Friday, May 30, 2014

Driftmachines - Nocturnes [Umor Rex 065 Promo]

Scheduled for release on June, 20th via the Morr Music offshoot Umor Rex is "Nocturnes", the latest six track album piece created by Andreas Gerth of Tied & Tickled Trio and Florian Zimmer of Saroos under their conjunctional moniker Driftmachine. Serving about 48 minutes - incl. track number 7 that is, which is available as digital bonus - of studies in organic (not only) Ambient Dub the pair of producers starts out with the quite stripped down "Claire Obscure", a tune that can be best described as variation of classic Dub techniques whilst the following "Drift" is meandering between trance-inducing (Neo)Cosmic synth lines and thrilling Dubstep minimalisms for primetime abuse, made to cause some serious movements on tripping bass floors. With the remarkable Electronic Dub excursion "To Nowhere Pt.1" that's focusing on pure analogue bass as its main element, accompanied only by skeletal, scattered beat structures Driftmachine prove that tension, thrill and dynamics are way more important to get bodies and souls in motion than the EDM-proclaimed loudness wars whilst the tunes tribalistic variation "To Nowhere Pt.2" will be loved by all fans of the Shackleton-lead MythStep movement for a reason due to its damp and feverish overall feel that's followed by a still fever'ish but way less active "Sternenmeer" sporting electronically wafting synth bass movements with a kinda psychedelic twist that are perfect for late night ChillOut floors. The - physical - albums closing tune "Reveil Des Oiseaux" introduces the magic of unprocessed piano movements to a more threatening Illbient-influenced vibe that fans of the now seemingly inactive or closed down WordSound imprint will be able to connect to within seconds. Finally we see the digital bonus "Call Mr. Mariba" recalling the electronic waft of "Sternenmeer" again on a more melodic and probably trancier level, ready to set floors in motion and - as said already - get MythStep heads all excited. Recommended for a reason.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

lsb_TV #04 - ADSX Sessions April / May 2014 / #chilloutberlin



Deep Listening / Ambient Techno / Armchair Techno session recorded at and transmitted via lsb_TV on May 24th, 2014.

Make sure to tune in to the next "Telepathic Bubblebath" transmission featuring Omsk Information, Sunny M, Twin Peetz and ADSX on May 30th, 2014 - available via Radio Berlin 88.Vier and Alex Berlin Radio.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Jesse Osborne-Lanthier (Noir) - Athenaeum Of Unedited, Superannuated, Incomplete, Unreleased, Intimate Works 2011 - 2013 [Hobo Cult Records]

A tape! We love tapes. Sitting in our postbox only a few days ago was this limited to 100 copies tape edition of the "Athenaeum Of Unedited, Superannuated, Incomplete, Unreleased, Intimate Works 2011 - 2013" by Jesse Osborne-Lanthier (Noir) which - for some reason - wins the number one prize for the longest and most unmemorizable album title ever reviewed on these pages. The unmemorizable thing goes for titles like "Chtonic", "Tetrapyloctomy Haus" or "How To Get 'Important' People To Respond To Your Emails (Or, 'Affording PR.')" as well by the way. Apart from memory twisting titles there's music on this lovely limited edition as well - music that one wouldn't necessarily expect on tape as this medium seems to be closely bonded to the Drone / Noize / Experimental scene these days. But quelle surprise, Mr. Osborne-Lanthier's work released by the Montreal-based Hobo Cult Records is - at least in parts - dedicated to the dancefloor, the advanced, experienced dancefloor to be even more precise. With a love for the darker side of things and a clear fascination for all things echo and reverb the A-side starts out with explorations and variations in DubTechno that has moved away from the classic Basic Channel-way into more abstract realms but still would be able to move crowds in the right context of a dark, concrete wall club environment with a proper PA. Whilst the first side of the tape progresses, the dancefloor slowly moves out of focus and more Experimental tones take over, from flickering Ambient / Deep Listening Music with unsettled tones to buzzing Death Ambient drones accompanied by distorted, viscous Noize eruptions. The B-sides opener "A Standard Artist" turns out to be a short,  hyperelectronic, ultra-digital Clicks'n'Cuts piece with a rasping, tweaking contra-rhythmic loop antidote that might be loved by followers of labels like Stichting Mixer or Raster-Noton whilst the already mentioned "Tetrapyloctomy Haus" starts as an electroid piece, morphs into dry, clear cut 4/4 bassdrums and ends up providing a short'n'sharp, uptempo Future Tribe excess alongside unexpected, surprising and cold'ish, futuristic scifi-tone sequences - a live jam equipment test maybe? We don't now, but we like variety. And surprises. Furthermore we like to be taken into Dark Ambient orbits crowded with buzzing, alien, mailclad insects, listening to relinquished hydraulic systems moving back and forth and bleeping, lost machines on tilt in some faraway, extraterrestrial industrial estate. Also we have a thing for desolate Post-PostRock and forlorn, heavily twisted Post-DesertRock that's finally to be found in the threatening "The Ottawa Convention Center" which seemingly is a haunted, sinister place to be. As we're not afraid of places like this we do recommend to get your local record dealer or mailorder of trust to hunt this down for you for a reason. Nice.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Egotronic vs Andreas Dorau - Das Telefon Sagt Du (Free Download)



A great hommage to one of my favourite Andreas Dorau songs ever, not only due to Mike Ink's legendary, still marvellous rework "Das Telefon Sagt Acid" once released via Ladomat back in 1995.


Saturday, May 24, 2014

Sascha Müller [Supersix Records Extra 021 Promo]

Still being one - or the ? - most productive production-bot within the German electronic music scene we're not that surprised that Sascha Müller's twenty-first untitled album released via Supersix Records Extra was sitting in our postbox only recently and furthermore we're not surprised that the twelve tracks on this one are of excellent quality again as this man is no man but machine when it comes to twisting knobs in his studio. No matter if it's the bustling Techno psychosis in the opener "No Civilasation", the modulation heavy but stripped down Detroit Minimalism of "Non Plus Ultra", the monotonous and uber-functional Techno banger "Operator" or the House stab laden stomper "Pattern Work" with its hard-hitting House approach with a deep NYC twist - this guy knows his craft for sure. More recommended tunes on this album are the deep, hypnotic, minimalistic - not: Minimal - "Ping Pong", the thriving, psyched out Acid workout "Portugal" with its 90s AcidTrance reminiscing modulations and finally the contemplative Ambient piece "Gong Part 02". We like that.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Trouble Orchestra - Heiter [Audiolith Promo]

I think every music writer comes to a point in his career when one of the labels he or she has been following and supporting from day dot, possibly even built a closer relationship to over years and years in which paths regularly crossed, puts out a record that one absolutely cannot relate to. Which is tricky. So what do when this happens? Not reviewing it? Reviewing it and criticise for a reason? Listening to the newest Audiolith outing, Trouble Orchestra's debut longplay piece "Heiter", that's to come on June 6th I pretty immediately recognized that this point has come for me now.
Admittedly I've never been a huge fan or follower of the relatively young HipHop subgenre named Zeckenrap ("Zecke" is a German slang word for someone being a Punk kid speaking of a  "I don't wanna work, I just wanna drink, fuck you all, fuck society, we're so crusty and fucked up"-way whilst my own understanding of Punk is more a "Ok, I don't like the system so I've gotta move my ass and get my own things done, make my own rules, earn my own money and make pretty sure I don't have to rely on and to be dependant on the system and its rules"-thought ) which emerged from the vaults of a political, anti-fascist, anti-german, anti-sexist, left wing, mostly vegan, anti-authority and anti-capitalist German underground scene throughout the last years. Actually I haven't heard much of that as it seems to exist in a very small, autonomous community being the aforementioned underground circles in which I'm not involved as I'm not necessarily sharing their often pretty dogmatic and partly skewed world view and what I've heard regularly showcased more than questionable flows / skills when it comes to the use of language or, even more regularly, questionable statements. Now we see the six member outfit Trouble Orchestra fusing the Zeckenrap genre with what might be filed under the flag of Indie/Emo for their ten track debut that surely will reach the scene depicted as well as the hearts of young Indie girls with a clear emotional disorder - especially talking songs like the overly emotional "Graupause" or "Stadt Am Meer" here -, and possibly catch the attention of more youngsters feeling so wrong that they're doubt whether there's a place in the world where they really belong. But technically callow vocal techniques and a feel of teen angst / teen melancholia that the author and owner of these pages never really knew even in teenage years don't make up a remarkable or touching fusion at all for a writer in his mid 30s with a daily reality apparently being too far away from the bands universe.
Tl; dr. I have a clue where the Trouble Orchestra wants to go with this album, but that's far from where I am right now. Given that, I don't feel it at all.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Hexagon Industries - Hexagon EP [Psychocandies 024]

Set for release on June,  26th via Sascha Müller's very own Psychocandies label is this five track piece provided by Hexagon Industries. With their label debut "Hexagon EP" they're the next artists who are exploring the realms of Acid on the 100% 303-committed imprint and they're doing it in a very dry, ultra-minimalist way. Sparse, skeletal drum settings and secluded, haunting outerworldy athmospheres make "A Dry Cocktail After A Fuck" a really spooky thing to listen to in the dark whilst the stripped down "Jukeboxfever" deals with what might be filed under the flag of Minimal Acid hypnotizm, a functional suction stretched over nearly 9 minutes and drawing people straight to the center of the dancefloor. Shortly after this massive tune the heavy modulations of "Sandboxfilter" take the term HypnoAcid to another level - a track we'd defo like to hear banging through a huge PA rig at 3 a.m. on a friday night for a reason. Finally the strangely "Acid Zitrone" fuses dark, psychotic thrust with distorted 8bit drums explosions, razor sharp hi hats and knob tweaking modulations again that are immediately shredding any resistance. Ready for a bunker tripout? We are for sure. File under: Pure underground shit for those craving for a maximum dancefloor workout to raw trueskool tracks .

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Ira Atari - Leave It



Ira Atari's contribution to Audiolith's "Ten Years From Now" anniversary compilation which was released in fall 2013. And although essential questions like "How long will it take to write my favorite song? And how far away is the perfect  melody?" remain unanswered it's pretty clear that the perfect melody is not that far away no more when it comes to synth heavy Pop with a sweet and plastic Italo twist. #nothingbutloveforiraatari

Monday, May 19, 2014

Martyn - The Air Between Words [Ninja Tune Promo]

Scheduled for mid-June is the third full length album effort catered  by Dutch producer Martijn Deykers - better known as Martyn in Dubstep, Bass and Techno circles alike for his consistent output, establishing himself as a firm, stalwart producer throughout the past nine years. Released under the name "The Air Between Words" the longplayer, after a short intro skit, starts with the first of the albums two collaboration pieces entitled "Glassbeadgames" - a melodic journey into the realm of uplifting, dreamy Future Garage crafted alongside Kieran Hebden a.k.a. Four Tet. The follow-up "Empty Mind" comes up as raw, mandatory Techno workout with razorblade hi-hats and a twisted, on point bassline in combination with classy and classic ClubTechno stabs working best in huge, abandoned industrial facilities with a properly E'd up crowd going wild - think also: Sheffield 1991 - whilst "Drones" is following the given path with a more jazzy, yet not necessarily softer twist. Unprocessed bassdrums and Vienna'esque FutureJazz sound wizzardry rule the scenery, whilst bleeping, modulating synths dream of an Acid future. "Love Of Pleasure" featuring Copeland on vocal duties can be described as sparse electronic lovesong backed by seductive analogue synths and romanticistic Piano lines, "Two Leads And A Computer" covers - despite being stretched over more than 6 minutes - the niche of a TechnoCosmic layout for lovers of dreamy, 'troity melodies unfolding on top of ultra-dry drums which are also to be found in the Oldskool Breakbeat reminiscing bass vs. bleep monster "Forgiveness Step 2" which is by far the best and most remarkable tune on "The Air Between Words" due to its stripped down efficiency and authentic Rave approach. More, but more technoid Future Garage flavor on a 4/4 foundation is to be found in the anthemic "Like That" with its uber-sweet, melodious hook, short vocals snippets and seemingly live jammed piano sequence that's about to drive the late night crowd mad with this fusion, "Lullaby" provides a more playful, probably even Plaid'esque note - calling their "Not For Threes" album as evidence here - when it comes to complex Electronica and the final reverberation heavy "Fashion Skater" unveils Martyn's more epic, but still tongue-in-cheek side when it comes to building a huge Techno banger. Nice, diverse and defo Martyn's best album so far. Me likey.

Acidfloor - 808 Acid Vol. 4 [Psychocandies 023]

Scheduled for release on May 29th via the Acid heavy Psychocandies label is Acidfloor's latest longplay effort containing a full dozen of raw, highly repetetive and fully analogue Acid cuts for those deeply in love with the ever bubbling, modulated lines chirring out of the 303 box. Agglutinated with the classic 808 drum machine we see those tracks representing the most primordial Acid vision that has ever been which is usually great but as these twelve pieces are more like sketches and basic layouts instead of fully elaborated, technically mature listening to them in one single go can even become a bit tiring for the most dedicated Acid head ever. Although I bet these tools work well on a vault like underground dancefloor with fast mixing DJ's going ablaze I think a full on jam-session seeing one track emerging out of the other would've done better than cutting the whole thing into pieces. One for hardcore fans only. Tracks to check: the well lively pieces "808_062" and "808_062" as well as the oldskool-flavored Chicago Basement cut "808_071".

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Supershirt - Der Vierte Affe [Audiolith Promo]

Recently released via Audiolith is "Der Vierte Affe", Supershirt's latest six track, yellow vinyl EP including their smasher "H.Y.P.E." that was already featured on the labels anniversary compilation "Ten Years From Now" which was reviewed on these pages in last October. Still following their path through the realms of a style hybrid often called Indieelectro, the fusion of an electronic beat foundation and Indie guitars musically with their characteristic sprechgesang - not: rap - on top it becomes more and more obvious with tunes like "Aurora Borealis" that their lyrics kinda evolve towards the stimulation of associative patterns whilst the new banger "Kneipe"("Speakeasy") is celebrating the charms and culture of cheap-ass drinking holes. The B-sides opener "Die Vögel" can be seen as an abstract ode to migratory birds that's entangled with urban melancholia and longing wanderlust, whilst the slogan-heavy "Fackeln Und Forken" is more reminiscing to Supershirt's pristine ElectroPunk flavour and might be best appreciated amongst their elder fanbase in shows. A band in flux - we're well curious where this journey finally comes to a halt stylewise. Check.


Thursday, May 15, 2014

Streetart Daily Special / baze.djunkiii Interview Feature On Innate

Cardiff-based producer Owain Kimber, known not only to readers of these pages but House music lovers around the globe for his prolific work with Jamie Anderson on Dessous Recordings has been recently turning his head into writing and introduced his freshly founded website project Innate to the world, where he's embracing the realms of music, art and media for a growing audience of readers.

Just recently Owain has teamed up with nitestylez.de founder baze.djunkiii to discuss his latest website projects www.streetartdaily.com / www.stickerloveandworlddomination.com on Innate.

Read the full interview here!

Unknown Artist - Unknown Release [Unknown Label]

"Come and visit me here in the rehabilitation - we all are laughing so often - sometimes I can't stop laughing. The tears are running down my cheeks and my face has the colour of a lobster - hahahahaha."

These words on a photo print and a return adress "emptycuthere@freenet.de" are the only information given on this quite mysterious tape release that has been sitting in our postbox recently. Possibly sent from somewhere near the Kassel-area in Germany according to the date stamp the blank see-through tape came in a vary colored paper packaging  inside a leopard patterned vanity bag with some glittery inserts but no further information given. Musically the A side starts out droney with some more lively elements frolicking to and fro before finally disappearing into deep listening Drone tranquility for a while that's accompanied by ultra decelerated male vocals and later some slighty distorted out of tune synth tones. Flipping the tape after approximately 20 minutes the - guess what? - untitled B side provides a kind of spooky, forlorn feel that - in other releases - has been regularly described as the atmosphere of an alien swamp on these pages, with the decelerated vocals still being an essential part of what's going on here. Furthermore we'll find some parts that kinda reminisce of forlorn didgeridoos, echoing signals from outer space and strange, emergency tones as well as bubbling acid lava, possibly field recorded on one of Saturn's moons. Also we have tilting computers on overload, erupting into experimental, uptempo and groovy as fuck seemingly live tap-danced beat patterns towards the very end of the tape, shortly before cold, haunting Drones rule the scenery again.
A good one for sure but a mystery still. Any information of this tapes origin is welcome.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

John Lemke - Walizka [Denovali Records 201 Promo]

Acoustic Piano Techno? 4/4-based Loop Jazz? Dubbed Piano on an improvised Ambient level? One might come up with many of these terms to describe the first and original three tracks of John Lemke's "Walizka EP" set for release on May 23rd via Denovali Records. Organic for sure like Pole's legendary early excursions in electronic Dub when it comes to the nicely drifting "Kompass" or epic, funky, dancefloor-functional - at least, on very advanced dancefloors - and well-positive vibe in "Drift", a piece that could be described as chromatic and, if most of its sounds weren't realized by real instruments, even (Neo)Trance referring at a level of musical excellence. Apart from these three originals the title track is reworked in a solo prepared piano way accompanied by some buzzing, droney and partly irritating tones providing a nice contrast to the calming, romantic feel of the real time instrument. Furthermore two reworks of "Kompass" are featured here - the one crafted by Saffronkeira lives up to the original Dub feel but takes it to an even deeper, PostBalearic level for top notch ChillOut floors whilst the so-called "Everyday Dust Remix" handles things totally beatless and relies on crackling surface noise and sparse but cinematic string layers that, in parts that is, do cross the boundaries of what might be filed as pretentious kitsch by some - others might simply file it under the flag of Ambient.  Finally the "Petrels Remix" starts out at a string heavy Ambient level as well but surprisingly falls into dry, minimalistic, 4/4 beat patterns all of a sudden that are later heterodyned by floating strings again before...an on/off game repeated several times before slowly zoning out into bland doldrums. One for all Deep Listening lovers out there.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Alien Ensemble [Alien Transistor Promo]

Scheduled for release on June 20th via Micha and Marcus Acher's very own Alien Transistor imprint is the debut longplay piece of Micha Acher's 2010-founded, seven headed Alien Ensemble - an initimate, non-electronic gathering of three The Notwist-members and four further musicians with whom Acher shares a mutual history of playing in various bands or projects for years. This, alongside the shared love for Jazz, is the common denominator for the acoustic journey their self-titled debut provides which can be best described as a blue, melancholia-infused, free floating and certainly Psychedelia-loving vision of Jazz (Not Jazz) that knows about the tradition of Film Noir, epic love and, at some point, Easy Listening and Exotica without following traditional rules of any of the mentioned genres at all. It's more like they're catering a kind of acoustic painting which, in the third track that's ironically entitled "1", erupts, bursts into a surprising, free and wild action performance before finding the cinematic 50s or 60s trail again. This is the path wandered in the epic "Thousand Lights District" as well before the tune's drifting into live played Easy'n'Bass areas for contemporary dancefloors. Overall - a grower for sure, but more an album made for late fall moments than for early summer nights.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Jette Von Roth - Die See Im Sinn (Official Video)



Contemplative listening for Sunday afternoons. Nice one.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

J Cassar - Money (Free Download)



Reduced to the max but providing a maximum boom. Watch yer bassbins, folks.

Thursday, May 08, 2014

Thomas Azier - Hylas [Caroline International Promo]

Recently released via Caroline International under the wing of Island France is "Hylas", the full longplay debut of the Netherlands-rooted and now Berlin-based young (Neo)SynthPop artist Thomas Azier who is coming up with twelve new songs after his first EPs "Hylas 001" and "Hylas 002" in 2012. This continuity is a clear evidence for his fascination with this young figure of the Greek mythology but when it comes to musical aspects of his falsetto-loaden, clear cut, modernistic SynthPop his methods are far from ancient. Infected by Indie and surely influenced by the (Neo)Cosmic ItaloSynth greatness introduced to a wider audience via the French maestro Kavinsky his album is a sweet journey into glitzy, neon'esque Pop music that is home to huge, epic anthems like "Red Eyes" as well as tender ballads like "Angelene" - all guided by Mr. Azier's unique vocal approach and a special, longing sound that - if comparable to any more recent release at all - is not too far away from Rangleklods huge debut "Beekeeper + Home EP" and defo will be loved by all those who've been digging this massive 2012 album as well. And although Thomas Azier might stay under the mainstream radar which is more focused on short-lived EDM / Pop hybrids these days this album is about to last for a reason and will be referred to as one of the most remarkable SynthPop / Modern Wave albums of 2014.

Bonus level - check the video of his sweet cover version of Chris Isaak's uber-classic "Wicked Game" which is unfortunately not featured on the album.

Wednesday, May 07, 2014

The Skull Defekts - Dances In Dreams Of The Known Unknown [Thrill Jockey 358 Promo]

Recently released via Thrill Jockey in late April is the n-th album of the the Swedish band outfit The Skull Defekts which have been releasing on every format from file to tape to CD and vinyl since 2005 and now are making serious ninefold noise on their recent longplay piece "Dances In Dreams Of The Known Unknown", serving a dry, bass-lacking, garage-y but ultimately seductive amalgamation of killer DesertRock, PostPunk and NoizeWave with a ritual'esque touch - a forecast of a looming armageddon, a dark ride into an unknown wilderness, the exploration of ancient drives and instincts that's to be praised by Drone Rock lovers as well as psyched out Goths alike. If you love your Rock music raw, uncut, sickness infested, druggy and fucked up, if you prefer  grey conrete walls to any given colour  and possibly identify with the term crepuscule creeper this one's here to darken your day. And ours. For a reason. Highly addictive and fully recommended.


Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Giana Factory - I Live At Night (Official Video)



Copenhagen's Giana Factory are serving a sweet, fragile and uber-crystalline gem somewhat in between Indie, SynthPop, Future Garage and PostWave here that surprisingly morphs into a huge dancefloor tune within its very last seconds. Plus: the video is massive, too.

Monday, May 05, 2014

baze.djunkiii Charts 05/2014

01. Peder Mannerfelt - Lines Describing Circles [Digitalis]
Check german review for details...

02. Wrangler - LA Spark [Memetune Recordings]
Check review for details...

03. Marco Resmann - Basic  Motion [Poker Flat Recordings 147 Promo]
Berlin's Marco Resmann serves his first full on 12" on Steve Bug's prime imprint Poker Flat Recordings and comes up with nothing but a masterpiece here. The title tracks starts out as a moody affair with deep analogue synth lines that are later giving way for more uplifting and unique, sparse pads that are about to drive punters mad when played in these very moments when the crowd is craving for something special, something possibly unheard of. With "Ladies & Gentlemen" on the flip Mr. Resmann explores the deeper, partly even acidic, ever modulating side of what once was called Intelligent Techno whilst "More Or Less" brings out an intimate, tenderly caressing variation of late night TechHouse for lovers.

04. Demo Tracks #02 [Tresor Records 268]
"If life is a battle, Techno wins" is a phrase I recently coined on Twitter and  if Tresor Records do join the race backed by these three tracks produced by the likes of Acronym, JC and Zadig they're in it for one of the top positions. Acronym's "Nabu" on the A-side recalls the psycho-hypnotizm of Jeff Mills' minimalistic, twisted, hounded DetroitTechno visions and will be loved by Techno purists for a reason whilst JC's "Chenox" on B1 serves some dark, threatening and well-monotonous sounds for the underground basement massive. Furthermore Zadig's "Panic" enters the realm of uber-functional, compellent ClubTechno for primetime abuse - only a few sparse elements and minimalistic progression are more than enough to drive a crowd mad in real time here. Banger.

05. Terrence Dixon - Where A Function Of Some Systematically Changing Variable Is Calculated [Reduction 004]
More Techno greatness is coming from the Detroit-based producer Terrence Dixon who has become kind of a praised legend within the scene for his high quality output, a string of releases endlessly floating for the last two decades on labels like Utensil, Background, Tresor, Surface and his recently launched Reduction-imprint on which he focuses on his own productions under his real name as well as those put out under his Population One moniker. With "Where A Function Of Some Systematically Chnaging Variable Is Calculated" he serves another manifesto in DetroitTechno science. Especially the repetetive, longing, outerworldy melodies of the untitled A-side are to be referred to as ingredients of a future classic but also the somewhat out of tune synth bass lines accompanied by crystalline beauty in B1 and the tripping string layers alongside droning bass workouts on B2 are  well fascinating.

06. Kerri Chandler - The Watergate Files [Watergate Records]
Kerri "Kaoz" Chandler is one of the strong standing, household names in original House music ever since and this expertise shows when he teams up with Ibadan-founder Jerome Sydenham for this exclusive showcase on Watergate Records. Groovy as fuck, uplifting like hell and even the remixes provided by La Fleur and Voyeur do add something valuable to the original or at least come up with a respectful, proper re-interpretation which is kinda rare when dealing with one of the genres maestros.

07. Thomas Janitzky - Nothing Is Said ('Til The Artist Is Dead) [Arbeiten Und Nicht Verzweifeln 002 Promo]
Check review for details... 

08. Pushy! - Take It [Kiosk Eclectic 031]
The French label Kiosk Eclectic has, as its name already suggests, always been dealing with a wide range of styles from day dot and is now embracing bass heavy Dubstep, Trap and Rave Juke - see the title track for this one - with these five tracks produced by the ever active Pushy! who already established himself as purveyor of hard hitting DarkJungle in the late 90s and has released a string of records on labels like his own Pushy as well as via X-86, Perce~Oreille, Jungle Therapy, Ruby Breakfast and others. When it comes to his latest output I'm pretty sure that especially the Rave signal sampling, "Taxi Driver"-quoting Juke-assault "Geek Father" will gain some massive attention even beyond the core scene as it's highly effective and energy fueled for a reason. "Listen, you fuckers.You screwheads"!

09. Mihai Popoviciu - Time [Poker Flat Recordings 148 Promo]
Check german review for details...

10. Alex Niggemann - Marterium [Poker Flat Recordings 149 Promo]
Alex Niggemann's "Marterium" is possibly one of the most anticipated TechHouse-12"es these days which has been making serious waves on dancefloors around the globe up to this date. Starting thing with a quite stripped-down and mechanical groove it's the big - think that word in CAPITALS -, simple but uberly effective breakdown and floating, slightly (Neo)Trance-flavored vibe that sets the roof on fire immediately. Also watch out for the reverse effect featured in the second break of the title track. On the flip we'll find "Primary" which introduces a more playful, melancholia-driven vibe to Alex Niggemann's music, dabbling around with a deep, melodic flavour that'll be loved by DJ's like Mr. Laurent Garnier known for having a thing for all things Detroit. Nice one and, due to its more subtle approach, my favorite out of these two tunes.

Sunday, May 04, 2014

Dr. NoiseM - The White Album [Dr NoiseM Tapes]

To call Dr. NoiseM's "The White Album" one of the most epic releases in experimental electronic music of 2014 would be - most honestly - not only a bit of understatement as this limited to 25 copies worldwide DVDr album with its three tracks sums up to a total running time of 6 - yes, indeed: six ! - hours which makes it nearly impossible to listen to it in one go at all in these days so hectic.
That's why it took quite a bit to fully review this one starting off with the slightly pulsating, ever changing  "Untitled A" which gives way to a kind of acidic, alien swamp-feel from the very start and presenting itself as a sonic equivalent to what's called analogue temporal expansion of a video signal in visual art which, around minute 20 or so, slowly starts to transform with appearing layers of soughing sirens built from hollow, nerve grinding static Noize abruptly falling into scrambled pieces of irritating Noize after another twenty minutes of total time. Throughout further progress of the first 120 minutes one will find himself stuck in seriously warped sonic areas of viscous, gooey slo-mo tones, pulsing Drone machinery contrasted by crystal clear sparkles of laser'esque precision, wobbly alien braindances to be found around minute 67 followed by tense, spiralling and well alienating sonic transmission underpinned by skeletal rhythm stuctures, disruptive Noize bursts and more outerworldy signals captured and reproduced in Dr. NoiseM's studio.
With "Untitled B" we start into another 120 minutes journey that's introduced by demure, softly plinkering noises that are truely evoking the sound of tiny alien bells appearing on top of steadily buzzing, swamp-reminiscent sounds produced by small life forms, possibly of martian origin. These later are contrasted by carefully executed extraterrestrial laser harp tones teaming up with pulsing Noise eruptions around minute 20 to form a deep Space Ambient orchestra for highly advanced dancefloors grooving along to swelling strings for nearly 40 more minutes before the next transition starts, the buzz and hissing sounds get more intense and plangent strings set a new tone and color, clearly depicting long time loneliness and intense, heartfelt despair on top of a still grinding foundation. Suddenly the beat comes to a halt at minute 75 and leaves us alone in a post nuclear wasteland of static Noize and random sirens that provide nothing but isolation and intrinsic rot. But finally even these sirens die and all that's left is electrostatic discharge and growling winds, both providing the only audible noise in a wasted world left behind on an abandoned planet with an even more depressing future to come although the alien bells keep ringing occasionally, breaking the silence after 117 minutes of sound transmission.
Finally "Untitled C" deals with vast echoes of unknown, slow moving machinery clanging in factory floors way beyond huge, accompanied by droning ebbs and flows and abstract communication streams of artificial origin, disconnected by intense warning signals appearing around minute 13 - the perfect opening score for a deep space sci-fi flic as one can literally feel the tension and threat of things waiting beyond the spacecrafts exterior shell. But no matter how long the alarm proceeds or what kind of soothingly tripping, more Ambient-like melodies do appear along the way, there's no relief but just more tension and conundrum as the alarming pulse starts to disintegrate and crumbling away in a kind of illogical pattern before fully breaking off into a whirling, tilting maelstrom of high tech tones. More tilt appears when the maelstrom turns into a grinding Noize tornado of swelling intensity at minute 48 that  wipes every single braincell out due to its bevelling nature and, of course, the alienating, irritating tinkle of these tiny creatures that already appeared in the previous two hours. Their sound mutates into swelling bass drones and weird interruptions after minute 70 has passed and comes back as a transmutation that sounds like tuning in to some weird long wave radio channel at the unused end of the spectrum where more Noize mayhem is to be found at some point before the next sound transformation ends up in kind of electrified, ever humming digeridoo transmission.

Musically recommended for sure, mostly to those who've got a lot of spare time to spent listening to such a massive piece of work  in one go or in a kind of exhibition'esque context.

Saturday, May 03, 2014

Sascha Müller [Supersix Records Extra 020]

Germany's most active producer, Mr. Sascha Müller, celebrates his 20th untitled full length album on his very own Supersix Records Extra-imprint these days and starts this very special serving with a fascinatingly jumpy, rubber-like Acid vs. bassline assault named "Imerial" which is built from abstract anti-grooves and the echoes of large rave spaces and followed by a very stripped down, banging but still tribal'esque Tekno affair going by the name of "Input Output". But there's way more to this album than the straight perfect 4/4 that Sascha Müller seems to know inside out - listening to the strange "Klikklakk 1" is a really ultraworldy experience as it seems to live by haphazardly dispersed fragments of  what once was a massive Disco-/FrenchHouse anthem but fully fell to pieces and when it comes to the dry, distorted ElectroPhonk that introduces the compressed "Combat Zone" we feel like we're beamed back into the heydays of Cisco Ferreira a.k.a. The Advent as a purveyor of high quality Techno purism. With "Listen To Your Inner Voice" we're finally introduced to the world of epic Space Ambient before "Medusa" touches the string of uberly reduced, technoid functionality again whilst "Meta 1" and "Meta 2" finally represent hard hitting Combat Techno for the headstrong. No prisoners taken with these tunes. Diverse as ever. Good as ever.

Thursday, May 01, 2014

[aniYo kore] - Delts (Noclu Remix) *Vendetta Remix



Drum'n'Bass and remixed remix beauty served by Dortmund's finest [aniYo kore].