'in germany, they can't say 'techno,' they say 'teshno'' ~ seth troxler [march 2008]
i don’t normally post club reviews unless done specifically for here, but dj mag sent me to mutek to report for their july issue and i highly recommend it, so…
mutek is not movement in montreal. nor is it coachella in canada. in fact, it’s unlike any other festival you know. so too is montreal unlike any other american city you will have been to, actually.
last week jacob korn was the first of dresden’s uncanny valley crew to release a full length album.
phil asher has long been turning out quality electronic music, but that’s not to say he’s still mining the same vein he was back in, say 2003 on 4 lux, or 1994 on grove records.
from his home base in ireland, samaan has been releasing a steady stream of dub laced, static infused house and techno for a while, most frequently on the increasingly reliable fulbarr.
chicago based amir alexander has very quickly become one of my favourite producers, initially off the back of this great release on argot.
though for a while there it seemed like anton zap was almost single-handedly flying the flag for quality electronica in russia, his hard worked has finally paid off.
nyra doesn’t fuck about. his beats (on young but quality imprints like never learnt and elastic dreams) are muscular and brutish, yet stripped back to only the most essential of ingredients. at least they have been until now, because the first track on his secretsundaze debut is actually a little more whimsical than recent efforts: as well as the pacey kicks and seriously grainy, purposeful claps which surge along at a lick that suggests they are in a rush to get done, there are thin, lingering synth lines buried in the background.
i’m still grateful to argot for turning me onto the stern and stunning house music of amir alexander with its first release.
born out of an east london party of the same name, love fever records made quite an entry into the label fray with their debut release from bicep. again shining a light on an upcoming producer, this time it’s madtech aligned londoner citizen who gets the nod.
as the boss has said in interviews on this site before, there is nothing tying together the many different releases on danish imprint tartelet.
and so the final third of the debut two armadillos album, golden age thinking, is here. it’s been a memorable trip so far, with smooth, soulful and classy deep house grooves making up parts one and two (read my reviews on each at ra here and here) where martin dawson and giles smith puff out their chests somewhat on part 3, delving into more upright techno territory.
two minutes in, just as i thought london duo dusky had plateaued after the promise they showed on anjuna deep and then simple, ep opener ‘flo jam’ drops proper and i remember why i admired them in the first place: spacious deep house grooves that just make you want to dance.
jonsson & alter are continuing to get plenty of mileage out of their stripped bare, glacially slow to evolve and studiously deep house aesthetic, despite having seemingly perfected it on last year’s full length, mod.
although stolen kisses was running along nicely, lwe editor steve mizek is now launching a second label, argot (find out why on ra).
kool vibe is part of a new mini-wave of house producers who like their 4/4 ruff and tuff. elements of the us garage that found fortune in 90s new jersey are also littered throughout his records – and those by brawther, tomska and more, with imprints like vibes & peppers and my love is underground seemingly leading the way in terms of releases.
i might as well say it from the off: astro girl is outboxx’s finest release to date. before now they have honed an ebullient house sound on idle hands and brstl, but the joyous shuffle and swing of the title track here is wonderful.
on august 10th this year i am getting myself a mrs teshno. as such, i’m going to amsterdam on my stag do this weekend and plan to hit the planet delsin party at trouw where claro intelecto and delta funktionen are set to play, so i thought i’d preview the event.
i’m excited about all new teshcasts, but this is one of the extra special ones. i’ve been after it for ages having first interviewed ewan smith aka youandewan two years ago. since then his profile has grown, even if his online stature has continued to remain laudably reticent.
the combination of mike shannon – often considered a minimalist – and dewalt – who has proved himself to be something of an intricate house craftsmen not least on this, the label he co-runs – is an intoxicating, heady one.
i’m proud to say the city in which i was born is continuing to put itself in the electronic limelight.