Review: Prepare your sonic time machines because "Time Crystals Pt. 2 - Liquid Solids" is here to warp your perception of techno! Dynamic Reflection once again proves they're not just playing around in the techno sandbox; they're constructing entire galaxies of mind-bending beats. If techno had its own dictionary, this release would be the definition of "proper" and "profound". Function, the maestro of sonic alchemy, kicks things off with "Give Thanks To The Sun", a track that's like a cosmic handshake between man and star. It's an odyssey where tense arps intermingle with celestial melodies, creating an atmosphere that feels like the soundtrack to a supernova. Viels, the mischievous techno wizard, plunges us into a vortex of sound with "Fragile". Ironically titled, because this track is anything but delicate. It's a sonic bulldozer that effortlessly shatters any illusions of tranquility, leaving only dancefloor rubble in its wake. Abstract Division then takes the reins "Convolution", a track that sizzles and ripples like an electrified ocean. It's a simmering cauldron of sound, conjuring visions of circuitry dancing in harmony with the tides of time. DOM seals the deal with a track that's the equivalent of a musical Rubik's Cube. Broken rhythms twist and turn like aural kaleidoscopes, creating a state of sonic hypnosis.
Review: As befits one of techno's most revered labels, Tresor 30 is a comprehensive collection that takes in a breath-taking array of artists and sounds. The compilation features classics, such as Underground Resistance's "Final Frontier", remixed here into a clubbier shape, the spellbinding deep techno of Juan Atkins' "I Love You" and Jeff Mills' timeless banger, "Late Night", one of Tresor's signature tracks. These eternal works sit alongside contributions from newer artists: in particular, Afrodeutsche's "Can't Stop" is a wonderfully dreamy affair, while RRoxymore's "Multiplicity" teases new twists from percussive techno. Thirty years after its inception, Tresor is showing no signs of slowing down.
Review: Dave 'Function' Sumner was last seen on Tresor in 2019 with the chilling Existenz album. This return to the storied label could not get off to a more different start, with Sumner dropping the pounding techno of "Misinterpretations Of Reality". He moves closer to the prevailing style of Existenz with the esoteric synths and lithe stepping rhythm of "An Optical Illusion Of Consciousness", while on "Spiritually Unconscious (Dissolve)", the Sandwell District founder changes tact again, delivering a snaking, wiry groove, teeming with melodies that are redolent of vintage Speedy J. Closing out this fine release from one of techno's most respected artists is the malevolent bass and tribal drums of
"Compulsive Thinking: Repetitive and Pointless".
Review: Existenz is Dave Sumner's third artist album as Function, and it partly ushers in a change in style. While there are echoes of his typical brooding, hypnotic techno on the mysterious, acid-tinged "Nylon Mood" and the heads-down roller, "Golden Dawn" - which features Stefanie Parnow - much of the album comprises a more mellow mood. There's the wonderfully hypnotic 90s ambient of "The Approach" and "Sagittarius A (Right Ascension)", while Function hooks up with vocalist Robert Owens to do deep house on the layered, textured "Growth Cycle". It's without doubt Function's most diverse long player, and ranges from the rickety electro of "Pleasure Discipline" to the dub shanty of "Interdimensional Interference".
Review: According to Infrastructure NYC head Function, this compilation was compiled like an album and involves not only the core group of artists but also connects the dots between the label's past, his Berghain 07 mix CD for Ostgut Ton, the legendary Sandwell District days and the respective history of the artists. Infrastructure Facticity spans "a narrative ranging from lush, ambient electronics and post-club diversions, to contemporary club techno and back again." British artist Robert McNally provides the artwork and musically the highlights are not so much the dancefloor ready bangers, which are mainly quite good, rather the moments of restraint such as Vatican Shadow's brooding and almost Boards Of Canada sounding "Swords Over Paradise", the slow burning reduced acid of Cassegrain & Tin Man's "Open Sea" and Rrose's finest moment yet, "Cephalon", which can barely be described in words!
Review: You have to admire Ostgut Ton's ambition. While celebrating a decade in dance music with a compilation of exclusive, previously unheard music is now standard practice amongst leading underground labels, few would have the balls to release it with such a killer tracklisting as Zehn. Across the 30 tracks (count 'em!) you get a who's who of Berghain and Panorama Bar associates delivering a quite outstanding selection of left-of-centre techno and deep European house, with Marcel Dettmann, Boris, Virginia, Steffi, DVS1, Martyn, Tobias and Ben Klock all featuring. Highlights naturally come thick and fast, from the spacey electronics, heady textures and hypnotic rhythms of Function's "DX3 Analog Bass Seq", and the rush-inducing, string-laden house warmth of Matthew Styles' remix of Dinky's "Planes", to the picturesque intelligent techno of Doms & Deykers.
Review: Old flatmates Function and Ed Davenport (aka Inland) team up to deliver a two-track 12" of synthy techno that sounds like what Klaus Schultz and Kraftwerk might be making today if they were contemporary techno artists collaborating. You can really feel that Function is exploring his kosmische side of tonal and synth production on this release, while it's easy to assume that Inland, recently a proponent of dubby rhythm tracks, helps provide both pieces with a solid backbone, flecked with Function's trademark percussive sequences. Beginnings of a new project? We can only hope.
Review: Dave Sumner's debut album as Function was one of this year's most anticipated and finest LPs. Atypically, this remix package sees the commissioned producers deliver versions that measure up to the original material. On the dance floor end, there's Rrose's punishing take on "Against The Wall", which starts with a hypnotic, linear rhythm that descends into distorted mayhem, while Recondite's version of "Incubation" marries dramatic filters and insistent bleeps to reach a climax. But when the remixers go as deep as the author, the results are truly fascinating. NSI's take on "Inter" is a sprawling, jazzed out interpretation of the original ambient track, while Vatican Shadow delivers an uncharacteristically melodic, acid-tinged version of "Psychic Warfare".
Review: Ostgut Ton ain't just house, techno and concrete, they're ambient, experimental, electro and musique concrete. This is the biggest compilation the label has released since they let Emika run wild in a closed Berghain and Panorama Bar to capture sounds of the humming club for 2010's Funf compilation. Barker & Baumecker and Fiedel saw releases on that compilation and now they contribute a track each to Ostgut Ton's abstract Various LP. B&B offer up some dubby frenetics in "Meiose" while Fiedel supplies some melodica and two step rhythms in "Grunewald2". Tobias' "Dark & Troubling Things" share a similar beatless murk to music from Canadian ambient artist Loscil, while Rolando's track "Neglected" is a stand out. DIN adds some minimally-charged Chicago house to the LP, while Virginia and new name Crushed Soul opt for something more electro. Dave Sumner then seals Various with a primitive "Golden Dawn" featuring Stefanie Parnow for something totally different to what Function fans are usually accustomed to.
Review: It seems incredible to think that despite his nearly 20 years of production experience, Dave Sumner hasn't released a full Function album until 2013. Thankfully Incubation proves it's been well worth the wait with the Sandwell District member really stretching his legs out for one of those techno albums that is most definitely an album experience. This nine track set bristles with great ideas and murky atmospherics, combining dystopian sci-fi soundtrack textures with the precision techno he's become known for. There are robust dancefloor tracks - see the murky acid techno of "Against The Wall" and sweaty "Modifier" - but also moments of intense, melodic beauty, from the crystalline bliss of "Counterpoint", to the dreamy hypnotism of "Inter (album version)".
Review: Releasing Obsessed on a label other than Sandwell District must have felt strange to Function. However, like "Ember", the US producer's final outing for the now defunct imprint, "Obsessed" is an understated affair. Closer to early Speedy J and Warp's Intelligent Techno series than the austere rhythms of Sandwell, its dreamy synths unravel to reveal a cacophony of bleeps and a lithe rhythm that never quite makes it onto the dance floor. Substance's version starts in a similar vein, but the Berlin producer maintains a wiry, minimal rhythm throughout, which acts as the basis for a gradual shift into grinding metallic riffs. Scuba's SCB edit is the most dance floor friendly track, the snappy, hissing percussion and stacatto, clattering drums underpinning an effective, building filter.
Review: Chris Liebing's label unveils the second release of their 10 Years cycle with a storming techno effort from South American producer Pfirter, an original Function Vs Mr Ibadan, a Jerome Sydenham number and accompanying remix from Liebing himself. With a nod to the techno of old, this release also ploughs its acclaimed cast head-first into the future.
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