This is one of the few records I've been lucky to listen to since 1995 and I still enjoy it the same and even more.
It was released by Incoming!, a totally weird label who released a lot of avant-garde, really far ahead of its time electronic dub and drum'n'bass stuff, alongside with 8-bit synth reggae and almost cheesy chill-out sentimental stuff. NUF., Unitone Hi-Fi and Cee-Mix were its most frequent contributors, but I believe the real strength of Incoming! were its 'Serenity Dub' compilation series, breeding ground for a lot of young artists and outlet for experimental stuff by the more famous ones.
For those who don't know him, Bernd Friedmann is a really talented artist releasing music since the early '90s. He's worked together with guys like Uwe Schmidt, Jaki Liebezeit (the drummer from Can) and David Sylvian/Steve Jansen and he's remixed a lot more. His groups are Drome (with Frank Hernandez) and The Nu Dub Players (with his laptop). He has released mostly in Ninja Tune and N-tone, Incoming! and ~scape, while in the last decade he's publishing and re-releasing older stuff on his own Nonplace label.
Still I haven't seen this one reprinted yet and it's a pity. It's impossible to pin it down in the mid'90s, it sounds like it was released yesterday. Music-wise it could be described as electronic music with dub techniques, yet in there you'll encounter kinky spooky house, a disco dub marathon, weed jazz excursions in hip hop, Carribean samples and space FX, all those in a cocoon of weird ambience. Intro-outro track 'Chilled' was, is and will be for a long long time in my personal top ten of electronic tracks.
Nonplace Urban Field - 1995 Nuf Said
Part 1 - Part 2
Info here.
Friedmann discography here and info here.
Incoming! seems to be totally obscure to (or ignored by) the people on the share-net. I'll try to post some more.
Nuf Said
The Space Between The Gaps
An Incoming! compilation, including works from artists already posted in this blog (*), plus some more from the label's roster, like Cee-Mix and Andrew Lagowski.
A constantly shifting record, presents both the label's trademark chilled and detached electronic dub-based crossovers, as well as some moving, melodic drum'n'bass cuts. All tracks preserve this warm, all-encompassing, outer-space quality that made Incoming! (in)famous on nu-dub specialists, while at the same time glorifying these complex, glossy, electro-influenced loops, typical in Germany's breakbeat sound. A listening record, mostly, that would also work on an open-minded dancefloor.
Bonus CD contains just two tracks by Lemongrass, more or less similar in style to the others.
VA - 1998 The Space Between The Gaps
Info here.
Some more from Incoming! soon.
Wickedness Rerubbed
Unitone HiFi is a group of New Zealand origin with Jamaican influences and New York connections releasing on a German label.
And that's more or less what I knew about them before this post. Anyway, I gather they're virtually unknown to anyone outside NZ and specialist fans of the Crooklyn sound or Incoming! (*) electro dub.
On the sleeve they characterize themselves Dub-Hop, which in a way sounds right cause they use some junkbeat drum loops and samples and some scratching. Still the rest are all dub as you know it, heavy and weird. Their first album here presents their style really adequately.
The remix album contains reworks by Incoming projects like Drome, etc. plus some from Muslimgauze, Rockers Hi-Fi, Manasseh, Immersion (Colin Newman & Malga Spigel) and a classic by Funki Porcini.
Unitone HIFi - 1995 Wickedness Increased
Part 1 - Part 2
Info here.
Unitone HiFi - 1996 Rewound & Rerubbed
Part 1 - Part 2
Info here.
Submission Replay
A compilation of remixes for Submission, an alias of Klaus Barm (unknown to me), through Shitkatapult's sub-label Meteosound.
With the originals boasting contributions by Tikiman and Paul PM in vocal duties, these versions are Berlin-heavy dub reworks by some the city's top, like Thomas Fehlmann, Sun Electric, Rechenzentrum, etc.; also from a bunch of otherwise unknown names (that could well be cameos of gods-know-who), plus a dub from The Rootsman. Ranging from down-to-earth roots dub to deep techno, covering many of the in-between crossovers, and with a few extra d'n'b touches, the outcome varies from uptempo lyric attacks to dreamy electronic drifts.
An interesting, multi-layered record, that might demand more than a couple of runs to be fully absorbed. Brings in mind the album from related austrian artist Sugar B posted here, as well as the Incoming! releases (*). It's mastered by Robert Henke, if that helps.
Submission - 2000 Replay. The Dub Remixes
Info here and (in german) here
