To many, Ben Klock is techno. Given his lengthy CV, this is hardly surprising. LWE sat down with Klock in New York to talk about the ’90s, the warmth of Berghain techno and his dad’s experience at the club.
ostgut ton
DOTW: Steffi, Mine
February 18, 2011 – 11:01 AM
This week’s download comes from Steffi’s debut album and it’s a corker.
Steffi, Yours & Mine
February 17, 2011 – 11:01 AM
Steffi’s debut album, Yours & Mine stays true to her club-friendly house sound and adds personal touches rather than genre polemics.
Rolando, 5 To 8 EP
February 8, 2011 – 1:01 AM
The 5 To 8 EP is neither DJ Rolando’s nor the label’s finest hour in purely musical terms, but as Ben Klock revealed on his stately Berghain 04 mix, these tracks can do a lot of work.
Ben Klock, Compression Session
November 25, 2010 – 1:01 AM
Compression Session, Ben Klock’s latest EP for Ostgut Ton, offers up some of his most melodic work in recent memory.
Various Artists, Fünf
October 26, 2010 – 10:01 AM
The celebration of Ostgut Ton’s fifth birthday is a 2-CD compilation containing all new material from nearly everyone ever associated with the label.
Little White Earbuds Interviews Shed
September 15, 2010 – 10:01 AM
In this incredibly candid interview, René Pawlowitz — best known to the world as Shed — filled us in on his typical creative process, his misgivings with the general state of techno, and the burden of having a moniker that sticks.
DOTW: Shed, No Way!
September 10, 2010 – 10:32 AM
Shed shares “No Way!” exclusively with Little White Earbuds as our Download of the Week.
Shed, The Traveller
August 31, 2010 – 10:01 AM
Where past Pawlowitz records have fit beautifully into a straight line, the fourteen tracks on Shed’s The Traveller tie the filament in knots or scramble it in nearly inscrutable code.
Ben Klock, Berghain 04
July 15, 2010 – 10:01 AM
Ostgut Ton has always been about placing techno and house above the fray, and that’s precisely where Berghain 04 is simmering. Ben Klock has given us a commercial-free statement on techno executed artfully.
Marcel Fengler, Thwack
June 16, 2010 – 10:01 PM
Bigger, punchier, and more self-assured than Marcel Fengler’s previous string of 12″s for Ostgut Ton, the Thwack EP doesn’t just sound like the work of a hungry young producer; he sounds like he’d eat the whole party sub at the coming-out soiree we critics finally owe him.
Marcel Dettmann, Dettmann
June 1, 2010 – 10:01 AM
While it’s at times painfully monochrome, Dettmann certainly succeeds both as an expansion and as a fine-tuning of Marcel Dettmann’s aesthetic.
Marcel Dettmann, Dettmann Remixed
March 31, 2010 – 10:01 PM
Expectations greatly inform our record buying habits. What do you expect from Marcel Dettmann? If previous releases are to be believed it’s stripped down, no nonsense techno. What about from his friends Norman Nodge and the either incognito or actually-a-newcomer Wincent Kunth? More or less the same thing, and that is exactly what’s on display here with four remixes of Dettmann material which didn’t make the album.
Scuba, Sub:stance
February 18, 2010 – 11:01 AM
It’s hard to resist beginning any discussion of an Ostgut Ton release — be it a single, album, or mix compilation — without discussing the room from which its artist ostensibly drew his or her inspiration. Berghain, with its veritable pipe organ of Funktion One stacks pushing sweaty air into lofty post-industrial buttresses, is particularly susceptible to this line of thinking. As evidenced by the sandpaper highs and sucker-punch lows adopted by just about anyone who’s been at (or looking to get their records to) the club’s helm, Berghain begs producers to push its acoustic buttons in extremely particular ways.
Steffi ft. Elif Biçer, Kill Me
February 16, 2010 – 11:01 AM
One of Ostgut Ton’s greatest strengths has always been the canny A&R work involved in each release. Their ear for talent is nearly unmatched in contemporary house and techno, having provided big breaks for Marcel Dettmann, Ben Klock, Tama Sumo and Marcel Fengler, and hosted career milestones by Shed, Prosumer & Murat Tepeli, and Cassy. Yet there is no sign of Ostgut Ton resting on their laurels or their reputation as the label arm of Berlin’s most highly regarded clubs. The imprint’s first release of 2010 is also Panorama Bar resident Steffi’s debut solo single, one so skillfully and confidently produced it all but insures everyone involved will reap rewards for their efforts.
Planetary Assault Systems, Remixes
January 11, 2010 – 11:01 PM
If Luke Slater’s Temporary Suspension reminded us anything, it’s that the rough techno waves being made by your Dettmanns and Levons are not without precedent, and that techno veterans are keen to be still be part of the sound they, in many ways, defined. For every Delta Funktionen or Frozen Border looking to offer their new take on techno there’s a Regis, Robert Hood or James Ruskin picking up the 909 again and getting back to work. Ostgut Ton chose Hood and Kenny Larkin to remix Ben Klock; and so, in a sort of antisymmetry, they choose some of the most influential producers of the past couple years to remix one of the 90’s more influential figures.
Tama Sumo, Panorama Bar 02
November 6, 2009 – 11:01 AM
In his LWE interview with Will Lynch, Seth Troxler let this morsel slip about Berlin’s famed club scene: “…it feels like people are going through the motions sometimes, you know?” When he comes to America, he goes on to say, “it’s a lot easier to blow people’s minds.” I haven’t partied in Berlin since the fall of 2006, so I can’t weigh in personally. But I got to thinking again about Troxler’s bittersweet observation while listening to the latest Ostgut Ton mix, Tama Sumo’s Panorama Bar 02. Unlike Cassy’s epochal Panorama Bar 01, mixed at the height of Berlin’s mythical status among underground club music heads, or Marcel Dettmann’s techno masterclass Berghain 02, Tama Sumo’s mix feels less like a codification of a local sound than a nudge towards getting a legendary dance floor excited again.
Basic Soul Unit/Lerosa, Panorama Bar 02 Part I
October 19, 2009 – 10:01 PM
Ostgut Ton have made quite an impact with their mix CDs. Both timely and timeless, the Berghain and Panorama Bar residents always try to create something lasting; indeed, the first Panorama Bar CD by Cassy has yet to leave my mix CD rotation. With high standards in mind, anticipation for Panorama Bar 02 grows every day, not least thanks to two teaser 12″s Ostgut Ton releases containing exclusive tracks from the CD. “Part I” features the talents of Toronto’s Basic Soul Unit and Dublin-based Lerosa, and is soon to be followed by contributions from Levon Vincent and Panorama Bar resident Steffi.