Trentemøller's 2nd Album

of Anders Trentemøller and the follow up of the highly succesful ‘The Last Resort’ (2006).
Just like his debut, which struck a chord with new audiences all around the world, ‘Into The Great Wide Yonder’ is a truly remarkable album, offering as much depth and soul as it’s predecessor, yet sounding ultimately fresh and different.
Above all, the ten tracks show an artist that’s willing to take risks, find inspiration in new places and move beyond the sound of his previous album.
Trentemøller: ‘Of course I didn’t want to make the same record twice. So the album is for me a logic development from ’The Last Resort’’. Instead he just started to collect new ideas, without thinking too much about the direction
the music would take him: ‘The only thing I knew was that I’d want the music to sound more organic and analog.’
Compared to the intimate electronic mood pieces of ‘The Last Resort’,
the ten tracks on the new album indeed have a more strange, mystic and
dramatic vibe, with a lot of dynamics, distorted, driving twang- guitars, real
and electronic drums mixed with haunting synths.
With ‚Into The Great Wide Yonder‘ Trentemøller is not only exploring new
moody and atmospheric universes, but combines his sense for glorious
soundscapes with a firm melodic and tonal touch. The original chord progressions
and feel for melodies is fundamental to him, and that‘s also the
reason why most of the instruments are played by Trentemøller himself on
this album. ‚I like the possibility to be surprised that chords and melodies
change into something new. The music that I like most lets the themes and
sounds come back in different disguises‘.
The Danish multi instrumentalist and producer shows an unexpected talent
for finding vocalists that fit the mood of his songs. The first single of the
album, the beautifully tender ‘Sycamore Feeling’, featuring Marie Fisker, is
a typical highlight. In fact, all the vocal tracks are stunning. Trentemøller
chose to collaborate with the English artist Fyfe Dangerfield from UK based
Guillemots and Danish singers Solveig Sandnes and Josephine Philip from
the debuting Danish indie girlduo Darkness Falls. They all manage to add
their own sound and flavour to the album, while their voices blend perfectly
with Trentemøller’s atmospheric songs.
This is an album that keeps growing for a long time, as every track works its
way stealthily under your skin. The sound of ‘Into The Great Wide Yonder’
might be one step ahead of his previous work, but we still easily recognize
the hand of Trentemøller, in this inspired collection of songs and atmospheres.
The sonic richness, sharp contrasts and daring musical colours
are vintage Trentemøller.
‘Into The Great Wide Yonder’ is the work of an artist and producer who
seems to be completely at ease in the studio. No wonder, as Trentemøller
prefers the silence of the night and the solitude of his own apartment in his
hometown Copenhagen to create his music. So even though the album
sounds like a big production job in an expensive studio, all of the tracks
were in fact recorded in his home. When a new label was set up to fit his
unique sound, it came as no surprise that Trentemøller chose the name ‘In
My Room’.
Eery sounds from everything including a theremin to an old musicbox is
used to create a warm, analog sound with a lot of attitude. Trentemøller:
‘I recorded most of the album in my computer, but in the final stages I
transferred all the parts to analog tape through a lot of vintage EQ‘s and pre
amps. The tape saturation and the analog outboard really helped getting
the warm sound that I was after.‘
‘Into The Great Wide Yonder’ might demand more from the listener than
‘The Last Resort’, as it ended up being quite a dramatic album. This album
is more noisy, there’s more happening.‘ But getting to know the tracks
definitely is a rewarding experience, as the album will keep growing and
growing for a long time to come and its safe to say that Anders Trentemøller
has managed to create a second coming to rival everything he’s done in
the past.

Cocoon: Carola & Curly in the mix

 

 

For the fourth year running Cocoon Recordings gives a forecast on the upcoming Ibiza Season with the latest in its Summer Mix series. After having such renowned DJs as Dubfire, Loco Dice, André Galluzzi and Chris Tietjen, the Cocoon team were able to play another well-known DJ ace from their sleeve: Marco Carola. The Naples-born DJ/Producer brought Italy onto the map of uncompromising Techno with his strictly ltd edition releases during the Nineties, but is also one of the protagonists of the breakthrough of reduced Techno-Funk, having released on Richie Hawtin's Plus 8 label and his own platform Domestic.Minimal.Noise over recent years.

With his mix, Carola illustrates the perfect party night on Amnesia's main floor in a sultrily and percussive yet always sexy and elegant form of Minimal Funk. In particular, Marco Carola gives a major platform to breakthrough artists, like the Spaniard Kobaalt or the Reisak Corporation from Venice. The mix builds with a constant intensity and  his finale has you ready to throw your arms in the air with some familiar tracks by Martin Buttrich ("Hoochie Mama") and Layo & Bushwacka ("The Longest Day", highlighted here through the Audiofly remix).

The second disc is taken up by the superb Nick Curly from Mannheim. Curly has already proved himself with his productions for Plastic City, 8 Bit and Cocoon as well as his own label Cécille Records, which he runs together with Marc Scholl, he is a DJ who stands for the powerful rejuvenation of deep House and his passion for this comes out in everything he does. With his impressively energetic set, Curly demonstrates that soulful vocals and solid, hypnotic house make great bedfellows.
From the off the mix displays the depth of character in Curly’s selection from the  percussive Power House of "Get Your Space" by producer team Phil Weeks vs. Krakatoa through the  jazziness of Gorge ("Makena") and onto the dubby excursion of Horacio ("Taberna del Funk") there is a wealth of quality on offer here. Butch’s wildpitch style ‘No Worries’ and Curly’s own brand of new disco funk on offer in ‘Keep On’ further add to richness of the mix and by the time you reach the closing bars of Burridge and Dekay’s ‘Wongel’ it is clear to see why Cocoon were so keen to have Curly onboard.

Cocoon have been instrumental in the Ibiza season for over a decade now and this is yet another marker of their constant importance and relevance. It’s also a damn good compilation!

Running Back pres. Mim Suleiman

 

Running Back super proudly presents: Mim Suleiman! The Zanzibar born and Sheffield based singer/songwriter/performer made quite a name for herself on the afro-beat stages of this world with her mixture of East African vocals and percussive traditions. Tungi is Mim Suleiman’s debut long-player which has her singing and writing in her native tongue Swahili. Tungi is a mixture of all things ultramodern afro beat, rhythm trax and futuristic pop music. Starting off with the uplifting vibe and beat of Hebu, you will find boogie moments like Nyuli or Bibi Na Mpu (including a dub version) along the way, as well as quieter moments, rhythmic adventures called Flava or the hi-life guitars of Mingi and Haraka Haileti Baraka. Music for the world, led by the powerhouse that is Mim Suleiman and her lyrics about love and affection, freedom, oppression, unity and everyday life. Mesmerizing and addictive. Produced by Maurice Fulton. Mim says BlessUp! Big Up! Press photographs are available on request. The artist is available for Interviews and radio mixes in the run up to release.

Congratulations to 10 years of Fumakilla!

 

TEN is the magic number with Berlin imprint Fumakilla!
2010 marks its tenth anniversary, and to celebrate, label owner Woody has compiled ten new, exclusive tracks from the roster, including Felipe Venegas, Livio & Roby, Valenzuela & Casarano, Leix & Ronro, Larsson, Alejandro Vivanco, Danny Fiddo, Autotune and of course Woody himself.

Over the past ten years, the Fumakilla team has been weaving 1s and 0s into intricate patterns, establishing itself as a source for sexy and pumpin’ club tracks with a sophisticated, artful bend (matched by its award-winning record sleeve designs). The dance label has gained a reputation of quality over quantity, with around 40 releases (including sublabel Fumalab) in its decade of existence, allowing creativity to flow at its own pace, striving toward a certain timeless quality. This compilation’s ten hand-picked productions serve as a state-of-the-union of Fumakilla’s international crew, from mellow grooves to galloping jams, deep and techno-house.

But wait, there’s more! As you may know, Woody is not just a producer and label owner, but also a distinguished DJ, and for the compilation’s second disc, he’s mixed an audio excursion of additional tracks from Fumakilla’s back catalog.
The one-hour mix serves as a balanced overview of the past ten years, including his own track-as-mission-statement “Fumakilla Funk” from 2000, his remix of Autotune’s “Dirty”, plus other hits and lesser-known tracks from the likes of Jona, Paul Ritch, The Dose and Livio & Roby.

Whether you are an ardent follower of the label, or are just curious for an introduction, Ten Years of Fumakilla is a perfect TEN!

Cocoon Compilation J!

 

When the then still young Frankfurt label Cocoon Recordings discovered the long-playing format with its Compilation A in Summer 2000, probably nobody could have, even approximately, foreseen the success story of this series. For ten years now, the cocoon-style declination of the alphabet is a guarantor for high-class and exclusively produced floor burners by the international Techno and House elite, and, beyond that, a reliable indicator for the stylistic bandwidth of contemporary electronic dance music. And even with the previous editions A to I having set the bar damn' high, the J edition starts with a true musical sensation, as the opener "Cocoon Dark Dub" comes from nobody less than Moritz von Oswald. "Those who – even just rudimentary – have followed the evolution of electronic music over the last twenty years, know about the outstanding importance of von Oswald's timeless classics like "Domina", "M-4" or the whole Basic Channel series. Insofar, "Cocoon Dark Dub" is maybe the nicest birthday present at all, and an absolute honour for our label." (Sven Väth) So, initially, it's the heartbeat of Dub Techno that pulsates through a lonely piano and noise fractals, and club world keeps its breath for a good eight minutes. However, the Compilation J literally puts out all the stops over the following 110 minutes playtime and shows what modern electronic dance music has to offer in these times. The Dial impresario Pantha Du Prince from Hamburg is celebrating crystalline ice dance ("Bolder"), while Cécille label head Nick Curly, with his sensual Tribal House, is feasting the most compact form of Disco Boogie that one can imagine ("Keep On"). With "SBooty", the Kompakt ambassador DJ Koze, also from Hamburg, is flabbergasting the audience by combining virtually incompatible elements. Improvised horn licks are whirring through a flickering resonating body while the bass kick is filling up the tropic ambient air. However, the invariably Cocoon policy to always support interesting newcomers becomes visible in the contribution of Basti Grub from the Rhine Neckar area, whose label Höhenregler is well-known for several musical insider tips in the past. "Sick" is ascending into your brain immediately with its melodic high-frequency hook line and mysterious vocals, matching perfectly to the melancholic playfulness of the tracks by Guy Gerber. Deep Dish member Ali Shirazinia aka Dubfire and the Parisian Popof are the ones to prove impressively that you virtually can't go wrong with stringent Hypno Techno and a diaphragm-shaking bass drum. Besides the above-mentioned, the J compilation holds such well-known producers like Loco Dice, Extrawelt, Reboot and last not least long-time Cocoon companion Ricardo Villalobos, whose 12-minutes-long dance on the echo-filled "Humusweg" once again draws the bow to the Basic Channel sound from another side, and leaves much room for own visions in between the pulsing metronome of the bass line. In any case, the history of electronic dance music has not been outtold so far.

Der Dritte Raum is back!

 

It’s hard to believe but it’s been 16 years since Andreas Krüger released his first album on Harthouse, followed by five more albums and countless 12-inches on various labels. This coming album, his seventh, will be released on his own imprint Save to Disc, which has recently been the subject of a friendly takeover by Andreas.
With Rosa Rausch, Andreas has released another one of his typical musical kaleidoscopes. His distinctive grooves last from the first to the very last bar of the record – sometimes brisk, sometimes subtle; he knows how to fascinate his audience. His deep love for hypnotic arrangements and entrancing synth-lines - derived from the classic machines of the last century – exudes from every moment of this album. Still the tracks don’t fit the usual labels. The impact of two decades of House and Techno merge with solid Ambient sounds, Electro and Swing into a genre-busting amalgam full of musical surprises. You can hear that this bedrock of Techno history is beyond proving himself to anyone, every musical facet is an exactly placed but casual shot from the hip. Andreas exquisitely manages to transfer day-to-day inspiration into distinct musical positions.
Wonderful moments come out of this vintage machinery: pounding and hissing like a steam train, title track Rosa Rausch gains momentum on this trip into the countryside. Beats jingle cheerfully like ice cubes in a highball glass. Summery synthies convey a feeling of sand between your toes. Two other tracks, Lieblingsloop and Blautaut, also have this spirit of the summer; with a feeling of effortlessness and of the sun shining on your face, the music takes your hand and draws you to the dance floor.
That’s where Swing Bop is already waiting for you. Last year’s uber-hit, still putting a smile on all our faces. But, as we all know, Der Dritte Raum has other sides to him, too. Gerät außer Kontrolle lets lose a crazy percussion session, a worthy reference to old school Techno.
Soft and warm, the album comes to an end; the descent begins with a Kleine Freiluftschleife, on Weitwelt, we take one last round through the orbit in our little space ship and dreamily look at Andreas Krüger’s sound universe. At the Landungsbrücken, the pilot finally drops us off. We stay on the bank for a little while, relive those manifold images of our journey and enjoy the evening sun on our faces. Life’s good.
The single swing bop sold already more than 6000 copies, his previous albums wellenreiter and raumgleiter sold more than 20.000 copies, expect this to be one of the albums of this year´s summer!

Chocolate Album by Tiefschwarz

 

The night sky is a shade of “Tiefschwarz” (deep black). Or at least it has been in Germany, Europe and the rest of
the world since sometime around 1997 when brothers Ali and Basti Schwarz joined rhythmic forces. Their first
venture was ‘24seven’, which firmly put the then sleepy Stuttgart on the map as a top nightlife destination. The
deep house duo then debuted with their pertinently titled single ‘Music’ in 1998 and by 2001 the pair were
expanding the parameters of modern dance music with their album ‘RAL9005’. Tiefschwarz quickly became a
mainstay on the club scene. With the licensing of the album by Classic Recordings Tiefschwarz captured the
attention of London, paving the way for their rise to international notoriety. Through high profile remixes they have
also made a name for themselves as masters of reworking other people’s tunes. Depeche Mode (‘John The
Revelator’), Madonna (‘Get Together’) and Spektrum (‘Kinda New’) are just three of the many artists who have
had the Tiefschwarz treatment.
So that’s the background story. But the days of setting up their decks in the evening sun at the now legendary
club ON-U in Stuttgart are now a distant memory for Tiefschwarz – you’re now more likely to find them in their
studio in Berlin. And as it gets dark and the deep black of the night sets in, Tiefschwarz come to life – clubbing
being their biggest vice, yet also their biggest strength.
Now they’re back with their third album ‘Chocolate’, and a major leap forward for the duo: things are different now
for Tiefschwarz, as this is the first release on their own label, Souvenir. Ali and Basti now have the world at their
feet and are revelling in the artistic freedom that comes with their independence, as you can hear in their latest
work; the tracks reflect their musical development over the last few years. Techno and house still form the
foundations, yet Tiefschwarz push themselves beyond their previous limits. They’ve found a new, intrinsic sound
of their own that oscillates between numerous genres – at once both clear-cut and immensely intricate. One
minute the steady bass drives a dancing rhythm, the next it would have you believe that four to the floor is actually
a beat based on a prime number.
‘Chocolate’ is everything: subtle, bitter, and sweet, without milk and sugar, it is hand crafted from only the finest
ingredients. The tracks work perfectly on the dance floor, yet at the same time, the album as a whole is great to
listen to outside of the club setting, due to its fantastic depth, enduring vocal tracks and subtle production
methods. The first single ‘Find Me’ is the perfect example of striking the right balance between music to dance to
and music to listen to – resident at Berlin’s Panorama Bar, Cassy can be heard on this track, who has made a
name for herself through working with the likes of Steve Bug and Ricardo Villalobos. Alongside Cassy, guest
features include Seth Troxler, Dave Aju and a talented new singer with an incredible voice, whose identity is yet to
be revealed...
Ali and Basti worked with Philipp Maier, alias Santé to produce the tracks, and the new dynamic that has emerged
from the collaborative production process has manifested itself in a distinct live quality. So much so that
Tiefschwarz will now be performing as a live act for the first time, with Santé joining Ali and Basti to complete the
live Tiefschwarz line up. Preparations for this summer’s Chocolate tour are well under way, with big ideas in the pipeline. Tiefschwarz aren’t just perfecting the art of creating their tracks live, but are also entering new territory
with their plans for the use of visuals. Without wanting to give too much away, it’s safe to say that light and
shadow will play a role in creating new depths within a charged and penetrating live performance. And the focus
is not on two, ahem, three men with their laptops, but rather on the music itself.

Album: Ost & Kjex return on Diynamic

 

With a sound that straddles electro, funk, disco and house, Oslo based duo Ost & Kjex return with their second long-player ‘Cajun Lunch’ on Hamburg based imprint, Diynamic.

Having released their cheese fixated (and indeed sampled) debut album ‘Some Cheese but not all Cheese comes from the Moon’ in 2004 the food obsessed Norwegian pair have released a multitude of EPs and remixes on labels such as Crosstown Rebels, Planetnoise, Modular, Snick Snack, Punkt, Dialect and now Diynamic Music and played in venues and festivals all over the world including Fabric (UK), Panorama Bar (DE), Moog (ES), Fusion Festival (DE), Hove Festival (NO), Nu Music (NO) and Noveau Casino (France) to name a few.

The debut album, to their big surprise awarded them a nomination for best electronica album at the Norwegian Grammys and the pair continued to develop their sound on releases such as ‘More Songs About Cheese And Revolutionary Tarts’, ‘How Not To Be A Biscuit’ and ‘Boston Food Strangler’.

Since then the food boys have awoken, got their hands on some serious sounds and started shredding out tunes aimed at the dance floor. In the summer of 2008 they stumbled upon Hamburg based Croatian Solomun, resulting in a collaboration track called "Federgewicht" (Featherweight) and the beginning of their association with Diynamic whilst only last summer the pair contributed vocals on the dance floor hit ‘Summertime’ by UK producer Jamie Jones.
In between live shows and remixing the busy food geeks have now prepared their second course for your delectation. As the title suggests ‘Cajun Lunch’ mixes elements of delta blues and bayou basslines into their organic house sound, especially on the guitar filled ‘Bluecheeseblues Parts 1 and 2’ but also in the general laidback atmosphere that envelopes every track. From the opening sun-kissed grooves of ‘Mosambiquetravelplan’ featuring Bugge Wesseltoft on piano to the sexed-up funk of ‘Continental Lover’ and the deep house tones of ‘The Yellow Man’ the boys continue to conspire with the album’s guest vocalist, Tracee Meyn.   Providing a juxtaposition to the pairs’ house foundation and Mr. Ost’s falsetto lead vocals, Tracee becomes an integral part of ‘Cajun Lunch’s funk filled sound giving it that extra spice to their production relish. On the darker and minimal edged ‘A New Deal’ and bassline driven ‘Seraphine’ Tracee is further assisted by members of her gospel choir who combine to give ‘Cajun Lunch’ a fuller, more rounded sound whilst tracks like ‘We Got Ticket To Moon’ and ‘Bluebird’ see the guys strip everything down to the bare essentials and groove with their machines, taking their house sound into dark, sweat filled boxes the world over.
‘Cajun Lunch’ is house music but not as we know it (and certainly with more cheeses). Whilst ‘The Yellow Man’ spins a shimmering groove that sees Tracee sparring with Mr. Ost’s lovelorn delivery we also find the duo’s production dexterity in full bloom on the closing ‘Lets Set The Time’ which takes a slo-mo house groove into deep dub territory with Mr. Ost providing a dreamlike vocal over the top, lulling us in to a chilled, hammock-strewn slumber.

Ost & Kjex’s love for electronic music still takes the boys wherever the cheese is fresh and the beats are crunchy: from the Reggiano Parmesan factory in Verona to your local watering hole, churning out theatrical performances or fucked-up live sets for the dance floor. This summer will be no exception as you will find them gigging in clubs, live venues and festivals across the world both as a duo and also featuring "The Traces" gospel choir.

Live on macro - Elektro Guzzi Album

 

 Man/Machine: Vienna’s Elektro Guzzi challenge the meaning of “live” in electronic music. Bored of laptop sets? With a “classic” setup of guitar, bass and drums Elektro Guzzi quantize themselves to an unheard level of discipline, tightness and danceability. No computers, no pre-recorded loops, no solos. Probably the first time techno is really played live. As sequential as they may sound, they couldn’t be more analogue. But however traditional they may look as a band, they certainly do not sound like one. The quest for the ultimate live presentation of Techno has come to an end. Produced by Patrick Pulsinger (Hercules & Love Affair, M-Plant, Cheap), the album is a masterstroke resulting in great dancefloor movers, state of the art analogue recordings and a prime showcase of Elektro Guzzi’s incredible creative capabilities. Played live with no overdubs, this record breaks down the demarcation line separating man and machine. Everything in techno has been done? You ain’t heard nothing yet. !!! Elektro Guzzi LIVE at Sónar (Barcelona), Berghain (Berlin), Fabric (London), Trouw (Amsterdam), Spring Festival (Graz), Flex (Vienna), Rote Sonne (Munich), Mellow festival (Sofia) and maaaany more.