On the 26th of March, The Office presents the Skudge Album Release Party, where we celebrate another party as well as Skudge’s first album ‘Phantom’.
First off, Bleak will start off the night by playing a dj set that will put the mood into the groove—Bleak’s release on Sudden Drop is a really special one.
Skudge is playing live for their second time at The Office, where they had their debute for almost one year ago. A lot has happened to the guys since that special spring moment, as they have continued to push their sound on mainly Skudge Records, but also managed to create remixes for other artists of the scene.
To make sure that The Office will be as good as possible, we also invited DJ Rolando to play, where he will make sure that the involontary levitations will be as painless as possible.
I will finish the night off—if it will even be possible that is.
DJ Deep has showcased a interesting take on the split between old school but timeless house through his ‘City to City’ mix series on BBE, but at the same time establishing the sound of his label ‘Deeply Rooted House’, which in some way falls right in between his taste for more mature house music as well as a more reduced techno sense as well.
What is most interesting with ‘Deeply Rooted House’, is that it is a label that seems to work as a platform for people who create their own sound, but doesn’t lack the quality of more established artists—this is a good way to promote music and people who know what they are doing.
For Marcelus’ second EP, it is a record that starts off with a interesting and personal take on the acid, where Marcelus bends the sound to follow a steady beat which pulls things around into all the right directions.
‘Shape’ is a more subtle track, with its twisting and digging sound architecture goes into a territory similar to Klockworks earlier sound, as well as maintaining his own style to it.
On the B1, ‘Life Cycle’ takes the minimalism to a peak which feels more timeless than for ‘Shape’. It feels as if Marcelus had more focus on depth and originality here—two key factors that count well into the groove of this track and will make it stand out from the rest of the EP. The track goes even further into a state of hypnosis, where very few, but carefully crafted elements brings attention and demands a proper pace.
For the last track, ‘Mutation’ takes a more haunting but less subtle approach, yet not as wild as for ‘Sulfuric’. This track is the most experimental on the EP, but does feel a little misplaced, due to it’s direction and groove—which although displays a diversity in Marcelus’ sound, which in return gives the EP more functionality and will probably attract more attention.
The ‘EP2′ is due for release soon.
Thanks to DJ Deep and Deeply Rooted House for this release.
After seeing Ben Klock doing his own remix EP for the ‘Post-Traumatic Son’ release by O/V/R, as well as Robert Hood and DVS1 doing the previous one, Marcel Dettmann gets a chance to interpet the track in his own style, spanning over three tracks with different approaches.
For the first mix, the ‘Construction 1′, Dettmann goes into a submerged state where the beat drives the hypnotizing track into a state of total confusion—similar to Dettmann’s previous experiments with beat structure and flow, the energy in this track is something special.
‘Construction 2′, the second of three mixes is closer to the more established sound of his residency, touching a little bit to a more broken sound. For a concept of three remixes, this version stands out as it takes the elements from the first mix but combines them in an excellent way.
Dettmann displays his most tripping side with the ‘MDR Version’, where the stripped sound feels more natural coming from him, as it pursues a more experimental and not so steady sound as for the other mixes.
The vinyl version will be out 28th of March.
Thanks to Marcel Dettmann and Addy for this release.
Both M-Plant and Blueprint has been revived in appreciation to both dj’s and fans, taking their traditional sounds and talent into the state of today. When it comes to the production, they invite new acts for remixes as well as releasing new material which is a perfect combination with labels held in such high regards.
For this release, Hood has invited James Ruskin to remix one of the best tracks from the ‘Alpha’ album-releases, in which Ruskin shakes the track up a little bit by transforming it’s hard and reduced state into a more fully edged techno track – though not so similar to his previous work, but similar enough to combine his and Hood’s sounds into a remix that feels rightly placed and will probably work many floors.
The gold is on the B-side though, where Hood’s new production ‘The Family’ brings hints from the early M-Plant releases, though sounding fresh enough to be placed amongst the excellent ‘Master to Prophet / Clash’ release as well as the ‘Superman / Range’ release (two of his best records in a really long time). ‘The Family’ showcases a very reduced but powerful enough production to contest into one of the best tracks this year.
For Milton Bradley it comes as no surprise when a new ‘Do Not Resist The Beat!’ gets placed on the shelves and sold out in the same day.
With a label that holds such high standards as Milton’s, placed in the hearts of dj’s after only 6 releases, he is able to extract the current styles within techno and twist it into dark and haunting pieces of wax. After having pushed this sound into different directions, the A-side ‘A Sky Full of Numbers’ showcases a more refined and detailed track, focusing on a almost stepping attitude and combining his way of techno, ‘A Sky Full of Numbers’ is one of his best tracks to date.
On the other side, the same attention to detail goes even further on B1. The almost droning melody keeps everything together at a perfectionist rate, making ‘The Path To Mathematical Truth’ really stand out on a good sound system. For B2, ‘Numerical Analysis’ brings the 12″ into an experimental state, with brewing structures and a somewhat indistinguishable beat which fits perfectly with the rest of the elements and sums up #06 in a clever way.
When a shortage of inspiration comes by, it’s always easier to talk about that rather than actually getting the job done.
The reviews have been suffering because I’ve mainly been purchasing older records since my last post, as well as standing and sitting behind the turntables rather than looking into the new stuff coming up. I do still feel it’s necessary to point out the records that actually stand out and delivers the known feelings as well inspiring to the unknown ones.
To sum things up, I’m very sorry for this hold up and letting The Futurist die a little bit, but I’ll try my best to get going again.
Tracklist: A1: Emika – Cooling Room A2: Marcel Fengler – Shiraz B1: Substance – Gestalts B2: Ben Klock – Wolf C: Shed – Boom Room D1: Fiedel – Doors To Manual D2: Cassy – Never Give Up On A Mood Swing E: Dinky – Twelve To Four F1: Nick Höppner – ISP F2: Soundstream – Wenn Meine Mutti Wüsste G: Boris – Rem H1: Marcel Dettmann – Scourer H2: Steffi – My Room I: Margaret Dygas – For Five J1: Murat Tepeli feat. Elif Biçer – Hold On J2: Prosumer – Daybreak K: Luke Slater – Boom Tang Shwuck L1: Barker & Baumecker – Drink L2: Ryan Elliott – Abatis
Recommended!
Some might say that the sound of Berlin is represented by a certain label and club, while others predict the downfall of both the label and the club. Ostgut Ton did what they do better than anyone else at the moment; they have displayed a very honest and non-traditional way of thinking and celebrating their first five years – where a lot has happened with both during.
There’s a point to which a label can experiment without losing a lot of following, which in most cases might not be so good when releasing vinyl these days. Counting in ‘Fünf’ as one of these experiments, Ostgut Ton has set a new level of their sound. By gathering all the people behind the label and the artists that empowers the club with its energy, this collection of tracks is one of the most interesting albums this year.
Emika has recorded ambient and field sounds within the club building, creating a sound library which the artists then use – this gives them a core for equal opportunity to bring their own style into a common factor.
And they did.
There are pieces of scattered memories from all night sessions, dust, killing basses and drums, together with stone cold percussion and intense noise, all mixed into 7 pieces of vinyl. There’s absolutely no limit when inspiration goes into a certain state. With this being in the hands of the proven artists that commit to this project, Ostgut Ton has released one of the most interesting and important compilations of their and our musical journey for this decade.
