Speedy Bleeps

Time continues to make fools of us all, I took a day or so off and went to narrow down what I was going to scoop this BC Friday and only came away with more things on my wishlist. The post I had planned originally is a little more in-depth and could be a long one as I focus on a specific topic and write at length about it, should be a good time when I get around to it. But enough excuses, in the meantime I've gathered up a quick roundup of some bits of electro and techno from my archives, let's have a look!

Starting with a relic of the early aughts - the EP that came immediately after The Other People Place's Lifestyles Of The Laptop Café, the fittingly titled Sunday Night Live at the Laptop Cafe, as the pic above shows, the title isn't just for show, these tracks are actually taken from a set at a Laptop Cafe as far as I could tell. If you liked the cool electro of the Laptop Café LP, the two tracks here are worthy additions to your collection: the A-side, Sorrow & A Cup Of Joe continues the vibe laid out on that LP - lovely electro with a slight depressive edge (curiously my copy that I got from Bleep is a good minute or so shorter than this one for some reason).

For this post though I've chosen the B-Side - Telepathic Seduction by a one Mystic Tribe A.I., which is actually an alias of DJ Stingray of Drexciya fame. It occupies the same atmosphere of the A-side very well, of the two I think it might just edge out being my favourite as sometimes the repeating sample on Sorrow sometimes grates on me. By far and away my favourite bit of this one though is that deep as hell shelf rumbling bassline - I highly recommend digging out your headphones or hooking up a decent speaker setup for this one.



Keeping things Drexciya adjacent here, dipping into High Tech territory again with Der Zyklus - an alias of Gerald Donald and the Dopplereffekt lot thats more electro-focused. Personally, I find the work they've done under this alias to be a little more accessible thatn the stark stoic techno of Dopplereffekt. Both halves of this EP made tons of appearances in DJ mixes and compilations of the time and rightfully so - I've posted one half of this EP before with Mathematische Modelle, which is a little more... playful sounding than this one, however both are very much Kraftwerk-esque, particularly the Computer World era. You can hear that influence plenty on the B-side as well, the equally German sounding Elektronisches Zeitechno. it's one of the few times I'm not going to pick a favourite from the EP because honestly both sides totally nail what they're going for, I can prefer one over the other on certain days for sure but together they operate in perfect harmony.



And finally, E.R.P. - yet again an alias, this time of Gerard Hanson, better known as Convextion. I've been drip feeding myself E.R.P. releases because each one I hear seems to have been engineered to appeal directly to me, they carry that high-tech futuristic feel that Warp was championing for the Artificial Intelligence era. Surprising no-one I know, and perhaps a little reductive of E.R.P's other work - tracks like Lodestone from the Evoked Potentials series still carry that spacey sound but are much more punchy upbeat pieces. I'm more than happy to admit that I'm slightly biased in that regard, not only because as is well documented I just adore that sound, but also becuase the first EP I checked out from E.R.P. was Alsoran, which is very firmly rooted in that style.

The version on Bandcamp is a combined EP of both the Vox Automaton and Alsoran EPs and there's not a bad track on it. I've posted my absolute favourite Lament Subrosa some time ago, so I've gone for another slice of spacey goodness in the lush and delicate tones of Irma which ironically is far and away the most Artificial Intelligence-esque sounding track on here - echoes of B12's Electro-Soma and a little of F.U.S.E's Dimension Intrusion too are all over this one and I cannot get enough of it. Simply gorgeous stuff, one of the best finds I've had in recent years and an artist I'm looking forward to sharing more of with you in the future.



Looking back over the post as I wrap up, that's a whole lot of monochrome album art isn't it? Funny how things like that work out. Just a quick note before I get off - I might take a little longer with that in-depth post I mentioned at the top than usual but I'll keep making li'l posts like this one in the meantime, dipping in and out will probably help with the burnout that I ended up getting on the longer Retro Reviews post that I did for Moby's 18. With that out of the way, I hope you've enjoyed the EPs on show here and as always: stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Quicksort

Running through the list to make some selections for the upcoming BC Friday, there are some definite ones on there but as I've mentioned in previous posts a lot of them are things I said I would pick up 'soon' a decade ago. Still there's been some interesting developments along the way, I've picked out some that are of a similar school of sound, even if I don't end up getting them *this* BC Friday. Join me on this particularly IDM-ish instalment of things I'm looking at.

Thought I'd start off with Abfahrt Hinwil, the duo behind the Toytronic label. Toytronic has been a great source of IDM and ambient for me over the years, but to my shame I never actually got around to picking up the main release from the two, the equally difficult to spell Links Berge Rechts Seen. Which is a shame really as it's the album that set me off on that journey all those years ago after like so many other finds in my library it cropped up on Grooveshark of all places - I was supremely into anything IDM I could get my hands on then, and with artwork that is very evocative of Autechre's Amber (as seen above!) and that distinct Designer's Republic-esque hi-tech flair, it ticked all my boxes.

The intro track 'Bumperstufe2' is typically IDM, from its title down to the actual production on show. If you'r familiar with the genre at all you will find it fairly standard (though I admit perhaps it's just the sheer amount of the genre I've heard over the years) That's not a mark against it by any means though - my love of this sound is well documented after all. By the time of the compilation's original release in 2002 the other big name IDM artists were moving on to more intense versions of their sounds, so having this slightly Artificial Intelligence era style sound kicking around is lovely for me - the breakdown at 1:40 is a divine encapsulation of exactly what I mean. Beautiful stuff.



Speaking of moving on to more intense versions of their sounds - Autechre next. I've mentioned many times over the years that they kind of lose me with the direction they take after Tri Repetae, focusing more on the more magled techy sound without the contrasting almost organic melodies of before. It's potentially one of the hottest electronic music takes I have, Chiastic Slide is OK and all, but it doesn't resonate with me like Clipper from Tri Repetae does for example, and I've never really been able to get into anything after that unfortunatley. Not to say I don't admire what Autechre have done as a group though, they've been at it for a good 30 years now, the stuff they were making is crazy complex for the times it was released in a lot of the time, and in recent years have reliably dropped album(s) every year or so which takes some doing.

And that's not to say I don't dip my toe in every now and then: Altibzz, the opening track for Quaristice is lovely and there are a few tracks from after Tri Repetae that I do like a whole lot too. Enter Yeesland, a great demonstrator of that hyper-mechanical direction they started to take around this time. Yeesland still has that melodic streak that keeps me interested and the introduction of that lovely synth pulse around 1:38 gives the track that contrast that I loved so much about earlier Autechre. I'll still keep trying to explore their later work every now and then, but even just exploring the shallows there are plenty of releases to get stuck into. I'm an outlier in that their early sound might still be my favourite though - the recent release of those late 80's / early 90's demo tapes was a real treat for me.



And finally, some straight up techno stuff from Richie Hawtin under the F.U.S.E. alias again. It's nice to see him working under that name again, I had perhaps rather cynically assumed it was just going to be a one off revival for the 25th anniversary of Dimension Intrusion and it's new companion album (though oddly in places this release is credited to both Richie Hawtin and F.U.S.E. so it might be that his Brother has taken up the name? It's just credited to Hawtin on Bandcamp to muddy the waters further.) At any rate, it's quite a bit different from the F.U.S.E. of old, but not a million miles removed - Dimension Intrusion was one of the Warp Artificial Intelligence albums and so had plenty of that brand of ambient-ish techno on show, albeit with a bit of a minimal edge in parts as you'd expect given Hawtin's other work)

But nestled between things like the cascading arpeggios of title track and the delicate ambience of Nitedrive there were tracks that were much heavier beasts. Tracks like Substance Abuse and Train-trac come to mind - these tracks stand out just because they're so different from the main body of the album and perhaps feel a little out of place (and in fact Train-trac was taken off the anniversary re-issue), but the tracks aren't bad - Hawtin is right at home in either mode. Enter Syntax, part one of which is an acid drenched experience that is expertly crafted with peaks and valleys. I have in the past critiqued Hawtin's more minimal work but here I think there is a nice balance, just when I find myself getting tired of a section, in drops something to keep it fresh - and I'm a total sucker for that extended outro where everything slows to a crawl and the arpeggios get stretched out to their base components. Recently I was thinking I might be a bit bored of 303 stuff but this one has certainly made me eat those words a bit.



And that'll do it for this time, it's been nice to mix things up a little bit, think it's been a while since I went on an IDM trip like this! Got a bit heavier on the text front this time than I iamagine when I started, but it's been a little while too so I can give myself a bit of leeway I suppose. I'll be back soon enough with more but until then - as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Wonky Weather

Scouting for more little things that I might have missed over the years as potential upcoming sccops which has led me back to my longtime companion Warp Records once again, more specifically that era around the time I started writing the whole Warped History posts. I've mentioned before that while I am intensley proud (if a little embarrased at some of my teenage writing) of that series, I spent so long looking back att he history of Warp that I missed some of the then-new releases. I have obviuosuly since gone on to pick them up in the years since but I figured I'd shine a light on them here.

Kicking off with Rustie, I first heard of Rustie through some Dubstep remixes way back when - imagine my surprise then when Glass Swords drops in 2011 with this wild and almost sickly sweet sugary sound to it. It's one that I always struggle to pin down with one genre as it bounces all over the place across the 13 tracks - but of you're looking for somethin' to chase the blues away, this would be it. Coming back to it now, I could see it being overly obnoxious to some ears, but if I'm being honest that is part of the appeal to me (see also: my love of Eurobeat). We're not talking about a track from the album this time though, instead I've gone for a B-side fron the Ultra-Thizz EP - Dreamzz. While my favourites are still tracks like All Nite or the A-side to this EP, this track does a fantastic job of demoing the Glass Swords ethos but isn't quite as tooth decaying levels of sweet as some of the others. If the thundering kicks and squealing electrics of this one appeal to you, most certainly check out the rest of Glass Swords!



Staying in that same wheelhouse with Hudson Mohawke next. He's gone on to great things in the interim years, but my first real exposure to his work was a combination of the Polyfolk Dance EP and his debut full length for Warp - Butter. Much like Glass Swords it also bounces all over the place during its runtime but feels a little more... unfocused. There are a ton of great sounds and ideas explored here, but they never stick around for very long. But that's a very small complaint in the grand scheme of the album, it's been fun to come back to it 10+ years later and have it sound still as interesting as back then. It's a wild ride to be sure, one that can leave you a little dazed and confused on the other side, but on the way you get some absolutely stonking tunes: from the Sitar infused Rising 5 to what I've picked today with FUSE: the bombastic claps from the intro let you know what you're in for, and that melody is perfect to be 'sung' along to with a heavy slur like we all used to do with Kernkraft 400.



Finally straying a bit from the Wonky side of things with a little FlyLo. The accompanying EPs for Los Angeles are a real treat that I overlooked for a long time, the tracklists are a little misleading at times - while some of the tracks here are as featured on LA (even the ones that have the same titles are sometimes alternate mixes to just confuse things further) - there are tons of B-Sides and alternate mixes on show too. There's some great exploration of the FlyLo sound here too: there are tracks that clearly take influence from the the dubstep and garage of artists like Burial in RobertaFlack (Heart Beat Mix), the second half of Secrets (Refix) goes on a really raw Drum & Bass / Jungle style kick. There's even a bit of vintage FlyLo revival on here too with an 8-bit chiptune rendition of Auntie's Lock/Infinitum closing out the EP.

But I've gone with the slightly unassuming RobertaFlack (Other Mix), a much more hip-hop styled version of the original that brings it more in line with the other big hitters from the album like Parisian Goldfish and Camel, with a little bit of that old school FlyLo 8-bit treatment as well. I played Los Angeles to death around when it came out to the point where I almost got sick of it - but even then I think it might just sneak to the top of my favourite FlyLo production along with the Reset EP (which would have been here as well but its not on Warp's bandcamp for some reason). Maybe it's because I know the main album front to back, but hearing something new in the LA style like this takes me right back to that mindset of when I first heard it. I still have a lot of love for this style, as of right now I'm falling head over heels again for the final minute or so of this one - just plain fantastic work from FlyLo.



And that'll do for this entry, a little busy for the next few days so there might be a bit of a gap again but nothing too extreme. I do have some ideas floating around but the tracks in question might have to be non-bandcamp streamers which is a bit of a pain to work out the embeds and all. But, I suppose I can make do with that just once in a while, we've had a pretty good streak going as of late after all. In the meantime though: as always, Stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

It Hot

John Miller - Lelant Beach, New Moon
Shorter one this time, just because I've been busy and the passage of time kinda snuck up on me - looking to get this one finished before the heat of the day becomes a bit much again to boot. Kicking off with perhaps the poppiest tune from HEALTH's DEATH MAGIC in LA LOOKS, part of me wants to say it stands out from the rest of the album as a result but in hindsight it fits right in with the rest of the electro-infused stuff they were experimenting with around this time - but at the same time I can see why it ended up in some indie pop playlists around the time with that chorus. Certainly much easier to digest than some of their earlier work, which while I do like, I must admit I'm a big fan of the direction they took with this album.



Another cut from the Tangent 2002: Disco Nouveau compilation again this time. There's a ton of good stuff here that could almost make a post or two of it's own - like the name suggests, the comp features a bunch of big names from around the time offering their takes on the disco style revival of the era. I went in expecting tons of electroclash (and to be fair between the ADULT. track and a couple others I wasn't disappointed) but there's a lot of variety on here - enter DMX Krew's contribution. If you've been around and heard the past couple DMX Krew tracks I've posted you know what to expect: full on tongue in cheek embracing of pretty much every retro electronic stereotype you can think of. Make Me comes from the same area as You Can't Hide Your Love (which if you hadn't guessed from the cover art is very self-aware), and you'll find more of the same formula here - I can understand it being too corny for some folks but I find it quite charming. And there's certainly no argument that it is an ideal fit for a compilation of modern disco-inspired tracks.



Revisiting the Sounds From The Far East compilation once again, featuring a choice selection of tracks from the Far East Recording boys Soichi Terada and Shinichiro Yokota. Yokota's contributions to the Far East Recording compilations don't get as much attention as Terada's (or worse, incorrectly credited to Terada), but they too are solid bits of early 90's Deep House - Do It Again is the biggest example of this as a bunch of places have the credit wrong, but I can kind of understand that as this one does sound an awful lot like the kind of stuff Terada made on those releases. Tunes like this just feel great, every time I think I've gotten a little stale on House as a whole, a track like this will come along and remind me why I love it so. Also, this is a reminder to me to check out his newer stuff, both he and Terada are still releasing things fairly regularly!



Speaking of things I think I've outgrown - a little bit of Future Funk to finish off. It's a genre that suffered from a massive explosion of content, and like so many other genres that happens to that lead to an absolute boatload of releases that I couldn't keep up with. I've dipped back in every so often to just check in on the scene, but nothing's ever grabbed me the way Macross 82-99's early stuff did. I'm more than willing to admit that a massive part of that is the vague 'French Touch' sound tracks like this one have going for them which makes me all nostalgic for my early blogging days. A contender for one of the best opening tracks of all time, Now And Forever makes for a perfect introduction as it dances its way through J-Pop influences and even gets full on vaporwave in parts - I highly recommend checking it out, especially seeing as you can scoop the full thing for one dollar.



And that'll do for this time. Not quite as short as I had in mind because I ended up putting an extra track in, but even then its still curtailed given how long some recent ones ended up! With that in mind I'll wrap it up here, be back soon with more but until then - as always: Stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF