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The slow road

I've been listening to and playing Delano Smith's 'Sunrise' EP on Third Ear for the past month. The four tracks alternate between clubby arrangements and deeper, more reflective pieces, but the common bond is that Smith has put a lot of time, thought and effort into every element on every track. You can hear it in his raw yet rich production style, the way the beats have an extra fuzziness or in the flowing melodies and the warm, layered chords. Even the track with the vocal sample intoning 'Detroit' sounds fresh. It's one of my favourite records of the past few months, but I don't expect to hear another one from Smith for a while  - and that's fine by me. Smith, like many of my favourite producers, follows the slow production road, releasing maybe a record or two (at the most) every year. Portable and Donnacha Costello are two other examples of great producers putting out small volumes of music with high strike rates. However, in Smith's case, the slow road has been particularly slow. It seems he only started producing music when he was in his mid-30s, having spent the best part of two decades as a DJ. I think that there's a lesson in there and it's perhaps one that doesn't fit with the current trend of labels churning out music at an ever-accelerating pace. Smith's approach suggests that you need to have a thorough knowledge of your chosen music before you can go near studio equipment (or software) and that in turn, you need to perfect your music making skills before you can even consider releasing a record. Of course, if everyone followed this school of thought, only a tiny fraction of the music being released now would exist - but would this really be a problem if all the releases were on a par with 'Sunrise'?

Bloc File: Ital Tek

So here's the first Boc interview. Ital Tek, whose real name is Alan Myson, was responsible for one of last year's best debut albums, the intricate break beats, lurching bass and crystalline melodies of 'Cyclical' on the super on-form Planet Mu label. I caught up with him recently and got a chance to discuss Brighton, dubstep and being the only intelligent techno fan in school...

When and why did you start producing -  I'm guessing from your photo (on Discogs) that you're still quite young…

I'm 22. I started producing on a computer about four years ago and before that I had been in a band for a few years. I'd been listening to jungle/electronic music since I was younger but only really wrote guitar music for years. I guess getting into producing was just my way of having control over every aspect of the music. I like just being on my own for hours messing around with sounds.

How did you hook up with Planet Mu? Did you send in a demo or did you know someone in the label?

I got signed to Planet Mu about two years ago. Mike who runs the label heard my stuff through MySpace and gave me a call asking me if I wanted to put out an EP. So I sent him over a load of tunes and we picked the ones that are on the Blood Line 12".

You're based in Brighton – were you influenced by Brighton's techno scene from the 90s, eg the No Future people like Cristian Vogel?

I've lived in Brighton for about four years, so I wasn't aware of any of that going on. I grew up in London and then near Oxford where there was a wicked music scene for bands and live music, but not really any electronic music. I found Brighton to be a really inspiring place when I moved here because there was so much weird experimental  electronic stuff going on in the back rooms of pubs and also a lot of clubs were pushing it. Just the different approach to music the people I met down here had a massive influence on me. It's a shame as a lot of the smaller nights that were up for you just going down with some synths and drum machines and fucking around all night have all disbanded now.

Is Brighton a good place to make music -  removed from London and cheaper to live, easier to get work done?

I really enjoy living here, it's pretty chilled out and it's nice being by the sea, especially in summer. I spend every day messing around with tunes so it's cool not having the bustle of London right outside my door. There's also a good number of nights putting on interesting music. I don't know if it's that much cheaper to live here though, there are certainly cheaper places you could choose to be!

What are the influences on your music - I'd imagine they are quite diverse, given the range of moods on the album? I hear elements of techno, minimal (especially on the glitchy 'White
 Mark') dubstep and even more unusual influences...

I was the only person I knew growing up who listened to stuff like Autechre, µ-Ziq etc. Just on my Walkman walking to and from school listening to Rephlex and Warp stuff mainly and then a bit later Planet Mu artists like (Venetian) Snares. I got so excited about it all and had no idea what it was really or how it was made which was really cool. It's kind of nice listening to music with just complete objectivity like that, absolutely no preconceptions about who the musicians are or what the hell they're doing. It was a bit naive maybe but it's just cos' none of my mates liked it and I only ever wrote music on my guitar at the time.
It made me want to try to write stuff like that and for the first year or so of getting a computer and a sequencer I was probably just copying that style. Just loads of sitting on my fiddling with sounds, trial and error until it started to click and I found that I was making music that I would want to hear myself.  A lot of jungle, garage, techno etc has inspired me aswell over the years and also the textures that people like Trent Reznor and Bjork create.

Your debut album 'Cyclical' veers from the beautiful melodies on tracks like 'Deep Pools' and the title track to the dark, distorted bass of 'Bloodline': was it intentional to represent a range of moods -  is this the kind of person you are, one who has big moodswings?

I don't think it's from having moodswings, more just from being into loads of music and wanting to mash it altogether into what I'm writing. I definitely wanted it to be a varied album, I get really bored listening to just dubstep or any genre of tunes after each other so I imagine everyone else would. I wanted it to be an album that you could listen to on your own at home but could also work in a club.

There is also an Eastern sound on 'Red Sky'; do you like music from other cultures  - does it inspire you?

I think of it more as just different sounds being used to make a piece of music, I havn't specifically gone after any kind of eastern  vibe or whatever, just what I thought was appropriate to make the track the way it is.

Listening to what sound like strings  on 'Still Shores'- was/is Detroit techno a big influence?

It's funny a lot of what sounds like strings on the album isn't. I use a lot of piano and mess it up to make it sound like big layers of strings. In fact I don't think there's any actual strings at all on any of my released tunes! I love techno so it probably has creeped in somewhere. I'm not really very aware of my influences when I write maybe they come through more to the listener.

What do you make of the current state of this music -  is it healthy and who is making the best music?

Without sounding like a kiss-arse I think the last few things that have come out on Planet Mu have been some of the most interesting stuff i've heard in years. The new Neil Landstrumm and Starkey albums are amazing. The new Jamie Vex'd tunes are on another level too.

What do you make of the criticism that dubstep is really  hard to dance to – do you agree with this or do you think it's not true?

I've seen loads of people dancing to it on my travels and going out to clubs. The people who say that probably just listened to it on their computer speakers. I'm not one for the whole "you got to hear it in a club to understand it" thing cos' good music should be good wherever you listen to it. But for the sheer bass weight that you experience on some systems, it's a powerful thing, can't help but make people move.

What are you doing next -  have you more releases lined up? Will you keep releasing on Planet Mu?

I've just finished a new EP that will be out on Planet Mu in the next few months (maybe even by the time this has gone to print) I'm currently working on the follow up album to 'Cyclical'. I'm really pleased with it -  I think it's the best stuff i've done.

Are you playing live at Bloc? If so, what is your live set up like?

Yeah for my live sets it's normally a mash up of loads of my tracks using Ableton, I've got a lot of new stuff that I'm going to be playing. I'm looking forward to testing it out on a festival crowd.

Bloc booking

The Bloc Weekend is happening again this year, and this blog is proud to be involved again as a partner. From this week onwards, expect to see interviews with some of the best artists - unfortunately, Aphex has already said 'no' - performing at the event, and even some audio too. In case you don't already know, the festival is taking place from March 13th to 15th at Butlins Holiday Resort in Minehead, Somerset. Check the festival website  for travel and ticket details and keep your eyes out for the first interview here during the week.

And the winners are...

There are no winners. Here's a  long list of the records that inspired me in 2008. When I compiled my best of lists for various places at the end of last year - Boomkat and RA still have my top tens and twenties readily accessible, but I'm too lazy to link to them now -  I baulked at the prospect of summarising 2008 in the space of ten records. Ask me to condense and reduce words and sentences and I won't bat an eyelid. Doing the same for my favourite music makes me break out in a nervous sweat. I find it really difficult to impose a hierarchical value system on the records I love -  does number one mean that choice is in some way better to number five in a list, or seen in reverse, is five one-fifth as good as number one? Similarly, I have a built-in fear of awards. Does the 'best film' mean that it really is better than one or all of the other nominees? Art and the appreciation of it is such a deeply personal experience that everyone's opinion and taste will vary and every standpoint is valid. It's one of the reasons why I rarely post nowadays on any other site, forum or blog -  there isn't a right view or a winning argument to a discussion, just opinions and tastes. Anyway, I digress. Here's my full list for 2008, none better than the other, all, to my ears at least, deeply rewarding, emotive, rousing, refreshing electronic music. As you can see, it was a great, great year for 'singles' -  when I post my albums list soon, you will see the discrepancy in length. And that shorter list at the bottom? These are the older records that I bought in 2008. Some are recent enough, others over two decades old. 2008 was a year for discovering new and old music alike. After all, if you don't know the past, how can you appreciate the future?

2AM/FM: Electronic Justice (Spectral)

Tadeo: Reflection Nebula (Substance Remix) (Apnea)

Delta Funktionen: Silouhette (Ann Aimee)

Redshape: Blood Into Dust (Styrax Leaves)

Gowentgone: MAM/Ibex (Dettmann/Fengler remixes) (Vidab)

Ben Klock: Klockworks 4 (Klockworks)

Joey Beltram: Shaking The Trees (Harthouse)

Mike Dehnert: Freiraum EP (Fachwerk)

Equalized: 01 (Equalized)

Artist Unknown: 12 (Sandwell District)

Dimi Angelis & Jeroen Search: Configuration (Smallville)

Pom Pom: 33 (Pom Pom)

Jackmaster Corky: Dimension 106 (Creme Jak)

Kink & Neville Watson: Full Flight (Rush Hour)

Delano Smith: Sunrise (Third Ear)

Pikaya: Jive (Meander)

Move D: Heidelberg Gals (Running Back)

Lawrence: Miles (Dial)

Daphne: Daphne 01 (Daphne)

Silent Servant: The Blood of our King (Sandwell District)

Two Armadillos: Hamlin (Dessous)

Lowtec: 6 (Workshop)

Roberto Auser: Flight 101 (Nature)

Quince: Expanding/Contracting (Delsin)

Portable; Knowone Can Take Away (Perlon)

Claro Intelecto: Warehouse Session 5 (Modern Love)

Sten: Squares (Smallville)

Jacek Sienkiewicz: Beacon (Recognition)

Lee Holman: Travelling EP (Mowar)

Cassy: Idle Blues / April (Cassy)

MLZ: Newanaloguecentury (Modern Love)

Patrice Scott: The Evolutions EP (Sistrum)

Kalon: Born Against (Sandwell District)

One Last Riot: Immortality (Paranoid London)

V/A: 030303 (Marguerita Recordings)

V/A: Underground Anthems (Aesthetic Audio)

Claro Intelecto: Rise (Modern Love)

Portable: Emerald Life (Musik Krause)

Donnacha Costello: It Simply Is (Minimise)

Claro Intelecto: When The Time Is Right (Modern Love)

Morphosis: Dark Tales of Phoenecia Part 2 (Morphine Doser)

Migumatix: Trax for your Box (Pasta Musik)

Black Dog: Train by the Autobahn (Robert Hood DJ Remix) (Soma)

The Houze Vectors: We Bring U Muzik (M<O<S)

Gonna: I Don't Need No Competition (Beyond)

Russ Gabriel: Konacno (Pariter)

Sebbo: Watamu Beach (Moritz Van Oswald remix) (Desolat)

Move D & Benjamin Brunn: New Horizon (Smallville)

Lee Jones: Soon (Aus)

Function: Anticipation (Sandwell District)

Tobias: I Can't Fight This Feeling (Wagon Repair)

Corrugated Tunnel: Distant Sounds (Nightvision)

Osborne: Ruling (Spectral)

Newworldaquarium: Affenwelt (NWA)

Donato Dozzy: Time out the Gap (Railyard)

Peter Van Hoesen: Casual Care (Time 2 Express)

Norman Nodge /  Samuli Kemppi: Native Rhythm Electric / Vangel (Ostgut)

Samuli Kemppi: Hyperkaapo (Pakka Levyt)

Redshape: Plonk (Present)

Donnacha Costello: Hello, I Must Be Going (Poker Flat)

Add Noise: 3 (Handwerk)

XDB/Quietpoint: Anilem / High Hope of Salvation (Ballad Inc)

Steinhoff: Tonight Will Be Fine (Smallville)

MLZ: Alice Loop (Modern Love)

Sleeparchive: Hadron (Zzz)

Marcel Dettmann: MDR4 (MDR)

The Jak: Kontrol (Creme Jak)

Peter Van Hoesen: Trusted EP (Time 2 Express)

Yuro & Trago: Primary Roots (Rush Hour)

Aroy Dee: Summer (M<O<S)

Alex Cortex: Skyle EP (Platzhirsch)

Pigon/Dettmann: Kamm /Plain (Beatstreet)

Seldom Felt: 2 (Seldom Felt)

Chaton: +91 Ahead (Plak)

Silent Servant: La Violencia (Sandwell District)

Delta Funktionen: Electromagnetic Radiation (Ann Aimee)

Omar S: Psychotic Photosynthesis (FXHE)

Alex Cortex: Discola (Kahlwild)

Pendle Coven: Exigen (Modern Love)

Peter Van Hoesen: LOC (Lan)

Substance: Relish (Shed remix) (Scion Versions)

Pacou/MLZ: Minus (Remixes) (Cache)

Unknown : 01 (Hate)

Steve Bug: Honeymoon (Russ Gabriel remix) (Raw Essentials)

Redshape: Robot (Music Man)

Substance & Vainqueur: Libration (Scion Versions)

Patrice Scott: Azteck (Yore)

XDB: Espac (Sistrum)

Andy Stott: Bad Landing EP (Modern Love)

STL 02 (Something)

Vinyl Countdown: Machine Head (NTA)

Strike: 154 (Delsin)

Neil Landstrumm: Glamourama (Tresor)

Perbec featuring Soulman: Come With Me (Ifach)

Mike Huckaby: My Life With The Wave (Synth)

Zsa Zsa La Boum: Something Scary (Kaos)

DJ Jus Ed: Minimal Soul (Underground Quality)

Prosumer: The Craze (Playhouse)

Risque 3: Essence of a Dream (Stride)

Steve Poindexter: Computer Madness (Muzique)

Kevin Saunderson: Powerbass (Sonic Groove)

Florence: US Heritage (Eevolute)

Lectric Workers: Robot Is Systematic (Viewlexx)

Mike Perras: Beginning of Life (Bassic)

Black Knight: Moody Balance (Source)

Planetary: A Matter of Sound (Delsin)

M.Pittman: Nyrobi Knight (FXHE)

Armando: Land of Confusion (Warehouse)

Orgue Electronique: The Garden (Creme)

LNR: Work it to the Bone (House Jam)

Patrice Scott: Atmospheric Emotions (Sistrum)

Bobby Konders: The Lost Nu Groove Track (Nu Groove)

Cassy: Nil Desperandum (Perlon)

Aqua Regia: Smile on me, NYC (Irdial)

X2/Saturn V: Primitive Cypher (Relief)

The Sun God: Ancient Echoes (Klang)

Roman IV: Altes Testament (Playhouse)

Keith Worthy: She Loves Me Not (Aesthetic Audio)

MLZ: Dark Days (Modern Love)

Function: Isolation (Sandwell District)

2008: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I’m finally back, fortified and emboldened by a much-needed break in rural Germany, away from the computer screen/internet/decks/clubs etc. It gave me some time to reflect on the past 12 months, which disastrous from a personal perspective but much more positive on a musical level. Here, for what it’s worth and off the top of my head, are the good, the bad and the ugly 0f 08. I’ll be posting a full list of my favourite singles, albums and compilations sometime this week. Here’s hoping 09 is as rewarding…

 

The Good:

The Ostgut/Berghain axis – the club, the label, the albums, the DJs

Hardwax’s brilliant store and mail order service

The vinyl format for enduring yet another tough year and still sounding better than any other

The mnml ssg podcast series - watch out RA!

Steffi and Dettmann’s podcasts for RA

Bloc for messy fun and an inspirational line up

Rob Hood – you can’t keep a good minimalist down

Juan Atkins’ live shows for finally realizing his dream of Model 500 becoming `a black Kraftwerk’

Redshape for releasing three radically different records in one year

Infinitestatemachine for its refreshing honesty

Aroy Dee, Delta Funktionen, Newworldaquarium and the whole Delsin/M<O<S/Ann Aimee group

Sandwell District killing it with every release

Deetron, Dettmann and Hood for reinvigorating my faith in the mix CD

Discovering the Pom Pom series

Cassy the DJ and Cassy the producer

The return of Substance – check his remix of Tadeo

Petar Dundov - the East is rising again

Detroit artists Patrice Scott, Keith Worthy, Omar S and Delano Smith for making and releasing great deep house

Larry Heard - a quarter of a century on, he still sounds great

New school European producers Peter Van Hoesen, Samuli Kemmpi, The Parallel and Add Noise

Alex Cortex’s ability to produce a bewildering range of styles and sounds

Sleeparchive’s fixation with atom smashing

James T Cotton/D’Marc Cantu/Crème Jak for  compelling variants on the jacking Chicago sound

Dedbeat’s live shows with Tikiman

Andy Stott, Claro Intelecto and Modern Love’s stellar

Alden Tyrrell for coming out of self-enforced, early retirement

Clone for re-releasing obscure and hard to find classics legitimately

Smallville eclipsing its mother label Dial

Convextion and Donnacha Costello's midas touch(es)

Portable, Move D and Xdb’s spellbinding grooves

Osborne, a pop genius trapped in a house producer’s body

Eevolute, Irdial, Baby Ford and Playhouse represses

 

The Bad:

The album format failed to impress

Falling vinyl sales

The Government’s draconian, shortsighted and cackhanded approach to licensing laws in Ireland- 2.30am is when most other European cities are just getting going Substandard equipment and sound in clubs – if this is your attitude why bother putting on an event at all?

Bland minimal morphing into even blander deep house and the frenzy surrounding that development

The seemingly unending fascination with Ricardo Villalobos’ k-fuelled, ambling, ridiculously self-indulgent compositions

The end of Cybernetic Broadcasting

The closure of Neuton

The end of Electric City

Sonar turning into a British lager lout weekend break

Most of the print music media’s decline into an unofficial outpost for the PR industry

PRs infiltrating music forums and pretending to be fans with ‘information’

Blogging ‘authorities’ who flit from style to style, buoyed by the trend winds

Shabby festivals - may your poor sound, bad food and overpriced drinks die a slow death this year

Matthew Dear’s ‘Body Language’ - you’re a talented producer but don’t pretend you’re a DJ

Moritz Van Oswald falling ill

The glut of Carl Craig-a-like epic techno releases

 

The Ugly:

Dubfire’s ‘reinvention’ as a techno DJ/producer – go away and take your horribly formulaic music with you

Tinny sounding digital DJ sets – enough to make your ears bleed

MySpace - terrible designs and even worse layout makes me want to buy a fax

Laurent Garnier’s spectacular fall from grace

Bootlegs -  for ripping off the artists and for the shops who stock them even though they know they’re bogus. Shame on you.

Contakt/Minus – for trying to be funny but for ending up looking like a bad, black-clad version of Zoolander

Promo emails for cookie cutter electro house and mnml reaching spam-like proportions

Dopplereffekt turning out to be Detroit electro’s very own Marcel Marceau

The Guardian’s music blog - has it got an inbuilt function that makes its writers catch on to music three years too late?