[BBE]

We were always minimal. This seems to be the learned lesson of the Innervision team’s stunning 2-disc comp The Grandfather Paradox. Their laser-focused curatorial skills deftly traverse a musical history so broad that we’re left with a series of epiphanies about form and genre that taken together read: we were minimal, even when we didn’t know it. In their liner notes Henrik Schwarz, Âme and Dixon write the compilation title stemmed from the feeling they were “traveling back in time and manipulating the old music with modern knowledge.” Except things are in truth a bit more complicated than that. The paradox, in case you were never a high school science nerd, goes like this: you travel back in time and kill your grandfather, which in turn means you could never be born, and thus never go back and kill him, and so on. As far as this compilation is concerned, the translation of this problem into music-historical terms might be: if you start screwing around with your own predecessors, what becomes of your identity as an artist, and thus what in turn happens to all the screwing around you’re doing? The result of this abyssal probing is the opening up of an infinite conversation between past and present, in which each iteration binds the two more inextricably together.

On the first disc, past and present are cross-wired from the start. The mix opens with a linchpin track in minimal music: Steve Reich’s “Electric Counterpoint,” famously sampled by The Orb for “Little Fluffy Clouds.” The transition from here through Liquid Liquid’s steely street grooves is a tour de force. The rest of the mix is as well deployed with the trio’s characteristic effervescence and elegance, a seamless and dynamic metamorphosis of genres: Balearic into funk into acid into house into techno. On full display here is the sheer elasticity of the term minimal; it is fundamentally a vibrantly trans-genre category, and as such its musical value can never be subsumed within what we know as minimal techno. The second disc provides some mix highlights in full with a few other key gems thrown in for good measure, including tracks by Arthur Russell and Young Marble Giants. Neither disc assumes a comprehensive or defining posture towards minimal music, preferring instead to revel in the term’s fertile open-endedness.

The movement of history is always about reinterpretation, and as the Innervisions crew points out, minimal is a highly suitable genre for such a DJ time warp: “In minimal music there is so much in between the sounds and the space, which gives you a lot of opportunities for your own interpretation.” Brimming with insight, The Grandfather Paradox not only takes the spaces of minimal as the grounds for its creative interventions, it leaves these spaces still fascinatingly exposed and open, as if sending them into the future, prepared be born again once more.

[Mule Musiq]

The third release in the Kuniyuki remix series, helmed by Henrik Schwarz and Tony Lionni, gives us yet another set of interpretations of the Japanese producer’s deep, down-tempo house tracks. Earlier this summer, “Remixed Vol. 2″ dropped two great cuts — an airy, all over the place Cobblestone Jazz remix of “The Session” and a heavy, spacey disco remix of “Touch” by A Mountain of One; this time around, it’s a bit of a mixed bag.

Henrik Schwarz opens ceremonies tentatively, layering a jazzy piano riff and airy synthesizers over crisp, organic drum sounds and syncopated rhythms. He goes on to build the track’s momentum through contrasts between organic and inorganic textures, electronic and acoustic instruments, mechanical and freeform rhythms, pushing it into a jazzy climax (replete with piano, rolling congas and flute solo) before coming down in dreamy self-destruction. The remix works well in its duality, finding a strange halfway place between house and jazz that evokes the calm and otherworldliness of its title and avoids going overboard into “world groove” territory. Hardly one for the club, “Dear African Sky” almost begs to be played at sunrise on an introspective drive home.

Tony Lionni’s afro-jazzy reworking of “Birds” builds on Henrik Schwarz’s remix and leads us through more organic sounds, ultimately failing to make anything interesting of it. The progression between both tracks is the kind of change that Thomas Melchior might point to when making a statement like “electronic music is really a continuation of jazz,” except Lionni fails to develop this idea to its proper potential. Throwing together a pile of acoustic instruments and forgoing any electronic production, the track works itself into a bloated frenzy before fading out to the awkwardly stunted strums of a guitar. The results aren’t particularly terrible nor particularly interesting; rather, “Birds” feels like something your parents might pick up on a world music compilation in a BMG CD catalog.

Although both producers share similar choices in instrumentation, Lionni’s reworking of “Birds” lacks the restraint, pacing and contrasts that make “Dear African Sky” a beautiful track. Whereas Schwarz builds his remix around atmospherics and quiet dynamisms, Lionni opts for tired clichés, turning his track into a dull “world” jam which serves as a reminder of just how stale house music can be when it’s poorly produced. Thankfully, Henrik Schwarz wasn’t quite ready to break the string of great releases he’s been working on since May, and we’re left with a remix that’s just as satisfying — if a little bit quieter — than the rest of his work. (post by Jeremy Cohen)

[Eklo]

It’s truly heartening to see a young group like DOP growing more confident in their talents and compositions, as each successive release hones in on the trio’s strengths while leaving room for experimentation. This heightened focus has meant greater dance floor utility and accessibility, especially for the “God Bless the Child EP” on Milnor Modern, wherein their skronking house vibes and international instincts coalesced in deliriously fun tracks. “I’m Just a Man EP,” which comes to us from the little known French label Eklo, is perhaps their most straightforward and floor-friendly yet, and it’s all the better for it.

Most of the elements which made DOP so charming are all present here, but each seems loaded with the purpose and poise accompanying a bit of experience. The skulking sax, shades of synth and rapidly rippling hand percussion of “Horns ‘N Roses” build intrigue before launching into a livelier groove of toppling twin piano and sax arpeggios, calling to mind the bespoke organic style of Henrik Schwarz, of all people. The trio offers their unique take on low-down blues on “Like a Motherless Child,” sampling both the slave spiritual of roughly the same name and a documentarian’s praise of the form. DOP manage to keep the samples from weighing down the track through a blunt combination of punchy percussion and grim, sweeping pads. Tying the opener for top track, “I’m Just a Man” rides easily on the heathered soul of Jonathan Illel’s vocal harmonies and its dry funk instrumental, the titular hook lodging itself permanently in listeners’ brains to come babbling out while in the shower or on the road. Another EP, another rousing success from this talented threesome, one that could have Henrik Schwarz dialing up the boys during their next Berlin jaunt. (post by Steve Mizek)

[Innervisions]

Any time Henrik Schwarz, Âme and Dixon all grace the same slab of vinyl, chances are it’s going to be a big deal. This precedent was set in 2006 with the quickly canonized “Where We At,” capturing the warily optimistic zeitgeist with a prescient Derrick Carter vocal sample which hung above stirring (and label-defining) underpinnings. In 2007 the supergroup reconfigured as the Innervisions Orchestra to remix Underworld’s “Crocodile” to popular effect; and separately, Dixon has a way of subtly reshaping his friends’ material to best suit the occasion (his “Mifune,” “I Exist Because Of You” and “Headphone Silence” edits come to mind). Two years after setting the bar so high, the Innervisions triad is back and offering two broad strokes of Chicago-inspired house with “D.P.O.M.B.” And once again this meeting of minds/ears/hands is cause for celebration.

The elements used will be familiar to Âme and Henrik Schwarz fans, but the soul-singeing energy coursing through both versions may take some by surprise. Beginning with a simple throb, wordless vocal and raw hi-hats, “Version 1″ ratchets up the tension as bongos, claps, bittersweet synth counterpoint and a characteristic string whine crowd the frame. (But unlike Laurent Garnier’s “Back to My Roots,” which attempted something similar, there’s ample room for each element to swing freely.) Within six minutes, the monster has torn away its layers to rebuild again atop Wild Pitch ostinato jabs. More refined than ferocious, “Version 2″ finds Moondog-tinged flute/clarinet/horns piercing the rapid synth chatter to flutter and stretch gracefully, as if delicate dancers riding a roiling piece of earth. Compared with the barreling headfirst charge of “Version 1,” which could easily slide into a techno set, “Version 2″ is multi-faceted and perhaps more memorable, as it best represents the organic textures and thrumming minimal energy loved by each artist. The “D.P.O.M.B. EP” is indeed a momentous occasion, both as heartfelt homage to Chicago and DJ Pierre and as the successor to “Where We At.” I won’t be shocked if this one to stays in DJs’ crates nearly as long.

By the way, this is our 500th post. Yay LWE!

01. DJ Bone, “Sect 1″ [Sect Records] (buy)
This enigmatic three tracker defies placement in space and time, with a sound well versed in classic methods but as fresh as anything else out there. Here’s hoping whoever sent “Sect 1″ to me is prepared to share its wealth with a much larger audience.

02. dOP, “Cum With Me” [Milnor Modern] (buy)
When dOP goes on to greater success (it’s coming; I can see it already), critics will look back to their “God Bless the Child EP” as a watershed moment for the trio. Bursting through genre boundaries like French Kool-Aid guys, dOP experiment with Malian kora music and lithe, funky house songs (“Cum With Me”) without skipping a beat. Watch this space for more from dOP later this week.

03. Osunlade, “My Reflection” (Deetron remix)
[D:vision Records] (buy)
What I love about Deetron’s “My Reflection” remix is how he mixes spikey analog stepping stones and fluid synth whirls to chart a decadent path for Divine Essence’s quixotic lyrics. That Sam Geiser can maintain a deep atmosphere with a techno toolkit is impressive, letting Osunlade’s soulful expressions shine through while wholly owning the track. Deetron strikes again!

04. The Mole, “Baby, You’re the One” [Wagon Repair] (buy)
As on his forthcoming album, As High As the Sky, Colin de la Plante (aka The Mole) whips up a cyclone of frantically looped samples on the lengthy house mover, “Baby, You’re the One.” But this is no natural disaster; The Mole’s clever programming keeps listeners of all stripes stuck in “Baby”‘s groove as it mutates across 13 minutes.

05. Luke Solomon, “People, Places, Thoughts And Faces” (Ajello Remix) [REKIDS]
I have to admit, I’m late to the party on Luke Solomon, but his forthcoming “Robots” EP for REKIDS certainly alerted me to what I’ve been missing. While the package also contains an incredible Prins Thomas diskomiks, it’s heretofore unknowns Ajello whose piano-led, Black Devil-esque remix is stuck on repeat here at LWE HQ.

06. Intrusion, “Intrusion” (Model 90 Reshape) [echospace [detroit]] (buy)

07. Tadeo, “IO” (Cassy Moving On Mix) [Apnea] (buy)

08. Henrik Schwarz & Kuniyuki, “The Session” [Mule Musiq] (buy)

09. Pitto, “Sex Vibe” [Arearemote] (buy)

10. Kawabata, “Persuasion” (Serafin’s Back to New York Re-Interpretation) [Drumpoet Community] (buy)

[Mule Musiq]

Usually the phrase “jam session” conjures mental images of hippies, bongos and rooms thick with marijuana smoke. But despite the aimless connotations, long and improvised sessions are how a number of great techno/house musicians find their signature grooves which are then whittled into tracks. Tobias Freund and Max Loderbauer, Ricardo Villalobos and a host of smaller names are all purportedly fond of the method. For Henrik Schwarz, his friend/collaborator Kuniyuki Takahashi and guitarist Yoshihiro Tsukahara, one such post-tour session was so inspirational it spawned the aptly-titled “The Session” single, which sees release on Mule Musiq.

Schwarz and Kuniyuki each get a side to pare down “The Session” into their own unique creation, starting with the former. Giving in to historical pressure (just kidding), Henrik’s hand drum beat and syncopated shaker pattern set the stage for sizzling synth stabs, as if they were coursing through a dangerously frayed cable. While it’s not one of Schwarz’s more dazzling tunes, it accurately captures his equal affection for Robert Hood’s minimal techno palatte and African tribal percussion. Kuniyuki’s version is likely closer to what “The Session” sounded like as it was happening: a vast and tangled web of looped and leading guitar licks, loping synth progressions tweaked in real time, droning feedback planes and a mess of overlapping drum work held together by the almighty kick drum — and even it shrinks back occasionally. Like an unexpected detour that turns into a prolonged and gripping adventure, Kuniyuki’s 12 minute version is as exhausting as it is enjoyable, as well as a welcome fusion of organic and synthetic sounds. So let’s cast aside our prejudices against jam sessions for a bit, munch on a magic brownie and let “The Session” take us for a ride.

02. Ricardo Villalobos, Fabric 36 [Fabric] (buy)
Fabric 36 was not an easy sell for me (and many others), at least partially because it wasn’t meant to be. You have to bend your framework for what an album or mix should be, how it should develop, how it should flow. Villalobos hits the reset button on these expectations and offers one of his most creative statements to date — oh yeah, and some killer tunes. “Won’t You Tell Me” and “4 Wheel Drive” are future classics, weaved into a dense web of exuberant rhythms and movements. Artists and fans will be reacting to this for some time to come.

03. Efdemin, Efdemin [Dial] (buy)
Efdemin’s debut album meticulously and gracefully re-interprets deep-house with a minimal lens in a manner unmatched in 2007. Phillip Sollmann utilizes his musique concrete/sound design knowledge to construct stunningly melodic movers and challenging experimental cuts still capable of wonders on a dance floor (“Acid Bells”). Together, its 10 tracks form a compelling and cohesive statement. Those who argue against the long-player format as it pertains to dance music should stick this in their pipes and smoke it.

04. Melchior Productions Ltd., No Disco Future [Perlon] (buy)
Thomas Melchior’s first full-length since his stellar 2004 album, The Meaning, is even more demanding of listeners with a similarly sweet payoff. Favoring tight loops of atonal textures and samples over past colorful patterns, Melchior invites the audience to revel in the tiniest of details while reserving a great deal of utility for the dance floor. Still more proof after two decades in the biz that he’s sharp, that micro-house isn’t dead, and that new listeners will soon be digging through his back catalog. I know I have.

05. Henrik Schwarz, Live [!K7] (buy)
Though Henrik Schwarz’s productions stand up well on their own, Live suggests they’re best heard sewn together into a gorgeous and flowing document of his talents. But the most stunning facet of Live is how human and alive the tunes feel. It’s evident in the loose jangle running through his Kuniyuki remix, the calming marimba pattern and rootsy upstroke of “Stop, Look & Listen” and the busted, live band funk of “Leave My Head Alone Brain.” It’s the refreshing sound of people outnumbering computers.

06. Panda Bear, Person Pitch [Paw Tracks] (buy)
Looking back, only one new rock album actually impressed me this year, and its source was quite unexpected. Panda Bear’s Person Pitch is the joyful intersection of techno (the liner notes, which list some of Noah Lennox’s influences, start with Basic Channel, Luomo and Wolfgang Voigt) and experimental rock — an euphoric, encompassing experience you won’t soon forget. Its loop-based construction brings Panda Bear’s Beach Boys influences into the 21st century, stretching the walls of more traditional rock arrangements nearly to their breaking point. As important of a record for dance music as it is for rock.

07. DeepChord Presents Echospace, The Coldest Season
[Modern Love] (buy)
Perhaps the best way to describe The Coldest Season is immersive: music to let seep into your brain while laid out flat, used to wash away worry or conjure a contemplative atmosphere. You can feel the icy wind creep across your body as the album unfolds and take comfort in the scant blanket of melody draped across the glacial movements. Rod Modell and Stephen Hitchell’s desire to make something new (and largely influenced by the latter’s experience of becoming a father) results in a truly innovative hybrid of dub techno, ambient and experimental sounds that defies obvious influence or reference points. Chicago’s oppressive winter meets its match on this album.

08. Burial, Untrue [Hyperdub] (buy)
If dubstep ever does crossover into the pop realm, Untrue will likely be the first to crack its rarely porous shell. At first I wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of vocals which distinguishes the album from its predecessor, and ultimately perches melodic halos on Burial’s urban phantom rhythms. In his rather revealing interview with The Wire, Burial admits the final version of Untrue was composed in a scant two weeks, a baffling fact to consider when basking in the depth of its tunes, the murky landscapes from which they crawl out — not to mention when “Archangel” gets caught in your head. Untrue gives me the good shivers.

09. Tiger Stripes, Safari [Nite Grooves] (buy)
If there’s one house record I neglected to tout enough, it’s certainly Safari, Mikael Nordgren’s first compendium of Tiger Stripes tracks. Though many of these tracks were previously released on King Street Sounds, they hang together remarkably well in the long player format. Here Nordgren’s palatte leans towards classic elements of house through live instrumentation, recruiting Swedish Hitmusic Strings, Kerri Chandler’s keys and Rasmus Faber’s marimba. If mnmlzd house is too emaciated for you, stick on Safari and climb through some meaty rhythms.

10. Gui Boratto, Chromophobia [Kompakt] (buy)
Boratto is particularly apt at sculpting big, bold and beautiful melodies which resonate across genre lines; and with Chromophobia (Kompakt’s best release this year, don’t let The Field fans fool you), the Brazilian producer adds “cohesion” and “diversity” to his list of talents. Lush, hovering ambient tracks like “Acrostico” and “Malá Strana” fit snuggly between big room bangers (“Terminal”) and future stadium anthems (“Beautiful Life”) while providing plenty of fodder for remixers (Babicz’s remix of “Mr. Decay” has been a big local favorite). A very 2007 album for a very 2007 year.

Honorable mentions:

11. Various artists, Soundboy Punishments [Skull Disco] (buy)
12. Justice, † [Vice Records] (buy)
13. Various Artists, Shut Up and Dance! Updated [Ostgut Tonträger] (buy)
14. Pantha Du Prince, This Bliss [Dial] (buy)
15. Thomas Fehlmann, Honigpumpe [Kompakt] (buy)
16. Simian Mobile Disco, Attack Decay Sustain Release [Wichita] (buy)
17. False, 2007 [M_nus] (buy)
18. Dettmann & Klock, Scenario [Ostgut Tonträger] (buy)
19. Cobblestone Jazz, 23 Seconds [Studio !K7] (buy)
20. Petre Inspirescu, Tips [Cadenza] (buy)

My interview with Henrik Schwarz is now up on Resident Advisor. I’m rather proud of the dialog we had and I hope you get a kick out of it, too.