For our first 2Q Report of 2013, staff writer Brandon Bussolini provides and overview of the five most essential albums of the year thus far.
moritz von oswald
LWE Reviews MUTEK 2013
After taking time to collect their thoughts, Steve Mizek and Steve Kerr offer their take on MUTEK’s 14th edition in Montreal.
Little White Earbuds May Charts 2013
01. DJ Overdose, “Housing the House”
[Lunar Disko Records]
02. The Citizen’s Band, The Softest Touch”
Live At Robert Johnson]
03. Leonid, “SD2” [Photic Fields]
04. Koehler, “Kiss Me Deadly” [Skudge White]
05. Stellar OM Source, “Elite Excel” (Kassem Mosse Remix) [RVNG Intl.]
06. Juan Atkins & Moritz von Oswald, “Electric Garden” [Tresor]
07. DJ Sprinkles, Where Dancefloors Stand Still [Mule Musiq]
08. Djrum, “Honey” [2nd Drop Records]
09. Outboxx, “Sunshine Mills” [Idle Hands]
10. Juju & Jordash, “A Stab In The Dark” [Ostgut Ton]
Juan Atkins & Moritz von Oswald, Borderland
Reviving the collaborative spirit which brought them together in the 90s, Juan Atkins and Moritz von Oswald offer a singular sound on Borderland which fuses together the best elements of both producers.
Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Fetch
Fetch finds the Moritz Von Oswald Trio expanding their sonic remit even further from their original longplayer revelation.
Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Horizontal Structures
Where Vertical Ascent was made up of four discrete and easily approachable tracks, Horizontal Structures works most effectively as an entire set, one you may find a bit difficult to fully digest.
Marc Romboy vs. Stephan Bodzin, Phobos
Systematic waited five years to release an EP dedicated to remixes of Marc Romboy and Stephan Bodzin’s “Phobos.” The Moritz Von Oswald and Pan-Pot remixes were worth the wait.
LWE Does Unsound Festival New York
Since 2003, the Unsound Festival has been about bringing the disparate impulses inherent in electronic music under one roof — a music event urging you to scratch your chin one minute and dance your ass off the next. Presenting itself like a film festival but booked like a forward-thinking summertime weekender, Unsound has consistently showcased brilliant and challenging new sounds without ripping them from their underground trappings. Any music festival as likely to feature Sunn 0))) as Zomby is sure to pique my interest, but by nature of it happening in Krakow, Poland, its ridiculously open bookings stood quite a bit out of my reach. New York City — its population overeducated, overstimulated, and relatively accepting of high-end dance music thanks in no small part to Beyond Booking’s forward-thinking Bunker parties — always seemed like the perfect candidate for something like Unsound, and for a week in February 2010, my fair city got it. And not even a knock-off, either! The Unsound Festival New York brought a truly impressive and deliciously diverse line-up of electronic musicians — asking you to ponder, get down, or do both at once — to underground venues across Manhattan and Brooklyn. And I was lucky enough to trudge through New York’s famous February weather to witness the festival on Little White Earbuds’s behalf. (Very big ups are due to Gamall Awad of Backspin Promotions for making this possible.)
LWE Interviews Moritz Von Oswald
Moritz Von Oswald is simultaneously one of the most influential and enigmatic figures in techno. As part of Basic Channel, Maurizio, Rhythm and Sound, and other configurations with Mark Ernestus and a revolving cast of musicians and vocalists, Von Oswald became one of Europe’s first techno innovators. Basic Channel defined dance minimalism early on, both through a love of repetition as a form of change, and a willingness to let the music speak for itself. More recently, Von Oswald has demonstrated that his reach extends far past the dub-inflected electronic soundscapes he helped introduce to dance music, with stunning remixes of not just Tony Allen, but also Ravel and Mussorgsky. Finally, last year’s Vertical Ascent matched Von Oswald with Sasu Ripatti (Vladislav Delay, Luomo) and Max Loderbauer (nsi, Sun Electric) in an improvisational group, yielding a standout release of 2009 by any measure. LWE had the distinct privilege of speaking with Moritz Von Oswald in advance of his trio’s American debut at New York’s Unsound Festival. Like his music itself, Von Oswald’s approach to thinking about music is simple and direct. But like his music, depth and complexity are immediately apparent.
Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Vertical Ascent
“Live” is a tricky word in electronic music. Live sets, even by favorite producers, are too often disappointing. In reducing performance to a traditional recital mode, selections are limited to the artist in question’s own tracks, a sense of flow can get lost in the shuffle, and worst of all, the performer is frequently seen doing little more than staring at a computer screen, occasionally clicking. The effects of this approach — not naming any names, but I’ve heard laptop sets which featured a sound uncannily reminiscent of the “you’ve got mail” tone — can be frustrating at best, depressing at worst. Part of what’s exciting about electronic dance music is the spontaneous flux, the dispersed authorship, the paradoxical live-ness of a great DJ set. So what’s the point of “live” performance, anyway?
BBH: 3MB feat. Magic Juan Atkins, Jazz Is The Teacher
By 1992, the spiritual kinship between the cities of Detroit and Berlin had existed for years. But despite the invisible conduit of ideas and inspiration flowing back and forth between the world’s electronic dance music capitols, there was precious little actual collaboration to show for it — just a handful of tracks, really, though a symbiosis of ideas and a definitive kinship was in full flower. 3MB was the German half of the equation, featuring Moritz von Oswald and Thomas Fehlmann who would go on to produce pioneering music of their own. The pair had worked a year previous with Detroit techno pioneer Eddie “Flashin” Fowlkes, though the group only truly collaborated on two tracks on the double LP released under their names. By all accounts, however, the work between Atkins, von Oswald and Fehlmann was a true melting pot, the music showcased on the group’s self-titled double LP released by Tresor in 1993.
Carl Craig & Moritz von Oswald, ReComposed – New Mixes By Ricardo Villalobos & Carl Craig
[Deutsche Grammophon] The third volume of Deutsche Grammophon’s “ReComposed” series was a match made in heaven: longtime friends and past collaborators Carl Craig and Moritz von Oswald teaming up to “recompose” classical pieces by Modest Mussorgsky and Maurice Ravel in their own inimitable styles. The resulting LP was one of 2008’s finest, and just before […]
Sebbo, Watamu Beach
[Desolat] After an unusually brutal and excessively long winter, my senses are clamoring for anything that can transport me to a balmy clime. Lately that’s meant repeated spins of “Watamu Beach,” the latest from Sebbo (aka Sebastian Suckfüll). Whether the Würzburg-based producer’s had the pleasure of visiting the idyllic region of Kenya (a part of […]