dutch label memoria has recently expanded itself into an agency and management group having continued to grow in recent times. for their next release they turn to label manager and house and techno producer lilith, whilst also recruiting andrew grant on remix duty.
teshno
'in germany, they can't say 'techno,' they say 'teshno'' ~ seth troxler [march 2008]
lilith ~ master codes on memoria
interview ~ lawrence
once again last year, lawrence’s dial imprint owned. not only did it release the full length excellence of roman flugel’s fatty folders, but so too did it offer up more oddness from pigon aka efdemin, whilst sub-label laid (see what they did there?) released possibly the best deep house compilation not to make it onto my year end countdown.
the brick remixes ~ dj qu / kassem mosse on all inn records
romanian label all inn recently took the decision to “go boutique” by becoming a vinyl only label that presses but a few hundred copies of each release. truth is, this one will likely sell out before it’s even on sale given the names involved, but those who do buy on sight rather than sound will not be disappointed.
albums of the year ~ 2011
ok, here comes a list of my thirty favourite long players (including one re-issue and following my top 10 compilations) of 2011. like last year, i’m not that sure of the order beyond the first few, but these are the records which i’m still listening to, still enjoying and – in many cases – still astounded by. the only other thing to note is the lack of many bass/dubstep albums. efforts from kuedo, sepulcre and machine drum will all top many polls elsewhere on the web, i’m sure, but i just never quite sit comfortably when they are playing. necessarily then, in case you wondered, i’ve overlooked them. but it ain’t like i was short on choice…
compilations of the year ~ 2011
i included compilations in my top 20 albums list last year. that was lazy. given that it’s been a vintage year for the (ever dying, apparently) things, i thought i’d do a separate list this year. first couple are firm favourites and after that it’s pretty hard to decide.
interview ~ taimur agha
if you’ve been to new york to party, there’s a good chance taimur agha had some role to play in it. aside from being an esteemed dj in his own right, agha is also responsible for the brilliant blk|market mermbership parties held in the city, as well as bi-monthly radio show, the bandwagon and is also the house techno music buyer at halcyon record shop. it’s almost as if he’s single-handedly on a mission to bring good music and great parties the city we, in the rest of the world, so often hear is lacking in that department.
heart the art volume 2
i did a first volume of this a while ago and it seemed to go down quite well. as such and since then i’ve been making a note of some favourite record sleeves with a view to doing it again. i kind of figured the words last time were pointless, so instead i’ve wasted an afternoon making a collage and will include only a few notes. i’ve enjoyed all these albums and eps in recent months (bar hamburg elektronish vol. 01 which i haven’t yet listened to but still love the pop-up cover) for different reasons. similarly, the art which adorns the music has gotten me in different ways…
teshcast n ~ life’s track
after hearing their excellent eps on italian label bosconi, i was instantly enamoured by italian duo life’s track. as i said in my review of that ep for ra, they are like an italian skudge… a pair of mysterious analogue freaks making proper house music. it’s house music with depth and real narrative.. listen to any of their tracks (a couple of which are included on teshcast n) and you’ll instantly be transported to a place somewhere else. retro-tinged but future-facing, it’s some of the nicest, purest house i’ve heard in ages.
gerry read ~ all by myself/what a mess on fourth wave
completing a hat-trick of hurried sounding house eps on fourth wave, gerry read confirms what you suspected from his first two releases on the label: the man got skills.
label profile ~ nrk music
this year nick harris’ nrk music turns 15. in that time the bristol bastion of house quality has notched up over 100 releases of which they can be proud. rather than following any particular trends, the label has been steered by harris from its bristol bass through the nether regions of 4/4 with names like kerri chandler, peace division, steve bug, dave clarke, global communication, seth troxler, kris wadsworth and ed davenport all either appearing on, or mixing it up for, the imprint in the last decade and a half.
cottam ~ deep deep down on aus
a few things define cottam’s music in my mind. one is the lethargic tempo (which he always makes work), another is the great sampling and the third is how things are tantalisingly drawn out over such long periods of time.
jonny cade ~ groß vater ep on black key
interview ~ mike huckaby
if you watched ra’s real scenes: detroit, providing you aren’t dead inside, you will have been roused by the youthville section of the film. it showed mike huckaby teaching various kids various music making skills in his hometown of detroit.
ed davenport ~ new yorkshire ep on nrk
this new ep from ed davenport offers the first taster of what to expect from his forthcoming full length, countercharge. ‘testament’ is the track plucked from said album, and is one which has frankly been getting me very excited.
teshcast k ~ till von sein
this month, berlin based till von sein releases his debut album on suol. despite the man’s largely deep house past, for his first full length, #ltd, he goes in balls deep, crafting a perfectly arcing album which touches on a range of styles and tempos, moods and atmospheres. it’s a great listen and one he’s managed to recreate here…
warm spiral ep ~ various artists on roundabout sounds
the last roundabout sounds release was a lo-fi and summery house excursion with plenty of whimsical charm. appropriately, though, this ep (split between duijn & douglas, joe roundabout and denny trajkov) mines a less frilly, more direct deep house vein that’s all burnt autumnal browns instead of sun-kissed yellows.
bnjmn ~ nightvision on stolen kisses
the second stolen kisses release swiftly follows the first, as will bnjmn’s second album (out oct) swiftly follow his debut which came in only february of this year. with that full length, the rush hour producer carved out a niche all his own
jonsson/alter ~ mod on kontra musik
mod is nothing new, but that’s not to say it isn’t one of the best albums of the year. unsurprisingly, then, it isn’t particularly dancefloor, either, but instead crafts a perfect, dub-heavy house and techno arc. tentatively emerging from a cold empty space complete with heartbroken (and german?) robot monologue, it rolls right through deep, gnarly undercurrents; surging detroit landscapes and on to carefree and optimistic 4/4 come the end.
walker barnard ~ alacazam ep on jack off
now almost exactly a year old, berlin based jack off serve up a fifth release. it comes from sometime we are associate, walker barnard, and marks something of a sidestep away from the firm house offerings which have gone before, into rather more liquid, late-night territory.
deep space orchestra ~ bucktown fever on quintissentials
what stands out about these records is the way they seem so deeply infused with disco yet, essentially, are lively, neo-classical house tracks. they radiate a certain cosmic energy that nods to someone like the revenge, but bump with the vivacity of genuine chicago mainstays. it’s deep house music, but not as we know it…