Camping [coll] – [BPitch Control]

This is the first in BPitch Control’s “Camping” collection series, celebrating their 100th release and focusing on artists from their inception in ’97 until 2002. Great stuff here and quite varied. Beats range from upbeat dance oriented like Sascha Funcke and Sylvie Marks & Hal2000 to the more contemplative like quirkiness of Ellen Allien and IDM-ness of Modeselektor, Paul Kalkbrenner and TimTim. “Blutenspab” starts off with an interesting country style into and morphs into a Kraftwerk with female vocals (very Miss Kitten, except German), Housemeister’s “Do What You Wanna Funk” is totally Peaches singing about not being a midget, Smash TV “What About Me” has vocals about sunbeams and rain falling with all processed vocals/autotune, its interesting and the disc ends with a not quite expected TimTim doing a folksy track with slide guitar. Something for everyone!

FCC: Housemeister “Do You..” “Bitch and possibly a muffled “Fucking” in a thick German accent at the beginning

Grenier – “Voids One” – [Self Released]

Dean Grenier, aka “Grenier” aka DJG is a Bay Area native, making music since ’06. This the first in a series of three “Voids”, its a self release and donation based download (nice!) of gorgeous and grooving dubsteppy-ness. This zigs and zags but at the speed limit, no head spinning, just nodding. More relax and trip out as opposed to get up and dance. Very enjoyable!

Fort Romeau – “Kingdoms” – [100% Silk]

aka Michael Norris who is also the keyboardist for La Roux but don’t let that hipster entry on his resume confuse or dissuade you. This is his debut release with some serious early house influences going on. This is some serious deep house, very retro and groovy beats, upbeat vocals, definitely a booty shaker. Although I’m not usually a huge fan of vocals on house releases, it really works. This is very nostalgic.

Magda – “From The Fallen Page” – [Minus Records]

aka Magdalena Chojnacka, a Polish born Minimal House/Techno DJ who grew up in the US, began DJing in ’96 and ’98 she joined Minus and began touring the world as Richie Hawtin’s sole opener. Magda is also one of the founders of the Berlin based Items & Things label along with Marc Houle and Troy Pierce.

Not only do I embrace Magda as a female electronic musician but love this chick’s sound. Its dark creepy techno with lots of chunky thunks and twisted beats mixed with an eerie horror soundtrack. Her sounds are super quirky and its a twisty maze of cinematic layers. She knows how to use space and bend beats in new ways. The mix of soundscape and beats is just genius. This new genre of unique sounds that some of the M-nus artists are making (Heartthrob etc) is where I hope this music is going.

Bola – “Fyuti” – [Skam]

Bola is Darrell Fitton who is considered to be one of the more ambiguous members of the IDM community. His first release was on Warp’s Artificial Intelligence II release.
Fitton loaned equipment to Autechre in their early days and his first noteworthy involvement with electronic music was as assistant on their debut album Incunabula.
“Fyuti” was released in 2002 on the Skam label. This is IDM at its best, a full and lush cinematic sound. This mesmerizes and intrigues with cool crunchy beats, waves of sounds and quirky electronic sampling. This is a nice warm snuggly down comforter of sound thats too comfy to leave.

Fitton was rumured to have left the music industry in November 2007 but this past January 2, 2013, Fitton addressed the rumors of his retirement, stating “I figure 5 years of relative inactivity is an adequate musical absence. New music will be produced and released this year.” I’m looking forward to future releases.

Oxia – “Tides of Mind” – [InFine]

Oxia is Olivier Raymond a French DJ/producer, well known in the house music scene and making music for 20 years. He co-founded both the Ozone and Goodlife labels. Oxia was a duo formed with Stephane Deschezeaux but is now a solo project. Strangely enough this is only his second full-length release.

“Tides of Mind” is an interesting mix of beats, some deep house with some soothing, mellow techno sounds. He uses jazz and classical instrumentation and guest vocals (Miss Kitten, Mesparrow, Scalde) to keep things interesting. I don’t love the Scalde guest vocals but Miss Kitten is so quirky on “Housewife”, its weird enough that the non beat heads might want to give it a try. Overall this is very upbeat so expect an involuntary toe tap or booty shake.

My favorites are tracks 1 & 11 the intro and outro, filled with beautiful orchestral lushness yet sadly they are teeny tiny little micro songs. I’d love to see him explore more of those minimal sounds.

Soriah With Ashkelon Sain – “Atlan” – [Projekt Records]

Master Tuvan throat singer Soriah along with Ashkelon Sain (Trance To The Sun). This is AMAZING! Very ceremonial/tribal/ritualistic, incorporating shamanism and butoh. Soriah’s haunting vocals are intoned in the ancient Aztec language of Nahuatl combined with Ashkelon Sain’s cinematic, hypnotic, mesmerizing soundscape. This drifts and drones using Central Asian ethnic stringed instruments alongside atmospheric synths and hand percussion creating a very visual image of forgotten lands. If you enjoy Dead Can Dance and the like, you will definitely appreciate this. I only wish Cytoth was here to enjoy this, he would most definitely appreciate the imagery and symbolism.

Daega Sound – “Fonica” – [Crude Records]

Vancouver based Daega Sound released this limited-run white label 10??? vinyl celebrating the 1 year anniversary of Crude Records. The B-side is a remix by DJG aka Grenier. Both sides are great, the remix has a bit more punch. Its great tribal-ish beat-y dubsteppiness, that really verges on techno. I would almost consider this more “dubstep lite”. Great bass-y heaviness and roll. I only wish the tracks were way longer! Enjoy!

Mushroom’s Patience + Outofsight [coll] – [War Office Propaganda]

Released in ’06 on the War Office Propaganda label, since renamed Rage In Eden, this is probably one of the more amazingly strange things I have reviewed. A split between Mushroom’s Patience aka Raffaele Cerroni, an Italian avantgarde band based in Rome and Outofsight, an elusive Polish dark ambient/experimental artist.
Mushroom’s Patience is an Alien Space Rock Opera, some glitch beats, melancholy piano, quirky bleeps, improv Jazz and experimental chaos. Outofsight is equally strange and perplexing, dark ambient, experimental weirdness, darker than Mushroom but equally quirky. Overall this release is like the soundtrack to a newly remade Flash Gordon movie. Enjoy!

Final Testimony: Sekuencias De Culto [coll] – [Tesco Organisation]

The ???A Final Testimony??? is an homage to the Sek??encias de Culto Spanish webzine. SDCzine was founded in 1992 as a paper sine, a website followed and this ’05 farewell compilation and marked the ’04 end of the Spanish webzine. ???A Final Testimony??? is a good representation to the music which SDC was devoted to: Industrial, Dark Ambient, Neofolk, Martial, Experimental.
Disc I features industrial noise, power electronics and dark ambient. Lots of slow and deep rumblings, crackling power lines, experimental soundscapes, power electronics. The standout for me is by Propergol with an amazing creepy lullaby, scary vocal samples and heavy horror sounds. Thorofon is also mind blowing. I loved pretty much every track on Disk 1
Disc II is mainly dark folk and “martial” soundscapes. Love the soundscape creepy darkness, not a huge fan of the neo folk but it didn’t bother me as much as most. People that dig that will LOVE this, creepers of any kind will also really appreciate this. Not quite The Absolute Supper but close.

Lego Feet – “Lego Feet” – [Skam]

Lego Feet is Sean Booth and Rob Brown of Autechre. This is a reissue that includes additional tracks not available on the original release. The original was released in ’91 in limited quantities as the mythical first release from Skam records, predates Autechre and is considered the holy grail of British electronic music, perhaps to those mainly interested in the IDM genre anyway.
This pretty much blows my mind. Nice acid-y, squelchy bleeps and blimps, beat-y bass. Glitchy, quirky moments and a nice analog-y synth sound that is classic early electronics. At times there is even a Cabaret Voltaire quality and early LFO. With its buzzy jams and bouncy acid house romps, not only is this the most “happy” release from these guys but also the most varied stylistically. Something for everyone!!

Ultrakurt – “Bled Runner” – [Minibar]

Ultrakurt was formed by David Gluck (Paris) and Jean-Guillaume Cabanne (Berlin) in ’99 on a warm summer night in the spider-invaded shed David was using as a studio, somewhere in the woods around Paris, or so the story goes. David split for Berlin and Jean-Guillaume founded Minibar but they still managed to put out a few releases of this mild thumpy beats. Its not too fast, not to slow, too loud or too quiet, just a nice head nodding techno.

NHK’Koyxen – “Dance Classics Vol. II” – [Pan]

NHK’ Koyen is Kouhei Matsunaga an electronic musician and draughtsman who resides in both Osaka and Berlin. He spent his formative years in Osaka studying architecture and listening to techno and rap. Although his focus seems to be on a hybrid of those two genres, he has also collaborated with more experimental artists like Asmus Tietchens , Conrad Schnitzler, Lesser, Mika Vainio and Merzbow. This ranges from super beat-y and bleepy to glitchy and gritty. Theres some good bass, dubbiness and echo that make this more than your average “techno” release.

Freude Am Tanzen 5zig [coll] – [Freude-am-Tanzen Recordings]

Mathias Kaden’s Freude Am Tanzen label celebrates its 50th release with 5zig. Its a perfectly curated selection of 12 diverse tracks from 11 different artists. Each track is so interesting and quirky, its really delicious.
I hate to pick favorites but I do love Kade Bostan and “Mon Petit Soleil D’Algrie” is pretty much perfection. Robag Wruhme’s “Haftbolle” has that Autechre-y clang that I love so much and Exit 9′s “No Accident In Paradise” is nicely minimal, melodic and hypnotic. Theres plenty here for the non beat-heads. Enjoy!

Dear, Matthew – “Beams” – [Ghostly International]

The Dear Mr. Dear is keeping us on our toes. This is not expected but very much enjoyed. A mix of beats with moments of guitar, melancholy and that off kilter vocal styling that seems to be so popular at the moment. Great lyrics, like I said melancholy. Its quite engaging and addictive. This has the mass appeal that crosses many genres, it should be loved by all.

Uladat – “Uladat” – [Black Tropical]

Eperimental electronic and percussive artist from Ontario Canada. A mix of interesting sounds, can you imagine a tropical rain forest with industrial crunch and screech? Or a Island holiday with dubby, crunchy with menacing beats? Its not quite IDM, not quite industrial, not quite doom, its just plain awesome.

Daphni – “Jiaolong” – [Merge Records]

This is Dan Snaith???s (Caribou/Manitoba) debut LP as Daphni. Apparently he has warmed up to the beats with a Four Tet collaboration and numerous DJ gigs. Its said that Snaith hates Dance Music but it would be hard to NOT dance to this.
Each track is unique in its danceable strangeness, quirky synth loops, conga drum samples and weird vocal samples. This is everything I could ask for in a beat oriented release and more. The best electronic music doesn’t take itself too seriously and just makes you want to go out and shake it. You CAN dance to it!

Pinch & Shackleton – “Pinch & Shackleton” – [Honest Jon's]

DJ Pinch (Robert Ellis) and Rob Shackleton, two well known British Dub Step artists. Only this isn’t really Dubstep or Jungle, more of a super deep dark dubby bass heavy escapade. Minimal techno beats throughout, it ebbs and flows with such a natural progression that you can get lost in it. Middle Eastern influences throughout, which add an interesting tribal element and some really cool vocal samples. This is heavy. LOVE it! Enjoy!

Stimming – “Relfections” – [Dynamic Music]

aka Martin Stimming a musician and producer from Hamburg. This is his first full length release although he has created mixes for some of the tech house greats like Sascha Funke and Claude VonStroke. I’ve been wanting “Reflections” for sometime now and it does not disappoint! This has a unique quality, like a tech house/glitch combo with cool samples and classical instrumentation. Its super chunky and thunky and off kilter and random. Each track is unique and engaging. I really love “Fruits of Life” and “Silver Surfer” for that extra thunk factor plus cool string elements but I think most will really enjoy “the Loneliness” with its cool harmonica sampling. Its hard to pick a fave track because I love them all. This is so much more than just techno.

Sal Solaris – “Outerpretation of Dreams” – [Tesco Organisation]

a Russian duo working in the post-industrial field since the late ’90s. This is amazing dark ambient/noize. Very intellectual and sophisticated in nature. Reminiscent of older noize but elevated to a new level, with mind blowing repetetition, beats, echoing vibrations etc. They have worked and played live with Genocide Organ, Der Blutharsch, Deutsch Nepal etc. If you like those or the rhythm of Henrik Rylander or Ah Coma Sotz, you will love this. The only thing I find puzzling is that its not on the Cold Meat Industry label.