2009: Five Mixes

The second part of our review of 09 focuses on the mixes. Compared to a decade ago, the volume of available downloadable mixes and podcasts has increased exponentially. With this increase in volume has perhaps come an increased disposability of music and I find I have a much shorter attentions span when listening to mixes than I used to. Looking through my podcasts on itunes, there's no less than twenty different subscriptions I have that I regularly check, not to mention feeds that feature mixes that don't crop up in itunes. So with such a huge volume of music, how is it possible to listen to and really appreciate what different people are doing? I find that I regularly ignore sets by artists I'm less familiar with, or give them the skip through rather than listen to the entire mix. I've missed some really good mixes this year doing this- Sigha's Hotflush podcast for example, which I've only just discovered.

Anyway, back to the point of this post. Out of all the mixes I've listened to this year, and the list is by no means exhaustive, I've chosen five that I have listened to and enjoyed most often. I've tried to keep away from the best known artists and biggest mix series, as these are well known and documented. The mixes I've chosen have been selected as these mixes offered something that stood out from the crowd. In four cases, these were artists/DJ's I didn't know much about but found them a fantastic listen; in one case the mix just seemed to fit my mood at the time. All explored sounds that were on the edge of my radar and so were somehow educational as well as being an enjoyable listen. So here we go, in no particular order, MJ's top 5 mixes of 09:


Pendle Coven - Fact mix



























Pendle Coven's FACT mix from March showcased dubby techno old and new founded on the unique gritty sound of Manchester's Modern Love Records. Some great tracks from the likes of Wax, Larry Heard, G-Man and Tres Demented, as well as a good dose from Modern Love and its sub-label Daphne. If this is your bag, Modern Love's showcase for XLR8R is also worth a listen.



SMA - Process 132 (The Lost Library)

















This was the first mix i'd heard by SMA, but is only one of a whole string i've downloaded this year. The mix for Modyfier focused on slow house, but includes deep house, dubby, moody techno, and slowed down dubstep. Since this mix I've become a fan of Sebastian and his blog- check it out for more deep house mixes. A close second favourite from SMA is his slow techno mix Mars Rising, check that out here.



CB - Colony 006




















Colony host some great parties down in London town that cross genres from techno to dubstep to IDM and d&b. The guys also have a series of mixes online for download that showcase their sound- this is my favourite of the series by CB, a deep dubstep mix. Colony have recently been featured in Random Circuits Random Residency as well, with a technofied dubstep mix by MB.



Pan Pot - Mobilee Podcast 008 : Day/Night




























This mix came out at just as summer emerged in Cardiff, and fitted my mood perfectly. Apparently recorded poolside at Sonar, this two part mix for the Mobilee podcast starts with an hour of summery techhouse before moving into the early hours with a darker techy set from later in the evening. Some great tech tracks on there, but no tracklist I'm afraid.



Goldwill - HIAF Guest Mix 13




























Ronan Fitzgerald's House is a Feeling blog has been quiet this year, but for a couple of mix releases, the best of which was this from Goldwill. Traversing dubby techno, deep and techy house and a bit of techno and starting off with the sublime Birds by John Daly and including Ribn's Ctrl on Styrax and the Daschund mix of Chaton, two of my favourite records of the year.

2009 : Five EP's & LP's

We've been a bit slow to compile our best of 09 lists, but better late than never... to kick off, MJ rounds up his best of 09 extended and long players:


Redshape - The Dance Paradox LP
Redshape has peeked out from behind his iconic red mask to release what could well be the album of the year in the shape of The Dance Paradox. Slower house and techno rhythms combine with classic detroit sounds in an album that looks to the future of techno while leaning heavily on its past.





Shackleton - 3 EP's
Again this year Shackleton has been at the cutting edge of the dubstep/techno crossover- his excellent 3 EP's on the mighty Perlon combined his experimental dubstep sensibilities with Berlin house and techno. A great release from a unique artist.





Ben Klock - One
Ben Klock's One is the first album from and of the the Berghain residents, and as you'd expect it's a techno album through and through. Any of these tracks could fit the Berghain floor, from ambient early evening experiments through flirtations with dubstepping rhythms to peak time action. Both the album itself, the precursor EP 'Before One' and the remix releases are well worth a listen.





2562 - Unbalance
Dave Huismans continued to explore the boundaries of house, techno, dubstep and garage this year, with great releases from his 2562 and A Made Up Sound aliasses. While AMUS explores the fusion of house and techno, 2562 produces more of a straight up dubstep sound- Unbalance, his second album, is perhaps lighter sounding than last year's Aerial and showcases a unique sound that combines layers of warm bass with gleaming synths and bursts of colour.





Moritz von Oswald Trio: Vertical Ascent
MvO Trio are Moritz Von Oswald, Vladislav Delay and Max Loderbauer who have performed together on numerous occasions as a live act. This EP is a showcase of the best of these live performances; each Pattern of between seven and fourteen minutes is an organic exploration of african rhythms, unruly synths and heaving percussion. There's so much depth in each track that this gives something new on each listen and as with most Moritz keeps you coming back for more.

WAX..... On

Saturday 6th February @ Cardiff Arts Institute : WAX Launch Night

Line up

KIT GRILL(VESSEL MUSIC)

GARETH POTTER (CRUNCH)

HOTPROPERTY

OBLIQUE DJ'S

DOUGIE FRESH

Wax is a new night supported by a community of music lovers that enjoy deep, dubbed out electronic music. Each month Wax will rotate and program a selection of artists and DJ's to provide a fresh alternative on underground dance music. Launching on Saturday 6th February with the founder of Vessel Music, Kit Grill. Gareth Potter of South Wales's much loved underground parties, Crunch alongside HotProperty, Oblique DJs and Dougie Fresh will also be at hand to get you into the groove. Forget fashion and fads, Wax is about expression, enjoying yourself, meeting people, sharing a good night and good old fashioned dancing.

Cardiff Arts Institute - Powered by Funktion1 Audio
29 Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3BA
£2/3 from 8pm

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wax/339715420386?v=info&ref=mf

http://www.myspace.com/waxcardiff

http://www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?133035

Wednesday Mix Up

A selection of mixes that have been tantalising my ear'oles this month, there's some good stuff out there right now. As usual, a while range of mixes from the deep to the pounding:

Perc October Promo
I've been listening to this for a while now, and its another great techno mix from Perc that has a few dubsteppers thrown in for a good measure. Great tracks from Xhin, Denhert, Ruskin, Scuba, Dettmann and so on. Also worth checking is Perc's podcast for Clubbed Up, available through I Tunes.

Emptyset
Emptyset, who recently released a new album through Caravan Recordings, have had a superb mix hosted on Sonic Router and an in depth interview with the guys. Growing from the ambient Fennesz, through Mortiz and Villalobos into broken techno and gritty dubstep, This mix is one of my favourite mixes I've heard this year, really inspirational stuff. Contacting Emptyset after hearing it, they pointed us in the direction of a more recent DJ mix they've put together, which has a similar feel and equally wide range- AFX, Substance, Shed, Mills, A Made Up Sound, Seldom Felt, Radioslave..... the list goes on. Highly recommended.

SMA
SMA is another artist who has been a revelation this year. His Modyfier and Mars Rising mixes were expertly pitched mixes of slow house and techno. His latest is a deep house that includes John Daly's awesome Birds (anyone know where I can get this?), Delano Smith, Steffi, Soulphiction, Motor City Drum Ensemble and Baaz. Perfect for the walk to work I reckon.

Slam
As usual the Soma Podcast broadcasts warm up sets form the Sub Club, this time Slam's warm up for Anja Schneider in October. A nice, deep and dubby mix, mmmm yeah.... includes Jim Rivers remixed by Cardiff based DJ/producer Paul Lorraine.

Bodytonic
Finally, for anyone who's missed these, Bodytonic has had some fantastic mixes of late. Samuel L Sessions delivers number 58 in the series- I was a ling time fan of SLS about 6 years ago, I think I've got a stash of his loopy funky techno records somewhere. Here he crafts a mix that moves at a fair pace from deep techno through to harder gear from the Berghain crew, great stuff and great mixing.

Also worth checking are Elemental's live set (a slightly hapier version of Shackleton?), Van Rivers techno workout (XDB, Dettmann, Gorman, Stott, Ruskin) and finally Carl Craig's Detroit inspiration mix.

Post-Decade:Dance comedown

Thanks to all who braved the Cardiff weather to come along to the Decade:Dance, we had a great time! Thanks to Chris Dorn and Potter for a DC10 flavoured hour, and to Matt Joy and Owain K for a superb back to back set of classic house and techno. Check out the photos below, and see you next time!

Decade:Dance 3. Eastgood Sound

Third in the series of Decade:Dance mixes - and the first from Thomas. Warming up to late-night Friday, listen to a sample of Ostgut material and some others recorded in Autumn 2008 in Berlin. From Ben Klock To Marcel Dettmann et al. Enjoy.

Eastgood Sound

Ok, less than a week to go until the Decade:Dance, so it's time for a second mix. This time from about 2005- a minimal/tech mix with tracks from Nathan Fake, Domenic Eulberg, Miss Kittin, Tommie Nevada, Dinky and Tobi Neumann. Listen and enjoy.

Lerosa on Hybridise

I've downloaded a few tracks from Dublin's Lerosa recently that I've really enjoyed- his 'Plesso' for Ostgut is great, and his Donato Dozzy collab 'Snakes at Number 2' Ep is superb, really deep, slow techno- Acid Snake clocks in at 100bpm... that's positively lazy! Check out the RA review of that here.

Anyway, trawling the web I came across Franco Cangelli's Hybridise blog, which is a new one to me but well worth a look. I don't know much about Franco and the blog doesn't give much away. I only know him from his charts on Juno, which are always full of good stuff, and his release on Mawar earlier this year. Alongside some interesting looking mixes from Franco, Hybridise are currently hosting a Lerosa mixes Lerosa mix , a set of his own releases and remixes that is a great introduction to his sound and well worth a listen. Check the tracklist below:

Russell – Real Soon

Franco Cangelli – Innocence In A Jar (Lerosa Remix) – Mowar

Regret – D1

Clique – Real Soon

Seeker – Enclave

Circadia – Millions of Moments

Lovers bleed – Millions of Moments

Plesso – Ostgut

Dark Knight – A Touch of Class

One Year Friends – Enclave

Much Later – Uzuri

Triage – Quintessentials

Abby – Uzuri

Buddy system – Quintessentials

Andy Vaz – Hurry, Hurry Remix (Lerosa Mix) – Yore

Pussy – Enclave

Building up to our Decade:Dance on 4th December here in Cardiff, we are reliving some old memories through our mixes from the last decade. First up is a mix I recorded in about 2003 (ish), a fast paced techno mix. Expect Envoy, Slam, Vince Watson, Drama Society, Funk D Void, some Nathan Fake, before heading into harder techno territory. Hope you like it!

time for a look back...

A note from home.....

Birmingham boy Regis has produced this mix for FACT entitled Built on Sand: A Birmingham Sampler 1978-86. It's not what you'd expect from the man behind British Murder Boys and Sandwell District. Both Regis and Silent Servant have expressed their love of 'other' forms of music than their trademark techno, and that's what's showcased here as FACT say:

"The mix concerns itself with Birmingham's vibrant but infamously fragmented and undervalued punk and post-punk scene of the late 70s and early 80s, and features amazing music by familiar artists like the Au Pairs and Swell Maps as well as more obscure nuggets from the likes of Spizzenergi. Mixed and edited with all the punch and precision we've come to expect from Regis, this is a blisteringly enjoyable listen and an invaluable history lesson to boot. Download it, and enjoy. "

As a Birmingham boy, I'd recommend everyone downloads a piece of the "Bermuda Triangle of success" that falls between the M6, M5 and M42. It makes for 'different' listening at least....

Modern Lovelies

A short post this time- Mary Anne Hobbs featured a guest mix from the Manchester-based Modern Love on her BBC Radio 1 show this week. Half an hour of deepness featuring all unreleased material, now that that can't be bad....

It's slightly more on the steppy end of the spectrum, but starts with some nice deep techno. New stuff from all the usual Modern Love suspects- Andy Stott, Claro, MLZ, Pendle Coven, Millie and Hate- winter looks to be hotting up nicely!

“Ouch! Passion must prevail!”

I've come across an interesting article about new Cardiff venue The Cardiff Arts Institute. The commentary voices feelings I share about the scene in the city- Cardiff has been going through somewhat bleak period of late. It has seen some much loved venues closing due largely due to political reasons, and reports from several of big name promoters are that the city isn't what it was before longer licensing hours for bars and pubs. For smaller promoters like ourselves, there's few decent venues about, and even fewer that offer a good sound system and staff. The city is begging for decent places to dance, so much so that promoters have started thinking "outside the box" as they say in management speak; Perhaps the best example is Backroom eschewing clubs altogether and using disused bank vaults to throw parties. As Kai puts it in the review, "Sometimes you’re faced with the grim reality that what Cardiff needs, Cardiff never gets." Having lived here for nearly ten years, that ain't far from the truth.

The CAI might be about to change all that. Set up by 580 ltd (also responsible for Field Day, the Lock Tavern, the Start the Bus and the Adventures in the Beetroot Field club nights and apparently run by Jon Carter), the venue has the potential to freshen up the Cardiff scene, offering something different to the standard bar setup, and boasting a Funktion 1 sound system to boot. Here's what they say they plan to do:

CAI Manifesto:

We aim to:

1. Offer a platform to encourage collaboration, participation and activity.
2. Stimulate and innovate in our city.
3. Forever evolve.
4. Help make it happen.
5. Discover new ways of thinking through interaction, communication and union.
6. Nurture and celebrate new talent.
7. Use no artificial colours or preservatives.
8. Stay up late and break the rules.
9. Listen to you: mail@cardiffartsinstitute.org

Well, it'll be interesting to see if they can do all or any of that, or indeed what impact the arrival of CAI will have on the city. The first month's line up looks promising, including local bands and DJ's and respected performers such as The Apples and Jon Carter. At the moment it feels like this will be something new- let's wait and see what develops- until then, I look forward to checking it out!

New arrivals to banish boredom

Recently I've found that I've been a bit bored. I've not bought much music for the past few months, and what I have bought has been from beyond my normal boundaries or it's been older tracks that I've been after for a while. I don't know why I've suddenly lost interest. Maybe its an autumn thing? I always find that my tastes tend towards a darker more atmospheric sound as winter draws in; perhaps its the start of this transition? Or maybe everything has gone a bit stale?

Well, having been at a musical loose end, in the last week or so i've found a few things that have started to draw me from my sleep. Most of these have been genre-defying treats that step beyond their boundaries to deliver something fresh, something new that pricks up the ears, but also draw on classic sounds and re-interpret tried and tested formula.

Redshape's Dance Paradox LP on Delsin looks from first impressions like it will be one of my albums of the year. Drawing on his unique retro sci-fi sound (if such a think can exist), the album delivers 8 mid-tempo tracks that draw inspiration from 90's techno, reworked in his inimitable style. Stand out tracks for me are album closer 'Dark & Sticky', a Workshop/Dettmann-esque crunchy slow shuffler and the broken beat, dub chord-ridden 'Man out of time'.































The return of the excellent Random Circuits blog (with added redesign) has brought some welcome treats. RC have had a series of deeper than deep guest mixes in the past that included podcasts by Taron Trekka, Vince Watson, Baaz, Langenberg, Anonm and my favourite from Rising Sun. Their rebirth has seen the launch of a new series called the Random Residency, designed to showcase residents from interesting clubnights. The first from Noah Gibson, author of The Futurist blog and resident at The Office in Stockholm is a Berghain influenced techno mix and interview.

The second features MB, resident at Colony, one of the most interesting nights currently running in London. The line ups at Colony are always eclectic, covering techno, dubstep, d&b and IDM- recent nights have hosted Noah Gibson, MLZ, Braiden, Chris Box, Untold.... and their next two parties see Perc, Kevin Gorman, Millie & Andrea and Ben UFO playing! Hmm, I think I might have to pop along to one of those- there's a couple of potential Oblique targets on that list... Colony have in the past hosted a superb series of resident mixes on their myspace, and MB's mix continues that trend- starting with dubby techno from Demidike Stare and Brendon Moeller and tech-stepping from Scuba towards Surgeon, this is an inspirational mix. Also worth a look is a mix by RC new boy Nihal Ramchandani, a grooving dubstep/deep house/techno mix.

Finally, a FACT article caught my attention this week- following on from their industrial-sounding Mnml Ssgs mix and the release of AM04, FACT have a lengthy interview with Ancient Methods. Although often too heavy for my ears, this interview suggests that maybe its not such a bad idea to look to the past for inspiration, that to be constantly searching for the new is not the only approach to music. Techno seems to be rediscovering its history- you only need to check out recent releases such as James Ruskin's Outsider to hear the early techno influence.

And I think that is what i'm feeling at the moment, and what all the items i've mentioned here suggest: Maybe it's ok that there's no 'next big thing' emerging to bring me from boredom. At the end of a decade, perhaps it is time to look back and to reflect on the legacy of electronic music, and let that influence the future.

A plug...

A shameless plug for a blog from Thomas, only on image and graphical things.

Peruse at will.

http://subtractivescent.blogspot.com/

Merci.

Opinions sought on a new identity for Oblique. These have been produced this afternoon, whilst listening to the timeless simplicity of Daniel Bell Live.

'Meanwhile, back in Africa...'

Let us know if you have an opinion.

Will post a link to the DBX set from Melkweg. Truly classic minimalism.

Logo A:

Logo B:

Logo C:

Logo D:

Logo E:

Logo F:

Thurday Mix Up

A few sets that have been on my ipod recently. A real mix of moods, from laid back electronica to full on techno:

Oliver Deutschmann mix for keep-it-deep
Just found this one, a really deep mix by the Vidab man and there's an interview in German for anyone fluent enough on the keep-it-deep blog. I couldn't understand a word, but the mix speaks for itself- deep house and techno all the way.

Kowton's Blackdown mix:
Is this dubstep for house heads, or house for dubsteppers? Either way Bristolian Kowton seems to have developed a unique sound, a slow, dark and groovy take on dubstep.

Phillip Sherburne's Unsound 2009 mix:
Now this is a beauty, a mix of as many artists from the Unsound festival as could be squeezed into 97 minutes. This mix combines live/traditional mixing and Ableton sequencing in a really innovative way- you can read all about the process over at Modyfier here. Not knowing much electronica, this eclectic mix was a real eye opener as much as anything else- really worth a listen.

Surgeon Bunker podcast:
Over three hours long, and featuring an eclectic range of records, this is one of my favourite Surgeon mixes. Recorded live from the Bunker, Surgeon really programmes the builds and drops nicely through a mix of rock hard techno that features a few unexpected tracks and a few classics.

Max Cooper Modyfier mix:
A second Modyfier mix, this time from Max Cooper. Max is definitely an emerging talent to keep an eye on. His take on techno combines Border community leftfield-ness with some progressive minimalism to great effect.

And a few others I'm sure everyone's seen but just in case they've been missed the following are well worth a look: The fantastic Sandwell District RA podcast, Shed's dubby, bass heavy Wax treatment podcast and Delta Funktionen's October promo mix.

Enjoy!

An interesting article on two decades of clubbing in Berlin was featured in the Guardian this week, it's well worth a read if anyone's interested in the history and diversity of the city's nightlife- featuring Berghain, Haus Schwarzenberg, Volksbühne and so on. Find it here.

Vinyl Only #5 : Shackleton - 3 EP's

Shackleton has been responsible for some of the most startling links between techno, electronica and dubstep. Skull Disco's compilation 'Soundboy's Gravestone Gets Desecrated by Vandals' was my soundrack to winter 2008; the sparse ethnic-influenced rhythms, massive sub-bass and arctic synthlines combined into a perfectly miserable accompaniment to the darkening of days. So much did I enjoy this unique, otherworldly sound that Shackleton was one of my 'must see's' at Freerotation, but playing after 2562's peak time, floor destroying set, his performance left me intrigued and sonically challenged, but mostly uncomprehending of what I had heard. This extended release sheds light on his set that night and the evolution of his uniquely bleak sound.

After the death of Skull Disco and relocation to Berlin, Shackleton has released little new material, but instead has released several killer remixes including a sublime take on Moderat's 'Rusty Nails'. The Three Ep's release (Shackleton's first album or three independent EP's?) on the much respected Perlon shows a marked move away from the dancefloor and a focus on electronic experimentation, resulting in a beautifully dark melancholic sound described on RA as forays into "the fathomless nether-regions of dark, leftfield computer music."

Listening to opening track "[No More] Negative Thoughts" all the trademarks of previous Shackleton material are present: a sparsely minimal and atmospheric arrangement, ethnic toms, reverberant spoken vocals, all underpinned by deep bass and soul-less synth stabs. These dark themes continue through "Asha in the Tabernacle", "It's time for Lone" and "Moon over Joseph's Burial", two tracks that drone and whisper unceasingly and slightly scarily.

'Let's Go' steps up a gear, as the title would suggest. A wondering 'get-up-and-dance' bassline underpins explorations of the ethnic material that made early Shackleton material so interesting- vocal chanting, clipped horns, reverb, reverb, and more reverb, topped with plenty of whistling, pinging and clattering. The fittingly titled 'Mountains of Ashes' has a rumbling, earthquake inducing sub-bass that would reduce all before it to rubble, with an ever growing and changing smattering of eastern influenced percussion. 'Trembling Leaf' takes a Burial-esque approach with cut up and seemingly petrified vocal snippets over intricately programme rhythms.

The final tracks see Shackleton leave any dancefloor tendencies (if there are any in this release) well and truly in the distance for some of the darkest industrialised leftfield experiments I've heard. 'There's a slow train coming' really rumbles out of your speakers with skittery off kilter bass and rhythm accompanied by the darkest oscillating synthline in existence. Prize for the scariest track on the release goes to 'Something has got to Give', an all enveloping and morose track that is restrained from the suicidal by occasional bursts of metallic rhythm. This really is something that would kill your Granny.

For me, this release by one of the most interesting producers out there at the moment sees him letting go of the shackles (see what I did there) of the dancefloor and exploring the agitated and restless contrast between his trademark sounds: the most pure black, suicide inducing and otherworldly atmospheric soundscapes fight throughout with skittering, wandering ethnic influenced percussion that pull the sound back from the edge, all underpinned by rumbling bass. This album will certainly be my soundtrack to the long winter nights this year, and all I can say is bring on the cold.

Laurent Garnier, Layo and Bushwacka, at Shake It! Southwark, London

Resident Advisor review of the Garnier night now online... a five star night.

Shake It! Featuring Laruent Garnier

Thanks, Laurent Garnier. Seen at Shake It! London, October 3 2009.

I had my faith in the London techno scene restored over the weekend. I saw Laurent Garnier at Shake It! in Southwark, reviewing for Resident Advisor. And suffice it to say until the review is published, the night was good. Very good.

Thanks, Laurent Garnier.

I think these pictures say something, as well. Keep an eye on the blog for when the review is out.

It's October now, and we are very excited to have Chris Box travelling from London to come play at Oblique. We met Chris at the Freerotation Festival in August, invited him, and he's just said yes - so, expect cutting edge techno and house from the Runsounds man, who's just off to Berlin for the Netaudio Festival and when back, he's heading to Cardiff to come join us.

Potter, MJ+Thomas provide the support...

24 October at Undertone, 10FeetTall, Cardiff Church Street
9pm-4am
£4, £3nus

We hope to see you there...

About Chris Box:
As dj and promoter of run, Chris Box has played alongside internationally renowned artists such as Zip, Jay Haze, Philip Quenum, Pheek, Andy Vaz, Geoff White and a host of others as well as introduced other acts from across the world (Barem, Ben Parris, Fusiphorm, Cabanne, Jeff Samuel, Johan Skugge and Someone Else) to London.

Although he started off chopping & cutting up techno & electro at warehouse & outdoor parties across London & Europe in the 90s with Sonic Sound System playing at teknivals and festivals alongside the likes of Desert Storm, Mutoid Waste etc., recent years have seen the bpms drop & the music get deeper and more stripped down.

Having always been into the more experimental and sparse elements of electronic music (from the early jackin Chicago trax to the tweaked acid of Plastikman and DBX via early Warp bleeps) it has been a natural progression of style and aesthetic from the early years to today.

Aside from run, he’s pushed his mutant strains of techno & house at various nights & events across London and the UK. In addition to playing locally, his record bag has also taken him further afield with regular trips to Berlin and to Brazil.

A Weekend Set Up

Sorry about the lack of blog action recently, it's going to continue for a while i'm afraid. Another quick post, this time a few more techno sets that have been rocking my one functional headphone recently:

Perc at This is Techno, Reading

The best mix I've heard from Perc for a few months, some great tracks including the classic Throw by Paperclip people- not as industrial sounding as some of his recent mixes (which is why i prefer it), rather it's a mix of good solid techno:

1) Dustin Zahn - Wet Skin - Mindshake
2) Misstress Barbara - Four On The Floor (Perc's Dub Mix) - Iturnem
3) Nitin - Silent Scales (Osunlade Remix) - No19 Music
4) Ben Klock - Goodly Sin (Robert Hood Remix) - Ostgut Ton
5) Lucretio - Good Words - Restoration
6) Paperclip People - Throw - Planet E
7) The Scientist - The Bee - Kickin
8) Pacou - Drift - Cache
9) Dustin Zahn - Dutch Rudder 420 - Mindshake
10) Babyl-tr0n - Responsibilty (Gary Beck Remix) - Perc Trax
11) Mike Dehnert - Black Smoke - Fachwerk
12) Perc - Trapjaw (Xpansul's Dub Mix) - Perc Trax
13) Joey Beltram - Game Form (Perc Beats Edit) - Tresor
14) Sleazy Mcqueen - Naked (Kink Mix) - Hairy Claw
15) BCR Boys - Rorschach - Sleaze
16) Gary Beck - Drifting (Perc Remix) - Perc Trax
17) Mould Impression - Morgan's Bass - Primate
18) Dustin Zahn - Pad Of Eternal Life - Enemy
19) Robert Hood - Obey - M-Plant

Kevin Gorman August Cookery

One i've pinched from mnml ssgs, a new Gorman mix including a slew of top tracks from Zimmermann, Klock, Silent Servant, Wax, Dehnert... need I say more?

Monolake - Gobi
Los Updates vs Ricardo Villalobos - Bank Brotherhood (Andrew Grant remix)
Jens Zimmermann - X11
Byron Bogue - BUT Fool (Jens Zimmermann remix)
Ben Klock - Subzero (Function & Regis remix)
Kevin Gorman - Cyclic (Peter Van Hoesen remix)
Mariano DC - Bourbon of Wizards (Jonas Kopp remix)
Silent Servant - Discipline
Thomas Brinkmann - Studio 1 Variations (Adsum remix 1)(unreleased)
Staffan Linzatti - See
Debo - South Side
Wax 20002
Artist name tbc - Cotton (featuring Benga)(unreleased)
Mike Dehnert - Umlaut (Levon Vincent NY basement remix)
DJ Hell - Totmacher (Baby Ford remix)

XLR8R Labels We Love: Modern Love

Manchester's Modern Love has a unique gritty sound that combines dubby techno, chicago house, and dubstep influences. If you don't know the label, this is a great intro including classics such as Dependent, One State, and Exigen, as well as new releases on sub-label Daphne.

01 Demdike Stare "Haxan Dub" (Modern Love)
02 Andy Stott "Peace Of Mind" (Modern Love)
03 Claro Intelecto "Dependent" (Modern Love)
04 Move D "Drøne" (Modern Love)
05 Andy Stott "Brief Encounter" (Modern Love)
06 MLZ "One State" (Modern Love)
07 Deepchord Presents Echospace "Untitled" (Modern Love)
08 Pendle Coven "Exigen" (Modern Love)
09 Claro Intelecto "Rise" (Modern Love)
10 Millie "Gunshot" (Daphne)
11 Andrea "Temper Tantrum" (Daphne)
12 Andrea "Black Hammer" (Daphne)
13 Unknown "Pretty Boys Don't Survive Up North" (Hate)


Dino Sabatini Prologue Portefeuille Podcast

The first of Prologue's new podcast series featuring the label's regular artists. A good mix of atmospheric Italian style techno, inclding lots of forthcoming releases on Prologue.

Olophonic Dream - Modern Heads
Komentomoduuli - Samuli Kemppi
Ozone - Modern Heads (soon on Prologue)
Krees - Dino Sabatini
Temporary Suspension - Planetary Assault System
Monotoys - Modern Heads (soon on Prologue)
Pharaoah rmx - Touane
Tempo - Giorgio Gigli (Prologue)
Concentricy - Modern Heads
Kuolonkellot - Juho (Prologue)
Nuel - unknown
Dubarmoniks - Modern Heads (soon on Prologue)
Aguaplano 1111 - Dozzy & Nuel

netlabels mix tape 01

As part of this netlabels series, I'll do a mix after each posting, only comprising the things that I downloaded from netlabel sites that I've just written about. So, this first one comes following the Grünfeld Tonträger and Schall labels piece. And, in the spirit of the mnml ssgs guys, the exact track listing will follow a few days after. So, for now just listen, explore these two great netlabel sites and I hope you enjoy it.

netlabels mix august 2009 [direct download]

Netlabels September

So, we are still watching (or listening to, I guess) the netlabels. And, on this particularly grey day in Berlin, it seems fitting to follow some of the more brooding pieces.

Polymorphic Music

Trawling some slightly average, and some slightly less than average, netlables is, at times, a frustrating experience. Passing by sites with variable levels of graphic design capability presents a somewhat challenging experience on the eye, and an even more troubling experience on the ear. But then you come across a gem. A shinning beacon of expansive, guitar based ambient soundscapes from Gareth Dickson, on the polymorphic music netlable.

Dickson's sound is a spacious blend of guitar, soft male vocals and airy, somnambulate sound scapes. Beautiful, subtle, not really electronic in the sense of this blog's main focus, but perfect for a slightly grey day that leaves you blue. The Dance is repetitively lulling, brooding and deep and a highlight of the Gareth Dickson Sampler.

Hal with The Raw Deal EP is currently making my ears buzz with a low-frequency bass-sample overlaid with micro-clicks and hisses. It's fantastically dark, slightly oppressive but if you enjoy a bass induced state of relaxation, then I think 750 Hurts could hit the nail on the head. Ate Bit Bite - is reduced, a radically clipped vocal over a slowed-down four-four beat with a really quite beautiful underlying melody (of sorts). Every good story on the other hand eschews the beauty for some more bass induced oppression, incorporating a haunting synth-loop that seems to gradually shift and change as the track progresses.

This is a netlabel to watch for things more left-field, which seems to release with a consistent quality, but varied set of, mostly electronic, styles. Spatial's Dynamite Skank is another slice of minimalism, but with a bleak dub-beat and hissy, breathy, clipped samples.

Releases

Polymorphic Music

Cism

Cism, a label from Smolensk, Russia, which 'is a non-commercial netlabel focusing on deep music with dub mentality.' And the dub-mentality certainly shines through. Vacation by Christopher Schindling on the Cism_7 release is as floating, yet dance-inducing piece of deep-techno as you are likely to get. Reminiscent of STL, or Deepchord, this a track that will certainly be getting play-time in future sets. Its production values are superb, and it is eminently, throughly body-moving music, yet intricately deep at the same time. Inside on the same release does a similar job, with the added joy of a tiny, yet radically precise high-hat that pierces the bubbling ocean of dub-synth. The Havantepe remix of Vacation plays with the original, cutting it up slightly and adding a slightly more bouncy bassline and a more liberal sprinkling of snares over the synths. It doesn't exactly vary much along its way, but nevertheless, it supplies the atmospheric space of the original with a more up-beat tone. Releases from Mr Cloudy, such as Long Wandering, follow a similar aesthetic (not surprising considering the stated ambition of the label), but in a slowed down fashion. The Marko Fuerstenberg remix of Long Wandering picks the pace up somewhat, turning a home-listening track into a bit of a dancefloor rotation. The dub-atmosphere remains, but with a couple of build-ups and drops thrown in, this has more appeal in a club-space. The other remix, from grad_u throws everything up in the air, lets it absorb a cubic-mile of oxygen, then brings it slowly, but thunderingly, back to earth. Much, much slower and quite intimidating in its spaciousness, this is one for those 7am mornings of anxiety and dislocation.

Have a look at their website (as both of the above are flash, I can't link to the specific tracks and pages.)

Cism

If it's something more of the 6am minimal weirdness you're after (which is something, I've realised, we don't address on this site so much), then a release from the Monofónicos netlabel is where you'll find it. According to their blurb, 'Monofónicos is a creative space of digital action. A colective initiative from Medellin, Colombia seeking an exchange of musical ideals with a modern spirit of organic electronic music.'

Monofónicos

The V.A. Colores: Ocultos release contains those Konrad Black like tracks that would be at home on a Wagon Repair release, or in Matt John's record box. Odd, menacing and completely inducing early morning paranoia in those still in the club, these releases stand their own against anything I've heard from more professional labels recently. The delightfully named Hairy Guys' release of Blattod (Original Mix) chugs away with the determination of those who just won't sleep, interspersing a sparse minimal-beat with freaky hushed out vocals and a disquieting underlying synth. Snail by the equally pleasantly named Rat puts a Troy Pierce type spin on things, also moving at that somnambulate pace and playing with a mournful sound-effect that is a mix between water, an early echo-chamber and some kind of distorted electronic device, before dropping back into the well programmed drums. Weird Number by Abstrakt, conversely, is less weird than the other two, and steps the pace up a degree, but still using the classic pitched down vocals (why are they so low? who knows... but it works). Sounding something like a Gaiser release, the production values on this, as on the other releases here, are excellent.

Monofónicos Colores release

Ok, so some things to have a look at if you're interested in this extensive scene. And, with all these releases, I'd pay good money for every single one on Beatport, and here they are, sharing them with the world, gratis: thanks.

A mix of last months net-labels to follow shortly.