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Minus the Hate

Poor Richie Hawtin isn't getting much internet love at the moment, is he? While it's not surprising that he has incited the ire of techno fans on forums, blogs and websites thanks to his succession of great ideas, it does feel like he's become a bit of a whipping boy of late. In true contrarian fashion, I've decided that today is Be Nice to Richie Hawtin Day on this here internet website, and what better way to give some mad props to minimal's multi-tasking entrepreneur than by posting this four-year-old set from Berlin's Tresor? I forget what the occasion was, but this performance sees the plastic one go head to head (or should that be mouth to mouth? You can never tell these days) with horse (tranquiliser) fancier Ricardo Villalobos for a two and a half session that takes in Dan Bell's 'Losing Control' the Lemon8 reissue on Plus 8, the acapella part of UR's 'Transition', which features a few times and Slam's eternal 'Positive Education'. Speaking of which, there are a few sloppy parts of the mix, the most notable of which involves the aforementioned Slam tune. Having mixed in and then segued into a new tune, the track suddenly rattles its way back into the mix -  it sounds like one of our fearless duo inadvertently pushed the wrong button or faded in the wrong channel. Anyway, it's all good messy fun -  grab it here - unfortunately there's no Twitter facility to check the tracklist yet. Check back next week for the second part.

13 Deep Years

The weather turned in the past few days and as I type this, the grey clouds light drizzle that are the de facto conditions where I live have returned. I'm not going to make a habit of doing weather-related posts, but my listening soundtrack for the past few days, 'Delsin 2', has suited the shift back to less sunny conditions. It's hard to believe that it's been 13 years since Marsel set up his label, but what's more difficult to comprehend is how Delsin has almost without fail managed to consistently release great techno music -  my feeling is it's down to the fact that it has never followed trends and just puts out music that Marsel himself loves. While they have drawn inspiration from Detroit, Marsel's observation that this music acted as a "starting point" for the label is spot on - as the 'Delsin 2' compilation shows, deepness of all hues and shades is represented, be that Redshape's ominous bass killer 'Misc Usage', Quince's more slamming 'Contracting' or Vince Watson's string soaked 'Ethereal'. Just as importantly, the label has allowed its roster to indulge their caprices, not always forcing them to release music that has to specificially work on the dance floor. This is what acts like Nubian Mindz, Aardvarck, the excellent Newwworldaquarium and his 154 side-project (responsible for one of my favourite Delsin releases, the 'Strike' album) have been allowed to achieve, while Marsel has also kept his ears open to new acts -  with Shed, Chymera and Rolando joining the roster in recent years. If that weren't enough, Delsin's offshoot label Ann Aimee put out some fine, darker, dubby techno by Delta Funktionen and James Kumo last year. It's for all of these reasons athat 13 years later, Delsin is one of the few labels that still has a 'buy on sight' target on its head. Here's to another 13 years...

And There Shall Be Justus For All...

Ah, is that summer I sense? The long, lazy days and never-ending evenings? Warm air blowing aganst my face, cool beer in my hand, people with farmer's tans on the streets? Yes, it's finally upon us, and in a moment of serendipity, I stumbled across the ultimate summer track last night when I was going through  a stack of old records. Taken from his 'Was Ist Musik' (What is music) album from 2002 (although the video also shows that it appeared on one of the Kompakt Total comps) this tongue in cheek yet emotive, wide-eyed slice of techno pop is a reminder that when it came to hummable ditties with a camp German swagger, for a few years, Michael Mayer's  Kompakt were  at the absolute top of their scarf-wearing, metrosexual game. The track's title translates into English as 'further than ever before' (if any German readers can give me a better translation, I'd love to hear it)  and I'd wager that it has been a soundtrack to many ecstasy-fuelled, love at first sight encounters. I'm too lazy to figure out how to embed it on the blog, but here's a link to the YouTube video...

Weathering the Years

Here’s a treat for anyone who is a fan of deep, sultry house or indeed the maverick genius that is Andrew Weatherall -  an Essential Mix he did for Pete Tong’s BBC radio show back in 1996. While this two-hour mix is almost 13 years old – it was broadcast at the end of October of that year – it still sounds fresh, especially given the stale whiff that is emanating from contemporary deep house. Apart from a few annoying interruptions from Tong to tell the world that it’s his show, this is a super smooth set that takes in disco, jacking and some techno elements and features tracks from Aquarhythm, Russ Gabriel and Weatherall’s own Two Lone Swordsmen project. I’ll post a full tracklist soon. In the meantime, grab it here and enjoy!

edit  tracklist...

1. Hydronaut vs Morgan Geist - Deep In The Feeling (US Aquarhythms)
2. Nimbus Quartet - Hep Cat Speaketh (US Sounds)
3. 2 Lone Swordsmen - Glide By Shooting (Emissions)
4. Stockwell Steppas - Spin Desire (acetate)
5. 2 Lone Swordsmen - Bin, Jack & Florence (Emissions)
6. Deanne Day - 1st Long Friday (Emissions)
7. Communication X - Duality Part 2 (Muzique Tropique)
8. Urban Farmers - Last Chance To Dance (20/20 Vision)
9. Aphrodisiac - Earth Whispers (BPM)
10. Nail - Try (DiY)
11. NY Connection - Bless The Funk (Evolution)
12. Q Burn's Abstract Message - Mess Of Afros [GU Mix] (SSR)
13. Boo Williams - Make Some Noise (Relief)
14. Stacey Kid - Think Of You [Paul Johnson's Party Mix] (Peacefrog)
15. Wyndell Long - She Heard Me Cry (Peacefrog)
16. Motorbass - Neptune (Basenotic)
17. Discocaine - Keep On (Zoom)
18. Stockwell Steppas - Turn The Filter Off (acetate)
19. Freaks - One For The Diary (Phono)
20. Restless Soul - Sykodelic (Basement 292)
21. Kenlou - Sensational Beats (Masters At Work)
22. DJ Camacho - The Dance Thinks (Sumo)

 

Don’t Pass (on) the Mike

After a month or two where everything seemed to slow down and I genuinely began to wonder whether 2009 was going to be see the implosion of not just electronic music but society in general, there has been a wealth of great new techno music in the past month. Apart from new releases on Sandwell District, Delsin and Offkey Industries as well as new EPs from Peter Van Hoesen, Luke Slater, O/V/R and Legowelt (to me, techno music in the broadest sense of the term, others may disagree), Berlin producer Mike Dehnert has an excellent new EP out on his own Fachwerk label. In my ignorance, I only acquired my first Dehnert EP last year (Fachwerk has been on the go since 2007) and ‘Freiraum’ was like a breath of fresh air, featuring raw rhythms, howling analogue riffs and, on ‘Black Smoke’, sleazy vocals underpinned by grainy 303s. So if ‘Freiraum’ felt like Dehnert had captured and updated the spirit and sound aesthetic of 90s Tresor, his new EP, ‘Umluft’ sees him deliver a hard-edged take on Basic Channel dub techno. Instead of languishing in echo chamber-fuelled sloth however, ‘One’ and ‘Two’, are driving, repetitive chord-driven dance floor tracks – or, to describe them in a more succinct Hardwax fashion - TIP! For a taster of Dehnert in action, head over to the Mnmlssg blog….

The Post from Hell

Some shameless self-promotion. Here's a feature I did on the always quotable DJ Hell about his new album 'Teufelswerk', one half of which ('day') is excellent and the other half ('night') I'm not so sure about yet. Still, Hell is always a great interview subject and full of opinions as usual. Speaking of opinions, I have also just done some reviews for RA, which you can read here , here, here, here and here.
What always amazes me about the reply threads on RA is that if you are critical of a release, you get flak for nor being “professional” or “accurate” (even though you are expressing an opinion) or you get told that all the big DJs love this record and how could you not? It reeks a little bit of insecurity on the posters’ side  - or do people genuinely not  like to read criticism, even if it’s constructive or pinpoints exactly why a reviewer doesn’t like a record? Do people just want to read reviews that praise their favourite artists – and never question them?

Luke Forward

Is it a damning indictment of contemporary techno or merely more proof of Luke Slater's ability to release jawdropping music that his new EP on Ostgut sounds superior to practically any other current release? It's intersting that Ostgut have signed up Slater because many of their key DJs/producers, eg Dettmann, Klock and Nodge, cite Slater as a key influence, and, listening back to his old Morganistic and Planetary Assault Systems records (as well as old Lost Recordings releases - a less documented but equally crucial influence in the Ostgut/Berghain style), it's easy enough to hear the link. Back to the present: while Slater has the benefit of 20 years' experience on his side, 'Temporary Suspension', under his Planetary Assault Systems guise, is still a shockingly good record. It sees Slater return to his purist roots (hey, everyone should be allowed to have a funny haircut and mess about with vocalists at some stage) as a clanging metallic groove and a lone bleep populate the title track, with Slater filtering the percussion and layered FX to create a constant sense of drama.  On ‘Mark Me’, he applies a similar approach; the beats are denser and more claustrophobic, but they still provide an ideal backing for his firing percussion and waves of climaxing electronic riffs. It sounds simple, it's lethally effective and it promises great things for his forthcoming PAS album.

New records

Just as the title suggests, there are a load of excellent new(ish) records about. First of all, does anyone think that Legowelt's latest album is this year's best long-player so far? The competition hasn't been that strong admittedly, but 'Vatos Locos', with its super three-eyed dog/wolf artwork and raw, nasty jacking Chicagoisms are like a breath of fresh air. Legowelt also has a new EP, 'Slompy Jitt', out soon on the fine M<O<S label, which covers much the same ground. For fans of this sound, also make sure to check the new Nation release -  more wild analogue riffs and lo-fi jacking rhythms - as well as Traxx's 'Ina Daze' as Mutant Beat Dance. Working together with vocalist Eric D Clark, its soulful vocals and grainy production is an unusual yet alluring combination. Jitterbug's 'Raw Winter' on Uzuri is a decent deep house release; I use the word decent because two of the tracks, 'No Pressure' and 'Speakers Corner', are standard fare grooves, and neither compare to the warm, resonating 'Dream Memory'; a solid remix from DJ QU also makes it worth checking. Speaking of remixers, Ben Klock does the business on his remix of Deepgroove & Jamie Anderson's 'The Clock', turning the jarring, noisy original into a typically dense and relentless track, while Klock himself is getting the remix treatment soon from... Function and Robert Hood, surely a release to save the cents for. Syrinx has two great deep techno EPs out on Rush Hour, 'A Million Light Years' and 'After The Sunset'. They may be full of soaring strings and sweet melodic sequences, but he also knows how to craft proper dance floor arrangements, with sleek, pulsing grooves and metallic percussion providing the necessary impetus. Marco Bernardi has been putting out some excellent Detroit-style techno of late, but he goes back to punishing basslines and bleak 808 drums for 'My New Juno', his debut for Dave Clarke's White Noise label. On a similar tip is Faceless Mind's new release for Dublin label Lunar Disko. 'Glasriket' is a four-tracker of tight, moody electro-breaks, powered by gloomy synths and ominous basslines. It's a world apart from the label's upbeat debut, but it's good to see labels taking chances, especially in these money-stretched times. As we're talking about going out on a limb, Kontext impresses again with his latest release for Immerse.  'Convex Curved Mirror' takes elements from a variety of sources, with dssected percussion underpinning rolling basslines and atmospheric chords, which later morph into DJ friendly tracks. Is it house, techno or dubstep? I’m not sure, and to be honest, I'm not too bothered to find out...

Great Scott

What better way to unwind after that much-needed vitriolic outburst than with fifty minutes of live electro from Gosub (many thanks to Dan McE for sending this beauty my way). Recorded live in Florida, where Gosub aka Shad T Scott and sometime Aerosmith knob twiddler hails from, this is more laid back than previous sets here, but the brooding sound textures, the crispness of the 808s and the surging bass are superlative. Gosub's 2007 album, 'Watchers from the Black Universe' was one of the best electronic works of the past few years, and this set comes close to emulating its brilliance. Grab it here and here...

 

 

A little power...

Can be very, very dangerous in the wrong hands. Usually, I try to keep the bullshit politics off this blog and focus on the music. As anyone who is involved with the 'industry' will know however, it's often hard to ignore the multitude of chancers, wide boys and fakes that are attracted to the music business. I'm not sure what it's like in indie or pop, but in electronic music, there are quite a few such characters. Usually, it's better to give them a wide berth, but this week something happened that tipped the scales. I was asked to review Steve Bug's new album for DJ Mag. I emailed the PR, Kim Booth from Rebel Butterfly, for a copy, but got no response. So I emailed the reviews editor and was told that she wouldn't send me one because I had slagged off Josh Wink, one of her other clients. Quite rightly, he said that he wouldn't let a PR tell him who would or wouldn't review releases in the magazine and that he would get me a copy, irrespective of what the PR thought. So let's break down this sad little woman's thought process; I assume she's pissed off with me due to one or both of the following: 1. When Josh Wink had a release out a few months back I posted on a Resident Advisor thread that it wasn't very good; Kim replied to say it actually was very good without declaring that she was the PR for the release and therefore had a conflict of interes -  to which I replied that she was indeed the PR. 2. When Josh Wink did a podcast for RA recently, I posted a reminder in the thread about the accusations Dan Bell made in 2002 that Wink had 'copied', without his permission, one of his tracks and sold it as one of his own. Neither post could be construed as being especially damaging; the first was merely a point of information that Kim 'neglected' to mention her vested interest in the release; the second a story that has been around (almost) as long as there have been techno message boards. I wonder even if Wink knows (or cares) about either post -  he's made his money. Unfortunately, his PR seems to be on a power trip and I'll probably never see another Ovum promo as long as she holds the account, which given her puerile behaviour will hopefully not be for too much longer. Unfortunately, Kim's moronic attitude has implications for her other clients; due to her fragile ego, Steve Bug, merely by association, a 100% innocent bystander, has been potentially denied coverage in a major magazine, a great example of the customer getting value from the press officer for hire. Of course in her thick as pigshit decision to deny my request for a promo, Kim probably didn't take the time to think that I know Steve's label peeps. I emailed them to tell them about Kim's behaviour and guess what? They were shocked that she could behave in such a way. They have sent me a promo themselves and they've had a word with Steve to explain how this excuse for a press officer could have potentially resulted in him not getting a review. So well done Kim, your childish behaviour has managed to alienate me and surely raised eyebrows at DJ Mag and in Steve Bug's operation. You have not succeeded in your stated aim of denying me a copy of the release. If this is your best attempt at 'public relations', then you clearly need to sit down and consider a career change. I hear McDonald's are hiring, darling...