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Techno Album of the month March 2018 in Mixmag UK!

Central to the Israeli club scene, Deep'a & Biri have long been defying expectations even within a community they helped construct. Serving as resident DJs, activists and bookers for Tel Aviv's legendary Barzilay Club, the pair helped build a transcendent club scene. Hugely influential artists such as Robert Hood, Derrick May, Rødhad, Ben Klock and Moritz Von Oswald passed through the club, enjoying legendary crowds and what they could surely sense was a genuine air of anarchy, rebellion and unadulterated rave pleasure.

As the duo held down dozens of parties with dozens of DJs, there was no 'eureka' moment for their emerging sound; just a steady stream of brilliant, inspiring electronic music, much of which left an indelible imprint on the pair. Now based in Berlin, for Deep'a & Biri, things are much the same, even if the landscape and the city is different. Always rooted in the fertile ground between machines and emotion, on their second full-length LP, 'Dominance', the duo demonstrate their unique grasp of the sensitive, unfolding relationship between man and machine. Steadfast in their insistence never to remain in one lane in terms of their sound, 'Dominance' flawlessly segues between forcefulness and weightlessness. From beginning to end, this is not a record afraid to show its teeth with an uncompromising, instantly recognisable techno palette that kicks the foundations of any sound system with menace, anger and determination, particularly on tracks such as the dense 'Voltage' and pulsing throughout the more industrial flourishes of 'Ecole De Nancy' and 'Seeking Solace'.

Beyond these grittier, although never mindless, moments of authority, a sense of escapism and curiosity imbues the album. 'Alpha Cephei' offers the first hint of Deep'a & Biri's more wistful concepts, producing a smoke trail of twinkling electronics out of a smudged but distinctive bassline. That understated sense of emotional catharsis carries throughout, to be found between the complex-yet-familiar bells that drive 'Flow Diverter's' rhythm to a Detroit-indebted landscape that will surely instantly elasticate any keen dancers, while 'False Memories' offers big-room techno fulfillment with none of the character or sincerity removed for cheap thrills. Saving the most remarkable moments for last, the pair sign off 'Dominance' with the poignant and purifying 'Astral Trails', fusing an ethereal, ambient landscape with the more pronounced rhythms of their hardware.

The album's distinctive artwork comes from the studio of Jewish orthodox artist Avraham Guy Barchil, who forged a powerful connection with Deep'a, both was immediately drawn to 'weird atmosphere, amazing technique and emotions involved with his work'. Perhaps one of the most interesting painters from Israel, Avraham is known for his unique perspective, taking his inspiration from the Zohar - the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. The ambiguous figures represent mystical aspects of the Torah (the five books of Moses), as well as material on mysticism and mythical cosmogony.
Ensuring their natural, conscious touch always remains at the forefront of this unapologetically machine-driven music, Deep'a & Biri have produced an album in the lineage of their heroes and greatest influences. Cerebral yet satisfying, deep yet always engaging, 'Dominance' both reasserts and evolves Deep'a & Biri's forward facing and singular sound.

Signing on the second release of the label Blue Night Jungle, the duo DudMode disturbs its machines and inspirations around a wild and mystical acid techno - sometimes minimalistic, sometimes extravagant. Two faces of a same coin which the Lyon guys are trying to explore by inviting, for the whole B face, two french artists they feel very close with : Jibis, head-speaker of a new techno beat both dense and aerial , Vardae, owner of the label Allegorythme Records and great defender of a more mental and obscure vibe. « Une Nuit Dans l'Herbe » (« One Night In The Grass ») EP marks the strong come back of lyonnese rave culture's children, already sanctified by a long and sensual experience on the stage.

We wanted to start this new year the best way we can and decided to welcome the italian stallion CHRISTIAN LISCO to our roster! Acid Cuts EP is a raw tour de force and fans of analog gear, distorted drums with acid bass-lines and soulful vocal samples will surely get their moneys worth! Remix support by the mysterious High Density System offering a totally new atmosphere of "66" keeping that same raw feeling.

Slow Glass is not only the debut release by Le Frère it is also a very personal diary of the last two years of his life. All four tracks are based on recordings, samples and ideas he collected while travelling the world. With the concept of 'Slow Glass' in mind Le Frère tried to catch moments of his life without stripping them of their dynamic and evanescence.

The EP starts with lots of positive energy and light but already reveals glimpses of the shadows that slowly emerge throughout the following tracks. 'Nice' is a lightly humming version of an (almost) innocent summer morning. It's a collage of field-recordings, synth-pads and manipulated guitar sounds. 'Candid' is a light and open dialog between a simple guitar theme and a playful synth-arpeggio. 'V1b1n'' creates the dense atmosphere of a rainy Caribbean afternoon dominated by field recordings and everyday noises. 'Nttt8'sets a counter point to the previous three tracks as the energy of Le Frère's travels cumulates in 'Nttt8', making it a more dance-floor oriented piece carried by a dark and heavy bass-line and almost rave-sirens.

Cut by CGB at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin, June 2017

Digital Transfer: Jonathan Fitoussi

Translations: Valérie Vivancos
Layout: Stephen O'Malley

Coordination GRM: Daniel Teruggi & François Bonnet
Executive Production: Peter Rehberg

Tremblement de terre très doux (1978), 28'14

climate 1 / transit 1 / landscape 1 / climat 2 / landscape 2 / transit 2 / landscape 3 (walking - jumping - sliding - flying) / climate 3 / landscape 4 / climate 4 - transit 3 / landscape 4, end.

The familiar generates the strange.

These rolls, these hums, these sudden rushes, this song, these peaceful circlings, these sudden outbursts, these returns to quiescence - what do they remind us of

This piece's trajectory could also be a representation of the dramatic unfolding of a day - of a life - from sunrise (climate 1) to night-time (landscape 4) via restless encounters, transitions (1 to 3) that announce the drama climaxing in landscape 3, before reaching its denouement in climate 4... A whole concrete 'story'.

The subterranean properties inherent to listening gently shift our ideas...

François Bayle

First performance: 19 March 1979 - Grand Auditorium of Radio-France,

Ina-GRM's Cycle Acousmatique. .

Toupie dans le ciel (1979), 21'

A wave is swaying on two minors thirds. This constantly uniform yet constantly varied swaying revolves in a swarm of sharp designs that blink on and off in a layer of growing density and mobility.

Distance, speed, pressure, density, temperature, colour, intensity, are the "themes" of the 27 short interconnected cells flowing together though this seemingly unified movement.

Occasionally, a breach in the texture reveals skyes dotted with little comets. In the centre, a slow gliding picks up the distant harmonics of a basic chord. Toward the end, this gliding returns with a fiery burst.

Fine lines and whirs are generated from the song of a spinning antique top.

To end on a lighter note the title Toupie dans le ciel - Spinning Top in the Sky reminds us of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by The Beatles as well as Lucy, the oldest Australopithecine (3 million years), our African grandmother in the Erosphere...

The overall title Erosphere alludes to the desire inherent to the listening experience, and to the very primitive cues that sustain the auditory attention and are the basis of all musical pleasure.

François Bayle

First performance: 21 January 1980 - Grand Auditorium of Radio-France,

Ina-GRM's Cycle Acousmatique.

Headless Horseman returns to 47 for the label's first 2018 release, 47014. The new solo EP will drop as 12' vinyl and digital download via Tommy Four Seven's imprint on February 23rd.

The four tracker features dense techno with individual moods. 'Revelation" is a downbeat lurching machine-giant with repeat climaxes. 'Concussion" is broken and feverish, with sculpted layers of pressure. The momentum of 'Locust" drives on the edge of an untravelled path and cannot rest. The final track "Gravity" is subtle and snarling, with a slowly ascending melody, scraping against future and past.

Vozduh (air) marks the first in a series of EPs by Nocow for Figure, showcasing his emerging signature-style of Electronica-tinged techno. Drawing inspiration from the sheer endless winters of St. Petersburg, his series builds on classic IDM tropes, imbuing them with a noticably Russian and deeply personal sensitivity. As each part of the trilogy is represented by an element, the tracks on Vozduh are vaporous by nature: from the crackling ambiance of opener Bouis to the weightless vocals on stoic Forgiven, as well as a surprisingly introspec-tive take on ghetto-house or the wafting melodies closing out the record's B-side - all forms seem to be in con-stant shift, casting a dense yet permeable body of sound. With two more releases on the way, which will be exploring the themes of voda (water) and zemlya (earth) within this artist's singular spectrum, the outlook (which also includes a full- volume edition) on this approaching season is anything but gloomy.

Mutant jungle forms, hazy glitch experiments and trance inducing downtempo collide with sharp percussion and dense low end on this latest Alter 12'. Helm's recent 'World In Action' EP for The Trilogy Tapes is reworked by a whole host of favourites including Laurel Halo and Parris who offer up two distinctly different takes on 'Blue Scene'. No Symbols boss Beneath turns his hand to title track 'World in Action' with that typically murky, deconstructed club aesthetic whilst Parisian mainstay Low Jack gets deep on the A2, his five and a half minute version of 'Candy' sounding like a cross between Nuno Canavarro and Whitehouse. Delivering what might well be the records most subdued moment, Brussels' Sky H1 slows 'After Dark' way way down with some barely there auto-tuned vocals helping to bring things into the fold.'

B. Fleischmann, the longest-tenured solo artist on Morr Music, returns with indie-spirited, electronica-enhanced moments of bliss on his new album Stop Making Fans': Recorded with a little help from friends including vocalist Gloria Amesbauer, Markus Schneider (guitars), and Valentin Duit (drums), it's a two-part reflection on artistic self-reliance vs. fame-seeking conformism, another deeply personal, utterly idiosyncratic album by the Indietronic trailblazer.Stop it and just DO,' Sol LeWitt once wrote to sculptor Eva Hesse - and listening to B. Fleischmann's new album, he indeed does both: He slams on the brakes and stops looking at what anyone else is doing, stops pleasing, stops being restrained, and at the same time he floors the accelerator and delivers the kind of high-paced work that bursts at the seams with polyphonic energy and an urgency unique to his music.Arriving with interlocked bleeps, the hustle and bustle of an invisible grand station's atrium ( Here Comes The A Train'), Fleischmann's trademark vocals serve as a gentle reminder to resist the siren calls, to not trust the latest hype. Energy levels remain high throughout the first part of the LP - whether it's the mumbling, personal stocktaking of what feels like an underwater hymn ( There Is A Head'), the robotic, immodest pop tune It's Not Enough' (feat. Gloria Amesbauer) or the return to light-speed mode on Wakey Wakey' - the first half of this album is indeed all about letting off some steam.After the collected canter of 7-minute instrumental Hand In,' the multi-instrumentalist & his studio mates kick off the slower-paced part II with the title song: a note to self, a reminder to never buckle or water down an original vision... and indeed, it's a sonic tapestry that's impossible to compare or pigeonhole when he changes the rhythm in mid-track and turns yet another corner when you thought you had discovered a fixed pattern. That said, B. Fleischmann certainly knows how to orchestrate an entire funfair full of sonic attractions. Guest singer Gloria Amesbauer returns for soothing tunes The Pros of Your Children and "Hello Hello . B. Fleischmann guides us to his almost jazz-tinged Little Toy , and leaves behind an Endless Stunner — another typically dense and shape-shifting stream of harmonies that keeps winding its way until the very end of this album It's rare that an album is great because it does not live up to its title - but here's one. Stop Making Fans,' his first full-length release in five years, is another totally unique, and thus potentially fan-base enhancing release. But then again, it's always been like that: We're usually at our best when we care the least - look at the delightful ways of toddlers or really old people. That natural ease, those invisible shrugs of shoulders: it's what does the trick. And you can hear a lot of that on Stop Making Fans'.

Fausto Messina is a veteran dj and producer from Treviso, a small town on the plain between the Gulf of Venice and the Alps. Fausto has been releasing music for more than 10 years and 'Pica Pica' is his debut E.P. on Cadenza. In the track named 'Pica Pica' a recurrent evocative voluminous chord is convoyed by a classy powerful kick drum and an organic symphony of fluffy percussions and metallic bonks, with a triumphant layer of dense whistles and shimmering cymbals. The extremely intense vibrant rhythms of 'Idiophono' contrast with the gentle reverberating harmonies of an ensemble of struck idiophones, angelically flowing in the background of the track. The smooth magnetic flux of 'Planets Ballet' concludes the E.P. with high style. This jacky stride over a stack of steamy synthesisers and bubbly bleeps is a golden tune for a quivering late-night dance-floor.

The second album by Istanbul's clarinet virtuoso Cüneyt Sepetçi is an intense trip into modern Turkish wedding and party music. The foundations go deep into Turkey and the surrounding regions' history, which each generation innovates and develops. These days, no wedding or circumcision party is complete without the sound of the micro-tonal keyboard. A new addition, these Turkish keyboardists can play between notes, and supply banging club rhythms in wide variety of time signatures.Sepetçi uses the bedrock of Volkan Sever's synth insanity as a jumping off point for some truly crazy solos. His fluttering sheets of notes tie knots around the pulsating, fried synthesizer. For this recording session, Sepetçi brought in two drummers, Fatih Özden (tapan) and Samet Sertol (darabouka), to play along with the Turkish drum machine. A dense nest of rhythmic complexity is the result. And to further connect to this music's rich past, the ancient double reed zurna of Ahmet Özden and Yasar Uçar's European violin weave ancient melodies and incredible solos throughout.
These musicians are some of the best in Istanbul, and all of these songs are first takes, recorded live with very little planning. Sepetçi essentially leads the band through these complex arrangements as they play them.In Istanbul, one may see Sepetçi playing for change on Istiklal Caddesi, the famous Turkish walking street at the center of the city. Or one may see him on one of the TV stations, playing Anatolian songs in his inimitable style. He's even begun touring outside of Turkey—at Denmark's Roskilde Festival, and at concerts in Italy, Beirut, and Israel. I want to go to America. He says. Do they have mosques there

Awaken arrives ten years since the release of their first album, and Agrimonia have evolved notably over that period of time. Their sound has always been dense, immersive, ambitious even, and on Awaken, Agrimonia have evolved their prog-infused form of expansive metal into something energetic, dynamic and powerful. 

On Awaken, Agrimonia are digging deep into their subconscious, trying to get an elevated state of mind, to connect the mind with sound and to find the combination of notes and melodies that evolves into a feeling or mood. Agrimonia channel the bittersweetness of life, and breathe air into thoughts, that cannot easily be put into words.
 
About Awaken the band comment "We are thrilled to see the release of our fourth album "Awaken". We are very proud of the outcome and feel that the album is our most dynamic and vital yet, and contains more of everything that is Agrimonia.'...they continue...'Awaken is the soundtrack to our existence, and I hope other people can feel that way too'.
 
Awaken was produced by the band then mixed and mastered by Henrik Udd, who also worked on the previous recording Rites of Separation, then under the Studio Fredman banner but now under his own name, Henrik Udd Recording Studios.

Uun returns to his imprint Ego Death with an EP that showcases his progression in both sound design and atmosphere. The A side kicks things off with On The Concept Of Irony, a broken beat assault which serves as a mission statement with it's scattered snares and vocal samples. The Tangled Web continues this mood but with a more intense structure, heavy on hypnotic synths that weave in and out of the tracks percussive framework. Where as the A side is the logical extension of the first three Ego Death releases, the B side serves to showcase a deeper atmosphere while maintaining Uun's preference for dense arrangements. The Other features a haunting ethereal pad that floats above a broken kick pattern and a bed of clicks, pops, and field recordings. The closing track, Absurd Existence, forges all the elements of the artist's sound into perhaps his most melodic work to date. It is therefore senseless to think of complaining since nothing foreign has decided what we feel, what we live, or what we are.' - Jean-Paul Sartre

Rough and rugged Jahtari 7-floppy disc with a rudebwoy riddim by the rub-a-dub hacker team Art & Naram, well known in the community for their Red Robin productions. Epic drunkard's tale by the fast chat originator himself on the A-side - Peter King is heading down to the pub this time, returning from Maffi's Killah Tape EP' with even more story twists, odd rhyme meters and a recipe for disaster. Jammed straight to an 8-track cassette deck in the Jahtari studio, mixed by disrupt and coming with an high density dub on the flipside. LOAD...... Limited 500 copies edition!

Henrique Oliveira aka HNQO, is the man responsible for this exciting full album release on DOC Records.

HNQO

is one of the fastest rising young stars in the techno, house and indie dance scene in Brazil.
Causing much attention and hype with his recent EP release on DOC Records (Balinese Death - also featured in MAGNUM VOL 1) and having reach the

#1 spot at Hot Creations Top selling single, it is time to introduce his first album "The Old Door", (influenced by Marlin Stimming and Anders Trentemøller, two of his heroes).
A weird string sound marks the opening of "The OId Door".

By mixing old sounds with new ideas, while recording different instruments, the track shows HNQO's life and it features Urzula Amen in the vocals.

"The Death of the Elephant' is a soundtrack to remind us how destructive human kind has been to the nature. Using sounds of Pizzicato Violin, "40s Cartoon' continues to take us to a journey through the artist's imagination.


The album is filled with the Henrique life moments during the year it took to produce the album.

For an example in "Egyptian Lover" HNQO describes how nice it would have been to have a lover flying overnight.

On this track Russian singer Cotry interprets the lyrics.

"Fallen Angel" is a dramatic piece telling a story still about flying.

"If" is another collaboration with the amazing Urzula Amen.


As we get closer to the end, when its finally time, 'Light a Cigarette' reaches a melancholic state where all melodies were recorded with eyes shut and in complete darkness.

A spiritual moment that became Henrique's favourite track of this project.

The scratch of a match, the flame and then a foggy synth that releases all the feelings in sound waves.
The album cover was inspired on a door.

A door that HNQO was able to enter by playing certain keys on his synths, percussions and strings that allowed him to reach a organic level while making it all a bit more human in terms of groove construction.
A poem from Rai Knight was perfect fit to give the density for the digital bonus track.
To get a better feel of what this album has to say, HNQO invites you to open 'The Old Door"

Russian producer Nocow debuts on Rekids with five murky tracks this December. Based in St. Petersburg, Nocow is undoubtedly one of Russian electronic music's
most remarkable protagonists having released on Clone, Figure, Fauxpas Musik, Gost Zvuk and Styrax. Recognised for maintaining consistency whilst traversing various sub-genres, Nocow is as comfortable producing intricate IDM and robust
techno as he is calm ambient and melancholic electronica.
In 'Soul Connection' a spoken word vocal mutters over metallic percussion and ominous stabs whilst a dense pad washes over everything. An undulating synth and ethereal effects make up 'Disappear' before moving onto syncopated drums
and shadowy atmospherics in 'Samaya Dolgaya Noch'. Next up, 'Stop' is comprised of mesmerising melodies, sturdy kicks and a looped vox until Nocow concludes the package with a short 2-step cut titled 'Aesthetic Mind'.

Drumcode returns with its 6th installment of the internationally celebrated A-Sides series. Renowned for fostering a shared space between industry tastemakers and rising talent alike, the careful curation that goes into each volume is a fine example of why Beyer's brand continues to go from strength to strength.

Techno titan Adam Beyer has grown Drumcode into a force to be reckoned with; the label has become synonymous with forward-thinking, functional techno and even after 20 years, Drumcode continues to find new boundaries to push, and ways to solidify its legacy as the world's number one techno label.

2017 is no exception, with Beyer's imprint hosting it's first stage at Tomorrowland, not to mention the expansion of the critically acclaimed Junction 2 where the Drumcode stage is the centrepiece and Adam plays the key role of festival director. The Drumcode phenomenon continues to grow each week, chiefly fuelled by Drumcode Radio, Adam's radio show that's broadcast in 57 countries via 86 stations and to a global audience of 16 million techno fans per week.

The A-Sides series acts as a perfect vignette of Drumcode's cutting-edge sound; functional yet inspired techno, all tracks tried and tested by Beyer himself. Vol. 6 continues this tradition with a collection of 16 multi-faceted cuts from a mixture of both emerging artists and experienced label friends.

The heart-throbbing bass in Amelie Lens' electrifying piece 'In Silence' sets the tone for the dark and dance-floor-ready energy that Vol.6 carries the whole way through. Other standouts include Mars Bill's rough'n'ready 'Mohave'. Pulsating and precise, 'Mohave' has highlighted many of Beyer's sets recently as has Wehbba's monster track 'Fake', which fans have been anticipating the release of all year.

Label-favourites Dense & Pika also feature on 'A-Sides' Vol. 6 with their hard-hitting 'Just a Beat' and a huge track from Beyer himself who has joined forces with Enrico Sangiuliano to bring us their undeniably infectious 'Preset Heaven'.

With many more notable selections from the likes of Julian Jewell, Timmo, Tiger Stripes and Pig&Dan, A-Sides Vol. 6 is another impressive addition to the label's prolific release roster and a testament to why Drumcode remains at the forefront of the electronic world.

'On Line': a collaborative album in parts, focused on themes of repetition, poly-metrics, transformation and abstraction. Volume 1 features contributions from Livity Sound protégé, Simo Cell, Berceuse Heroique regular, Don't DJ, and Wisdom Teeth label head, K-LONE. All of the tracks were written specifically for the project and in tandem, and all are connected by a constant pulse and communal headspace. The record opens with Simo Cell's 'Symmetry': a slow crescendo of whirring pads, melodic percs and dotted rhythms, all underpinned by thick slabs of sub-bass that, with each heavy hit, seem to collapse the track's atmosphere down and in on itself. Next, Don't DJ follows with the oblique, discordant chug of 'Übergang Zur Metrotram'. As with all of Florian's works, the track pulses with an organic, animal quality that completely belies its mechanical origins. Again, the track's space is filled with drifting pads and clanging chimes - but this time the atmosphere is close, discordant and chokingly dense. Last up, K-LONE clears the air with 'Woniso'. The track grows slowly out of a series of beautiful harmonic counterpoints - morphing patterns that come and go in the mix to reveal their individual colours and contours.

So, after a little break we're back with a new release. This time we're joined by the multi-talented production powerhouse that is Swarm Intelligence (aka Simon Hayes). Landing heavy with four bruising techno cuts that each find their own unique way of taking your head off, EAR017 is a bumpy journey through darker club flavours. 'Flatlands' opens things up, reminiscent of the type of marching, granite-heavy Brum techno of old - this is minimal in construction but maximum in its impact. Move forward to 'Ground Up' where demonic, dissonant keys take the lead above a rattling midrange that sounds like a corrugated roof ready to fly off. Opting for cleaner, elastic drum patterns on 'Tingla', Hayes swaps tense for dense, with a LOUD take on steppy techno, that'll please fans of some of Blawan's earlier work. 'Skitz' starts out an a more dub tip with a wailing, paranoia inducing hook and snaking rhythms, eventually joined by more hard-hitting broken kicks, leading us comfortably into oblivion.

Copenhagen's Echocord Colour returns this mid November with Brendom Moeller's 'Magic City' EP, featuring four originals from the New York based artist.
Brendon Moeller has long been a purveyor of authentic dub-infused Techno since stepping onto the scene via his 2006 'Sweetspot / Humpback' EP via Echocord and has since gone on to release on reputable imprints such as Third Ear, Kimochi Sound, Delsin's Ann Aimee, Mule Musiq and of course his very own Steadfast.
Here though Moeller makes a welcome return to where it all began with some fresh material for Echocord's Colour sub- label. 'Caravan' takes the lead on the release and in typical Brendon Moeller fashion we're treated to densely layered dub chords, throbbing subs and expansive atmospherics whilst robust drums drive the composition along.
Magic City' follows and ups the energy levels even further with pounding industrial drums layered underneath billowing dub stabs and eerie drones. 'Magic City In Dub' follows and as the name suggests offers up a reduced take on the composition, dropping the tempo and shining light on the billowing echoes of the original whilst stirring in some off-kilter rhythsm and additional processing for good measure. Lastly, 'Departure' closes the package, with haunting synth drones, bumpy rhythms and murky vocals wandering throughout the seven-minute composition.