Civilization

Watch it.

Info here.

The music's not of my liking, video is great though.

PWOG live 1995

Courtesy of Tim Freeman himself, a live set of PWOG from 1995, the Record Of Breaks era.

More than a rarity or an iffy bootleg, it's also a proof of their power in concerts, sadly a gift I never had the chance to witness in person. A lot of analog sound in there, fat and heavy, and lots of real-time FX knob twists, while samples are used in moderation and for aesthetic purposes. The mix is breathing, monotone percussion sounding clear and in your face while the more subtle atmo elements are drifting in the background, appearing in crucial moments for drama. I noticed as well their tendency to preserve the equilibrium between the ritualistic atmospheres and sheer drive, choosing their tracks well, shifting between moods. Most of the above characterize their sound at the time anyway.
Concerning structure, my favorite part is the flawless transformation of the funky take on 'A Kind of Prayer' into a 'Kraak' variation.

I guess the link comes from Tim Freeman's archive, so I hope he'll leak some more of the good stuff eventually. He released some 12"s and CDrs in the obscure I-S-I-S / Hidden (a PWOG-related den I discovered only a few months ago) as HIMOG and one half of Dogon, plus collaborations with equally respected Being - apparently all of them in good terms with the Black Dog guys (see here). Which btw did an awful lot of good to post that mix, giving them publicity and all. Because, while I truly respect the no-ego underground attitude, it strikes me as weird that even a fan like me didn't know shit about those labels - stick your heads up just a bit guys, it's a pity for you not to be recognized as you should be (and for us not to listen to your stuff).

PWOG - 1995 Live @ VPRO's Villa 65 radio show

More posts here.
I also noticed there are a few more PWOG posts by TheeBradMiller here.

Stored in zshare till I find the time to switch it to RS.

P.S. Moggieboy also got a link and already posted this set.

Trans Metro Express

To tell you the truth, I don't quite remember how I got there.

Still, this is the site and this is the video:

Trans Metro Express - Mikkel Metal in the Copenhagen Metro from Metro on Vimeo.

Fruit Of The Loop

I don't really know anything on him (some info here and here). But this is a fun record. Lots of samples, filters and Chicago-style loops combined with the Cologne pop sound, repetitive beats and house aesthetics, with the extra Ladomat weirdness on top. The fruit of the loop, indeed. Could have been a Whirlpool production, if they were really hooked on (...what's that word... oh, yes) loops - or a less discoid Force Inc.US release.

Arj Snoek - 1997 Fruit Of The Loop
Info here.

Going South

So, this is Klas-Henrik Lindblad, either known as Sasse, Freestyle Man and/or the owner of Moodmusic label. This I believe is his first album, as well as the only CD out through Keys Of Life, the housey daughter of Sähkö.

House music, deep and laidback mostly, with a lot of horns, guitars and (guess...) keys; also weird enough to grab our interest, while not turning 'experimental' just for the name of it. In turns hypnotic, hedonistic and artistic, I consider 'Going South' to be a true album. More than the sum of its tracks, it's full of soul in a way deeper than many many other supposedly 'soulful' records by well-known artists. It reminds me of similar Jimi Tenor excursions into 'conservative' music styles, which is no wonder since both artists come from the same background (he even has a remix included here, as I see). And it was a major influence in certain works by the Innervisions guys; let's not forget that Henrik Schwarz got a lot of support from Lindblad in his starting days (see also ???).

For house fans it might be refreshing; for the others a pleasant surprise. For me it's house music I can always count on.

Freestyle Man - 2000 Going South
Info here.

Higiene Mental

A well kept secret and a clever joke on behalf of the producers and the label alike.

Released by Disko B with artwork by Andy Orel of the Abuse Industries (that also did the early Gigolo covers) on a cowboy theme, the presentation initially made me think I'd encounter electro breaks or techno fun in a humorous concept - I couldn't have been more wrong. It's a cold, dark, downtempo experiment instead, featuring the whole bunch of the NYC-based Instinct/Ambient posse: sonic guerillas like the Prototype 909 members, T.Dupree, J.Selway, etc. with Mika Vainio and Jimi Tenor as extras, in an atypical collaboration centered around Abe Duque's label Rancho Relaxo (hence the name). The music is what you'd expect from these guys, deepspace minimal improvisations mostly (with a few rhythmical deviations), ranging from the ultra-relaxed to the claustrophobic.

If you liked the earlier posted Instinct Ambient compilations, you'll love this one. I know I did. These and similar stuff you'll find here.

Rancho Relaxo Allstars - 1996
Volume 1. Higiene Mental
Info here.

P.S. Check comments for more..

Offene Schleifen

And another Source record (*).

The title translates as 'Open Loops'; deep minimal beats are the keywords. More detailed info here.

Sensual Physics is Joerg Schuster, also releasing a lot of stuff as Digitalverein in Thinner.

Sensual Physics - 2002 Offene Schleifen
Info here.

Intermission

I'm going crazy again. I listen to a lot of things these days and I like some of them, just not enough to feel satisfied. My musical tastes start to shift again... You'll notice it from time to time that I don't post that many stuff. Mostly it's because I'm out of time, but the problem just mentioned also counts as a factor. At times like these I grab on to some artists that inspires me (even a little bit) and go back and listen some of their older stuff - then I check again the artists around them, just in case I missed something, hoping they will give me a new direction.

In this case it was Move D. My respect for the man goes back a long time (Source releases here) and I can safely say that his recent releases in Smallville with Bejamin Brunn are some of the best stuff around (especially #8), as long as you're into deep stuff. And I don't mean the echospace[detroit] kind of deep (which irritates me right now, sorry) but the DJ Sprinkles kind of deep - some more of the best stuff around. Anyway, the hallucinogenic elements and audio quality of their recent releases made me reach back for some compilation or other and I came upon this one.

To make a long story short, even though this one went out in Plug Research it sounds like a Source record made in the States would. I mean, it combines those colorful post-jazz ambient and subtle electronics with West Coast's love for DSP processing and post-rock, either in a contrast or in parallel. Nothing extreme or groundbreaking, mostly relaxed and downtempo, it's listening music at its best. And got me interested again for Russ Gabriel.

VA - 2001 Intermission
Info here.

LemonOrange

Mostly a compilation of their previous EPs in F Comm, this album combines Detroit aesthetics with the roughness of the french electro techno scene of the early '00s and house feeling - plus good production.

Their maximalistic approach might sound dated to 'modern' ears; full of synths and fat drum sounds, for the old school it'll be just great. They drew my attention with their stronger attempts; 'Illogique' is a monster track and an old favorite with its sick vox and its drive, 'Spanish Harlem' borrows from the NYC techno blueprint and 'Abusive Melody' and 'Anxious Boy' might pass for fresh remixes of Detroit oldies. The rest of the album is also an adventurous journey, including a post-disco burner ('Slow'), electro, vocal house, even downtempo breaks. The inevitable house factor (it's F Comm after all) functions as the glue that holds the whole album together.

I haven't managed to check their recent releases in 20:20Vision yet. The Ovum one is more of a modern house record; secretly, I hope to see them again dare a bit more at the electro techno front again.

The Youngsters - 2001 LemonOrange
Info here.

P.S. 2010-01-11. Their 2nd album is here.

Dromed

And here's the first Drome album on Kiff SM. Not so experimental and weird as other Friedmann records, still they're interesting and classy as very few artists can be.

Drome - 1995 Dromed
Info here.

More on Drome here.

Clock Wise

Another sadly overlooked k2O album (*,*).

The debut of Dennis DeSantis (also a percussionist, now working for Ableton) at first sounds more influenced by UK techfunk than Detroit techno, despite him living in NYC at the time and releasing in one of Berlin's phattest and toughest labels (see Kanzleramt). Then the loopy progression of the tracks and the clear, software based production shifts the attention towards Berlin; specifically towards this (almost typical now) loopy, minimal, bright techhouse/ techno style eventually adopted by most americans and canadians living and working there.
DeSantis' approach is a bit different, in the sense that he's more synth-based than the average 'minimal' producer; lots of rich pads and sweet strings and melodies over steady beats, his music brings in mind early '90s ambient techno loops mixed through Live, raised on a higher energy level. Neither sleepy electronics nor techno for pills; he manages to balance the elements enough to provoke interest without wrecking our ears.

Seeing how well artists of M_nus and similar labels are doing with their recent releases, this should be a world-wide hit...

Dennis DeSantis - 2002 Clock Wise
Info here.

The Final Corporate Remix Of The Unconscious

This is the remix version of an album posted earlier here, all remixes by Drome themselves. Just got it so no opinion yet, the first tracks sound great though.

Drome - 1993 The Final Corporate Remix Of The Unconscious
Info here.

More of Burnt Friedmann here.

Safety in Details

Possibly the best white male voice around. Or I just like Brits more than I should.

Richard Davis is really called Paul Davis, at times he was Junkie Sartre. Member of various projects, namely the prolific Circulation (with Matt Jackson of Subtech) and with many remixes around, he seems to easily make collaborations and get mingled in varied stuff, yet always keeping a low profile and a very respectable attitude (at least media-wise, I don't personally know the guy).

Though he started from the UK house scene and did good (at least Circulation were big), he moved to Berlin and twisted his sound towards a more deep and minimal, more melancholic direction. Swayzak easily come to mind, so it's no surprise they also published his 'greatest hit' so far, the excellent 'Bring Me Closer' 12". Yet his sound is mostly defined by his voice; sentiments and love affairs and loneliness over minimalistic beats and moody pop loops, all in a smokey FX haze. Some call it vocal tech house, I call it modern pop.

'Safety' and one magnificent 12" went out through the now defunct Punkt Music. 'Details' is (very fittingly) from Kitty-Yo.

Now he's in the group Dominique of Dial Records.


Richard Davis - 2002 Safety
Info here.


Richard Davis - 2005 Details
Info here.