Klaus Schulze & Pete Namlook featuring Bill Laswell - The Dark Side Of The Moog VII

Fax +49-69/450464/MIG: 1998/2016

This series resembles a ‘90s TV show more than I initially gave it credit for. The first few albums/seasons were the feeling-out process, launching with the premise, figuring out what makes the concept work, and hoping you find enough of an audience before getting canceled. Okay, I doubt Namlook would have pulled the plug on The Dark Side Of The Moog if sales were poor, the chance at collaborating with Klaus Schulze a passion project more than anything. Plus, given Fax +49-69/450464’s strict limitation of pressed copies, how could you determine popularity through sales anyway? By how fast they sell out? What they go for on the second-hand market? Incessant pleas from fans for more copies, just this one time, oh please!?

Back to the TV analogy. While The Dark Side Of The Moog had tweaked and refined some aspects of its concept for the first few seasons/albums, it wasn’t until its fourth that things coalesced into something truly distinct in of itself. The Schulze/Namlook tandem was finally working as a mutual work, with both participants accentuating each other’s strengths while helping hide their weaknesses. The loose, freeform approach to each album prior settled into a concrete core if not in vision, then at least in structure. And who can forget that brilliant bit of stunt-casting with legendary bassist Bill Laswell, adding a fresh dynamic to the established interplay between the two main stars.

As with most successful TV shows, we’re in the Golden Years of the series now, but almost uniformly it’s around Season 7 where we find the first flecks of froth in the inevitable backwash of creative success. The Dark Side Of The Moog VII has these hallmarks too. For sure it maintains what’s worked before with the same degree of polish and finesse, but a few cracks of staleness unfortunately crop up too. For one, at an even fifty minutes long, this is the shortest album in this series, period. Laswell’s input is almost completely moot by this point too. He still contributes to two of the six tracks, but beyond some dubby effects lurking in the mix of Part I and space drone in Part III, I don’t hear much of his distinct sonic ticks. I know these tracks are Pink Floyd puns, but Obscured By Klaus seems entirely apt in this outing.

Part I and II mix into one another, moving from Berlin-School ambient to electro. The album then radically changes tone with Part III, nineteen minutes of spacey ambient that moves into another round of spacey electro in Part IV. I’d like this more if one of the synth solos wasn’t among the lamest I’ve ever heard (even from trance camps!). The final two parts, at nearly twelve minutes total, mostly shows off Schulze’s modern classical chops, again fine but nothing we haven’t heard before - which I can say for this album in general too. It’s little surprise only one piece was tapped from here for that Evolution retrospective of the series.

Klaus Schulze & Pete Namlook featuring Bill Laswell - The Dark Side Of The Moog V

Fax +49-69/450464/MIG: 1996/2016

One box set down, one to go. Sorry, fans of Dark Side Of The Moog IX-XI, but I ain’t springing for the third volume of this reissue series just yet. Getting the first two was pricey enough, and if television rules apply to music, then anything past Season 8 is guaranteed Zombie Years. Concept worn dry, sprinkled with gimmicks in futile hopes of spicing up the stagnation, not to mention a Sweeps Baiting surprise wedding for one of the more popular ‘ships on the series. Mind, I’m almost certain Bill Laswell never hooked up with Schulze or Namlook in such a manner, not even in some weird subset of synth fanfiction. (please don’t tell me Rule 34 has produced such a thing…)

Actually, Laswell’s contributions to Dark Side Of The Moog were on the wane by this point, offering his input on just two tracks for session number V (aka: Psychedelic Brunch). We’re also further from the ‘single song’ concept the project started out with, this album the trackiest of the lot yet. Whereas prior CDs had a sense of continuous themes explored throughout, segueing into each part as it played out, this one has distinct tracks from one another, no ideas carried over or re-explored elsewhere in the album. Perhaps the closest we get is Part III and Part VIII, though almost entirely due to them using similar, stuttery downbeat rhythms between them. At first I thought these were the two cuts Laswell had a hand in, as he is the most rhythmically minded of the three, but nay, only Part III is where he crops up, plus droning dark ambient piece Part VII, sounding rather similar to his work as Divination at that. Also, but damn, Parts III and VIII has a lot in common with the sort of psy-chill I’ve heard coming from the Ultimae and Altar ranks over the years – talk about your ‘ahead of its time’ narratives, but then that’s long been the talking point regarding Berlin School synth work anyway.

If there is any sort of unifying theme to Psychedelic Brunch, it’s in letting the individual aspects of the players involved strut their stuff. Schulze’s use of traditional synths in a classical sense (re: Berlin-School) prominently feature in Part II, IV and VI. Meanwhile, Part V, the centerpiece of this album at over sixteen minutes of length, plays to Namlook’s meditative approach to ‘90s ambient music, the sort of stuff likely heard in chill-rooms rather than art-houses. And heck, even the inventor of the Moog, Robert Moog, shows up, in an introductory bit of dialog. He also shills his email for some reason, though considering this was 1996, maybe they thought doing so added to the futurism of the project? Wait, wasn’t ‘retro-futurism’ the whole point in the first place, bridging the generation gap while taking the ‘70s and ‘90s into an undiscovered country? Where can Dark Side Of The Moog even go now? Man, all this projected crisis of faith over an email.

Klaus Schulze & Pete Namlook - The Dark Side Of The Moog

Fax +49-69/450464/MIG: 1994/2016

Gathering up the many, many, many volumes of Pete Namlook and Klaus Schulze’s epic collaboration series The Dark Side Of The Moog was never much of a priority. For sure if I saw one on the cheap, I’d snatch that sucker up, but odds of that happening with any release from Fax +49-69/450464 or its reissue sub-label Ambient World are absurdly low. On the other hand, a spiffy box set that does all that grueling work for me? Well shit, son, sign me up for that! And it’s what MIG done did, releasing all eleven volumes of The Dark Side Of The Moog in three bundles, plus a few bonuses for good measure. Though I remained blasé about the concept of Old Berlin-School teaming up with New Berlin-School, I’d be a fool to not spring for at least a couple of these boxes. Naturally, that now means I must review Every. Single. CD. Time for a serious knowledge drop in the project, then, but self-imposed word count runs short, so let’s get into The Dark Side Of The Moog, volume one. Eh? Of course the first wasn’t given a proper numerical demarcation. Like ol’ Pete and Klaus had any idea this would become such a long lasting thing.

If anything, Mr. Kuhlmann seems a little star-struck in his contributions for their initial session. He freely admitted as such, encouraging Mr. Schulze to do what he do best – coerce musical exotica out of crusty analog gear – and he’d work around that. This wasn’t so much about bringing one of the O.G.s of synth music into the hip ‘90s, but exploring what ‘70s music could do given two decades of technological advancements. This does lend to a rather freeform approach to songcraft, but that’s always been the Berlin School methodology regardless. If anything, it had lost its way as many synth wizards looked at making bank during the ‘80s once their sounds caught on with mainstream crowds. Those that didn’t adapt their craft to pop production or movie scores were left in relative obscurity, only later rediscovered by meticulous archivists of synthesizer chronology. Dear God, is this ever turning into a fancy-schmancy history lesson. Back to music.

The Dark Side Of The Moog (Da’ Kickoff) contains ten tracks, each titled Wish You Were There - yeah, the Pink Floyd puns can’t stop, won’t stop. And calling these individual pieces tracks is a misnomer, everything equally split five minutes apiece, save a whopping six minute finale. There are definite segments throughout, as Klaus moves through spacey kraut, sci-fi effects, and grand displays of modern classical synths, but none of the indexes mark any particular transition. About the mid-point, an electro beat emerges, leaves for some more experimental wibbling, and finally we’re treated to a little classic trance business. Not much, mind, but Namlook’s presence is definitely felt in this final stretch, whereas most of the preceding portions he sat back letting Schulze strut his stuff. They’d get better at blending their sounds.

Aphex Twin - Cheetah EP

Warp Records: 2016

I’m flabbergasted. Stooptafried. Diskumbunkulatorated. Have had my world twisted inside the outside. Made very wery flummoxed in the bummox. Caught just a bit of guard. Cheetah has thrown me for a loop in how unconventional an Aphex Twin record can be. Where are the drill-n-bass beats? Micro-glitch edits? Synths and pads painting outwardly imagery within the furthest reaches of your lucid dreams? Not even something hidden, like that infamous visage of your grinning mug only visible within a spectrogram? There’s some fun acid in Cirklon, but nothing that’ll challenge the norms of what’s expected from a TB-303 workout. And I wouldn’t count the short sonic doodles of Cheeta1b ms800 and Cheeta2 ms800 as anything worth getting fussed about, unless that’s where Mr. Dee James is hiding one of his trademark pranks.

Or maybe there isn’t any sort of catch to this EP. Perhaps, after years of challenging what we expect from electronic music, Aphex Twin has finally decided it’s time to release some ‘normal’ dance tunes, with easy rhythms and pleasant tones. No more IDM, no more ambient; no more experiments, just plain and simple techno. Sorry, I wanted that to rhyme, but ‘trance’ is the only thing that works there, and the one thing we can all agree on is Aphex Twin has never, ever been trance. Except for perhaps Polynominal-C, if you squint your ears in the right direction.

Of course Cheetah isn’t normal in a traditional house or techno sense, but it’s definitely the most conventional sounding tunes in Aphex Twin’s repertoire in some time. The Analord series Ritichie Jameson released as ‘AFX’ is a close cousin, and we could even dig super deep into the way-back era of Polygon Window for another comparison. I’m honestly so very tempted in tossing the ‘deep’ tag onto CheetahT2 (Ld Spectrum) and CheetahT7b, in that these are some seriously slow, lazy downbeat vibes. I’ve heard they can be played at either 33 or 45 should you snag yourself the vinyl, but as I have no such medium within my possession, I’ll assume these slow versions are the correct versions as Jichard W. Rames envisioned. Besides, that acid bassline in CheetahT7b is just too damn groovy at 33 to not be intentional!

As mentioned, the Cirklon tracks get deeper into the acid funk. Cirklon1 offers more mint TB-303 bassline business, while Cirklon3 (Колхозная Mix) goes more electro. For all us CD collectors, we get bonus cut 2X202-ST5, another charming piece of drum machine foolery. There’s nothing extra special about it beyond clap fills, simply content in letting the mild acid bobble about a techno break. It’s about as b-side as any track can get, but don’t tell the vinyl enthusiasts that – they’re already miffed about losing out on this for their Aphex Twin Completist Collection. Look, you already got some of the best Analord material on the Black Crack, so you can let us have this. I wouldn’t recommend Cheetah for anyone but such Aphex completists though.

ACE TRACKS: August 2016

I miss nRelate so much. Why did it have to shutter its servers? Engageya was an alright substitute though, despite only ever crawling my blog a year’s past for related content. Unfortunately, I think that service has been compromised by scammers, as a strange link to A Trip In Trance 4 started cropping up in its recommendations. Bear in mind I had not yet gotten to that CD, the link referring to the original review from way back. I did click the link, and when Chrome gave me the trusty “This Website Will Fuck Your Shit Up!” warning, I backed out, and promptly removed the app. I tried contacting Engageya regarding the situation, but never got a reply. Hence, back to LinkWithin, a serviceable option, but hopelessly limited. Plus, why does it suddenly stop at January 2013 for suggestions, then pick up again December 2014? It’s got lots of weird gaps like that, but eh, better than nothing. Maybe one day a proper nRelate replacement will emerge. Maybe…

Speaking of milestones, I just passed the 1,000th release reviewed for this blog! Turbo Studio Sessions (Vol. 3) earned the honor, and I can’t think of a better pair of CDs to have done the deed with. Erm, even if it was just an uploaded older review of electroclash. If we’re to get proper-technical about this though, Turbo Studio Sessions (Vol. 3) wasn’t the 1,000th release reviewed on this blog at all, as there’s still all those original uploads from EMC’s initial launch. I seldom count those in any interesting stats, but if I did in this case, then Michael Mayer’s Touch would have been the real 1,000th. Oops, kinda’ missed that one. Okay, enough blather, here’s ACE TRACKS for the month of August 2016!


Full track list here.


MISSING ALBUMS:
Various - Turbo Studio Sessions (Vol. 3)
Various - Tunnel Trance Force Vol. 30
FPU - Traxxdata
Various - Transmissions From The Planet Dog
Various - Trancespotting II

Percentage Of Hip-Hop - 0%
Percentage Of Rock - 8%
Most “WTF?” Track - Any of Neil Young’s vocoder stuff. The sheer audacity of it all!

Easily the biggest August Playlist I’ve ever put together, though that’s not saying much. Most Augusts I take a two-week festival vacation, and one year I didn’t write anything at all. Despite still dealing with a bunch of TRANCE music, there’s at least some extra diversity compared to July’s playlist. A splash of rock, a sprinkle of jungle, a peppering of synth-pop, and a smash of psy. Oh, and The Hip. As coincidental as their inclusion is, I’m glad they get in here as well. It seems appropriate.

Various - Turbo Studio Sessions (Vol. 3) (Original TC Review)

Turbo: 2002

(2016 Update:
And so concluded one of my first attempts at a series retrospective. Not that I'd planned for it. Come to think of it, why did I even carry on reviewing these? The first one was a Random Review, true, but I cannot for the life of me recall the reason for taking on the second volume a year later. Slow month, maybe? For sure that's why I went into Vol. 3 half a year later, plus it just made sense to wrap that up since it was one of the few compilations series that I did have a complete set of. I've since gathered a few more.

While I know Turbo only puts out CDs for their top-billed albums (if even that), it's a shame they don't still do these Studio Sessions. It was a wonderful way of bringing to light the unheralded underground gems that fall through the cracks, all the while breaking new artists and sounds. The label still maintains a finger on the pulse of hot house and techno, so why not keep something like this series on the market, maybe even as a digital option? Eh, they do have one, called Turbo #Beatport Decade? Alrighty then; hard copies, NAOW!)


IN BRIEF: Electroclash at its finest.

For the few years Tiga’s little-label-that-could grew in prominence, it had played things safe with the underground crowd - house, techno, eclectic DJ mixes: all tried and tested fields with hipsters. Then, seemingly overnight, Turbo’s focus changed, fully embracing the sounds of electroclash coming out of Europe right at the cusp of that scene’s breakout. The shift hinted at Turbo growing assured enough to be a leader rather than a follower. What they would need then, was big singles tied to their name.

It wouldn’t be enough for them to merely import DJ Hell’s label either. If Turbo was to cement itself as a label to be reckoned with, they would have to bring fresh material of their own rather than ride on International Deejay Gigolo’s coattails. Tiga’s cover of Corey Hart’s Sunglasses At Night was a start, but with a scene ripe with innovation and potential, surely there would be more. With their third Studio Sessions compilation, Turbo found the perfect outlet to introduce the next wave of nu-new wave artists.

Looking at this release’s tracklist today, there seems to be a fair number of obvious electroclash hits. However, these were quite new in late 2002; only the most underground of collectors knew who acts like Black Strobe, LCD Soundsystem, and Chromeo were. Of course, within a year of Sessions 3 being released, tracks like Me & Madonna, The Biggest Fan, and Needy Girl were featured on more nouveau electro compilations than anyone can remember now. Does this make them any less endearing today? Not at all. These hits were good then and they still hold up today. And with that scene having gone by the wayside, you don’t have the annoying ‘currently overplayed’ factor impeding on your enjoyment of them.

Still, because they were such popular songs, you can find them on any similarly themed compilation. Your decision on whether you should pick-up Sessions 3 in the here and now will be decided on how the supporting cast handles itself. Let’s take a look-see then.

Although a few tracks retain some of Turbo’s older eclecticism, (most notably the first two cuts), this is mainly an electroclash compilation - but that’s a rather ambiguous term, then and now. More specifically, Sessions 3 features a smorgasbord of styles that got tagged with the catch-all buzzword: disco punk, synth-pop, art-dance. In general, if it contained elements of electro and playful narcissism, you were electroclash whether you liked it or not. Tracks like Mt. Sims’ Escape Hatch, Plastique de Reve’s Rodeo Mechanique, and Sean Kosa’s Spaceship hold such quirkiness, but aren’t endearing examples. Better off is the pure electro from Lowfish’s Dark Matter, and an indie-rockish Fujiya & Miyagi track.

A major standout though (and surprising choice these days) is pre-Time Magazine interviewees Scissor Sisters, who’s irresistible faux-workout romp Electrobix conjures up the silliest moments of 80s workout videos. Who would have ever guessed this act would blow up the way they did a year later? Perhaps Tiga did, which makes the inclusion of their debut single on Sessions 3 look genius by hipster standards. And speaking of Tiga (again), his remix of Crossover’s Phostographt also fits the ‘so campy, it’s great’ bill nicely, as it displays the graceful yet devilishly playful streak in his productions.

Meanwhile, with Turbo’s fortunes looking good, Tiga started up a couple sub-labels, both of which have material featured on a disc each. Their criteria was focused on specific styles rather than the broader strokes Turbo’s singles often released.

The shortest lived of these sub-labels was Fabergé. In fact, almost all of its total output can be found here, as only two singles were ever made: Chromeo’s She’s So Gangsta (of which the Playgroup instrumental is included) and Shawn Ward’s Street Smart EP (with two groovy tech-house cuts offered). Peter Benisch’s Song For A Heart (as Bifrost) never saw a release beyond this compilation, which is a shame as the track is hauntingly lovely, and shouldn’t be left buried in obscurity.

White Leather held out a little longer but it too eventually went by the wayside. The tracks offered in this sub-label’s name are more interesting, as they mostly fall under that pure electro umbrella of sound, with 808 drum machine programming, under-produced synths, and heavy vocoder usage (DMX Krew and Sean Kosa exempt in this case). The instrumental cuts from D’Arcangelo and Jordan Dare are fun, but Neonwerk and Peter Benisch (as FPU this time) steal the show with their moody soundscapes and mesmerizing vocoder work. Strangely enough, neither of their tracks would see a proper White Leather release, although Seven Of Nine did appear on the full-length FPU Turbo release while Neonwerk had their own label Star Whores anyway (heh... gotta’ love that euro-trashiness).

While Sessions 3 doesn’t contain the stylistic variety of the previous releases, it is probably the best of all three. It’s rare for a two-disc compilation to remain as tightly focused as this one does, but there is an amazing amount of variety to be had despite sticking to a very similar sound throughout. Of course, if that whole electroclash sound never appealed to you, you probably won’t get much out of this release. If you do enjoy the kitschy side of electronic music though, then seek out this little gem of a compilation. There’s enough balance between big hits and classy unknowns to draw in both the casual and the ardent music collector.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2007. © All rights reserved.

Various - Turbo Studio Sessions (Vol. 2) (Original TC Review)

Turbo: 2001

(2016 Update:
A reasonable length? Using descriptive events rather than dry detail to cover music within? Actual readable content rather than rambly word salads? I didn't think 2006 Sykonee had it in him, yet here he was, finally getting his act together in providing material of much higher quality than what came before. Erm, and was still ahead, if I'm honest. And yeah, the opening couple paragraphs are woefully redundant now, but that second half, is that ever a fun read.

Definitely felt a strong surge of inspiration with this one, so many good tunes from unexpected names throughout this CD. Shame that its such an obscure release, even by Turbo standards, as the label's DJ mixes continued outshining the scant compilations. With unheralded, overlooked tracks from Adam Beyer, Joel Mull, Shawn Ward, and Jori Hulkkonen on here, its like the ultimate mixtape from Tiga. Not to mention the lone contribution from THE VANDAL! Man, we needed more electroclashy covers of U2, did we ever.)


IN BRIEF: The times, they were changin' (at Turbo).

Turbo’s track record had been practically flawless when this came out, building up a solid reputation for ace DJ mixes of mostly house music (with a little techno and, *gasp*, even a d’n’b one!). There was a sense of change abundant in the little-Canadian-label-that-could though, as Tiga was apparently smitten by a new wave of EDM. Although this change could mostly be felt in the tone of Turbo’s musical manifesto, it also became apparent ambitions were growing as well. No longer content in providing great DJ mixes, the label was showing greater emphasis on pushing original productions.

Not that Turbo didn’t promote such material here and there, but as a fledgling label aiming for recognition based on DJ talent, such releases hardly registered. Despite the quality of the track selection in their first Studio Sessions, it didn’t quite have the diversity needed to break from the pack. It was a safe compilation, going with what worked to earn hip points with the press, mainly soulful house and Detroit techno with touches of funk and minimal to spice it up.

Vol. 2 of this series sees Turbo a little bit wiser, a little more self-assured ...and a whole lot more eclectic. While some of the same styles of music return in this follow-up, there’s plenty of new faces mixing in: dub, trip-hop, acid, micro-house, breaks, swing jazz, ambient, and some (at the time) new-fangled thing called ‘electroclash’. Quite a bold move, that last one, as this new sound was still relegated to ‘super hipster underground’ status at this point. There was no bandwagon to jump on yet, and who knew if the Turbo faithful would buy into it?

Actually, that’s a silly question. A label like Turbo doesn’t build up a winning reputation by taking chances their fanbase won’t buy into. Their fans often gave them the freedom to surprise them with something different, and very rarely would Turbo let that trust fail. In fact, Studio Session 2 comes across as something more than a simple collection of tunes: rather, this sounds like a love-letter to the Turbo faithful. Tiga and co. take their followers on an exquisite night out on the city, allowing the listener to tag along in their zany adventures to find the perfect beat.

With a smile and a twinkle in the eye, the compilation kicks off with Good Life, a fun little romp of jazzy rhythms and effect washes. As we head out into the night, we’re taken on a pre-amble cruise through deep house vibes and dubby delights care of Brommage Dub, Shawn Ward, and Snaporaz. It’s like snacking on fine sushi in a post-modern lounge while sipping on a fancy drink with a few too many curls in the straw (for irony’s sake, of course). You can practically smell the hipster cologne in the air.

But this is merely the warm-up, the initial stretch. Slightly uneasy tones are heard from elsewhere (courtesy of The Whisper by Hijack), hinting at possible sinister shenanigan to be found away from these cosmopolitan surroundings. Fearlessly, we enter the underground where the wicked techno of Jori Hulkkonen’s Wispers greats us with infectiously grooving rhythms and out-of-tune synth strings. OH! AND ACID!! LOVE THE BRIEF SQUIGGLY BITS OF ACID!!!

Jori’s electro romp is about as fun as this underground techno adventure gets though, as these next couple of tracks are serious business. Joel Mull does give us some murky funky flair over shuffling rhythms but Adam Beyer takes no prisoners in his downtempo track Those Funny Moments: thick beats sludge along as unsettling string swells and paranoid droid noises wrap you up in a suffocating mechanical menace. You can practically feel the grime on those cold, concrete warehouse walls.

The underground’s all fine and dandy for a while, but it’s time to head back out and cruise the streets once more, this time with a sense of playfulness as we reflect on the night. The ADNY track is interesting, but not particularly enduring. However, attempting to resist the White Linen remix of Crockett’s Theme is, um, futile. Between fey plucky synths and a bubbly bassline over tinny electro-breaks, this remix is filled to the rim with witty charm.

However, the night runs long, and it’s time to head back home and unwind. Throw on some easy downtempo vibes (Swayzak’s State of Grace); work on that quirky sounding cover of a U2 song that could be the beginnings of a hot new genre called electroclash (New Year’s Day, as done by Tiga and Jori going by The Vandal); finally be swept up in ambient bliss as you lie down to bed with a content smile of a night well spent (Peter Benisch’s Love Theme).

Okay, so maybe you won’t get all that out of Studio Sessions Vol. 2 as I did. For all I know, you may treat this compilation completely on the straight and narrow, as nothing more than a solid collection of rare releases from a Canadian label that got lucky with some choice singles and a breakout star. As that, you really can’t go wrong with this release. It’s got diversity, it’s got class, it’s got head noddin’ bits, catchy bits, and moving bits - all the things you’d expect from Turbo, really. Check it out and see where this music will take you.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2006. © All rights reserved

Various - Turbo Studio Sessions (Vol. 1) (2016 Update)

Turbo: 1999

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review.)

And now this CD. Series too, though I thankfully don’t have to write a full 2016 Update for all three volumes of Turbo Studio Sessions. It’s gonna’ be difficult enough doing just this one, as almost all the information you could possibly want or need to know was dealt with in the original review. And I’ve gone on and on and on (with the halcyon!) recounting how the Turbo of old had very little to do with the Turbo you knew or would come to know – label’s done some evolution during its near two-decade life. Heck, even a redone rundown might come off redundant, as it feels like I’ve talked about Thomas Krome’s The Real Jazz and Isolée’s Beau Mot Plage a few times now. Though credit where it’s due, Turbo Studio Sessions, Vol. 1 is about the only place you’ll find these particular remixes from Erot and DJ Q, respectably. It’s all about those exclusive cuts, yo’.

Not too exclusive, mind you, though Turbo certainly gathered tracks well off the beaten path. The dubby, minimal groover Bad Hair Day Theorem vs. Swayzak came from a M_nus record early in that print’s lifespan. While Steve Bug would go on to a steady, prosperous career in minimal tech-house, his partner Acid Maria for the track Down With Us was one of the last things she ever produced. Funny enough, the label it first came out on, Steve Bug’s Raw Elements print, also folded shortly after releasing that record. Lehner & Biebl, who’s slinky electro cut Bobby R. showed hints of Turbo’s burgeoning taste for electroclash (not even a thing yet!), also disappeared shortly after this.

And as for poor Nytolbooth, this and a previous Turbo sampler CD are his lone entries within Lord Discogs. Or hers? Robot, mayhaps, what with that ambient electro thing going on with Orange. What’s funny is, within this CD’s inlay, a little blurb mentions Nytolbooth was due to drop a Turbo album the following year, but clearly that never happened. The closest any album within the label’s catalog that sounded like this particular track is Peter Benisch’s work, and I’m one-hundred and four percent certain this is not Peter Benisch (my brain’s margin of error is around seven percent). With no name and no further mention with Lord Discogs’ archives of ‘Nytolbooth’, the alias’ identity remains one of Turbo’s longest mysteries. Maybe I should ask Tiga, if I happen across his path in the future. Yes, I’d totally waste an Ask One Question chance on something so inconsequential!

Other names on this compilation carried on for tidy careers in the ensuing decade, but the works of Hans Nieswand, Universal Tongues, and Turner essentially disappear after that. DKMA, also known as Callisto and Krimp, but as Dana Kelley to the boys at a Boston pub where everyone knows your name, sadly died in 2013. No rhyme, no reason, just unexpectedly in his sleep at the age of 49. No words now, just peace…

FPU - Traxxdata

Turbo: 2003

I liked Soundtrack Saga, but didn’t become as big a fan of Peter Benisch’s work until hearing this album. It blew my mind that someone who could craft such lush, expansive downtempo and ambient music, then completely flip the script and offer up something so charmingly retro, quirky, and kitsch. That’s not to say artists are incapable of exploring radically differing styles of music, but it’s typically not done, most content with remaining inside the lane they’re most proficient at. And even if they do reach beyond their comfort zones, it’s even rarer they contribute something unique to whatever genre they’re exploring. That’s why it’s not only remarkable that Benisch went and made an ode to the electro and synth music of the ‘80s, but excelled at it at a time when everyone was doing the same!

No, wait, that’s not entirely accurate. The early ‘00s had everyone jumping on the electroclash bandwagon, which took ‘80s ideas but twisted them upon itself. It was the only way to remain cool while also being blatantly retro, see. Traxxdata isn’t electroclash though. Even the track that kicked the FPU project off, Crockett’s Theme, is as respectful an ode to the original Jan Hammer piece as anyone’s crafted. True, Tiga took that track and turned the kitsch to eleven for Ocean Drive, but that track isn’t on here. About the only other tune off Traxxdata that reaches similar ‘relive decadent Miami’ vibes is second single Racer Car, what with camp lyrics of “Cruising fast, in your racer car, in the night; You look so fine, you look so good, in the night.” I also feel this is one of the weaker cuts, though still having a solid, techno pulse going for it.

The rest of the album flirts between proper-grim electro (Calabi Yau Space, In The Future With Machines, FPU Theme) and peppy synthwave numbers. Wait, what? Synthwave? Isn’t that a relatively new development? Yeah, mostly, though I’m sure you could point to the odd outlier making deliberate throwback soundtrack music at any point in the past two decades - like Traxxdata! Benisch made no secret of where he was drawing influence from, and just as every synthwave producer ever namedrops Jan Hammer, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis, and John Carpenter, so it also goes with FPU.

And hot damn, are there ever some tasty ‘80s earworms in here! You Don’t Pay My Bills is a delicious slice of robo synth-pop, having me hum lyrics I only half decipher. At the other end of Traxxdata, you’ll find Waiting For Snow, as close to an ‘electro-trance’ tune as I’ll ever allow being designated as such (shove off, Punk). Other tracks find Benisch indulging himself a little more, like a creepy ode to Seven Of Nine (that vocoder!), chipper jaunts across dimensions (Time Safari), and casual strolls through retro-future cities (Eastside Protection). The lone out-of-place track on Traxxdata is closer Endgame, and only because it sounds like a leftover from Soundtrack Saga instead. Worth! It!

Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express

Kling Klang/Astralwerks: 1977/2009

A not half-bad proto-electro record that changed damn near everything, this. No, wait, let me try that again: the most important album Kraftwerk ever put out, even if no one cared at the time. Some truthiness to that one, but let’s really lay the hyperbole on!

Trans Europe Express is one of the twenty most influential albums, one of the thirty best albums of the year between 1970-98, among the one-hundred masterpieces, a top twenty-five electronic album, lodged somewhere with the essential two-hundred rock records, one of the one-hundred coolest albums in the world Right Now! in the year 2005, and in the midst of the two-hundred sixty-one greatest albums since punk and disco. Boy, and that’s just a sliver of the accolade Deity Wiki tells me Kraftwerk’s sixth studio album has earned over time. Not bad for a bunch of German dorks who’s biggest prior claim to fame was a chipper pop ditty about das autobahn.

In terms of songkraft and as an overall album concept, I find The Man-Machine a stronger effort from the lads of Düsseldorf. And some might argue that Computer World had an even greater influence on the world of electronic music, what with every ‘80s electro record ever raiding it for samples. Fair points, but what sets Trans Europe Express apart is how it so definitively marks Kraftwerk’s transition from krautrock oddities to form-n-functionalist heroes. The ears finally attuned to methodical, mechanical rhythms. The headspace shifting from abstract concepts like radioactivity in favor of quirky constructs like showroom dummies. Broadening their future world scope beyond Germany’s borders, venturing into the wide world of an endless Europe. And hey, there’s plenty of things to see on this trip – cafes, parks, hotels, palaces – unlike the utterly lonesome sojourn across a similarly-sized continental region Boards Of Canada offered.

Trans Europe Express is essentially two mini-albums, side-A devoted to Kraftwerk’s newfound song writing, with side-B the part everyone remembers. The actual Trans Europe Express is only six-and-a-half minutes long, but as it carries on into the klang-klang of Metal On Metal, and the epic build of Abzug, everyone always assumed it was one long track anyway. And after such a strangely sinister train ride, it’s comforting to know the scenery of your destination (Franz Schubert, a thematic return to opener Europe Endless) is lovely, pleasant, and pastoral, as all good European tourist destinations are.

After the Soulsonic Force sampled it and a pile more copied/emulated that, Trans Europe Express and co. essentially overshadowed the rest of the album. A shame, because side-A of this record has some of Kraftwerk’s most enduring tunes too. Showroom Dummies set the stage for their love affair of plastic men going about doing whatever it is mannequins and robots get up to when the lights go out. Meanwhile, The Hall Of Mirrors is one bizarre bit of minimalist electronic baroque, a study in insecure self-reflection that glam rockers of the day often indulged in. Yeah, that’s the Bowie Bump in effect.

Various - Trancespotting

Hypnotic: 1997

This is about where I lost the plot with Hypnotic, though it was through no fault of the music within. Nay, the very idea of capitalizing on the hit ‘raver’ film Trainspotting (despite the movie having nothing to do with rave culture, beyond a kick-ass soundtrack), it rubbed me so wrong. Where had the nods to retro sci-fi gone? For sure CDs with names like Trance To Outer Limits, or Trance-2-Metropolis, or Trance Sexual were all kinds of chintzy, but Hypnotic owned it, wholly and completely embracing a future-pulp aesthetic that screamed vintage underground raves. It gave them an identity unlike few other electronic label of the American ‘90s, where most almost seemed embarrassed by the music’s lineage. All that promptly wiped away in a singular jump on a contemporary reference. I could see the end on nigh from there, my friends, the label that once guided me through my early trance explorations all too eager to fill its catalog with whatever trendy sub-genre happened by the Hypnotic office ears.

Hell, we even get a sampling of that right here in Trancespotting, with third track My Wonderful Friend from Trancemutator. No, wait, Hypnotic made another one of their infamous typos – this is Transmutator, a negligible difference sure, until you hear that the tune in question is about as big of a breakbeat as beats could big-up in the year 1997. This was also a side-project of one Romell Regulacion, more commonly known as way-‘90s industrial act Razed In Black. What any of this has to do with trance is anyone’s guess, and it doesn’t stop there. Kraftwelt’s retro-electro sound is here in Confusion, while Sunset Yellow gives us something far closer to the tech-house camps in Agent Yellow.

Alright, enough nitpicking. I said the music on Trancespotting was good in spite of the dodgy concept, and I stick by that. How can I not when the CD opens with the spritely goa trance System 7’s Hangar 84, the duo fresh off a new stateside distribution deal after their earlier “777” experiment caused too much confusion. Elsewhere, Leeb and Fulber show up under their Synaesthesia guise, giving us the closest thing to a trance track in Andromedia that they’d ever go. Astralasia’s The Seven Pointed Star and Bypass Unit’s Helium rep that old-school goa sound as fine as any act not named Juno Reactor, LCD’s Think Smart hits the acid side of psy hard, while Surface 10 gets chummy with ‘psy-tekk’ on Spotting Shmekno. And in case you inexplicably needed a piano trance fix, here’s another Omniglobe track in C’mon Yo, featuring ragga samples no less. Trancespotting, do you even know what kind of compilation you want to be anymore?

A showcase of material Hypnotic had licensing rights to, is what. And hey, this CD succeeds there, most of the acts on here having albums out on the label within the year. Still don’t know why it presented them as a lame style-bite of Trainspotting though. Hypnotic Sampler Pack wasn’t as marketable?

Various - Toronto Mix Sessions: Kenny Glasgow

Turbo: 2001

Of course Toronto has a CD in Turbo’s Mix Sessions series. Tiga couldn’t keep showing all those Nordic cities love without giving The Centre Of The (hockey) Universe its representation. The Toronto dance scene is a long, storied one, with a rich history in house, techno, trance, jungle, hardcore, and, um, reggae? Okay, I honestly know very little about their rave story. I watched a lot of Electric Circus in the ‘90s, have heard tall tales of a club called Guvernment, and I’m pretty certain Chris Sheppard made his fame in the region. As far as I know it developed as most metropolitan dance cultures did, generating DJs and producers in equal measure of crossover fame and underground cred’. Even the venerated Global Underground series gave Toronto its spotlight on the twenty-fifth volume (mixed by Deep Dish, of course). And yet, Vancouver, she get no attention, ever. Might Mix Sessions have eventually migrated to the West Coast, had Turbo stayed in the mix CD business long enough? If even Sheffield got a mix, damn right we should have gotten one too!

Another thing I’m uncertain of is how Kenny Glasgow got the nod as Toronto’s chosen jock. Most other Mix Sessions editions went with DJs within Tiga’s networking circle, so I’ll assume Mr. Glasgow was also down with the Turbo crew, giving the scene veteran some of his greatest exposure ever. Wow, so weird typing that out, considering he’d become internationally famous nearly a decade later as one-half of Art Department. Also remarkable is the fact this CD is Kenny’s lone DJ mix credit within Lord Discog’s archives. Not even something on a regional print? You’d think someone who’s been rinsing out records since the early ‘90s would have more on the market. He technically got to do a fabric mix as Art Department last year, but by the time that came out, he’d left the pairing to focus on his solo work again.

As this is a Turbo CD released in the year 2001, you bet Toronto Mix Sessions hits the electro hard. Anthony Rother is here! Felix Da Housecat is here! Miss Kittin, absolutely here! The Hacker shows up thrice! Even Kraftwerk gets in, in an incredibly roundabout way: Señor Coconut covers Showroom Dummies, and Markus Nikolai provides a rub. Tech-house has its early moments care of Märtini Brös’ Babyhaze, but Kenny doesn’t waste much time in unleashing techno from The Advent, Si Begg, and John Selway. While flitting between funky tech-house and moody electro, Mr. Glasgow saves his prime weapons for the end, with a Laurent Garnier rub of Silver Screen Shower Scene, and an unashamed laser-kissed anthem in Kissogram’s If I Had Known This Before. The requisite outro of 4am bangin’ techno from The Vectif’s The Spice and Night On Earth’s Simple Short Cut completes a well-rounded set that should have propelled Mr. Glasgow out of Toronto obscurity. But alas, the Turbo bump didn’t do much for him. That Crosstown Rebels print later on, tho’...

Coldcut - Tone Tales From Tomorrow Too

Ntone: 1996

This is one damn weird CD. For sure you can glean that just from the cover art, a bizarre bit of ‘90s CGI that looks like something out of a SNES fever dream. But did you know this is a Coldcut DJ mix? Seeing as how More and Black don’t often dip their fingers into the realms of mix CDs, you’d think Tone Tales From Tomorrow Too would get more attention. Heck, this came out just a year after 70 Minutes Of Madness, a set many hail as one of the finest mixes committed to disc of the ‘90s. Their mighty successful album Let Us Play! was also just around the calendar corner. For all intents this little CD was on the market at peak Coldcut prominence, so shouldn’t it be talked up just as much? Yeah, maybe if it’d been marketed through Ninja Tune, that might have been the case. Rather, Tone Tales From Tomorrow Too was a showcase of sub-label Ntone, in fact the second of a short-lived promotional series. Because the “Too” is supposed to be “Two”, get it? Hell, if you think the title’s strained alliteration is something else, you should read the inlay blurb.

Naturally, I knew none of this going in. Tone Tales From Tomorrow Too was one of my earliest ‘underground’ purchases, joined with the knowledge drop of Techno Nights – Ambient Dawn and taste-changing One A.D. Thus I had no clue who Coldcut was, much less any of the other names on the tracklist. My only requisite for a buy was cool-strange cover art (check!), and a ton of unknowns I could discover. Names like Neoptropic, Hex, Transcend, Spacetime Continuum, and Alien Community certainly fit the bill, all with abstract future-sounding song titles like 50cc, 2003, Dubmunculus, and Alien Community. Why, this must be one of those Very Important Albums in my musical journey then! Maybe, if it wasn’t such an odd collection of tunes.

Ntone was essentially Ninja Tune’s outlet for leftfield music: druggy trip-hop, dubby techno, and dreamy stoner ambient, which Tone Tales From Tomorrow Too delivers in full force. It was all a bit much to take in for Teenage Sykonee, a larger leap into the underground than he was ready for. It didn’t help matters that the entire mix is a single index, so if I wanted to hear more of that wicked-awesome sci-fi electro of Alien Community or Spacetime Continuum’s Pressure, I had to play out most of the CD to get there. Heck, for the longest time I thought these were the same track, though the stylistic similarities make sense given Jonah Sharp is behind both aliases (Alien Community was a pairing with Pete Namlook).

Why would Coldcut do such a thing? Their mix isn’t filled with lengthy layered blends, most tracks transitioned as per normal for a chill set. It’s because of that CD-ROM app, isn’t it; the clunky turntable mixer with samples from various tracks? Aww, I thought the extra media was gonna’ be trippy CGI videos.

Hell - Teufelswerk (Original TC Review)

International Deejays Gigolo: 2009

(2016 Update:
An unforgivable, glaring omission in this review: I left out all the co-producers! No wonder those two tracks sound like throwback electro, it's Anthony Rother behind the sound deck with Hell. Of course CD2 has such a consistent vibe throughout, Peter Kruder (of he & Dorfmeister fame) lent his craft to the project as well. And whoa, Mijk van Dijk had a hand in the tech-haus tracks? I'd never have known without looking at the liner notes, these tunes some distance from the techno he made his name on in the '90s. Then again, if Hell could evolve, why not Mijk?

It's almost unfathomable that Teufelswerk remains ol' Helmut's last LP. Not that he was ever a prolific producer before, but seven years is quite the gap, with no sign it'll stop increasing, a smattering of singles all to his name in recent times. There were a couple remix albums released for this one, yet those were roughly four years after the fact. At this rate, we might see a 'cover' LP anytime now!)


IN BRIEF: Back in Hell.

I doubt DJ Hell (Helmut Geier to his elders) ever intended for his label - International Deejay Gigolo - to become the tastemaker of all things electroclash. Yet by releasing one classic record after the other, it trapped him in that genre, such that it was all folks expected of him, even though his musical career had spanned far more than sleazy electro. Still, perhaps it was a blessing disguised as a curse in the long run. As electroclash faded from clubbing tastes, so too did the impossible expectations on Mr. Geier; however, his prior success helped keep some degree of interest in his career. After all, he managed to burn a fresh trail into clubland before, and folks are always eager to see if someone can twice strike gold in this fickle business.

Well, Hell ain’t havin’ that. Having already carved out his place in the Electronic Music Hall-Of-Fame, he’s not terribly interested in being a trail-blazer again. Instead, Mr. Geier appears quite content in simply make dance music for the contemporary crowds with his own spin on the template. Yes, this means tech-haus music …er, as per his current definition of it. And since his former high-status in the scene has afforded him plenty of good-will, Hell decided to also get in touch with his indulgent side along the way.

The result of which is this here double-CD album: Teufelswerk. The Night half is primarily the tech-house trip, though with ample nods to electro-proper, New York clubbing, and robo-German fetishism sprinkled about. Day, on the hand, is a downtempo, experimental, ambient, etc. etc. trip through Hell’s muse. For now, let’s look at the Night disc.

Having not totally abandoned the electroclash, Hell brought in Roxy Music man Bryan Ferry for a little vocalizing on opener U Can Dance; however, this is mostly a solid tech-house groover that gets the album started in fine fashion. Right from the onset, you can tell there is more thought and consideration into what constitutes a good house track, as Hell doesn’t get bogged down in ‘minimal’ wankery, simply laying out his rhythms and letting the hooks weave about.

From there, it’s one solid tech-house cut after another. The robots take over in Electronic Germany and Bodyfarm² with sinister electro-tones and eerie atmospherics. There’s nods to the minimalistic takes on tech-house in Friday, Saturday, Sunday and The Disaster, which are fine for what they are, though not quite as thrilling as some of the other tracks here. Hellracer gets in touch with acid, and Wonderland dabbles in some Latin-tinged melodies.

Then, of course, is The DJ. It features Sean ‘P. Puff. Diddy-Daddy’ Combs blathering on about how DJs need to play full twenty-minute versions of house tracks, a not entirely daft suggestion. The backing track Hell provides for the monologue dips into the best vibes a sweaty New York club often suggests (whether it’s still true or not being irrelevant). This track has caused a bit of controversy for no other reason than it’s P.Diddy cussing on the monologue, but who really cares? I’m sure if the naysayers didn’t know it was Mr. Combs doing the talking, they’d enjoy it just as much as any ‘monologue-house’ tune.

If you’re going to ding Hell for anything on this disc, it can be for the fact that, ultimately, we’re not hearing anything remarkably fresh here. Not that this should come as a surprise – Hell wasn’t known as much of an innovator back in the 90s when he was still making house and techno, and now isn’t much different. Night is a competently made CD of tech-house that you’ll enjoy from start to finish, provided you fancy tech-house at all to begin with.

For the more adventurous out there, Day will definitely please. Right off, Hell channels the spirit of 70s synth composers for Germania, giving us a true ambient sonic delight with spritely melodies and trancey backing arpeggios. After that, it’s thirteen minutes of Angst, which moves from a chilled jazzy build to a second half consisting of noisy, abrasive glitches – mmm, more of the former, please.

There are a few sonic doodles and experiments scattered about the rest of Day but only three fully-formed tracks left; and even then, I Prefer Women To Men Anyway and Hell’s Kitchen are mostly about experimental soundscapes anyway. Nay, it’s on final track Silver Machine that we get a proper song again, with Hell doing one of those ‘indie-tronica’ ditties along with one Marsmobil on vocals. It’s a pleasant enough way to close out this often musically-wayward disc.

Across two CDs, Teufelswerk is hardly dull and certainly worth an investment. The only thing to be wary of is we are hearing a DJ Hell that is quite comfortable with his status in clubland, resulting in an album that prefers satisfying a personal muse rather than a general audience. The other thing too is, as a songwriter, Mr. Geier isn’t quite as strong as some of the more notable names in this field (Garnier, Craig, etc.) so those who fancy artistic indulgences might not be as impressed. Therefore, it may be wise to take Teufelswerk with a grain of salt.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2009. © All rights reserved.

Tiga - Sexor

[PIAS] Recordings: 2006

Confessional 10, sub-admittance 32: I had serious doubts over this album. Me, the guy who’d been flying the Tiga flag since I first took the Turbo plunge, who preached the Sontag gospel when every opportunity presented itself. For you see, I was won over by his charms and talents as a tastemaker, plus his impeccable cover artistry. Nearly everything he’d put out in his singing career was his take on other people’s songs, and he was darn good at it too. Still, would folks really be enthralled by a full LP of covers? Not terribly likely, but nor had Tiga at any point prior established himself as someone capable of writing original tunes either. With these factors bearing on my mind, I skipped out on Sexor, letting Tiga’s chips fall where they may as he set out on conquering Canadian content airwaves. Of course things turned out perfectly hunky-dory for the man from Montreal, so why did it take me nearly a got’dang decade to finally get this album into my collection? I… really have no answers for that. File this one with Dig Your Own Hole and “Anything Orbital” under the ‘Sykonee’s Unforgivable Omissions’ header.

Okay, one reason I wasn’t so quick to jump into the big bed of Sexor was due to how omnipresent it was within my social circle. I didn’t need to get it for myself when everyone else was jamming to Pleasure From The Bass. It seemed like the (Far From) Home video was on constant rotation at every house gathering I went to (that walk!). And damn straight folks couldn’t get enough of Burning Down The House, since everything Talking Heads was super cool again. Getting his David Byrne on aside, Tiga choice of covers sure came from unexpected places. There’s an acid house rub of Public Enemy’s Louder Than A Bomb, and a slinky electro-ballad of Nine Inch Nails’ way-early single Down In It. Not the first time Tiga’d done covers of hip-hop or industrial, but considering he made his name in the synth-pop market, it’s a bold move nonetheless. So’s all the acid house and techno on this album, come to think of it.

For sure he gets some synth-pop in with another Jori Hulkkonen team-up winner (High School), but much of the co-production on Sexor is divided between Jesper Dahlbäck (aka: the Good Dahlbäck) and Soulwax, whom were at the height of their star power. The first half is mostly dominated by Jesper’s groovin’ acid funk and downtempo cuts (plus an industrial freak-out in Who’s That?), while Soulwax bring the noisy electro anthems to the their works. All through it all, Tiga carries the tunes with all the swagger and suave finesse of a singer who’s fully confident in his stride. The lyrics are generally simplistic, but they carry such sincerity and charisma you can’t help but bobble your head along (or… that walk!). Throw in a few introspective moments, and you’ve a pop record that holds strong ten years on.

ACE TRACKS: October 2012

Hey hey! Another milestone reached! Or achievement accomplished. Or task completed. Or obsession sated. Whatever the case, this marks the end of all these backtrack ACE TRACKS playlists. I mean, wow, October 2012. Such a long time ago now, isn’t it. I still feel like I only recently started doing this, yet here we are, nearing the end of Obama’s second term as President of Everything Forever – when I was writing these reviews, there was still some actual debate over Romney’s chances!

I had no idea whether this endeavor would sustain itself either, a lot of those October writings rather shaky to my eyes. Nor did I have any clue if I’d get any sort of significant audience for my musings, especially when I was so freely drifting away from what most would consider an electronic music blog right out the gate. I was mostly making up my format as I went along, and didn’t really find my groove until late in the month. I honestly feel the Asian Dub Foundation review marked my proper starting point, if nothing else because it’s always easier to rip into music than just discuss it. Or more fun to write and read, anyway.


Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Beat The Devil’s Tattoo
Octagen - Collected Works Vol. 2
Globular - Colours of The Brainform
Frankie Bones - Computer Controlled 2: Live In California

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 11%
Percentage Of Rock: 6%
Most “WTF?” Track: Nine Inch Nails - Closer To God (not that it’s shocking by any stretch, but it’s definitely abrasive compared to the rest)

Remember when it seemed like Bone Thugs-N-Harmony was a rap obsession of mine? Eh, probably not, since I’ve no idea how many readers here were even around for those early days of this blog. How about when I’d go from reputable electro to cheesy euro dance to prog rock and with a dash of house thrown in? Geez, was that first month ever all over the place. Still, with how settled a lot of my music purchases have turned these last few months, I kinda’ miss that spontaneity, that unpredictability of just what I might review next (trance? Ambient? Pants?). Maybe it’s time for another used shop haul…

Various - Montreal Mix Sessions Vol. 5 - Tiga: Mixed Emotions

Turbo Recordings: 2000

Finally, I get to talk about something that's not from one of my current label obsessions. Instead, I get to talk about something from one of my early label obsessions. Huh, can't say I'm not consistent, and at least it's got nothing to do with ambient. Bask in this detour though, folks, because the chilled-out vibes, beatless slog continues unabated following this one. What do you mean that doesn’t make sense, o’ reader of the future reading these out of chronological order?

Though I’ve mention in many Turbo Recordings reviews how it marked a transition point for Tiga’s label that could, this one, honestly and truthfully, is the one. For starters, that cover! Gone was the classy photo of urban splendour (or elephants) in favour of a glamour shot of Mr. Sontag himself. Within the inlay is Mr. pre-Sunglasses At Night relaxing in a bathtub full of caviar sporting a leather speedo. If all this wasn’t enough to convince you of a totally vamped-up celebrity in the making, the typeface is in a hot neon pink, revelling in ‘80s retro stylee mere months within it becoming that whole electroclash thing. Of course, Tiga himself hadn’t quite hit his own highs yet, the spotlight still focused on Felix Da Housecat, Miss Kitten, and International Deejay Gigolo. Hell, Mr. Sontag had yet to even find the confidence in his singing voice, his breakout single a year off from hitting the pavement.

More pointedly though, he’d yet to really change the sort of music he was pushing. For a quick recap, Montreal Mix Sessions was Turbo’s initial DJ mix series, which Tiga premiered with the label’s launch. He handled the decks of the first volume, then shopped mixes out to other house and techno Montreal talent like John Acquaviva, Laflèche Morin, and (oddly) d’n’b act Dune. It made sense he’d return for another edition some time down the line, and the fifth volume was as good as any to do so. CD1 doesn’t do much to shake the Turbo foundations either, bumpin’ tech-house and pummelling 4am techno making up the bulk of its runtime. Tiga’s dropping of tracks from the likes of Adam Beyer, Sameul L. Session, Umek, Lay & Bushwacka!, Mateo Murphy, DJ Hell, and Tombra Vira (pst, that’s Jark Prongo) should give you a solid idea of what to expect on this mix. About the only surprise in this techno set is that it’s not the sort of sound you’d associate with Tiga anymore.

Mr. Sontag must have been feeling itchy to move onto something in line with his gestating passions though, as he threw in a Bonus Electro Funk CD, and here you find that nascent, anything-retro goes electroclash vibe. I-F is here! Martini Bros. are here! Bergheim34 is here! Dynamic Bass System is here! Anthony Rother is here! DMX Krew is here! Tiga would make better mixes after this one, but you can hear the unfurling of a new set of wings with Mixed Emotions. Fly high, my son.

ACE TRACKS: December 2015

Holy cow! That’s the letter ‘S’ now done. Over. Finished. I first started on this chunk of my music collection all the way back in May! True, there was a couple weeks of downtime in that period, plus nearly three weeks worth of alphabetical backtrack at the midway point, but damn, I never would have predicted taking to the very end of 2015 to get through it all. And it felt I was brute-forcing my way just to do it too. Know what’s even more insane though? No, not the backtrack queue that’s developed since the last one, though fair warning we’re looking at a month-plus before getting through all that. ‘T’ is almost as big a beast as ‘S’, only about thirty albums less. So, though I doubt I’ll still be plowing through that letter come summer, get ready for another long letter haul in this New Year. Meanwhile, here’s the Ace Tracks that took us to the end of ‘S’ this past month of December.


Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Koichi Sugiyama - Symphonic Suite “Dragon Quest” Complete CD-Box
Koichi Sugiyama - Symphonic Suite “Dragon Quest VIII”
Kon Kan - Syntonic
A Positive Life - Synaesthetic
Various - DJ-Kicks: Claude Young

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 7%
Percentage Of Rock: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: Nothing comes to mind. Yes, not even the Aphex Twin tracks.

Oh, hey, none of those symphonic suites are on Spotify, what a surprise. Maybe on the Japanese version of the streaming service they are? Not that many folks reading this blog will likely care, but hey, thanks for letting me get my gaming dork indulgence on for a week there. If you must hear this music (!!), I did make a continuous mix of several pieces from these assorted CDs. It’s out there, on the internet, somewhere. Exciting.

What you get with this playlist, however, is a lot of techno. Like, I’m actually shocked by how much techno there is. Aphex Twin obviously, but even names you’d never expect get in on that action too. I guess it’s only fitting that after a month of the smallest percentage of electronic music reviews, the subsequent playlist would have the heaviest amount of traditional stuff.

Aphex Twin - Syro

Warp Records: 2014

Hey, remember when there was a new Aphex Twin album? Boy, it sure was an exciting time when that new Aphex Twin album showed up out of nowhere. Everyone got to wax nostalgic about what Aphex Twin's music meant to them again. Music rags got to write up Aphex Twin retrospectives for the fourth or fifth time. Journalists got to pontificate on why Aphex Twin is such a Very Important Person in the world of techno again. Folks were just plain ol' happy to see Aphex Twin active again, even though Richard D. James hadn't left in the first place. And we wouldn’t take him for granted as we did following Druqks, no sir. We’d keep him on that pedestal he earned back in the ‘90s, forever proclaiming the new Aphex Twin album an LP without peer, beyond compare, the best new music now and forever, a- oh, wait, no one’s talking much about Syro anymore, are they. Damn, maybe he should stop flooding his Soundcloud with so much music, let us soak in an actual album for a change.

So Syro: the record with a simple title and a dozen confounding song titles (and a hilarious expenses list that runs for six foldouts!). Rumours abound as to why the RDJ’d One felt compelled to give the world another full-length of music, though as with all things with the man from the lands of Cornish, it was probably all just a whim. Like, did he really need money again? Would Warp Records really pester him to fulfill a record deal? Nah, more plausible he just wanted a chuckle over the salivating reactions at seeing the Aphex Twin moniker reactivated. Nice of him to supply us with a solid album of tunes in the process.

While no two releases from Are Deejay ever sound the same, this does have some similarities to his mid-‘90s work than anything else. There isn’t so much micro-computer editing, drill-n-bassing, or real instrument keyboard doodling, but rather getting a playful groove on, tinkering with some sounds and effects, and riding an electro acid-funk jam wherever it may lead. Considering how much Aphex Twin always sounded weird and alien, it’s odd hearing him doing something that sounds much closer to our earthly realms. True, it’s future-Earth we’re dealing with, but we’re still on good ol’ terra firma just the same. Get some shuffle on with, er, that third track. Or find yourself at a robot junglist party with, um, those last run of tracks. Or feel that throwback rave anthem with the fifth cut.

Look, I’m not gonna’ actually name these tracks. They read like computer gibberish, probably are just some random nonsense Jamesy Boy slapped together, and only gave them ‘proper’ titles so stuffy music journalists would look like bellends trying to write critical prose with Syro u473t8+e [Piezoluminescence Mix] as part of a sentence. Well, I ain’t falling for that, I tell you what.

Anyway, Syro is a good album from Aphex Twin.

Various - DJ-Kicks: Andrea Parker

Studio !K7: 1998

Proving it’s never too late for serious knowledge to smack one across one's face, I was completely blindsided by this CD. For starters, I had no idea who Andrea Parker was, a fact in itself not too surprising since the DJ-Kicks series often taps DJs and producers well under the radar. However, that lack of information instilled a preconceived notion of what I was in for based on cover art alone. Forget even looking at the track list, I was certain Ms. Parker was gonna’ bring the soul-funk downtempo nu-jazzy vibes with this mix. Clearly that’s her musical calling, what with being adorned in the sort of garment worn to classical performances or high-end wine tastings, frolicking about shag flooring and vinyl backdrops. Plus, this was released when Studio !K7 was going through their downtempo jazz-dub phase with DJ-Kicks, featuring such names like Terranova, DJ Cam, and Kruder & Dorfmeister. Surely this lady from the UK would fall in step with this sound too.

And I’d be perfectly fine with that, but what I got was even better. Ol’ Andrea, turns out, has more in common with techno, electro, and booty bass (!) than anything so highbrow as jazz-dance. Hell, the second track on here is Dr. Octagon, the salacious nerdcore alter-ego of Kool Keith, followed upon by two Carl Craig cuts, and a whole lot of Detroit tuneage after. See, if I’d just looked at the track list first, I’d have known what I was in for, what with names like 69, Model 500, Dopplereffekt, Drexciya, and Bambaataa throughout. On the other hand, it’d have ruined the fun surprise of all expectations being so utterly smashed. It’s getting rare such purchases can do that, and isn’t that the whole point of the dig to begin with?

That all said, Ms. Parker’s set isn’t terribly surprising in of itself. If you like your vintage Detroit techno and electro, you’ll like this, with plenty of familiar names (those namedropped above) and outliers rounding things out. Visions Of Mars from DJ Panix is some mighty mint electro, and darn obscure too, given it was all John Litchfield and Mark Burrows did with this alias (not that they were highly prolific anyway). There’s also a little breaks action in this mix, care of Renegade Soundwave’s classic The Phantom and lesser known Da Tunnelz from Sons Of The Subway.

As DJ-Kicks mixes are often released to coincide with a chosen jock’s other projects, Ms. Parker throws her name into the electro hat with her own track Unconnected at the end, sure to be one of the highlights from her debut album, Kiss My Arp, of the same year. Wait, let me confirm that with Lord Discogs… *checks* What, this track came out before this mix, on the fifth volume of the classic Trance Europe Express series? Damn, this woman keeps with the surprises - I gotta’ check out more works. Ooh, this IDM/electro/bass label of hers, Touchin’ Bass, looks promising…