Sunday, December 15, 2013

baze.djunkiii Charts 12/2013

01. Alemayehu Eshete - Ethiopian Urban Modern Music Vol.2 [L'Arome Productions]
It's been a while now since I discovered the fascinating music that came from Ethiopia in the late 60s and early 70s via the re-releases of L'Arome Productions "Ethiopiques" series and this album is one of these albums which are available to a wider audience again. Although more Soul and Funk driven in comparison to the countries more Jazz-related scene in these days long days it's quite fascinating how well the clearly American influences and the unfamiliar language compliment each other. Check "Hameta" or "Yeweb Dar" to prove me right. Full on recommended - not only to those who love to dig for more exotic sample sources.

02. Captain Capa - Foxes [Audiolith Promo]
See review for details..

03. A Band Of Crickets - Ask What It Is! [Behind The Black Curtain Records Promo]
When Downbeat meats Dub meets PostStep meets sweet female vocals on top of huge, ever embracing sinewave basslines. When these vocals are not provided by the one and only Björk but surely pleasing all of her fans due to their excentric, echoic and surreal nature. When the tempo is slow but the power of BASS is able to move any dancefloor right away. And when the very last track comes up with a - contextwise that is - quite surprising view on purely Funk-driven high octane JazzBreaks. When all of this happens you might've grabbed this overly interesting gem at your local record store. Make sure to buy it.

04. Lucknow [LUCKNOW001 Promo]
Quite a mysterious hand-numbered four track vinyl piece with hand printed cover artwork that revolves somehow in between stoically marching technoid minimalism that does not really build up to a climax, DubTechno influences and a very stripped down variation of BrokenTechno for all those strongminded people with a thing for conceptual rhythms and sub heavy bassdrums. I'd totally love to see that 12" blasted through a huge P.A. in some concrete and steel bunker - especially when it comes to the TechnoJazz abstractions served on the untitled B1 tune.

05. Studio 1 - Gelb / Lila [Assemble Music 006 Whitelabel Promo]
Actually I've gotta admit that I haven't embraced or loved that Wolfgang Voigt's Studio 1-series that much when it was released back in the 90s as I was digging deeply into the more harder and more experimental spectrum of electronic music in these days. But as more than 15 years have passed now since their initial release and they still sound nice and fresh and timeless and functional there's no other option than to call these two tracks masterpieces in true Minimal Techno for a reason. Essential works.

06. Crime Scene - Jam The Box EP [Crime City 004 Promo]
I'll never stop being a sucker for raw, unprocessed House music, especially when it comes along with loads of Chicago and Detroit references like this little limited 12" bitch here. Four tracks with an oldskool feel and just the right amount of sex drive meets melancholia to keep everyone moving in the small hours just before the sun rises again. No more words - just music. And a pressing of only 100 black vinyl copies world wide.

07. Transpacific Express Vol.2 [Hypnotic Room 004 Promo]
A four track split E.P. featuring tracks from Paranoia106, Takashi Watanabe, Yuuki Hori and Seri (in order of appearance) that's coming down all the way from Sydney / Australia, crossing big blue waters and reflecting that in its deep blue vinyl colour theme as well. Musicwise this mini compilation or label showcase - if you like to name it like that - is exploring the realms of fluxionary but dancefloor suitable DubTechno in terms of demanding bassdrums and a more uptempo attitude than the average DubTechno-12". And actually this works out pretty well although none of the tracks  adds any new or surprising aspects to the genres long-known formula. Plus: all lovers of slightly acidic Intelligent Techno are highly recommended to check out Seri's B2 work "Cold Stone" which is an expertly crafted example of deep listening electronic music with an ever evolving twist.

08. Tlic - Winterplague Adopt [Minor Label 027]
See review for details..

09. Restless Leg Syndrome - Dabkeh [Duzz Down San Recordings Promo]
Actually I'm not the biggest fan of the popular crossover movement that fuses - or at least tries to - western or eurocentric electronic club music with oriental influences as a lot of these attempts have a too artificial feel or seem to be forced fusions that by any means are happening only for the reason of proving how open minded this or that producer is. If not, the other half of these productions take the most kitschy, cliche parts from oriental music to use it as a novelty hook or whatever. So listening to Restless Leg Syndrome's "Dabkeh" and riding on their superdope beats seemed like a kind of epiphany. Clearly coming from a HipHop-related background the production team did what every good digger and beat miner does - they were looking for samples to use, to incorporate them in to their phat Instrumental HipHop tracks, their Dub-driven Downbeat and - sic! - TripHop pieces which are able to rock any floor without the "stigma" of being necessarily filed under the flag of  so-called World Music although they obviously have a slightly oriental or like different feel and athmosphere to them caused by the use of specific instruments and their non-western tonalities. Pure dope.

10. Cyperkid - These Were Our Days [Flop Beat Disk 0005]
See review for details...

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