so i first got wind of al tourettes alongside appleblim on aus. together the pair mined a nice bass/house vein and that was that. then came al’s swan sketch ep on base logic
teshno
'in germany, they can't say 'techno,' they say 'teshno'' ~ seth troxler [march 2008]
interview ~ al tourettes
teshcast p ~ samoyed
when i reviewed samoyed‘s spit ep on astro:dynamics for ra, the first draft got sent back from the editor with a note that it ‘needed more context.’ i was aware of that already, but was unsure how to best describe it.
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.
interview ~ hazylujah
too many ghosts is the first ever ep from italy’s hazylujah and it’s stunning. not only stunning for its maturity, completeness and originality, but also because it is the first thing ever committed to vinyl by the young talent (it’s on delsin, too, and we all know they don’t fuck about when it comes to taking people into their revered musical fam).
teshcast o ~ edit piafra
if you know your shit then you will know acheterbahn d’amour: it is the german duo consisting of iron curtis and emerging producer edit piafra who have crafted plenty of raw, wired-up analogue house and acid for both frank music and absurd’s acid test series. the duo have another ep of similarly classic sounding, firm house that’s both deep and purposeful due out on frank soon, and so i jumped at the chance of hearing where edit’s tastes lie when it comes to other people’s music.
interview ~ argy
here comes the dj mag feature i did on argy based around his latest long player, fundamentals, on jerome sydenham’s ibadan records.
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.
interview ~ sei a
glaswegian sei-a (pronounced “say a”, obviously) is an interesting one. he’s not someone who has ever been fully chewed up by the hype machine despite already having two solid lps to his name on french outlet missive music and tiga’s thriving turbo.
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.
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.
teshcast m ~ kornél kovács
when i first heard ‘baby step‘ i was mesmerised. something about its trancey, hypnotic whimsy really got under my skin. when i found out the man who’d made it was a part – or in fact founding member – of studio barnhus, things made more sense.
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.
interview ~ ed davenport
you know how it works – i like enough of someone’s music and i bug them for an interview. in this case, not only has ed davenport‘s recent run of form been impressive (‘recent’ means last couple of years since, it seems, a re-location to berlin), but so too has he just announced a debut album is on the way.
producing with apps
another piece i did for dj mag’s august issue. this one asks how feasible it is to produce real music using only apps. includes thoughts from ali perc, ambivalent, luke solomon, benjamin brunn, stephan bodzin, marc romboy and the md at liine, gareth williams, plus a round up of the best ten apps at the end… thanks once again to those kind folks for sparing the time to talk to me.
label profile ~ tartelet
if you read my review of mikkel metal‘s latest ep on tartelet, you’ll know i loved it. looking back through my collection afterwards, i realised i had more than a few tartelet records including those by wareika and brandt brauer frick. newer stuff on the danish imprint from muff deep also sounds great, and so i did the only decent thing… tapped them up for an interview…
interview ~ ramadanman / pearson sound
this weekend, leeds’ boutique clubbing session mono_cult gather together one of their tastiest line-ups yet. the season opening party will feature the house and bass talents of joy orbison b2b ramadanman/pearson sound; the soulful croonings of strictly rhythm man ben westbeech; the deep and murky house of workshop confrere move d and the creamiest vocal disco stuff from local hot creation miguel camnpbell.
teshcast j ~ kamo
their ep for hypercolour/glass table associated label, losing suki, last month was enough for me to want a teshcast from this pair immediately. read the review, but it ably displayed a range of fresh bass styles which the series has thusfar lacked. when installent j landed, though, that was instantly rectified.
sneaker social club lowdown and poster competition
if you’re a fan of modern house and techno, there’s a good chance you’ve danced – or better purchased – a record which has graced the hands of this man. jamie russell aka cedric maison co-runs hypercolour, losing suki, glass table and now, on his own, has launched sneaker social club.
interview ~ gerry read
there was some excitement at teshno towers (my living room) when i first heard a gerry reed record. it was only his latest (i missed earlier efforts on dark arx, but get the lowdown, here) though his next one on 2nd drop is just as appealing: it’s a tight, rolling number that recalls burial and four tet and comes backed with an equally impressive remix from fellow young gun, youandewan, on october 3rd…