techno
EarPipe Has an Even Hazier Look Back at the Music Through 2008
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 | Music, News | 1 Comment
I normally struggle to think what tunes have been and gone in the last month, so trying to remember what I was listening to back in January is a mountainous mission in itself, which is probably why I’m going to write this avoiding any specifics and will talk around the subject pretending I know what I’m talking about like any good politician would do. But from what I can recollect “minimal” became housier (or maybe I became housier?), Dubstep collided with Techno and Disco has undergone a massive revival
So lets start with the shift towards the housier sounds. We noticed a lot of DJs ditching the repetitive and bland “minimal” sounds that were starting to stagnate and instead nudging more towards the house end of the spectrum. This meant a bit more funk and soul embedded into tracks, more vocals and jazzier samples. It may sound like we’re harking back to the funky house days circa 2000-02, but this was slightly different, it was more an amalgamation of what came out of the “minimal-tech” sounds which dominated ’05-’07 with older house music sensibilities as seen from the Chicago deep house days. A perfect example of this is probably My My, their remix of Djuma Soundsytem’s Les Dijnns ’s typifies where the sound was during 2007 whilst their latest release Everybody’s Talkin’ is a glimpse into the house sound doing the rounds at the moment. The same goes for Josh Wink’s Stay Out All Night and Matthew Styles We Said Nothing, both distinctly Chi-town influenced numbers which bebop’s to a fun and funked up skipping rhythm. In a similar vein who could forget Johnny D who’s had a fantastic year. His track Orbitallife was causing raucous everywhere through the summer not to mention all his other releases.
But then it wasn’t all fun funked up house, this year saw a lot of dub style house and techno music with heavy basslines at a relaxed pace. Tracks like Trus’me’s W.A.R Dub particularly stood out as did a lot of the output from Gedde’s new label MurMur which had artists like Bearweasel pumping out deep and hypnotic house. One of the best tracks of the year for me was the highly elusive Wax1001. There was no artist or label, just this white label containing the rawest house track ever. A simple track with clunky beats, classic hi hat patterns and a dark raw bassline made Wax1001 show how less is definitely more.
Mike Shannon – Memory Seed EP Review
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 | Single Review | No Comments
Mike Shannon marks his decade of active service with the release of Memory Seed on Richie Hawtin’s Plus 8 label. The full LP is forthcoming, but this little EP gives you a little taster of what’s to come. The EP starts with Mercury Mile a twisted electronic workout. Its long beatless intro slowly builds amidst a wash of static noise, warbling bass and twisted synths before slipping into a shuffling beat of tinkering percussion. In contrast the X Flex mix of Dr. Flex skips along with an elastic beat and bass, keeping few elements involved. This makes the track simple yet quite effective. Each element makes an impact on their individual introductions which creates a hypnotic robotic vibe.
The final track on this release is The Love Fry which comes in two flavours. Both versions work around an electric organ riff which phases in and out in a Doppler effect manner, increasing in intensity before the pressure value equalises the track back to the skipping beat. The original flourishes into some summer vibe synth riff whilst the Raw mix does without keeping to the original organ elements.
A varied and interesting release from Mike Shannon showing the various shades from his forthcoming LP. Love Fry is definitely our pick on this one. Its twisted and warped organ synth is sure to play havoc with the altered minds on a dancefloor.
Mike Shannon – Memory Seed is out now on Beatport
Luciano – Fabric 41 Review
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 | Album Review | No Comments
The quality line ups continue at Fabric this month with the turn of the cheeky Chilean Luciano. Luciano’s productions and DJ sets have seen a meteoric rise in popularity in recent times. His combination of South American rhythms and melodies with the mechanical and electronic elements of house and techno brought new dimensions to the sound, breathing in soulfulness and an air of sensuality. Tracks like ‘Father’ and ‘Yamore’ have a minimal and techno edge, yet they sound so full and organic, as does much of the output on his own label Cadenza. His DJ sets follow in a similar sense by being raw and hypnotic but still with plenty of warmth and feel. It will be interesting to see if Luciano can capture that atmosphere which has made him a world renowned DJ. There has also been a slight Luciano backlash with some people over the past year, mainly due to his sets becoming tired with the same usual suspect tracks of Freaks Come Out, M83 Church and that Rose Rouge remix, so all eyes are on this CD to see if he can hit back with something fresh and innovative.
The mix starts lively with an array of beats and percussion from new find Rhadoo on his Cadenza track ‘Slagare’. Through his ever effective use of the filters Luciano is already stepping up the percussion and heat by dropping into D’Julz’s ‘Yo Momo’. Both tracks are simple percussive loops but Luciano plays and teases with the tracks before settling down with his remix of Getting Late. This track is sure to divide opinion with its sing along vocal but personally I think it works. Its kaleidoscope of synth lines and quirky percussion gives the track individuality and lightens up a consistent 4/4 beat.
The mix dips and climbs in and out of hypnotic percussion to more soulful and colourful reaches. Reboot’s ‘Be Tougher’ lays down the hypnotic foundation before allowing a clear house vibe with Alex Picone’s ‘Floppy’ and Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts excellent mix of Mogane. Mogane brings back an old US house feel with its African American vocal sample and dare I say funky bassline. The funk continues through with piano stabs and soulful vocal samples combined with ass shaking percussion on Johnny D’s Chicago-esque OrbitalLife, before Luciano skilfully layers in Jungle Beatz which allows the mix to reduce down.
Dropping the mix back allows Luciano to dig out one of his most favourite and overdone set pieces, the classic M83 Church euphoria moment. He simmers the Jungle Beatz down to just bird chirps as the epic organs of Church soar high, giving you that sunrise ecstasy moment. He then takes it all away and brings back the Jungle Beatz to complete the moment. I criticise for it being over done, but I got to give it to him, it is rather effective.
The mix continues along a quirky route through Tiefschwarz’s mix of ‘Rise from your Grave’ and the massive Schneider/Galluzi collaboration ‘Albertino’. From here we see a glimpse of the old style Luciano and his party technoness which is unfortunately cut short for the need to wind down for the CD’s outro with Kenny Larkin’s ‘You Are Original’. However Luciano does have a skill in using beautiful pieces music which he does here by ending the mix on Chymera’s ‘Arabesque’. Epic comes to mind.
Having seen what Luciano has done in the past, I and many others had high expectations for this CD. Unfortunately it’s not as groundbreaking and out there as we were all hoping for. But quite often with most things, if you hype and build it too much you will most likely come away disappointed. If you don’t let any preconceptions cloud your judgement about this CD, you’ll find that Luciano has come up with a great mix which shows his technical flare of layering tracks and percussive elements brilliantly. It’s a fun and enjoyable mix which has been receiving repeat plays from me. And every time it grows that little bit more on me. A solid effort and it will give you an insight into a Luciano live set. So hopefully it will inspire you to check him out as recent reports have been saying the man is back to his usual self.
Tracklisting (Follow links to buy tracks):
01. Rhadoo – Slagare – Cadenza Records
02. Brothers’ Vibe – El Baile [Acapella]– Som Underground
03. D’Julz – Yo Momo – Intacto Records
04. Los Updates Ft. Luciano – Getting Late [Luciano’s Getting Late Remix] – Candenza Records
05. Reboot – Be Tougher – Cadenza Records
06. Alex Picone – Floppy – Cadenza Records
07. Sety – Mogane (Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts Remix) – Circus Company
08. Johnny D – Orbitalife – Oslo Records
09. Julien Jabre – Jungle Beatz – Defected
10. M83 – In Church – Gooom Disques
11. Inner City – Good Love [Luciano Remix] – KMS
12. Phuture – Rise From Your Grave [Tiefschwarz Remix] – Strictly Rhythm
13. Schneider, Galluzzi – Albertino – Cadenza Records
14. D’Julz – So You Know – Ovum
15. Kenny Larkin – You Are Original – Planet E
16. Chymera – Arabesque – Tishomingo
Slam – Sci Fi Hi Fi Vol.5 Review
Monday, July 7th, 2008 | Album Review | 2 Comments
It’s been a long time coming but finally the purveyors of Scottish techno have finally released their own Sci Fi Hi Fi release. The Soma bosses follow quite a great line of DJs from Luciano to Ewarn Pearson and Alex Smoke, all of which have churned out some incredible mixes for the series. The most recent in the series was from Funk D’Void who tingled our senses with his new sound of deep and melodic house taking the series away from the predominate techno route. All tough acts to follow, Slam have decided to try and emulate their club sets and have even deemed this a tribute to their Return to Mono nights at the Sub Club in Glasgow. The CD features some of the bigger and older tracks that are popular at ‘Return to Mono’ as well as unreleased material from the duo which is forthcoming on their new and more experimental label Paragraph. The boys somehow condense a Slam DJ set/ night into 70 minutes, starting from the more restrained and minimal, building on a steady and gradual gradient to climactic peaks, a difficult thing to do in 70 minutes.
The CD begins slow and chuggy with Claro Intellecto’s ‘Kiss The Sky’ mix which effortlessly glides into Loco Dice’s mix of ‘Class’. The moody and restrained groove of both tracks sets a gentle precedence easing the first small steps in. The mix takes baby steps in progression. SiS’s ‘Organsa’ drives the mix to the next level with its organ bassline and looped hypnotic vocal stabs. As Slam slowly drip feeds the tension by each track, Beutkickneu3’s Tout Va Bien releases some pressure through its build of woodblock hits and bright synth trickles before allowing the percussive nature of Tanzmann’s ‘Keep On’ lifts you on to the next step up.
The consistently good new comer Prompt brings the mix into the main peaks with his track ‘Evolve’ which has been big for many DJs this year. Whilst on tracks from Decimal and Funkwerstatt, hypnotic electronic sounds ring out over steady and chunk techno beats all the time keeping a steady groove before dropping down into the mechanical blips and round basslines of Claude Von Strokes brilliant remix of Poxy Music’s ‘War Paint’.
Things take a turn down tripped out lane with Slam’s new track ‘What’s On Your Mind’ an eerie and raw Minus-esque track. Whilst Danton Eeprom’s ‘Face Control’ regresses you back to dark times with its synth sighs and brain infecting blips. Blips of the type that make you question whether you’re actually melting into the floor.
The final push to the summit gathers pace through the scaling and intensifying synths of Tigerskin’s ‘Push the Patton’ and the drilling percussion of Mauro Picotto’s ‘Flashing’ before ending on another Slam exclusive ‘City Destroyer’. Its layers of short synth loops and masses of reverb add a depth and darkness which ends the CD on a high of frenzied techno.
The way the CD progresses in small steps with its carefully programmed tracks make the mix enjoyable to listen to as a whole. It’s good to see that being upfront hasn’t prevailed and that Slam has taken the cream of their DJ sets to create a club styled set that represents them. Another fine addition to the Sci Fi Hi Fi series.
Slam – Sci Fi Hi Fi is out now. Buy on CD
Tracklist (Follow links to buy individual tracks):
01 Rom1F – PI Kiss The Sky (Claro Intelecto Remix)
02 Social Material – Class (Loco Dice Mix)
03 SIS – Orgsa
04 Plasmik – Pearls On A String
05 Matthias Meyer – Tout Va Bien Butkickneu3
06 Matthias Tanzmann – Keep On
07 Anderson Noise – Londrina (Daniel Carboni and Alessio Mareu Remix)
08 Jandroide – Grande Coracion
09 Prompt – Evolve (Original Mix)
10 Decimal – Eleanor
11 Funkwerkstatt – Sputnik
12 Poxy Music – War Paint (Claude Von Stroke Mix)
13 Slam – What’s On Your Mind?
14 Danton Eeprom – Face Control
15 D’Julz – Just So You Know (2000 and One Remix)
16 Cle – Nomads (Mathias Tanzmann Remix)
17 Tigerskin – Push The Patton
18 Mauro Picotto – Flashing
19 Slam – City Destroyer
Simon Baker – X Y & Z EP (Remixes from Smagghe Vs Matt Folfrey & Marc Ashken plus Frankie)
Thursday, June 12th, 2008 | Single Review | No Comments
Simon Baker returns after his seminal Plastik release on Playhouse from last year. For this release the DDD resident unleashes his brand of techno come house on Tolfrey’s label Leftroom, which has been going from strength to strength.
The original track is big and ballsy techno. An energy filled intro clicks and blips its way through to a simple 4 tone synth cycle, which changes in length, upping the intensity of the track until in crescendos into a brash breakdown of distorted reverberating synths. The track simmers back down to its intro component parts to gently pass you on to the next track. Hypnotic and ear catching this track is sure to cause explosions on the dancefloor.
Two remixes are in this package. The first is from Frankie who cuts and loops the original into a more frantic busier techno track. Shorter loops create a busier sound as all the elements from the original play a part. Frankie takes the original breakdown too, but again cuts and chops it up this time off key creating a wall of noise which will most likely ruin you on the dancefloor. High paced, loud and brutal. Use with caution!
The final remix comes from label owner Matt Tolfrey teamed up with Leftroom artist Marc Ashken as they go verses against the Jesus looking Parisian Ivan Smagghe. Between them they’ve restrained the intensity and switched to an evil bassline as bleeps ping out over the top and echoed vocal sighs slide in to create a moment of madness until it is briefly struck down with a silent break. This brief silence of clarity is short but needed as the track drops back in and continues its spiral down the bleepy hole. Trippy and eerie, this track is made for those dark underground rooms and makes for the best track in the package with the original coming in a close second.
8/10
Simon Baker – X, Y & Z is out on Leftroom Limited,
on vinyl now and on digital from 7th July
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