One of the positive aspects of living in a reissue culture is that people who didn’t get their props first time round do so on the rebound. Merwyn Sanders and Eric Lewis are two such guys. They released only three records in their short-lived career, but those first two (under the names M.E. and Virgo Four, released on Chicago’s legendary Trax label), were compiled into their eponymous album Virgo. Not to be confused with the other Virgo, the house supergroup of Adonis, Marshall Jefferson and Vince Lawrence, the album is regularly described as “the greatest house album you’ve never heard.” You can, however, knock the “n” off that description now with Rush Hour’s re-release of the album, as part of their Trax reissue program. Seminal tracks from the album, such as “In A Vision” and “Take Me Higher,” have been included on compilations such as Warp 10+1 Influences or Soul Jazz’s Acid: Can U Jack? but the CD version of the album still commands hefty prices on the second-hand market. Pressed for the first time on DJ friendly double vinyl (the original was on a single LP), Rush Hour’s reissue means Virgo’s dreamy and deeply emotional music has never sounded so good. It also means that the limelight is now shone on Merwyn and Eric, two humble men who freely admit in the liner notes to this edition that their lack of profile in the history of house music is due to the fact that they were “horrible at networking.” They were kind enough to give us their thoughts on the reissue, how a dog was responsible for their record deal, and why their school discos were considerably cooler than yours. (Our thanks to Koko Sorger and Clara Prettenhofer at Zero” and Christiaan Macdonald at Rush Hour for making this interview a reality.)

First things first. How did M.E./Virgo Four start? How and where did you meet, and at what point did you decide to start making music?

Merwyn Sanders: Well, we were grammar school buddies along with a couple of other guys in around third or fourth grade. We started a lil’ band together called Quadrophonics: Eric on guitar, Calvin on bass, Edgwick on guitar and me on drums.

Eric Lewis: Merl and I continued into high school. In the early 80’s we were introduced to dance/house music. We listened to it so often we figured we could create it ourselves. We bought a few pieces of equipment and started to record onto a Tascam four track.

Who were your influences early on? Tracks like “In A Vision” and “Do You Know Who You Are?” sound very unique (still). Who did you view as your contemporaries, or peers?

E: Our influences were vast. From Kraftwerk to Parliament, we enjoyed all types of music. Our sound is obviously unique to us. We never tried to copy anyone for the sake of selling albums, we purposely stayed true to ourselves. Our philosophy was to express ourselves through the music, to let people hear how we felt at the time. We always wanted people to, not just hear the music but to feel the music. In a sense escape through the music, hence the space you may hear in our songs. We always felt we were a little different then the average Southside kids and I think that distance comes out in our music.

M: I guess the peers we thought were really cool were Fingers [Larry Heard] and Jamie Principle.

What were you producing music on, in terms of drum machines, synths etc?

M: Over a period of time, we had the Roland 505 drum machine, an Alesis HR 606 or somethin’ like that, and a Linn drum. The first keyboard was this old Moog Eric got that was very old school when we didn’t even use the term old school. Then we got the Roland Juno keyboards, we had the 1 and 2, and that’s what most of the Trax stuff was done on.

E: We greatly altered the sounds on the Juno. It’s a great board.

Initially Larry Sherman at Trax rejected your songs; why do you think he changed his mind a few years later?

M: I think at the time he also didn’t have any thing else goin’ on, nothin’ else to release, so in a sense, our timing was just better the second time around. When we first came to him he had really hot records, so he didn’t really need anybody new and he wasn’t gonna take a chance.

E: We worked on/improved a few things and maybe we gave him better songs.

M: He said he signed us the second time around because besides liking what we had, his dog Rowdy like us.

E: We heard so many negative things about Larry that we didn’t want to give him what we considered our better songs. Even the songs that were released were not our best stuff. We would like to soon release the songs we really enjoyed.

How did the Trax deal work?

E: Great question. We got “advances” on record sales. I’m sure it didn’t work to our advantage, but Larry would help us out financially.

I understand you recorded a lot of music in other styles aside from house music. Why do you think the house stuff was picked up by labels, and the more R&B or funk-influenced stuff wasn’t?

E: During that time Chicago was all about house. It wasn’t just a style of music, it was a culture. Also, we didn’t really push our other type of music.

M: We never tried to or approached record labels back then for any of the R&B or other stuff. Only thing I can think of is that we saw what other people were going through to try to get a deal with some label, and we just wasn’t about to do all of that. We really just enjoyed doin’ the music, even just for ourselves. I think we figured maybe one day somethin’ would happen.

Which clubs were you frequenting in Chicago around that time? Were you inspired by the Warehouse, Ron Hardy etc, or were you hanging out elsewhere?

E: At first we frequented Mendel Catholic H.S. parties, where I attended. This was the hub of house music. Anyone that went to parties went to Mendel.

M: Mendel parties probably the most. A lot of the parties if not most we got in free, and would get a ride home by one of Eric’s teachers.

E: Later we began to go the Box, where Ron Hardy was the DJ. That was an experience. And yes we were inspired by some of the things Ron would do with music. We thought he was great. Later we got to know him, personally. He was a nice guy.

Were you DJing at any of these spots, or were you more interested in producing music?

M: I would DJ a lot. Makin’ tapes for friends etc., but not at any of the clubs or anything. Yeah, the producing is what Eric and I was more interested in doing.

Did you ever talk to Marshall Jefferson and co. about their Virgo project?

M: No. I have never talked to Marshall or any of those guys, except Adonis.

The self-titled album is regularly called the “greatest house album ever made.” Why has it never been reissued before, and how did the hook-up with Rush Hour happen?

E: Wow! The “greatest house album ever made”? What a compliment, for that to even be suggested. Trax doesn’t exist anymore thus reissues are apparently difficult. Christiaan Macdonald from Rush Hour contacted Merl through Facebook and we built a relationship from there.

Your music didn’t really achieve the commercial success that others enjoyed — why do you think this is?

E: I’m not sure. We didn’t sound like everyone else at the time. We thought it was a good representation of who we were at the time. Also it wasn’t promoted at all, but again I’m not sure. After a while, we just figured the music had run its course.

M: I think it’s because you’re hearin’ what was comin’ out of us emotionally, even though it was very simple. Sometimes when music comes from that, it’s not successful in that sense. We weren’t tryin’ to make a big club hit, you’re simply hearin’ what was comin’ out of us.

Do you keep tabs on the current house music scene? Is there anybody that excites you, particularly in Chicago?

M: Only keepin’ up a lil’. Nobody I can think of to mention actually. I should though, geesh!

E: I really enjoy house/dance music but I could not tell you the name of any artists.

What are your day jobs? I understand Merwyn has been doing some theatrical set design stuff, and Eric, you’re a maths teacher?

E: That’s correct, Merl is designing sets and shows but I am currently an Assistant Principal at a middle school.

M: I’ve done everything from playing blues legend Robert Johnson in a play to being one of the scenic artist for huge opera sets.

You’re still making music together — do you have any plans to release stuff soon?

E: We are always making music, together and separately. Yes, we would love to release some of the old stuff. The problem is that we have over 200 hours of music to listen to. We have tapes and tapes. It’s fun to listen to, but taxing as well.

M: We really plan on releasin’ some new material as soon as we can. Get a website goin’ and anything else we can think to do!

[Oni Ayhun Records] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)

Sometimes you just need to let shit get out of hand. Oni Ayhun seems to understand this perfectly as nearly everything on his fourth record dives right off the deep end. The text accompanying the record on his site discusses both acid and music, but laden with chemical formulas and instructions it’s difficult to decipher. Even the record’s center label is a skewed picture of which might be clearer had I held on to my Avatar 3D glasses. Needless to say, those looking for a return to the melodic stylings of OAR003 should immediately accept that any traces of melody here are accidental: incidents arising unexpectedly from mixing “alkaline component(s), one or more acid salts, and an inert starch.”

With a kick drum as dense as lead and the flash of aluminum hi-hats, the A side takes just about every amelodic sound that could be described as “rough” and throws them all into its fizzing chemical brew. Buzzing feedback, objects being slammed against each other, electrical noise from cables being yanked out and many other noises appear throughout, all seeking to distract you from the groove but instead playing an integral role to the jacking monster Oni’s chemicals have produced. Flip the record over and we’re met with sounds that could be dogs or a particularly out of breath person combined with eerie ringing, glacially slow percussion and dark bass rubs. Although it’s not a killer peak-time cut like the A side, B matches its oddness and locks you into its paranoid, anxious movements. Those who like their records to play it safe will find plenty of those filling stores’ shelves. Me, I’m sticking with Oni the alchemist if only just to see what piece of gold will come out of his laboratory next.

[Permanent Vacation] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)

Despite what seems like a rapid ascent for Hamburg’s Marco Niemerski, the man best known as Tensnake has been honing his craft for over a decade. His breakout Keep Believin’ EP for Endless Flight and 2009 smash hit, In The End (I Want You To Cry) on Running Back sounded so fully realized because he’d worked out the kinks on one-off singles for smaller labels like Trax of Interest, Various Delight Recordings, and Players Paradise, as well as releases on his own Mirau imprint. With the Coma Cat EP, released by nu-disco hotspot Permanent Vacation, it appears Niemerski’s sound has crystallized even further around the neon tone palette and taut arrangements that brought him many plaudits on In The End.

In a 2009 interview, Niemerski professed wanting to make “something timeless” with his music. Even more so than on In The End, Coma Cat offers tunes whose memorable arrangements and accessible pacing belie their length and feel like full fledged songs a band might play from heart. Led by Tensnake’s signature frisky bass lines, each tune bulges with clever vamps and variably affected vocal bumps that keep audiences guessing well into the sixth minute. Although “Need Your Lovin,” the EP’s most song-like cut didn’t make the vinyl — likely because of that trait — its vocal heavy verses and choruses could’ve originated in an 80’s pop song and no one would be the wiser. That’s where the dub version comes in, its toothy bass line and florid synth patterns (one which recalls a whistling sound from Dr. Dre’s west coast g-funk beats) radiating between thoughtfully pruned vocal chunks. The glowing title track has me envisioning a cat stretched out, snoozing in a sunbeam, although its breezy vibe melody (and deliberate keyboard phrases just as easily evoke a beachside dance party. [And as has been pointed out in the comments, its themes are also quite similar to Anthony And The Camp's "What I Like."] “Get It Right,” however, seems like a holdover from the In The End sessions, the tightly coiled synth licks welling up and releasing in much the same manner as “Holding Back (My Love),” just at a brisker pace. That hardly makes it a dud — it’s just a bit too familiar. I suspect it will find favor with DJs who didn’t want to commit to “Holding Back”’s languid tempo but loved the sound. As an artist who values sounds that age well over time, Niemerski has done well on Coma Cat to develop his style while reinforcing the songwriting that makes his music so enjoyable.

Last year’s Voyage Direct album saw Amsterdam’s Tom Trago manipulate his disco-house to fit a variety of templates, establishing himself as a producer unafraid to cross genre boundaries for dance floor success. The first edition of remixes for Voyage Direct yielded fairly disparate remixes by the likes of Motor City Drum Ensemble and Actress, and so it’s of little surprise that the second features a similar mélange of material, this time by four fellow Amsterdammers. The results represent the distinct vibe of Rush Hour’s local stable: clean-cut but unafraid to freak out, one reverential ear to dance music’s past, the other to its future.

The EP opens with Boris Werner’s remix of “Lost In The Streets Of NYC,” which places the original’s drowsy chords in a slightly more energetic deep house structure. Its dance floor melancholia is somewhat reminiscent of DJ Sprinkles, an extended nostalgia trip complete with night noise, just enough echo, and a vague warbling about “dancing again” that places it somewhere between the actual club and the memory of it. Next, Aardvarck remixes “On the Side” in a throbbing EBM style. The slow thump and grinding arpeggios of the original are compressed into something considerably more sinister, with pitched-up unintelligible squeals occasionally breaking through the mêlée. San Proper adds some serious oomph to the plodding “Use Me,” essentially remixing it in the style of a loopy, driving house edit. The outcome, bolstered by a relentless disco bass line, is completely ecstatic and busy — he simply doesn’t let up, consistently tweaking the equalizer, peak-of-the-night style.

Closing the EP is Sotu The Traveller’s remix of “Voyage Direct.” At first plaintive, its synth line steadily begins to swell; as it grows in confidence, the percussion follows suit, shifting from slow 4/4 to a more dynamic broken house shuffle, eventually flirting with tropical syncopations. Archaic video game melodies brush up against the type of mood swings that have characterized Falty DL’s recent output, stuck somewhere between dubstep and house. It’s easily the most innovative thing here. The track’s freneticism is a fitting conclusion to a release that sounds wholly of its time, providing a glimpse at an adrenalized, glossy future.

[BPitch Control] (buy CD) (buy mp3s)

After four homegrown installations of their Boogy Bytes mix series, BPitch Control broke free of their own roster, judiciously offering the fifth chapter to Berlin’s beloved “baller by definition,” Mr. Troxler. Voted one of the top ten DJs of 2009, it’s comes as no surprise that Troxler’s track selection is as eclectic, varied, and charming as his character is memorable. The mixing is careful and colorful, and the narrative grows more magnetic with each end-to-end listen.

That said, the first five minutes of the mix came dangerously close to causing me to miss it entirely, and what a shame that would have been. Unlike his silly “WGOD, God FM” counterpart from the RA podcast, the voice that introduces this mix offers a little too much commentary for comfort. Sure, the meter is nice, but Troxler’s musical selections paint a picture far more enticing. Perhaps the intro could be more easily dismissed if it had not been followed so immediately by Dinky’s Arp-A-Pella mix of The Royal We’s “Party Guilt” (an admittedly hilarious skit portraying the weekend woes of a celebrity DJ).

Still, once the ramblings have passed, the selection is nothing short of the pure quality we’ve come to expect from Troxler. Catchy, disco-steeped house like Craig Smith & The Revenge’s “The Soul Part II” is met by minimal flashbacks like Hawtin’s 2003 remix of Spektrum’s “Freakbox,” offering the listener an engaging tour. There are some downright toxic moments sprinkled in: Baeka’s “Right At It” tied me into warm, cuddly knots on first listen, and it’s still one of the most hypnotizing cuts I’ve heard in 2010 (though it was released last year). Far more stylistic, the bounce behind Rosina’s lyrical vocals in the Deniz Kurtel remix of “Fables and Fairytales” may not have lasting appeal, but it certainly has stuck-in-my-head-all-day staying power. These are the sort of jewels that leave you yearning for the chance to stumble into more afternoon afterparties with Seth behind the decks. The mix’s crowning moment comes on slowly and seductively, as Troxler’s own Thrill Cosby rendition of Heartthrob’s “Signs” gently unfolds into the new self-titled track from Birds and Souls, a stunning and euphoric collaboration by Sergio Giorgini (of the similarly rock-inspired duo Benoit & Sergio) and Ryan Crosson.

Rumor has it that Troxler recorded this mix in the post-party glow of a weekend well spent. Despite what was no doubt a healthy dose of rave fatigue, Boogy Bytes Vol.05 was allegedly driven to completion at the insistence of a wise friend and a looming deadline. Whether Seth’s genius demands such conditions or works in spite of them, we’ll happily embrace his goofy “bytes” as long as he keeps bringing the “boogy.”

The Belgian label Curle Recordings continues its impressive release schedule with a pan-European heavyweight techno line-up. Representing the UK is the refreshingly unorthodox Matt O’Brien. Favouring a quality over quantity approach that has not yet projected him into the limelight, O’Brien’s selectiveness is nonetheless admirable. Last year, he delivered two of 2009’s best remixes — the eerie take on The Subliminal Kid on his Offkey Industries imprint, and the insane bell chiming cacophony-led reshape of Roberto Bosco on Mowar — along with the excellent From the Periphery EP. While “Into the Red” marks a fresh departure for O’Brien, it sees him maintain the same high standards.

As usual, Matt likes to keep the listener guessing. The intro features robust break beats and atmospheric, filtered chords, but the assumption that he’’s going for an introspective approach fades as soon as the humming, pulsing acid lines kick in. From there, Matt takes the track into a dramatic ascent, guided upwards by dramatic rave stabs yet kept grounded by that intangible grittiness that “Periphery” also boasted. The flipside to O’Brien’s complex intensity is Peter Van Hoesen and Donato Dozzy’s “Talis.” It sounds like Peter, fresh from delivering an early contender for techno album of 2010, has opted to mellow out and has taken his cues from Dozzy. The result of the collaboration is a layered chord sequence that is played out over a laid back, squelchy groove. Its understated repetition is perhaps not what one would expect from one of the main proponents of gritty warehouse techno, but clearly even they need time to relax.

[Hessle Audio] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)

I’m not exactly sure how to peg James Blake. But if dubstep professes to be music made for dance floors, then the young British producer almost certainly isn’t making it. His proudly unquantized beats (throbs of crunchy sound more than proper drum-hits) skitter in and out of the mix like confused cockroaches; his melodies, while warm, soulful, and usually ripped from records made in far simpler musical times, float over the proceedings like a minute-old ganja cloud — still pungently present, yet barely there. Despite sounding more than a bit like Untold, who’s championed his productions as labelhead at Hemlock, refashioned as a sleazy lounge act, Blake brings a strangely anthemic quality to productions which otherwise would probably be too experimental (or just downright blazed) for club consumption. Indeed, his latest offering, The Bells Sketch for the seriously in-bloom Hessle Audio label, has already attracted the attention of adventurous jocks like Dub War residents Dave Q and Alex Incyde, who managed to move floors (while simultaneously weirding them out, in a good way) when they each closed out recent sets with the A-side. It’s Blake’s most sophisticated record to date, but that doesn’t mean his dance floor credentials make a whole lot more sense.

What holds Blake’s tunes together is the way his beat just stomps, the awkward rumble of an automaton bounding toward your defenseless village. “The Bells Sketch” has it in spades, but it’s also rather pretty: plaintive chords, weepy vocal flourishes, and bass/treble interplay straight off The Chronic underpin the track’s unwieldy movement, and what results is as much a dirge as a banger. As I mentioned before, I’ve only heard “The Bells Sketch” played out as a closer, and it’d admittedly be a tough one to drop mid-set. But the spooky uncertainty of the introduction would make it just as tantalizing of an opener. On the flip, “Buzzard And Kestrel” finds Blake a bit perkier and more rhythmic, recalling at times some sort of Flying Lotus/Alcachofa-era Villalobos collabo. Off-timbre, squelchy synths rush in during the track’s final third, creating a moment that’s almost surprising enough to warrant a spoiler alert in this review. All in all, it almost steals the show from the A. Mood-wise, “Give A Man A Rod” hazily splits the difference between the first two tracks but never manages to emerge from its bong coma. Despite this brief lapse in craft, The Bells Sketch makes for a standout 12″ — an oddity, sure, and not for any DJ faint of heart, but an extremely worthy listen from a far-out voice you’ll want to give the benefit of the doubt.

I read a review recently that took issue with a release not treading new ground, of sticking to familiar pathways within its genre. Like rock music with all of the best chords already used up, there will always be a certain amount of familiarity within electronic music. The 808 and 909 drum sounds are an instantly recognizable feature within the medium, while there are a plethora of production tricks and sounds that are aped, rehashed and re-molded by the bulk of producers. Red Rack’em may not be breaking new soil with his latest twelve for the coveted Untracked label, but through employing some of the classic deep house sounds and themes on the release he also touches on that vital quality of creating a classic vibe.

This is nowhere more evident than on the incredible “In Love Again,” which has already won its place in the hearts and crates of DJs far and wide. Sneaking in a clever sample of Andre 3000 from the track “Prototype” on The Love Below album, the track centers on swelling pads and strings with various layers of the vocal giving a dreamlike, ethereal quality. Realizing that a good thing need not be overdone, Red Rack’em keeps the rest of the track very simple with subtle turns of percussion doing only what it should, accentuating the groove that is already there. The title track likewise makes use of a borrowed sample, which again is achingly familiar though I can’t quite place it. Super slow house is the order of the day with orchestral hits firing off like symphonic cannons amid the warm, easy pads and honeyed vocal samples. “Beginning End” channels the same effusive spirit, but aims at a more bass heavy version of the similar threads that tie these three tracks together. Fans of KDJ and Theo Parrish will be right at home here with this latest EP in an increasingly good run for both Red Rack’em and the Untracked label.

Having a label called Minimise can be a tough gig these days. Yet Donnacha Costello has always been in it for the long haul, launching the imprint in the late 90’s before minimal became a fad with the understanding that minimalism is an approach, a characteristic — not a genre. First coming into prominence with an album for Force Inc. and the ambient classic Together Is The New Alone for Mille Plateaux, he unleashed the Colorseries upon the world from January to October in 2004, a now classic succession of 12″s that ranks with Studio 1 and Concept 1 as one of the most intriguing concept series in techno. Throw in another series entitled 6×6=36, a new label called Look Long and numerous records released throughout and Costello’s back catalog grows in both quality and quantity. Today sees the release of Before We Say Goodbye, his fourth album and a wonderful journey through his melodically charged sound. We caught up with Costello for a quick chat a bit about the album as a format and his love for old gear while he provided LWE with its 46th exclusive podcast, a trip through his early influences and favorite records.

Download: LWE Podcast 46: Donnacha Costello (57:00)

Tracklist:

01. Farley “Jackmaster” Funk, “Love Can’t Turn Around” [Trax Records]
02. Plastikman, “Plasticity” [Plus 8 Records Ltd.]
03. G-Man, “Quo Vadis” [Swim ~]
04. Hugo Moya, “Move” [Relief Records]
05. Neal Howard, “Indulge” [Network Records]
06. Chaz Vincent, “Dream Wave” [Planet E Communications]
07. Neil Landstrumm, “Pirate” [Tresor]
08. The Other People Place, “Let Me Be Me” [Warp Records]
09. Jeep Grrlz, “El Magnifico” [El Chocolates]
10. Paul Johnson, “It’s House!” [Dust Traxx]
11. Neal Howard, “The Gathering” (Club Mix) [Future Sound R & R Records]
12. Jacktripper, “Basement” [Jack]
13. Neal Howard, “To Be Or Not To Be?” [Future Sound R & R Records]
14. Rhythim Is Rhythim, “Emanon” [Network Records]
15. Model 500, “I Wanna Be There” (Edit) [R&S Records]

First off tell us about the mix. How was it recorded and what did you want to say with it?

It’s a mix made up exclusively of old tracks that had an impact on me when I first heard them and that still mean something to me. So I guess what we’re listening to here is a mix of some of my earliest influences when it came to making techno/house. It’s a mix of old scratchy vinyl and tracks coming from the computer. It was actually recorded with a pretty clumsy method and without a mixer but it worked out fine in the end There are some effects on there which help to gel things together a little better.

Before We Say Goodbye is your first proper album in quite some time. What do you like or dislike about the album format?

That’s true. It’s my fourth full length (I did an album for Raster-Noton under the name Modul of which which many people may be unaware) but my first in seven years. It felt like the right time for me to do this and I felt that I had something to contribute, which is the only time you’ll really see me releasing anything. Regarding the album format, I don’t like albums which are simply too long for me to listen to comfortably. By that I mean that I find myself tiring of the sound and wishing the album had been shorter or that the artist has opted to use the full capacity of the CD and I simply don’t often have the chance to listen to 80 minutes of music without being interrupted. My preference is for an album 40-50 minutes in length that has variety, flow and takes you on a little journey. An album of this length can be listened to in total on a train ride, on a typical commute or on a short haul flight. These are often the only situations in which many of us have uninterrupted time these days.

Last year saw pretty major shakeups with your labels. Minimise was closed with Look Long born in its wake, and now Minimise has been restarted. What’s the status of both these labels now? Do you see the two labels creating their own distinct sound profiles?

Yes, MINIMISE is shifting back in to high gear because I have a conceptual project I want to work on and I also got some really great demos via our Soundcloud dropbox on Minimise.com. Look Long is still going and we will release some more music later this year. This was intended as a new space in which to create, away from the expectations that had been built up around MINIMISE; it was a fresh start and it did re-invigorate me and give me a new appetite to create. Had I not started Look Long, we would probably not be discussing a new album right now.

Speaking of labels, Before We Say Goodbye is being released on Poker Flat. What was behind that decision?

I had become friendly with Steve over the past five years or so. He was a big supporter of the Colorseries and he’s one of the most genuinely positive and helpful people I’ve met though the music business. We hung out quite a bit when I lived in Berlin for six months and we collaborated on a track for his album Collaboratory. Taking that experience together with having done some releases with Poker Flat in the past and knowing that they were a great label to work with, it really was a very natural home for the album.

You seem to enjoy imposing limits on yourself, whether it be time limits as in the 6×6 series or the few pieces of equipment used on Before We Say Goodbye. Why do you impose these restrictions?

Well, I guess given my past people really picked up on the fact that I had only used a few pieces of equipment on the album and figured it had a conceptual significance or as one reviewer stated they actually thought it was the main aim. In fact, I always used to love reading equipment lists of my favourite artists, so I wanted people to know what had been used to make the album. The three synthesizers I used (101, Prophet 5, Synclavier) were selected for their unique sonic characters which I tried to faithfully record with my Pro Tools rig. I then applied processing and treatment only where I thought it was really necessary. So, this time around it wasn’t real a conceptual limiting but simply a wish to use great sounding synths quite simply and thereby achieve recordings which had character and physicality that would stand the test of time.

What are you up to next?

I have a conceptual project I want to release on MINIMISE and I’m collaborating with two friends on an audio visual project. I also hope to finally collaborate with a Berlin-based producer of steely, intense, dark techno. We’ve been talking about it for a long time so it would be great to make that happen.

Download: LWE Podcast 46: Donnacha Costello (57:00)

Swedish techno don Pär Grindvik ripped things up with his contribution to LWE’s podcast series. Make sure to download LWE Podcast 09 before it retires this Friday at 10am CST.