C64. Romero. Gigolos. Atomic energy. Splank! & Mooner. TV. Cars. Machines. Machines.
Zombie Nation - 1999 Leichenschmaus
Info here.
Showing posts with label Muenchen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Muenchen. Show all posts
Leichenschmaus
The Vault
He used to call himself Prince of Techno.
Well, I don't know about that. But the first time I heard 'When We Used To Play' I almost cried. I like his DJ style, hard and fast yet accessible and definitely sexy for the ladies. He played his part in the whole Detroit-Berlin thing, with his Tresor collaboration - I think he was the first one to go there to live and work and DJ. And his vocal contributions, his trademark and an example to many (the recent ones no less) are always interesting, either mood-fueled stoned whispers and deepnight mumblings, or mating calls and aggressive declarations. As a musician he's not the greatest you've listened to, but his tracks' power drive and his expressive persona are reasons enough to get you moving.
This is a Disko Bomb.
It's a house record; with its raw, percussive tracks spiced with disco samples and vocal snippets, the whole album points directly to Chicago. Still, he's an artist from Detroit releasing in a label from Munich, so things get complicated - he's quirky, rough and all-out house at the same time. Speed these tracks up and they fit in any techno set, can even be used as tools and blended together with little effort. House for bangers, fit for DJ Hell's sets. The 'techno' label underneath is there just to give you a hint of this.
When I first heard it, I honestly didn't like it much. As time passes, while its age is showing, I feel I get it better now in a way. It's not rare, but I don't remember to have seen it anywhere, especially around the share net.
Blake Baxter - 1995 The Vault
Info here.
P.S. I was informed that the rip had accidentally been a 128kbps one, so I re-uploaded it in 320. First posted 2009-06-18.
P.S.#2 Link updated
Le Catalogue Electronique
Are You Really Satisfied Now?
Electro pop with vocals and punk elements from Dakar & Grinser. Unsurprisingly, a Disko B record.
If you only know Dakar from his (beautiful) Get Physical release, you'll recognize the voice but few things besides that. The pop element was there from the start, but this one is not another techhouse album; it's a dirty, drunken praise of depravity and self-abandonment, straight from the dark heart of Munich. First cut 'Take Me Naked' is a timeless heavy, slow-mo electro epic, giving us an idea of what's to follow; most tracks share this twisted edge, using funk and breaks as the basis for acid experimentation spiced with distorted vocals on top. Includes an appearance by Miss Kittin, as well as a cover of Stooges' 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' that sounds ok, until the vocals kick in. And then there's 'Stay With Me' that went rather big for a bit, I think; should have sky-rocketed, in my opinion, as it's a pure pop anthem, full of sweet melodies and optimistic lyrics (and with a decent production...).
Michael Kuhn aka Grinser also was a member of the (rather similar although softer, music-wise) Grom duo.
Dakar & Grinser - 1999 Are You Really Satisfied Now
Info here.
P.S.In the meanwhile I found the promo CD single, with remixes by Patrick Pulsinger (also as an extra in the album), Abe Duque, Tobi Neumann, etc. Here:.jpeg)
Dakar & Grinser - 2001 Stay With Me (The Remixes)
Info here.
The Great Gigolo Swindle
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For Gigolo's 50th release anniversary, they issued a small book designed by Abuse Industries, accompanied by a mix by Carlos Souffront and narrated by Brendan M. Gillen of Ectomorph, radio-style ('...on WCBN FM'). 'Crush Collision' show includes full interview with the CEO of Gigolo (...) praising his label and its 50 year history (.?.?.), answering to listeners' phone calls, etc.
Besides (or despite) the voice-overs, expect nothing more than one of the best Gigolo-related mixes, totally in the spirit of the time and with respect to all aspects of the label's sound. As for the book, grab it where you find it, it's excellent work; but take very good care of it. Unfortunately it was very poorly constructed; it fell apart very soon after I bought it (and without much handling...) and the same thing happened to all other copies I've seen.
VA - The Great Gigolo Swindle mix (2000)
Info here.
The mix is split in four parts. For the track-list check the re-release 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..
Heavy Hitters. Time 2 Jackk
A request fulfilled. Chicago jack from Disko B, as you'd expect it.
VA - 2002 Heavy Hitters. Time 2 Jackk
Info here.
Populär Serie. Teil 1 Und 2
Weird and sweet electronics from this rather obscure Munich- based label, of which I know nothing - I've actually encountered a CD only once, while recently I dug up a post (here) in the sickness-abounds blog.
These two CDs compile two vinyl LPs, parts 1 and 2 of (what was to be) the six parts Populär Serie. Names like N.U.F. (*), Hecker , Move D, Solvent and Hans Platzgumer (of H.P.Zinker and Queen Of Japan) should be enough to draw attention and help the label to sell. Still, it looks like this was their swan song - and a pity it is, as the game here seems to be originality, a lost concept to most. In the process, wonderful (and mostly accessible) weirdness has infiltrated most of the tracks while forms and styles dissolve and merge freely. Rather under-produced and away from the norms and hypes of the time, it went largely unnoticed - at least here (I checked it just because I was deep into Friedmann at the time). Part experimental electronics, part weird breaks, part US electro pop a la Ghostly Int. (a few years before them), it provides a slightly incoherent yet uncompromisingly attractive proposition. You might listen to it and ignore most of it at a time, only to re-discover certain tracks a couple of years later, pitying yourself for the time you lost.
'Tell Me The Truth' by the Electric Sheep is one of the electro-pop anthems in my brain, and 'Archer' by Move D is a favorite for reasons best left unexplained. All Source fans should pay attention to this one, by the way.
A good trick is to start with the second CD, turning the volume up.
VA - Heimelektro Ulm Populär Serie
Teil 1 Und 2 . 2000-2001
CD1 - CD2
Info here.
Supermarkt
Disko Bombs from the past.
An early era comp CD of tracks by several of the oldschool Munich scene, with the help of some special guests. Compiled by Hell (*), it gives a good account of early Disko B and related artists' releases, documenting the sound of the time - dirty noisy acid, speed techno and post-punk aesthetics combine with catastrophic results. Other local children of the night involved are Robert Görl of earlier D.A.F. fame and boy wonder Richard Bartz; we should possibly count Kotai (*,*) and DJ GoodGroove with them, even though they later made their name in Berlin and Frankfurt respectively.
Also represented are the Austria-based team of Pulsinger- Tukanan (here with Electric Indigo as Northstar), who played a big role in the development of this sound anyway; they're still active in it occasionally. And there's one of the rare early releases of Cologne's Riley Reinhold (of the Traum- Trapez- MBF empire), as Triple R here.
Finally, you'll find here the heavily played Dave Clarke remix on 'Hot On The Heels Of Love', Hell's take on the TG classic (*), as well as the otherworldly Jeff Mills rework on 'Allerseelen', a top track of the time.
Not for the weak.
VA - 1994 Supermarkt, a Disko B compilation
CD1 - CD2
Info here.
Time Trap Technik
Some more of The Advent. Just Cisco Ferreira, that is (earlier posts here and here).
This is the electro side of The Advent, mechanistic and jittery and spacey. First released on his own Kombination Research and then on Gigolo Records (half of the tracks were previously released in his KR 12"s), most tracks are typically loops in rather fast BPMs, without many changes and far from the average electro pop song structure, while others sound as if they were customized for Hell's label, with '80s feeling and arpeggios. The basic fierce energetic Advent feeling is always there, of course, so an old fan would hardly be disappointed (I know I wasn't). On the other hand, the whole project seems caught somewhere in the middle between Ferreira's desire to experiment with pure electro forms and his natural tendency to produce club tools. When it works it's great (see 'E-Tox', a masterpiece) but in my opinion his tracks are designed for and work better as breaks between his more 4/4 tech tracks. Still, for that special night when you'd like to listen to robots music, 'Time Trap Technik' delivers.
The Advent - 2000 Time Trap Technik
Part 1 - Part 2
Info here.
Munich Machine
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