Repressed !
The Argentinian team brings the power of their knowledge back to our imprint with this split EP, a six track musical journey from drones to heavy kicks, with a bunch of intelligent techno in the middle.
The release starts with Jonas Kopp's "Grey Area", a floating intro exploring the deepest frequencies in the sound spectrum. Next comes "Intelligent seeker", with grooved synth toms, sharp hats and a naive oscillating sequence that runs free in the arrangement. Profound and aggressive at the same time.
The following number is "Akut": dry kick, reverberated and panned continuous sequences, spiced with classic 909 workout.
Pfirter provides his intro with "Another Dimension", a dreamy ambient piece to warm up for what comes next: "Euritmia". Based on distorted kicks and sequences, "Euritmia" creates an obsessive rhythm that grows alongside the white noise washes during the whole track.
Closing the release is "Rising", which starts with a cleaner beat approach, and once again works with white noises and modular lines to create tension and expectation. Micro percussions run along the groove, nicely adding spice to the hypnosis.
Dark Entries present the sophomore album from Austin, Texas analogue hardware enthusiast Bill Converse. Immersed in the early days of the 90s midwest rave scene, Bill began DJing at a young age in Lansing, Michigan. Luminaries such as Claude Young, Traxx, and Derrick May were key early influences. Techno, noise, ambient and tape processing are all part of his uncanny sound palette. His debut album 'Meditations/Industry' was released on cassette in 2013 and edited for a vinyl release in January 2016 followed by two 12' singles 'Warehouse Invocation' and '7 of 9' the same year.
'The Shape Of Things To Come' is a 70 minute journey spread across two pieces of vinyl. It's comprised of seven tracks recorded directly to tape with no overdubs, made at Converse's home studio. At the time of recording, Bill was sending this material to Josh Vance (Josua Dorje Ngodup) for feedback. Most of the time Josh would respond in the form of artwork, and then Bill would create another track inspired by this feedback chain. Converse has dedicated this series of tracks to him. The songs on this album reveal a sublime influence from Detroit techno, early Chicago house, and Acid. For this album Converse slightly bumped up the tempos geared for dancefloor energy. Built around vintage synthesizer lines and gritty drum machine percussion, the tracks evoke how things have changed and how they have come to be.'
All songs were mastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Each LP is housed in a gatefold jacket with a painted photograph portrait by Dietmar Busse and layout design by Eloise Leigh. The gatefold conceals an otherworldly collage made by Josua Dorje Ngodup. Each copy includes a postcard featuring artwork from Bill's sister with notes.
»island people« is a new band project consisting of mastering engineer conor dalton, grammy award winning producer david donaldson, and musician and DJ graeme reedie. on their first self- titled record, they present their collaborative work that evolved over the past three years.
being based in different cities, namely berlin and glasgow, files had to be exchanged back and forth between the three band members in order to create tracks. for their delicate sound structures, field recordings and other sound sources were heavily processed and rendered unrecognizable. layer after layer, the tracks came into being quiet naturally, not only reflecting their continuous way of working, but also incorporating their different and individual backgrounds: 'during the whole creation of the album, we never realized our actions were quickly leading us into forming »island people«, we were too busy having fun, making music and sharing ideas.'
the result of their collaboration is a timeless music that is as open as a natural phenomenon, developing a certain feeling of euphoria over time. all in all, »island people« is a pure listening record in the best tradition of ambient.
With his eclectic EP »Tape Paranoia« back in summer 2015, Ikpathua left notable marks in the Noorden catalogue. Two years later, the London based producer returns to the label with three splendid cuts shaped by varieties of Dub Techno,
Leftfeld and UK Bass.
Where To Now and Peder Mannerfelt signee Machine Woman
adds two distinctive remixes of »Oboo« to the package - a creaky dancefoor-version and a stripped-down Ambient one.
Founder of Modern Obscure Music, Pedro Vian, drops his debut longer player 'Beautiful Things You Left Us For Memories'. Having previously released on well respected labels such as Hivern Discs and Mathematics Recordings, Vian brings things in-house, with 12 tracks that push beyond simple categorisation. Travelling through abstract, sonic labyrinths, taking in ambient, techno and even pop, this release is a kaleidoscopic work that demands the listeners undivided attention.
With his new release the polish Transatlantyk sails into - as yet uncharted - waters of the 'lol- fi' breakbeat house scene to bring you the debut of DJ Stoner Dad.
Not much is known about the man behind the nickname, except that he is a DJ, a dad and that he likes getting his hits from the bong on during the infamously long Warsaw afterparties.
The "Raw Romantics EP" showcases his own take on the deeply saturated, smokey and breakbeat-infused house genre.
'Fake Strings' is a certified banger alluring the dancefloor with a great combo of rolling bass, squashed kicks and hats, grimy, atmospheric pads and a bits of spoken word thrown in.
'Magic Phunk' brings THAT break again and for a good measure. Drums are floating over an ocean worth of blazing pads, liquid synths, acid riffs, pillowy, yet dirty chords and whatever else DJ Stoner Dad could lay his hands on at the time.
'IV' is a full frontal ambient jam, with little bits of wandering drums coming into the picture at the very end.
Finally 'V' brings cinematic influences over slightly uneasy slow groove.
Mathew Jonson's 'Decompression' was first released on Minus in 2004. To celebrate 13 years since it's release Mathew has commissioned 11 artists to remix this classic split over 4 releases. The first EP of the series features remixes from dBridge, Konrad Black and Nathan Jonson, each artists contribution provides a fresh approach to a package fuelled by the influence of Drum & Bass. dBridge steps up for two remixes, the first is warped and deconstructed, the second a high energy Drum & Bass belter. Konrad Black slows things down with a darker groove whilst Nathan Jonson's 'rewind to 96' utilises rave tropes and chopped vocal samples. The package is a magnificent addition to the legacy of 'Decompression' and coming next will be remixes from Seth Troxler, Deadbeat, Mike Shannon and Natalia Escobar. Mathew Jonson's 'Decompression' was first released on Minus in 2004. This is the first release on Mathew Jonson's new label entitled 'Freedom Engine' Mastered at Scape Mastering
Rune returns on his own Drum Island imprint, this time very ably assisted by UK House turned ambient ambassador Chris Coco
Weekend Billionaires, in its original form is a delightfully lolloping Balearic builder.The Chris Coco Sunshine mix immerses those guitar licks and synth pads in a sea of dubbed out, ultra-violet light. Already rumoured to be included on Harvey's eagerly awaited Mercury Rising comp. Anton Klint (Tryck & Ton / Public Possession) steps up on the flip with a no-less psychedelic, but decidedly more laser-lit interpretation.
Finally Alta Lab wraps things up with a pacier interpretation, Housing up the elements into a hypnotic, emotive rendition...
Quite a package
Inner8 is Daniele Antezza, a multi-faceted thinker and electronic music producer, member of Dadub duo, co-founder of Artefacts Mastering Studio, Dadub Studio owner and Holotone label manager, whose regular invocation of the term praxis begins to hint at his creative aims: a primary synthesis of contemplation and action that, in turn, encourages a secondary and entirely unpredictable set of syntheses dependent upon the listener's unique interpretation. Though the Inner8 moniker has been in existence for several years as a private nickname for, as Antezza puts it, his 'experimental anarchist sounds,' his recent releases are just now surfacing which will reveal just how much this project has to communicate.
Like many transplants to Berlin's pulsating sonic underground (Antezza moved there from Italy in 2009), his past work seems to communicate traces of the ecstatic with the argot of technical precision and / or scientific rigour. However, Antezza is not what one would call a 'Berlin artist' despite sharing these traits in common with the city's most visionary producers: his work gives off an impression of restless nomadism that has little to do with representing a localized scene. Rather than carrying on the territorial / parochial projects of reinforcing an arts scene's geographic boundaries (or even redefining the boundaries of a musical genre), Inner8 is more concerned with a holistic 'deconstructive approach' through which 'it's possible to reveal the paradoxes of the dominant thought, the paradoxes behind the status quo.' His fascination with concepts as diverse as asymptotes and particle physics, though often trendy among those looking for a seat at the table of the avant-garde, is a heartfelt fascination - moreover, these interests merge perfectly with his relentless theoretical questing.
Antezza's relationship with that city's Stroboscopic Artefacts techno label has been a particularly fruitful one, to the point where his sound work prior to Inner8 is almost synonymous with SA's own development. As one half of the psychonaut duo Dadub along with Marco Donnarumma, Antezza has sculpted deep and immense tracks that mesmerize with their harmonious interplay of force and ambiguity. After having co-founded and managed for years Artefacts Mastering Studio, he recently launched his brand new audio postproduction Studio (Dadub Studio), where Antezza lends his sonic signature to an eclectic variety of electronic recordings. That signature can be identified by its hyperreal sense of presence and immediacy, qualities that have become crucial to the presentation of a music that generally relies on only a few sonic elements per track to communicate its message.
Antezza also takes pride in the ritualistic quality of Inner8's live sets; a mobile laboratory of dynamic tension in which his theories manifest as massive physical vibrations (here we can also see / hear / feel just how well Daniele has absorbed the lessons of the dub 'sound system' aesthetic).
Gomorra is a passionate DJ and producer from Basel, Switzerland. As an 8 year old boy playing the drums he realized that music might play a bigger role in his future life. After a while, he got his hands on the first pair of turntables and started to experiment with mixing HipHop music. Experiencing a broad variety of music and nightlife culture during those formative years he developed a deeper interest for driving rhythms and repetitive patterns. Soon he got pulled into the pulsating scene that emerged nearly 30 years ago in an industrial and rough urban area at the shore of lake Michigan well known as Detroit, the Motor City. As he already made his first steps in music production while digging HipHop, the obvious development then was to exchange the MPC with Synths and Drum Machines and explore the aesthetics of Techno on a much more profound level.
OMNIBUS IDEM
Omnibus Idem - we are one. The Saga begins. We inhabit each moment to be our own good morning. Everybody else is the same in a different ghetto. What happens when all awareness overlaps to create an Ambient. After dawn in the subway. Submission. A new impression: St. Clair. Where the mechanic meets the organic. To end up alone in suffocation. Buena Noche. Omnibus Idem is process and creation.
Optimo Music präsentiert eine neues Sublabel, das auf den Namen So Low hört. Das erste Release kommt vom Glasgow's Happy Meal, ein Duo bestehend aus Suzanne Rodden und Lewis Cook, die auf So Low ihr zweites Album vorlegen. Full Ashram Devotional Ceremony Volumes IV - VI ist mit seinen Kraut-Electronic-Noise-Ambient-Wave Einflüßen gleichermaßen verstörend und einnehmend und garantiert ein spannendes Hörerlebnis.
Searing platter of krautrock with scorching doses of The Stooges & Judas Priest. Another ripper from this legendary Finnish horde!
Circle are the very definition of genre-defying, a rare feat for any band, but effortlessly achieved by this prolific Finnish collective. Circle's latest album Terminal is pure hedonistic pleasure. Never content on staying the same, they have created an idiosyncratic cocktail of sonic fusions, conjuring an impulsive, dizzying energy that stirs a spirit of curiosity within the listener, and has the ability to possess all who encounter them.
Whilst many would run out of creative steam (certainly after 30+ albums), Circle continue to boldly explore sonic soundscapes, venturing curiously into terrains of Stooges-esque swagger, trance-inducing kraut rock mantras, beautiful electronic ambience, psychedelic rock noodling, arena storming AOR weirdness, 70s prog rock extravagance, glam pop pomp, and of course their core sound, heavy metal, not to mention other peculiar and daring sounds that simply cannot be pigeon-holed. Terminal is gloriously fruitful in tones, shapes, colours and sounds. Eccentric, accessible, delightful and thrilling.
'Dispersion' is an EP deep in style, talent and wonder. Embellishing the underground kudos of Berlin-based techno DJ and producer AVION, owner of the hotly tipped, and renowned imprint Crossing, Dispersion is an eclectic mix of cerebral, uncompromising and colorful techno. Title track 'Dispersion' is a gleaming display of spacious dancefloor beats; melancholic, yet industrial. 'Real' is clinical, functional techno, emulating some of The Wizard's influential magic. 'Inverse' blends together a contemporary approach to sonic aptitudes, while remaining a strictly dancefloor and body orientated, while 'Enidan' a colorful moment of ambient beauty, plays the EP out.
It is the first release on Marcel Fengler's regarded, techno imprint IMF in 2017. 'Dispersion' is an ambitious, and unique EP, from a true underground -and mysterious - talent. The EP's style embodies the bright, hypnotic and pulsing music that has characterized his releases to date on Crossing. Talking about the release, Fengler states, 'He got my attention after some pretty strong releases on his own imprint Crossing. I felt that this was something I didn't have on my label, but still reflected the idea of IMF.
Pantha Du Prince (Hendrik Weber) has been working with longtime engineer Kassian to create an ambient version of last year's triumphant studio return, 'The Triad'. This reworking showcases the otherworldly and moody delicacy that makes Weber's music so absorbing and affecting, with the beats and most vocals removed, his dreamy sonic details come to the fore.
LP is accompanied by a digital download that also includes bonus extra versions of some of the album tracks.
New comers Laughing Man and Noah Skelton release their 'Element EP', on Silencio.
The first track, 'Element', is a collaboration between the two artists. This combined effort rumbles into the clearing, dragging the dance floor and its occupants along with it for a riveting ride throughout its duration. A beguiling bass line, complimented by underlying ethereal sounds, seamlessly contrasts and connects to form a compelling rhythm. Riddled with space age laser samples that periodically bubble to the surface, this track consistently pulls listeners in by pushing out good vibrations.
On Side B Laughing Man goes solo with the second track '1939'. This dynamic offering is a model of contemplative creation that basks in its own thought provoking ambience. A series of scintillating samples, echoing in waves of varying intensity, are served up with satisfying drums and a clever assortment of claps. This release has a way of finding your mind and marinating in the sub-conscious because it's just that deep.
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Bristol beat physicist Second Storey joins the fold of electro dystopians TRUST, and 'Telekinesis Via Fax' picks right up where recent releases for Houndstooth and his R&S collaboration with Appleblim, ALSO, left off. 'Attack Of The Modlings' has deceptively lush pads launch into an industrial grime furor that relentlessly underscores Second Storey's ambition to sonically innovate. Vienna's /DL/MS/, coming right off their recent TRUST debut, reassemble the bits into a subtly layered electro funk banger, before Second Storey steps back onto the plate with the eternally spiralling "Quantock Point To Point" and "Telekinesis Via Fax", the latter evoking memories of Robert Gordon's afro-futurist Black Knight project with hyperkinetic snares and free-wheeling synth licks.
Wild Open Range frequencies... The precision of the digital and the warm bassy Vinyl sound...
A side runs 145 BPM I call that the magic speed, where you escape techno and hardcore... the heart of the party.... Because this is a party tune! Acid Horns are mediums and some swords of charley cut you in two pieces... To bring you back to the massive Kick gambling with stridents ambiances of saturations, without killing your ears though...
B side goes about 155 BPM... and brings a pure chaos of dancefloor structures, breakin' all the time push again... Rare Techno style !
Taapion returns with a fine deep techno by PVNV who takes us on a interstellar deep space journey with this third chapter of Taapion records. Down to the A side, PVNV introduce the EP with Consortium. A kind of ambient layers, soft pads, woody reverbed elements give a feeling of hope in a dark context. A travel in a timeless air course. The overlayed but slightly merged pads, give a feeling of a group of persons like a community, wich is leading to an hopefull goal on a gloomy way. Then comes Intrasolaar on A2, the track is deffinitly more fitted for a dance floor, a mental loop wich holds you on this spatial field. The deep pads give a feeling of wide space graven on the speed of the rythm section and the bells patterns. Looking at the B side, STERAC aka Steve Rachmad is reshaping Consortium. The remix is definitly keeping the main idea of the track. It gives a rythm accent by using 808's elments and transforms the ambient side into a beautyfull and powerfull club track. Then comes Shlomo's remix of Intrasolaar on B2. Straight, effective, the second label's owner is showing is techno side by withholding pads more than often, focus on this very well crafted rythm part.
Hedonism in its purest form means nothing but adjusting one s life and ambition towards pleasure and joy as well as the prevention of pain and sorrow. Following that concept, Wice s first EP takes the listener along on a journey of extremes: persistently strolling between sensual desire, ecstasy and lust as well as the deepest abysses of human sensitivities.
Coherently, just kiddin drags the listener right into Wice s universe of fabulous oppositions without any prior warning: the Peak Time Killer, inspired by the love of Detroit Techno of the 90ies, exhibits irrepressible energy, velocity and surprising twists and turns. Driven by the progressive drive of the drum patterns, the voyager, trapped in a mesh of percussions, wanders confused and disoriented on dance floors looking for support and, as if out of the blue, finally gets released by the warm synthline and gently taken by the hand. Simply just kiddin.
When legs are broken, things have to be done can be described as a small masterpiece of urban, intelligent dance music. The composition, which ranges in between complexity and simplicity, with its breaking beats in combination with spheric pads shows up the necessity that one should, despite setbacks, consistently remind oneself that life, love and music reveal their most beautiful aspects in a balanced and smooth flow.
The eponymous track hedonism draws a painting of obscure and rugged techno landscapes, which attract the listener magically, even though their beauty and grace can only be assumed at first glance. Once identified, the shimmering pads, the forceful bassline and the impulsive percussions unfold a world riddled with the most beautiful abysses and animality hedonism in its purest and most sinful form alike.
With blind certainty a downtempo piece rounds off the EP, which is supposed to be comprehended as a reminder for all hedonists that blind trust may have positive as well as negative consequences.
The hopeful basic mood of the song, however, always lets the light at the end of the tunnel shine through, which emphasizes the optimistic exit of Wice s world of hedonism.
It s time for Lewis Fautzi to introduce his first album on Pole Group, a collection of ten tracks of cosmic techno, carefully crafted making a soundtrack of the future, deep, intense and scientific.
Psycho path is the intro, made of granular textures, subtle drones and ambiences, stepping into Entering, pulsating sub bass, continuous sinoidal sequences, pads and tension.
Subconscious starts with the beat, opaque bass drum, micro hi hats, atmospheres and monotonous sequences at a low bpm rate while Diffracted speeds the tempo a bit with electric synths, flanges and twists creating an hypnotic number. Rentless pain follows, with resonant bleeps starring until assymetrical sequences appear and the synth lines evolve in a hi pass filter galore.
Seasick is humid and liquid, gummy sounds, clean drum programming, spaced out sounds and a lot of room. Then we come into Furrow, aimed to the intelligent dancefloors out there, synthetic bubbles, rolling sub woofer action , bleeps and noises. Cyclic Human reminds to the best scifi techno with bell like sequences, digital clicks, jazz harmonies and abstract progression.
Number nine is Optic Chiasm a direct number based on an obscure drum workout and filled with hi pitched relentless sequences, intelligently arranged to create a mental feeling as well as inducing to dance. Album closes with The Brain Revolution, like an evolution of Entering, beatless but still preserving the tension and the movement.
A coherent and complete collection of precise, surgical and futuristic music to be enjoyed as a whole adventure..
Philippe Hallais returns to Modern Love with a new album, the first under his own name following his label debut as Low Jack with Lighthouse Stories in early 2016.
It's by some distance his most important work to date, setting aside the squashed dancefloor productions of his Low Jack Alias for an album of emotive, indefinable ambient pieces.
After working through different subcultural musical languages as Low Jack, this time Philippe takes inspiration from the TV biopics of high-performance athletes for an album of exceptional
emotive impact; somewhere between pastiche, tragedy and electronic futurism.
Fascinated by the sports documentaries mass-produced by the US TV channel ESPN, Hallais transcribed and amplified its dramatic recipes. These form the material of tearful soap operas
which develop the same narrative ad nauseam; the rise to the top, the betrayal, decline, salvation, comeback and, ultimately, nostalgia and regret. The TV formatting reduces the life of these high level athletes to a generic tale, transforming them into impersonators of their own lives through extreme use of editing, slow motion and musical themes.
Divided into four sides (and eleven tracks) acting as parts in a greek tragedy, the album delves into the dislocations of the mythology of sports and its achievement in mass entertainment; whereby the hero becomes a dispensable and mimetic body. Hallais delves into this unusual portrayal of triviality and disaster, naivety and cynicism that make the real life and ordeals of the hero indistinguishable from their scripted form on TV.
This obsession with storytelling and the creation of bigger than life characters forms the narrative of 'An American Hero', a parable for our times.
Over the years, Phil Mison has become the go-to selector for those looking for Ibiza-themed compilations. None of his previous collections, though, have been quite as personal as Out Of The Blue, a compilation inspired by his first spell behind the decks at the Café Del Mar in 1993 - and the remarkable chain of events leading up to it.
Mison made his first trip to Ibiza in the summer of 1991 and quickly fell in love with the magical music being played by Café Del Mar resident DJ, Jose Padilla. On his return to the UK, Mison began to cultivate his own take on the laidback, open-minded style, recording mix-tapes of Ibiza style chill out' tunes to give to friends.
In November 1992, Mison was hanging out in Tag Records, Soho, when Padilla walked in. He plucked up the courage to speak to the Spaniard because earlier that summer Mison had given one of his friends some tapes to take out to Jose in Ibiza so he wanted to see if he had got them. During the conversation Mison invited him down to his next DJ set at Nicky Holloway's club, the Milk Bar and less than three months later, and clearly impressed by what he'd heard on the tapes, Padilla invited Mison to fill in for him at the Café Del Mar, beginning in April '93.
It's that first trip to DJ in Ibiza - a crazy six-weeks spent dividing his time between spinning records at Café Del Mar, hanging out in Jose Padilla's house in the hills, and meeting some particularly eccentric White Isle residents - that proved the inspiration for Out Of The Blue.
The compilation contains a mixture of records that Mison played in his earliest Ibiza sets, those that remind him of that period, and recent discoveries that boast a similarly warm, loved-up vibe. Mison is at pains to point out that it's not a track-for-track representation of his first sets, but rather a collection inspired by this most momentous of experiences.
As you'd expect from a selector of Phil Mison's standing, Out Of The Blue is an outstanding collection. Some will no doubt hear the influence of his mentor - the man he credits with effectively turning his DJing career around - in the undulating rhythms and new age melodies of Kamasutra's Sugar Step', the meandering synthesizer solos and Spanish language vocals of Congarilla's sublime Sacred Tree', and the lilting flamenco guitars of Gambarra', an unreleased mix from Mison's popular Cantoma project.
Elsewhere, listeners can marvel at the starry ambient bliss of Belgian legend Frank De Wulf's The End', recline to the saucer-eyed fusion jazz of the Christoph Spendel Group, shuffle along to tactile, hard-to-find period deep house from Language, Moodswings and Don Carlos, and marvel at The Cactus Rose Project's ridiculously rare Jelly', a sparkling, disco-era jazz-rock outing partly inspired by the Doobie Brothers' Long Train Running'.
Out Of The Blue may well be a very personal selection of tracks celebrating a moment in time, but it's happily one that we can all enjoy.
Some quality techno on this new label from Paris including a beauty of a rmx by Conforce!. For this first vinyl only EP, Shlomo, one of the label's owner arrives with two original tracks with a deep atmosphere crossing classic techno drums. The other side presents two remix, on from the Edinburgh's techno master Stephen Brown with a fine old school reshaping. Next comes The Conforce's remodel which will talk to all ambient and minimalistic techno, 100% as we love his sound. Beautiful contracts between the liquid beauty and massive force of techno. Limited with beautiful handmade sleeves. Tip!
A few years ago we received an anonymous email with a link to three tracks and a simple
message: 'Hi, maybe you would be interested in this music.'
It's easy to be skeptical of yet another link from yet another artist in a world overcrowded with them, but listening is our job and so we do it. The songs were instantly striking: extraordinarily slow, somber, and spacious, each vaulted cathedral chord reverberating poetically into the distance, the melodies rolling out like fog across a cemetery.
Captivated, we requested more, receiving a single word in response: Yes.' Then, nothing. Eventually, three months later, we received another email with slightly more information: a name (Irma Orm), a location (Stockholm), and a bit of context (she worked alone, and progress on music was slow but steady ).
Fast-forward to mid-2016: we're informed the album is complete, and it is breathtaking. Hermetic gothic swan songs conjured from funereal piano, twilit ambience, minimalist percussion, and spellbinding vocals.
The mood is lulling and lush but lost in sorrow, stark grey structures looming in the night. Majestic open spaces between notes heighten the melancholic grandeur of Orm's arrangements, blurring the line between lament and lullaby. The songs less end than ebb away,succumbing to their own downcast beauty.
Ekoplekz returns with his fourth album for Planet Mu, in the shape of 10-tracker "Bioprodukt". The unique lo-fi, woozy sound of Bristol's Nick Edwards stays intact while he veers towards the nineties for inspiration: the bleep and bass sound of the north of England is one touchpoint and the acid gurgles of the 303 are another. While the murky lo-fi production levels and evocative melodies remain, they are now bolstered by a more muscular rhythmic chassis. Snappier kicks and snares mingle with dense layers of percussion and deep undulating sub-basslines adding a funkier edge, as typified by opening track "Elevation" where playful beats interlock with breezy keyboard flourishes to create something uncharacteristically upbeat. Similarly, the gentle, fluid motion of "Slipstream" and "Calypzoid" represent some of the most appealingly chilled grooves in the Ekoplekz canon to date. But the darker-edged material remains. "Expedition" has a pensive, percussion-heavy feel whilst "Acrid Acid" is a dirt-encrusted slow-mo techno meltdown. "Transcience" displays the Ekoplekz trademark dub-fx in full flight over a driving lo-end, before "Descent" leads down to the final section, where the beats fade out, replaced by rippling layers of spectral ferric ambience on the epic "Low-X Over", before finishing with the radiant looped stasis of "Denier Daze". The albums shifting, mperfect patterns and muted colours are visually mirrored in the beautifully realised sleeve by the Print Project.
Coming hot on the heels of Samuel Rohrer'sRange of Regularity album are two EPs of striking reinterpreta- tions. These new remixes provide an intriguing parallax view of the original tracks, using the percussive eclecticism of the parent LP as a starting point from which to journey into soni- cally vibrant, feature-rich territories. The production specia- lists on the first EP include Ricardo Villalobos and Vilod, the collaborative duo with Max Loderbauer. Villalobos, has alrea- dy formed a strong working relationship with Rohrer's AM- BIQ trio, lends his talents to both of these new EPs. The se- cond one will be completed by a remix of Burnt Friedman. Each individual remix has its own character, they are all united in their ability to provide a quick cure for fatigue with the common loop': they are strung together from fleeting phra- ses that evolve as if they are taking on a life independent of their creators.Villalobos' compelling take on Lenina' pulsates from start to finish with a kind of voluntary anxiety, a commitment to painting every corner of the sonic surface with clearly defined pointillist touches. While this kind of approach would cause less confident producers to collapse at their editing worksta- tion, Villalobos takes to the task with gusto - leaving see- mingly no corner un-animated by sound, he pieces together something surprisingly funky and hyper-real from a catalog of distinct percussive hits, time-reversed ephemera, and playful kitchen sink' ambience. Vilod's Uncertain Grace' remix, though marginally more laidback than the flipside, is no less engaging. A buzzing beehive of activity powered by an organ- like refrain, this is one of those pieces that will induce a fee- ling of perpetual movement into even the most still of physi- cal surroundings. This is especially true when, after four and a half minutes of flotation, a straight-ahead techno rhythm ta- kes over and all the disparate hovering elements fall into place.
"Alpha percussion", recorded in 1985, is a cult groovy ambient album of acoustic percussion, pleasant to listen to and full of samples and break known very well by Djs and artists likes Danny Brown (which uses a sample in "Really Doe", a song of his latest album on Warp Records).
Giovanni Cristiani is one of the most prepared and complete Italian percussionists. Born in Rome in 1952 he graduated in percussion in young age and began playing professionally in Italy and abroad. In 1979, after years of activity at the side of the most popular jazz musicians, constitutes the Music Workshop A.D.E.L., playing drums and percussion courses. Pentaflowers (BEAT Records sub-label and publisher) asked him to make a solo percussion library music album in full artistic freedom that was pressed in limited edition for insiders; so was born "Alpha Percussion", a gem now finally accessible to all thanks to Mondo Groove label.
5th Birthday comp featuring a host of artistst who've graced the label over the perioid.. Exclusives from Tolouse Lowtrax, Geena, Iueke, Domenique Dumont, . Inoue Shirabe, Raphael Top-Secret and more... Gatefold Sleeve. TIP!
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Made of 14 sketches - each reflecting one of the many shades of the label's catalogue - Five years of Loving Notes features new names as well as those of artists who have been involved with the label since it's very beginning, like Geena or Iueke - responsible for the first 12' released on Antinote.
The music on this compilation covers a wide spectrum of moods and atmospheres, from the dark and raw excursions from Tolouse Low Trax or Iueke to the lush instrumental crafted by Nico Motte and Syracuse's Antoine Kogut; however as the listener gets deeper into the compilation, the whole of the tunes, sitting side by side on the records, start to make sense as they all seem to point towards the same direction. If one should try isolating a common trait from all these songs, one might come to the conclusion that it lies in the way they all speak directly to the listener's emotional receptors, unvarnished and without abusing of producer's 'tricks'.
We'll let the tricky question mentioned before in your hands once you will have been through this 63-minute long testimony of exclusive music by the artists who have been shaping Antinote's sound for five years; from the opening Latvian arabesques from Domenique Dumont to the Pink-Floyd-ian ending from the latest addition to the label, Alek Lee, via Leonardo Martelli's smoggy electro and Raphael Top Secret's ominous talk-over.
Dreamboy from Gothenburg begifts world with completely enchanting EP - four tracks ranging from look-ma-no-kick-drum club heaters to spirit-world ambience and some real Swedish reggae. Starting off with his Studio Barnhus debut, ishi vu is set to blow up 2017 with a string of releases on select world-renowned labels.
Pisetzky's full debut album on Just This includes adventures into contemporary Techno music, fines ambient works, and unique broken pieces. An intense mixture of incredible warmth, weird fluffiness, mystic trumpets and high uplifts, the album is interspersed with short ambient and fragmentated interludes, each just a few minutes long: 'State of consciousness' and 'Tears of a rough machine' are serene and reflective tracks that give the listener time to breathe and bringing him/her back to more dancefloor focused tracks of the LP like Viridis, Bakwas and Wand. The result is a magic story, a history in eleven chapters that the listener is guided through, like the landscapes of a mystic journey, with a twist on the melodies and hidden effects behind every deep bass sound.
(2x 180 gr LP in a gatefold sleeve with download card) The debut album of Talamanca System, aka Gerd Janson + Mark Barrott + Philipp Lauer. Their past is your future!
On the white island, between Ibiza Town and the infamous fish shack high up on a rock next to a bird sanctuary, you will find the beach of Talamanca. Plagued by too much seaweed, anchored middle-class yachts and joggers, it is also surprisingly the spiritual home of a correspondent post-Balearic group. As luck would have it, a remix request by Mark Barrott bedded the International Feel boss in a trio with Philipp Lauer and Gerd Janson, alias Tuff City Kids. A highly sought-after 12-inch later ("Balanzat"), as well as fantasies of getting together to work on more material, led to a fruitful and effortless studio session on the non-Balearic outskirts of Frankfurt am Main.
The outcome of that meeting forms the homonymous debut album of Talamanca System. A documented vision, or a sunburned imagination of a day and night spent on said island, during a moment in time that probably never was or will be. Still summed up best by dungarees, long hair, yellow sunglasses, espadrilles or that famous picture of people grouped around roofless Amnesia's pyramid well, it is the food of the Balearic gods. But, dear nostalgia, stop right here! Even though Talamanca's debut flies the Balearic flag, it is not about turning back the clock, but rather about a past that could be the future. Dusted, danceable, driving, dreamy and dapper at the same time, this is an album for the club, the car, the beach, the (coke)float and the fountain.
Coined by the colourful and respective talents of the three individuals behind Talamanca, you will hear nine tracks ranging from up to downtempo, piano house smashers that would have deserved the prefix Italo-, percussion rituals captured by a group of Zoo animals on the loose, soundtracks for dusk and dawn, hushed vocals, rites of ambient passages, powerful synth ballads and vamp choirs. If this album were a car, it would be a Citroen 2CV remade by Tesla.
We've said it before and we'll say it again: their past is your future!
Critical Music reaches its 100th release in its 15th year, celebrating with the landmark album Fifteen Years Of Underground Sonics. Spanning the broad spectrum of drum & bass that the Critical sound represents, the exceptional 15 album is as bold as it is beautiful and looks to serve the test of time in the D&B history books.
Following on from the very robust debut of his own label Failsafe, Juxta Position deviates back to the more melancholic aesthetic with which he initially made his mark back in 2013 on Mistress Recordings. Drawing palpable influence from ambient electronica like Boards Of Canada, he then reframes the aesthetic, with the help of rhythmic anchoring, on the 12 minute opening opus 'Eureka". However, not to disappoint lovers of the slightly harder, more uptempo, electronic beat, the flip then dishes up two significantly more pressurised techno pieces, the former 'Made In Belgrade' more linear, the latter 'Reimagined' more flamboyant.
We eroded pre-existent structures constructing an open heterotopic space, a horizontal and vertical thinking found its way through physical- and cyberspace, Here, nothing manifested instantly - flippancy left space for any kind of interaction and appropriation. Within (or well beyond) economic pressure points which diluted production, this was our opportunity to try out different potentials with no restrictions to the public, while simultaneously scrutinising the general framework of institutions and human behaviours.
Berlin's own Marco Haas aka T.RAUMSCHMIERE made an irreparable impression globally in the 00's as a sawtoothed, ANTI-rave radical thanks to his immense stage antics and larger-than-life releases on Novamute. Since then, Haas has established himself as a contemporary with emotive, dark ambient tales on his own imprints Shitkatapult/Albumlabel.
KOMPAKT's love affair with Haas goes back to our earliest days. Some of his first tracks were released on KOMPAKT in the form of two raw EP's entitled "Bolzplatz" (KOM021 - 2000) and "Musick" (KOM037 2001). These two formative releases elevated the "Schaffel" sound to raw and shameless places we never could have imagined. The results set a tidal wave in motion that to this day remains one of KOMPAKT's most infamous legacies.
In an off-chance reunion with Haas in his studio, we learnt about what he'd been doing since the "Monstertruckdriver" days. It turned out he's been ever so busy outside of the mainstream working with the likes of Dieter Meier of Yello, Caspar Brötzmann, Andreas Dorau, Fraktus, Ofrin or Barbara Morgenstern and his recent work with Ulli Bomans aka Schieres under the SHRUBBN!! monicker.
On the way out, he passed over his 2015 self-titled album - which proceeded to blow our minds. It was mutually decided that it's time for him to return home.
May 19, 2017, will see KOMPAKT releasing T.RAUMSCHMIERE's new, epic solo full-length HEIMAT. It presents another side of his work which was always there, but never got that much airtime: the artist, the author, the composer with the crystal-clear sound. HEIMAT is a stunning techno album that neither excludes Ambient, nor gets reduced to constant ass kicking. It's perhaps the best recording so far from this man who asks so deeply, so extensively, so much. And at some point even answers.
Having previously released on Z.I.P.P.O's Fides imprint, 3KZ now bring their powerful four tracker 'Not From Here' on Balans Records. 3KZ are Z.I.P.P.O and Kalean
The Dutch label Balans Records returns with it's twenty-first instalment to the series that have previously seen releases by Mike Parker, Drafted & ROD among others. This time Darko Esser's imprint presents a collaboration between Z.I.P.P.O and Kalean, under their 3KZ moniker. Having previously released on Z.I.P.P.O's Fides imprint, 3KZ now bring their powerful four tracker 'Not From Here' on Balans Records.
'Not From Here' opens the EP with its flowing grooves & eerie pads to create a beautiful techno track followed by 'Nature Of Motion' that offers an astral like immersion to the listener with its haunting melodic rhythms. On the flipside 'Circles' & 'Times' switch up the vibe in a more intense & playful mood, resulting in a finely balanced EP of atmospheric driving techno.
early supposrt
Luke Slater
'Great, thanks.'
James Ruskin
'Nature Of Motion for me, thanks!!'
Marcel Dettmann
'Thanks.'
Kristian / Ame
'Thanks.'
Rolando
'Wow killer stuff here, all tracks are dope!! Nature of Motion is my fav, great work!'
Dj Pete
'Great Italian Detroit techno.
Etapp Kyle
'Thanks.'
Sigha
'Lovely vibes, full of soul.'
Nuno dos Santos
'Beautiful release!! Love all tracks and thats pretty rare.'
Jeroen Search
'Go 3KZ go! A2 & B2 for me, very cool stuff!'
Ontal
'Thank you!'
Orde Meikle / Slam
'Thanks.'
Eric Cloutier
'Another beast of an EP from 3KZ & its always good to get a Balans promo.'
Kr!z
'Nice one, full support.'
Monika Kruse
'Great floating techno, love it!'
Arnaud Le Texier
'Not From Here & Circles for me, thanks.'
Jeff Rushin
'Cool release.'
Jeff Derringer
'I like it, good stuff!'
Mr. Jones
'Nice vibe on this EP. Like the energy and drive in Times.'
Leghau
'Great release. I really like A1, thank you.'
Robert Lamart
'Nice tracks, thanks!'
Angel Molina
'A side for me here. Great, timeless Mills-esque techno stuff, thanks.'
Mareena / Tresor
'Another winner by 3KZ, thanks guys. Holy shit, that ambient tune!!'
After a first release by Dub-Techno father Brendon Moeller, Submersive Records is back with a various artists ep. The Paris based label, launched in 2016 by Process B, is now introducing 3 artists who were invited to present 3 different visions of the label's musical identity, completed by a Albert van Abbe remix. The ep starts with the first appearance of french duo Bevel (Positive Clearance & Process B). Slow yet electric saga, 'Hob' swings between atmospheric, industrial and deep techno sounds. A perfect introduction to the label's roots. Elements come one after the other while holding a certain incisive vibe and giving birth to a track that can fit in both warmup or peak time sets. 9beats, young producer from Lyon, explores a more melodic side with 'Through An Interstellar Cloud'. Used to dive people into his spatial universe through his tracks or analog live sets, 9beats's travel is a good transition from ambient to techno.We said Techno Isolated Lines will not contradict and brings us straight in the middle of the night. Saturation, noises and modular variations are confronted to some melodic slackening, making this track a great immersive weapon.Invited to one of Submersive's label night at Batofar in 2015, Albert van Abbe closes the ep by giving us a completely new version of Bevel's Hob. We easily recognize the original track's lead, mixed this time with raw classic drum jams. Somewhere between Electro & Techno the Remodel version of Albert van Abbe overwhelms by its effective authenticity.From Brendon Moeller to the young and promising Techno scene, this second ep pursues Submersive's mission into the Techno abyssal depths.
