[Minimise] Donnacha Costello is always a hard man to pin down. He seems impervious to trends, instead often focusing on productions that pose subtle conceptual questions. His 6 X 6 = 36 series, for example, felt like it exploried the relation of dance music’s comparatively formal beat structure to abstract systems. His “Color” series, on […]
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Los Updates, First If You Please The Remix Part 2
October 28, 2008 – 8:46 PM
[Cadenza] Los Updates’ First If You Please full-length has the distinction of being not only the first artist album released on Luciano’s Cadenza imprint, but also hands-down the most disappointing thing the label has released to date — an uninspired set of tech-house tunes dragged down like an anchor by Jose Gonzalez’ cringe-worthy lyrics and […]
Sex Trothler, Sexplosion
October 27, 2008 – 8:46 PM
[Wagon Repair] “Through a leaking bodily cavity resembling the pork found in Chinese restaurants, Satan shat out a crystal beaming with glowing red embers. This crystal matured into the fetus of Seth Troxler.” Thus begins Beyond Booking’s bio for the artist behind “Sexplosion,” the newest EP on Wagon Repair. Both the absurdity and the extravagance […]
DJ Bone, Circus World EP
October 26, 2008 – 7:32 PM
[Subject Detroit] What sets apart DJ Bone and, indeed, his label Subject Detroit, from the pack is the rawness and energy coursing through their numerous releases. In “No Sleep (True To Da Roots),” Bone’s jaw-dropping EP for Sect Records, this was embodied in the hands-on method with which the tracks were arranged, each gridless rhythm […]
Lindstrøm, Where You Go I Go Too
October 23, 2008 – 7:12 PM
[Smalltown Supersound] Hans-Peter Lindstrøm can do wrong when he puts his mind to it. That was my second thought when I heard about his new album, Where You Go I Go Too and its epic 29-minute title track. My first reaction, like most people, was either “perfect” or “how perfect,” depending on how glib I […]
Quince, Genetrix EP
October 22, 2008 – 8:27 PM
[Music Man Records] Quince, aka Bram Sluiter (he’s also released a pair of singles as Quinn), follows up his “Expanding Contracting EP” on Delsin with a three-tracker on Music Man that further mines the pure electronic techno sound that’s been brought back into vogue of late. With a clear, cold eye on the floor and […]
Headhunter, Nomad
October 21, 2008 – 8:30 PM
[Tempa] I have to admit that it took me a while to warm to dubstep. The spare hypnotics of Shackleton and the inimitable, tinder dry soundscapes sculpted by Burial immediately appealed but then their interpretations on the medium are truly unique. It wasn’t until hearing the likes of TRG and Martyn that I opened up […]
Introductions are in order (the Per Bojsen-Moller edition)
October 21, 2008 – 8:28 PM
Hi, my name is Per Bojsen-Moller. I’m a half Danish, half New Zealand guy living in London doing my best to survive amidst what I am told is a knife crime infested, credit crunched, queuing obsessed city. I have been a writer of sorts since the mid-nineties and a DJ for several years longer. My […]
Sebo K, Diva
October 20, 2008 – 7:14 PM
[Mobilee] The past couple years have seen Watergate become a sensation in Berlin for steadfast techno lovers as well as semi-oblivious party people. While its billing reflects an intimate knowledge of underground dance culture, its eye-popping light show and posh décor attract plenty of average punters. As one of Watergate’s resident DJs, Sebo K’s style […]
Hercules & Love Affair @ The Metro
October 19, 2008 – 7:22 PM
Photos by Ivan Gaytan Unlike our rock fan peers, dance music enthusiasts are often unaccustomed to experiencing our favorite artists as live acts. And while laptops, midi controllers and Ableton now allow producers to stitch together “live PAs” with double clicks and knob twists, the experience is still closer to a DJ selecting and mixing […]
Dave Aju, Open Wide
October 15, 2008 – 8:59 PM
[Circus Company] San Francisco sound merchant Dave Aju has had the world waiting for Open Wide since his summertime smash “Crazy Place” was issued as a taster a few months back. Aju has always blended his house/techno with a smattering of outside influences, from funk to jazz and all points in between, and those styles […]
Pigon/Marcel Dettmann, Kamm/Plain
October 13, 2008 – 8:13 PM
[Beatstreet] In Marcel Dettmann’s rather enigmatic Discogs bio, we read that he sees techno as “a determination of both his life and music” which continually leads him on a “quest for the optimal track.” It’s a touch ridiculous in its overstatement, but it’s the kind of hyperbole that sheds a very bright light on Dettmann’s […]
Sound Stream, “Live” Goes On
October 12, 2008 – 5:56 PM
[Sound Stream] Whether as Soundhack, Sound Stream or half of Smith N Hack with Errorsmith, Frank Timm’s steady hand with an editor’s razor has been in great demand since the late 1990’s. But like a surgeon, Timm knows it’s not the number of cuts you make, but how well placed they are. His house/disco moniker, […]
LWE Podcast 08: Solomun
October 9, 2008 – 9:26 PM
The hard work and excellent tunes of Mladen Solomun and his cohorts have made Diynamic Music a do-it-yourself success. They’ve developed a potent niche of melodically colorful and highly textured tech-house — with an emphasis on all things plucked, including heartstrings — that resonates strongly with dancers and critics alike, one whose foundation rests on Solomun’s solo and collaborative releases. He’s also wowed with 12″s for Sonar Kollektiv, Four:Twenty, Dessous, Compost and liebe*detail. Although he DJs as Play, we hoped his signature Solomun style would shine through on this exclusive new mix. We were only left dancing, not disappointed, by his nearly 60 minute mix of sunny house and techno.
John Roberts, Hesitate
October 8, 2008 – 8:26 PM
[Dial] “Hesitate” is in the running for the most ironic title of the year. As John Roberts’ debut on the frequently great label Dial, the single begins with a hiccup of a listless groove that quickly fades as a facile tribute to the title — there are few actual hesitations on “Hesitate.” Roberts can afford […]
Win 2 tickets to see Larry Heard, Cassy, Jus-Ed @ Fabric
October 8, 2008 – 11:32 AM
Photo from Club Transmediale Fabric sure knows how to spoil you Londoners rotten. This Saturday they play host to a jealousy-enducing line up of legendary DJs and legends in the making: In room one you’ve got Craig Richards, Cabanne (live), Jus-Ed and Cassy. In room two is Terry Francis, Chicago’s own Kate Simko (live), and […]
Sten, The Essence
October 7, 2008 – 8:55 PM
[Dial] Dial co-founder Peter M. Karsten is better known under his more prolific Lawrence alias, but his recordings as Sten are just as worthy of attention. His second full-length album, The Essence, compiles (on the CD version, at least; the LP version varies slightly) three previous singles (including his most recent, “Way To The Stars” […]
Melchior Productions Ltd, Who Can Find Me EP
October 5, 2008 – 7:29 PM
[Cadenza] Last year Thomas Melchior revealed a darker side of his musical personality in his powerful second album, No Disco Future. With texture, repetition and context as the dominant themes, slits of light and shades of tone color shone through even brighter when they appeared in the elegiac strains of “Water Soul,” the reduced regal […]
Little White Earbuds September Charts
October 2, 2008 – 9:10 PM
Chart courtesy of The Economist. 01. Âme, Fabric 42 [Fabric] (buy) While few mixes have received many repeat listens at LWE HQ this year, Âme’s Fabric 42 has proven to be a huge exception. Not only does the mix mirror the sounds inspiring Âme’s own music, it’s woven together with a definite narrative and purpose, […]