U.K. Techno producer. Experimental - Industrial and dark. Steve Bailey – aka Makaton – has been at the forefront of techno releasing peerless, influential and experimental techno music since 1998.
Bailey is from Birmingham in the UK, and along with Surgeon and Regis pushes an upfront and raw sound. With his heritage rooted deeply in the heavily industrialised 'Black Country' area of the Midlands, he operates in the dark and industrial landscape.
Rodz-Konez was started in 1998 as an outlet for Makaton to release music. All but a handful of Makaton releases have come through his Rodz-Konez operation, a label that has released music by Regis and Inigo Kennedy, among other techno luminaries. Since its inception, the label has had more than 60 releases firmly embedding the Rodz-Konez psyche in the techno scene.
Makaton's unique production style leans heavily on dub, industrial, no wave and minimalism concepts. Bailey's experimental approach has seen him introduce new ways to represent techno and leave outdated approaches to the genre at the wayside.
Makaton joined James Ruskin's Blueprint label in 2015 and since then, has had 3 releases and an exclusive track released to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the label. He has also released two records on Belgium's Token label.
A Rodz-Konez label showcase was recently broadcast on BBC Radio 1 for which Makaton selected five stand-out tracks from the Rodz-Konez back catalogue and recorded introductions offering background to each track played.
Makaton's live sets range from deep to industrial and are always sonically challenging.
Review: To celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary, Blueprint has delved deep into its back catalogue. "Post Traumatic Son", a collaboration between label owner James Ruskin and Karl O'Connor, features three times in remixed form, with DVS1 dropping a deep take, Robert Hood turning the track into an angular, metallic jacker and Marcel Dettmann remodelling it into a grainy Berghain stomper. In as much as dance floor tracks like "Son..." and the coruscating, gnarly rhythm of Outline's "Encounter" have defined the label since the start, so too does its more abstract work. A shadow of textured sound looms over Ruskin's "Correction Centre A"; Samuel Kerridge's "Operation Neptune" is a trip into the world of grungy electronics, while Lakker's "Static & Amp" fuses haunting vocals with a hissing, humming groove.
Review: With a title like All Kneel, Makaton is clearly having a laugh. That said, the UK producer, who usually releases on Token, isn't messing about when it comes to his music. "We Believe" revolves around a noisy, spiky rhythm and layer upon layer of textured synths. It's an abrasive affair, but the musical accompaniment ensures that it doesn't sound too visceral. On "Blood Purity", Makaton uses a similar structure, but this time around, the drums are cleaner-sounding, supported by a distorted acid line. "Reclamation" is a straighter track, led by a linear drum pattern and a surging, prowling bass, while on "There to Here (Noise)", Makaton's penchant for the unusual plays out in the form of what sounds like Henry Rollins taking about the hardcore (punk) scene against waves of white noise. Bizarre but brilliant.
Review: Token has sensibly made all of the tracks from Kr!z debut commercial mix available in an unmixed format. The Belgian label has put out a wide range of music, and its owner represents its diversity well on this selection. With the inclusion of Xhin's twisted, abstract rhythms, the plaintive ambience of Inigo Kennedy's 'Obsidian' and Surgeon's electro take on Grovskopa's "Sex & Violins", the compilation shows the label's reflective side. However, Token is first and foremost a dance floor label and Introspective includes the insane drones of Ctrl's "Sockets", Rodhad's spooky "Spomeniks", the glacial trance of Inigo Kennedy's "Cathedral" and the deranged tonal assault that is Makaton's "Endless Revolt".
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