Available on: forthcoming R2 12″

By now many of you will have heard Karizma’s ‘Groove Accordingly’, whether you know it or not. Check out an excerpt on the FACT Music Player, up in the top right of the page.

Originally released in April of last year by R2 Records [thanks Ben!], it’s been lurking on the  the been positively caned by a wide range of DJs throughout the past three or so months. It’s one of those rare tunes that bestrides several distinct scenes and sub-cultures, and this year it’s found particular favour with UK funky and post-dubstep jocks like Ben UFO and Martyn, as well as broken beat soldiers like Domu, deep house and nu-jazz types like Prosumer and Atjazz.

Probably the first thing you’ll notice about ‘Groove Accordingly”s is its jabbing synth-chords; they remind me Substance’s ‘Relish’, Andy Stott’s ‘Hostile’ and similar dubbed-out warehouse bangers. Like Hot City on his recent ‘Hot City Bass’, Karizma takes this decidedly Teutonic techno trope and completely reinvents it, pairing it with a galloping, Latin-tinged snare pattern that actually attacks you rather than merely keeping time. Those chords are looped and looped again, the Baltimorean producer deploying crazy delay to tease out as much drama out of the situation as possible. All the while it’s pretty much just drums, synth and fleeting sub-bass: nothing else is required.

‘Groove Accordingly’ is a call-to-arms, devastating in its simplicity and sure sense of purpose. It doesn’t need a positive review from me, it just needs to be heard; it might be from 2008, but for me it’s the dance track of 2009.

David Beckett