SHALEENConsolidation EP

There is propably no single event that has as potent of aneffect on the german Techno- scene as the fall of the BerlinWall. A city divided suddenly, in one single night, becameuni¦ed, opening up both sides for the new experiences andways to view life the other might have. Berlin’s eastside withit’s empty, unused warehouses proved to be a fertile breedingground for free spirits and those carrying a newfound ¦re intheir eyes. This was the zero hour. The Consolidation. And itis this mindset, spirit and ¦re of Consolidation that Shaleenconjures on her debut EP of the same name. The title trackopens up by sampling John F. Kennedy’s legendary “Berlin”speech from 1964, before absolutely caving in the concretewith a beyond-heavy kickdrum and a very stripped down buteffective 909-percussion section. Spursed in along the track’sruntime are droning sirens and JFK continuing to beckon youto lose yourself in the metropolitan bowels. This is theanthem of a past revolution. On Deconstruction, Shaleengoes down a slightly more basement oriented route. ThePercussion shares the title track’s stripped downeffectiveness, but the Groove is more rolling, the Vocalsamples are more distorted and there are sharp synthscutting through the beats like shards of broken glass. Ofcourse, a revolution wouldn’t be complete without a mob soboth Cadency aka Hector Oaks and New Frames have puttheir spin on the EP’s title track. Mr. Cadeny is up ¦rst and,being no stranger to revolutionary anthems, has givenConsolidation an almost contemplative mood in his Remix,by adding a very subtle melody. This doesn’t mean it hits anyless hard, mind you, there is an incredibly strong drive to thetrack, paired with an almost constantly looping vocal and thesirens going into overdrive, this would be the track to drivecrowds into a frenzy. Meanwhile New Frames’ track is thekind of thing you wouldn’t want to encounter alone in a darkalleyway. The sub-basses are heavy enough to terraformMars, the Jungle-esque Synthlines roar and snarl at thelistener and every drop feels like a right hook to the chin. Theoriginal’s vocal is cut in a way that it only adds to thestomping rhythm, putting you in a mood to throw bricks. Sowhile this record showcases an aggressive sound and amood for revolution, it is important to remember it’s title.Consolidation. It echoes a message of uni¦cation. Ofstanding together. Because together we are, have been andwill always be stronger than by ourselves.