stephan laubner

STL – Take Me To Your Leader LP [SOMETHING33]

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STL’s music has always been free and imperfect – sketches rather than songs. He operates in a smoky and smoggy world somewhere between house, lo-fi, dub and ambient and his tracks always arrive fully formed, as if they are looping infinitely in some parallel dimension. ‘Take Me To Your Leader’ is another magnificent collection of all that, with sublime extended psychedelic workouts that range from the wonky, malfunctioning sounds of ‘M-Brainiac’ which is like the machines have taken over then realised they can’t cope, to the more cuddly and soft-edged but still ramshackle rhythms of ‘Fat Sunday’ which are as heady as can be. Brilliantly dusty and analogue as ever.

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STL – Take Me To Your Leader LP [SOMETHING33]

STL – Lost In Musik [SOMETHING31]

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STL - Lost In Musik

Something Records lifts off ‘Lost in Musik’ by STL aka Stephan Laubner. On 17 tracks and an extended playing-time, this double vinyl comes in complete album feel, multifarious variations, and in STL’s full tonal trademark fit. STL attends the brains & ears in his magic discrete way with an unstoppable bucket-raining flow of fresh sounds, catching rhythms and aspirating music, like no one else usually does. An album to blow your minds, shake your bodies and touch your souls.

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STL – Lost In Musik [SOMETHING31]

STL – Constructive: No Words Required [BOOGIE001]

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STL - Constructive: No Words Required

Boogie Box, a bi-monthly party in the Middle East, launches its record label with an EP by STL aka Stephan Laubner. STL has crafted an unmistakeable sound that he has become so well known for, Deep and Dubby House and Techno. The a-side opens up with Hide & Seek, a 10-minute story filled with dub delays, weird soundscapes, and eerie pads, backed up by STL’s signature drums. If you are into Andy Stott, Deepchord and Rhythm & Sound, then this if for you. Perfect warm up material. On the flip-side is Haze & Kraze. Another long player by STL. This time, there is more drive to it. Leaning towards the darker side, the track is driven by Stephan’s loose drums’ programming, and muffled bassline, keeping the track moving and ever-changing.

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STL – Constructive: No Words Required [BOOGIE001]

STL – Amplified Bleep Package EP [PHONICAWHITE014]

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STL - Amplified Bleep Package EP

STL has been a firm favourite of Phonica Records ever since his first releases surfaced in the early 2000s. Although he is highly revered within the underground scene, he’s always kept a low profile and consistently pursued his own blend of boundary pushing abstract and experimental House & Techno. The two tracks on ‘The Amplified Bleep Package’ EP marks his first contribution to Phonica’s white label series.

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STL – Amplified Bleep Package EP [PHONICAWHITE014]

STL – Simply Positive [SMALLVILLE043]

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STL - Simply Positive

Stephan ‘STL’ Laubner’s new release on Smallville Records features two deep house tracks.Opener “Heaven’s Vape” (we chuckled, at least) peppering a rubbery, low-end groove with tuneful synthesizers and glistening electronics. There’s a similar love-of-life demonstrated on flipside “Joy Operator”, with winding synth motifs, lazy synth-strings and tumbling electronics draped over a notably bullish, forthright groove. Both tracks are typical of Smallville’s output, but rather less obtuse than Laubner’s usual fare.

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STL – Simply Positive [SMALLVILLE043]

STL – Sound Transmission [SOMETHING026]

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STL - Sound Transmission

The latest Sound Transmission from Stephan Laubner under his STL project alias comes in shape of a 12 inch vinyl for likeminded people who are interested in the d-i-y sound research of the Something records audio sense facility.

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STL – Sound Transmission [SOMETHING026]

STL – Flying Saucer Attack [SMALLVILLE32]

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STL - Flying Saucer Attack

STL is back on Smallville with a full EP, featuring three outstanding tracks. Stefan Laubner is the undisputed master of the left of centre house groove and on “Where Have You Gone”, he proves his worth yet again. Spacey, somewhat mysterious melodies float through the arrangement, appearing gradually over Laubner’s trademark doubled up, scuffled beats. He adopts a similar approach with “Inverted Reality”. There, grinding sounds and a heavy bass make the off beats sound more deranged and out there. However, it’s with “Your Turn” that he really impresses. The track marks a departure of sorts for Laubner, with a dubby, snaking bassline at its centre, and the metallic drums and a linear rhythm marking out the German producer’s most techno focused release to date.

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STL – Flying Saucer Attack [SMALLVILLE32]

STL & Djorvin Clain – Beats of Spirit [SSV002]

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Track artwork

STL and Djorvin Clain are featured on the second vinyl outing by Silent Season Records from Canada. 3 Thick and moody techno/house hybrids that are limited to 300 color vinyl copies, coming in 100% recycled sleeve jackets

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STL & Djorvin Clain – Beats of Spirit [SSV002]

STL – Flying Objects [SOMETHING015]

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STL - Flying Objects

Detroit beat down & Chicago oldschool house inspired house cuts. Eight tracks and four locked grooves of raw and diverse House music from the inimitable STL. Constantly changing the game, he nods to KMS style rave with the nasty synth licks of ‘Dark Energy’, while ‘Like This’ nods to earliest Chicago House with wickedly ’80s sounding stabs followed by two minutes of rave-starting air raid sirens. Getting trickier, ‘Don’t Follow Me’ is a pure and deadly piece of drum programing magic.

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STL – Flying Objects [SOMETHING015]

STL – Things From the Basement [SOMETHING011]

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STL - Things From The Basement

Great old schoolish tracks that reminds of early Roy Davis basement trax. Probably one of our favorite releases of STL (and he already did several which we loved to death). Ruff house music without any frills!

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STL – Things From the Basement [SOMETHING011]

STL – Check Mate [EchospaceSEQ001]

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STL - Check Mate

STL is the production alias of Stephan Laubner who has been releasing material under a variety of pseudonym’s on labels like Perlon, Smallville, Styrax and his own Something Records imprint over the past decade. Stephan’s productions are like fine wine, they develop, mature and get better with age. His past releases have gained support and charts from Detroit luminaries like Derrick May & Theo Parrish to the Berghain collective, Ben Klock, Marcel Dettmann & Steffi. His recent licensing of “Silent State” on Cassy’s new “Simply Devotion” mix on Cocoon, Ame’s Fabric mix, Steve Bug’s “The Lab” and earning the number 1 spot inGroove Magazine’s chart all speak volumes about the level of love and passion he puts into his productions. With Stephan’s “Check Mate” he pays homage to a sound we simply adore, a musical conceit only a select few understand, hand crafting his sounds with a variety of analog signal processors, vintage synthesizers and a loving touch reminiscent of the early Deepchord years. This is one to treasure, made for repeat listening!

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STL – Check Mate [EchospaceSEQ001]