She Said EP

She Said EP

Kate Simko [Spectral Sound]

21 April, 2008 | 10.30AM

• Written by: Richard Brophy 2
• Filed under: Music Recommendations: kate simko, ryan elliott, spectral

In techno, the gender issue is especially contentious.

Apart from death metal, it must be the most male-dominated music — and, in its own geeky way, its testosterone count is just as high.

Worse still, even the more enlightened techno fans are often guilty of unwitting chauvinism.

Witness the countless lads who leave a club when a well-known female DJ has played saying things like, “Wow, she coud really mix” — as if gender had a role to play in technical know-how.

Even more insidious was the “Magda, make the tea” catchphrase.

Sure, anyone who said it probably felt that they were having some kind of post-modern laugh about sexism in music.

But the uncomfortable reality is that, by being ironic and uttering this remark, even in jest, they were reinforcing the stereotypical image of women in music per se and, de facto, served to exclude her from techno’s inner sanctum.

Thankfully, DJs like Magda and Spectral’s latest signing, Kate Simko, just ignore this nonsense and get on with the job at hand.

‘She Said’ is a 13 minute odyssey that starts with a spooky, bass surging forward, through a clicky pecussive framework.

It takes Simko a good three minutes to introduce the claps and then later still, a grinding riff that brings the composition to a climax.

Ryan Elliott, a great DJ who should produce more, drops a neat, tracky edit, but it’s overshadowed by this female force of nature.

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