Discrete Circuit ‘Remote Conversation’

Running one of Berlin’s most exciting party series AWAY,Discrete Circuit has established himself as an emerging part of the capital’s electronic underground scene. After releasing on such labels as Mistress Recordings, Delsin, and Wolfskuil as well as his own imprint AWAY Music, his spanking new platform ASTRAY not only showcases Discrete Circuit’s darker, edgier techno drive but also welcomes befriended artists for reinterpretations as well as unique collaborations.

He’s soon set to release the Observer EP, a two-tracker set to land on September 29. Ahead of this, however, he’s offered up “Remote Conversation,” an unreleased techno dancefloor jam. Grab it now via WeTransfer below.

Remote Conversation

Various Artists Klockworks 20

You’d expect a compilation from a label run by a modern-day Berlin techno luminary to be defined by a taut and muscular momentum. You’d probably also surmise it to be a collection of tracks that roll along without blatantly obvious breakdowns; you’d assume that the bpms would generally be in the very high 120 to the mid-130s; and you’d be surprised if the selections weren’t both crisply efficient and fairly moody. And most of the music on Klockworks 20, the 20th release from Ben Klock’s Klockworks label, ticks off all those boxes.

But Klock, of course is of course no ordinary techno luminary. Thanks to a long career steeped in the genre, during which he emerged as a key player in the Berghain/Ostgut Ton juggernaut, he’s one of the sound’s premier-league figures, regarded with an awe-struck fervor by those with an emotional investment in this kind of music. They’d expect a little bit more than simple steamrollers, and Klockworks 20 pays off in that regard as well—on most of these tracks, the momentum is leavened by nuance and inventiveness in ways that look beyond the dance floor, and at their best attain a subtle, hypnotic dignity.

Klock’s own “Twenty” serves as a template for much of the set’s 20 tracks (he’s really got a thing for that particular number). A series of pulsing tones set the tempo, while simple, flowing bass delineates the substratum, both courtesy of a Korg MS-20. A patiently evolving percussion pattern is fleshed out with dub effects, and a short keyboard riff towards the end serves as a kind of punctuation mark. It’s spartan and clean, but also complete—it’s the kind of track that’s both full of feeling and would surely be effective over a big sound system.

Some of Klockwork 20’s numbers take a more minimalistic tack to reach a similar destination: Adam Craft’s “Aphite 49,” for instance, lashes a simple rhythm to a gurgling 303 bassline, a syncopated signal and occasional handclaps boosting its forward thrust. Others are slightly fuller: Steve Rachmad, under his Sterac alias, lays a procession of acidic bleeps in a choir of celestial synths. And a few just flat-out go for it: “Late Night Mistress” from Dax J (like Craft, a Klockworks newcomer) weds its sawtooth throb to a reverberating clang and rapid-fire hi-hats to galloping effect.

Amid all this robust momentum, there are a handful of outlier tracks, songs that toy with the pace or mood—and these cuts hit the mark as well. “Sombre Tones,” a gossamer beauty from the late, great Marcus “Trevino” Kaye (who also produced drum ’n’ bass as Marcus Intalex), underlays the sighing synths of its title to skittering percussion and reverberating bell for a fittingly melancholy tune. Benny Rodrigues, here working under his Rod alias, contributes the compilation’s sole ambient cut, “Extra,” its solemn melody and spacious, cathedral-esque aura imbuing the with a spiritual feel that hovers between sorrow and uplift. Like the Trevino cut, it’s a placid respite in a collection that’s more concerned with drive and intensity—but you’ll find many such moments of transcendence throughout Klockworks 20, as long as you listen closely.

Tracklisting

01. Etapp Kyle “Essay”
02. Jon Hester “Let’s Go”
03. Adam Craft “Aphite 49”
04. Sterac “Lately”
05. Ben Klock “Twenty”
06. DVS1 “In The Middle”
07. Trevino “Sombre Tones”
08. Newa “Dance Of The Warrior”
09. Dax J “Late Night Mistress”
10. ROD “Extra”
11. Sterac “Scientific Methods”
12. Troy “Flux”
13. Heiko Laux “Dark Fader”
14. Jay Clarke “Perdita”
15. Ritzi Lee -“Substract”
16. Reus “Acid Modo”
17. High Position “Cops”
18. Yoikol “Dense”
19. Adam Craft “Pacelane”
20. Vincent “How I Feel”

Klockworks 20 is scheduled for September 25 release.

Kirkis ‘Finally’

Multi-disciplinary artist Kirkis will release his anticipated debut album On October 3 via his own MODED label.

The album follows a string of releases on UK label Eglo Records and a handful of acclaimed stage performances with the likes of Floating Points, Hiatus Kaiyote, and Kirin J Callinan. The first taste of the album, a stark and grimy cut fittingly named “Finally,” dropped alongside an unsettling short film that gives a further glimpse into the borderless creative wormhole of Kirkis’ psyche. The film goes down a psychodrama route, as Kirkis explains:

“The first film clip is a derivative of a psychodrama film I made about the dark human cell of families surrounding the 1990’s manchester prison riot Strangeways—it was certainly an experience.”

In support of the approaching LP, you can download “Finally” via WeTransfer below.

You can pre-order the album here.

Finally

LUCIANBLOMKAMP Shares New Single

LUCIANBLOMKAMP has shared a new single from his forthcoming third album, Sick of What I Don’t Understand.

The album, which is themed around difficult transformations and self-realization, will drop in three parts via Different Recordings/PIAS (Europe, North America, Asia, ROW) and Good Manners Records (AU/NZ), beginning with part 1 on October 13. The first taste of the first part dropped a month ago and can be heard here, and now, the second taste has arrived in the form of “Still No,” a deconstructed UK bass cut which also features the work of MC legend Trim.

You can purchase “Still No” here, with the cut also streaming in full via the player below.

Premiere: Hear a Deep New Track From X-Coast

On September 29, Gregori Menendez (a.k.a. Grego After All) will launch UNDERTHESEA Records with X-Coast‘s Transformations EP.

UNDERTHESEA Records, which is also an underground queer night in Berlin (at Schwuz), looks to explore the grey area between house and techno, releasing up and coming acts alongside remixes from more established artists. For the first EP, UNDERTHESEA enlists New York-based artist X-Coast, who provides three ’90s rave-infused originals, backed by a remix from Berlin’s Borrowed Identity. The music presented is smooth and aqueous, focusing on swinging grooves and seductive female vocal chops to deliver a dose of dancefloor euphoria.

Ahead of the release later this month, you can stream “Groove La Coast” in full via the player below.

Errorsmith Returns to PAN with New LP

Errorsmith will return to PAN with a new LP, Superlative Fatigue.

Besides collaborating with the likes of Mark Fell, to Berghain resident Fiedel as MMM, and Soundstream as Smith N Hack, Wiegand has released a string of seminal dancefloor tracks. Building his own instruments using modular software synthesizers is a large part of his work, and almost all the sounds on the LP were created with his synth, “Razor,”—a synthesizer plug-in he developed for Native instruments, released in 2011—or slightly modified versions of it.

The eight-track release is described as his most “optimistic” record yet, and places a “strong emphasis on spectral exploration.” In comparison to his previous productions, Errorsmith (Erik Wiegand) sees the release as less abstract, harsh or aggressive: “I would say it is rather accessible and cheerful; at times ridiculously cheerful but still very sincere and emotional.” He suggests. “I find it touching when this little android raises its pitch at the end of “Lightspeed” or the android catching its breath in “My Party” for instance.”

The album title, Superlative Fatigue, reflects this tension between an over-the-top, hysterical emotion, against more deeply felt expressions or realness.

Tracklisting

01. Lightspeed (05:25)
02. Who-is (06:02)
03. I’m Interesting, Cheerful & Sociable (04:57)
04. Centroid (04:11)
05. Superlative Fatigue.(06:20)
06. Retired Low-level Internal Server (06:09)
07. Internet of Screws (04:54)
08. My Party (03:52)

Superlative Fatigue LP is scheduled for October 20 release, with “I’m Interesting, Cheerful & Sociable” streaming in full below.

Legowelt Announces New Clone Album

Danny Wolfers will release a new album as Legowelt next month.

Legendary Freaks In The Trash Of Time will land on Clone’s West Coast Series imprint. It will be the Dutch artist’s first appearance on the Dutch techno institution since 2012’s The Paranormal Soul LP.

We’re told to expect a “vivid collection of twelve genre-defying tracks: from late-night hermit house to Memphis rap influenced slow-jam electro, from Amiga 1200 techno-rave to cosmic spaceweed trance, including the whole universe in between.”

“Wolfers’ own hand-drawn sleeve artwork illustrates the album’s mood without the need for much further promotional blurb,” the label adds.

Although this is his first release for Clone in five years, Wolfers has been nothing short of prolific in this period: he’s put out material on Crème Organization, Unknown To The Unknown, and his own Nightwind Records. Earlier this year he revived his Smackos alias with A Vampire Goes West.

Tracklisting

01. My Life In A Bush Of Spaceweed
02. Its Midnite You Are Lost
03. NorthSea Wisdom
04. Axumisia V S612
05. Trips In Polarius
06. Revenge Of The Nerds
07. Whatever Happened To SurfHouse
08. Computerized Paradise
09. New Stories
10. Beyond The Mind Of Man
11. Legendary Freaks
12. La Guerre Aux Reves

Legendary Freaks In The Trash Of Time is scheduled for October 30 release, with clips streaming below.

DJ Lily ‘Nes’

The BROR Records label has just dropped the debut EP of DJ Lily with a four-track EP, BROR04.

BROR04 contributed “Folia” to BROR03 but this is the Gothenburg-based artist’s first solo EP. The focus is on ambient and dark layers across effective beat programming, presenting an alluring set of atmospheric and floor-aimed techno interpretations.

Following the EP’s September 15 release, “Nes”—a haunting techno cut—is available to download and stream below.

Tracklisting

A1: Paradigm
A2: Quo
B1: Nes
B2: Ohm

Nes

Levon Vincent Announces ‘For Paris’ LP

Levon Vincent’s second LP is in the works.

The Berlin-based US-native announced the LP, For Paris, via his Facebook page earlier today, along with a lengthy statement about the story behind it. The announcement draws reference to his controversial Facebook post where he suggested that people arm themselves with knives or mace in the wake of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris.The post attracted widespread criticism across social media.

The album will land in December, with the announcement and tracklisting in below:

“First, please let me apologize for how long it took to prepare an apology and make amends—I don’t like to do things unless it’s 100%—as you can imagine, due to the brevity of the horrible comments I made in 2015, I had a lot of thinking and looking inward to do on the situation. A LOT.

I want you to know I took things very seriously—I didn’t fully realize at that time that anyone thought of me as more than just a prankster or like, a techno dude making silly song titles. But actually what I learned is that the music industry has a lot in common with the political establishment. That was the base I chose for exploring new perspectives on humanity and how the world is versus how New York is, what I have learned through years of global travel and how the experience inspired me to try to aim for something meaningful in an apology, but also to try to make something which could benefit everyone around the world.

I hope to ignite a new peace movement with my music and this message here. I want to talk about peace, what I learned and I hope that maybe by putting it in musical form as well as these words I can make the best impact possible for what I see to be a world in agony.

I went on a reading spree. I read a lot and decided to develop a bigger worldview. I read about progressive spiritualism, I explored the Tao Te Ching, I read from the biography of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Psalms section of the Bible touched me, I read from Exodus in the Torah, I read from Khalil Ghibran, Malcom X, Patti Smith, Gandhi and peaceful resistance, I explored suppression techniques such as NLP and new incentive-based coercive methods as written by John Robb, the rise and fall of the American peace movement and civil rights era, I read about 1980s Zersetzung protocols, the American Prohibition Era, I learned about the nature of war, and I learned about peace—and I tried to meditate on everything and see what would rise.

Eventually, I did see that John Lennon had once been in trouble for making comments about the popularity of the Beatles. He compared them to Jesus. This story about John Lennon getting himself and his friends into trouble publicly really captivated me—I am not comparing myself to Lennon, that’s not my point—but I stopped there with him because of the similarity of his speaking of the cuff, not choosing words patiently and wisely- how being a musician thrust into a bigger platform rapidly can really leave you blindsided if you don’t explore these themes and take life and your position seriously. Then, I started reading his words, “All we are saying is give peace a chance.” “Imagine all the People…”

I cried at this time. I had an epiphany and thought that this was the answer—to embrace peace, the concept of what it is to be loving in spite of angst or how world events can cause panic or fear. Peace is the answer —so why didn’t it have a better success? He and Yoko were mocked for paying to promote their message of peace in advertisement form… They faced trouble from the establishment while living in New York in the Dakota building. Eventually, he was killed.

I started thinking about all this, and I arrived at an extension in thought about this concept of promoting peace, what If I could aide in bringing forth a new movement via the techno subculture? Or by adding to peace In the world any way I could. One can only either build or destroy. I chose to try to build.

I realized—it’s not enough to promote peace—there is another element which I would like to address—sociopathy and the pathology of “the dark triad.” This was crucial for me because it gave me the perspective I was missing or had not encountered before in life: the question of how to de-glamorize behavioral patterns which have hurt us for thousands of years. What I arrived at was this: to think of power as a commodity, something to trade and covet… not good… What could we do if we prioritized wisdom as a commodity in our hearts and minds, rather than vying for power? And through all this, I was writing music and even pulling from older song ideas from a time when I was more innocent and had a special optimism about life and what lay ahead.

I believe that we must embrace peace, really make it stylish and something cool to be about. I am trying, I hope you will too. I am not a professional writer but I hope my words will resonate regardless… I learned a difficult lesson and I didn’t take it lightly- I hope that is reflected in the music I am presenting to you. The digital will be released next week for you all. Eric’s Release will come the week after. He’s always about peace and love. It’s a type of campaign and my best effort.

I will not release anything else during November out of respect for Paris, and all the people of Europe and around the world. In December I will release vinyl versions of the LP, comprised of four records, one each month. And there will be some different music on the vinyl, and homemade artwork, but continuing on this path of both apology and of presenting an alternative to my stupidity/naivety in my comments through sharing what I’ve personally learned.

I hope you will like the music, and I hope it touches you. This is not some PR stunt. It’s real. I am grateful for the lessons through my experiences. I put my heart and spirit into this LP. I am looking forward to sharing it with you, and—I’m sorry for everything.

With love, and wishes of global peace,

Levon Vincent

All rights reserved 2017.

Levon Vincent’s Novel Sound to Release Eric Maltz Album

Levon Vincent‘s Novel Sound label will release Eric Maltz‘ debut LP, NS-17.

Eric Maltz is a long-time friend of Levon Vincent, with whom he stayed while in New York. As he Vincent continues: “Eric Provided a sofa to me often throughout my 20’s and vice-versa, we both cared about music above all else-we lived and breathed music—and we helped each other survive when we were penniless. If one was up, so was the other…”

“Eric and I were roommates, friends, we looked out for each other in a rough city with tough rules. Every time one of us got a job at a restaurant or record shop, within weeks we would have the other working there too. We did that for a decade. We slang records for years at Halcyon—a shop on Smith Street which had a portrait of Stevie Wonder painted on the front facade—and we threw parties all around Brooklyn back then too. Every shitty bar that would have us lol. We were a dope team. He’s the only person who has ever touched the third rail on a subway and survived too! True story. So you know I couldn’t wait to release his debut LP. Proud of this guy.”

Tracklisting

A1. Drone Y Besa
A2. Time
B1. All The Things
C1. Symphony at Dawn
C2. Bring You
D1. We Have Power

No firm release date has been set for the LP but clips are available here.

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