a curlicue guitar line folds in on itself and starry-eyed synths echo off into the distance. The piece de resistance is the breakdown, which Kraviz stutters into, lovingly taking a left turn for a moment...before launching back into her groove. Even better is "Free," whose massive synths move slowly downward each bar, drawing you deeper into the bed made up by Kraviz and featured mumbler Raphael M.

With the A-side full of big, hazy deep house, Kraviz takes things down on the flip. Both "I Don't Know Why..." and "CPT Time" work their magic in between the empty spaces. The patterns on the flip are rather simple, but it's the quirks—Kraviz's jazz-inflected singing on the former, and Jus-Ed's monologue on the latter—that give this 12-inch such a distinct personality. Kraviz adds touches that no one else might think to—the shivering sigh on "I Don't Know Why..." comes immediately to mind—and ends up with a release that is hugely compelling.

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