Illustration by Alvarejo

[Echocord Colour] (buy vinyl)

While no proper affiliation exists between Detroit’s Echospace and Denmark’s Echocord, there is certainly an interesting volley of ideas taking place between the two like-minded labels. Both champion a sonorous mid-tempo dub style, and, with the recent launch of the sub-label Echocord Colour, both please collectors with lush transparent records. But while the former favors muffled bass kicks and swishing ambience, the latter keeps the dance floor a bit closer to its heart. On “Campire Dialogue,” the second release on Echocord Colour, Luke Hess and Marko Fürstenberg keep the beats punchy and the vibe tight, but hold onto the cavernous imagery that’s given the “echo” variety of dub so much staying power.

With “Platte,” Luke Hess dabbles in house a bit more than usual. Rather than plodding and monotonous, the beat is rather funky, with snares and hand claps slowly building a nice groove as the track waxes on. Unlike the hard-edged “Believe and Receive,” Hess’s 2007 release on Kontra-Musik, the cool atmosphere and smooth production style of “Platte” make it ripe for spins by Sebo K or Efdemin. “Site 312,” on the other hand, has a greater forward momentum to it. A somber dub warble introduces the track, drifting back and forth while drums and half melodies slide in underneath. The synths get rougher and the energy level climbs as things progress; and despite the modest tempo and a hint of bongos near the end, it’s still more straightforward and techno-oriented than the A-side. Neither track strays too far from established dub techno formulas, but are nonetheless quite pleasing. Much like Brandon Moeller’s recent efforts, they summon a refreshing dub breeze without letting the vibe slacken, and both size up well with each artist’s catalog (”Platte” is my favorite by Hess thus far). With the added bonus of transparent orange vinyl, “Campfire Dialogue” makes for an easy purchase at the record shop. (post by Will Lynch)

Art by Liu Bolin

[Plus 8 Records] (buy CD) (buy mp3s)

While it’s higher profile offshoot label M_nus continues to tread water and slowly transform into some sort of sci-fi cartoon series, Richie Hawtin’s original Plus 8 imprint keeps on putting out quality techno releases with a lot less frequency but a much higher level of quality across the board. Veteran Canadian label-skipper Mike Shannon (of Cynosure label fame) is the latest producer to come aboard, and his third full-length album is a polished and accomplished foray into rhythmic tech-house, as comfortable on a home stereo as it would be on an adventurous jock’s playlist.

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[Metatron House Division] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)

With his latest release on Metatron House Division, Johannes Heil delivers two exceptional tracks which reflect a knack for composition as well as production. “Aum” and “Soul Made” both slip right past the ten minute mark, but Heil’s songwriting (for lack of a better term) is shrewd enough to keep things fresh throughout. The former is bare and repetitive to awe-inducing effect, while the latter is multifarious and thoroughly ornate. As an EP, “Aum” is strongly visual and wonderfully varied — certainly worth a listen for fans of house’s trippier variety.

“Aum” has a resoundingly spiritual motif; the track builds itself around a deep and melodious chant, with the title often swelling into shape. It’s a successful stab at what could have easily sounded clichéd and overblown, and the result is oddly moving. On the drums, Heil gets impressive mileage out of some very simple percussive elements, pairing a modest bass kick with ordinary claps and high hats, all of which contrast nicely with the sonorous vocals. It’s contemplative and compelling, and certainly not without club appeal. “Soul Made” is a little more traditional, with funkier beats and a livelier vibe. Nonetheless, it is an unpredictable track that starts out sounding stark and textural but slowly develops into a full-blown house number, complete with epic R&B vocals and satisfying breakdowns. Either track would serve a DJ very well, but both progress in a way that makes them notably self-sufficient, with intros and outros that manage to sound expressive rather than utilitarian. Overall, a very strong pair of tracks whose intricacies and subtle emotion will continue to reveal themselves after dozens of spins. (post by Will Lynch)

Illustration/book by Lisa Brown

[REKIDS] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)

Taking after the piano-driven house of Still Going and Osborne, Runaway’s “Brooklyn Club Jam” starts with the same impetus but makes sure to contort itself. First released on Runaway’s Myspace page, the track was surprising almost to a fault; as a stream of an unreleased track, “Brooklyn Club Jam” sounded like it could (and more importantly, should) help the catalog of a number of labels. Months later, “Brooklyn Club Jam” has ended up on the REKIDS imprint, home of pummeling wide-screen epics and it doesn’t sound a bit out of place. For a group like Runaway, with a wurst-sized edit and single to their name, the journey from Myspace to REKIDS should’ve been improbable. But Runaway includes Jacques Renault, a member of DFA’s roster and one of the hardest-working DJs in New York, crowned best DJ of 2007 by NYC night-life guide Paper Magazine. As you could imagine, the success of “Brooklyn Club Jam” sounds less flash-panned than finely honed.

The first thing you notice about “Brooklyn Club Jam” is how dry the drums sound, how the hi-hat fizzes, and how the rest of the track sounds soaked from a humid night. Not settling for instant melody like Osborne’s “Outta Sight,” Runaway takes the shimmer of the piano and cuts it into shards. Piano lines might still shine through but always refract when they reach the surface. The piano turns out to be a red herring after it peaks halfway through, letting the track dive back into an 909-churn. The balance of “Brooklyn Club Jam” is the best part of the track -– it never pigeonholes itself as dark, tribal, or uplifting house when it touches upon each sound. The L.S.B. remix streamlines the tease, introducing a meaty bassline, firm hi-hat and drum breakdown for the piano to play around. It’s a fine re-branding, but sounds far less nimble. Toby Tobias’ remix takes the alternative approach. He carves out the heart of the original – drums, piano, all but a shard of the melody — and finds how many angles he can hear a round of handclaps on top of the remains. It’s an idea, but the track never finds a structure to cling to. (post by Nate DeYoung)

All right, Ann Arbor: you come to dance your ass off with James and myself and no one gets (their feelings) hurt. Chris Hahn and Robert Lowell of Primed Recordings have generously invited us to play their weekly Frequency Saturdays night TOMORROW at The Necto. Cheapskates aiming to get blitzed quick should arrive before 10 pm, when there’s NO COVER and all drinks are HALF PRICE. Oh, and we’ll be spinning techno and house until 2am. We hope to see you there!

Photo courtesy of Fabric.

The exposure afforded by releasing one of the decade’s biggest house tunes led to a turning point in the musical careers of Kristian Beyer and Frank Wiedemann, the duo known as Âme. Instead of moving closer to commercial viability, Beyer and Wiedemann embraced the uniqueness of their vision and grew weirder, following their experimental instincts down the rabbit hole of fathoms deep techno and house. Opting for quality over quantity, the duo has only released four singles since their first brush with the limelight. This M.O. also defines Innervisions, their label with Dixon, with a prominent back catalog that’s often impacted the trajectory of modern deep house, even before it became a dominant theme in dance music. Their discerning taste as labelheads and DJs is on full display in their recently released (and flat out excellent) Fabric mix. I had a chance to talk with Âme while they were promoting the mix, discussing their stylistic shifts, recent single “D.P.O.M.B.”, and their advice for shopping around your demo. (interview by Steve Mizek) Read more »

For some ridiculous reason, I’m opening for Shed tonight at Middlesex Lounge in Cambridge, MA. It’s his first ever performance in the U.S. and Make It New events always have a great vibe. So if you’re in the Boston/Cambridge area and you’re the type who parties on Thursday nights, come on down for a little untz untz. I’ll be the one trying not to wet his pants in the DJ booth from 9-10 pm and 10:45-11:30 pm. Shed will be on from Midnight to 2am. Hope to see some of you there!
(post by Will Lynch)

[Trelik] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)

A collaborative project between Baby Ford and Ian “Eon” Loveday birthed way back in 1993, Minimal Man have released a dozen or so singles for such labels as Perlon, Trelik, Guerilla, and Vinyl Solution. But it’s been “Make A Move,” originally released in 2000, that has taken on a life of its own via mixes and DJ sets over the years, enough so to justify a welcome repressing eight years later. Never a big hit, “Make A Move” has proven to be more useful than jaw dropping, but you have to admire a DJ tool with this kind of longevity.

On first listen, it’s easy to hear exactly how this track has become a secret weapon for so many DJs. A crisp, punishing breakbeat (always one of Loveday’s specialties) pushes along a circular, acidic bass riff, punctuated by a Chicago house vocal snippet to make a simple, direct and devastatingly effective track. Part 1 and Part 2 appear on opposite sides of the 12″, mirroring each other and allowing for those springing for two copies to have lots of extra fodder to extend the fun. Third track “Stay On” works in a Kraftwerk sample over a clattering electro break and some spacey textural backdrops, but “Make A Move” is the real star here. It’s rare that a record can effectively be mixed with deep house, techno, minimal, breakbeats and pretty much everything in between and still hold its own distinct identity; missing it a second time is inexcusable. (post by Todd Hutlock)

[Diynamic Music] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)

Hamburg producer Martin Stimming is on a roll. From his work with Einmusik on the “Mesdames EP” to his split with Matthias Meyer, he’s quietly tricked out a string of excellent singles all summer. “Una Pena,” a tightly wound, live wire of a track that’s been popping up left and right in DJs’ sets, continues the winning streak. It’s impeccably produced with the utmost attention paid to both detail — a smattering of bells, triangles, claves and even drum rolls fill the song’s backdrop — and groove, which snaps, crackles and pops like a bowl of rice krispies. His sampling of Chilean folk songstress Violeta Parra’s “Arauco Tiene Una Pena,” is done just right: softly, sparingly, utilizing only the most beautiful part of the melody and turning its echoes into a rousing horn-meets-kazoo riff (think “Fizheuer Zieheuer”). What a song!

Equally delightful is Argy’s remix, which fills out the original with heavier poly-rhythms, rich synthesizer textures and a whole arsenal of reverb. Argy takes listeners on a mind-fuck percussive journey, layering all kinds of congas, wood blocks, screeches and crashing cymbals over subtle melodic flourishes and a heavy, hypnotic bass line. It’s the kind of driving, pulsing track I would picture overdubbing a descent into someone’s subconscious, with the echoes of Parra’s distorted voice leading the way deeper and deeper into the unknown. Considering the growing impatience for minimal among techno audiences — with criticisms of it becoming, if nothing else, a lifeless, boring mess of a genre — Stimming’s “Una Pena” is a gentle reminder that it can be more than self-conscious drum pitch noodling or hammering on the spooky effects pad; minimal techno can produce some streamlined, booty-bumping club workouts. (post by Jeremy Cohen)

[Meanwhile] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)

Does anyone else feel that really good dub music seems to have something to teach you? The melodies and rhythms play with each other at arm’s length within a wide open space. This always suggests to me that most everything dubsided is more concerned with finding out how the musical pieces interact than with building them around a theme or idea. And the good stuff always uses this process in order to say something about most of the rest of music not already known. In techno, Deepchord/Echospace are the professors with their heads in the clouds, whose absent-minded synth excursions probe as deeply as can be done. Bovill and Murmur, on the other hand, make tracks like slightly sexy high school teachers, who might not have quite the same foreboding expanse of knowledge on hand to deliver but nevertheless present what they’ve got to say very alluringly.

Both have been making quiet waves with restrained cuts on their own UK-based Meanwhile label since 2004. “Low Pressure,” by Bovill, and “Magnetic,” by Murmur, are the two sides of their latest 12″. Of the two tracks, “Low Pressure” is more instantly forceful, with a big bouncing kick gyrating along the low end, whereas “Magnetic” is brighter and less hurried. Both deepen like a coastal shelf (to borrow from Philip Larkin), but neither grow to feel depressingly somber, like some dub techno. Rather, both remain lascivious: “Low Pressure” for its kick, and “Magnetic” because of its devilish melody. It’s hard to pick a favorite between the two. In fact, the producers seem to be of the same mind to such an extent it might be natural to assume one artist was responsible for both sides, if you didn’t know better. Both tracks stand out from the rest of the pack, though, for cultivating the feeling that every note is in its carefully considered right place. For this reason, both retain their appeal and intrigue after several spins in a row, while their many contemporary tracks go for broke and quickly outwear their welcome. Bovill and Murmur certainly provide a haven from tracks dropped once too many, all while showing up to the classroom revealing a little skin. I’m crushing hard. (post by Colin Shields)