chicago
John Heckle – Desolate Figures [TABR022]
Two years after his last full-length titled ‘Second Son’, which was out on Jamal Moss‘s Mathematics label, John Heckle has returned with his second album ‘Desolate Figures’ for Tabernacle Records. ‘Desolate Figures’ revolves around vintage-tinged Detroit techno, gritty Chicago house and experimental hybrids of the aforementioned genres, with the overall result sounding deliciously and uncompromisingly nasty. The album opens with a wonderfully warped slab of Detroitish techno in the form of ‘Blindman’s Bluff’, a track deeply rooted in spacey synth and string structures that gradually transforms into a superb dancefloor track. From that point on, Heckle continues to present his broad view on house and techno across a set of track that seem to stray away from pre-fabricated song patterns, instead drawing on more abstract and less rigid textures. This ethos gives the LP as a whole a very personal and organic touch, as if it were recorded in a single take while creativity and intuition were peaking. Tracks such as the emotive ‘Inhuman Nature’, ‘Something For Your Distorted Mind’, and the acid-driven, Legowelt-esque ‘Never With You’ are all examples of Heckle’s signature blend of flowing melodics and raspy rhythms, while the industrial and very minimal ‘Love-Lies’ and the nervously rattling ‘Crazy Metal’ add a dash of experimental flavors to the LP. Its diverse content and overall DIY-attitude turn ‘Desolate Figures’ in a somewhat unorthodox package, but if you don’t shy away from experimental house and techno (or if you’re just a fan of the Crème Organization and Tabernacle labels in general), then you simply can’t afford to miss out on this one.
Hieroglyphic Being – A Synthetic Love Life: +++10 Love [MATHSPLUS010]
“A Synthetic Love Life” is an 8 track “compilation of experimental tunes & sonic art in retrospect from 1996-2013”. Mathematics label boss/founder Jamal Moss releases some of his more challenging tunes on the Mathematics Plus side label. Limited pressing, hand stamped with printed insert.
R-Zone – R-Zone 07 [RZONE007]
The much loved R-Zone series continues apace here with three more rough analogue jams for its seventh release. ‘If U Going Thru Hell Keep Going’ is a paranoid, angsty bit of house jack with a busy synth line, hard hitting percussion and plenty of muddy, murky atmosphere. ‘Emojako’ is even more unhinged and off filter with its weird hooks, dusty hi hats and intense drum workouts. It’s a physical one that will fuck with your mind as it changes direction freely, and final track ‘Subatomi’ is just as freaky and left of centre. The synths are lively and charming, spraying about above a cacophony of woody percussion and heavy drums. It’s grainy and roughhewn but groovy and catchy at the same time.
Spirit Of The Black 808 – Guerilla Shit EP [SYNAPSIS008]
3 rough, rugged, and raw tunes in which the waveforms are stopping eardrums and woofers, meanwhile experimenting but still staying true to the Chicago ethos. Man, you just got hit with some Guerilla Shit!
Hieroglyphic Being – Seer Of Cosmic Visions [Free Album]
Hieroglyphic Being’s Seer Of Cosmic Visions album, of original jams and reworkings of previously released tracks, exclusive to The Wire.
Inspired by Sun Ra, Chicago based House experimentalist, noise maker and Afro-Futurist, Hieroglyphic Being aka Jamal Moss has released an ever expanding cosmos of music since the 1990s. Operating under different monikers including Africans With Mainframes (with Noleian Reusse) and Insane Black Men (IBM), Moss started out selling cassettes of his music outside Chicago nightclubs, then started up his own label, Mathematics Recordings, and sub-labels Music From Mathematics and +++.
Even though Moss started out under the wing of first wave House producers Adonis and Steve Pointdexter, he’s consistently made work on the fringes of Chicago’s electronic music scene: “I never really set out to make sounds for the club or the DJ, I make them for all ears that will listen and maybe be inspired by it for positive purposes. Or hate on it for negative purposes. Either they make me better at what I do, or go out and make it how they think it should sound. Believe me, I got a lot of haters out there letting me know how it should be done, and I have a lot of lovers of what I do modify and apply my sound. It makes it to the dance by three degrees of separation regardless.”
Boo Williams – Technical EP [CCE009]
Innerspace Halflife – Juno Plus Podcast 71
Hakim Murphy – Fire Bang EP [TCMV002]
Hakim Murphy has not been shy about sharing his vision with the world, & here he brings some classic home grown Chicago flavor.
VA – Chicago Service [LIH010]
Here’s the pitch: ask six of Chicago’s finest exponents of bumping house and pitched down disco cuts to contribute some of their finest works, blend them all together and present in the appropriate space either side of two 12″ slabs. What’s the end product? The rather hot looking Chicago Service from the Amsterdam label Lumberjacks in Hell which features a merry cast of the city’s finest in Gene Hunt, Rahaan, Jamie 3:26, Cratebug, Hugo H and Boogie Nite across two hot plates.
Helena Hauff – Keep it Deep Mix
Traxx @ Plastic People (London) 19.09.2013
The Sun God – Root Frequencies Project [MDREAMS011]
Three tracks of techno funk straight from Saturn on Hakim Murphy’s label. Classic Jamal Moss harsh raw Chicago tracks.
L/F/D/M – Purple Maps [OT001]
Having established Optimo Music as a truly eclectic label more than worthy of the Optimo (Espacio) night it grew out of, JD Twitch and co. expand operations with the launch of the club specific Optimo Trax label. The all encompassing approach of Optimo Music remains the driving force behind this new offshoot, with the label apparently taking in both current artists and excavated “forgotten classics” and it’s with the former that they launch. Little is yet to be known about the London producer L/F/D/M, credited as R. Smith, who was apparently encouraged to pursue music production while studying art with Factory Floor’s man on electronics, Dominic Butler. Taking Butler’s advice, L/F/D/M delivers a strong five track of EP of deep, analogue-fueled acid techno which simultaneously draws upon the influences of the motor and windy cities, while also incorporating the more sinister strands of European techno.
R-A-G – SNTWN Podcast 081
Traxx @ Boiler Room, Dekmantel Festival (Amsterdam) 23.08.2013
Beau Wanzer / Svengalisghost – CCCP 02 [CCCP002]
After totally missing the incredible CCCP 01, we are happy to have finally tracked down some of this illusive heat.. get it quick. blistering tracks from Chicago’s Beau Wanzer and Svengalisghost.
D’Marc Cantu – Alternate Frequency EP [CR1265]
18 Months after serving up his debut LP ”Fallen”, D’Marc Cantu returns to his other home from home, Crme Organization. He’s back with a six track EP, Alternate Frequency, that sees him explore the same prickly analogue house and techno that has made him into the revered producer he is today. The title track opens up the EP with fizzing analogue synth lines and a nervous, howling melody before acid, muffled vocals and coarse claps all get chucked into the dense sci-fi mix. ‘Size And Shape’ is a more propulsive and dancefloor facing track. Surfing along on a lively kick drum, repeated vocal phrases interact with choppy percussion, glowing pads light up the backdrop and a delightfully lively melody runs amok at the centre of it all. Like an old school garage house track in overdrive, its full of charm. ‘Straight Shooter’ is then a zithering, 100 mile an hour piece of skeletal acid techno that grows ever more frantic and ‘Tazakuro’ is a lively analogue brew of cowbells, freewheeling synths and tumbling drums. Titanium Control Arms lurks deep in outer space with the humdrum of intergalactic space travel gurgling all around the central melodic motif and ‘Speed Freak’ is just that, a hyper-driven bit of electro with frantic percussion and riddled with unnerving synth lines that makes you want to jiggle every bone in your body.
Beau Wanzer – Beau Wanzer [LIES031]
Chicago’s Beau Wanzer known for his work with Mutant Beat Dance and Streetwalker makes his debut on L.I.E.S. with his first solo EP. Wanzer who has been involved in the underbelly of American electronic music for many years, cut his teeth working at Magas’ now defunct Weekend Records and Soap. Through that time Wanzer constantly worked on music amassing a sizable studio where he worked in various electronic strains creating an impressive body of work. These tracks come from different points of his career and are stripped down functional pieces made for the dj even if that was not their initial intention.
Robert Armani – Collection [DM304]
Dance Mania presents a collection of 6 classic Jacking Chicago tracks from the legendary Robert Armani.
The Hipodrome Of Music 