Pete Namlook / DJ Dag - Adlernebel

Fax +49-69/450464: 2000

Pete Namlook collaborated with DJ Dag, the man who helped define trance music? Heck, he even contributed to the indispensable, quintessential Namlook tribute box-set Die Welt Ist Klang, and I somehow completely blanked on it. Right, he was using his seldom-used alias of, um, Dag Lerner (his real name), so you understand why I may not have made the connection.

More so, this is a pairing that, on paper, happened far too late. Dag's profile was at its peak when Fax+ was finding its footing, Dance 2 Trance getting published on one of the biggest eurodance labels of the time, Blow Up. Despite Pete's print being something of a common ground for all electronic music makers to convene and collaborate, I doubt it was high on Mr. Lerner's mind to do so. Time carries on though, and while DJ Dag's career never cratered, he certainly wasn't mentioned in the same breath as all the hot, new trance jocks of the millennium's turn. A legacy act, if you will. Which is about the perfect time to hook up with that Namlook fella' and see what creative juices may blossom from such a session!

I have no idea what anyone expected of this pairing way back when. They couldn't possibly have thought it would sound 'contemporary' to the tastes of trance music in the year 2000, could they? Both these chaps were resolutely old-school when it came to their craft, so hearing something so early '90s retro shouldn't have been much of a surprise. Then again, who was this release even for, beyond the Fax+ faithful? Certainly not clubland at large, though I'm sure Dag would have rinsed out at least couple tunes off here. Maybe Talla 2XLC as well.

Raum Und Zeit, The West Is The Best, and Pure Energy are as vintage of 'proper' trance tunes as I've ever heard, distilled and purified from the year 1992 and not a month later. Meanwhile, Dagar treads closer to Namlook's brand of spaced-out, loopy trance (with additional wolf howls maintaining Dag's continued nods to Native American activism), while the remaining cuts are charming chill tunes. Who cares if they'd never have a hope of being playlisted by Paul Oakenfold or any of the Dutch dudes? This is the music Pete and Dag wanted to make for themselves and that's all that matters, gosh darn it all.

Yet, as I played Adlernebel, a curious notion crossed my mind: what does it matter in modern times when this was released? True, electronic music evolution was explosive throughout the '90s, but that was honestly only important as it was happening. The gap between 1992 and 2000 is paltry from our vantage point. These days, genres have became sated and stagnant – the difference between a 2012 and 2020 trance release is almost negligible. So a year 2000 trance album sounds like a 1992 trance album. Us old-schoolers would kill for a 2021 trance album to sound like a 1992 trance album! Anyhow, food for thought.

Sync24 - Acidious

Leftfield Records: 2020

Speaking of side-projects that had been sitting fallow for half a decade, here's Sync24 again. You may recall him being one-half of Carbon Based Lifeforms. I certainly didn't, back when I first reviewed his second album Comfortable Void on this here bloggy-blog of mine so many years ago. Or I did, but simply neglected mentioning it because I didn't think it important to bring up at the time. It's not like Daniel's solo alias was lighting the world afire then, and when CBL transitioned to Blood Music (BLOOD Music!!), he didn't take it there with him.

Still, I've noticed a trend with all these Sync24 albums, in that they seem to appear a year or two after a major CBL release. Ah, that makes them b-sides then? Perhaps, though that may just be coincidental too. I think Mr. Segerstad is simply the sort that has many ideas floating about, some of which needs an additional outlet to satisfy.

Predictably then, a Sync24 album came out shortly after CBL's Derelicts, Omnious. That's not what I'm reviewing though, and not because of my alphabetical stipulation either – I just haven't gotten it yet. Nay, I'm instead scoping out this more recent outlier to the Sync24 canon, Acidious. Not only is it the first album under this alias to not be released so close to a CBL record (does Stochastic really count?), but this is a strict exercise in acid techno to boot.

Yeah, the title's a dead giveaway, if not the smiley face painted upon the tree those druid bunnies are huddle about. But the TB-303 runs deep in Daniel's blood, such music among the very earliest he ever made before CBL came to dominate much of his career. The squiggly, bubbly sound has long been a staple in the tunes he's crafted with Mr. Hedberg, but a return to those decades old roots certainly isn't out of the norm.

The appropriately titled Feet In The Water kicks things off in somewhat familiar territory, the acid but a simmer as a simple, gentle prog-psy tune plays along. It's not long before the 303 gets its squelch on, and by Nightfall Bounce hits, we're firmly in Hardfloor territory. Seriously, Acid For Blood does the vintage '90s peak-time acid anthemage as fine as any track from the days of yore. And it's not just acid techno that gets its nod, but trance as well. Real trance! Old school trance! Real old school acid trance, as though time-travelled from the early days of Platipus Records. Sa-weet!

Despite Acidious triggering all my nostalgia endorphins, the whole experience runs rather slight. Many tracks will build to a solid acid peak, but instead of thrusting forward into an even bigger high, it will simply end. Plus, we only get eight tracks, which feels skint with tracks so structurally short. Unfortunately, this makes the album more of a fun diversion than something commanding repeated playthroughs. But hey, no one ever went wrong adding a little more acid into their diet.

Sabled Sun - 2149

Cryo Chamber: 2021

After a four year flurry that saw annual releases from Sabled Sun (not to mention six side-releases), it seemed Simon Heath's future apocalypse concept had been put to pasture. From a narrative standpoint, it made some sense, going only so far as the view-point character could manage. Heck, I could argue that Sabled Sun only need the first album, 2145, so brilliantly telling its tale in one take. Carry on it did though, continuing the journey through a world in ruin.

With 2148, I pondered whether the tale's focus was changing, less about exploration and more about moving forward, and where the series' protagonist may go from there. Then the project went dark for half a decade, leaving such questions unanswered. For such a consistent series, that's a heck of a gap. What happened? Did other projects draw Simon's attention? A bout of 'writer's block' in where Sabled Sun could go next? A pang of associative guilt that 2148 came out the same day TFG was elected? Mysteries upon mysteries...

Straight up, I'm a tad disappointed that this new album isn't titled 2153. How cool would it have been of Simon to maintain the yearly passing of time with each Sabled Sun release mirroring our own? I suppose it's a bit of a moot point if you're listening to these for the first time in the here and now, or binge-listening in one sitting (as I did to re-familiarize myself with the setting). Ah well, probably too dorky a consideration for a sci-fi story set in a post-apocalypse brought about by humanity's hubris.

Speaking of humanity's hubris, 2149 takes us into an abandoned underground metropolis, left unscathed by the ravages of the surface world. Here, automation carries on, androids and machinery dutifully maintaining what remains, like lost children keeping the house clean while hoping for their parents to return. Actually, the music within isn't so explicit with these descriptions, but the nifty booklet the CD comes with sure is.

In fact, there isn't much sonic narrative in 2149 at all, the whole album running less than forty minutes total, the shortest Sabled Sun outing yet. Five years in the making? Ah, heh, I doubt it's like that, but it does lend some credence to the 'writer's block' theory. Besides, it's not like Simon's utterly strapped for ideas, as the booklet shows plenty of inspiration in the setting left. Sometimes you just gotta get what you can out though, even if it isn't as much as you'd like.

As for what we do have, there's less of the desolate, wandering field recordings, and more machinery, computers speak, and rhythmic pulses throughout – some of it could almost be techno! We're definitely in the bowels of a derelict civilization but it doesn't seem we're meant to dwell here long. What's this, a sensory port where one may uplink their consciousness to the still-running data-cloud inhabited by all the remaining automatons? Eh, I've had worse company.

Various - 001005

Intellitronic Bubble: 2019

Did you know Lee Norris established another label? No, another one. No, the other one. The other-other one. Not that one, the other one. No, another one. C'mon, how hard is this? We shouldn't have to do this dance every time. Besides I've already reviewed one item from this new Lee Norris label, Synchronized Minds from last year. It's not my fault y'all didn't notice it after all the words I spent going on about his Norken alias.

But yes, back in 2019 (the Normal Times?), Lee hooked up with Árni Grétar (Futuregrapher) and launched Intellitronic Bubble, a specialist techno label featuring limited run 10” vinyl (lathe cut, a Very Important distinction). It would promote unheralded artists like Milieu, Scape One, G-Prod, and Carbinax along side a few Norris associates operating under obscure aliases (Mick Chillage as The Shape, Devin Underwood as Devroka). Little hype, little fuss, just a bunch of producers having some fun on the side with no worry or care whether their music gets noticed abroad. Until it does, by some hot, trendy techno DJ or music vlog, after which demand will skyrocket, causing future techno collectors to lament and bemoan why-oh-why did they not jump on these 10” vinyls with all the bubble artwork from this obscure Icelandic print when they had the chance? The cosmic ballet... goes on.

Meanwhile, here's a nice little CD compilation (glass mastered, a Very Important distinction), rounding up those first five records. Yay!

For a purported techno label, I was surprised in hearing as much eclecticism as I did in 001005. Mileu's Amber Petrol'r kicks things off closer to the domain of tech-house, if early Warp Records could have kicked off tech-house. Rekab's Winter Harmonics maintains those Artificial Intelligence vibes, while _Nyquist's Sudden Void starts treading down Neo-Detroit's back alleys.

So here I'm thinking, “huh, Intellitronic Bubble isn't strictly techno at all, but just a continuation of other Lee Norris ambient techno labels, but with a heavier emphasis on beatcraft.” But then we go full-in with the robo-menace of Devroka's All Show And No Go, and I simply accept my pre-conceived notions were incorrect. Oh, the humility.

Seriously though, things go further into the Detroit future-vibes, such that I'm quite reminded of the material coming out of the FireScope camps (holy cow, talk about killer crossover potential!). Not a one-to-one comparison though, as the B12 print leans quite heavy into the sci-fi vibes, while Intellitronic Bubble feels more at home grounded. The only outlier in these is final track Flying Cars from Futuregrapher, doing more a dubby tech-house thing that would have fit snuggly in a Swayzak set circa 2001.

Does all this make 001005 a good compilation? Yeah, guy, it does. Handy introduction to the label, nice variety of techno and electro tunes produced by fully capable musicians. What's not to like? The scarcity of their physical catalogue, I guess, but eh, such are the times.

Intergalactic Federation - 1/2

Fax +49-69/450464/Fantasy Enhancing: 1994/2020

A reissue of the Intergalactic Federation albums from Fax+? Sure, may as well. I'm honestly a little surprised it didn't happen sooner, as I'm sure the endlessly active David Moufang (Move D) has retained some rights to their distribution. Maybe he had to clear things up with former Deep Space Network pal Jonas Grossmann, though seeing as how Higher Intelligent Agency has had his collaboration with them available for some time, that doesn't track. Were they waiting on Dr. Atmo to re-emerge from cryo-stasis? He'd been absent for many years, but it's been over a half-decade since he properly returned to the world of ambient techno. Did the players involved just assume that *gasp* there wasn't enough interest in I.F. for a re-issue?

I mean, I can sort of see that being the case, I.F. rather obscure even by Fax+ side-project standards. True, it came out during what many consider the label's golden years, and the first album commands hefty triple-digit sums of money on the open market these days. That can be said for a lot of Fax+ items though, and despite the pedigree on hand, most folks are quicker to name-drop other projects from Move D and Dr. Atmo than this one. Matters aren't helped that it was such a short-lived pairing, the Deep Space Network and good Doc' moving onto other ventures shortly after. For all intents, I.F. should go the way of other unheralded Fax+ releases like Electro Harmonix, Wechselspannung, and Softcore.

Interest did persist though, especially for those coming to the Fax+ party way late in the game. No sense in letting I.F. languish in collector's purgatory, so here's Fantasy Enhancing giving us both albums in a spiffy DVD package! Man, I hope this bodes well for that rumoured Dr. Atmo box-set.

What's funny to me is when I finally laid my ears upon these I.F. recordings, my first thoughts were, “Oh hey, it's ambient dub! Neat! Sure didn't expect that from a Fax+ release.” I don't know why I shouldn't have. Maybe I've just long associated the label with the trancey, spaced-out, experimental side of ambient techno, that I simply couldn't fathom anything else. Just goes to show how deep the Fax+ well goes.

The first I.F. album certainly opens as such, a very chill, minimalist outing of bloopy electronics and meditative rhythms. Things pick up for Ten Waves, but only marginally so, while Kisy Loa (the closest thing to a 'single' off here) starts treading closer to ambient techno's proper domain. Plus, it's funny hearing that gabber kick so slow, muffled and distant. CD1 closer Caravan goes groovier, psychedelic, man, sending the listener to the cosmos on the back of space camels. Or something.

By comparison, the group's second session is a relatively straight-forward, if subdued, trip into tribal dub-funk. These tracks wouldn't sound out of place on one of Beyond's compilations, though would need some paring down to fit, but who ever heard of a Fax+ jam session being concise?

ACE TRACKS: October 2021

And that's another pile done and dusted. Of course, I've gathered a bunch more music since I began that backlog, but I've been more conservative with my music purchases this year, not quite so many random and wild splurges from Amazon and Discogs. Nope, just sticking with the primary labels and artists that have interested me, so this next run won't be so lengthy. After all, this will include the final batch of CDs from my pre-blog collection getting in, the first half of the 'C' albums. It'll be nice to soon tick off another check-box in whatever list of arbitrary goals I set for myself with this ongoing pet project. Let's load 'em up into my 16GB Sony Walkman then!

Uh huh, uh huh. Uh... wait, how is this filling up so fast!? There aren't THAT many 'C' albums included, but I'm already tapped out before getting to the 'H's. What gives? Oh, right. That new Neil Young Archives box-set. And that box-set of Lucette Bourdin. And a couple triple-LP offerings from Drum And Bass Arena. Not to mention a bunch of double-LPs too. I... guess that'll fill up an MP3 player quickly?

Looks like I ain't close to be completed after all, not by a long shot. Anyhow, here's the ACE TRACKS for the month of October:


Full track list here.


MISSING ALBUMS:
Autumn Of Communion - Zosimus Alchemista
The Future Sound Of London - Yage 2019
ASC - The Waves
Peter Benisch - Waiting For Snow

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 0%
Percentage Of Rock: 9%
Most “WTF?” Track: Aside from the Viking metal again? I dunno, maybe a Yage remix?

This playlist opens with a the uplifting vibes of Way Out West's Ajere. It's immediately followed by the sombre urban ambience of Burial's Beachfires. Well, if that doesn't just perfectly sum up the clubbing experience, don't it!

Seriously though, the playlist pretty much plays out like that: some upbeat, peppy tune (yes, even Ensiferum) followed by a string of introspective downtime. A pretty strong outing of tunes, all said, if you have a few hours to kill.

Autumn Of Communion - Zosimus Alchemista

Fantasy Enhancing: 2019

Somehow, I assumed Lee Norris and Mick Chillage were moth-balling Autumn Of Communion for a while, letting other interests carry them forward? One could surmise that after seeing them release not one, but two retrospectives. The first came at the end of their self-titled numbered series, so that made sense. Then in 2018 came Moonstreams, consolidating some twenty CD's worth of AoC music. If that isn't a definitive cap on a body of work, I don't know what is. So naturally, Lee and Mick just kept on releasing more albums in the following years, two in 2019 alone. Gads, lads, I can't keep pace with all this, gettin' picky-choosy about some items. That Folk Etymology on Neotantra sure triggers my FOMO, but I think I'll go with Zosimus Alchemista on Fantasy Enhancing instead, as it looks to have more music for my money's worth.

Also, the title alone made me curious of what it might be all about. It seems like a Latin phrase, “Zosimus” perhaps even Roman in origin, but I couldn't recall if there was a 'Z' in the Latin alphabet. I asked a friend who knows more about these things, to which he replied:

“[The Latin alphabet] has 21 letters -- the "missing" ones are J, U, W, Y, and Z. But the V character can be a U, W, or Y depending on usage. And J and I are the same letter, make a Y sound at the beginning of a word and a long e sound everywhere else. And in some circumstances a soft 's' is used that kind of sounds like a z.”

Thanks, Ish'! That's more info than I'll ever need!

Sleuthing a little more, Zosimus Alchemista is most likely a reference to a Greek-Egyptian named Zosimos Of Panapolis, a Gnostic mystic who was one of the earliest recorded practitioners of alchemy. And now that I know that, I can't not see a beaker in the cover art (was it their intent?). Why Mick and Lee would find musical inspiration in this chap, I haven't a clue. Perhaps interest in his Gnosticism? They have shown fascination with ancient, obscure science-based faiths.

ANYHOW, the music. I don't want to say this album encompasses a lot of AoC's oeuvre, because they've covered acres of ground together, but it honestly does encompass much of what I've heard from the duo. The retro-leaning ambient techno (Keys Of Mercy, Letters To Theosebeia), the pastoral ambient (Zosimus Alchemista), the mysterious, spaced-out detours (Who Goes There?), the brief ear-wormy hooks, and some body-groovin' electro (Divine Water). Two tracks even got the EP treatment on Móatún 7, a first for AoC . There's a fair bit of stop-start song-writing in these five tracks, unsurprising given their lengthy runtimes, but at no point do they grow tedious. If you're late to Autumn Of Communion, Zosimus Alchemista does a solid job of summing up their various sonic strengths.

Oh, and I needn't feel FOMO over Folk Etymology, for I've already MO'd on it.

Humanoid - Your Body Robotic

fsoldigital.com: 2007

The Future Sound Of London have been in the music game for a very, very long time, seen more things than you people would ever believe. Somewhere early on, they saw something that must have unnerved them in ways we couldn't possibly fathom, to such a degree that Garry and Brian never discuss it, never mention it, never even consider it. I am, of course, talking about the Singles Remix.

Oh, they have no problem doing such a dastardly deed themselves, often crafting whole new albums around album singles (a 'translation', if you will), but to licence their music out for other artists to tamper with? They've seen the horrors afflicted upon the world of such endeavours, and save a couple classy anniversary rubs from trusted associates, our intrepid duo has been super-stingy with their back-catalogue indeed. After taking in this double-LP twenty-year anniversary package of Stakker Humanoid, I don't blame them one bit.

Granted, this isn't strictly a FSOL tune, the breakout acid anthem produced by Mr. Dougans from before he properly hooked up with his future partner. He's kept the alias around for his own solo techno work, so I assume he gets some say in how Humanoid music is handled abroad. I've a feeling ol' Jumpin' & Pumpin' hold more rights to the tune though, as I can't imagine some of these newer remixes offered would come with Brian's blessing.

First, let's get into what's dope about Your Body Robotic. The original Stakker Humanoid remains a classic slice of electro-acid, and no matter how those famed vocal samples from the game Berserk get used, I'll never tire of them. As this collection spans the entire Humanoid lifespan, we get many remixes and live jams from over the years, including a couple Graham Massey rubs (808 State fame). I'm quite fond of the Plump DJs go with the tune (WipEout Fusion has that effect), it's neat seeing Legiac show up for rub that's definitely got its FSOL nods going for it, plus it's nice hearing a few more King Roc productions. And whenever a remix goes proper deep into the electro or acid techno hole, we're all the more blessed by it.

Unfortunately, that only happens about half the time with this two-discer. Not that I wasn't expecting a little trendwhoring from a 2007 release, I just wish it wasn't so banal about it. The whole thing kicks off with a Feadz 2007 Mix, and sounds about what Ed Banger posse were doing. Not three tracks later, the Punx Soundcheck Mix goes all super-farty electro house, and Pirate Robot Midget Mix gets back to Ed Banger noise. Arranging these among the older remixes and nifty electro acid techno rubs makes for a rather disjointed listening experience. By the time the lame electro house of Will Propz hit, I gave up any hope the trendy stuff satisfying, but hey, since it was only 2007, at least there weren't any dubstep remi- *Sub-Osc Mix plays* - any brostep remixes.

The Future Sound Of London - Yage 2019

fsoldigital.com: 2019

There had to be an end to all the back-catalogue material FSOL's been churning out for the past fifteen years (holy cow!). After nine volumes of From The Archives, plus six and a half sessions of Environments, it seems Dougans and Cobain are finally moving onto their next venture of future sound creations. And this new phase shall be... remix albums of old singles! Eh? Eh...? Oh c'mon, you know you want it.

As most of their early singles already were remix albums, I wasn't initially sold on the idea. How many more 'paths' could they take these compositions, after all? Turns out, at least a few more, but what initially got me to finally bite was this particular item, Yage 2019.

'Yage' can mean many things, depending how for down the FSOL rabbit-hole you're willing to go. For most it's the pseudonym Cobain and Dougans use as the sound engineer on all their works. Myself, I know it goes way back to their Earthbeat days, where they released an EP as Yage called Fuzzy Logic, and even put out a debut album in 2008 (The Woodlands Of Old). It was with this in mind that I thought we might be in for some additional Yage material on Yage 2019, but no, it's simply a remix album of the tune Yage off Dead Cities. Wait, that never got a single release. What gives?

Not that I want to throw out any wild theories or guesses here, but it wouldn't surprise me if Yage was slotted for EP consideration like My Kingdom and We Have Explosives, but fell through when FSOL's Virgin deal ended. Makes me wonder if any of these new rubs have been idling on harddrives for decades, though I figure such a thing would have appeared on Archives or Environments before-hand.

In any event, if you don't remember Yage, it's that track with the expansive, cascading, shimmering synths, all manner of psychedelic harmonics, clanging sitars, industrial flutes, operatic chants, and that bassline that I can only describe as a heavily manipulated didgeridoo. Basically, a remarkable piece of sample collage that sounds at once primal and futuristic, like discovering an ancient rainforest civilization with space-age technology. Where on earth (and beyond!) can FSOL take this track?

A lot of funky, thrashy, psychedelic places, turns out. Yage 2019 mostly follows a pattern of a more experimental piece followed by a version with mostly familiar sounds from the original, keeping things nicely varied as the album plays out. I can't say every track is a winner, the tune Voodoo Doll seemingly more interested in playing homage to Hendrix rather than maintaining the Yage vibe. And leave it to a Humanoid Rebuild to go as deep in the minimal techno hole as a project like this would allow.

Still, there's plenty of familiar FSOL twists and turns throughout that should interest long-time fans of the duo, even if Yage wasn't the most obvious option for a modern remix album.

Mount Shrine - Winter Restlessness

Cryo Chamber: 2018

Since taking the plunge into dark ambient's domain, I'm consistently fascinated by the varying entry points many of its artists have approached it by. For the longest time, I assumed it was mostly a gothy industrial off-shoot because, for the longest time, it was mostly a gothy industrial offshoot. I've since heard jazz, blues, metal, tribal, field recordings, and even opera music (of a sort) worm their way into the creepy kids' club.

One scene I never expected showing up to the doom 'n' gloom party is the vaporwave one, although I'm not sure why. Like, isn't v-wave all about making existing music all lo-fi and shit? Seems like a natural evolution to some extent, but all that guady, retro artwork vapor's known for doesn't really jive with dark ambient's aesthetic, so you understand being surprised by any connection. Figures Cryo Chamber would find an artist bridging that gap though.

Cesar Alexandre mostly made his name in vaporwave with projects like Lindsheaven Virtual Plaza and Slow Midnight, though had his hand in many other online experimental scenes as well. This led to some ambient releases, including Mount Shrine, which caught the attention of Cryo Chamber, giving Cesar some of his greatest exposure yet, this here Winter Restlessness his debut on the label.

I knew none of this going in, of course, just intrigued by the cover art of a lonesome ruin nestled within an alpine clime'. Figuring I might be in for something on a Ugasanie tip, you can imagine my surprise when I got none of that. Instead, the titular opener brings us a softly crackling fire, impossibly distant radio chatter, and minimalist sombre pads. It's almost something right out of Biosphere's Substrata, though Geir's music paints a remote vista, whereas Mount Shrine seems to impart feelings of remoteness and isolation.

Which makes sense for an album about residing in desolate regions, but as Winter Restlessness carries on, I sense the sonic locale is a little more grounded, almost urban. The hum of traffic far below apartment towers, the synthetic hum of power lines outside your window, the relentless patter of rain on glass patios, all the while sombre pads carry on, always maintaining that sense of isolation, even if civilization exists just beyond your dwelling's walls. It's unlike most dark ambient I've come across, more akin to the sort of droning interludes you might hear on a Burial-clone album. Music for introspection and reflection rather than challenging your sense of being. Future Mount Shrine albums would have titles like Underpass, Outsider Station, and Across Rooftops, further supporting this urban vibe. Then I learned Cesar hailed from Rio De Janeiro, and his approach to dark ambient made perfect sense.

Sadly, I've also learned that Cesar passed away this year, another victim in the ongoing COVID pandemic. Due to its massive population and extreme class disparity (not to mention a retrograde political leader), Brazil has been one of the worst hit countries in the world. Odds were not in Mount Shrine's favour.