Continue reading “Alan Oldham aka DJ T-1000 – EPM podcast #132”
minimal techno
Konduku – Mantis 03 [DSR/MTS03]
The third installment in the Delsin Mantis series comes from Dutch producer Konduku. The three tracks on this 12” are a masterclass in subtle soundsystem music, matching his intricate drum programming and enlightening ambient textures with the primal energy of early bleep and bass.
VA – DEADCERTBLACK002 [DEADCERTBLACK002]
DEAD CERT. Records is a label linked to the deathtechno.com website ran by Jack! Who? in the UK. The second installment features individual tracks from a selection of handpicked artists. Featuring known and established artists, but also those breaking into the industry. This EP contains quality cuts from Marco Effe in Berlin, Arnaud Le Texier in London, William Arist from Uruguay and QphoriQ who is based in Russia.
Staffan Linzatti – Q-Mix
Mike Storm – Absorbing Other Stars [ASD002]
Axis Records introduce a new element in their online shop. The Axis Online shop will now offer music in a curated form to feature exclusive works of various artists that are considered masters of their craft and style of Techno Music. This one is coming from Mike Storm master from the underground scene of Alkmaar in the Netherlands. Until this day, he still produces his tracks without any edits or total recall, just straight forward recordings directly from machines only. Mike Storm is mainly inspired by the Sci-Fi sound. The thinking process of his sound are created effecting emotions and leading to action. Sometimes there are actions we can’t control and therefore each creation is a unique process. Thoughts are created and disappearing like stars and planets. Mike Storm translate these thoughts and emotions into music sequences and it influences the mental state. Building sequences and sound development become a natural process.
Takaaki Itoh – Mutual Recognition [KR3002]
KR3 first EP is an intricate labyrinth of sounds, curated by Japanese techno pioneer Takaaki Itoh with an additional remix by Claudio PRC. “Mutual Recognition” is a work of insistent raw elements that interweave with hypnotic segments, creating a sense of bewilderment. The A side keeps listeners on the edge with its insistent wobbling and repetitive sounds. Similarly, the B side builds a sense of high intensity; Stinging synths and mental hi-hats interact consistently, resulting in a mesmerizing conversation.
Hattori Hanzō – The Sword [MODULARZ047]
Modularz presents a new release by Japanese producer Hattori Hanzō. Hattori delivers a great body of work focused on Extremely functional tracks with lots of driving rhythms, space influenced hypnotic grooves with the right amount of tension and drama.
Radio Slave – Radio Silence Part One [REKIDS158]
Rekids label boss Radio Slave ventures further into unknown territory in a three-part sophomore album entitled ‘Radio Silence’. The UK artist delivers his latest body of work in the form of his ‘Radio Silence’ album, which will be dropping in three parts. The first chapter features perhaps the most leftfield tracks we’ve ever heard Radio Slave product. There’s a rawness to the album, which is in part due to the fact each track was recorded live and without edits, using hardware and Ableton as the main sequencer. Across the seven tracks, Radio Slave hone’s in on a sound that’s haunting and hypnotic.
Eduardo De la Calle – Anantaianamah EP [MM002]
Cio D’Or – Fluidum III [SEM120]
Cio D’Or returns to Semantica with a new brand conceptual mini-LP. Self-styled “sound architect” and “music creator” Cio D’Or has been strangely quiet since releasing a ‘special edition’ of her “All In All” album back in 2016. Comeback EP “Fluidum III” is a fine collection of alien electronic workouts that sound like they were created via modular synthesis. What we get is six tracks built around watery sounds, swelling electronic motifs, spaced-out noises and occasional quirky rhythms. While some of the tracks – particularly “Climate” and “Celestial II” – boast deep but weighty kick-drum tracks in the techno tradition, for the most part the tracks are sparse, alien and devoid of dancefloor intent. The results are consistently alluring, albeit in a strange and spaced-out way.
Population One – HCS994X [HCS994X]
Sleeparchive – Trust [TRESOR316]
Throughout his career, Roger Semsroth has followed a deep intuition for experimentation in sound, wrapping club music around eerie microtonal motifs and industrial sensibilities. This new work for Tresor takes a step forward, as the first true techno album from Sleeparchive, where his previous LPs have exhibited themselves more conceptually, or under di erent names and his Nord Vest label. Semsroth has been active in electronic music since the late 90s. He received initial attention first for his electro productions under the alias Skanfrom and the 80s minimal synth inspired Television Set. These projects echoed his love for these sounds, which the East Berliner had steadily immersed himself with after the end of the GDR. Upon hearing the bleeps of Mika Vainio and Plastikman, he began to engage with his strain of techno. Over the last decade, he has focused on his Sleeparchive alias, which dates back to 2004. Alongside close friend DJ Pete, he performs live techno as TR-101. His relationship with Tresor began in 2011, first releasing the Ronan Point EP and following up with the crucial A Man Dies In The Street series in 2013. With this new album, Sleeparchive’s impact on the techno sound is ever more relevant. Awaking in constant locomotion, locked-in, unrelenting and dry. Sleeparchive’s churning loops etch visions of tight minimalism at times densely frenetic and others serenely galactic. This predilection continues throughout the four sides on the album, eschewing conventional arrangement styles with gradual probabilistic change. Tracks such as ‘Needle’ and ‘Peccant’ o er up precise, sinewy techno. ‘Leave’ recalls the Detroit sound of Terrence Dixon, with its cascading synth tones and droning atmospheres. The album closes with a di erent version of ‘Trust’ to that found on last year’s Revised Recordings EP released on Tresor, with its now-familiar nerve-inducing pizzicato strings even more at the fore with its mechanic delivery.
Eric Fetcher – Extension [INPUREFORM001]
Stanislav Tolkachev – Be Careful & Nobody Dies [SEM112]
“Be Careful And Nobody Dies” is Stanislav Tolkachev’s first release of 2020 and debut for Spanish imprint Semantica. Super nice versatile EP with a stunning electro cut (the title track) and some sick adventurous techno tunes.
LSD – Third Process [LSD002]
The techno super-group of Luke Slater, Steve Bicknell and David Sumner aka LSD is back again with the third installment of their Process series. Futuristic drum programming and mind melting melodies for maximum dancefloor impact spread out over three tracks, touching all assets of an hypnotic high-energy techno trip.
ORBE – Retrofuture EP [ARR06]
ORBE, no stranger to the electronic music industry, strikes again with four tracks of psychedelic techno.
Jeroen Search – Inner Call [TOKEN92]
The Dutch techno producer, Jeroen Search, debuts on Token with Inner Call, a four track EP showcasing the veteran’s dynamic, puristic approach to the genre. A powerful, streamlined vision of contemporary techno, Inner Call highlights the producer’s time honoured ability to walk the line between pulsing, hypnotic workouts & outright peak time tools – stripping back the work to include nothing but the most vital components to deadly effect.
Orbe – Mechanische Apparate [ORB010]
Orbe is the long going Madrid based funk and techno veteran. His first release of 2020 is the 10th release on his own ORBE imprint. The EP entitled ‘Mechanische Apparate’ includes five mesmerizing techno trips. Focused on coherence and hypnotism, these five deep tools are essential for the most refined techno DJ’s.
Sleeparchive – Archived 3 [ARCHIVED3]
Marco Shuttle – Ritmo Elegante [SPAZIO019]
Marco Shuttle is very much part of the Spazio Disponibile label family: he’s put out his Systhema album and various EPs with Donato Dozzy and Neel in the last couple of years, and now the Eerie boss serves up more of his immersive techno excellence. He starts off in slow motion, with the roomy ambiance and slightly spooky dub of ‘Ritmo Elegante.’ Of course it’s a track carefully filled with little sonic details that make it a very real place to be. ‘Arpex’ then switches things up with a super urgent, super supple acidic techno rhythm thats overlaid with a widescreen arp that sapiens space and time, and ‘Stairway To The Milky Way’ is a half time stepper though some trippy sci-fi jungle before ‘Qatarsi’ rides on a floating groove as sound effects pan all around you and traps you in a state of trance. These are expressive, hard to define and excellent electronics once again from Marco Shuttle.
