Cinthie and Ed Herbst: Beste 005

I’ve been finding some dope split EPs and choice cuts from the always prolific “Various Artists” lately, and this split between Cinthie and Ed Herbst for Beste Modus (Berlin) was near the top of the stack.

For Beste 005’s opener, Cinthie snags a line from Naughty By Nature’s “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright (Ghetto Bastard)” and (perversely) avoids the original song’s most distinctive feature – its own sample of Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry.” It works because it works. Like a lot of records I’ve been digging these days, it’s a throwback to the dusty ’80s when DJ records were made for DJs to DJ with, not blogs to post about (ahem) or people to tour on.

“Jaam” is hypnotic deep stuff at its best – heavy reverb and a zig when you think it should zag. On the flip of the split are two meaty tracks from Ed Herbst. “Cityscape” doesn’t take much imagination to understand – cinematic in the manner of some airy midwest techno, with plenty of room for everything to breathe and come together when its time. “When I’m In The Elevator” is maybe the sleeper of the EP – a nod-off to bring the night down nice.

I wasn’t familiar with any of these folks before, but discogs shows five EPs, all of them splits and all seemingly focused on dropping wax from a large but intimate crew. It’s hard not to get behind a scene like that, so let’s hear it for the born losers, and may we inherit the earth.