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Net Decks 6

  Tobias

Things are looking good for Random Access Records: They have the right artists, a delicious back catalogue of netlabel releases and they hail from the right place – Detroit City. Their philosphy has been international, though, and the Random Access archive includes gems by producers from Australia, Germany and France. Add Russia and Italy to that after this round of digital EPs, please. Born on the island of Sardinia, jak is the latest noteworthy entry in the book of groovy, technoid dub. “Digital Nature” consists of three concentrated tracks with straight, pumping beats and huge echo spaces. Effectively, the dry-to-the bone bass rumbles and the bizarre, delayed vocoder-like asthamtic breathings take center stage, while the deadingly effective bass drum and hihat patterns merely serve to keep the mind online and the body logged in. Great music for stimulating discussions! Microfluid, meanwhile, dishes up some of his “Life Episodes”. Billed as the latest sensation to come from Russia, he fully delivers on that promise. Warm, yet unreal atmospheres melt with concrete, but somehow mixed-back rhythms into demanding compositions with a steady flow. The conservative contradiction between techno and “music for home listening” disappears, as Microfluid paints soundscapes of halucinatory intensity on his melancholic canvas. A name to watch.
www.randomaccessrecordings.com


What to expect from a description like “Deep and aquatic minimalist techno”? Well, let’s see: Monotonal, suspended drones, almost drowsy mid-tempo four-to-the-floor heart beats, sobre and sceletised arrangements as well as massive use of reverbe, which opens up exponentially as you crank up the volume (curious as to what this would sound like in an industrial factory!). What I am talking about here, by the way, is Kalope’s “Stenigot” EP on Plex Records, yet enother fine example of the stylistic breadth this lable is trying to cover. Up to now, Kalope’s Jan Nemeček has been an exclusive MP3 artist for the Jugoslavian norbu records, but expect this situation to change drastically soon. On second track “Discharge”, he adds subdued militaristic drum patterns to his flow, while the last piece “Listening Station” renounces a clearly discernible metronome for most of its beginning, concentrating on the crystaline emissions of a sad piano and alien ambiences. In the end, the pulse does make its entrance after all, but by this time the listener has already lifted off into a different orbit. Nemeček is not foremost looking for the dance floor , his interest lies rather in the meraphorical character of his music and he certainly hits a nerve with three compositions that do not need to be futuristic to make an impression. “Kalope will be without any doubt one of the names to be followed in the next months...”, Plex claim. That may not be exagerated.
www.plexrecords.com


To anyone with more than just a casual interest in the netlabel scene, Sr. Click will be a familiar face – if only, because he runs the inoquo label with a group of like-minded individuals and has as such been a fruitful factor for plenty of talented producers. But there’s more to him and his music than meets the ear. For starters, listing Stravinsky, Beethoven, Chopin and Mussorgsky among others composers as your main influences is usually either coquetery or a sign that you’re in the wrong line of work. For Sr. Click, however, it is a declaration of intent and a sign that he is adament about jumping the genre’s boundaries and limitations. Having said that, there is certainly nothing classical about the tracks on his “Colera” EP (out on Off Audio) – at least not in the suit and tie-kind of way. “Colera” is a fast, powerful and charged affair of high-pressured pulsations and spooky melodies, very pure in its instrumentation but full of detail in its execution. Sr. Click plays with reference points to styles like Trance, Detroit techno and IDM, but he sews them together in a way that wipes out all traces. The end result is a vivid lucid dreamstate with a surreal feel to it, that will make it hard for you to stay in your seat. Dark and compelling dance music, that works best with all lights out.
www.offaudio.com

By Tobias Fischer