Sounds
Interview - Stephen Hitchell (Echospace)
Friday, June 26th, 2009 | Sounds | 6 Comments
Chicago based Stephen Hitchell dons many guises, producing as Soultek, Phase90 and Variant, as well as collaborating with Rod Modell as echospace and cv313. Hitchell (along with Modell) also runs the echospace [detroit] label, which earlier this year released his first solo album ‘The Seduction Of Silence’ under the Intrusion moniker. In this interview, Stephen tells us about the finer details of running a label, as well as what’s coming up for him and echospace [detroit].
BBE Business
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | Sounds | 4 Comments
BBE have been on form in recent months with some great releases. First up is Night Dubbin‘ - a fine collection of disco, boogie and proto house, compiled by Dimitri from Paris (and with one of the discs mixed by The Idjut Boys). The compilation focuses on dubbed-out (re)mixes from the likes of Francois Kevorkian, Larry Levan, Paul Simpson and Shep Pettibone. The Idjut Boys do a great job on the mix cd but the reason to own this compilation is the 21 unmixed songs - all of them complete gems. Given that the original 12″ versions of many of the tracks collected here are quite sought after, this compilation is essential for anyone that has even a passing interest in disco and the roots of house. Included in the liner notes are interviews with Francois Kevorkian, Paul Simpson and John Morales, who give the back-story and explain their techniques used in creating the dub mix.
Interview - AYBEE (Deepblak Recordings)
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 | Sounds | 5 Comments
Armon Bazile and his Deepblak label has been releasing deep, electronic music since 2001, under a number of guises such as Aybee, Prof Delacroix, Orion 70 and o1o. With the imminent release of his first solo album, Armon gives us an insight to his label, influences and working techniques.
Q: You’re about to drop the debut album under your Aybee moniker - tell me about that and what else is in the pipeline for Deepblak in 2009.
A: The album is called the East Oakland Space Program. I have been trying to complete it for more than 3 years now. It’s changed form at least 4 times, but I finally think it’s time. It is most definitely time. You only get 1 chance to do something for the 1st time, right? I have been holding off to make sure that when that TIME comes, the proper energy is available to be transferred. Once that project is out early May I will be releasing a slew of projects under different names throughout the year. Also working on a live show hopefully to be ready by summer of 09. This year I’m looking forward to championing artists such as Afrikan Sciences, Blaktroniks via Deepblak in 09. Read more and listen…..
Guest mix for Energy Flash
Sunday, April 19th, 2009 | Sounds | No Comments
Last year Kuri Kondrak provided a quality mix for the podcast, and in return asked me to provide a mix for his Energy Flash site. I finally got my act together and the mix is now up. You can also find some great interviews with Kyle Hall, Tony Lionni and Samoil, as well as reviews and other great mixes. Check out the site at http://kurikondrak.wordpress.com/
Martyn - Great Lengths (3024)
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 | Sounds | 1 Comment
In the past couple of years a number of key artists and labels have been pushing dub-step into new territories, cross-pollinating with other genres and infiltrating other music scenes. Producers like Appleblim, Kode9 (and his Hyperdub label), 2562, Shackleton (and his Skull Disco label) have been instrumental in moving dub-step forward sonically. Another one of these key artists, Martyn, is set to release his debut album “Great Lengths” on April 20th through his 3024 label.
Although Martyn has come to prominence because of his recent dub-step productions, on “Great Lengths”, he hops from genre to genre effortlessly. Tracks like “Right? Star!”, “Far Away” and “Hear Me” reference Martyn’s drum & bass and 2-step roots. The devastating “Vancouver”, “Little Things” and “Elden Street” draw upon Detroit techno and Basic Channel influences and shows us why Martyn has been turning so many heads of late. Kode9 collaborator, Spaceape, provides vocals on “Is This Insanity?”, which is a clear nod to the Hyperdub / Skull Disco sound. The excellent “Seventy Four” is on a house tip - hopefully there will be more in this vein from future Martyn productions. The album even ventures into beat-less ambient territory on “Brilliant Orange” and the piano interlude “Bridge”. The whole album is tied together by what is Martyn’s own unique sound and his take on the music that has influenced him. An album of such high quality and variety is going to appeal to a lot of people and will surely end up being one of the highlights of 2009.
Pop Ambient 2009 (Kompakt)
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 | Sounds | No Comments
The delightfully blissful Pop Ambient series from Germany’s Kompakt returns for its ninth incarnation, bringing together a wide variety of talent for the 2009 version. Featured artists include celebrated experimental producer Tim Hecker, Jurgen Paape, Sylvain Chauveau, Jorg Burger and collaborator Wolfgang Voigt – Kompakt’s cofounder – Klimek and The Fun Years. Like many of its predecessors, Pop Ambient 2009 steers the listener through a series of meditative works, such as the horn loops present in Klimek’s “True Enemies & False Friends (Yesteryears Suite),” Chauveau’s “Nuage III” and the acoustic guitar-based “Fly Like A Horse,” and the haunting piano and strings of “Hindsmith” by Voigt, recording under the guise Mint. The mood shifts a bit with the stunning “Nightliner” by Poponame, a slow-moving kaleidoscope of elegant soundscapes shifting and building upon each other. Paape’s “Ausklang,” remixed by Burger and Voigt, also veers into twinkly land with its frittering audio tinsel and deep emotional moans, followed up by the equally glistening “It’s Only Castles Burning” by Marsen Jules. The brightest spots of the album appear in the latter half, first Hecker’s understated “Ghosts In Silver” via layers of effervescent keyboards and sweeping textural loops, then Andrew Thomas’ gorgeous “A Dream Of A Spider,” characterized by crackly bits, tightly controlled beat loops and somber chords. While some tracks come off more like a fragment from a much larger instrumental piece, the bulk of the album’s tracks work well with one another, providing a silky smooth ambient joyride that will assuredly keep you calm, cool and collected.
Tim Pratt
Mulatu Astatke and The Heliocentrics (Strut)
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 | Sounds | No Comments
When I received the Mulatu Astatke and The Heliocentrics album a few weeks ago I was both excited and apprehensive. The apprehension came from the fact that the previous two Inspiration Information albums (Horace Andy/ Ashley Beedle and Amp Fiddler/ Sly & Robbie), had the potential to be really great, but were in fact disappointing to say the least. The third album in the series completely redeems the previous two. The legendary Ethiopian musician Mulatu Astatke has enjoyed a revival in the past few years thanks mainly due to the excellent Ethiopiques compilations (and the Broken Flowers soundtrack) - if you don’t have volume 4 of this series already, I would highly recommend buying it immediately. Mulatu’s experimentation with blending traditional Ethiopian sounds with Latin-jazz led to the creation of the Ethio-jazz hybrid in the 1960’s. On this new album released through the excellent Strut label, Mulatu teams up with Stones Throw/ Now-Again artists The Heliocentrics (also known for their genre breaking) - it’s match made in heaven. Keeping in the spirit of experimentation, what is delivered is a timeless piece of music that you could listen to in 10 years time and it will still sound as fresh - much like Mulatu’s original works. The album is released next week - buy it or miss out. You can also check out the making of the album video on YouTube.
Mark Pritchard - ?/The Hologram (Ho Hum)
Friday, March 27th, 2009 | Sounds | 2 Comments
Mark Pritchard, the man behind countless pseudonyms, unleashes this 2 track offering on Ho Hum Records. Reminiscent of his Global Communications productions, ‘?’ is a dark, moody, beat less track, that Mala from Digital Mystikz has been opening his recent sets up with. ‘The Hologram’ is in a similar vein to Pritchard’s Harmonic 313 release from earlier this year - serious head nodding business.
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Intrusion - The Seduction of Silence (Echospace)
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 | Sounds | 3 Comments
According to Wikipedia, in geology, an intrusion is a body of igneous rock that has crystallized from molten magma below the surface of the earth. A well-known example of an igneous intrusion is Devil’s Tower, in Wyoming, made famous in the 1977 film “Close Encounters of The Third Kind” - the place where the aliens make contact with humans. The origins behind the name Intrusion can’t be discounted on echoey, cavernous musical realms of “The Seduction Of Silence,” the new full-length Intrusion project by Stephen Hitchell.
One half of the Detroit-based dub techno duo — and label — Echospace (alongside founder Rod Modell), Hitchell’s Intrusion project doesn’t make a big leap away from the deep, spacey dub techno associated with the Echospace imprint and its most high profile album, Echospace’s “The Coldest Season” (2007), characterized by long, milky and expansive tracks. Read more and listen…..
