MARCEL DETTMAN - Seduction - Ostgut Ton

There are only few producers that represent the essence of techno and the hardness and gloom of Berghain as perfectly as Marcel Dettmann, the founding member of the Ostgut Ton family. After the release of the limited 12" "Dawning/Dawning (Revisited)" with Ben Klock, his long awaited second LP "Dettmann II" emerged on Ostgut Ton last year. For this remix EP of the album track "Seduction", featuring the English, Berlin-based singer Emika, Dettmann lets Deuce, Anthony Parasole and Ryan Elliot take control of the temptation. While the digital release hosts the short version, the long version of "Seduction" on the vinyl release brings the haunting and eerie character of this semi-ambient track to full effect, with the voice of Emika circling like a floating ghost. After the Deuce collaboration of Marcel Dettmann and Shed got a brief update on the "Dettmann II" album track "Aim", the duo now modulate the techno potential of "Seduction". The vocals of Emika are not only transformed into morbid soundscapes, the resonance of the bass power turns their version into a brutal monster between agonizing desire and panic phobia. Anthony Parasole is not only the latest member on the Ostgut booking roster, the man from New York also showed his verve for spooky sounds already with an EP on Marcel Dettmann Records, knowing how to impress with a reduced relaxation. His remix spirals into futuristic territory and targets the dancefloor with its dominant kick. Both the subliminal funk and the driving character, with its pleading vocal loops, evoke a mantra of black art. Ryan Elliot rounds the EP off with his interpretation. Starting with a throbbing kick drum, he flanks the subtle rumble in the background with dry hi-hats before the synth chords perform a courtship dance that spits out a bizarre but striking groove. In combination with the claps and the reverb on Emika's voice a fantastic theme crafted by a versatile arrangement emerges. Simoultaneously to the 12" the short movie "Seduction" will be released, a Parker Ellerman film with Cleo von Adelsheim, Sven Gerhardt and Stefano Cassetti, the artwork of the EP is a still from the movie.


Tracklist:

01 Seduction feat. Emika (Long Version)
02 Seduction feat. Emika (Deuce Remix)
03 Seduction feat. Emika (Anthony Parasole Remix)
04 Seduction feat. Emika (Ryan Elliott Remix)

FELIZOL & THE BOY - Like Cannibal Father Like Cannibal Son - Optimo Music

Optimo Music is usually known as a 12" label, but occasionally something rare and dangerous comes our way that compels us to release a full length album…

It's not exactly a dance album, although there is music you can dance to on it. It's more filmic in nature, with gads of references to wonderful directors like Kubrick and Carpenter that will enthrall a film buff, particularly if they're interested in electronic and dance music. There's a sleazy and unsettling feel to much of the tracks ("Tina Weymouth" is a sleaze-floor monster groove…), but we hope it will intrigue and delight!

The film references are directly relevant as Felizol and The Boy are film directors Yiannis Veslemes and Alexandros Voulgaris, who live in Athens, Greece and have composed music for numerous feature films. They also perform live in house clubs, heavy metal dungeons and hippy-friendly festivals…

They have this to say about their release: "We had a loose concept for this album and we compiled tracks that we've recorded the last 3 years that have to do with the cannibalism. Literally but also as a metaphor for the blessing and the tyranny of paying homage and influenced from music and films (and directors and musicians).

So these are songs about the agony of creating something new and personal when so much information and influences are fused in them." 

Tracklist:

01 Fungus
02 Tina Weymouth
03 Barry
04 The Boat Can Leave Now Tell The Crew
05 Giallo Greco
06 John Carpenter II
07 Like Cannibal Father Like Cannibal Son

CLAP! CLAP! - Tayi Bebba - Black Acre

After storming the gates with his warmly received Tambacounda EP, Clap! Clap! returns to Black Acre to deliver his debut longplayer.
Tayi Bebba is a highly conceptual work that manages to balance a highly cerebral concept with making some good old fashioned bangers. Tayi Bebba is an album tour of an imagined island each song representing a location, event or ritual. Sonically it’s a fast moving charge across the soundscape fusing field recordings and found sound with incredibly surgical drum programming.
Flavours of house, Footwork and Hip Hop punctuate your migration with a very specific sound palate giving this amazing work a cohesive feel.


The LP comes with full island map and in depth story behind each track.


Tracklist:

1. The Holy Cave
2. Ashiko
3. The Rainstick Fable
4. Kwasi The Sorcerer
5. Black Smokes, Bad Signs
6. Conqueror ( action / assault / conquest )
7. Conqueror ( consequences / memories )
8. Conqueror ( remorse / withdrawn )
9. Burbuka
10. Sahkii (Xirhuu)
11. Sahkii’s Elevation feat. DJ Khalab
12. Kwasi’s Storm (kyanumj) (tape dub)
13. Universal Modulator (kujhmak)
14. Sahkii’s Knowledge
15. Universal Modulator (ujmubuam)
16. Sailing In The Seas of Wood
17. Kuj Yato

JASPER JAMES - Sneaky Ep - Optimo Trax

We return to Glasgow for Optimo Trax 009. Keeping the family business going so to speak, Jasper is the son of veteran and legendary Glasgow DJ Harri. While he can't help but be inspired by his dad's 30 year plus and still-going-strong dj career and musical knowledge, Jasper is definitely not riding on anyone's coat tails and very much has his own thing going on. A very talented dj and producer in his own right, Jasper is at the forefront of the current generation of Glaswegian dance ambassadors. Flatmate of Jackmaster and receiving lots of props from Skream amongst many others, Twitch was delighted to have the opportunity to release his first record, particularly as he has literally watched Jasper grow up, with fond memories of his dad taking him into record shops before he could even walk.

On his debut EP, Jasper unleashes three cuts of his signature bump n' grind atmospheric house music, all swinging drums and heavy basslines. The ep is rounded off with a remix by his dad with the help of another Glasgow (via South Africa) stalwart, Esa, as Hillhead Young Team; It's a family affair! Bright things are assured for Mr. James.


Tracklist:

01 Sneaky
02 Listen to My Buttons
03 V Moog
04 V Moog (Hillhead Young Team remix)

PERC & TRUSS - Two Hundred - Perc Trax Ltd

Almost a year after they unveiled their collaboration with the wall of sound that was the ‘Spiker’ 12” Perc & Truss return to their home on the Perc Trax Ltd label to serve up a fresh four track EP of live analogue jams. Once again the tracks were recorded in one take. All mistakes, happy accidents and bizarre unexplainable audio artefacts have been kept in place, with no post-production or further editing done once the first take was recorded. These tracks cover more ground than the three on Spiker, but the Perc & Truss collaboration is no experimental vanity project, with all four new tracks aiming straight at the dancefloor.
Title track and opener ‘Two Hundred’ leads the way with caustic acid providing the foundation for a classic London cabbie-rant vocal, whilst ‘Judd’ layers all manner of malfunctioning effect pedal sounds over a triplet rhythm track. On the b-side ‘Forever Your Girl’, a mainstay of Perc’s sets for months now, leads the charge, as rave interludes provide a breather from the kind of kick drum volley tailor-made for Awakening’s Gashouder home. Finally ‘Van Der Valk’ mixes hardcore stabs over an icy electro-tinged groove and crowd samples, stretching the Perc & Truss sound further than ever before.


Tracklist:

A1) Two Hundred
A2) Judd
B1) Forever Your Girl
B2) Van Der Valk

FABRIC 77 - Marcel Dettmann - Fabric Records

German producer and DJ, Marcel Dettmann takes the helm for the 77th part of the Fabric mix series.

Growing up in Fürstenwalde in the former German Democratic Republic, Dettmann has been influenced by various music styles since he was a child. His grandmother worked as a music teacher and inspired Marcel and his family to play instruments. In addition the radio at Marcel´s home was always on if there was already no record playing.
Little by little he discovered the likes of Depeche Mode, The Cure or DAF, then later Detroit Techno and Chicago House. As they only had a record player at home he obviously just bought vinyls. His passion led him to start recording mix tapes for himself and his friends, and he also began to organise parties in his hometown. When school and apprenticeships didn’t seem to work out he ran a small record store in the house of his mother. It was with this job that he financed the beginning of his own elaborate record collection.
Dettmann was DJing at the club Ostgut from the late 90s - the forerunner to Berghain. For a decade he’s been a resident DJ of the world renowned club in Berlin. Even though Marcel is involved with several labels such as Ostgut Ton, for the fabric mix he prefered to pick mostly unreleased material from his own imprint, Marcel Dettmann Recordings (MDR).

“I mixed it at home with 2 CD players, as most of the tracks are not available on vinyl yet.
The mix is mostly based on unreleased MDR demo tracks, which I’ve carried around with me for the last few years. For example the ROD track, I’ve had this one for at least 3 years. Now it is finally a good opportunity to release those tracks and they will all come out on MDR.” - Marcel Dettmann

Marcel chose to incorporate a variety of techno sounds in this mix – including tracks from fellow MDR artists Answer Code Request and Norman Nodge, to younger names in the industry that he's recruited for his label, such as Wincent Kunth, and a number of his own remixes, tied together by releases by the likes of Terence Fixmer and Robert Hood’s Monobox.
Fabric 77 is a well-balanced snapshot of current techno in a master’s hands. It may surprise some listeners with its vibrancy, delicacy and range that reaches far beyond the sound you would expect in a dark sweaty club at 6am.
It’s a perfect personal reflection of Marcel’s love of all music and techno in particular.

Marcel Dettmann will launch fabric 77 at fabric on Saturday 30th August (tickets: http://www.fabriclondon.com/club/listing/947) and at Berghain on Saturday 6th September.


Tracklist:


1. Ryan James Ford - Arthure Iccon [MDR]
2. The Persuader - Sun Position [Concrete Music]
3. Terence Fixmer - Inside Of Me [Planete Rouge]
4. Marcel Dettmann - Apron (PAS The Rhythm Remix) [MDR]
5. Answer Code Request - Transit 0.2 [MDR]
6. Dario Zenker - Nearlin [MDR]
7. Monobox - Film [M-Plant]
8. FBK - It’s Not The Point [MDR]
9. Marcel Dettmann - Radar (Byetone Remix) [Ostgut Ton]
10. Rod - RSPCT [MDR]
11. Paperclip People - Country Boy Goes Dub (Marcel Dettmann Remix) [Planet E]
12. Norman Nodge - BB 1.0 [MDR]
13. Francois X - Rising [MDR]
14. Marcel Dettmann - Lightworks (Phase Remix) [Ostgut Ton]
15. Lockertmatik - M_Lock 4 [MDR]
16. Wincent Kunth - Carlre [MDR]
17. Joey Anderson - Repulsive (Marcel Dettmann Edit) [Dekmantel]
18. Marcelus - Flash [MDR]
19. Vril - Torus XXXII [Forum]

XENO & OAKLANDER - Par Avion - Ghostly International

Brooklyn Duo Xeno and Oaklander are a minimal electronics girl/boy duo from Brooklyn, NY.
They began writing music and soundtracks in 2004. Liz Wendelbo is French / Norwegian and Sean McBride is from Maryland.
They record their songs live in their Brooklyn studio and play analogue synthesizers and instruments exclusively.
This summer, Xeno and Oaklander bring their minimal electronic sounds to Ghostly International with new album Par Avion, their first for the label, July 14th. The album's title is a reference to postcards — it translates as "by plane", and was used to mark airmail sent from exotic places. The songs are postcards of love for a cold age — shimmering moments from the present, romantic messages from the past, and love mementos for the future. Together, they make up an album of contrasts — the songs move from upbeat to downbeat, slow to fast, light to dark.
Par Avion's rich diversity of sounds comes at least in part from the fact that it's an album-long ode to synesthesia. As singer Liz Wendelbo explains, “Sound makes me think of a scent, which makes me think of an image, which makes me think of a certain kind of light.” The sensory experiences are palpable: "Jasmine" calls to mind the intoxicating scent of jasmine flowers that bloom at night, "Nuage D'Ivoire" sweats under a tropical sky full of clouds that hold the key to the past and the future, "Sheen" glistens with reflections dancing in the water and with inner visions of romance, where light and dark meet in the pupil of the eye.
Adding to the sense of exoticism, Wendelbo's whispery vocals are sung in both French and English, calling to mind Jane Birkin and Françoise Hardy. Again, there's a contrast between dark and light — the alluring, tropical warmth of Wendelbo's vocals is juxtaposed against duo's signature icy cold, ultra-modern synth sounds. Those sounds have a new component for Par Avion — synth wizard Sean McBride uses an analogue Serge modular synth to create washes of sound that recall '90s shoegaze. The result is an album that stimulates and fascinates throughout, a rich feast for all the senses, a world to get lost in again and again.
Par Avion will be released in LP, CD and digital formats. A special edition vinyl version, limited to 350 hand-numbered copies, will include flesh colored vinyl and a rose-scented art perfume insert, allowing further personal exploration of synesthesia.
Sean McBride talks synthesizers in an extended interview from Robert Fantinatto's upcoming documentary I Dream Of Wires.


Tracklist:

01 Interface
02 Lastly
03 Sheen
04 Par Avion
05 Jasmine Night
06 Reflections
07 Nuage d'lvoire
08 Providence
09 G. Bruno