In spite of their name, The Memory Foundation is one of many techno acts whose 90’s heyday hasn’t translated into contemporary renown. The Vienna-born, Berlin-based duo of Michael Peter and Martin Retschitzegger (who’ve produced together under several other aliases including Hi-Lo, Ratio and Glory B) certainly provided enough reasons to be remembered. Their excellent first EP was released by Robert Hood’s M-Plant (the imprint’s first foreign act and third ever record) and followed by “Breakpoint,” one of the first Out to Lunch releases. Assertive but not hard-nosed, melodic yet not florid, repetitive without sounding one note, The Memory Foundation’s Detroit-influenced tracks were a good fit for Hood’s label and the crates of driving minimal techno fans. Yet their most concerted self-preservation efforts — starting their own label, Central, to house much of their material — likely insulated the duo from less savvy fans. After four years of radio silence, The Memory Foundation are back with “Reptiles In Exile,” a new four tracker for Andy Vaz’s generally spot on Yore Records that showcases their housier side.
anton
Kiki, Good Voodoo Remixes
As the cut up vocals intoning the title of “Good Voodoo” slip into your ears, you can almost picture the moment Kiki discovered the sample: Eyes wide and jaw gone slack with awe, BPitch Control staple Joakim Ijäs likely sensed its potential immediately, building a broadly enticing techno structure to house the hypnotic chant and the rest of Chela Simone’s affected vocals. Its spherical synth riff and massive, Carl Craig-inspired pads hit several populist pleasure centers at once, assuring its selection as the first single from Kaiku, Kiki’s sophomore album. But not ones to leave things to chance, BPitch lined up Jay Haze, Chaim and the rarely seen Visionquest trio to put their own shine on “Good Voodoo” to seal the deal.
Freestyle Man, Vibin EP
Many producers and their fans defend limp, threadbare minimal house tracks as “DJ tools” whose usefulness is lost on audiences who hear them out of context. Yet every now and then an exceptional DJ tool comes along that lays bare just how pathetic such an excuse can be. Klas Lindblad, better known as Sasse/Freestyle Man and owner of the Moodmusic label, is rarely mentioned in the same sentence as a DJ tool, as his productions for labels such as Freude Am Tanzen, Dirt Crew Recordings, Keys of Life and his own imprints tend to come out fully formed and ripe for solo play. More than 15 years spent behind decks and drum machines, however, tends to give producers like Lindblad a sense for which additional elements spice up DJ sets, as well as how to work them into a record. His latest as Freestyle Man, the “Vibin EP” for Bear Entertainment sub-label Hairy Claw, shows lazy toolmakers how it’s done.
Roman Flügel, Stricher EP
It seems reasonable after 20 plus prolific years spent producing music that Roman Flügel’s recent output has slowed to a trickle. This isn’t to say the many monikered producer has been resting on his laurels — the excellent “Neues Testament” EP under the long dormant Roman IV guise puts paid to that notion — but the venerable producer just doesn’t need 10 to 15 releases per year to retain top billing. Yet you can hardly blame Flügel’s fans for hoping another few morsels meet his quality control standards and end up on wax. Surprisingly, Tiga’s Turbo label (rather than old reliable Playhouse) provides a home for his first original material of 2009 — the varied “Stricher EP.”
Willie Graff & Tuccillo, Atracktion EP
Born in Ibiza, the world’s tropical dance music oasis, Willie Graff has always held the kick drum close to his heart. Securing his first DJing residency at age 14, Graff went on to become Pacha’s youngest resident before moving to New York and taking the reins at Cielo. With techno and house running through his veins, Graff’s 2005 transition into producing proved remarkably smooth, enlisting a constant stream of collaborators (including Jerome Sydenham, DJ Pippi and Tuccillo) as he refined a jacking style of tech-house. With each new 12″ for liebe*detail, Wave Music, Drumpoet Community and Freerange, Graff and Tuccilo (his most frequent partner) have opted for slower, more house-oriented sounds. The “Atracktion EP,” their new release for Circus Company, finds the duo at their most methodical and mellow.
Peace Division, Eh Oh Um
Just as hardware stores supply builders with lumber and nails, British duo Peace Division made a career of peddling reliable if largely unremarkable minimal house grooves to reinforce DJs’ sets. Their understated repertoire has hardly changed in the nearly 15 years spent releasing for Low Pressing, NRK Sound Division, Crosstown Rebels and Tsuba (among others), adjusting slightly with the times to meet DJs needs: Their turn of the century beats were often up-tempo, chunky and a bit tribal, only to reduce during the minimal years and plump up again as “deep” became the operative word. This year the pair decided to hang up the Peace Division moniker for good to pursue solo endeavors, with one last single, “Eh Oh Um,” as their curtain call. Yet in spite of their unshakable consistency, one might expect the duo to go out with a bang, or at least out of the ordinary. Don’t get your hopes up.
Cooly G, Narst/Love Dub
Although Hyperdub has rightly earned its reputation as one of the world’s leading dubstep labels, the scope of its sound is far more complicated. Burial’s spectral aesthetic owes much to 2-step and garage; Zomby and Joker are pioneers of whatever they’re calling wonky these days; and label head Kode9’s sews together bits and pieces of hip-hop, Baltimore breaks, 2-step, dubstep, and mostly recently the nascent sounds of funky. With the latter most genre quickly gathering steam and admirers, it was only a matter of time before Hyperdub signed their own funky producer — South London’s Cooly G.
Terence Fixmer, Machine EP
It’s somewhat surprising “Machine EP” is the first time Terence Fixmer and Speedy J, two veterans of hard and fast techno, have worked with each other’s music. Both have churned out banging twelves since the early 90s and have a workman-like quality about their productions. Appropriately, Speedy’s recently launched Electric Deluxe imprint is the venue for their meeting, marking the first time another solo artist is featured there. Fans of either man will find much the EP pleasing if not surprising.
Oleg Poliakov, Rainy Dayz
French producer Frederic Aubourg first debuted in 1997 as Skat, but his career didn’t take off until 2004 when started a string of releases for Karat, Sthmlaudio, and more recently Eklo. Aubourg can also be found producing under the Russian-sounding alias, Oleg Poliakov, turning in one Circus Company single per year since 2007. Despite the distinctive moniker, most Poliakov tracks blend in all too well with their nuevo “deep house” surroundings. “Rainy Dayz” makes headway towards a more distinguishable sound, though perhaps for the wrong reasons.
Andy Stott, Brief Encounter/Drippin
When LWE interviewed Shlom, manager of Manchester’s Modern Love imprint, he described Andy Stott as “one of the most musically hungry people I’ve ever met.” It’s an apt characterization of a producer who gobbles up dance music sub-genres and spits back potent hybrids with little concern for which camps might enjoy them. Last year’s Unknown Exception compilation capably documented his approach by collecting wide-ranging singles such as the serrated dub monster “The Massacre” and bass bin-rattler “”Handle With Care.” Stott and his fans have worked up quite an appetite for fresh material after all this looking back, but whether his first single of 2009, “Brief Encounter/Drippin,” will leave listeners satisfied is open for debate.