Ciel and Ali Berger will release their debut collaborative EP, ‘Damn Skippy!’, via Chicago’s Jacktone Records next week. Listen to Davis Galvin’s remix of the title track below.
Toronto’s Ciel and Pittsburgh’s Ali Berger have been honing their respective crafts for years now; their house and techno tracks balance toughness with depth. You’ll find pumping percussion and playful melodies in their releases, at points geared toward heads-down dancefloor hypnotism, at others tilted to stargazing sonic bliss.
‘Damn Skippy!’ is a pretty inspired link-up, its title a play on the bouncy beats that fill its three original tracks. The title track and ‘Mise-En-Scene’ are lush dancefloor looseners, while ‘I’ve Been Reaching For The Stars’ ups the tempo with looping techno pulse a lá Robert Hood and some trippy reversed vocals.
The EP comes paired with remixes from Atlanta’s Nikki Nair and Pittsburgh’s Davis Galvin, the former of whom puts a typically sharp n’ breaksy twist on ‘I’ve Been Reaching…’. Galvin’s take on the title track floats on a bed of fuzzy drums and plump dubwise bass plumes. It brings the EP to a blissful close, its oscillating locked-groove finish leaving DJs plenty of room to take the dancefloor to the next plane.
‘Damn Skippy!’ will be released on 1st November. Pre-order it here.
Check out Ciel’s recent contribution to DJ Mag’s Selections series here.
