Horizontal Ground, the companion label to Frozen Border, which itself has been responsible for three quick bursts of fearless techno, is now up to its second release of tracky tool time techno, the latest edition being even more bare and desolate than the first. Its incognito producer will keep the guessing game going and while some may argue that the anonymity of the minimal info tactic is geared toward building hype, the reality is that it manufactures a lot more focus on the music itself.
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Scuba, Aesaunic EP
October 21, 2009 – 10:01 AM
With its irreproachable roster of talent, Hotflush has become over the last couple of years a buy on sight label. Scuba himself has already provided one of the standout moments in dubstep this year with his “Klinik/Hundreds and Thousands” release, while Mount Kimbie’s “Sketch On Glass” emerged to leave critics slack jawed and saliva mawed at its recondite rhythms. Scuba’s new EP, lovingly spread over two slabs of vinyl will further fluster bass heads, encapsulating the breadth of his sound over five tracks ranging from blunt, fathomless ambient through to shimmering half steppers and steely, chrome-plated house.
Trickski, Lost Jams
October 15, 2009 – 10:01 PM
Jerome Derradji’s off-shoot label from Still Music continues to hit all the right buttons for lovers of pure unadulterated house, adding German duo Trickski to their list of contributors with number nineteen in the “Lost Jams” series. Yannick Labbé and Daniel Becker have certainly done their homework for this release, crafting two stunning tracks steeped in the feeling of Chicago and Detroit house that are made all the more impressive considering their regular musical ethos. Check one of their Sonar Kollektiv releases over the past few years and you’ll find a mechanical edge to their music, an almost robotic brashness when stacked up against the two cuts they proffer here on “Lost Jams.” These two tracks, collected on anonymous blacked out vinyl, evoke such a feeling of classic house you’ll be scratching your head asking yourself where you’ve heard them before, pondering whether the vocals are culled from some dusty old half forgotten track from the murky reaches of another time. In that sense what we’re dealing with here is undoubtedly derivative, but then the whole purpose of Stilove4music is to collate such classic sounding records suffused with the heritage to which they pay tribute.
Various Artists, Lo-Fi Soundsystem
October 7, 2009 – 10:01 AM
Stephen Hitchell continues to plumb the depths of dub-influenced techno to bring us further crucial low range soundscapes via the Echospace and Intrusion labels. His recent cv313 release “Sailing Stars” found him geting deliciously minimal with the cuts all employing a less is more approach to their output. Here Hitchell calls in assistance from kindred spirits Mildiou and Lo-Fi Soundsystem to further engage fans of dub-rooted house and techno.
Floating Points, Vacuum EP
September 21, 2009 – 10:01 PM
To say it has been a good year for Sam Shepard, aka Floating Points, is a gross understatement. He started 2009 as a relative unknown, but thanks to four faultless releases has quickly become an exciting new talent keenly watched by all manner of musical enthusiasts. His debut 7″ release, “For You,” quickly pricked up the ears of purveyors of chalky hip-hop and squashed funk before he grabbed the listening cavities of house heads with the endless cresting waves of sunshine on wax via “Love Me Like This.” Left-footed dubstep pundits were also sated with his “J&W Beat” twelve on Mu and now he returns with possibly his best work yet on his own imprint with the “Vacuum EP.”
Silent Servant/Santiago Salazar, La Noche/La Minoria
September 15, 2009 – 10:01 AM
The second installment from the vital Historia Y Violencia label tracks two further impeccable emissions from Messrs Mendez and Salazar. For “La Noche,” Silent Servant again digs deep into the vault of Basic Channel rhythms, weighing in with a concrete textured, knuckle scraping journey through some very gritty terrain. Obviously Silent Servant’s Sandwell District camp buddies have been rubbing off on him; the punishing, cruel as winter tones matched with luckless, dead end chords sounding every bit as menacing as an early Downwards release. While there is an ascendant trajectory propelling the chords, their path is narrow and ultimately circuitous, destined to travel the same bleak pathways time and again.
Various Artists, The First Wave
September 10, 2009 – 10:01 PM
With the sad passing of James Stinson of Drexciya some years ago, the dark aquatic electro sound of Detroit looked to be in decline, though in reality that has hardly been the case. Gerald Donald, the other half of Drexciya has kept busy with Dopplereffekt, Der Zyklus, and recording most recently under the name Heinrich Mueller. Sherard Ingram, aka DJ Stingray, sometime DJ for the mysterious outfit and member of Detroit techno supergroup Urban Tribe, has maintained the deep sea dwellers’ legacy through his own productions and now via his new Micron Audio label, which showcases a global community of like minded electro resistance fighters. The First Wave sampler throws up only one familiar name (apart from Stingray himself who features under the moniker DJS 313) in the shape of Aaron Atkins, nephew of Juan, who appears here under the name DJ XRAY. Other contributors include protégés from Greece, Italy, Belgium and Spain, all heavily reared on transmissions from the 313 area, which is surprising and heartening in equal parts given that some are barely out of their teens.
BBH: D’Pac, Everybody/Wouldn’t Lie
September 2, 2009 – 10:01 AM
It’s the deepness that first gets you when listening to this early Detroit house classic on the short lived Vicious Music label. The pads float on and on like endless clouds filling the sky, the bass burrowing beneath your feet, urging them to raise up and move. This 1992 record was one of only a handful of releases for the British born D’Pac who together with his brother had emigrated to Detroit via Toronto in the mid 80’s, before they moved back to Canada to focus on their Immigrant Soul project. Backed with the upfront house of “Wouldn’t Lie” featuring Terence FM on vocals, the cuts also had a helping hand from Chez Damier on production duties, which goes some way to explaining the unmistakable Detroit house sound.
Two Armadillos, Hawthorne’s Theme
August 26, 2009 – 10:01 PM
Having run one of London’s favorite parties for the better part of a decade, until recently it had been Giles Smith’s Secretsundaze co-resident James Priestley who was been getting all of the attention. Since teaming up with Martin Dawson (aka King Roc) as Two Armadillos, Smith has seen his share of the limelight as well. The pair have successfully assembled a tidy number of well received twelves that have curried favor with house DJs around the world. If there is one thing Two Armadillos have shown so far in their brief history, it’s that they know how to put a groove together and “Hawthorne’s Theme” is no exception to the rule.
BBH: Martha Wash, Runaround
August 19, 2009 – 10:01 AM
From a completely different era of clubbing when tracks had not quite taken over from the power of a song came one of the great dance floor anthems of the early nineties. Todd “The God” Terry was at the height of his powers; legendary for playing sets on four turntables entirely comprised of his own productions, almost as well known for his unmistakable syncopated snare heavy beats and having a bottomless bag of production monikers. He was already hugely popular for having redefined New York house music, essentially making it what it became, by fusing together elements of disco, Chicago house and Latin. He had already won over Europe and scored large by producing the crossover classic “I’ll House You” by The Jungle Brothers. He hadn’t quite reached the celebrity remixer status he enjoyed from the middle part of the 90’s when he inexorably helped along the career of Everything But The Girl with his anthemic remix of “Missing,” but he was well on his way with a litany of remixing credits to his name of the club stars du jour.
Seth Troxler & Matthew Dear, Hurt
August 17, 2009 – 10:01 PM
Sometimes you read about collaborations happening in the music industry and they’re almost impossible for your little ears to comprehend. What would really happen if two heavyweights like Prince and David Bowie collided in the studio? What if Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston finally had a musical purging of all their love and talent in a duet? Seeing Seth Troxler and Mathew Dear on the same ticket didn’t quite dredge up the mind boggling fascination of a Prince/Bowie merger or the morbid fascination of a Brown/Houston team up, but I admit there was a fair amount of due anticipation to hear their result.
Onur Özer, Kasmir Remixes 2
August 14, 2009 – 10:01 AM
It’s somewhat beyond me why we’re just now hearing the second remix package for Onur Özer’s Kasmir album two years after its release. Though it might seem a bit redundant, we’ve not heard much from the young Turk since Kasmir, so consider it a long overdue stopgap. Tardiness gripes aside, Özer will have bought himself a good chunk of time by enrolling Isolée and Baby Ford to remix “Innervoice” and “Aida” respectively as their interpretations will keep fans buzzing for some time.
Ben Klock, Remixes
August 9, 2009 – 10:01 PM
It may seem like a long time to allow six months to pass since the release of your album before issuing a remix package, but given the strength of the three remixes here I would imagine OstGut Ton and Ben Klock knew exactly what they were doing. For “Remixes” he enlists the expertise of an older generation of producers to interpret his tracks (admittedly the identity of Sandwell District, who appears here as an artist rather than the label, is presently still debatable) and that wealth of knowledge shines through.
Margaret Dygas, Invisible Circles
August 4, 2009 – 10:00 AM
Her first two releases showcased a producer with a penchant for oblique, compelling electronic arrangements. The third finds Margaret Dygas hitching up her dance floor britches while keeping the thrilling patchwork of ideas inherent from her beginnings. Now residing in Berlin, Dygas has perhaps drawn on inspiration garnered from playing in the clubs there for this late night minimal two tracker.
Lusine, Two Dots
July 28, 2009 – 9:01 PM
Given that Jeff McIlwain aka Lusine has studied sound design for music and film it’s no surprise his productions are filled with a deeper than usual sense of atmosphere. Counting film scores among his recent projects also explains why we haven’t heard much from the Texan for the past few years. “Two Dots” is, in fact, his first proper release since 2006’s “Emerald EP,” and it finds McIlwain refreshed from his film score sabbatical. A significantly more pop-based affair than the majority of his previous output, “Two Dots” is released ahead of the forthcoming A Certain Distance album, and features the sprightly, lilting vocals of Finnish songstress Vilja Larjosto.
Shonky, Chocotox EP
July 20, 2009 – 11:30 PM
When choosing a name for your production alter ego it can be fun to take the piss. The playfulness of a good moniker is suited to a music as carefree as its characters, perhaps nowhere more so than within the world of electronic music. 2 Phat Cunts was a one-time pseudonym adopted by BT and Sasha for a late nineties breakbeat collab called “Ride,” while Mancunians Ben Davis, Dick Johnson and Kiwi house DJ Soane flew under the Troughman banner (it referred to a certain eccentric who liked to lay in wait in the city’s club urinals for someone to water him) for the track “La Sourcier.” French DJ and producer Shonky has been active for about four years, so carrying on the personality of one who is “of slightly dubious quality or performance” is somewhat of a brave move, especially if some of your output lives up to your namesake.
Brock Van Wey, White Clouds Drift On and On
July 17, 2009 – 10:59 AM
With a faultless series of releases focused on ambient and dubby techno textures, Brock Van Wey — perhaps better known as Bvdub, has rapidly become an indispensable fixture of the deeper side of electronica. His latest long player is broken into two parts, with kindred spirit Intrusion offering interpretations of the six tracks in reverse order for the second part of the album. The album’s inspiration is hinted at in the liner notes which feature a poem by Chinese poet Wang Wei, the last line of which is adopted by Van Wey for the album title.
BBH: Dark Comedy, Plankton/Clavia’s North
July 1, 2009 – 10:13 AM
One of the spearheads of Detroit’s second wave of techno producers, Kenny Larkin has been responsible for some of the most spine tingling moments in the history of techno. It’s a fact that’s often overlooked, but his stunning discography leaves no doubt this is the case. With time spent repairing computers for the Air Force and an intended career in stand up comedy, Larkin’s entry into the Detroit scene was slightly delayed, though perhaps time spent examining the inner mechanics of machines helped with his productions. Before the release of this stone cold classic in 1997 he had already unleashed the brilliant Azimuth album, a string of singles, and under the Dark Comedy moniker the techno epic “War Of The Worlds.” With the issue of “Plankton,” backed with the equally mesmerizing “Clavia’s North” (on limited clear vinyl no less) Larkin’s reputation as a master craftsman of electronic communication reached a new high.
Robag Wruhme, Abusus Adde
June 30, 2009 – 10:54 PM
They may not happen with the greatest frequency but one thing is assured upon tracking down a new Robag Wruhme release — you will be entertained. The veteran producer has a knack of injecting his tracks with a certain buoyancy and mirth that few others manage to conjure with each successive release. The latest on Vakant, “Abusus Adde,” finds Mr. Schablitzki in top maniacal form, with three cuts that not only prove to be weighty peak time contenders but also remind you dance music is meant to be fun.