Some very good and diverse releases came out last November – between peak-time techno and new electro-pop discoveries. Here in our New In review.
D.C. Callas – „I Call(ed) Home“ (R.A.N.D. Muzik x Echocentric)
For the fourth time, the Leipzig label RAND is teaming up with the Finnish colleagues from Echocentric. This album by Belgian producer DC Callas celebrates the sound that both labels more or less consistently achieve. Progressive House meets Trance meets Goa. Sounds like the 1990s? Damn right baby! The present tunes were created over two years and deal with the musician's personal losses. This 10-track collection of pumping 4-to-the-floor stompers proves that the result doesn't have to be sad ambient, but can actually be danceable. The music is extremely driving, always percussive and psychedelic.
“A Precious Loss” has early 90s trance feelings in the off-beat bass and the pads in gate mode. Eye Q send greetings. “Gallery's Endless Dream” chirps beautifully in acid mode until the pads sweeten your dreams. Including a New Order commemorative guitar on the bass side and some scary vocals. A percussive synth provides a melodic addition. “Movimentos” surprises with an ultra trancy break, which of course really impressed me. Sometimes it can be a little cheesy. Sometimes you get the feeling that the producer followed his feelings rather than creating the tracks according to a rigid (functional) pattern. Tracks often develop in surprising directions or end slightly prematurely. However, despite all the references to the sound of the 1990s, it must be emphasized that the pieces never drift into too great a trance gesture. Really nice and long release. Available on double vinyl and of course digitally.
Nils' hit: “Movimentos” – Why: I have a secret love for cheesy trance breaks.
Elva Skyn – „Transparent Romance“ (Self-released)
The debut EP of the Leipzig project Elva Skyn was released on November 3rd under the name “Transparent Romance”. An exciting variety of dark and cold electro-pop unfolds on the three tracks of the EP. What stands out is a sound design that is by no means characterized by economy, but still shines with elements of concentration on the essential and omission. Through this soundscape, we listeners are allowed to participate in the painful inner monologues of a vulnerable and self-critical voice in depressingly intimate directness. This creates very strange, sometimes alienating electro-pop songs that, in their contemporary darkness, create a diffuse, inward-looking threat.
David's hit: “Can't U Feel It” – Why: Because it seems to pretty much sum up the strengths of the Elva Skyn project.
Sun People – “After The End EP” (Defrostatica)
A new Sun People EP on Defrostatica? This is actually always a safe bet for good music. Because the Graz producer, btw. who is also more involved in the A&R of the Leipzig label, has been a guarantee for seamless interweaving of techno, jungle and footwork for several years. Just right in minimalism, but also just right in breaky dynamics. His new EP is no exception. Four driving, elegant tracks that combine modernity and nostalgia in equal measure with delicate sounds, subtly interspersed vocal samples and some deep house chords from the early noughties. And all in 160 beats per minute. This is simply very adult dance music with a fine sense of ecstasy and attention to detail. Mega EP!
Jens' hit: “After The End” Why: Because this fine transition between house and breaks works so extremely well here.
Alexey Dunchyk – „The Knot EP“ (Recorded Things)
Wow, what's going on here? This techno EP starts off with a lot of driving and it immediately lifts your skull. “Marshmallows” goes straight forward, the kick is pressing, the grating and sucking sounds are immediately established – and the metallic hi-hat sets accents. “Surge Oscillation” is no less bold with its delayed background noise. This is prime time rave. Otherwise, the 5-track EP simply offers very well-produced techno tracks that always come with that certain something. Functional, bold and dark. For fans of Jeff Mills or Umek.
Nils' hit: “Marshmallows” Why: The track has such a magnetic effect that you can't help yourself.
Pony Pracht – „Google Poem“ (Self-released)
After releasing the phenomenal solo debut “Lomb” in 2023, Pony Pracht is finally back with a remarkable release – and an exciting Eastern European tour. Condensed into one and a half tracks, Pony Pracht explores the effectiveness of her voice. The eponymous track is preceded by an arithmetically formalized composition of a voice sample. The piece leaves the field of pop music and explores the possibilities of a single articulation in a continuation of a compositional tradition that relies more on repetition and deviation, as is known from new music.
“Google Poem” seems more like a pop music feature. The focus is on a metaphorically condensed lyrical contemplation about being an outsider and loss. Crystal clear and delicately sung, the vocals float above a reserved accompaniment, again characterized by heavily digitally processed voice samples. The title “Google Poem” creates a small, subversive doubt in its reception, as the question of textual authorship is opened without being closed. It can't be broken down, but it would make sense: If the moniker Pony Pracht, as stated in the Spotify bio, means “human voice […] “digital manipulation” applies, then the possible recitation of an AI-generated poem could also be read as a performative subversion without having to resort to too much angle advocacy. But even without this assumption, “Google Poem” remains an intense, atmospheric song. Pony Pracht once again only needs a little space to show their musical and ambitions, although the reduction to the musical is almost a little short-sighted. “Google Poem” is a great piece of sensitive and subversive electro pop – but the conceptual strength of the release actually seems a bit brighter and arouses great interest.
David's hit: There are only two pieces, there is enough space for both.
Various Artists “Connwax 10” (Connwax)
Connwax had a small anniversary to celebrate in November – the tenth release. After the last three artist EPs, it was apparently time again for a small showcase of work, aka a compilation. With Carlotta Jacobi and Oliver Rosemann, two strong constants of the Leipzig techno scene are there, each with a new track. While Carlotta Jacobi takes a little trip to Detroit with a certain Deepnee, Oliver Rosemann condenses the sounds and beats into a maximally driving current. On the back you can hear South African newcomer Justyn Nell with his groovy, swinging techno track “Tiles”. And Red Rooms, a Berlin-based producer, is also on the “Connwax 10” – his “Undercover Expeditions” are also racing at high speed, while around them a synth is exploring the dance floor in a searching, dark atmosphere. A very coherent and good compilation.
Jens' hit: “Stories Untold” Why: Because Detroit always works!
A² – “RM12030“ (R.A.N.D. Muzik)
More Music from Planet RAND! And this release is once again a special one. Very good EPs from the producer duo A² and its members from the UK were released on the RAND label in 2019 and 2022. I didn't know the music of Andy Panayi and Alec Stone until then and was even more amazed by the timelessness and quality of the music. A little research into the act shows that Andy Panayi unfortunately passed away in 2020. If you dig a little deeper, you find out that A² peaked as producers in the late nineties and early noughties and ran their own label called “An Alien Records”. Many of the old EPs are highly sought after treasures in the Discogs universe.
This EP appears to be unreleased material. “Street Renegade” sounds super groovy and organic. A playful breakbeat and a solid bassline as a basis and an arpeggio with soulful pads on top. Goes in well. At the “Uptown Park Breaks” the name says it all. All the sounds sound like quality and it doesn't take much for the track to trigger your inner longings and dance muscles at the same time.
The concept is expanded on “Electro Boogie”. Here again, it's the specifically placed synth sounds and the grooves that make the track hit you straight away. The voice samples do the rest. “Reckless” has a 4/4 beat for a change. The break shines with vocoder sounds and padding before it goes down and forward.
Once again very timeless material that RAND gives a stage here.
Nils' hit: “Electro Boogie” – Why: If I had to choose one of the four very good pieces, it would be this one.
Rustre „Holding Hands With Runaways“ (Self-released)
In November, the self-proclaimed Leipzig “one-person DIY project” Rustre released a new EP. “Holding Hands With Runaways” is a masterpiece of six songs, which in the accompanying communication is placed in the context of an unusually clear program of content: Lyrically, the EP deals with the difficult relationship between attraction and repulsion in social relationships.
This thematic focus point opens up a whole new playing field for Rustre. While the musician has previously been known primarily for atmospheric and expansive tracks, which often have a meditative quality, another quite surprising facet emerges here in the sound aesthetics, which have been honed over the years and now six releases. The six tracks on the EP sound much more distinct from each other than before. They can (and perhaps are allowed to?) stand a little more for themselves – and they don't have to serve as much in the service of an overall aesthetic that was allowed to dominate the entire work on previous releases. It almost seems like an allowance for more traditional songwriting. Rustre's space of movement is once again reformulated here, without denying the sonic identity that has been cultivated so far.
“Holding Hands With Runaways” is more immediate than the more meditative and atmospheric 2021 release “Quo”. The fact that Rustre's songwriting is given space to express itself lyrically and also has the freedom to keep the song structures comparatively ordinary makes this EP seem like the perfect complement to the very flat and meditative, also fantastic “Quo”.
David’s hit: “Lichen” – Why? Because I really like these kind of driving dreampop/shoegaze/post-rock anthems.
Bigalke “Schattenbraut” (Don’t Be Afraid Of Yourself)
Bigalke, a long-time distillery resident, founded his own label this summer – Don't Be Afraid Of Yourself. And then at the end of November he presented the second one-track EP called “Schattenbraut”. Bigalke has long played the intersection between techno, industrial and experimental. With his label he seems to focus on this even more consistently. With dark German spoken words, cool sounds, harsh-breaking Hard-Tek bass drums and a play between fetish and dystopia. Musically it certainly has its appeal, but the vocals give the track a pathos that I can't do much with. But I'm sure: Between the many techno edits, “Schattenbraut” can definitely stand out and pick up the dark ravers well.
Jens' hit: “Schattenbraut” Why: Well, it's just a track. But what I actually celebrate is this breaky vibe.
Source: https://www.frohfroh.de/43658/new-in-nov-2024
