Recorded at Houghton - Bobby. (2023)

 

https://soundcloud.com/houghton-festival/recorded-at-houghton-bobby-2023?si=99ef38944a5f4f18991adb3fed661387&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Recorded at Houghton - Ivan Smagghe (2023)

Houghton Festival · Recorded at Houghton - Ivan Smagghe (2023)

Track Of The Day: Synaptic Voyager - Electric Ocean (Frame Of Mind)

From the excellent ‘Disconnect To Reconnect’ release that emerged recently, this elegant piece of emotive techno puts one in mind of the cream of UK late 80s to early 90s machine funk. A time when the Detroit influence, while tangible, was bent into something else altogether. Deeper than deep and funkier than funk, the growling bass, taking its cues from Reese, thrust into the foreground and driven forward by break beats so subtle that, due to the other sonic adornment you don’t really notice them. Operating in that meridian between the dawn of time and the first mudskippers, the whole EP is just as good, so it was difficult to find a fave; and you get extended versions if you go digital. Which is nice.

Barac Shamandrum Sessions 1 & 2

 

Barac · Barac - Shamandrum Session 001

Barac · Barac - Shamandrum Session 002

Track Of The Day: Moor - Vago (Parallel 9 remix) (Irenic)

This release, on Roger Gerressen’s excellent Irenic, came out a few months ago and the track here is a Steve Rachmad remix of ‘Vago’, the original of which is also present and also brilliant. On another day I could have featured the original so, even though the slightly bouncier remix takes that honour, I feel the original should get an honourable mention. This track is everything I have always liked about techno; deep; doesn’t get carried away with itself; full of soul; all the right noises in all the right places. You know what’s just around the corner and feel comforted by it. This may sound like it’s predictable, but I think not. There’s plenty to get excited about within these grooves, and it’s definitely one of Rachmad’s more memorable outings of recent years.

Rodion & Mammarella Musica E Computer (Slow Motion)

 

Title: Musica E Computer

Artist: Rodion & Mammarella

Label: Slow Motion

Cat Number: SLOMO052

Genre: Cosmic 

01: Iris

02: A Corrente Alternata

03: Un Segnale Di Speranza

04: Accelerazione

05: La Domenica Del Villaggio

06: Errore Di Calcolo

07: La Memoria Del Sistemi

08: Una Nuova Era

Well this is something. A release “recorded in the legendary Marche Synth Museum (Museo Del Synth Marchigiano). A fully functional recording space that houses a fusion of several private collections of Italian electronic musical instruments gathered over the many years since their creation.” There’s more to say about this, but I think that’s enough about the sheer electronic geekiness at work here. Without such attention to detail where would we be? At sea in a storm of blandness is my guess. And while it’s difficult to single out any particular track for specific praise (they’re all on the money), context is everything. I do like ‘ Accelerazione’, which sounds like it has been spawned from the best Italian futurist tradition, and ‘Errore Di Calcolo’ whose vocodered vocal sounds like it’s repeating “easy gel” at the top of the track. And, there’s a futurist train noise coming through intermittently, putting me in mind of Ivo Panaggi’s ‘Speeding Train (Treno in corsa)’. ‘Iris’ opens the package up in an abstract fashion, merging a harp with jungle sounds and evoking more painting in the process. However, this time its the naive stylings of Henri Rousseau than the forward looking futurism. ‘La Memoria Del Sistemi’ is a soaring synth masterpiece, with a throbbing low end solid enough to take anything on top of it which, in this case, are all manner of space sounds. This is equalled by ‘Un Segnale Di Speranza’, an arpeggiated,  italo chimera composed of a disparate dance dichotomy that coalesces in the most harmonious way. All in all, if this release proves anything it’s that the synth nerds will inherit the Earth, and  it’s never too late to be a part of that.

Track Of The Day: Ohm & Kvadrant - Precious Little Diamond (Levon Vincent Remix) (Kontakt)

A very recent release for a change. This remix by Levon Vincent gets me all nostalgic because it’s a real return to form. Having said that, I haven’t been keeping much of an eye on his recent output, so maybe he never really stopped making tracks like this. And what is “this”? Well, it’s a minimal, tracky stomper which is heavy in all the right places. Hearkening back to the likes of that immortal double header ‘Invisible Bitchslap’ and ‘Woman Is The Devil’, hos take on ‘Precious Little Diamond’ is a little bit quicker, but still manages to showcase his signature approach; ie: one that blends dub techno and a scything groove. Also, whether by accident or design, his tracks have always reminded me of Octave One, which can only be a good thing.

Track Of The Day: Herbie Hancock - Speak Like a Child (Blue Note)

A composition that can cause the soul to sublimate in submission and, along with ‘Maiden Voyage’, a perfect title track. This album finds Herbie Hancock on serious form, each inflection of his piano crystallizing a moment like a sound supernova. It’s difficult to think of a more relaxing, evocative piece of music; a transcendental force of aural bliss.

Outline.47: Mick Wills

 

outline festival · outline.47 Mick Wills

Track Of The Day: Dopplereffekt - Voice Activated (Dataphysix Engineering)

Originally appearing on the ‘Infophysix’ release on Dataphysix Engineering back in 1996, ‘Voice Activated’ is a typically retro in flavour, but also of a parallel future that, back then, was possibly not as portentous as what we find ourselves living in now. Gerald Donald’s world feels like one where the serious is subverted by the absurd, the two colliding in order to feed off each other in an abstract symbiosis. The three Dataophysix releases came together on the ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ compilation on Int. DJ Gigolos, which is being rereleased imminently, (not for the first time), on Clone Classic Cuts. Essential stuff!

PARAMIDA | The MUDD Show

Sugar Free & Fonte | The MUDD Show

Yoyaku instore session with Octal Industries

Hamish Cole | The MUDD Show

Petre Inspirescu @ SUPER DOMMUNE, Tokyo (02.11.2023)

Robert Hood - Alpha Key EP (M-Plant)

 

Title: Alpha Key EP

Artist: Robert Hood

Label: M-Plant

Cat Number: MPM46

Genre: Techno

1: Alpha Key

2: Future Remedy

3: Pathetic

4: Outsider

It’s always with a sense of trepidation that I write about music from one of the grand masters. I would hope the reasons are obvious, so I’ll leave it at that. Suffice to say Robert Hood has been there and done that but, if you’re still out there making music I would hope that you’ve always got something to prove. Techno is, in my opinion,  a genre that has to a large extent stagnated, also has something to prove. Does it still have any subtlety, or is it all just steam hammers and kicks. Of course that’s only one facet. It’s a pretty broad church and accommodates much. And on this release, by and large, Rob Hood seems to be going for the relentless, steam hammer approach. Only ‘Future Remedy’, with its  arpeggiated, melodic barrel organ on crack approach reminds me of the golden days of M-Plant. However, that’s no bad thing. Because even though those were great times, they can’t be replicated ad nauseam. I believe it is the best track here though, with ‘Alpha Key’ being the best of the rest. It’s a relentless twat of a track, but comes correct with the funk, using a steel drum like beat that rattles over the top, aided and abetted by minor percussive elements, to drive itself skyward. Both ‘Pathetic’ and ‘Outsider’ share similar characteristics; the former being denser and like hacking through a rain forest with a blunt machete, and the latter the soundtrack to riding an epileptic antelope across the Serengeti.

Track Of The Day: Moodymann - Misled (KDJ)

Stuck for what to post, I pulled a record off the shelves and it happened to be this one. And I chose this side rather than the longer, untitled track on the A side because for me it summarises Moodymann as well as any other tune he’s produced. It’s a low end throbber with minimal participation from each disparate musical element. A shuffle set to music in which Moody’s throat undulations, (I imagine it’s him), become an instrument at one with the fluctuating vibrations. The sample of ‘Freddy’s Dead’ at the end has a spectral quality, and emphasises the ephemeral aspect, not just of the music, but of the notion of listening to it being a vital part of life’s wallpaper. This is house music extending its normal reach, distilled to its very essence.