I have to give props to Denham for originality, because this is one weird album. The title track, written and co-produced with Anthony “Shake” Shakir is pure house with a woman singing atonally and Denham speaking pretentiously over synth strings and bleating bass. A little goes a long way.
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Shed’s first full-length comes out the beginning of September, but since I’ve seen it mentioned on a few blogs already, I thought I’d give it an early review. Shed already made a name for himself through a series of Detroit-inspired 12-inches issued on his own label, Soloaction. As this title punningly implies, he is expanding his sound, embracing everything from minimal techno to mellow, well, techno.
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Echospace’s last vinyl release was Intrusion. Steve Hitchell kindly gave me a preview of an upcoming CD version. According to Hitchell, this is deeply personal material produced in the early nineties but once thought lost. To me, “Intrusion Dub” feels like a step forward, incorporating reggae elements with short bits of horn amidst the usual techno beat and low bass rumbles.
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Soultek, cv313, Echospace, and Intrusion.
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I’ve had a hard time wrapping my head around dubstep.
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Last night Craig Loftis played a lengthy set for no cover at Green Dolphin Street, a Chicago jazz club. The crowd was diverse, but mostly older and dressed to the nines.
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Move D is a producer whose music is all over the map. His classic album Kunststoff was a late example of “intelligent” techno, while his recent Workshop releases seem inspired by Detroit house. His three BineMusic albums (including another collaboration with Brunn) are generally dubby and downtempo, while his recent Modern Love 12″ is dubby and uptempo. As much as I appreciate David Moufang’s willingness to experiment, he may be a little too prolific.
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Somehow I missed out on the first couple of Flying Lotus releases, but Los Angeles is a whole lot of fun. This is instrumental hip-hop similar in spirit to Dilla, Dabrye, and Prefuse 73. Constant experimentation staves off any possibility of boredom.
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Bvdub’s latest CD-R sees him straying farther from the dub techno mold where so many other artists seem to be stuck. These tracks are slow and ambient, but they are obviously influenced by the sound of early nineties techno.
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There’s no overstating Cologne artist Wolfgang Voigt’s influence on electronic music. His Mike Ink and Studio 1 releases helped shape minimal techno, while his Gas project laid the groundwork for abstract dub techno. Voigt also launched Profan and is an owner of Kompakt. It’s no wonder his four out-of-print Gas albums have been fetching large sums on the second-hand market.
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