Daniel Avery - Drone Logic

Worth a Listen 5 - Daniel Avery

Progressive techno with a lovely arty video. Absolutely worth a listen.

Simian Mobile Disco – Unpatterns

Another Christmas present and I’m less than convinced by the Mobile Disco experience. It sits somewhere between minimal techno and something more commercial. It’s not really funky techno but neither is it tech house, but I guess that’s as near as you’ll get description wise. Maybe I’m being harsh but it all sounded like the techno equivalent of lift music. Where’s the soul, the passion the energy?

Sadly, I’m sure DJ’s love this kind of stuff. It’s definitely not cheesy in anyway, shape or form, but a touch of even some rancid yoghurt would have livened things up let alone some fully fledged cheese. It’s polished, inoffensive electronic noodle doodling and the kind of music, I perhaps misguidedly believe, I could make myself if I bought some expensive equipment and an Apple Mac. Which is unlikely on both counts.

I realise I’m underselling this album, but I honestly can’t think of a time when playing this music would be in anyway pleasurable. Maybe in the greenhouse for tomatoes to grow to? Perhaps for new age pensioners to meditate to? I doubt it would even be any good for driving around London to in the rain, at night with all your guys in the backseat.

There are no tracks worthy of a mention. Worthy of attention for fans only or if you have a specific purpose for playing bland funkyish techno other than enjoyment.

 

 

Subsoul Compilation – The Soulful Side of Bass Music

Allegedly base can kill. If this is the case then Subsoul’s compilation of ‘upfront and exclusive house, garage and bass music’ could be the smoking gun in several cases of base related murders. It’s a mysterious, underground and distinctly old school mix of vocal deep house with the emphasis squarely on your sub-woofer. It reminds me of those old Todd Edwards mix CD’s if they’d taken steroids to simultaneously beef them up and slow them down. It sounds great on paper but in reality it’s a mixed bag…

As with all ‘mix’ albums in my experience, there’s a handful of great tracks but padded out with acceptable but unremarkable filling fodder. The Subsoul compilation is no different and although the assembled tracks blend seamlessly to form a coherent atmosphere, there’s a distinct lack of real quality on show. The more soulful numbers generally hit the spot but reliance on ‘Ride on Time’ style sequenced vocals in several of the others only served to irritate me and I was soon flicking them.

Worthy of special attention are Wilkinson’s pulsing ‘Take you Higher’, Robin’s urban tinged, bleepy ‘What Ya Wanna Do?’ and Kidnap Kid’s soulful, unctuous vocals on ‘So Close’. Easily the pick of the bunch is the opening track ‘Real’, it’s a near perfect mix of smooth soul and aggressive baseline. If only all the tracks were actual ‘songs’ like this prime offering from Gorgon City.

So another Curate’s Egg of a compilation, but on the upside, it will make you look cool as you cruise round with it on the car stereo at full volume (or maybe not). It’s well worth a listen but there’s always a health warning on these DJ mix disks. Listen with limited expectations and enjoy that base!

Banco de Gaia – Apollo

Years ago in the early nineties I owned a Banco de Gaia album that I desperately wanted to like. ‘Last Train to Lhasa’ was a vast concept album that charted a mystical train journey, possibly into Tibet. It was ambient, deep and intelligent and even with years of perseverance I could never get into it. In fact it used to drive me a little insane.

Roll on twenty years and Evlkeith has bought me ‘Apollo’; Banco de Gaia’s latest album for Christmas. Surly they’ve moved on musically? Surly I’m deeper, more intelligent and more open to ambience? Well apparently not. Essentially it sounds exactly the same as ‘Last Train to Lhasa’; self indulgent, boring, chugging techno that holds my limited attention for less than five seconds. Unfortunately there’s no train journey theme this time either.

However all is not lost. Sandwiching all that dirgy techno are two outstanding, stark tracks featuring some ethnic yodelling/wailing. It’s atmospheric, beautiful and passionate in contrast to everything else I’ve heard by them. If only they could produce that kind of stuff all the time. ‘Lamentations’ is especially stark and ethereal with ‘Aquiescence’ darker, deeper and more breathy in its hypnotic incantations.

It all goes to show that being a pop star is still a really secure job and as long as you keep peddling the same old rubbish you’ll have a career for life. If only there was more yodelling the world would be a better place.

Pantha Du Prince – Elements of Light

I really enjoyed Pantha Du Prince’s 2010 album Black Noise. If you cast your mind back you’ll remember a techno soundscape based on a limited sonic palette of cowbells, glockenspiels and copious other pieces of tuned percussion. It was like dancing to techno high in the Swiss mountains with a heard of jovial cows dinging their bells while a buxom milk maid, resplendent with yoke, simultaneously clangs out a tune on a xylophone and jostles her two buckets of sleigh bells and chime bars. It’s either a disturbing or extremely pleasurable experience depending on your personal disposition, but I know which side I’m voting for. Throw some creamy full fat milk into the equation as well and I’d be delirious.

Anyway back to 2013’s Elements of Light. I was anticipating a diversification in the somewhat limited sound palette, but how wrong can you be? Pantha’s head honcho, Hendrik Weber, instead opted to move to an even more restricted range of instrumentation. In short…lots and lots of bells! Hendrik enlisted the guys from the infamous Bell Laboratory and made an album that should really have been called ‘Elements of Bells.’ However don’t be disheartened, the resultant album is a lush, gorgeous and satisfying mix of chilled techno and harmoniously chiming and peeling bells.

The LP centres around two epic, and needless to say, overly long tracks; ‘Photon’ and ‘Spectral Split’. Both are moving, emotional pieces of music that evoke feelings of stark loneliness, the joy of Christmas celebrations and an almost spiritual journey of enlightenment. There are moments where the bells peel and merge that literally made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Who knew that bells could be this much fun or make such a beautiful sound?

Certainly not bell ringers! Why don’t village church bell ringers play ‘Spectral Split’ instead of the usual monotonous numbers they churn out? Alternatively let the Bell Laboratory people loose in a cathedral and you’d have a capacity crowd.

In so many ways an amazing and awe inspiring album that everyone should experience. The picture in the CD case of the studio set-up effectively sums up the quality of the sounds and attention to detail of the project, with a variety of real instruments, synthesizers and a rack of thirty feet high pipe bells! With some high quality speakers and decent audio equipment this is as good as 21^st Century techno gets.   

Members of Mayday – Anthems (2002)

 

Turn of the century fallout from the acid house generation and Members of Mayday take you back to a time when dance music was still interesting and vibrant. ‘Anthems’ basically does what it says on the tin and presents fourteen anthemic tracks from the underground techno merchants. It’s old school layered techno, flecked with splashes of acid, house and hardcore.

Sadly, I can’t stomach it as a whole listening session in the car. I can enjoy about four songs and then it all starts becoming a little samey. Don’t get me wrong each track works brilliantly mixed up in a shuffled playlist, but as fourteen songs, one after another it just swamps my brain (and that doesn’t take into account the remix disk!). This criticism can be levelled at all but the very best techno albums (take a bow Infected Mushroom), so don’t let that put you off. This is still a quality offering.

Most of the selections would work well as singles with the retro-acid stomp of ‘The Judgement Day,’ the tricky disco-ish ‘Mayday Anthem’ and the surging powerhouse of '10 in 1' all bone fide stonkers. My personal favourite is the truly anthemic ‘Sonic Empire’ which combines submarine sonar type sounds with pulsing repetitive rhythms, and even if you don’t fancy the album give it a listen on Youtube.

An album that brings back happy memories but is just as relevant and enjoyable today. We salute the Members of Mayday. And yes they are German!

 

 

B9 Bis - Belgian Cold Wave 1979-1983

The title sounds like pure obscure gold and I’ve been rubbing my little hands together in anticipation of wrapping my ears around B9 Bis. Disappointingly, ‘Cold Wave’ doesn’t quite live up to my gleeful expectations. The songs are a stark throwback to a time when electronic music was new and exciting, however most of the selections on the disk are average at best. It all boils down to a lovely idea, but poorly executed.

It’s hard to describe the musical direction of the compilation. At its best it’s the birth of dance music as we know it, at worst it’s a Kajagoogoo album track. It’s as if the bands are grappling with the new technology and haven’t quite grasped the need for quality song-writing to match their geeky enthusiasm for these new fangled synthesisers. I guess it sounds like a hybrid of Kraftwerk, John Foxx, The Danse Society, early Cure and B-Movie, but not always in a positive way. Well done to the Belgians for their enthusiasm if nothing else.

Sadly, a nifty atmosphere alone doesn’t make for a great compilation and ultimately there are about three songs that I actually like. Siglo XX gives his all with ‘Individuality’, Isolation Ward are suitably icy and detached with ‘Lamina Christus’ and easily the best track is The Names’ ‘Spectators of Life’; 2 minutes and 58 seconds of ‘Nowhere Girl’ inspired perfect pop song.

Great title, slick packaging, lovely accents, high levels of ‘starkness’ and a catchy genre name. Poor songs. I suppose you can’t have everything.

 

Underset - Berlin

Pick of the Week 32 – Underset

I seriously hope Underset are German. I’m assuming this is the case and refusing to think otherwise after the Led Er Est fiasco.

Basically, there’s very little to say. This is stark, Germanic techno with a woman with a hostile haircut in the video stalking around Berlin like some serious, skateboarding goth on a nocturnal mission to wander around a capital city looking aggressive.

It’s a chilled and understated track that’s particularly great for playing darts to.

 

 

Intersys – Recharge

Clearly influenced by Infected Mushroom , Intersys are Northen Israel’s latest supercharged, techno exports and these new upstarts must make their more established parents sit up, and say ‘That’s my boys!’ They follow the classically trained route into the world of Israeli Psi-trance, but Moshe Maman and Omri Azran deviate from the standard template with the introduction of tighter song structures, tricky disco style clickiness and lush female vocals. To say they compare favourably with the Mushrooms tells you everything you need to know.

Intersys maintain the sonic purity with some beautiful sounds that create a textured 3D soundscape. They must have some seriously expensive techno equipment to achieve this quality and the vocals, some with the trademark Israeli twang and some with more western roots, only enhance, contrast and compliment the faultless digital stream of aural integrity. If only the rest of the world had followed the influences of this middle eastern enclave of techno, the music industry would be in infinitely better shape and the stale repetitive state of dance music would be invigorated. Unfortunately we had to look to Sasha, Diggers and co. instead.

Needless to say, every track is a winner and at times almost made running with my new fangled i-pod-shuffle-walkman pleasurable. Almost, but not quite. ‘Power Supply’ is a pounding colossus with Mushroom style vocals, ‘Opera’ is starker, darker and classically inspired, and ‘Recharge’ is a head-on assault on the senses when played at dangerous volumes. It’s the surprisingly anthemic ‘If U Could B’ that steals the show however, with a coherent sandwich of trance beat bread, a filling of gorgeous cheesy vocals and layers of quirky sweeping sound relish. It’s only February, but this will take some beating in this year’s Festive 50. Get your bets on now.

It’s rare that you discover a great band and here’s hoping that they go on to make as many great albums as their fungus worshipping cousins. Only time will tell if Intersys have the stamina, originality and humour to entertain and enthral us for decades, but as far as debut albums go, things don’t get much better than this.

 

 

Trentmoller - Into the Great Wide Yonder

Anders shuns the trademark clicky-scratchy techno and plumps for an altogether more epic approach which ultimately ends up in movie soundtrack territory. If it was a soundtrack to a film it would have to be an arty, European espionage thriller with no sense of humour, set in old East Germany. If it was a soundtrack it would be marginally above average, but not in the same league as the best.

It's not a terrible album, it's just not very interesting. The chilling atmosphere of his previous work is somehow missing and replaced by a more big budget feel that I'm not entirely sure Trentmoller needed. The instrumental tracks are presented in a techno meets Dick Dale style and tumble along going nowhere fast. The songs with vocals are much more engaging, with 'Sycamore Feeling' and 'Even though you're with another Girl' making a valiant attempt to pull things round, but ultimately it is the haunting mellow vocals and atmosphere of 'Neverglade' that turns the album into a positive experience.

Trentmoller is undoubtedly a talent, but if you want to make a soundtrack, then go make a soundtrack for a film. I'm all for experimentation, but in this case Anders may have been better off sticking to the plan.

24. X-Cabs - Infectious - (Hook Records) 1997

I remember hearing an interview with Hook's owner and premier techno producer Chris Cowie one festive season. The interviewer asked him what he'd been up to on Christmas morning and Chris said that he'd been in the studio working on some new tracks because he loved making music so much. That love manifested itself in some beautiful trance and techno from the Aberdeen based producer and his stable of mysterious electronic artists.

Whether as a solo artist, with his groups the X-Cabs and funky techno equivalent Vegas Soul, or through his mixed compilation albums, Cowie turned his enthusiasm and expertise into special little nuggets of techno brilliance. I once listened to one of his DJ sets that I'd taped from the radio for about a year on the car stereo and never once got bored. It was as close as digital dance music can get to immortality.

And where are we now? Who knows what Chris Cowie is doing, but I bet it's great and I bet he's happily producing album after album of techno classics in his studio that will never see the light of day. I'd still love a Hook Records T-Shirt in the unlikely event that anyone in the Hook/Bellboy organisation is reading this?

     

34. Infected Mushroom - I Wish

The Infected Mushrooms assume near legendary status for myself and Evlkeith. The Israeli techno duo produce the most perfect brand of psy-trance, but they bring so much more to the table than that. They experiment with tempo, song structure, they add vocals, sometimes there's a bit of rapping, now and then they go classical and once they even went ragtime.

No other techno producer sounds so good in terms of sound quality on your speakers. They must have invested in some serious equipment over the years and every album seems to be better than the last. I'm already giddy at the prospect of a new album in 2012.

On 'I Wish' they go a bit euro-pop, but I can't help loving the vocals. The accent gets me every time and the little clicks, sighs and gulps on the backing track just add to the whole experience. I could literally have picked any of about twenty of the Mushroom's tracks they have so much in their locker. If you've never heard them before, go out and buy one of their albums immediately.

36. Dave Clarke - Red 1 - 1994

Dave Clarke's individual take on techno has always been a refreshing and entertaining alternative to the boring repetitive beats syndrome. The self styled 'Baron of Techno' brought personality into the genre and I still listen to an old interview tape of him talking to John Peel about about his musical influences and life in general. Dave seemed like a really interesting, if a bit geeky, kind of guy; he grew up doing nerdy experiments with cassette recorders, he liked early hip-hop, travel and Iggy Pop. There's no wonder he produced his own idiosyncratic form of techno really.

Red 1 is a mini-classic that sounded much more extreme when it was first released. It's still an edgy, moody piece of music with lovely clicky bits and sections where it all seems to go into reverse. It even has a proper and brilliant ending which for a techno track is unusual and a bit radical.

41. Layo and Bushwacker - Love Story

I love Layo and Bushwacker, but this bootleg inspired combination of their Love Story track and 'Finally' isn't that representative of their work. However, the addition of some vocals to their trademark minimal, chunky house proved to be masterstroke and produced an entirely new entity with a heart and soul of it's own. The remix combines the already brilliant album version of 'Love Story' with Julie McKnight's vocal from the Kings of Tomorrow's 'Finally' to produce a retro sounding house classic.

47. Aphex Twin - Vordhosbn 2001

Five minutes of madness from the master of ambient techno Richard James. I have to admit that although I've listened to a lot of the Aphex Twin, I'm not a massive fan. It's all a bit too dense, noodle-doodley synthesiser based pointlessness for me. However the Drukqs album was a work of genius, combining the obligatory muso noodling with hints of melodies and some beautiful piano, creating an atmosphere akin to something Brian Eno would be proud of.

Apparently Richard James has penned a load of commercial dance hits for other artists and I've always been interested in finding out what they were; hopefully 'Saturday Night' by Whigfield, but I guess we'll never know. 'Vordhosbn' meanwhile, is a dark, brooding concoction of drum and base, piano and general jerkiness, that sounds like the 'future music' played by Michael Caine's old hippy character in Children of Men. It may not be the sound of the future anymore, but it's accessible, soulful and at times beautiful.

Pantha du Prince - Black Noise LP 2010

This is the latest offering from Hendrik Weber, a German techno producer who goes by the name of Pantha du Prince. The blurb on the CD cover goes on about the various definitions on 'black noise' and from what I can gather it basically equates to silence. Fortunately the album has music on it rather than silence, which is a bonus.

Why should you listen?

Hendrik apparently draws on his passion for late 1980's shoegazing indie types like Slowdive, Ride and My Bloody Valentine and combines this with a parallel love for minimal Detroit techno. How can you not want to listen with that combination of influences? Even Evlkeith is sitting up and taking notice.

What’s it like?

As always, things never quite go to plan and Black Noise could not sound less like MBV if it tried. It doesn't sound much like Carl Craig either. Hendrik however, has used his influences to produce a whole new substance, but whether it's a musical substance that we actually need is debatable. Pantha uses an extremely limited 'sound palette' for all the tracks on the LP which can basically be summarised by the formula:

(minimal techno drums + glockenspiel + people blowing over the top of milk bottles + cow bells + jingle bells)  multiplied by a sort of dark mellowness = Dark noise by Pantha du Prince.

If you like that idea you'll love every song.

What’s the best track?

‘Lay in a Shimmer' is typically mellow, dark  and even has a bit of singing on it. If I was being unfair I'd say that all the other tracks sound like remixes of this track, but that's only true to a certain extent.

Who does it sound like?

Plastic Man, Banco de Gaia, Trentmoller.

Classic Track - Dreadzone - Fight the Power (1995)

When Dreadzone released Fight the Power in 1995 it was like some hybrid techno reggae monster. It still stands the test of time today, but at the time it was like nothing I'd ever heard before. Too hard to be house, too dance oriented to be reggae and too political with a capital P to be pop. The time has come for each and everyone of you to decide...

Chilled C'quence - Dream Triggers LP 2008

What is it?

Pedro Matias and Fernando Rodrigues apparently make up trance duo Chilled C'quence who in Dream Triggers produce lush, downtempo trance that may induce some pleasant dreams.

Why should you listen?

This fits somewhere between Trance Europe Express era trance, ambient and downtempo, but always remains interesting , engaging and soothing for your brain. The few songs with vocal samples are especially memorable and provide a quirky sense of fun to contrast the new age soul searching vibe. Although I have tried on several occasions, 'Dream Triggers' has always failed to provide any decent dreams. It lulls you to sleep efficiently enough but if you want a real dream trigger I'd eat a cocktail of strong cheddar, stilton and danish blue, washed down with a bottle of Newcastle Brown and a tequila chaser.  

What's it like?

It's like having your brain gently massaged by elves.

What's the best song?

"Double Pleasure' is like 'Little Fluffy Clouds' with a dream inducing, philosophical  plot.

Who does it sound like?

Reminds me of Trance Europe Express, Scanner, The Orb maybe.

Trentmoller - Trentmoller Chronicles LP 2007

What is it?

Top Danish electronic producer and instrumentalist Anders Trentmoller presents a  compilation of rare tracks and remixes of his particular brand of soundtrack influenced, mid-tempo techno.

Why should you listen?

It's a 2 disc set featuring a mix disc of Trentmoller's favourites combined with a second disc of rare remixes. To be honest I'd not realised that the first disc was mixed as I've mostly listened to it on the computer, but all the tracks work individually as well as part of the whole piece. Trentmoller's trademark style of techno sits somewhere between the Boards of Canada and Royksopp and is full of bleeps, beeps, scratches, clicks and sighs which I find particularly enjoyable for some reason. This is combined with more ambient and cinematic approach to numbers like 'McKlaren' which showcases Anders at his most brooding. The remix disc is equally enjoyable with notable contributions from The Knife, Royksopp and Djuma Soundsystem. The whole package is really good value and provides an excellent introduction to a vastly underrated artist.

What's it like?

It's like a soundtrack for lonely, depressing films with isolated, wintery settings in Nothern Europe. 

What's the best song?

'Moan' from Disc 1 is a classic and 'What else is there' is a rare uplifting singalong number (well almost) on disc 2.

Who does it sound like?

Boards of Canada, Royksopp, Vegas Soul, Aphex Twin.

Younger Brother - Vaccine 2011

What is it?

This is the third album from the combo of Simon Posford (Shpongle, Hallucinogen) and Benji Vaughan (Prometheus). But this time they have teamed up with Rupert Campbell on vocals and some other guys. Was it a good idea?

Why should you listen?

If you like music that you can put on in the background, maybe when you’re busy working and you don’t want to be disturbed, then this is for you. This album is easily the biggest disappointment of the year for me musically. The first two Younger Brother albums were by no means perfect slices of bleepy techno cake but at least there were a few excellent smarties on the top. ‘Scanner’ and ‘I am a Freak’ spring immediately to mind. I was really looking forward to the new album so I bought it as soon as it came out. Full price. Sold it very soon afterwards.

What’s it like?

On the album ‘Last Days of Gravity’ there was one song called ‘Ribbon on a Branch’ and it was alright as something a bit different from the rest of the album. ‘Vaccine’ is all like that. Not many bleeps. Not many squelches. It’s all a bit too much like a standard issue pleasantly voiced band. Way too pleasant. Even after my initial disappointment, I’ve given it a fair chance. I still don’t like it. They should have released it as a different band seeing as though it is so different from what they’ve done before. It might be more doccortex’s cup of tea and lots of people in other reviews seem to like it. I’ll let the doc have a listen so there may be an update on this one.

What’s the best track?

Hard to choose one really. They’re all so bland. If pushed I’d go for ‘Shine’ but I can’t say that I’m that keen.

Who does it sound like?

Foals, The Big Pink

evlkeith