Years before he’d released a single record of his own, Andy Vaz had already left a conspicuous mark on electronic music as the man behind Background Records. When he finally started releasing music, he garnered a good deal of attention for the “clicks, cuts, and a 4/4″ sound exemplified by the cult Soundvariation series. In the last three or four years, though, both his music and his A&R focus have increasingly mined classic house influences. More a shift of priorities than an outright swap of musical templates, house has always been a part of Vaz’s program, and his morphing live sets retain much of the abstract and experimental qualities that characterized his first records. Yore Records, the label he runs with Alessandro Vaccaro, is the focus of another Little White Earbuds interview feature. Today, though, our exclusive podcast focuses on the sometimes silky, sometimes jazzy, and very often jacking music Vaz produces himself. Live sets, as discussed in the Q&A below, are where Vaz feels most comfortable, and this percolating mix certainly finds him in very fine form.
Author Archive: Chris Burkhalter
Bas roR, Fixed Purpose
Fostered by the hungry eclecticism of The I-F’s legendary Cybernetic Broadcasting System and the music communities that have gathered in its wake, Bas roR has been DJing around Rotterdam for some time (in clubs and on the radio) and has already notched a memorable EP with Kubra’s “Control Issues,” a collaboration with DJ Tim for Arne Weinberg’s AW Recordings. Like much of the Kubra record, Bas roR’s solo debut recalls the deep and the weird of 90’s techno — Dan Curtin, Ultradyne and Stasis all come to mind, as well as some Rephlex sounds. The brushed percussion, bright melodic squiggles and brooding chord patterns of the title track, for example, are pure zero-gravity, practically describing a slow drift through a meteor shower.
LWE’s Top 5 Labels of 2009
Dance music enthusiasts are almost certainly the most label-conscious people in the record-buying world. How else can you explain the bickering over new Perlon signings, the ubiquity of the compound adjective “buy-on-sight,” or the hastily depleted stocks of anonymously-produced 12″s? We follow our favorite DJs and producers, naturally, but a record publishing operation with vision and taste is very often the best guide to the sounds we thirst for. 2009’s cream of the crop — labels like Running Back, Uzuri, Prologue, Dial, Sound Signature, Blueprint, Apple Pips, and Time To Express — did more than narrow the field of available records, but sharpened our expectations of what new music should achieve. And the mushrooming of secretive private presses (many of them fostered by Hardwax’s distribution) yielded results that were just as rewarding. But from where I’m standing, these five labels loomed largest.
STL, Check Mate
When the time comes for year-end wrap-ups, count on STL’s pursuit of techno’s humid depths to be one of 2009’s leading stories. The past eleven months saw Stephan Laubner following other creative muses as well (and prolifically), but between the “Silent State” EP for Smallville and a mix CD tellingly titled Dub Techno Explorations, it seems safe to declare a new chapter in the STL legacy. Despite its reverb and grit, “Silent State”’s bass lines were so buoyant that many notched it as house, but Exploration’s seventy minutes of dub techno oxidation aimed more for texture and atmosphere. Appropriate enough, then, that the Echospace crew took interest, helping Laubner issue — by my count — his tenth record of 2009.
LWE Podcast 37: Hauntologists
Word spread quickly about Hauntologists’ first EP, a record that reveled in heady live experimentation, but with unrelenting tripping rhythms that guaranteed as much energy on the dance floor as in the studio. Their sophomore record refined the palette, and its winding, often eerie grooves garnered plenty of DJ support. Considering that they left their names off of those two Hard Wax-distributed records, though, we count ourselves pretty lucky that Hauntologists’ Jay Ahern and Stefan Schneider agreed to an LWE interview. Hardly hiding behind mystique, the duo treat us to an engaged, in-depth conversation, pulling back the curtain to reveal what’s behind their stripped-down, twisting funk. Along the way, we talk about gear and human interaction, Neu! and Berghain, the ghosts of Berlin, and “the Africa of the mind.” And to accompany your reading, Hauntologists have compiled a special mixtape for our 37th podcast. An eclectic yet cohesive snapshot of influences and interests, the selections range from classic house to avant-jazz to… well, you should just hear it.
Resoe, Magnolie EP
Though Resoe is his primary musical outlet, Copenhagen’s Dennis Bøg also makes up one half of Pattern Repeat where, as diligent LWE readers can tell you, he teams up with Echocord head Kenneth Christiansen. Little surprise, then, that the latest Resoe record — for his own Baum Records — deals in the sort of burly, Chain Reaction-inspired dub techno that’s earned labels like Modern Love, Statik Entertainment, and of course Echocord their many dedicated followers. A-side “Cosmic Blast” is all chunky bass, chiseling high-end percussion, and blurred, wet chords. But where a lot of the deeper end of techno seems to be courting a more meditative listening experience, “Cosmic Blast” is stern and propulsive – destined for club use. If, however, you take your washes of delay with a little more “numb,” you’ll find a deep track for late morning in “Dusty Grounds.” It’s makeup is much the same, but more about atmospherics than thunder. Of course, neither track is going to shock you. Naysayers will groan that they’ve heard this before. Myself, I’m content to enjoy this sturdy example of the genre.
Odd Machine, Phase In
It’s always seemed to me that Tobias Freund’s Non Standards Productions have been more about sessions than tracks, and Odd Machine’s “Phase In” is no exception. For the second Odd Machine release, Freund pairs up with his old friend, Uwe Schmidt. Like many of this duo’s past collaborations (from back when Freund’s business cards still read “Pink Elln”), this session is characterized by live improvisation within established technical boundaries. Freund unsurprisingly clings to his Roland TR-808, while Schmidt gets comfy behind a vintage Linn 9000/LM2 drum machine and one of those newfangled, Lite-Brite-looking Yamaha Tenori-On machines. Get “Phase In” spinning and the first thing you’ll hear is the voice of Roger Linn giving a cook’s tour of the drum machine he designed — a telling sign of things to come.
Alex Cortex/DJ Stingray 313, Soliton/Null Physics
Alex Cortex has recently announced his exit from techno music, citing (among other reasons) a lack of gigs and cool label interest. Don’t blame Dan Lodig or Art Vega, though. Three of the last five releases for their Pomelo imprint have showcased the diverse Cortex stylings. The latest of these finds Cortex working alongside kindred spirit Sherard Ingram, here assuming his DJ Stingray 313 handle.
Darkstar, Aidy’s Girl Is A Computer
For those keeping close tabs on Darkstar, Hyperdub, or the broader “dubstep etc.” community, there’s a sense of “it’s about time” in the ship date of “Aidy’s Girl Is A Computer.” Landing in shops this month both on Hyperdub’s fifth anniversary compilation and as the advance single of an eventual Darkstar album, the track’s been floating around on Internet and radio for some time. If you’ve not heard it already, count on more of the bouncy bass lines, spare percussion, 8-bit keyboards and digitized vox that made the duo’s woozy, chilly “Need You” a crossover hit last year. Brace yourself, though, for a sweeter and much more melancholy pop song this time around — albeit a cool, depersonalized one.