Intellitronic Bubble: 2020
Does this mark the end of another run of box-sets? Granted, these 'two-for-the-price-of-one' double-discers from Intellitronic Bubble aren't really box-sets, and I did skip the first volume featuring Metamatics and Futuregrapher. Still, I grabbed three out of the four, with ReKaB's Counting The Days at the end of this run. Counting to what? Whenever I finally got around to a review of his 'debut' album, I wager!
Yes, like a few other artists in these double packs, this counts as ReKaB's first full-length – heck, it's even paired with G-Prod's debut in the same pack, Space Time's Bubbles LP. Unlike that French electro duo, James Baker, the man behind ReKaB, hadn't been releasing much music prior to putting this out. In fact, of all the featured artists in these collections, Mr. Baker is basically the rookie of the roster, rubbing shoulders with scene vets like Lee Norris, Mick Chillage, and Devin Underwood. Well, this chap must be an exceptional producer for getting shine like that, even if its on CD2 of a double-pack deal.
That said, I wasn't expecting Counting The Days to be so mellow. I don't know why I would have come to that assumption. The styles of electro I've heard from those other Bubble albums being grittier and more menacing, perhaps? Still, the tracks of his I heard off the label's numerical compilations were rather mellow for electro as well, almost dipping into ambient techno as heard out of the FireScope camps, so I should have gone in ready to chill out on some future-city patios.
Only eight tracks make up Counting The Days, and while about half of them do stick with the relaxed side of robot music, there's some nice and surprising variety sprinkled about too, usually within the longest tracks no less. Space Echo Dub is, as amply titled, a spaced-out session into the dubbier side of slowbeat techno. If that don't get your Silent Season triggers flashing, I don't know what will. Unless you have another label doing the loopy, dubby techno thing as your primary reference point. That'll do too.
Elsewhere, the spritely synths and bright melodies of There Maybe Times has me vibing more on synthwave than electro. Ark goes as menacing as ReKaB will allow, a pulsing throb of a bassline the only rhythm offered while ominous synths and tones permeate the atmosphere. Then there's the trance track Drifting. Or neo-trance, if you must. Or melodic techno, if you will. Or hypno-house, if you choose. Or hypnotic-melodic tech-house, if you wear five different sets of socks per day. I'll keep calling tunes like this trance, thank you very much, but I'm sure we can all agree its a wonderful little space groover.
So another dope artist out of the Intellitronic Bubble camps. Now I gotta' get more of ReKaB's music. Which means I'm probably gonna' splurge on more items from the label. And now the sister label, Móatún 7. *sigh*... Bandcamp Fridays can't get here fast enough.
Showing posts with label techno. Show all posts
Showing posts with label techno. Show all posts
Thursday, March 7, 2024
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Various - Cottage Industries 11
Neo Ouija: 2022
It's interesting jumping ahead twenty-two years in this series, giving me an intriguing look in just how much the field of melodic IDM has grown in two decades. Or not, the music contained within volume eleven of Cottage Industries remarkably straight-forward when compared to the more experimental beatcraft as heard on the first edition (also going titleless for some reason, hence its alphabetical placement within my music library). Don't get me wrong, there's ample amounts of scatter, broken rhythms, just not presented in the glitchy sort of way that had been a staple of the series for much of its run. Heck, it was on as recently as Clockwork Manor, volume nine released just a few years prior to this one. Does the mastering touch provided by Futuregrapher really make that much of a difference in how IDM beats sound? Guess I'll find out when I get around to reviewing Decima Circuits (Cottage Industries 10), the edition he jumped into the series.
Not gonna' beat around the bush with this one: Cottage Industries 11 doesn't really sound like a Neo Ouija collection to my ears, but rather an off-shoot of Intellitronic Bubble or Móatún 7. Again, part of that likely has to do with Mr. Grétar's influence, his feel for icy-cool electro and techno a defining trait in those labels' discographies. Having consumed five of the Bubble's compilations (among other assorted releases), its an aesthetic I'm quite familiar with now, so hearing it here isn't that much of a surprise.
And to be blunt, I find that makes Cottage Industries 11 a better overall listening experience when standing it in stark contrast to the first edition. Sure, the twee electro-pop of early Neo Ouija is mostly absent here, but I'll take synthy future-soundscapes over that any day. Personal preference is a Hell of a critical bias, y'know.
Did I mention there's also lots of acid on here? There's lots of acid too, a bit more on CD1 than CD2, but plenty 'nuff leading this compilation further away from the realms of IDM and into vintage techno. If the spaced-out electro doesn't quite do it for you though, there are some skittery rhythms and distorted analogue fuzz tracks littered here and there. Downtempo ditties that hint at the twee melodic side of vintage Neo Ouija too (Novel 23's Step By Step, Xylic's Dinky's Acid, DJ Dorrit's Apotek, Daveeth's Pro Pos, Weldroid's Sandal Warrior Disarmed), but not that much.
Nay, as mentioned, Cottage Industries 11 feels more in line with what Lee Norris' other labels have been up to as of late rather than carrying on with its legacy. It's a whole new generation of artists doing their own thing now, finding influence from other sources. Some of them end up on Intellitronic Bubble, others end up on Móatún 7, while a few continue wandering the wilds of label hopping. For those hoping for a little extra shine on an established brand, however, it seems Cottage Industries will always be here for them.
It's interesting jumping ahead twenty-two years in this series, giving me an intriguing look in just how much the field of melodic IDM has grown in two decades. Or not, the music contained within volume eleven of Cottage Industries remarkably straight-forward when compared to the more experimental beatcraft as heard on the first edition (also going titleless for some reason, hence its alphabetical placement within my music library). Don't get me wrong, there's ample amounts of scatter, broken rhythms, just not presented in the glitchy sort of way that had been a staple of the series for much of its run. Heck, it was on as recently as Clockwork Manor, volume nine released just a few years prior to this one. Does the mastering touch provided by Futuregrapher really make that much of a difference in how IDM beats sound? Guess I'll find out when I get around to reviewing Decima Circuits (Cottage Industries 10), the edition he jumped into the series.
Not gonna' beat around the bush with this one: Cottage Industries 11 doesn't really sound like a Neo Ouija collection to my ears, but rather an off-shoot of Intellitronic Bubble or Móatún 7. Again, part of that likely has to do with Mr. Grétar's influence, his feel for icy-cool electro and techno a defining trait in those labels' discographies. Having consumed five of the Bubble's compilations (among other assorted releases), its an aesthetic I'm quite familiar with now, so hearing it here isn't that much of a surprise.
And to be blunt, I find that makes Cottage Industries 11 a better overall listening experience when standing it in stark contrast to the first edition. Sure, the twee electro-pop of early Neo Ouija is mostly absent here, but I'll take synthy future-soundscapes over that any day. Personal preference is a Hell of a critical bias, y'know.
Did I mention there's also lots of acid on here? There's lots of acid too, a bit more on CD1 than CD2, but plenty 'nuff leading this compilation further away from the realms of IDM and into vintage techno. If the spaced-out electro doesn't quite do it for you though, there are some skittery rhythms and distorted analogue fuzz tracks littered here and there. Downtempo ditties that hint at the twee melodic side of vintage Neo Ouija too (Novel 23's Step By Step, Xylic's Dinky's Acid, DJ Dorrit's Apotek, Daveeth's Pro Pos, Weldroid's Sandal Warrior Disarmed), but not that much.
Nay, as mentioned, Cottage Industries 11 feels more in line with what Lee Norris' other labels have been up to as of late rather than carrying on with its legacy. It's a whole new generation of artists doing their own thing now, finding influence from other sources. Some of them end up on Intellitronic Bubble, others end up on Móatún 7, while a few continue wandering the wilds of label hopping. For those hoping for a little extra shine on an established brand, however, it seems Cottage Industries will always be here for them.
Labels:
2022,
acid,
ambient techno,
Compilation,
electro,
IDM,
Neo Ouija,
techno
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Jon Hester - Converge Part I
REKIDS: 2020
I'm not only buying MP3 releases without much care in the world about doing so, I've now begun buying them from Radio Slave's label, REKIDS. If you'd try telling 2007 Sykonee that would be a thing some fifteen years in the future, he'd have bonked you upside the head for speaking such mad nonsense. Of course, he'd also have scoffed at the notion he'd end up living in the same place for over a decade, having migrated many places in the preceding ten years before. Come to think of it, that Sykonee would have been amazed at many things that have come to pass since, maybe even this music-writing thing still an ongoing hobby. But yeah, that whole 'buying digital from Radio Slave', definitely a humdinger of a what th'? now.
What's attracted me to his print, however, is the abundance of techno names familiar and obscure adorning its discography. I feel like I can just hop about release to release checking out whatever may come, and I'm guaranteed some interesting item worth listening further. Right, not everything is golden – with the amount of records coming out of REKIDS, how could it be? Taking a couple risks here and there certainly can't hurt though, right?
Like this Jon Hester felle'r. I know nothing about him, but crikey if that isn't some cool looking cover art. And a full-length LP debut at that? Heck, that's plenty 'nuff for me to scope this out, even if Mr. Hester catalogue is a total blank to me (various singles on various labels throughout the '10s – as you'd expect of a techno up-and-comer).
First proper track on Converge Part I is an eleven-minute outing called Metropolitan with a very loopy, minimalist techno beat. There's some conga fills along the way, but the main feature is a lone piano plinking about throughout. Yeah, it's got that 'Detroit goes jazz' vibe going for it, but I can't say the piano tone does much for me, neither funky nor uplifting in any meaningful way. Still, it's better than the saxophone tooting in follow-up Haze, but my boredom of the track may have more to do with my long-standing beef with the sex-jazz instrument.
Fortunately, the album gets into a deeper side of techno I rather like after. Rain has a mellow synth tone warbling about a fine shuffly rhythm, Dreamstate gets on that dubby minimalism action, and Free lets the trance pads soar. As for the final couple tracks, I'm sure Flex will get some Drexciya triggers flaring, while closer Equinox goes a little askew with its oscillating synths. Have I mentioned how any of these tracks remain quite loopy, never having much fuss in building upon its early elements beyond whatever knob twiddling Jon does his leads as a track plays out? I haven't? Well, there we go.
So maybe not the most exciting record overall, but I could see most of these tracks working in an early, warm-up set before the real techno party starts.
I'm not only buying MP3 releases without much care in the world about doing so, I've now begun buying them from Radio Slave's label, REKIDS. If you'd try telling 2007 Sykonee that would be a thing some fifteen years in the future, he'd have bonked you upside the head for speaking such mad nonsense. Of course, he'd also have scoffed at the notion he'd end up living in the same place for over a decade, having migrated many places in the preceding ten years before. Come to think of it, that Sykonee would have been amazed at many things that have come to pass since, maybe even this music-writing thing still an ongoing hobby. But yeah, that whole 'buying digital from Radio Slave', definitely a humdinger of a what th'? now.
What's attracted me to his print, however, is the abundance of techno names familiar and obscure adorning its discography. I feel like I can just hop about release to release checking out whatever may come, and I'm guaranteed some interesting item worth listening further. Right, not everything is golden – with the amount of records coming out of REKIDS, how could it be? Taking a couple risks here and there certainly can't hurt though, right?
Like this Jon Hester felle'r. I know nothing about him, but crikey if that isn't some cool looking cover art. And a full-length LP debut at that? Heck, that's plenty 'nuff for me to scope this out, even if Mr. Hester catalogue is a total blank to me (various singles on various labels throughout the '10s – as you'd expect of a techno up-and-comer).
First proper track on Converge Part I is an eleven-minute outing called Metropolitan with a very loopy, minimalist techno beat. There's some conga fills along the way, but the main feature is a lone piano plinking about throughout. Yeah, it's got that 'Detroit goes jazz' vibe going for it, but I can't say the piano tone does much for me, neither funky nor uplifting in any meaningful way. Still, it's better than the saxophone tooting in follow-up Haze, but my boredom of the track may have more to do with my long-standing beef with the sex-jazz instrument.
Fortunately, the album gets into a deeper side of techno I rather like after. Rain has a mellow synth tone warbling about a fine shuffly rhythm, Dreamstate gets on that dubby minimalism action, and Free lets the trance pads soar. As for the final couple tracks, I'm sure Flex will get some Drexciya triggers flaring, while closer Equinox goes a little askew with its oscillating synths. Have I mentioned how any of these tracks remain quite loopy, never having much fuss in building upon its early elements beyond whatever knob twiddling Jon does his leads as a track plays out? I haven't? Well, there we go.
So maybe not the most exciting record overall, but I could see most of these tracks working in an early, warm-up set before the real techno party starts.
Labels:
2020,
album,
dub techno,
Jon Hester,
minimal,
REKIDS,
tech-house,
techno
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
George Issakidis & Speedy J - Collabs 400 & 401
NovaMute: 2005
Th'ar be the acid! Just took a French touch to get there. TB-303 action aside, I have to say these Collabs with George Issakidis are the most interesting of the lot, and not just because they stray far from the regular techno workouts as already heard from Jochem's pairing with Adam and Chris. Okay, it's almost entirely because of that too, because in accommodating Monsieur Issakidis' aesthetic into his own, it resulted in some of most unique sounds out of Jochem's discography ever. Which shouldn't come as too much of a surprise considering the former Micronaut was also responsible for the Superior Version of Block Rockin' Beats.
As for how this pairing came about, I assume George was itching to get involved in the 'proper techno' scene after splitting off on his own – anything to escape the big-beat stigma. Some chance meeting with Jochem resulted in the two discovering shared mojo in working on music together, and here we are.
The first cut out of this, Looks Something Like You, is a ten-plus minute outing of steady, noisy bedlam. Really, it sounds like an extended jam session, the two playing all manner of filter and effects over the bare-bones acid house lurking underneath. While of a much lower BPM than the other tracks thus featured in the Collabs series, the intensity is no less gratifying. Hell, some of the percussion could very well be industrial, rattling off like machine gun fire and all. That may just be something for the 'old heads' though, as what was truly blowing up at the time in Francophone lands was sleazy, filthy, abrasive acid, so here's that in the form of Understand What I'm Saying on the flip of Collabs 400. Holy shit, how can this thing go for nearly eleven minutes, and never grow weary or repetitive? The warped vocals are fun enough as it is, but throw in all the distorted, clanking percussion along the way, and you have the closest thing to Speedy J going Ed Banger you'll ever hear!
Okay, maybe that was all a bit much for the techno purists out there, so on Collabs 401, the pair slow things way down on Overblaak, a quite minimalist piece where the TB-303 gets the most shine. Even here though, just the little things, like a mint, crunchy skippity-shuffle on the beat, has you hanging on every minute of its near-fourteen worth. Kaalbrevo, meanwhile, decides to get dubby on the distorted acid vibes, the duo providing a track that would fit snugly in a vintage Swayzak set. This, too, breaches a dozen minutes in length, but somehow holds your attention with every flange and filter effect thrown in. Not that I'd expect anything less ol' Issakidis.
Which is what I should say, if I'd actually heard more of his work outside this and early Micronauts. Time to do some more diggin' and he's got a rather skint discography after all. Mm, well, at least it won't take as long to sift through as Gerd's.
Th'ar be the acid! Just took a French touch to get there. TB-303 action aside, I have to say these Collabs with George Issakidis are the most interesting of the lot, and not just because they stray far from the regular techno workouts as already heard from Jochem's pairing with Adam and Chris. Okay, it's almost entirely because of that too, because in accommodating Monsieur Issakidis' aesthetic into his own, it resulted in some of most unique sounds out of Jochem's discography ever. Which shouldn't come as too much of a surprise considering the former Micronaut was also responsible for the Superior Version of Block Rockin' Beats.
As for how this pairing came about, I assume George was itching to get involved in the 'proper techno' scene after splitting off on his own – anything to escape the big-beat stigma. Some chance meeting with Jochem resulted in the two discovering shared mojo in working on music together, and here we are.
The first cut out of this, Looks Something Like You, is a ten-plus minute outing of steady, noisy bedlam. Really, it sounds like an extended jam session, the two playing all manner of filter and effects over the bare-bones acid house lurking underneath. While of a much lower BPM than the other tracks thus featured in the Collabs series, the intensity is no less gratifying. Hell, some of the percussion could very well be industrial, rattling off like machine gun fire and all. That may just be something for the 'old heads' though, as what was truly blowing up at the time in Francophone lands was sleazy, filthy, abrasive acid, so here's that in the form of Understand What I'm Saying on the flip of Collabs 400. Holy shit, how can this thing go for nearly eleven minutes, and never grow weary or repetitive? The warped vocals are fun enough as it is, but throw in all the distorted, clanking percussion along the way, and you have the closest thing to Speedy J going Ed Banger you'll ever hear!
Okay, maybe that was all a bit much for the techno purists out there, so on Collabs 401, the pair slow things way down on Overblaak, a quite minimalist piece where the TB-303 gets the most shine. Even here though, just the little things, like a mint, crunchy skippity-shuffle on the beat, has you hanging on every minute of its near-fourteen worth. Kaalbrevo, meanwhile, decides to get dubby on the distorted acid vibes, the duo providing a track that would fit snugly in a vintage Swayzak set. This, too, breaches a dozen minutes in length, but somehow holds your attention with every flange and filter effect thrown in. Not that I'd expect anything less ol' Issakidis.
Which is what I should say, if I'd actually heard more of his work outside this and early Micronauts. Time to do some more diggin' and he's got a rather skint discography after all. Mm, well, at least it won't take as long to sift through as Gerd's.
Labels:
2005,
acid,
acid house,
dub,
EP,
George Issakidis,
Speedy J,
techno
Monday, February 19, 2024
Chris Liebing & Speedy J - Collabs 300 & 301
NovaMute: 2004/2021
I initially thought maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't have to do these, the Chris Liebing collaborations well and sorted on the Metalism album concurrently released with the singles. A brief glance at the LPs' track list reveals three out of the four tunes making their way on, so nothing more I can say about them, right? Just move onto the next item and- oh, wait, that one on there is called Triflon, whereas this one's called Treflon. And having already gone through Jochem's penchant of making differing tracks with remarkably similar titles save a single vowel, these two will be different as well, right? Right. And whereas the single featured a Trezcore, the album has Acid Trezcore, while the Tricko on Metalism is a live version. Throw in a totally unique cut among the two Collabs with Liebing called Drippelzimmer, and yep, I do believe we have completely original material distinct from the album. Guess I gotta' get on that proper-like, then.
Or heck, I'll 'cheat' a little, wrap the two into one single review. Better for all, I wager.
Collabs 300 kicks off with the aforementioned Tricko, in its original incarnation. It's structurally the same track as heard on Metalism, a steady, pummelling piece of techno business gradually adding rhythmic layers before doing a little 'bring it down, then all back' in the back-half. An effective tool, then, but man, hearing all that extra club resonance and crowd hollering in the live cut... just can't be beat. Just goes to show how much more effective this stuff sounds live than sitting at home with headphones on. So much more energy. Just... so much more. Meanwhile, Treflon is a far superior version of the basic premise of Triflon. I wasn't much impressed by the bouncy, tech-house nature of its Metalism counterpart, but then I wasn't much impressed by anything among that album's opening salvo. Treflon may still over-use the crunchy-squishy percussion and distorted minimal vocals, but dammit, at least this version has a proper techno pulse to it. Still didn't need got'dang twelve-plus minutes of it, no matter how much fun I'm sure Chris and Jochem had jamming away making it.
Collabs 301 is kinda' the same, in that there's one better version of a track than as found on Metalism, and one lesser version. Okay, that's cheating, since I can't confirm nor deny there's a Metalism counterpart to Drippelzimmer. Really, any of the 4am warehouse bosh cuts could be one, since this is more of that. Quite minimal in its production too, in that there isn't a whole lot going on beyond the usual assortment of percussive fills and pull-backs. Again, standard fare for Liebing and Paap techno of the time, which I'm sure worked quite well in their sets. Trezcore, on the other hand, can't help but sound inferior to Acid Trezcore because, well, there's no acid. Yeah, it pummels just fine and all but where's the acid? Wh'ar th' ACID!? Nowhere she be, but on Metalism.
I initially thought maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't have to do these, the Chris Liebing collaborations well and sorted on the Metalism album concurrently released with the singles. A brief glance at the LPs' track list reveals three out of the four tunes making their way on, so nothing more I can say about them, right? Just move onto the next item and- oh, wait, that one on there is called Triflon, whereas this one's called Treflon. And having already gone through Jochem's penchant of making differing tracks with remarkably similar titles save a single vowel, these two will be different as well, right? Right. And whereas the single featured a Trezcore, the album has Acid Trezcore, while the Tricko on Metalism is a live version. Throw in a totally unique cut among the two Collabs with Liebing called Drippelzimmer, and yep, I do believe we have completely original material distinct from the album. Guess I gotta' get on that proper-like, then.
Or heck, I'll 'cheat' a little, wrap the two into one single review. Better for all, I wager.
Collabs 300 kicks off with the aforementioned Tricko, in its original incarnation. It's structurally the same track as heard on Metalism, a steady, pummelling piece of techno business gradually adding rhythmic layers before doing a little 'bring it down, then all back' in the back-half. An effective tool, then, but man, hearing all that extra club resonance and crowd hollering in the live cut... just can't be beat. Just goes to show how much more effective this stuff sounds live than sitting at home with headphones on. So much more energy. Just... so much more. Meanwhile, Treflon is a far superior version of the basic premise of Triflon. I wasn't much impressed by the bouncy, tech-house nature of its Metalism counterpart, but then I wasn't much impressed by anything among that album's opening salvo. Treflon may still over-use the crunchy-squishy percussion and distorted minimal vocals, but dammit, at least this version has a proper techno pulse to it. Still didn't need got'dang twelve-plus minutes of it, no matter how much fun I'm sure Chris and Jochem had jamming away making it.
Collabs 301 is kinda' the same, in that there's one better version of a track than as found on Metalism, and one lesser version. Okay, that's cheating, since I can't confirm nor deny there's a Metalism counterpart to Drippelzimmer. Really, any of the 4am warehouse bosh cuts could be one, since this is more of that. Quite minimal in its production too, in that there isn't a whole lot going on beyond the usual assortment of percussive fills and pull-backs. Again, standard fare for Liebing and Paap techno of the time, which I'm sure worked quite well in their sets. Trezcore, on the other hand, can't help but sound inferior to Acid Trezcore because, well, there's no acid. Yeah, it pummels just fine and all but where's the acid? Wh'ar th' ACID!? Nowhere she be, but on Metalism.
Literon & Speedy J - Collabs 200
NovaMute: 2004/2021
Sometimes I'm thrown for a loop in how many gaps remain in my electronic music knowledge. Granted, no one can know everything - even Lord Discogs, the Lord That Knows All, doesn't know all there is know. I'd like to think I know more than most, but even then, my expertise will always be filtered through what I am exposed to, and what I can make the time to expose myself to. When it comes to localized scenes that didn't get much shine beyond their regions, I likely remain rather ignorant of the who's who in the what's what.
Which is just a roundabout way of me saying I know nothing about Gert-Jan Bijl, the man behind Literon. He's apparently had quite a fruitful career in the lands of Dutch, making techno and other assorted sounds across multiple aliases and collaborative project since the early '90s to this day. He even got into the label business in the '00s, 4 Lux Recordings, still going... well, still going. Gerd is probably his most recognizable handle (Arkest's Blaze a groovy techno classic), though ol' schoolers may also know him as part of Sensurreal. And here's me, only having heard two tracks of his in all that time. One is Time And Space off Marcel Fengler's Berghain 05, the other hopelessly obscure. 'Tis a single cut on the compilation Excursions In Ambience, Afterglow, as part of the trio It's Thinking, including Mark Ripmeester and Dirk-Jan Hanegraaff. Hell, that's not even the trio's most successful alias, that honour going to Sunshower.
Anyhow, even if the fruitful career of Mr. Bijl came as a surprise to me, that he would collab' with one of the Netherlands' most famous techno sons in Speedy J is not. Far as I can tell, Literon was Gert's alias used whenever he wanted to go a little more Detroit than Euro in his techno, but was rather flexible overall – I even get a hint of trance in the track Villar Kone! Since bangin' 4am business was where techno was going at the turn of the century, so did Literon, and what better time to mesh musical ideas with Jochem than then?
Track one Snacker is a serious thumper, but aside from rattling percussion and abrassive, noisy fills, doesn't do much beyond standard techno tools stuff for its eight minute duration. Still, wonderful space between all these sounds, much more so compared to the bricked nature of the Adam Beyer collab'. Knicker on the flip is definitely the more interesting of the pair, more of a tech-house stomper with a seriously twitchy, almost glitchy rhythm. If anything was going to give off the Detroit vibes you might have expected going into this (a long stretch, I'll grant), then this track gets there reasonably well. And at keeping its length under six minutes, its loopy nature doesn't overstay its welcome.
To be honest though, I'm far more interested in digging into Gerd's extended discography than replaying these tracks anytime soon.
Sometimes I'm thrown for a loop in how many gaps remain in my electronic music knowledge. Granted, no one can know everything - even Lord Discogs, the Lord That Knows All, doesn't know all there is know. I'd like to think I know more than most, but even then, my expertise will always be filtered through what I am exposed to, and what I can make the time to expose myself to. When it comes to localized scenes that didn't get much shine beyond their regions, I likely remain rather ignorant of the who's who in the what's what.
Which is just a roundabout way of me saying I know nothing about Gert-Jan Bijl, the man behind Literon. He's apparently had quite a fruitful career in the lands of Dutch, making techno and other assorted sounds across multiple aliases and collaborative project since the early '90s to this day. He even got into the label business in the '00s, 4 Lux Recordings, still going... well, still going. Gerd is probably his most recognizable handle (Arkest's Blaze a groovy techno classic), though ol' schoolers may also know him as part of Sensurreal. And here's me, only having heard two tracks of his in all that time. One is Time And Space off Marcel Fengler's Berghain 05, the other hopelessly obscure. 'Tis a single cut on the compilation Excursions In Ambience, Afterglow, as part of the trio It's Thinking, including Mark Ripmeester and Dirk-Jan Hanegraaff. Hell, that's not even the trio's most successful alias, that honour going to Sunshower.
Anyhow, even if the fruitful career of Mr. Bijl came as a surprise to me, that he would collab' with one of the Netherlands' most famous techno sons in Speedy J is not. Far as I can tell, Literon was Gert's alias used whenever he wanted to go a little more Detroit than Euro in his techno, but was rather flexible overall – I even get a hint of trance in the track Villar Kone! Since bangin' 4am business was where techno was going at the turn of the century, so did Literon, and what better time to mesh musical ideas with Jochem than then?
Track one Snacker is a serious thumper, but aside from rattling percussion and abrassive, noisy fills, doesn't do much beyond standard techno tools stuff for its eight minute duration. Still, wonderful space between all these sounds, much more so compared to the bricked nature of the Adam Beyer collab'. Knicker on the flip is definitely the more interesting of the pair, more of a tech-house stomper with a seriously twitchy, almost glitchy rhythm. If anything was going to give off the Detroit vibes you might have expected going into this (a long stretch, I'll grant), then this track gets there reasonably well. And at keeping its length under six minutes, its loopy nature doesn't overstay its welcome.
To be honest though, I'm far more interested in digging into Gerd's extended discography than replaying these tracks anytime soon.
Adam Beyer & Speedy J - Collabs 100
NovaMute: 2003/2021
Is this finally the end, my friends? Have we come the conclusion of these Speedy J reviews, the Collabs series all that remains? Well, of what I got from that initial Bandcamp bulk buy, yes. Wouldn't you know it though, Jochem added a couple more singles after the fact, a two-EP run as The Melody. Not to mention everything else he's released from 2010 on. Can't say I'm inclined to complete the total collection at this point, well and truly sated on all things Speedy J for now. Well, maybe that Nice EP - I like it whenever Mr. Paap throws actual melody into his tunes, even if only back in the day.
Yeah, I don't think there's any beating around the bush in knowing what we're in for here. To this day, Adam Beyer is known as that uncompromising dude rinsing out uncompromising techno, making a tidy business for himself out of it. This came out in the early days of that movement, before everything went completely M_nus minimal, Beyer and his cohorts at the top of this european techno domain. As Speedy J's Loudboxer was part of this movement, its natural that he'd work with these lads in churning out a few records here and there. Collabs 100 was the first, picking up right where the Loudboxer singles left off.
Come to think of it, I'm not entirely sure where Adam Beyer ends and Speedy J begins with these two cuts. I'll grant this is more to do with the unfamiliarity I have with Adam's general body of work, knowing him more for his aesthetics than particular production tricks. I'd assume the little bit of body movin' bassline in Sjab is his contribution, as I don't recall many of Jochem's music containing something like that. It's certainly repetitive enough to fit the Beyer mold. Does that mean the industrial clanking and sketchy synth stabs are Speedy's work? Why am I even psycho-analyzing such a relentlessly boshing track? This is straight-up 4am warehouse workout music, pummelling from the get-go, going full bore for a good eight minutes, save a requisite mid-track breather. There's a few fun flange moments towards the end, and provides a nice minute-long wind-down, leading me to believe Sjab was strictly constructed as a set ender. I mean, what else could you follow such an intense track up with?
A b-side called Basj, I guess, though obviously not in the same set. Or maybe in the earlier portions of said set. Regardless, it's not as bang-on as Sjab, actually somewhat subtle in comparison. What it really reminds me of though, L.S.G.'s The Train Of Thought! It's the sporadic splashes of dubby echo, y'see, not to mention just how frenetic the rhythms sounds, not much removed from Oliver Lieb's tech-trance opus. For sure this is still firmly in techno's domain, but considering how unmelodic and stale the genre would soon become, hearing something like this is quite nice indeed.
Is this finally the end, my friends? Have we come the conclusion of these Speedy J reviews, the Collabs series all that remains? Well, of what I got from that initial Bandcamp bulk buy, yes. Wouldn't you know it though, Jochem added a couple more singles after the fact, a two-EP run as The Melody. Not to mention everything else he's released from 2010 on. Can't say I'm inclined to complete the total collection at this point, well and truly sated on all things Speedy J for now. Well, maybe that Nice EP - I like it whenever Mr. Paap throws actual melody into his tunes, even if only back in the day.
Yeah, I don't think there's any beating around the bush in knowing what we're in for here. To this day, Adam Beyer is known as that uncompromising dude rinsing out uncompromising techno, making a tidy business for himself out of it. This came out in the early days of that movement, before everything went completely M_nus minimal, Beyer and his cohorts at the top of this european techno domain. As Speedy J's Loudboxer was part of this movement, its natural that he'd work with these lads in churning out a few records here and there. Collabs 100 was the first, picking up right where the Loudboxer singles left off.
Come to think of it, I'm not entirely sure where Adam Beyer ends and Speedy J begins with these two cuts. I'll grant this is more to do with the unfamiliarity I have with Adam's general body of work, knowing him more for his aesthetics than particular production tricks. I'd assume the little bit of body movin' bassline in Sjab is his contribution, as I don't recall many of Jochem's music containing something like that. It's certainly repetitive enough to fit the Beyer mold. Does that mean the industrial clanking and sketchy synth stabs are Speedy's work? Why am I even psycho-analyzing such a relentlessly boshing track? This is straight-up 4am warehouse workout music, pummelling from the get-go, going full bore for a good eight minutes, save a requisite mid-track breather. There's a few fun flange moments towards the end, and provides a nice minute-long wind-down, leading me to believe Sjab was strictly constructed as a set ender. I mean, what else could you follow such an intense track up with?
A b-side called Basj, I guess, though obviously not in the same set. Or maybe in the earlier portions of said set. Regardless, it's not as bang-on as Sjab, actually somewhat subtle in comparison. What it really reminds me of though, L.S.G.'s The Train Of Thought! It's the sporadic splashes of dubby echo, y'see, not to mention just how frenetic the rhythms sounds, not much removed from Oliver Lieb's tech-trance opus. For sure this is still firmly in techno's domain, but considering how unmelodic and stale the genre would soon become, hearing something like this is quite nice indeed.
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Tune - Change The Beat
R & S Records: 1991/2021
This has to be Jochem's most obscure project. Yeah, those in the know know who it is, while R & S Records is hardly some dingy underground techno label lost to the mists of time. If I hadn't told you this was from Speedy J though, would you even be able to tell? Okay, maybe if you sat down and listened to the darn thing, you could, though you'd have to have a near perfect memory of all his early '90s works to work that out.
More what I'm getting at though, is the alias he chose for this is the most nondescript thing you could imagine. Obviously he couldn't just use Speedy J again, as that was a Plus 8 exclusive. No, wait, Jochem used that name for Pull Over as well, and that came out on Music Man Records the same year. Maybe he wanted to completely distance himself from it, as R & S wasn't seen as quite the serious techno label yet, with their own pile of rave producers – C.J. Bolland, Joey Beltram, Human Resource, and the like. Don't worry though, you'll be called 'The Belgian Warp' soon enough. Just wait until their Apollo sub-label launches, then you're in for some real serious shit!
Where was I? Oh, right, Tune. What's up with such a plain-jane name like that? Was Jochem just hard pressed to come up with something when submitting these tracks for pressing? Did he figure they wouldn't have much hope of standing out among R & S' heavy hitters, so here's an utterly forgettable one before receding back to the comforting embrace of the Detroit upstart? He certainly never felt compelled to return to this alias or R & S, Change The Beat his lone contribution to either. Hell, even Public Energy got two singles out of Jochem.
I can't deny, I almost had Pull Over worry in the way the titular cut starts, a stupidly simple note played over a thudding beat and off-beat bassline. Things actually get a little more clever along the way though, a lone backing string added, some sparkly synths bringing flair, and a couple decent little bass drop fills. When everything finally gets going in full motion, including a pleasant little pad melody, I'm ready for things to properly take off for- oh, the track's already done. Dang, wish he'd gotten to the good stuff sooner.
Tonight is the 'funner' track though, what with vibrant rhythms, orchestral stings, and gnarly synths winding about. Yeah, this definitely fits better on the Belgian rave label. Just to remind folks he's actually a Dutch-Detroit techno producer though, b-side Extrasensory gets on that Motor City retro-future jam session. And unlike the other two, this track gets an extra couple minutes to strut its stuff. Not sure what folks coming into this expecting Dominators would think, but surely European ravers were aware of music such as this, right? Or were they only hankering for hoovers and pianos?
This has to be Jochem's most obscure project. Yeah, those in the know know who it is, while R & S Records is hardly some dingy underground techno label lost to the mists of time. If I hadn't told you this was from Speedy J though, would you even be able to tell? Okay, maybe if you sat down and listened to the darn thing, you could, though you'd have to have a near perfect memory of all his early '90s works to work that out.
More what I'm getting at though, is the alias he chose for this is the most nondescript thing you could imagine. Obviously he couldn't just use Speedy J again, as that was a Plus 8 exclusive. No, wait, Jochem used that name for Pull Over as well, and that came out on Music Man Records the same year. Maybe he wanted to completely distance himself from it, as R & S wasn't seen as quite the serious techno label yet, with their own pile of rave producers – C.J. Bolland, Joey Beltram, Human Resource, and the like. Don't worry though, you'll be called 'The Belgian Warp' soon enough. Just wait until their Apollo sub-label launches, then you're in for some real serious shit!
Where was I? Oh, right, Tune. What's up with such a plain-jane name like that? Was Jochem just hard pressed to come up with something when submitting these tracks for pressing? Did he figure they wouldn't have much hope of standing out among R & S' heavy hitters, so here's an utterly forgettable one before receding back to the comforting embrace of the Detroit upstart? He certainly never felt compelled to return to this alias or R & S, Change The Beat his lone contribution to either. Hell, even Public Energy got two singles out of Jochem.
I can't deny, I almost had Pull Over worry in the way the titular cut starts, a stupidly simple note played over a thudding beat and off-beat bassline. Things actually get a little more clever along the way though, a lone backing string added, some sparkly synths bringing flair, and a couple decent little bass drop fills. When everything finally gets going in full motion, including a pleasant little pad melody, I'm ready for things to properly take off for- oh, the track's already done. Dang, wish he'd gotten to the good stuff sooner.
Tonight is the 'funner' track though, what with vibrant rhythms, orchestral stings, and gnarly synths winding about. Yeah, this definitely fits better on the Belgian rave label. Just to remind folks he's actually a Dutch-Detroit techno producer though, b-side Extrasensory gets on that Motor City retro-future jam session. And unlike the other two, this track gets an extra couple minutes to strut its stuff. Not sure what folks coming into this expecting Dominators would think, but surely European ravers were aware of music such as this, right? Or were they only hankering for hoovers and pianos?
Friday, December 29, 2023
Speedy J - Bugmod
NovaMute: 2002/2021
The last single to be properly spun off from Loudboxer, this. Yes, I know Tanga kinda'-sorta' was too, but none of those tracks featured on the album, no matter what the similar artwork suggests. Speaking of, holy cow, I can't believe I didn't notice it before, but gander at that black stripe beside Bugmod there. Know what's under it? It's Krekc! And Tanga had both this and Krekc blotted out in white above as well. Oh man, I love it when spin-off singles maintain a running theme – makes them feel more like part of a proper series than some disjointed association.
But wait, you say, there be no Bugmod on Loudboxer either. Is this another Tanga situation, where we'll get a Bugmod, a Buugmod, and a Bugmood? No, but we do get a little more Krikc and Krekc, by way of remixes. The other two tracks on this EP are strictly Speedy J originals, so let's have a listen in.
And Bugmod pretty much picks up where the rest of Loudboxer left off, an unrelenting pummelling of percussion, the snare and hi-hats tasting a touch of flange. An off-beat bleep is the only thing resembling any sort of hook, but earworms is not the point of this cut. There's also a nifty little 'fade it down, bring it all back' peak, which makes Bugmod a little more useful for set construction than just another tool to throw down, but better be quick on your next draw, 'cause this track ends quite abruptly. On the flip, Glov at first seems like it might be the 'deeper' option, the pounding beatcraft simpler and steady. Then what's this? An actual hook? Okay, it's still just synth stabs keeping pace with the rhythm, but they build upon each other, retreat, coalesce, retreat, and so on. It's the closest thing to a melody that Jochem gives out of the whole Loudboxer enterprise, and you'll love it, darn it all!
The remixes, then. DJ Rush handles the first, on Krekc. I'm not really familiar with this techno veteran, though he is Jeff Mills Approved, so there's that. Lord Discogs also tells me I have at least one other of his tracks, on... wait djmixed.com/keoki? Really!? Haha, never would have expected that. Anyhow, his go with Krekc is pretty much more techno bosh, with a little transistor tweeting knob twiddlin'.
On the other end is Umek, who I definitely know, so no need to get into details there. He gets to have a go with Krikc and holy cow, is this ever a blinder of a cut. I'd actually forgotten just how much of a banger the original is, and Umek sees no point in taming this beast for his use. Instead, he throws in an actual hook, a simple sweeping little thing oscillating as it carries on. It's not even harsh or gritty as you'd expect of techno in this vein, surprisingly gentle on the ears even as the beats punch your chest cavity into submission.
The last single to be properly spun off from Loudboxer, this. Yes, I know Tanga kinda'-sorta' was too, but none of those tracks featured on the album, no matter what the similar artwork suggests. Speaking of, holy cow, I can't believe I didn't notice it before, but gander at that black stripe beside Bugmod there. Know what's under it? It's Krekc! And Tanga had both this and Krekc blotted out in white above as well. Oh man, I love it when spin-off singles maintain a running theme – makes them feel more like part of a proper series than some disjointed association.
But wait, you say, there be no Bugmod on Loudboxer either. Is this another Tanga situation, where we'll get a Bugmod, a Buugmod, and a Bugmood? No, but we do get a little more Krikc and Krekc, by way of remixes. The other two tracks on this EP are strictly Speedy J originals, so let's have a listen in.
And Bugmod pretty much picks up where the rest of Loudboxer left off, an unrelenting pummelling of percussion, the snare and hi-hats tasting a touch of flange. An off-beat bleep is the only thing resembling any sort of hook, but earworms is not the point of this cut. There's also a nifty little 'fade it down, bring it all back' peak, which makes Bugmod a little more useful for set construction than just another tool to throw down, but better be quick on your next draw, 'cause this track ends quite abruptly. On the flip, Glov at first seems like it might be the 'deeper' option, the pounding beatcraft simpler and steady. Then what's this? An actual hook? Okay, it's still just synth stabs keeping pace with the rhythm, but they build upon each other, retreat, coalesce, retreat, and so on. It's the closest thing to a melody that Jochem gives out of the whole Loudboxer enterprise, and you'll love it, darn it all!
The remixes, then. DJ Rush handles the first, on Krekc. I'm not really familiar with this techno veteran, though he is Jeff Mills Approved, so there's that. Lord Discogs also tells me I have at least one other of his tracks, on... wait djmixed.com/keoki? Really!? Haha, never would have expected that. Anyhow, his go with Krekc is pretty much more techno bosh, with a little transistor tweeting knob twiddlin'.
On the other end is Umek, who I definitely know, so no need to get into details there. He gets to have a go with Krikc and holy cow, is this ever a blinder of a cut. I'd actually forgotten just how much of a banger the original is, and Umek sees no point in taming this beast for his use. Instead, he throws in an actual hook, a simple sweeping little thing oscillating as it carries on. It's not even harsh or gritty as you'd expect of techno in this vein, surprisingly gentle on the ears even as the beats punch your chest cavity into submission.
Thursday, December 21, 2023
Robert Hood - The Blueprint EP
REKIDS: 2021
I guess it's rather sad that it's taken me this long to give minimal techno legend Robert Hood some proper attention 'round these here parts. At least I finally have, right? Sure, but as usual I just can't do things logically, like grab one of his seminal classics such as Internal Empire or Point Blank. Not even a DJ mix like his contributions Fabric or DJ-Kicks. Okay, fine, at least I settled for a single, of which there's numerous, but even then it's some cock-eyed way of doing things. No Minimal Nation, no Red Passion, nothing from his usual labels like M-Plant or Music Man Records, while ignoring his time with the almighty U.R. Nope, just a second EP out on Radio Slave's label, REKIDS. Look, it just happened to be the one I glanced at, and if releasing new techno on Matt Edwards' print is okie-dokie by the Detroit don', it's good enough for me.
It'd be easy to spend the bulk of this 'review' going on about Mr. Hood's history, as if my regular readers haven't a clue of his legacy. And hey, maybe I will, should I finally spring for some of his Very Important records that you should have, even if you're not a Robert Hood fan. Doing so here and now though, feels like I'd be doing his recent output a disservice. Like, cool and all there's respect for the back catalogue, but sometimes artists would prefer it if folks hyped up their recent efforts too, put them in just as loving gaze. Is The Blueprint EP one such record that can be brought up as such?
Well, it starts out unfussy enough, opener Chroma Light doing the classic minimal techno thing without any of the stupid ticks the genre gathered in the following decades. The beat thumps proper, occasionally with extra bass, the twitchy hook is simple with plenty of flange at appropriate points, and backing synths build tension as the tracks plays out. Shame it's not even six minutes long, I coulda' grooved to this for longer.
The main attraction, however, is The Majestic, as there's two versions on this four-tracker. There's not much difference between the two, besides the Deeper Edit being, well, deeper. Both clearly have 'main room' or 'peak hour festival' written all over them, a big, boisterous hook coming in and out as straight-forward minimal bosh carries on. I guess that leaves closer Ultrasonic Room one for the 'real heads', barely a hook to be had, but a fun, subtle build featured just the same.
Should I mention there's a slight difference between digital and vinyl of this record? For some reason, both Majestics are lumped together in the middle here, but are separated as A1 and B2 for the black crack addicts (the Deeper Edit way off on the far side, naturally). Mind, this may have just been a pressing error, since they're labelled the same as the digital version. Talk about vintage.
I guess it's rather sad that it's taken me this long to give minimal techno legend Robert Hood some proper attention 'round these here parts. At least I finally have, right? Sure, but as usual I just can't do things logically, like grab one of his seminal classics such as Internal Empire or Point Blank. Not even a DJ mix like his contributions Fabric or DJ-Kicks. Okay, fine, at least I settled for a single, of which there's numerous, but even then it's some cock-eyed way of doing things. No Minimal Nation, no Red Passion, nothing from his usual labels like M-Plant or Music Man Records, while ignoring his time with the almighty U.R. Nope, just a second EP out on Radio Slave's label, REKIDS. Look, it just happened to be the one I glanced at, and if releasing new techno on Matt Edwards' print is okie-dokie by the Detroit don', it's good enough for me.
It'd be easy to spend the bulk of this 'review' going on about Mr. Hood's history, as if my regular readers haven't a clue of his legacy. And hey, maybe I will, should I finally spring for some of his Very Important records that you should have, even if you're not a Robert Hood fan. Doing so here and now though, feels like I'd be doing his recent output a disservice. Like, cool and all there's respect for the back catalogue, but sometimes artists would prefer it if folks hyped up their recent efforts too, put them in just as loving gaze. Is The Blueprint EP one such record that can be brought up as such?
Well, it starts out unfussy enough, opener Chroma Light doing the classic minimal techno thing without any of the stupid ticks the genre gathered in the following decades. The beat thumps proper, occasionally with extra bass, the twitchy hook is simple with plenty of flange at appropriate points, and backing synths build tension as the tracks plays out. Shame it's not even six minutes long, I coulda' grooved to this for longer.
The main attraction, however, is The Majestic, as there's two versions on this four-tracker. There's not much difference between the two, besides the Deeper Edit being, well, deeper. Both clearly have 'main room' or 'peak hour festival' written all over them, a big, boisterous hook coming in and out as straight-forward minimal bosh carries on. I guess that leaves closer Ultrasonic Room one for the 'real heads', barely a hook to be had, but a fun, subtle build featured just the same.
Should I mention there's a slight difference between digital and vinyl of this record? For some reason, both Majestics are lumped together in the middle here, but are separated as A1 and B2 for the black crack addicts (the Deeper Edit way off on the far side, naturally). Mind, this may have just been a pressing error, since they're labelled the same as the digital version. Talk about vintage.
Thursday, November 2, 2023
Speedy J - Armstrong / Klave
self-release: 2021
Oh yeah, Speedy J singles. I still have some of those to finish off, don't I? A lot more, if I decide to ever spring for all of his post-2010 material on Electric Deluxe and Stoor. Okay, not Stoor, that label forever only for the vinyl fetishist market. The other label looks like it might have some interesting items, should I ever get the impulsive Speedy J itch again down the line.
This particular single is a bit of an outlier though. While the music within came out around the same period as Electric Deluxe's early years, neither track ever appeared there. In fact, both Armstrong and Klave came out on totally different prints, Radio Slave's REKIDS and Chris Liebing's CLR, respectably. They were paired with other tracks on those records, so likely produced as favours to those labels in giving them some Real Techno Artists Be Here cred'. Like, ol' Jochem sure didn't need to release anything on them, what with his own labels already up and running.
It did create a bit of a pickle for Speedy, however, in that he couldn't re-issue all of his old material on Bandcamp if these specific tracks were already tied to still-existing prints, with other producers on the original flips. What do? Eh, just grab them back anyway, and release them as a brand new single, that'll do. Does that make this single a compilation then? I don't know about that, but I submitted this to Lord Discogs' tomes as one, so if They That Know All are okay with it, let's run with it.
As Armstrong appeared on Chris Liebing's label, it's small surprise the track is pretty much a heady thumper in that distinct, minimalist Liebing style. In fact, there isn't much to it at all, doing the super-gradual tension build of pounding beats with white noise washes teasing out a potential climax. It never really comes though, the loudest peak coming some two-thirds deep before fading off as though it never was. I'm sure it's an effective piece of business as a techno tool, but a little disappointing for yours truly.
Klave, by contrast, is a little more interesting, in that it treads closer to the realms of tech-house – because of course it would on a Radio Slave label. There's plenty of knob twiddling on reverb and flange effects, which keeps the track evolving for its ten-minute duration, but not much else goes on with it. Frankly, I found the fact the record Klave appeared on had Chris Liebing on the flip more intriuging in a funny sort of way – you'd think that would have been the case with Armstrong, wouldn't it.
So pretty much just a couple functional tracks, but one neat thing did emerge from this session: my discovery that REKIDS has gone techno retro! No, seriously, Radio Slave, the guy who broke out with epic tech-plod tracks, has been making ol' school rave tunes in recent years. As always, everything old become new again!
Oh yeah, Speedy J singles. I still have some of those to finish off, don't I? A lot more, if I decide to ever spring for all of his post-2010 material on Electric Deluxe and Stoor. Okay, not Stoor, that label forever only for the vinyl fetishist market. The other label looks like it might have some interesting items, should I ever get the impulsive Speedy J itch again down the line.
This particular single is a bit of an outlier though. While the music within came out around the same period as Electric Deluxe's early years, neither track ever appeared there. In fact, both Armstrong and Klave came out on totally different prints, Radio Slave's REKIDS and Chris Liebing's CLR, respectably. They were paired with other tracks on those records, so likely produced as favours to those labels in giving them some Real Techno Artists Be Here cred'. Like, ol' Jochem sure didn't need to release anything on them, what with his own labels already up and running.
It did create a bit of a pickle for Speedy, however, in that he couldn't re-issue all of his old material on Bandcamp if these specific tracks were already tied to still-existing prints, with other producers on the original flips. What do? Eh, just grab them back anyway, and release them as a brand new single, that'll do. Does that make this single a compilation then? I don't know about that, but I submitted this to Lord Discogs' tomes as one, so if They That Know All are okay with it, let's run with it.
As Armstrong appeared on Chris Liebing's label, it's small surprise the track is pretty much a heady thumper in that distinct, minimalist Liebing style. In fact, there isn't much to it at all, doing the super-gradual tension build of pounding beats with white noise washes teasing out a potential climax. It never really comes though, the loudest peak coming some two-thirds deep before fading off as though it never was. I'm sure it's an effective piece of business as a techno tool, but a little disappointing for yours truly.
Klave, by contrast, is a little more interesting, in that it treads closer to the realms of tech-house – because of course it would on a Radio Slave label. There's plenty of knob twiddling on reverb and flange effects, which keeps the track evolving for its ten-minute duration, but not much else goes on with it. Frankly, I found the fact the record Klave appeared on had Chris Liebing on the flip more intriuging in a funny sort of way – you'd think that would have been the case with Armstrong, wouldn't it.
So pretty much just a couple functional tracks, but one neat thing did emerge from this session: my discovery that REKIDS has gone techno retro! No, seriously, Radio Slave, the guy who broke out with epic tech-plod tracks, has been making ol' school rave tunes in recent years. As always, everything old become new again!
Saturday, September 30, 2023
Various - 026028
Intellitronic Bubble: 2022
We've come to the last of these Intellitronic Bubble compilations (for now!), and I have a confession to make: I hadn't intended to get the previous two. It was the cover art, y'see, doing little to inspire an impulse buy, after which I simply let them fade from my initial interest. This one though, with its stark white and bubbly patterns... wow, how could your eyes not be drawn to it? And gosh, what if the label went an extra mile, giving the CD cover a little texture with those bubbles? Right, they probably wouldn't, but it was enough to get me buying in regardless. Only I didn't get this CD in the mail, receiving 016020 and 021025 instead. I honestly can't remember how this mix-up occurred, but it's nice that it did. Even if I never got a CD for 026028, I at least got one for 021025, which I feel a stronger collection of tracks than this one. Oops, spoilers, I guess?
Before getting into that, you may have noticed a slight change in the titling of this compilation. The first five were named after the clutch of five singles from which the tracks were plucked. Since those CDs weren't twenty tracks long, a few cuts were made along the way. For whatever reason, the folks behind the Bubble said nuts to that after 021025, opting to include all the tracks in future collections. Sweet beans. Even if that means only three singles get repped, at least all the tracks are included now. Oh, wait, I already let slip 026028 isn't quite as good as the last, so maybe not as good a deal as initially thought.
Right, we're still dealing with quality electro and retro-techno for the most part, I just feel the selection of tracks on this outing run rather singular in comparison. For instance, G-Prod is back for two more tunes, and while I generally like G-Prod, many of the other producers on this CD sound rather similar. Stefan Kibellus spaced-out chill vibes is also featured twice, as well as Konerytmi, who's synth-poppy style sticks out rather sharply being only separated by Andartak's Sunnudagskirkjan (praise be c+p with that title). Not because it makes sense to have them sequenced like this, but because of circumstance regarding the original vinyl these tunes came from. I know this is still the most OCD of nitpicking here, but I can't help but feel the pared-down earlier collections made for leaner, tighter listening experiences.
Anyhow, Owen Ni offers an ultra-dubby, spacious tune in Ancient Science, Deeb's Software_Selection 1.1 pushes into the hardline bleep-n-bloops end of electro, Devroka's Helix supplies the requisite acid cut in _Nyquist's absence, Hidden People joins Konerytmi in going a little more twee, and Orang Volante tries going tech-house in Song For Futuregrapher. I swear between that and Sunnudagskirkjan, I've heard some of these hooks before, even if under garbled electronic distortions. As I've said, there's only so much electro can do before some repetition become apparent.
We've come to the last of these Intellitronic Bubble compilations (for now!), and I have a confession to make: I hadn't intended to get the previous two. It was the cover art, y'see, doing little to inspire an impulse buy, after which I simply let them fade from my initial interest. This one though, with its stark white and bubbly patterns... wow, how could your eyes not be drawn to it? And gosh, what if the label went an extra mile, giving the CD cover a little texture with those bubbles? Right, they probably wouldn't, but it was enough to get me buying in regardless. Only I didn't get this CD in the mail, receiving 016020 and 021025 instead. I honestly can't remember how this mix-up occurred, but it's nice that it did. Even if I never got a CD for 026028, I at least got one for 021025, which I feel a stronger collection of tracks than this one. Oops, spoilers, I guess?
Before getting into that, you may have noticed a slight change in the titling of this compilation. The first five were named after the clutch of five singles from which the tracks were plucked. Since those CDs weren't twenty tracks long, a few cuts were made along the way. For whatever reason, the folks behind the Bubble said nuts to that after 021025, opting to include all the tracks in future collections. Sweet beans. Even if that means only three singles get repped, at least all the tracks are included now. Oh, wait, I already let slip 026028 isn't quite as good as the last, so maybe not as good a deal as initially thought.
Right, we're still dealing with quality electro and retro-techno for the most part, I just feel the selection of tracks on this outing run rather singular in comparison. For instance, G-Prod is back for two more tunes, and while I generally like G-Prod, many of the other producers on this CD sound rather similar. Stefan Kibellus spaced-out chill vibes is also featured twice, as well as Konerytmi, who's synth-poppy style sticks out rather sharply being only separated by Andartak's Sunnudagskirkjan (praise be c+p with that title). Not because it makes sense to have them sequenced like this, but because of circumstance regarding the original vinyl these tunes came from. I know this is still the most OCD of nitpicking here, but I can't help but feel the pared-down earlier collections made for leaner, tighter listening experiences.
Anyhow, Owen Ni offers an ultra-dubby, spacious tune in Ancient Science, Deeb's Software_Selection 1.1 pushes into the hardline bleep-n-bloops end of electro, Devroka's Helix supplies the requisite acid cut in _Nyquist's absence, Hidden People joins Konerytmi in going a little more twee, and Orang Volante tries going tech-house in Song For Futuregrapher. I swear between that and Sunnudagskirkjan, I've heard some of these hooks before, even if under garbled electronic distortions. As I've said, there's only so much electro can do before some repetition become apparent.
Thursday, September 28, 2023
Various - 021025
Intellitronic Bubble: 2021
I cannot deny being a bit put off by Intellitronic Bubble's change of cover art. Right, there's only so much they could do with black and white photos of folks blowing bubbles, but it was a unique theme, one I'm sure could have carried on for at least a few more editions. Get real creative with it, y'know? Like, have someone pose with a bubble-maker in front of a Icelandic lava field! Or just feature bubbles in various sizes and numbers, maybe with nifty reflections of brutalist architecture! Just something other than whatever it is they currently got going on. At least the label's Bubble Flowers series has maintained a flower theme thus far, even if it's a lone dandelion sprouting from a crack in pavement. Nay, their mainline compilations instead get various shades of brown and burgundy.
Okay, I'm picking at the nittiest of nits in that paragraph, because I honestly have little else to criticize about 021025. All the things I claimed needed to happen for this series to show growth and evolution pretty much happen on this CD. A greater variety of fresh artists? Got 'em. Less reliance on pure electro retroism and ambient techno familiarity? Sorted. Erm, I think those were the only two major ones, and even calling those 'complaints' is a stretch. More like hopeful conditionals to keep me engaged with this label long-term.
The returning regulars are as expected: Futuregrapher, _Nyquist, and ReKaB (but no G-Prod). Considering that's all, it leaves plenty of room for other names to make the cut. And even then, their contributions are rather different to the sort of electro and techno heard prior. Futuregrapher's Norðurmýri has something of an urgent, paranoid feel going for it, all the while riding a rather smooth rhythm. Later, his Qualopec prominently features rather simple acid, with a splashy beat and subtle hum in support. Meanwhile, _Nyquist tones back his usual acid workouts for something almost trancey, in a bouncy techno sort of way. ReKaB also gets two tracks, and they're ultra-chill, Sky High proper ambient techno for the downtempo sect, Trying To Cope only a smidge brisker. A couple other returning names include Rob Belleville and Orang Volante, providing the proper Detroit nods.
Rounding out everyone else are names like Xylic, KEDA8, ENUIT, Akero, k_schreiber, and CNTRLD MND. Some do regular ol' electro jams, while others really stretch into the experimental side of the genre, even splicing with others. Hell, Stefan Kibellus' Fog almost sounds like what would happen if The Bug went electro. And what's this Krystian Shek As Usual, dropping some Ultimae Records' dub techno vibes into the electro party? Hmm, I've seen that name a bunch on Carpe Sonum Records. May need to investigate further. Does he have any CDs with blue cover art?
021025 proves mixing things up yields positive results. Granted, this CD may be a bit too chill if you prefer your electro body jackin', but I'll take variety over over-reliant repetition any day.
I cannot deny being a bit put off by Intellitronic Bubble's change of cover art. Right, there's only so much they could do with black and white photos of folks blowing bubbles, but it was a unique theme, one I'm sure could have carried on for at least a few more editions. Get real creative with it, y'know? Like, have someone pose with a bubble-maker in front of a Icelandic lava field! Or just feature bubbles in various sizes and numbers, maybe with nifty reflections of brutalist architecture! Just something other than whatever it is they currently got going on. At least the label's Bubble Flowers series has maintained a flower theme thus far, even if it's a lone dandelion sprouting from a crack in pavement. Nay, their mainline compilations instead get various shades of brown and burgundy.
Okay, I'm picking at the nittiest of nits in that paragraph, because I honestly have little else to criticize about 021025. All the things I claimed needed to happen for this series to show growth and evolution pretty much happen on this CD. A greater variety of fresh artists? Got 'em. Less reliance on pure electro retroism and ambient techno familiarity? Sorted. Erm, I think those were the only two major ones, and even calling those 'complaints' is a stretch. More like hopeful conditionals to keep me engaged with this label long-term.
The returning regulars are as expected: Futuregrapher, _Nyquist, and ReKaB (but no G-Prod). Considering that's all, it leaves plenty of room for other names to make the cut. And even then, their contributions are rather different to the sort of electro and techno heard prior. Futuregrapher's Norðurmýri has something of an urgent, paranoid feel going for it, all the while riding a rather smooth rhythm. Later, his Qualopec prominently features rather simple acid, with a splashy beat and subtle hum in support. Meanwhile, _Nyquist tones back his usual acid workouts for something almost trancey, in a bouncy techno sort of way. ReKaB also gets two tracks, and they're ultra-chill, Sky High proper ambient techno for the downtempo sect, Trying To Cope only a smidge brisker. A couple other returning names include Rob Belleville and Orang Volante, providing the proper Detroit nods.
Rounding out everyone else are names like Xylic, KEDA8, ENUIT, Akero, k_schreiber, and CNTRLD MND. Some do regular ol' electro jams, while others really stretch into the experimental side of the genre, even splicing with others. Hell, Stefan Kibellus' Fog almost sounds like what would happen if The Bug went electro. And what's this Krystian Shek As Usual, dropping some Ultimae Records' dub techno vibes into the electro party? Hmm, I've seen that name a bunch on Carpe Sonum Records. May need to investigate further. Does he have any CDs with blue cover art?
021025 proves mixing things up yields positive results. Granted, this CD may be a bit too chill if you prefer your electro body jackin', but I'll take variety over over-reliant repetition any day.
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
Various - 016020
Intellitronic Bubble: 2021
Well, that didn't take long. Not that it's a bad thing, per se, I just felt the Intellitronic Bubble showcase could stand to see more artist diversity as the editions carried on. Yet here we are in the fourth edition, 016020, and we're right back with familiar names as featured in the first two. And, as such, we're right back to leaning more into the ambient techno side of electro than the pure robot fetishism as heard on 011015. Then again, I couldn't help but quibble that that CD was almost too dedicated to the mechanical menace aesthetic, so what do I know? Always gotta' find something to pick nits about, always.
I suppose that's how many electronic music labels shake out though: a core set of artists that keep the print afloat, with sprinklings of outside talent given their chance to shine. I got so used to ambient and IDM prints featuring a wide variety of producers, I just assumed the same would be true of any of Lee Norris' joints. And who knows, maybe that will come to pass with Intellitronic Bubble as well, but I'm having some doubts. It simply may be the nature of these particular genres, electro rather insular within its core scenes, versus the near free-for-all ambient and dub techno seems to enjoy online.
So returning names for the fourth round-up of Intellitronic Bubble releases include Futuregrapher (of course), _Nyquist, G-Prod, ReKaB, and Mr. Norris operating under Metamatics (what, no Norken?). Lloyd Stellar and Konerytmi also return, providing the more twee, synth-poppy side of electro, while Mick Chillage comes back as... Mick Chillage? Wait, don't tell me his dedicated electro alias The Shape is moth-balled? That's the whole reason for having a genre-specific handle!
Since we're well versed in all these artists' style, let's focus on the new additions. There's The Droid and Info, about as generic of electro aliases as it gets, which Lord Discogs confirms with these being the fifth and tenth such instance of such aliases, respectably. They're also solid electro numbers, the latter getting a little more Detroit-melodic, if that's any way to describe techno. Same can be said for Dokun's Build Boards, which is actually Darren McClure (add another from the extended Lee Norris metaverse). More anonymous is Mr. Signout, his bass-heavy Unknown giving us some proper trunk-rattling representation. Bound By Endogamy is a name I feel like I've seen, but their Discogs data is skint. Regardless, enjoy their way experimental slice of broken-beat techno with Mir Laine.
The track that really turned my head was closer Signal Flows Back from Komarebi. You know that brand of Balearic-leaning future garage most associate with Bicep these days? Think that, but with an electro sheen. Now that's the genre exploration vital for an upstart label!
So once again, another compilation with little to dislike, but hard to give heaping praise upon either. It's all solid stuff, and enjoyable while played – it just won't convince the unconverted machine lovers either.
Well, that didn't take long. Not that it's a bad thing, per se, I just felt the Intellitronic Bubble showcase could stand to see more artist diversity as the editions carried on. Yet here we are in the fourth edition, 016020, and we're right back with familiar names as featured in the first two. And, as such, we're right back to leaning more into the ambient techno side of electro than the pure robot fetishism as heard on 011015. Then again, I couldn't help but quibble that that CD was almost too dedicated to the mechanical menace aesthetic, so what do I know? Always gotta' find something to pick nits about, always.
I suppose that's how many electronic music labels shake out though: a core set of artists that keep the print afloat, with sprinklings of outside talent given their chance to shine. I got so used to ambient and IDM prints featuring a wide variety of producers, I just assumed the same would be true of any of Lee Norris' joints. And who knows, maybe that will come to pass with Intellitronic Bubble as well, but I'm having some doubts. It simply may be the nature of these particular genres, electro rather insular within its core scenes, versus the near free-for-all ambient and dub techno seems to enjoy online.
So returning names for the fourth round-up of Intellitronic Bubble releases include Futuregrapher (of course), _Nyquist, G-Prod, ReKaB, and Mr. Norris operating under Metamatics (what, no Norken?). Lloyd Stellar and Konerytmi also return, providing the more twee, synth-poppy side of electro, while Mick Chillage comes back as... Mick Chillage? Wait, don't tell me his dedicated electro alias The Shape is moth-balled? That's the whole reason for having a genre-specific handle!
Since we're well versed in all these artists' style, let's focus on the new additions. There's The Droid and Info, about as generic of electro aliases as it gets, which Lord Discogs confirms with these being the fifth and tenth such instance of such aliases, respectably. They're also solid electro numbers, the latter getting a little more Detroit-melodic, if that's any way to describe techno. Same can be said for Dokun's Build Boards, which is actually Darren McClure (add another from the extended Lee Norris metaverse). More anonymous is Mr. Signout, his bass-heavy Unknown giving us some proper trunk-rattling representation. Bound By Endogamy is a name I feel like I've seen, but their Discogs data is skint. Regardless, enjoy their way experimental slice of broken-beat techno with Mir Laine.
The track that really turned my head was closer Signal Flows Back from Komarebi. You know that brand of Balearic-leaning future garage most associate with Bicep these days? Think that, but with an electro sheen. Now that's the genre exploration vital for an upstart label!
So once again, another compilation with little to dislike, but hard to give heaping praise upon either. It's all solid stuff, and enjoyable while played – it just won't convince the unconverted machine lovers either.
Sunday, September 24, 2023
Various - 011015
Intellitronic Bubble: 2020
Jumping into the next of this label's compilation showcases, and almost immediately I know I'm in for a different outing. Compared to the last couple CDs in this series, I only recognize a handful of artists on 011015: G-Prod, MO-DU, _Nyquist, and Futuregrapher. I think I've seen Hidden People about as well, but this is my first direct exposure to the project. Everyone else though, completely new to my eyes and ears, with a few relatively new to many others' as well. At least, when this first came out, three years ago.
For instance, the chap who kicks off 011015, Lloyd Stellar. Lord Discogs states this here track is among his earliest items ever released, though he'd been making techno as Tramtunnel for a couple years prior. He's had a modest career of activity since, but far as the wider electro 2020 market was concerned, this was his breakout. Or he'd been burbling in SoundCloud obscurity for a decade earlier, and no one's bothered to upload that discography data to Discogs yet. I'll bet on the former being the case. Regardless, his track is titled Destory Him, My Robots, and while it's definitely not a cover of the Anthony Rother track of the same name, it's a suitably gnarly slice of electro just the same.
And yeah, we're fully in electro's domain once more – it is Intellitronic Bubble's breaded butter, after all – but something about this clutch of tracks feels stiffer. Like, the artists involved are stricter adherents of the robot manifesto compared to the group out of the first two CDs. Which makes sense, since a lot of those artists were coming in from more of an ambient techno and IDM route. If you want your retro-techno and electro label to truly go all-in on it though, you gotta' get yourself some musicians who's made it their style since day one. I think they done did that here with 011015, for better and worse.
Yeah, the bass is booming, the rhythms are robotic, the computers sing and whirl, and it's all properly dope. It kinda' gets samey after a while though. Like, remember that Electro Compendium data-dump I covered over a decade ago? It's a bit rather like that, but without the overwhelming desire to succumb to the machine within.
Anyhow, here's a few tracks that break the robo-mode dominating 011015. The prolific Kirill Junolainen, operating as Konerytmi, gets rather twerpy and twee in an ol' school Suction Records sort of way. Carbinax' In My Other Life gets real retro-Detroit, offering up a track that sounds like what Strings Of Life should sound like with decent piano and drum samples. So much bass in Astrobee's Junk Technology; just... so much. Rob Belleville's 406 Lucy Avenue is a nice, little chill electro number, and couldn't be more obvious about his inspiration if he tried. And finally, Daveeth brings the acid bass action in Utan Við Sig. Ooh, that's what this compilation needed: moar base aciiieeed!
Jumping into the next of this label's compilation showcases, and almost immediately I know I'm in for a different outing. Compared to the last couple CDs in this series, I only recognize a handful of artists on 011015: G-Prod, MO-DU, _Nyquist, and Futuregrapher. I think I've seen Hidden People about as well, but this is my first direct exposure to the project. Everyone else though, completely new to my eyes and ears, with a few relatively new to many others' as well. At least, when this first came out, three years ago.
For instance, the chap who kicks off 011015, Lloyd Stellar. Lord Discogs states this here track is among his earliest items ever released, though he'd been making techno as Tramtunnel for a couple years prior. He's had a modest career of activity since, but far as the wider electro 2020 market was concerned, this was his breakout. Or he'd been burbling in SoundCloud obscurity for a decade earlier, and no one's bothered to upload that discography data to Discogs yet. I'll bet on the former being the case. Regardless, his track is titled Destory Him, My Robots, and while it's definitely not a cover of the Anthony Rother track of the same name, it's a suitably gnarly slice of electro just the same.
And yeah, we're fully in electro's domain once more – it is Intellitronic Bubble's breaded butter, after all – but something about this clutch of tracks feels stiffer. Like, the artists involved are stricter adherents of the robot manifesto compared to the group out of the first two CDs. Which makes sense, since a lot of those artists were coming in from more of an ambient techno and IDM route. If you want your retro-techno and electro label to truly go all-in on it though, you gotta' get yourself some musicians who's made it their style since day one. I think they done did that here with 011015, for better and worse.
Yeah, the bass is booming, the rhythms are robotic, the computers sing and whirl, and it's all properly dope. It kinda' gets samey after a while though. Like, remember that Electro Compendium data-dump I covered over a decade ago? It's a bit rather like that, but without the overwhelming desire to succumb to the machine within.
Anyhow, here's a few tracks that break the robo-mode dominating 011015. The prolific Kirill Junolainen, operating as Konerytmi, gets rather twerpy and twee in an ol' school Suction Records sort of way. Carbinax' In My Other Life gets real retro-Detroit, offering up a track that sounds like what Strings Of Life should sound like with decent piano and drum samples. So much bass in Astrobee's Junk Technology; just... so much. Rob Belleville's 406 Lucy Avenue is a nice, little chill electro number, and couldn't be more obvious about his inspiration if he tried. And finally, Daveeth brings the acid bass action in Utan Við Sig. Ooh, that's what this compilation needed: moar base aciiieeed!
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Various - 006010
Intellitronic Bubble: 2020
Brace yourself, one more 'discography dive' is coming. Did I buy another box-set? Purchase a package deal? Acquire a collection of discounted compact discs? Nah, the truth is rather mundane. Some may recall me covering an Intellitronic Bubble compilation called 001005, essentially a label showcase of their first five singles released on vinyl. They never stopped making them, each subsequent CD coming out after an additional five new EPs, and I never stopped collecting them. Only thing is, because they remain numerically titled, they got slotted into my alphabetical queue way back at the top of it, patiently waiting until I finally looped around. That time has now come, and, well, I gathered up five more since then. Seems appropriate.
As 006010 gathers up the then-latest five EPs out of Intellitronic Bubble, it doesn't have much new compared to the first set. Which I guess makes sense for a young label still relying on trusted, familiar names hanging out within the same circles as Lee Norris and Árni Grétar. It takes time for a retro-leaning electro and techno label to make enough of a name for itself such that it lures in other producers looking to contribute. Yet with the print pushing out wax at about two releases a month, not to mention all those double-album items for a spell there, the early roster was a little skint with fresh faces. Don't come into 006010 expecting much different than 001005, is what I'm saying. And hey, if you're all the more down for an extra round of their tasty electro and Detroitism, all the better.
As with the first, the second kicks off with a Milieu track, and it's... much lighter and twee? Wow, this is some real synth-pop chipper vibe going on here, a rather bit like some of the stuff I heard out of Solvent's label. Well, whatever, ReKab (with Mihail P on the rub) once again brings the follow-up, and Is This The Year is as pure a slice of vintage Detroit techno as you could ever hope to hear in the current decade Elsewhere, _Nyquist brings his touch of ambient techno to the electro party, Devroka brings the shoulder-shakin' electro, and G-Prod drops two ultra-deep space-bass tunes. You already knew that though, what with me having recently covered their albums.
All the others, then, what do we get? Black Data's Wireless Connection reminds me of that turn-of-the-millennium strain of stripped, sleazy electro, though I'm hesitant to lump it into the actual electroclash camps. 01Cerulean's Icy is, well, definitely icy, in a bouncy, acidy sort of way. I can't help but sense a little Drexciya inspiration from Orang Volante's Planktro (it's the title, yo'!), while Scape One's Different Worlds, Same Stories keeps up firmly in the outer atmosphere of sky-craft cruisin'.
While I'd recommend getting both, if you have to only get one, I think 006010 the stronger collection of tunes. Everyone involved feels more assured in what Intellitronic Bubble's manifesto will entail at this point.
Brace yourself, one more 'discography dive' is coming. Did I buy another box-set? Purchase a package deal? Acquire a collection of discounted compact discs? Nah, the truth is rather mundane. Some may recall me covering an Intellitronic Bubble compilation called 001005, essentially a label showcase of their first five singles released on vinyl. They never stopped making them, each subsequent CD coming out after an additional five new EPs, and I never stopped collecting them. Only thing is, because they remain numerically titled, they got slotted into my alphabetical queue way back at the top of it, patiently waiting until I finally looped around. That time has now come, and, well, I gathered up five more since then. Seems appropriate.
As 006010 gathers up the then-latest five EPs out of Intellitronic Bubble, it doesn't have much new compared to the first set. Which I guess makes sense for a young label still relying on trusted, familiar names hanging out within the same circles as Lee Norris and Árni Grétar. It takes time for a retro-leaning electro and techno label to make enough of a name for itself such that it lures in other producers looking to contribute. Yet with the print pushing out wax at about two releases a month, not to mention all those double-album items for a spell there, the early roster was a little skint with fresh faces. Don't come into 006010 expecting much different than 001005, is what I'm saying. And hey, if you're all the more down for an extra round of their tasty electro and Detroitism, all the better.
As with the first, the second kicks off with a Milieu track, and it's... much lighter and twee? Wow, this is some real synth-pop chipper vibe going on here, a rather bit like some of the stuff I heard out of Solvent's label. Well, whatever, ReKab (with Mihail P on the rub) once again brings the follow-up, and Is This The Year is as pure a slice of vintage Detroit techno as you could ever hope to hear in the current decade Elsewhere, _Nyquist brings his touch of ambient techno to the electro party, Devroka brings the shoulder-shakin' electro, and G-Prod drops two ultra-deep space-bass tunes. You already knew that though, what with me having recently covered their albums.
All the others, then, what do we get? Black Data's Wireless Connection reminds me of that turn-of-the-millennium strain of stripped, sleazy electro, though I'm hesitant to lump it into the actual electroclash camps. 01Cerulean's Icy is, well, definitely icy, in a bouncy, acidy sort of way. I can't help but sense a little Drexciya inspiration from Orang Volante's Planktro (it's the title, yo'!), while Scape One's Different Worlds, Same Stories keeps up firmly in the outer atmosphere of sky-craft cruisin'.
While I'd recommend getting both, if you have to only get one, I think 006010 the stronger collection of tunes. Everyone involved feels more assured in what Intellitronic Bubble's manifesto will entail at this point.
Friday, August 25, 2023
Tracing Xircles - Xenolith
Blue Hour: 2022
Not too much to dig into with this EP. The particulars are already mostly covered elsewhere on this blog, the names behind this moniker and all that. Well, half of it at least, as Tracing Xircles is a collaboration between Blue Hour head-honcho, erm, Blue Hour. Luke Standing, that is. The other goes by A-JX on Bandcamp, but Lord Discogs lists him as Simon Pilkington (also: AJ-X ...which is it!?). There isn't much else on him within the Discoggian tomes, so can't help you there.
In any event, the two paired up half a decade ago for a debut EP titled Gaia's Requiem. As befitting a record with that sort of name, it's a rather chill affair, but as this was still Blue Hour's early years (the label and the artist!), some exploratory works are allowed. By the time the two reconvened for a second record, Air Lock, they got back to the spacey techno pulse that defined much of Blue Hour's work. And when I finally stumbled upon this label, they had just put out their third EP, this here Xenolith. Not a bad run at all, but it's apparently gotten even better, landing a record on the Candy Mountain print, helmed by one-time Ostgut Ton favourite Steffi. She actually has a lot of little labels, including various Dollys. Becoming a regular Ellen Allien, that lass is – notch another artist I've overlooked for far too long.
Anyhow, this EP. The kick-off is also the titular cut, and almost immediately you're gonna' get transported back to the '90s with its big, brash broken beats. The echoing piano and sinewy synths don't hurt either, basically mixing and matching a lot of early rave and trance sounds into something of a New Beat soup, but done in an electro way. All with that ultra-beefy modern production, keeping things sounding as current as possible. If you turned down the gains, muffled the sounds, and flattened the dynamics... yeah, I could imagine this appearing on some long-lost Music Man Records B-side. Sounding 'modern-retro' has been one of Blue Hours' appealing traits though – it's why I started scoping them out, after all – so no surprises here.
Xenolith is about as 'pretty' as this EP gets, however, as follow-up Surface Level gets down to some serious electro business. Nothing too fancy with this one, just a steady thudding breakbeat, menacing robot sounds, and ominous backing synths. Blindspot gets a little fancier in its beatcraft, opting for something more skippity and post-dubsteppy. Future-shock electro menace vibes are still in full effect though.
But enough of that, how about some acid breakcore for a finish? Closed Circuit is definitely that, or at least treading as close to the realms of acid breakcore without actually going full tilt. I don't know if the Blue Hour faithful are really down for that. Or maybe they are, the label having multiple examples of the stuff scattered about. Still gotta' get on digging into more releases, I do.
Not too much to dig into with this EP. The particulars are already mostly covered elsewhere on this blog, the names behind this moniker and all that. Well, half of it at least, as Tracing Xircles is a collaboration between Blue Hour head-honcho, erm, Blue Hour. Luke Standing, that is. The other goes by A-JX on Bandcamp, but Lord Discogs lists him as Simon Pilkington (also: AJ-X ...which is it!?). There isn't much else on him within the Discoggian tomes, so can't help you there.
In any event, the two paired up half a decade ago for a debut EP titled Gaia's Requiem. As befitting a record with that sort of name, it's a rather chill affair, but as this was still Blue Hour's early years (the label and the artist!), some exploratory works are allowed. By the time the two reconvened for a second record, Air Lock, they got back to the spacey techno pulse that defined much of Blue Hour's work. And when I finally stumbled upon this label, they had just put out their third EP, this here Xenolith. Not a bad run at all, but it's apparently gotten even better, landing a record on the Candy Mountain print, helmed by one-time Ostgut Ton favourite Steffi. She actually has a lot of little labels, including various Dollys. Becoming a regular Ellen Allien, that lass is – notch another artist I've overlooked for far too long.
Anyhow, this EP. The kick-off is also the titular cut, and almost immediately you're gonna' get transported back to the '90s with its big, brash broken beats. The echoing piano and sinewy synths don't hurt either, basically mixing and matching a lot of early rave and trance sounds into something of a New Beat soup, but done in an electro way. All with that ultra-beefy modern production, keeping things sounding as current as possible. If you turned down the gains, muffled the sounds, and flattened the dynamics... yeah, I could imagine this appearing on some long-lost Music Man Records B-side. Sounding 'modern-retro' has been one of Blue Hours' appealing traits though – it's why I started scoping them out, after all – so no surprises here.
Xenolith is about as 'pretty' as this EP gets, however, as follow-up Surface Level gets down to some serious electro business. Nothing too fancy with this one, just a steady thudding breakbeat, menacing robot sounds, and ominous backing synths. Blindspot gets a little fancier in its beatcraft, opting for something more skippity and post-dubsteppy. Future-shock electro menace vibes are still in full effect though.
But enough of that, how about some acid breakcore for a finish? Closed Circuit is definitely that, or at least treading as close to the realms of acid breakcore without actually going full tilt. I don't know if the Blue Hour faithful are really down for that. Or maybe they are, the label having multiple examples of the stuff scattered about. Still gotta' get on digging into more releases, I do.
Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Nightmares On Wax - A Word Of Science (The 1st And Final Chapter)
Warp Records: 1991
Probably not the only Nightmares On Wax album you're supposed to have, much less start with if you're beginning a Nightmares On Wax collection. Indeed, many point to Smoker's Delight as the true beginning of the NoW legacy, what with its clear demarcation within the trip-hop pantheon. Hell, the genre technically didn't even exist yet when A Word Of Science came out, though a few tracks here definitely helped create the DNA that would form the basis of all those depressive downtempo vibes. Nay, the Nightmares debut is still very much a product of its era, and that era includes the bleep techno of the UK rave scene, of which early Warp Records were prominent champions of. Who's got time to chill the fuck out when there's illegal parties to hop about?
Still, it's that Warp lineage that's retained A Word Of Science's cultural cache to this day. It sits at a significant crossroad, lodged between the LFO debut Frequencies and the seminal series debut of Artificial Intelligence. Where even though the ravey roots of the label are still present, time is spent on tunes feeling the downswing of a night, preferably enjoyed while loungin' about with a spliff in hand. A big part of this is due to the brains behind NoW, George Evelyn, leaving no personal influence off the table. He may have felt this was his one shot at getting his vision of music out there – a 'first and final' one, if you will. So even though the Nightmares On Wax story kicked off with some techno records, here come the funk, soul, and hip-hop samplings sharing album space with the warehouse tools.
Of course, if you're coming into A Word Of Science from the future, with little historical context, you could very well assume this being more of the trip-hop groove that defined Smoker's Delight. Right from the jump, we're greeted by Nights Interlude, their classic easy-going, laidback downtempo jam of jazzy solos and soulful strings. A tune so timeless, it continues to appear on 'chill out' compilations. A vibe so sweet, George basically opened Smoker's Delight with a remix of it. That's about it for such tracks on this album though. Playtime gets a little more sultry, Back Into Time a little more Steve Miller Band-y, and E.A.S.E more playful (you can hear Gorillaz in this one), but the rest of A Word Of Science...? Yeah, not so much.
Instead, you get bass-rattling, minimalist UK techno (A Case Of Funk, Biofeedback, Aftermath, Dextrous, Sal), stabs at vintage house (Coming Down, Fun), and a little Brit-hop for good measure (Mega Donutz, How Ya Doin', the beatbox outing of B.W.T.M.). Very little of this excels beyond the year from whence it came, their dated attributes front and centre. And hey, if you're down for such 1991 sounds, then A Word Of Science will serve you fine. For many though, an adjustment of expectations is a must. Maybe borrow your older uncle's nostalgia headphones for a session.
Probably not the only Nightmares On Wax album you're supposed to have, much less start with if you're beginning a Nightmares On Wax collection. Indeed, many point to Smoker's Delight as the true beginning of the NoW legacy, what with its clear demarcation within the trip-hop pantheon. Hell, the genre technically didn't even exist yet when A Word Of Science came out, though a few tracks here definitely helped create the DNA that would form the basis of all those depressive downtempo vibes. Nay, the Nightmares debut is still very much a product of its era, and that era includes the bleep techno of the UK rave scene, of which early Warp Records were prominent champions of. Who's got time to chill the fuck out when there's illegal parties to hop about?
Still, it's that Warp lineage that's retained A Word Of Science's cultural cache to this day. It sits at a significant crossroad, lodged between the LFO debut Frequencies and the seminal series debut of Artificial Intelligence. Where even though the ravey roots of the label are still present, time is spent on tunes feeling the downswing of a night, preferably enjoyed while loungin' about with a spliff in hand. A big part of this is due to the brains behind NoW, George Evelyn, leaving no personal influence off the table. He may have felt this was his one shot at getting his vision of music out there – a 'first and final' one, if you will. So even though the Nightmares On Wax story kicked off with some techno records, here come the funk, soul, and hip-hop samplings sharing album space with the warehouse tools.
Of course, if you're coming into A Word Of Science from the future, with little historical context, you could very well assume this being more of the trip-hop groove that defined Smoker's Delight. Right from the jump, we're greeted by Nights Interlude, their classic easy-going, laidback downtempo jam of jazzy solos and soulful strings. A tune so timeless, it continues to appear on 'chill out' compilations. A vibe so sweet, George basically opened Smoker's Delight with a remix of it. That's about it for such tracks on this album though. Playtime gets a little more sultry, Back Into Time a little more Steve Miller Band-y, and E.A.S.E more playful (you can hear Gorillaz in this one), but the rest of A Word Of Science...? Yeah, not so much.
Instead, you get bass-rattling, minimalist UK techno (A Case Of Funk, Biofeedback, Aftermath, Dextrous, Sal), stabs at vintage house (Coming Down, Fun), and a little Brit-hop for good measure (Mega Donutz, How Ya Doin', the beatbox outing of B.W.T.M.). Very little of this excels beyond the year from whence it came, their dated attributes front and centre. And hey, if you're down for such 1991 sounds, then A Word Of Science will serve you fine. For many though, an adjustment of expectations is a must. Maybe borrow your older uncle's nostalgia headphones for a session.
Saturday, August 5, 2023
The Shape - Waveshape Fiction
Anodize/Intellitronic Bubble: 2014/2020
This is the second half of the double album that included _Nyquist's Sonic Periapsis, the fun little gimmick from Intellitronic Bubble of including two completely separate LPs for the price of one. I guess this makes the official first one of these I've completed? Like sure, I've technically done that with the double deal of Skua Atlantic's Atlantic Fusion and Devroka's Processor Overlord, but only by happenstance of already reviewing the Databloem version of Atlantic Fusion. As for the second half of the release containing G-Prod's Space Time's Bubbles LP, that won't be for quite a while yet.
As a side note, why did the label abandon this concept after just a handful of releases in 2020? I get Lee and Árni focusing more on the vinyl side of things, CDs relegated to compilations. This was such a cool idea though, luring in potential new audiences with such plumb deals. Or maybe that's all it was ever intended to be, some nifty CD deals getting folks through the door, keeping them after for the real highlights of all those lathe cut records. Not a bad marketing strategy, nosiree, but man, I cannot deny hoping they make a small return to these 2-for-1 releases as well. They've been handy in nabbing re-released hard copies of some real obscure stuff. Why yes The Shape's Waveshape Fiction is one such item.
Though the alias may be obscure and easily forgotten, the man behind it most definitely is not, as this is another in a great number of Mick Chillage projects. Actually, check that: Mr. Gainsford doesn't really have that many outside his main one – it just feels that way because I keep running into them. Heck, this is the second time I have within these Intellitronic Bubble bundles alone (he's one-half of Skua Atlantic, in case you forgot). I wanted to make a 'Bill Laswell quip' here, but it seems inappropriate, so I'll let it slide.
Anyhow, I hear why Mick adopted a one-off alias for this record, as it's nothing like his usual Chillage tuneage. He was well into his Pixels phase with Anodize that same year (to say nothing of the sublime work coming out on Carpe Sonum Records), putting the unapologetic retro-electro of Waveshape Fiction well out of sorts from his discography. Heck, I'm surprised this even appeared on Anodize, though I haven't had much chance to properly dig into that label. Burned too bright too fast, sadly.
After the album kicks off with the more chill Stranger Than Fiction, we're thrust head-first into second-wave electro – think vintage Anthony Rother and Boris Divider, with a tad less menace. Super dope if you can't get enough of the stuff, but little in the way of surprises either. Mick handles the genre quite well, with a few earworms scattered about the broken robot rhythms and futureshock synths. Still, I get the sense this was more of a fun lark on Mr. Gainsford's part than any serious exploration of the genre.
This is the second half of the double album that included _Nyquist's Sonic Periapsis, the fun little gimmick from Intellitronic Bubble of including two completely separate LPs for the price of one. I guess this makes the official first one of these I've completed? Like sure, I've technically done that with the double deal of Skua Atlantic's Atlantic Fusion and Devroka's Processor Overlord, but only by happenstance of already reviewing the Databloem version of Atlantic Fusion. As for the second half of the release containing G-Prod's Space Time's Bubbles LP, that won't be for quite a while yet.
As a side note, why did the label abandon this concept after just a handful of releases in 2020? I get Lee and Árni focusing more on the vinyl side of things, CDs relegated to compilations. This was such a cool idea though, luring in potential new audiences with such plumb deals. Or maybe that's all it was ever intended to be, some nifty CD deals getting folks through the door, keeping them after for the real highlights of all those lathe cut records. Not a bad marketing strategy, nosiree, but man, I cannot deny hoping they make a small return to these 2-for-1 releases as well. They've been handy in nabbing re-released hard copies of some real obscure stuff. Why yes The Shape's Waveshape Fiction is one such item.
Though the alias may be obscure and easily forgotten, the man behind it most definitely is not, as this is another in a great number of Mick Chillage projects. Actually, check that: Mr. Gainsford doesn't really have that many outside his main one – it just feels that way because I keep running into them. Heck, this is the second time I have within these Intellitronic Bubble bundles alone (he's one-half of Skua Atlantic, in case you forgot). I wanted to make a 'Bill Laswell quip' here, but it seems inappropriate, so I'll let it slide.
Anyhow, I hear why Mick adopted a one-off alias for this record, as it's nothing like his usual Chillage tuneage. He was well into his Pixels phase with Anodize that same year (to say nothing of the sublime work coming out on Carpe Sonum Records), putting the unapologetic retro-electro of Waveshape Fiction well out of sorts from his discography. Heck, I'm surprised this even appeared on Anodize, though I haven't had much chance to properly dig into that label. Burned too bright too fast, sadly.
After the album kicks off with the more chill Stranger Than Fiction, we're thrust head-first into second-wave electro – think vintage Anthony Rother and Boris Divider, with a tad less menace. Super dope if you can't get enough of the stuff, but little in the way of surprises either. Mick handles the genre quite well, with a few earworms scattered about the broken robot rhythms and futureshock synths. Still, I get the sense this was more of a fun lark on Mr. Gainsford's part than any serious exploration of the genre.
Wednesday, June 21, 2023
faru - Utasava
Carpe Sonum Novum: 2018/2022
I'm really getting into some 'off the grid' music lately. What can I say? When a bit of cover art strikes my fancy, followed by sound samples that scintillate my stapes, I'm an easy sucker. This one I found particularly striking in that the sepia photo reminded me of Ultimae Records, yet the music within most decidedly did not. Nor did it sound like much of anything I've yet heard on Carpe Sonum. Neither label has ever gone quite so... world beaty.
Turns out that was something of a departure for Fabian Ruf as well, most of his musical compositions hanging out in the ambient drone category I've indulged plenty of over the years. Okay, he hasn't released a robust discography yet, his Bandcamp page only offering a handful of titles to his faru moniker, but one of those includes a Silent Season EP (Through Darkness Comes Light), so making significant inroads quite early on. From the looks of things, this Utasava is his first physical roll-out, Carpe Sonum Novum offering up a CD option for this album. And as mentioned, quite the turn away from the sort of Archives-styled ambient he was making to that point. Sometimes though, a vacation in a foreign land does wonders for one's inspiration. Having a recording microphone on hand capturing all those unique sounds doesn't hurt either.
And wander through a new realm he done did, opener Walk To Sri Pada almost entirely field recordings, folk and fauna busying themselves all around you, save a singular sitar tone and drumming guiding us along. The sounds of the street are so acute, I actually feel like those darn crows are dive bombing me! No, wait, that's those darn crows on my regular morning jaunts – the track is just giving me PTSD hearing their angry caws pan from right to left.
Regardless, the real highlight of this album is second track The Sacred Mountain, a near twenty-minute excursion into deep meditation as a temple monk sings through all manner of industrial distortion. I've seen this piece compared to Alio Die or Popol Vul, though as always my reference point remains Rapoon. It does eventually morph into more traditional ambient, but man, hearing those effects on this man's voice is some other-wordly vibes. It also kinda' makes the rest of Utasava come off rather tame and safe in comparison.
Not that there's anything wrong with tracks like Indian Ocean, Makar Sankrati and Along The Coast, it's just world beat and ambient dub paths well travelled since the days of Loop Guru. Meanwhile, the glitchy psy-dub of Mirissa and industrial techno of Summre Rain (!!) throw such a left turn on Utasava, you'll be forgiven for thinking you've somehow stumbled into an entirely different album. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the diversity. It's just bizarre going through such an intense meditative journey with The Sacred Journey, only to have gabber beats thumping some twenty-five minutes later. Well, unless you're Rapoon, I guess.
I'm really getting into some 'off the grid' music lately. What can I say? When a bit of cover art strikes my fancy, followed by sound samples that scintillate my stapes, I'm an easy sucker. This one I found particularly striking in that the sepia photo reminded me of Ultimae Records, yet the music within most decidedly did not. Nor did it sound like much of anything I've yet heard on Carpe Sonum. Neither label has ever gone quite so... world beaty.
Turns out that was something of a departure for Fabian Ruf as well, most of his musical compositions hanging out in the ambient drone category I've indulged plenty of over the years. Okay, he hasn't released a robust discography yet, his Bandcamp page only offering a handful of titles to his faru moniker, but one of those includes a Silent Season EP (Through Darkness Comes Light), so making significant inroads quite early on. From the looks of things, this Utasava is his first physical roll-out, Carpe Sonum Novum offering up a CD option for this album. And as mentioned, quite the turn away from the sort of Archives-styled ambient he was making to that point. Sometimes though, a vacation in a foreign land does wonders for one's inspiration. Having a recording microphone on hand capturing all those unique sounds doesn't hurt either.
And wander through a new realm he done did, opener Walk To Sri Pada almost entirely field recordings, folk and fauna busying themselves all around you, save a singular sitar tone and drumming guiding us along. The sounds of the street are so acute, I actually feel like those darn crows are dive bombing me! No, wait, that's those darn crows on my regular morning jaunts – the track is just giving me PTSD hearing their angry caws pan from right to left.
Regardless, the real highlight of this album is second track The Sacred Mountain, a near twenty-minute excursion into deep meditation as a temple monk sings through all manner of industrial distortion. I've seen this piece compared to Alio Die or Popol Vul, though as always my reference point remains Rapoon. It does eventually morph into more traditional ambient, but man, hearing those effects on this man's voice is some other-wordly vibes. It also kinda' makes the rest of Utasava come off rather tame and safe in comparison.
Not that there's anything wrong with tracks like Indian Ocean, Makar Sankrati and Along The Coast, it's just world beat and ambient dub paths well travelled since the days of Loop Guru. Meanwhile, the glitchy psy-dub of Mirissa and industrial techno of Summre Rain (!!) throw such a left turn on Utasava, you'll be forgiven for thinking you've somehow stumbled into an entirely different album. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the diversity. It's just bizarre going through such an intense meditative journey with The Sacred Journey, only to have gabber beats thumping some twenty-five minutes later. Well, unless you're Rapoon, I guess.
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