2009 must have flown by in a blur for Miles Whittaker. When he wasn’t invoking the spirits of local witches and making painstakingly pieced together but chilling soundtracks with Sean Canty as Demdike Stare — Symbiosis was a slow burning album highlight of the past 12 months — he was attempting to and largely succeeding in reuniting techno with the analogue grit it so patently lacks together with Gary Howell under his other witchcraft-inspired project, Pendle Coven (the evocative, sometimes menacing swagger of the duo’s Self-Assessment album should also feature prominently in any discerning “best of” list next month). In between all this group activity, Miles found the time to fly solo as MLZ to deliver a storming, spiraling acid take on Peter Van Hoesen’s “Attribute One,” and now “One Cycle.”
modern love
Andy Stott, Night Jewel
Modern Love have made a huge impact in 2009; the past few months alone have seen crucial releases by Claro Intelecto, MLZ and Demdike Stare. Now it’s label staple Andy Stott’s turn as he returns with only his second release this year, and it’s one that’s been well worth waiting for. Where Stott’s “Brief Encounter/Drippin” twelve he dropped earlier in the year pandered to his late night deep techno and dubstep sides, the single sided “Night Jewel” finds Stott in a much more lively state of mind, ready for some serious sneaker squeaking.
Artist Unknown, Hate 5
Finally, some light relief amid the furrowed-brow seriousness that’s all too prevalent in electronic music. The fifth release on the Modern Love-affiliated, rave/hardcore-inspired Hate label sees yet another unknown artist inject some humour into their work. Sampling Simon & Garfunkel singing the line “Hello farkness my old friend” from “The Sound of Silence,” she/he then loops the word “darkness” and splices it up with a standard amen break, a cartoonish hoover bass and some bleak chords. Like the scene and the music it so clearly apes, it’s daft and utterly disposable, yet infinitely more entertaining than much of what passes for cerebral techno or house in 2009.
Move D, Drone
[Modern Love] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3)
It’s hard not to hear Move D’s tracks as essentially calm. Consider this: “Quit Quittin’” is one of his most jacking recent songs, plush with arpeggiated trickles and acid stabs (not to mention the shrill of “oh YEAH”), but Move D stabilized the whole thing with a gentle analog suspire. [...]
Claro Intelecto, Metanarrative
[Modern Love] (buy CD) (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)
One characteristic of Claro Intelecto’s music I admire most is its immediacy and visceral structure. You’ll never need a music composition degree to untangle vast webs of overly complicated arrangements to find something to connect with. Starting with his 2004 Neurofibre album for Ai Records, Intelecto (aka Mark [...]
Talking Shop with Modern Love
Welcome to the third edition of our series of short interviews affectionately titled Talking Shop. The majority of media and fan attention gets showered on the artists who create the music we love to listen to/DJ with/dance to, and for good reasons. But without the hard work, keen ears and business savvy of label staff, [...]