[Historia y Violencia] Imagining hitherto un-thought of couplings can be an amusing pastime; animals being able to cross species breed; chessgammon, the new board game for the weary pawn; vodka ibuprofen mixers, the preventative refresher. Of course they can prove to go horribly wrong too; “Alien Vs Predator” and a McCain/Palin ticket, just for example. […]
Yearly Archives: 2008
Little White Earbuds October Charts
Chart courtesy of The Economist. 01. C.B. Funk, “Subway to Cologne” [Story] (buy) It didn’t take long for the cloak of anonymity to be yanked off Story’s inaugural release, but it’s difficult to blame listeners for wanting to know its source. “Subway to Cologne” may be the best work yet from Christian Beißwenger, better known […]
Quantec, A Ray of Hope EP
[Echocord Colour] Echocord’s offshoot imprint Echocord Colour is meant to allow for a bit more stretching to the standard label’s Berlin-influenced dub-techno sound, and the first two releases have indeed pushed the boundaries further than what is usually heard on the parental label. Echocord Colour’s third limited-edition, colored-vinyl (this time a gorgeous marbled canary yellow) […]
Sascha Dive, Deepest America
[Ornaments] The third release on the mysterious, limited edition Ornaments label looks to be the highest profile yet. The original August 2007 release of Sascha Dive’s “Deepest America” on Deep Vibes Recordings included two mixes by his alter ego, Samuel Davis, and this release features a third, the Dark Soul Mix. While it’s a funky […]
Swayzak, Bunny Girl EP
[Swayzak Recordings] It’s been over ten years since the duo of James Taylor and David Brown started releasing their particular brand of deep techno under their piss-take bastardization of Patrick Swayze’s name. They’ve toyed with dub, electroclash and hip-hop along the way, but generally their records have been brooding, emotive techno that is minimal in […]
Barack Obama for President
Taking a break from techno/house, LWE’s editor in chief offers a few thoughts on the election. Unlike many democracies whose election seasons often resemble a month long sprint, America’s presidential campaigns have grown into epic marathons lasting up to two years. That may seem excessive on the face of things, but it’s proven a great […]
Move D & Benjamin Brunn, New Horizon
[Smallville Records] Six months since the release of Move D and Benjamin Brunn’s acclaimed full length, a few more dollops have dripped from the beehive. On “New Horizon,” our duo get a bit more mileage out of the syrupy palette that characterized Songs From the Beehive, but replace the drowsy rhythms with peppier booms and […]
LWE Podcast 09: Pär Grindvik
As owner of the record shop Illegal Stockholm, Pär Grindvik established himself as a pillar of Sweden’s techno scene in the 90’s; the next step was making releases to appear on its shelves. His stark, rhythmically-focused productions cloud the air with delightfully malicious tension that only his breakdowns can resolve, fitting in well on Drumcode, Spectral Sound, Syndikaat Records and Truesoul. Grindvik also owns, operates and releases on Stockhold Ltd and Isles & Islets, home to Staffan Linzatti, Van Rivers, Hardcell and his own alias, The Hollow. For his exclusive new mix for LWE, Grindvik whisks listeners away to a murky, uncertain and largely unreleased world governed by drums and deep pools of delay. Grab a torch and take the plunge.
Donnacha Costello, It Simply Is
[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 […]
Los Updates, First If You Please The Remix Part 2
[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
[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
[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
[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
[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
[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)
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
[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
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 […]
Talking Shopcast with Workshop
Headed by Jens Kuhn, known to many as Lowtec, Workshop is as much a label as it is a series of EPs. Since 2006, Lowtec and crew have put out a new EP every few months, each comprising three untitled tracks. Some showcase a single artist (Move D, Kassem Mosse and Lowtec have each commandeered one), while others feature a handful at once. LWE’s current favorite is Workshop 004, a collection of shadowy house tracks by Move D, Even Tuell and Sascha Dive. With its gray aesthetic and cryptic design, Workshop has chiseled a distinct identity and landed a distribution deal with Hard Wax, arguably Berlin’s most respected record shop. Lowtec gives us the lowdown on the snacks that inspired the label’s creation, their stratified demo system, and how smaller release runs could save the vinyl business.
Dave Aju, Open Wide
[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 […]











