Brilliant energetic techno tracks with 90’s aesthetics. Last one in the Head Front Panel series according the label. Head Front Panel has demonstrated the sheer diversity one can achieve within techno if you are as talented as Merseysider John Heckle.
Should you desire techno that sounds like it’s sampled an ongoing laser battle in some sci-fi B movie, head straight for the opening track on this eighth edition of the Head Front Panel series from Tabernacle. The track is overflowing with laser like samples, expertly EQed into some form of forward momentum over tumbling kicks and malfunctioning modular synthetics. Following this, “Track 2” will appeal to anyone that is an advocate of the recent Population One material whilst the full on thrust of the third track may sound familiar to those that lock into the Hessle Rinse show. To close matters there is a touch of the Sun God about the final track, though the execution is done with a dash more clarity than you get from Jamal Moss.
It’s magnificent number seven for the Head Front Panel series on a 12″ that feature four potent untitled techno tools of varying shades. As ever it’s pointless to waste air debating who is behind the music, but they certainly know how to bend minds on the basis of this record. Hurried Martian rhythms characterise the opening track, offering a distinct contrast to the unhinged almost Bunker levels of craziness that unfolds on the track that follows. The third production takes matters a bit deeper, though those drums still kick and the final track is the craziest of the lot.
Head Front Panel is a new sub-label from Tabernacle Records focusing on techno from anonymous artists in 2014.
Head Front Panel is a new sub-label from Tabernacle Records focusing on techno from anonymous artists in 2014.
A new John Heckle release on the Liverpool-based Tabernacle Records. This time around it’s Heckle’s 2013 album Desolate Figures which gets remixed and first up is Greek producer Vercetti Technicolor, who supplies a vamp-heavy and empowering Italo remix of “Inhuman Nature”. Peoples Potential Unlimited artist Moon B goes tropical with a choir of synthesised vocals in his ‘re calc’ of “Power Of Two”, while Call Super proves to be this record’s wild card adding a gorgeous ‘Cyan Stain’ to the track “Love Lies”.
Raw intense techno tracks on the Head Front Panel label. Reminding a bit on the early relentless Jeff Mills productions and Terrence Dixon. Funky looped techno with bubbly and funky bassline sequences and effective percussion.
Those looking for concrete information about the music they’re listening to should probably steer clear of Tabernacle Records’ offshoot Head Front Panel. They’ve yet to announce the identity of any of the producers behind the series blend of slowed-down futurism, discordant electronics and feverish techno. This third installment in the series is similarly mysterious in origin, and once again features a range of intriguing cuts. Opener “Track 1” sounds like an explosion in a “Speak & Spell” factory – a veritable whirlwind of discordant beeps and throbbing techno rhythms – while “Track 2” offers a smoother and more hypnotic variation on a similar theme. Best of all, though, is the jaunty, late night bounce of slow techno excursion “Track 3”.
Scenery Records serves up a full EP from Liverpool’s much loved house and techno inventor, John Heckle. Remixes come from Dekmantel duo Ksoul & Muteoscillator and MOS alumnus Perseus Traxx. Up first is the oh so lively ‘Laid Away’ which has myriad synth lines all squiggling about above jacking, rough edges house beats. Some of them squeal, some of them are smooth and serene and overall the result is a multi-layered track that fires every synapse in your body. The Perseus Traxx remix of the same track ups the acid ante, smoothes out some of the edges but retains that classic Chicago feel that defines much of his work, whilst Ksoul & Muteoscillator strip everything back to buried deep drums, gentle clattering percussion and a seriously ponderous synth line. It’s moody and desolate yet hugely inviting. ‘DDT’ is a much deeper and murkier affair. Everything comes coated in layers of dirt and dust, be it the sporadic cowbell ping, the scraping percussive smears or the frenzied synth lines. Frankly, the hi hats are so sharp edged you feel they might cut you and the blasts of white noise add yet more layers of intrigue.
The Zodiac 44 label returns with its second release, with Daniel Andreasson firing up the 303’s for 3 original tracks. Also includes an absolutely bonkers techno remix by John Heckle of B-side cut “What’s My Name?” and a Andy McNeill remix.
Some serious cool and banging techno on this 2nd Head Front Panel release, the new Tabernacle sub label with a focus on Techno. Not the looped kinda thing but proper tracks. Techno as techno once used to be… full of energy, cool sounds, exciting basslines, and no taboo’s (who the F**k gives a shit if the tracks are faster then then 125… techno never had any speed regulations). These tracks makes you wanna go to a party and rave all night long.
Head Front Panel is a new sub-label from Tabernacle Records focusing on techno from anonymous artists in 2014. This first one contains some serious techno bangers.
Altered Moods Recordings’ 27th release features a barnstormer of a track by John Heckle. Its big,fat, analog bassline combined with take-charge leads and rising melodies is a floor-filler. “Emerald 66” is six minutes of dancing bliss with its in-your-face snares, claps, and tambourines. Malcolm Moore works the flip side with “Way Of The City”, an affair that starts out muted but quickly expands into a drum-filled frenzy. A break in the action gives dancers a moment to catch their breath before the acid onslaught continues in earnest in the second half.
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.
The Hipodrome Of Music 