- Big-room techno generally follows a particular sequence. First, there's a booming kick drum surrounded by rumbling sub-bass. Then comes an open hi-hat, some filter effects, a grandiose breakdown and, quite often, a drum roll or burst of white noise as the kick hammers back in. Sets in this style, at warehouses and festivals all across Europe, need tunes that stick to this formula, and scrolling Beatport brings up thousands of them. Charlotte de Witte, a Belgian artist who's among techno's busiest DJs, specialises in these tracks. Heart Of Mine, her new EP for Saura, packs three in that style, including a bass-heavy remix from Lewis Fautzi.
Where some of de Witte's earlier EPs, including Brussels on NovaMute and Closer for Mary Go Wild, tease acid lines and melody, the two originals on Heart Of Mine strip things down further. The focus is on the drums, which in this case consists of rigid kicks, hi-hats and drum rolls. Essentially rhythm tracks at 130 BPM without any swing, they will slot right into a techno set on some ice cannon-equipped main stage while keeping dancers moving. As DJ sets from the likes Adam Beyer or Speedy J show, a drum roll at the end of the long breakdown, like the one on "Heart Of Mine," usually goes down well. The same goes for the one on "This," which also comes with hissing white noise. As you can tell, these tracks are all about functionality.
Tracklist01. This
02. Heart Of Mine
03. This (Lewis Fautzi Remix)