Review: As underground venues and spaces struggle to overcome the financial pressures exacted by coronavirus, many artists are responding to support them. In_vurt is a case in point; issued on Cassegrain's label, it sees a multitude of techno producers who have played at Vurt contribute tracks, with the proceeds of sales helping the Seoul venue. It's an impressive, 28-track collection, and features some of underground techno's most respected artists, including Answer Code Request, who drops the dreamy, breakbeat-led "No Comply 180", Artefakt's dubbed out tunnelling "Solstice" and the shimmering rhythms on BNJMN's "Overstated". These sit alongside more experimental tracks like Cio D'Or's glitchy "Permanent Key" and the droning, expansive "Further Movements Into Unknown Territories" from Peter Van Hoesen.
Review: Uncovered is a three-part series that shines a light on unreleased tracks from Peter Van Hoesen's archives from a ten-year period, commencing in 2008. What may surprise fans of his kinetic warehouse techno is that the respected producer is also adept at creating slowed-down electronic pieces, audible here on "Editsolopunchin19 " and "Rosegarden Funeral Of Sores", the latter featuring Jacques Trenson's muddy vocals. There are other unexpected delights on this volume, such as the droning "Merely A Mirage", while "Slowdisto" bathes in a glitchy hue. At the same time, this collection does remind the listener of Van Hoesen's dance floor prowess and both "Exor1" and "Gadarene Rush" contain vivid sketches that form the basis of his distinctive techno sound.
Review: The ongoing celebration this year of Dekmental's tenth anniversary has already yielded a series of interesting split EPs and the eight instalment is no exception. It starts with Peter Van Hoesen and Donato Dozzy's "Storta". Over a sliding, distended rhythm, the techno duo conjure up cinematic sound scapes. In stark contrast is Matrixxman's "Sexual Frustration", which draws on classic Midwest techno to deliver pneumatic kicks and wild acid tones. Deniro's "Serval" sees another shift in style, but remains in the same geographical space as Matrixxman; combing atmospheric synths with powerful bass tones, it sounds like the lost connection between Patrice Scott and Kenny Larkin. The droning, discordant techno of Talismann's "Aciano" completes the latest Dekmantel celebration.
Review: Since making his debut a decade ago, Belgian-in-Berlin Peter Van Hoesen has earned a reputation as one of techno's most reliable producers. Perhaps it was that reliability that persuaded Dekmantel to sign him up as the debutant of their new UFO vinyl-only series. There's naturally plenty to get excited about on Quadra, with each of the four tracks hitting the spot. "Cartesian Taiko" sounds like Derrick May reworking Vangelis' Blade Runner soundtrack after a few love pills, while "Duet Dub" is a crustier, more urgent affair, full of pinging electronics and post-industrial sleaze. "P2ME" laces oddball electronic bleeps and stabs over a relentless techno groove, before he breaks up the beats on the trippy-but-dense electro shuffle of "Quadra.
Review: Belgian techno hero and Time To Express boss Peter Van Hoesen brings forth the third and final volume of Stealth, featuring selections from his stellar mix CD of the same name. "Shadows & Concern" is the kind of relentless and hypnotic futurist groove that Van Hoesen is synonymous with these days, this one is restrained in its ferocity and is a benchmark for what techno should sound like these days. On the flip is the broken beat industrialism that is "Unicorn" but it sounds more like a black stallion with red eyes galloping through the darklands. This one will mix in well with a Ugandan Methods record to reign in chaos and take audiences on a one way ticket to hell and back.
Review: This will be the first of three volumes of exclusive tracks taken from Time To Express main man Peter Van Hoesen's Stealth mix CD, released in 2015. First up he delivers a trippy and ethereal remix of Chris Madak aka Bee Mask's live performance of 'Headband' taken from a recording of the 2014 Labyrinth festival, which is said to have left Van Hoesen "dazed and enthralled". On the flip he delivers a hypnotic peak time killer with "Breach" that packs equal parts energy and atmosphere, which is by now the Belgian producer's trademark. You could imagine hearing this while losing your mind, gazing up into the stars.. at Labyrinth festival in 2016!
Review: Anything bearing Peter Van Hoesen's name is always an essential listen. Stealth, the Belgian DJ/producer's latest mix, is no exception. Featuring a number of tracks from Van Hoesen himself and his like-minded peers, Mike Parker, Yves de Mey and Voices from the Lake, this selection radiates effortless futurism at every bar. That doesn't mean that it forsakes identity and feeling in its quest; De May's "Return For Access - Kempinski remix" features air raid sirens and a hoover bass at its heart; Van Hoesen's own "Prime Symmetry" is a rough tribal workout and tracks from both Mike Parker and Eric Cloutier take the listener down the kind of bleep-led wormhole that many would find hard to escape from.
Review: Fresh from opening a new studio in Berlin, Peter Van Hoesen releases his first record of 2015. Originally conceived as an opener for his performance at Japan's Labyrinth festival, the title track is a serene piece of ambience which sets the tone for the remainder of the release. Although "Protagonist" revolves around one of the Belgian producer's typical snaking, menacing grooves, it too features chiming synths and dreamy segues, while "Swerve Damiao" rounds off the release with an atmospheric arrangement. However, 70 Secrets also reiterates Van Hoesen's prowess as a techno producer and the rolling, filtered rhythm of "Shadow Ground" is a typically functional track.
Review: Few contemporary producers scale the same futuristic heights as Peter Van Hoesen and on Call & Response, the Belgian producer shows why he is peerless. "Rift" is pacey and lithe, underpinned by a pulsing, warbling bass. "Situation Two" operates in a similar sphere, but here the drums and rhythms bristle with a metallic menace. "Hollow Eye" and "Chroma 3 (Dark Dub)" showcase Van Hoesen's deeper side; the former is subsumed by ethereal textures, while the latter centres on a resonating bass and layer upon layer of dubby soundscapes. It's only a brief digression however, and soon enough he's back to the dance floor with the title track's loose, tribal drums.
Review: Time To Express usher in the final instalment in their trilogy of Reciever remix releases themed around Peter Van Hoesen's excellent Perceiver LP, with Marcel Fengler and Neel stepping up and nonchalantly maintaining the standards set by Messrs Dozzy, SCB, Sigha and Phase. Adopting a reduced principle, Berghain resident Fengler has remixed "Inspection In Solitude" dropping swarming, buzzing riffs over a sinewy groove that gets right under your skin. In contrast to the ambient textural nature of Donato Dozzy's previously released remix, his Voices In The Lake cohort Neel offers a gradually building, densely filtered reshape of "Objects from the Past" that gets more intense with every few bars.
Review: The second EP in Peter Van Hoesen's remix series sees Scuba's SCB alias and Token artist Phase following in the footsteps of that excellent double header of Sigha and Donato Dozzy. SCB's take on "Seven, Green and Black" takes the stuttering original and threads a strong 4/4 pulse through it, with atmospheric textures that belie the huge crescendo that erupts at the mid point. Phase meanwhile takes the slurry of abstracted delay that is "To Alter A Vector" and makes it suitable for the biggest of rooms, with earth-shattering kicks and subtle ambience shot through with sparks of synthetic texture, all designed to reinvigorate the tiredest of bodies and minds.
Review: There's something undeniably bleak about the work of Berlin-based Belgian Peter Van Hoesen. He specializes in dark, uncompromising, no-holds-barred techno, and has previous impressed - or scared, depending on your techno threshold - with a pair of albums on his own Time To Express label. Here, he pops up on Tresor - arguably the World's most reliable source of subterranean techno stomp - with his third full length. Originating from a live performance by the Belgian at Tresor's Berlin venue earlier this year, it's a typically no-nonsense set that flits between bleep-heavy warped futurism (see "Carbon" and "Exciting Reward"), loopy darkroom pump ("Challenger") and Jeff Mills style techno-jack ("Assembly").
Review: There's something undeniably bleak about the work of Berlin-based Belgian Peter Van Hoesen. He specializes in dark, uncompromising, no-holds-barred techno, and has previously impressed - or scared, depending on your techno threshold - with a pair of albums on his own Time To Express label. Here, he pops up on Tresor - arguably the world's most reliable source of subterranean techno stomp - with his third full length. Originating from a live performance by the Belgian at Tresor's Berlin venue earlier this year, it's a typically no-nonsense set that flits between bleep-heavy warped futurism (see "Carbon" and "Exciting Reward"), loopy darkroom pump ("Challenger") and Jeff Mills style techno-jack ("Assembly").
Review: Anyone who had Peter Van Hoesen down as having a one-track mind will be surprised and impressed by State. The Belgian producer does his usual techno sound on "19 Continued", but the bass is more epic and reminiscent of 90s Detroit techno than post-noughties European music. "Admonition" is a nod to his solo and Sendai abstract work as infectious bleeps and tones unfold over a complex mid-tempo groove, while "Transitional State 2" is like a halfway house for his abstract and techno experiments with a recoiling bass and a robotic interpretation of UK funky's shuffle acting as the adjudicator. On "Transitional State 1" he regains his usual techno poise. The rhythm is fractured and less linear than usual - but the bass is as murderous as ever.
Review: Reactions to the news that Marcel Fengler was going to mix Berghain 05 focused on the fact that he is the club's most overlooked resident. This is to do Fengler a disservice and to understand the club in the narrowest context possible. If anything, the trajectory Fengler follows here defines the broad brush strokes played out in the Berlin club. There's the eerie intro which moves from Dettmann's vocal version of Emika's "Count Backwards" into Peter Van Hoesen's spacey, bleeping "Axis Mundi". Classic sounds always form an integral part of Fengler's approach and this is evident on Octogen's widescreen yet menacing electro reshape of Terrence Dixon, the wiry 90s minimalism of Ratio and in the alternate version of Secret Cinema's chord-heavy early 90s classic "Timeless Altitude". In between these sounds, Fengler proves his technical prowess, moving effortlessly from the drones and broken beats of Dr Walker's take on Byteone and the Regis version of Tommy Four Seven's "G" into straighter, albeit bass-heavy techno and house from Duplex - remixing Gerd- and LB Dub Corp, who delivers a new, multi-layered take on Fengler's own "Thwack". Put simply, Fengler has that rare talent that most DJs lack - he can put together seemingly disparate tracks without losing the flow. The club he resides at provides Fengler with a blank canvas and this mix is his masterpiece.
Review: One of the greatest things about Berlin club Berghain is that once you make your way past the autocratic glare of the door staff, you are free to act as you want. There are no rules and everyone is treated the same. This sense of egalitarianism may be fleeting, but the club's residents have succeeded in applying a similar aesthetic to their mix CDs. Well-known producers appear beside unknowns, while artists lauded for a particular sound veer off into new, uncharted territories. This approach is audible on this sampler for Marcel Fengler's forthcoming mix. Belgian producer Peter Van Hoesen is known primarily for his bass-heavy, heads down warehouse tracks, but on "Axis Mundi", there's a palpable change. Van Hoesen's usual deft production touch ensures that the arrangement features razor-blade percussion and a lithe rhyhtmic sensibility, but "Mundi" is all about the woozy, trancey melodies filtering their way to its centre. Likewise, Jonah Sharp and Move D's "The Labyrinth" marks a departure of sorts, with the duo's tasteful, jazzy keys teased out over a rough, glitchy backing track. Vril's "UV" is the most obvious sign that Fengler and Ostgut want to maintain the same egalitarian approach as Berghain: this artist, who hasjust two EPs to his/her credit on Giegling, drops a slamming, dubby techno track that simultaneously challenges the bass power of Shed's Wax project and the loose, echo chamber tones of Modern Love. Like Berghain, once they past the litmus test, every artist is an equal.
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