[Perlon]

Whether recording as Portable or Bodycode, there’s no denying that Alan Abrahams is an album producer. He’s reliably released an LP every two years since 2002′s Futuristic Experiments #005, accompanied by a stream of singles with an uncommon sense of vision. Abrahams’ tracks often feel like hermetic worlds teeming with activity, a tendency that could make an entire album an exhaustive experience. If this has been an occasional pitfall in the past, it’s completely absent on Into Infinity, his first full-length for Perlon.

If anything, the LP is actually gracefully paced, as Abrahams juxtaposes its most banging, clattering moments with restrained balladry. His baritone vocals are at the forefront more than ever before, and his signature frenetic house is mixed with a dramatic synth-pop influence that echoes groups like Depeche Mode and Japan. There are a few guests, and thankfully none of their contributions feel incongruous with the album’s sound. Efdemin composes “One Way,” which builds on 4/4 kicks and a more linear structure than most of Portable’s material, but its consistent sound palette and Abrahams’ vocals keep it firmly in line. And Abrahams’ longtime friend Lakuti provides vocals for the stepping “A Deeper Love” — a sure highlight, as her house-diva approach provides a refreshing contrast to his pervasive stoic crooning.

Into Infinity is ostensibly Abrahams’ “love” album, inspired by a healthy relationship, and it shows, both in the bright production sheen and the lyrics. For example, the rising, hopeful opener “Making Holes” repeats the line “you’re making holes/in my darkness.” Nevertheless, the LP seems equally concerned with that “darkness.” Last year’s solemn, pleading “Find Me” is a centerpiece, and the slow, tropical syncopations of “Island Of Thought” find him picturing “you with someone else/someone other than me” atop a lush and plaintive synthetic backdrop. The LP is all the richer for this contrast, detailing the fear and solitude surrounding even the most ideal love. Abrahams hasn’t changed his sound as much as polished it, and the 10 tracks here are among his most mature, consuming works to date.

For LWE’s 22nd podcast, Alan Abrahams pitted his Portable and Bodycode aliases against each other for almost an hour of alien house mayhem. Make sure to grab a piece of the carnage before it’s sealed in the archives this Friday, September 24th at 10 am CST.

10. Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras, Catholic
[Macro] (buy)
Re-issues are already the perfect gift from record labels to collectors. They don’t appear on the horizon like new releases but sneak up unexpectedly from behind, pleasantly spinning the focus around for a moment. Like mortar, they put that elusive and essential brick firmly in place, or they fortify that worn and weary copy ensuring both the completeness and endurance of a collection. As a previously unreleased collaboration between Jorge Socarras and disco demigod Patrick Cowley, Macro’s impressive gift of Catholic in 2009 does so much more. Not only inspiring re-appreciation of one of disco’s legendary auteurs, it calls for a reassessment of what we know about Cowley, deepening our understanding of an already rich musical endowment. The surprising stylistic scope of Catholic only adds to its charm, demonstrating the underlying musical promiscuity of the late 70′s and early 80′s and allowing new lines to be draws in the lineage of electronic and dance music. It’s not often that something this new, unanticipated, and exciting comes up from the past, but when it does, you really appreciate the present, bow and all. (Andrew Clapper)

09. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion
[Domino] (buy)
Merriweather Post Pavilion is undoubtedly this list’s most controversial entry, but what’s less certain is why it’s earned such notoriety. Too close to indie rock for some, sure; too rapturously embraced by indie music press/audiences, true, but hardly Animal Collective’s fault. Although there’s no accounting for taste, I’d aver the apprehension has much to do with jealously guarding the electronic realm from arriviste experimental rockers, even if they crafted one of the year’s most striking electronic albums that offers nothing to fear. The jaunty, hook-filled tunes leaping from Animal Collective’s latest LP are often the product of synths, sequencers, drum machines and voices, with guitar and bass licks providing texture instead of leading the way. But their gear choices are only means to a colorful, densely packed end: Ragged tones and twinkling loops enrich and balance tunes that skirt the borders of pop and experimental abstraction with apparent glee. They’ve created a deeply personal album whose sentiments resonate as strongly as its clever arrangements, inviting listeners into the comforting arms of “Also Frightened,” to consider their natural urges on “Guys Eyes” and artistic proclivities on “Taste,” to cheer up family and friends alongside “Brother Sport” and sing oneself hoarse to Recession-era anthem “My Girls” as the guys channel Frankie Knuckles. Taken together, Merriweather Post Pavilion is a complete package of dazzling sounds, excellent songwriting and personality to spare. In a year crammed with rock-oriented artists trying to incorporate electronics into their sound, Animal Collective have emerged as plugged in friends, not foes. (Steve Mizek)

08. Ben Klock, One [Ostgut Tonträger] (buy)
“Ain’t no happiness, ain’t no sadness” was the Elif Bicer-vocaled refrain to the catchiest moment on Ben Klock’s debut album, One. Bicer might as well have been describing the album, which went beyond simple black and white emotions with its many different shades of gray. If this makes One sound dully monochrome, then the description is misleading. Possibly the most varied full length to come out on Ostgut Ton thus far, it nonetheless pulled reduced techno, Chain Reaction dub, flecks of house, and a sprinkling of dubstep into a unified, distilled and purified whole. In a record so consistently excellent it’s tough to pick out highlights, but the relentless early morning kick of “Gloaming,” or the brutal organ stabs of “Grip” offer easiest access for the uninitiated. Eschewing such “obvious” feelings as happy or sad, One offered far more complex and enthralling sensations to be a good deal better than “OK.” (Peder Clark)

07. Redshape, The Dance Paradox [Delsin] (buy)
Right from the very first burst of jangling percussion and mysteriously icy, Amber-era Autechre inspired chords of “Seduce Me,” it was obvious the mysterious techno producer had successfully managed to translate the brooding sensibilities underpinning his deep techno EPs to the album format. However, there were two crucial differences between The Dance Paradox and Redshape’s back catalog. The first was that the producer worked with a drummer throughout the recording process, and flowing from this method, the album was more varied sounding than Redshape’s singles. While these traits are most obvious on “Rohrschach’s Game,” where drums tumble through a textured fog, bringing chaos to the textured ambience, the standout cuts sound more like a woozy combination of Redshape’s established sound. “Garage GT” unfolded to the sound of traffic noise and police sirens as the author laid down gloriously warm jazz keys, set to the ever present lumbering bass. “Dead Space Mix (Edit)” meanwhile, was an updated version of the B side from the first Present release, and saw Redshape go back to the bleep meets Detroit techno of Nexus 21, while “Man out of Time” was like a typical dance floor focused Redshape track dissected and re-imagined for home listening, its sprawling chords and rumbling bass flowing through a freeform prism. Despite this approach, there were other moments when Redshape reverted to type. “Bound (Part 1 & 2)” was like a successor to “Blood into Dust,” its buzzing bass line and crystalline synths building to a dramatic denouement, while “Globe” burnt brighter and went deeper than all the producer’s other brooding moments. If there’s one complaint about Paradox, it would have to be its brevity. At just eight tracks, it feels like Redshape was hitting his stride as it finished. Maybe it’s more to do with the fact that this writer would be happy to listen to the richness and depth of sound and prevailing mood, somewhere between miserabilism and euphoria, ad infinitum. (Richard Brophy)

06. Juju & Jordash, Juju & Jordash [Dekmantel] (buy)
Juju and Jordash are not your average dance producers. Accomplished guitar and keyboard players, respectively, the Israeli-by-way-of-Amsterdam duo defies expectation in origin and outcome. Their first widely released full-length presents their unique style as well as or better than their previous records have, permitting stomping dance anthems, like the mischievous single “Deep Blue Meanies,” to exist alongside intricate instrumental explorations like “Jugdish,” which sounds something like the Bill Evans trio on mescaline. Though that jazz influence is clear, from both their sound and their no-samples approach to production and performance, their cosmopolitan sound doesn’t stop there. Jamaican dub, Italian disco, American house, and German experimental rock also figure heavily into their work. Juju and Jordash have been bubbling under the surface of recognition for the past five years — earlier releases have appeared on Keith Worthy’s Aesthetic Audio, Reggie Dokes’ Psychostasia, and Jus-Ed’s Underground Quality — and with this remarkable LP, they are bursting through.
(Shuja Haider)

05. Bodycode, Immune [Spectral Sound] (buy)
After last year’s “Release,” we were primed for a meal-size helping of Alan Abrahams’ lush, sophisticated, abstracted vocal house. A well-sequenced selection of his dance-oriented new work would’ve done the trick. And we certainly got choice tracks — from “Hyperlight”‘s deep house debris to the burrowing reproach/plea of single “What Did You Say” to rattling anthem “Imitation Lover” — but Abraham did us one better, delivering an honest-to-god album that engages the length and concentration of the LP as house music seldom has. Immune‘s tracks drift into and echo off of one another, merged into a viscous and seemingly indivisible whole. Abrahams’ instantly recognizable compositional style and, yes, voice are crucial to this unity, but Immune‘s true bonding tissue is its pervading mood. The course of its human dramas already set, this is a music of introspection, reflection, regret, and melancholy. And somehow, Immune pronounces these feelings rhythmically, its poignance bound to the jack. Who knew that disappointment could move so seductively?
(Chris Burkhalter)

04. Martyn, Great Lengths [3024] (buy)
Some of the most talked about, ground-breaking and over-hyped records in 2009 all came from the dubstep camp. Martyn fit snuggly into the first two of these descriptives with his mind blowing Great Lengths album that marked out its own territory in the ever expanding dubstep universe. Any hype surrounding his debut full length though was duly earned; the Dutchman’s unique take on the narrowing divide between techno and dubstep was embodied with tough, embossed percussion, rarefied techno chords and heavy, rounded bass lines that never laid a foot wrong. While many artists now inhabit the neutral zone unoccupied by either dubstep or techno exclusively, few have managed to do so with an effortless grace as Martyn. Whether tooling with takes on deep house, chord heavy breakbeat or post-garage pressure, Martyn kept the balance between beauty and melancholy throughout the album’s entirety, adding to its appeal with a cohesiveness and digestibility often disregarded by electronic artists in album form. (Per Bojsen-Moller)

03. Shackleton, Three EPs [Perlon] (buy)
Even at Sam Shackleton’s most kinetic moments of dub-based munitions deployment, there has existed a fervent experimentalism in everything he has undertaken. Whether it has been the laissez faire approach to making his productions palpable club successes or a casual disregard for the very structures of what may deem a track to be called dubstep, it has been obvious from the first that inherent in Shackleton is to forge his own unique path through his music. His first proper artist album was no exception to his maverick style, giving us an aureate, densely layered work that doesn’t so much require repeated listening as demands it. For those familiar with Shackleton’s productions, Three EPs was no departure from anything he has done, but as a whole showed a much grander ambition. From the cohesive flow of the nine tracks to the locked grooves on the vinyl, Three EPs was been designed to be a listening experience and proved to be one that yielded further curiosities upon each listening. In its experimental regard it can be loosely likened to another of 2009′s stand-out releases, the Moritz von Oswald Trio’s Vertical Ascent. Though Three EPs may outwardly be more easily approachable, both are fashioned from recondite percussion programming and spend long periods of time teasing out central themes and ideas from studied, repeated rhythms. Shackleton’s album however is saturated with the deep thrum of bass patterns, the prevailing essence of dubstep that has stayed with him while he has gradually started erasing the lines between it and other genres. However this doesn’t equate to any of the tracks being suitable for club play, but then that is hardly the point here. Instead this is the result of a producer displaying the mastery of their unique sound and further setting themselves apart from their rivals, creating in the process an album that is timelessly classic. (Per Bojsen-Moller)

02. Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Vertical Ascent
[Honest Jon's Records] (buy)
Do you remember the first time you really heard techno? Not just let it drift passively through your ear canals, but heard it, felt it like you’d been waiting to feel it your whole life but are caught completely off-guard by it in the instant. I can remember my moment (or moments, rather: classics like Hawtin’s Decks, EFX & 909 and Luomo’s Vocalcity thumping on repeat in my sophomore year dormroom), and while I’m not sure I’ll ever plunge quite that deep again, the Moritz Von Oswald Trio’s Vertical Ascent takes me back to the excitement of elemental, expectation-defying sounds about as much as any record has since. Over just four ultra-extended deep grooves, Von Oswald, Max Loderbauer, and show-stealer Sasu Ripatti travel a veritable universe of alien, quasi-melodic landscapes: they give us abstract anthemics on “Pattern 1,” slasher movie moodiness on “Pattern 2,” gravity-defying tropicalia on “Pattern 3,” and the druggiest Rhythm & Sound side of all time on “Pattern 4.” It’s a record that doesn’t sound like techno so much as it fully embodies it in ways you never thought possible, reaffirming what got your brain racing and ass shaking in the first place. And nearly three decades since George Clinton and Kraftwerk met on that fateful elevator ride, it’s nice to know there are still a few stones left unturned. (Jordan Rothlein)

01. Black Jazz Consortium, Structure
[Soul People Music] (buy)
From Underground Quality, to Third Ear, to Uzuri, one of 2009′s resurgent aesthetics was stripped down, analog house — a sound no one pulled off better than Fred P., best known as Black Jazz Consortium. When Structure was released last March, hardly anyone had gotten over his seminal New Horizon EP, and the appearance of almost a dozen new tracks was virtually overwhelming. But while that EP focused on accessible, romantic house, Structure finds Fred P going much deeper and darker, experimenting with clunky rhythms, stark arrangements and odd time signatures. “New Horizon” may be his best song ever, but more austere tracks like “Tea-Pot Science,” “Something Old” and “I Want That” reveal how subtle and refined Fred’s technique really is. Using little more than perfectly constructed bass kicks, hand claps and a fistful of simple synth sounds, Structure outperformed every other album that came out this year. (Will Lynch)

++

Staff Lists:

Per Bojsen-Moller:

01. Martyn, Great Lengths [3024]
02. Shackleton, Three EPs [Perlon]
03. Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Vertical Ascent [Honest Jon's Records]
04. Ben Klock, One [Ostgut Tonträger]
05. Holger Zilske, Holz [Playhouse]
06. John Daly, Sea & Sky [Wave Music]
07. Intrusion, The Seduction of Silence [echospace [detroit]]
08. Linkwood, System [Prime Numbers]
09. V/A, 5 Years of Hyperdub [Hyperdub]
10. Black Jazz Consortium, Structure [Soul People Music]

Richard Brophy:

01. Redshape, The Dance Paradox [Delsin]
02. Legowelt, Vatos Locos [Crème Organization]
03. Traxx, Faith [Nation]
04. Demdike Stare, Symbiosis [Modern Love]
05. Bodycode, Immune [Spectral Sound]
06. Cio D’or, Die Faser [Prologue]
07. Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras, Catholic [Macro]
08. Ben Klock, One [Ostgut Tonträger]
09. Pendle Coven. Self Assessment [Modern Love]
10. Planetary Assault Systems. Temporary Suspension [Ostgut Tonträger]

Chris Burkhalter:

01. Black Jazz Consortium, Structure [Soul People Music]
02. Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Vertical Ascent [Honest Jon's Records]
03. SND, Atavism [Raster-Noton]
04. Broadcast and The Focus Group, …Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age
[Warp Records]
05. Atom™, Liedgut [Raster-Noton]
06. 2562, Unbalance [Tectonic]
07. Bodycode, Immune [Spectral Sound]
08. Junior Boys, Begone Dull Care [Domino]
09. Tevo Howard, Dreamer’s Reason Café [Beautiful Granville Records]
10. Cio D’or, Die Faser [Prologue]

Andrew Clapper:

01. Juju & Jordash, Juju & Jordash [Dekmantel]
02. Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras, Catholic [Macro]
03. Linkwood, Systems [Prime Numbers]
04. Black Jazz Consortium, Structure [Soul People Music]
05. Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Vertical Ascent [Honest Jon's Records]
06. Dam-Fun, Toeachizown [Stones Throw Records]
07. Ben Klock, One [Ostgut Tonträger]
08. Bodycode, Immune [Spectral Sound]
09. Maayan Nidam, Nightlong [Power Shovel Audio]
10. Bottin, Horror Disco [Bear Funk]

Peder Clark:

01. Ben Klock, One [Ostgut Tonträger]
02. Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras, Catholic [Macro]
03. Black Jazz Consortium, Structure [Soul People Music]
04. The Whitest Boy Alive, Rules [Asound/Bubbles]
05. Bodycode, Immune [Spectral Sound]
06. Mountains, Choral [Thrill Jockey]
07. Andrés, II [Mahogani Music]
08. Planetary Assault Systems, Temporary Suspension [Ostgut Tonträger]
09. Redshape, The Dance Paradox [Delsin]
10. Christian Naujoks, Untitled [Dial]

Shuja Haider:

01. Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Vertical Ascent [Honest Jon's Records]
02. Juju & Jordash, Juju & Jordash [Dekmantel]
03. Black Jazz Consortium, Structure [Soul People Music]
04. Linkwood, Systems [Prime Numbers]
05. Martyn, Great Lengths [3024]
06. Bodycode, Immune [Spectral Sound]
07. Redshape, The Dance Paradox [Delsin]
08. Black Meteoric Star, Black Meteoric Star [DFA]
09. Ron Trent, Dance Classic [Prescription Classic Recordings]
10. Hieroglyphic Being, So Much Noise 2 B Heard [Mathematics Recordings]

Todd Hutlock:

01. Intrusion, The Seduction of Silence [echospace [detroit]]
02. Shackleton, Three EPs [Perlon]
03. Martyn, Great Lengths [3024]
04. Matias Aguayo, Ay Ay Ay [Kompakt]
05. Etienne Jaumet, Night Music [Versatile Records]
06. Lawrence, Until Then, Goodbye [Mule Electronic]
07. Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Vertical Ascent [Honest Jon's Records]
08. Redshape, The Dance Paradox [Delsin]
09. The Field, Yesterday And Today [Kompakt]
10. Brock Van Wey, White Clouds Drift On And On [echospace [detroit]]

Anton Kipfel:

01. Bodycode, Immune [Spectral Sound]
02. Shackleton, Three EPs [Perlon]
03. Martyn, Great Lengths [3024]
04. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion [Domino]
05. Lindstrom & Prins Thomas, II [Eskimo Recordings]
06. SND, Atavism [Raster-Noton]
07. Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Vertical Ascent [Honest Jon's Records]
08. 2562, Unbalance [Tectonic]
09. Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras, Catholic [Macro]
10. Redshape, The Dance Paradox [Delsin]

Kuri Kondrak:

01. Juju & Jordash, Juju & Jordash [Dekmantel]
02. Agore, Memories [4 lux]
03. 2562, Unbalance [Tectonic]
04. Black Jazz Consortium, Structure [Soul People Music]
05. FaltyDL, Love Is A Liability [Planet Mu]
06. Redshape, The Dance Paradox [Delsin]
07. Future Beat Alliance, Patience and Distance [EeevoNext]
08. Reagenz, Playtime [Workshop]
09. Linkwood, System [Prime Numbers]
10. Aybee, East Oakland Space Program [Deepblak]

Will Lynch:

01. Black Jazz Consortium, Structure [Soul People Music]
02. Reagenz, Playtime [Workshop]
03. Whitest Boy Alive, Rules [Asound/Bubbles]
04. Losoul, Care [Playhouse]
05. Vladislav Delay, Tummaa [Leaf]
06. To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie, Marlone [Kranky]
07. STL, Dub Techno Explorations [Something]
08. Kurt Vile, Childish Prodigy [Matador]
09. Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Vertical Ascent [Honest Jon's Records]
10. Juju & Jordash, Juju & Jordash [Dekmantel]

Chris Miller:

01. Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Vertical Ascent [Honest Jon's Records]
02. Shackleton, Three EPs [Perlon]
03. Reagenz, Playtime [Workshop]
04. Ben Klock, One [Ostgut Tonträger]
05. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavillion [Domino]
06. Martyn, Great Lengths [3024]
07. Cio D’or, Die Faser [Prologue]
08. Vladislav Delay, Tummaa [Leaf]
09. Redshape, The Dance Paradox [Delsin]
10. Falty DL, Love Is A Liability [Planet Mu]

Steve Mizek:

01. Shackleton, Three EPs [Perlon]
02. Black Jazz Consortium, Structure [Soul People Music]
03. Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Vertical Ascent [Honest Jon's Records]
04. Martyn, Great Lengths [3024]
05. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion [Domino]
06. Bodycode, Immune [Spectral Sound]
07. Redshape, The Dance Paradox [Delsin]
08. Juju & Jordash, Juju & Jordash [Dekmantel]
09. Trus’me, In the Red [Prime Numbers]
10. Planetary Assault Systems, Temporary Suspension [Ostgut Tonträger]

Jordan Rothlein:

01. Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Vertical Ascent [Honest Jon's Records]
02. Shackleton, Three EPs [Perlon]
03. Brock Van Wey, White Clouds Drift On And On [echospace [detroit]]
04. Martyn, Great Lengths [3024]
05. Atom™, Liedgut [Raster-Noton]
06. Stimming, Reflections [Diynamic Music]
07. Fever Ray, Fever Ray [Rabid]
08. Fuck Buttons, Tarot Sport [ATP]
09. Black Jazz Consortium, Structure [Soul People Music]
10. Juju & Jordash, Juju & Jordash [Dekmantel]

[Spectral Sound]

Alan Abrahams has the rare gift, at least in house and techno circles, of making music that sounds like no other. As Portable or Bodycode, his sound is instantly recognizable. A unique and often thrilling fusion that embraces 80′s Chicago, 90′s rave and 00′s clicks ‘n’ cuts, Abrahams’ albums have nonetheless often struggled to produce the adrenaline rush that accompanies his jackhammer live show (ably documented in LWE Podcast 22). Indeed, having such an individual signature sound brings its own problems; once you’ve heard one track, you may feel you’ve heard them all. Familiarity breeds contempt, and his last album as Bodycode, The Conservation Of Electric Charge, and as Portable with Powers Of Ten, both sounded uncharacteristically flat. Abrahams’ solution to this malaise was to take to the microphone, and reinvent himself as a latter-day Jamie Principle. The move obviously worked, as last summer brought the veritable smash “Release” on Perlon, followed by the similarly provocative “The Emerald Life” for Musik Krause. Both were released under his nominally less floor-orientated Portable alias (tell that to the people dancing), but evidently the introduction of vocals has also reinvigorated his Bodycode moniker, as Immune is the finest record of his career.

A word of warning to the uninitiated: Abrahams is not your average diva; his sung-spoke vocals can be an acquired taste, and may have a polarizing effect on many listeners. Sometimes they’re buried deep in the mix, sometimes they’re front and centre. Love them or loathe them, they bring a sense of order and direction to a sound that previously had occasionally sounded cluttered, as chattering percussion, glitches, battered ethnic instruments and clipped rave stabs pile into each other. In particular, Lerato Khathi (well known to discerning Londoners as the woman behind the Süd Electronic parties and Uzuri label) adds a neat hook to single “What Did You Say” with her accusatory refrain, “How can you say you’d live without me? How can you say you wanna leave me?” “Imitation Lover” is another standout, with an endlessly mutating synth riff that clings to the “No, no, no!” refrain like ivy climbing a tree.

What’s wonderful about Abrahams’ music is that you can really hear that it is a product of his personal histories, geographies, and philosophies. The debut Portable album, Cycling, was named after freewheeling around London, and Abrahams’ South African roots have always shown through. Immune is soaked with the experience of leaving London to live in Lisbon, and then Berlin, as his recent interview with Textura reveals. Intricate opener “Meaning and Memory” is an obvious example, while “Subspace Radio” samples the white noise of the waves at Abrahams’ favourite Lisbon beach Praia da Ursa, in the process rivaling Jan Jelinek’s best work. “Arigato” chops up a Japanese airport announcement heard whilst on tour, and blends it into a beautiful deep house track, not too dissimilar to the recent remix of Oleg Poliakov’s “Rainy Dayz”. Closing track “Immune” works both sonically as a manifesto for his sound, all syncopation and intricate jack, and lyrically as a summation of his peripatetic lifestyle and musical reinvention: “Nothing is immune to change.” Sing it, brother.

Alan Abrahams maintains that traditional African music and house music are much the same thing. In his music as Portable and Bodycode, Abrahams acts a living link between the indigenous sounds of his youth in South Africa and the first Chicago house records whose futuristic aesthetic broadened his horizons. Since leaving South Africa for London, Lisbon and now Berlin, Abrahams launched the Süd Electronic label with Lerato and released on ~scape, Spectral Sound, Karat and Perlon (among others). Tomorrow sees the release of his second album as Bodycode, the spectacular Immune on Spectral Sound. Full of fuzzy organ chords, needling percussion and Abrahams’ emotion-filled vocals, the album finds his sui generis sound in its most realized state. Our 22nd podcast pits Abrahams’ Portable and Bodycode monikers against each other, providing an exclusive look into the sounds bouncing around this talented producer’s head and computer.

LWE Podcast 22: Portable vs. Bodycode (54:06)

Tracklist:

01. Oleg Poliakov, “Rainy Dayz” (Portable remix) [Circus Company]
02. Bodycode, “Meaning and Memory” [Spectral Sound]
03. Portable ft. Lerato, “Body to Body” (live remix) [Yore Records]
04. Portable, “Release” [Perlon]
05. Bodycode, “Subspace Radio” [Spectral Sound]
06. Portable, “The Many” [Perlon]
07. Bodycode, “I’ll Hold Your Hand” [Spectral Sound]
08. Bodycode, “Nanotechnolody” (live remix) [Spectral Sound]
09. Bodycode ft. Lerato, “What Did You Say” [Spectral Sound]

At what age did you start listening to Chicago house? What drew you in about the music? Did it relate at all to what you were already listening to at the time??

Alan Abrahams: I must have been around 16 or 17 when I first started listening to Chicago house music. I guess what drew me to it was the fact that it was new music. This was the time when some of the first drum machines and new synths were being made, and you had a completely new, futuristic sounds being experimented with. Some of the the really early Chicago house tracks were completely revolutionary. Like Liz Torres’ “What You Make Me Feel” or Master C & J’s “Face It.” Some made only with a 909, [which was a] brand new sound back then, you must understand; this is after the latter years of disco and the biggest change I felt was the addition of a harder, more bottom-ended bass drum, sparse vocals and amazing pads! There was no real relation to what I was listening to at the time. In fact, before house there was only pop and african music for me as a pre-teen.

How long were you making music before releasing your first record in 2001? Did your years of experience mean you already knew what you wanted to make when you were able, or was it a lot of experimenting?

I was making music for a little while before, more experimenting with different incarnations. In fact I was part of a duo called The Mighty Masses, my first foray into singing. We had a big record deal, recorded the album but it was never released. The label felt it wasn’t “black enough” for the country. Funny as I was black and the execs were not. I then left this and started experimenting with more dance related music. A CD was released called “Dance for Freedom” in 1994 under my one time pseudonym, Plexes, on Mass Records in South Africa. This was to coincide with the first South African democratic elections and the release of Nelson Mandela. It was a rare remix album of traditional African freedom songs, one of which later became the national anthem, remixed into a house context. During this time I also had my first foray into deep house music for a record shop/label in Cape Town called DJ Syndicate. I was told it was never released but discovered, after I left Cape Town for London, that in fact it was released without my knowing. In fact, Lerato, who now appears on “What Did You Say” is featured on one of the tracks. So after my move to London a few years passed and it was 2001. “Patterns and Signals,” my first international release was on Sutekh’s context imprint. After that I sort of found my way into the international musicstream.

Your records often find interesting ways to combine African music with house. I was curious where you think the two sounds naturally meet? Do you ever get tired of producers trying to replicate African sounds and, rather often, doing a mediocre job of it?

It’s funny, somehow I feel that house music and traditional African music are really one and the same. Traditional music is made with the intention to get to your soul via rhythm, and the earliest and truest house music is intended for the exact same purpose. I use traditional African sounds and instruments and convert them to bring them into the digital domain. I never just use the sound as it is, that is not the ethos of my sound. My goal is to re-interpret these ancient sounds for the here and now, not just to sample and re-use them in a cheap way, which all these cheap producers do. They are just lazy, it’s easier and easier to make music but not so easy to compose something truly from the heart. I often here these guys talking about how they’ve got this hot track, only to find out that it took them a couple of hours — and of course it sounds that way. Like everything in life, for a piece of music to be timeless, it needs to take time to compose.

It seems since you started using vocals in your projects you haven’t gone back. What significance do your vocals hold in your music? Do you use them when you want to be more explicit about thoughts/emotions? Who are a few of your favorite house music vocalists?

As I mentioned before my first foray into the music world was as a singer. I left that for many years and really just stumbled onto it again recently. I was trying to figure out different ways to move my sound forward and the natural progression was to use vocals, specifically mine. But not vocals just for the sake of vocals, but just when needed. The general idea was to make the tracks more personal,and how more personal can you get than by adding your own voice. I guess my favourite house vocalists are Liz Torres, Robert Owens, and Aaron-Carl.

You’re more of a live PA guy rather than a DJ. What draws you to that over DJing? Who are a few of your favorite producers who do live PAs?

I’ve started playing live just before Ableton 1 arrived, back then with a desktop of all things, haha! Then along came Ableton and opened up a whole new world for the live electronic music composer. I love playing live. You can change your tracks and really feel your music making a difference with the audience. Many times the live sets come up with completely unique versions of my tracks that wouldn’t happen anywhere else but right there on the dance floor. Although I like DJing sometime, I feel I have more to offer as a live PA. And recently I’ve been using a homemade theremin and adding my voice too, so who knows what happens next! As of yet I’ve not seen any outstanding live PA’s, so I don’t have a favourite.

What are the difference between the Bodycode and Portable projects? Your Portable remix of Oleg Poliakov’s “Rainy Dayz” and your Portable singles for Perlon and Musik Krause sound to me a lot like your new Bodycode album. Are the two projects growing closer together production-wise?

I would say the two projects are growing closer for sure, they were never meant to be too far apart. From the start Bodycode was a dance version of the Portable material. Why the remixes and Perlon and Musik Krause releases sounds more dancey is because they were vinyl based releases for the dance floor.

The Portable sound has shifted quite a bit since it first started, though it feels a bit more “stable” these days. Is it more important for you to present a consistent sound or to be flexible?

The very name Portable is meant to mean always moving,being able to move with the flow of existence. I guess it’s sounding more stable now cause these times are a little more stable for me. It’s only important me to present a sound I feel is right and moving with the times, whether it’s stable or not.

When making the Bodycode album, were you aiming more for the dance floor or home listening? How important is it to you to appeal to both settings/audiences?

To be honest, if I’m not listening to classical music or traditional music then I’m listening to dance music. But the Bodycode sound is a dance floor project. So it’s a dance orientated, but because it’s not just thrown together slapdash like so many of today’s productions you can listen to it when you’re cycling or when you’re running or cleaning or cooking or just hanging out with friends, because I feel it appeals to all these aspects.

I know you’ve moved around quite a bit since leaving South Africa. Are you a restless person? How has living in multiple places influenced your music or musical outlook?

I grew up in Cape Town, South Africa and then moved to London to further my music aspirations. While in London I started my Süd Electronic label with longtime friend, Lerato. While there my music as Portable was signed to Background Records, then later with ~Scape and I was able to carve out a reasonable living only composing and playing my music live. After ten years in the concrete jungle that is London, I wanted a change. To be able to live closer to nature but still be within Europe. On a gig to Lisbon I fell in love with the city and this opened up the door for this kind of lifestyle, a little city and a lot of nature, beach and beautiful weather. So I moved to Lisbon. It is topographically similar to my home town, a city on the ocean, and I think this influenced my music in a big way. Almost as if I had come full circle in a way. It reminded me of why I started to compose music in the first place, which mainly was to include natural elements in electronic music. After three years of this style of life I needed a change to some place with yet more urban appeal. This was what prompted my move to Berlin, Germany. I’ve only been here for a few months so I really can’t tell you what kind of influence it’s having as yet. I doubt it will have time to affect me too much as I’m continuing my life in Lisbon come September.

Tell me a little bit about how the “Emerald Life” EP came about. The Aside is rather raunchy and rocking while the B side is so beautifully melancholy. What was on your mind?

Well I was listening to a lot of early ghetto house music at the time and all of that music is really raunchy. And if you think about it, a lot about dancing is sexual, and also a place to meet people. So I wanted to include this sexual element, an often neglected element in today’s electronic music scene, into my music. On the flipside I wanted to compliment that honesty in a deeper why, with the track “The Shallow,” in that it’s easier to be shallow than deep.

I’m also curious about the track “Imitation Lover” on Immune. It’s so emotionally vulnerable, reminding me a bit of Prosumer & Murat Tepeli’s “What Makes You Go For It.” Would you tell me how that track came to be?

Well, it was kind of a mix of things. I was in Tokyo on tour and a very good friend of mine there was telling me about his lover problems and how they always end up fake — “imitation.” Both of us are really crazy about old school house, so on a night out we jointly came up with the “No No No, imitation lover” line whenever we spoke of someone or saw someone who fit that description. Later on, while composing the track I expanded it; in fact, the dub version is the original. I then started brainstorming the theme and wrote the lyrics to transpose into the online singles lifestyle. “It’s all pretend, a simulation,” and how in a sense, it brings us closer together yet further apart… “a firewalled mankind.”

Are there more releases to come on Süd Electronic?

Yes the next release on Süd Electronic is my first live set ever recorded in 2002 and features many unreleased tracks. Shortly after that is an EP by Lerato.

What else is coming up from you in the next year?

Right now I’m working on a new release for Perlon and possibly a new Portable album for Perlon; but for that, it’s early days. Think more vocal tracks from the heart and mind!

LWE Podcast 22: Portable vs. Bodycode (54:06)