BLACK SITES – ‘Prototype EP’ 12″
Both residents at iconic Hamburg club ‘The Golden Pudel’, Hauff and F#X are stellar representatives of an experimental approach that has earned the underground spot it’s growing reputation. Emergence is a fitting theme, as 2013 is already shaping up to be a breakthrough year for the duo. Hauff is soon to release a solo 12” on Actress’s Werkdisks label, and F#X recently releasing a dubbed out single on Pudel’s own ‘Pudel Produkte’ imprint as a member of ‘Circuit Diagram’. This is riotous and cerebral club music. The analog artifacts of A side ‘Prototype’ permutate in tandem with melodic Detroit chords, a pounding rhythm section and a central ascending 303 line. B side ‘N313P’ maintains the intense pace. Building around competing resonances, the untethered Drexciyan melodies probe, expand and contract to rapturous effect. The 12″ is mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M. It is pressed on 140g white vinyl which itself is housed in a silk screened pvc sleeve with artwork by Bill Kouligas.
CONCRETE FENCE – ‘New Release (1)’ 12″
The pedigree of this collaboration should need little explanation. Luminaries of British electronic music spanning over two decades, Russell Haswell (Gescom, Haswell & Hecker) and Downwards label founder Karl O’Connor (Regis, Sandwell District, British Murder Boys) have come together to produce three tracks of inimitable experimental techno in their debut collaborative release. With each track built upon a permutating sonic foundation, these are muscular and expertly paced compositions that effortlessly transition between hypnotic rhythms and textural and timbral experimentation. ‘Industrial Disease”s mid paced dark dancehall rhythm snakes around ominous and monu- mental roars of synthesis, hard transitioning into an abstract concrete composition. ‘Caulk’ relocates the dark and delayed mood into a sonic wind tunnel, amidst roughly textured radio transmissions and epic resonant sweeps. ‘The Unabridged Truth’ introduces the first unswerving 4/4 beat of the release, which grows in stature until the violent electronic bursts are eventually wrestled into an unsettled closing passage. The 12″ is mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M. It is pressed on 140g white vinyl which itself is housed in a silk screened pvc sleeve with artwork by Bill Kouligas & Russell Haswell.