I think we can pretty much all agree that when we’re talking about dubstep these days, we’re only nominally talking about dubstep. Like the theorized supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, that anemic, bass-powered sound of South London constituting dubstep in the strictest sense keeps a nearly infinite cosmic soup of highly disparate sounds in constant motion without registering much of a blip on its own. High-profile podcasts like The Village Orchestra’s “Blank Page” mix (moving from Boards of Canada to Zomby to Drexciya) and mnml ssgs’s recent SCB mix (in which Paul “Scuba” Rose finds parity between headfucker Donato Dozzy and funky drummer Roska) ostensibly rep dubstep in 2009 as much as DJ Hatcha’s “Dubstep Allstars: Vol. 01” mix comp did in 2004. It’s not uncommon in dance music for the signifier to lose its signified (see: minimal techno), but it’s perhaps rare for a genre or sub-genre to improve as its title becomes diluted to the point of possible meaninglessness. While the line between Horsepower Productions and the Hotflush roster might not be yardstick-straight, but how brilliant is it that such a line exists in the first place?
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Mike Dehnert, Umlaut 2
When the Clone label announced it was turning the lights out earlier this year it was a sad day for techno/electro obsessives like myself. But as it turns out the label’s death has been greatly exaggerated, or at least has pumped creative spirit into other, more focused areas. The result so far has been a steady stream of releases on what might be called “boutique” sub-labels such as the Club Series, Loft Supreme Series, West Coast Series and the Jack For Daze Series; all fall under the Clone banner while each concentrates on a specific style of electronic music. Confused yet? Well just this past month they unveiled one more imprint called the Clone Basement Series, keying in on hard-boiled dance tracks. Based on that criterion it makes sense to find Tresor resident Mike Dehnert in charge of the first release.
Motor City Drum Ensemble, Raw Cuts #5/#6
I don’t have strong feelings either way about Motor City Drum Ensemble’s “main line” releases for Four Roses or, most recently, 20:20 Vision. But I can’t help but adore his off-the-cuff “Raw Cuts” records. Hastily produced by design, Danilo Plessow tries not to over think the music. His goal is to take just two hours to assemble a track from samples of soul, funk, and disco and his own custom beats, slam down the hood, and put them on the road. If it’s just mucking about in the shop for Plessow, though, last month’s Resident Advisor charts indicate DJs are all too happy to field test the results. And it’s easy to see why — these deep, soulful tracks are hugely infectious, backing uptempo immediacy with what seems (at least so far) to be a lasting shine. Though the “Motor City” of his chosen moniker also refers to the German auto mecca Plessow calls home (that’s Stuttgart), there’s no denying a certain Detroit classicism on these records. From the well-insulated thump of the kick drum to the velvety organ chords, Plessow certainly isn’t hiding his Moodymann CDs in the glove box.
Aroy Dee, The Planets
Originally released six years ago by Jochem Peteri (aka Newworldaquarium) on the NWAQ label — which also featured a co-production by Peteri under his other, less-known 154 guise — this limited edition re-release now boasts a remix from Vince Watson which dates back to 2004. Maybe the post-minimal landscape has made listeners and DJs more receptive again to warm, rich sounds, but speculation aside, there is no doubt that in the past few years the small group of producers that release on the Dutch techno/house stronghold of Delsin, NWAQ, M<O<S and Ann Aimee has enjoyed a golden run of form, consistently releasing great deep dance floor music. Clearly, ignoring trends and sticking to what they know best has paid off in recent times, but the magic was always there — and six years since it first appeared, “Planets” has lost none of its charms.
Silent Servant/Santiago Salazar, La Noche/La Minoria
The second installment from the vital Historia Y Violencia label tracks two further impeccable emissions from Messrs Mendez and Salazar. For “La Noche,” Silent Servant again digs deep into the vault of Basic Channel rhythms, weighing in with a concrete textured, knuckle scraping journey through some very gritty terrain. Obviously Silent Servant’s Sandwell District camp buddies have been rubbing off on him; the punishing, cruel as winter tones matched with luckless, dead end chords sounding every bit as menacing as an early Downwards release. While there is an ascendant trajectory propelling the chords, their path is narrow and ultimately circuitous, destined to travel the same bleak pathways time and again.
Ancient Methods, Fourth Method
Rough, in your face techno has made a resurgence this year with big labels like Ostgut Ton and Sandwell District leading the onslaught. Further in the back but no less vital is Ancient Methods, a duo based in (where else?) Berlin who specialize in techno so rugged it sends the Deuce record running for cover. Much about Ancient Methods defies expectations for imprints with similar aesthetics: Rather than hand-stamped white labels we receive beautiful marbled vinyl emblazoned with the horns of Jericho on their labels. Instead of obligatory 4/4 rhythms, most of the beats feel broken (though not crushed), and the industrial noises Ancient Methods coerce from their machines give the delightfully dark impression something went terribly wrong (yet oh so right).
Milton Bradley, Psychological Drama
When we last checked in on Do Not Resist The Beat!’s menacing aesthetic — think selections for a techno dungeon beneath another techno dungeon — the labels proprietor and sole artist as of this writing, Milton Bradley, sounded manic, painting the apocalypse in broad, fiery strokes at a high BPM. “Dystopian Vision” might be the best Ostgut Ton record the fabled Berghain imprint had no hand in releasing this year, and it wouldn’t have been a huge surprise if “Psychological Drama,” Bradley’s latest, continued to pummel its audience with similarly brass knuckle-imbued fists. I mean, ’tis the zeitgeist, and the guy sure has a knack for ferocious, stuttering rhythms. But on his third 12″, Bradley turns his prophet’s gaze inward and maybe farther downward, trading visceral beats for paranoid ones. If he left you feeling slightly concussed before, then prepare to get head-fucked.
STL, The Unseen Voyage
2009 may go down as the year of the private press, but STL (aka Stefan Laubner of Bad Harzburg) has traveled this hand-paved road for six years with his Something imprint, issuing scuffed-up house and techno tracks, field recording collages, and numerous combinations thereof. The best of these come off as soft-spoken bedroom curios, but garner enthusiastic support as potent groove tracks. Juggling a prolific release schedule and bankable quality control, STL’s steadily amassed a loyal fan base. Farming out the occasional release to Perlon can’t have hurt either, but it’s a new alliance with Smallville, bringing with it the overwhelmingly embraced “Silent State” EP, that’s really raised STL’s profile this year. Yet his in-house press is as busy as ever. Arriving in June, “The Unseen Voyage” is familiar, steadfast STL, a sign perhaps that neither “Silent State” nor the increased attention have disrupted the Something agenda. Don’t mistake it for a retread, though.
Baby Ford, Tin Of Worms
It’s difficult to mention Baby Ford in 2009 without feeling the need to also discuss the passing of his longtime production partner, Ian “Eon” Loveday. Ford’s Trelik label was established primarily to release his work with Loveday, whether solo or together as Minimal Man. Loveday also lent his talents to the now seminal Baby Ford & The Ifach Collective project. Although the frequency of their collaborations tapered off after the turn of the century, one imagines the bond between them never weakened. All the more reason “Tin of Worms,” Baby Ford’s latest single released only days after Loveday succumbed to pneumonia, feels inexorably linked with his partner’s untimely passing. Production schedules suggest the music was likely complete well beforehand, yet a pall hangs heavily over the release.
John Roberts, Blame
John Roberts claims to spend a lot of time tweaking tracks from his bed or couch. I find this both plausible and kind of baffling. While the American Berliner prodigiously crafts fresh-out-the-steam-room house tunes mirroring the laid-back circumstances of their creation, he populates his sides with some of the most hyper-tangible and painstakingly textured samples in deep house. Dance music nerds often fetishize records made on analog gear in elaborate custom recording studios, but shy of hiring an on-call chair massage crew, I just can’t see panel after panel of humming gear birthing ear candy as good-vibin’ and deceptively crafty as Roberts’s couch-and-MacBook music. Spooning a modular synth is also pretty difficult.
Rodriguez Jr., Kids of Hula
Perhaps more than any other genres, dance music inspires, nay, beckons for the existence of copycats. Whether it’s the natural tendency to follow hitmakers’ lead with one’s own interpretation or the myriad technological opportunities to emulate sounds found in the hits, clubbers tend to reward even shabbier, trend-riding producers with their presence on the dance floor. Sometimes this provokes ire in producers at the front of the pack (eg. Dan Bell’s frustration over Josh Wink’s “Phreak”-biting “Superfreak (Freak)”), other times successful mimicry means new record deals (eg. much of Cadenza’s roster in 2009). Yet the inevitability of copycats doesn’t mean they should be let off the hook, especially in more egregious instances of plagiarism. Rodriguez Jr.’s “Kids of Hula” is one such case.
The Hasbeens, I Fall To Pieces
The Hasbeens have released only three records so far, and all three have been greeted rapturously. The question left to answer about their simply constructed, repeatedly beguiling electro/disco cuts seems not to be whether or not they’re worth listening to (they definitely are), but rather what it is that makes them so damn good. “I Fall to Pieces” is the latest release, having migrated from Clone X to Frustrated Funk, another of the many arms extending from the Vishnu-esque Clone body. The 10 Euro asking price might seem a little steep for a platter containing one pleasant three minute piano ditty and only one traditional track. When considering that the record that started it all, 2006’s “Make The World Go Away,” will set you back about €40, “I Fall to Pieces” suddenly seems like a good investment regardless of the music inside.
Hauntologists, EP1/EP2
Though it surely wasn’t the only limited-run boutique techno label launched last December, the Hauntologists imprint garnered plenty of interest and, naturally, speculation. The only concrete information provided was that the EP was recorded in Berlin and Düsseldorf, and that it was linked to Berlin’s Hardwax record store. The colonialism-chic of the the hand silk-screened record sleeve teased hints of African drumming from the reduced rhythms (for instance, the opening track), and of course there was that name, “Hauntologists.”
Joy Orbison, Hyph Mngo
Hype can be a funny thing. Why are some tracks hyped while others slide under the radar? For one of 2009’s most talked about tracks, look no further than “Hyph Mngo” (hype is even in the name, sort of). Forthcoming on one of the hottest labels around, canned by numerous DJs, and even the subject of an entire column on Pitchfork, the hype surround “Hyph Mngo” has been immense, to be sure. But does it measure up?
BBH: D’Pac, Everybody/Wouldn’t Lie
It’s the deepness that first gets you when listening to this early Detroit house classic on the short lived Vicious Music label. The pads float on and on like endless clouds filling the sky, the bass burrowing beneath your feet, urging them to raise up and move. This 1992 record was one of only a handful of releases for the British born D’Pac who together with his brother had emigrated to Detroit via Toronto in the mid 80’s, before they moved back to Canada to focus on their Immigrant Soul project. Backed with the upfront house of “Wouldn’t Lie” featuring Terence FM on vocals, the cuts also had a helping hand from Chez Damier on production duties, which goes some way to explaining the unmistakable Detroit house sound.
Wax, No. 20002
When Marcel Dettmann casually admitted René Pawlowitz was the producer behind the anonymous Equalized label (and the subsequent transformation of Shed’s Myspace account into Waxalized), more than a few lingering suspicions were confirmed. In retrospect, the rhythmic complexity and painstakingly crafted timbres of these stamped white labels shared palpable kinship with Pawlowitz’s Shed and STP tracks — a degree of production prowess uncommon in the majority of releases being cranked out breakneck speeds. Shorn of identity intrigue, the second Wax single, “No. 20002,” offers further testament to the acuity of Pawlowitz’s musical vision.
Levon Vincent, The Medium Is The Message
Three words I hate throwing around in dance music: “buy on sight.” Face it, it’s a phrase that’s almost never true. In a music scene where “awesome” means something exceedingly specific to every DJ with a brain cell in their head, it’s a solid bet eventually even your own personal Villalobos will cut a platter that just isn’t your style. In principle, then, I can’t call Levon Vincent buy-on-sight. But I’ll let my record bag speak for itself: each and every paper-sleeved 12″ the New Yorker has hand-stamped his name on this year has found its way in there, and dammit do I want more. Mixing the minor-key dub atmospherics of records on Modern Love or Echocord with the metallic timbre and classicism of the Ostgut crew, Vincent doesn’t push a forgotten or underrepresented sound so much as he generously drizzles some much-needed (and ultra-distinguishing) big city sass on his contributions to the recent bumper crop of quasi-white label rawness.
Affkt & Danny Fiddo, El Prologo Remixes Pt. 1.1
Scrolling through new releases the other day I came upon “El Prologo Remixes Pt 1.1” by Affkt and Danny Fiddo, a record which seemed notable only for its superstar remixers, Ricardo Villalobos and Luciano. How did two fresh-faced producers with scant discographies on a new label, Barraca Music, snag these giants (and Radio Slave on the digital version) for remix duty? Listening to the originals makes it obvious: The meticulously groomed percussion, sputtering drum breaks, Latin diatribes and blurred marimba progressions of “Points” and “Cartas Para Geisha” are the bread and butter of Villalobos’s and Luciano’s sets. Recently these masters have taken good care of their emulators (see: Sei Es Drum and Cadenza’s last 10 records), so a couple remixes for their new followers is very in character. Yet as this EP makes clear, reworking tracks made in your own image has its pitfalls.
Dimi Angélis & Jeroen Search/Lowtec, Our Life With The Wave/Meandyou.dub
Hype-mongers have been talking up Smallville Records recently as label of the year based on a mere two releases, “Silent State” from STL and “Touch” by Steinhoff & Hammouda. Not that they haven’t both been excellent, but it seems some are only just realizing what long term admirers have known ever since the first hand-stamped release in 2006. Unlike that other famous record shop cum label, Smallville haven’t embarked on the empire building Kompakt had achieved at the same point, but nonetheless they’ve left quite a mark on the techno and house landscape. With distinctive artwork provided by Stefan Marx and a quiet, unassuming air in keeping with their name, Smallville have steadily built up an extraordinarily back catalog that features, among others, Move D & Benjamin Brunn, Sven Tasnadi and Sten. Celebrating five years of the record shop, Smallville now showcase these talents across four slabs of vinyl and eventually a CD entitled And Suddenly It’s Morning. The compilation’s title gives a clue to its intentions — music so entrancing it becomes possible to lose all sense of time, until the dawn light begins to seep through the blinds. This split, between Lowtec and Dimi Angélis with Jeroen Search, is the first installment, and fully delivers on that promise.