Category: Music

A new start with music

After a lot of years of on and off music making and never really finishing anything I sold most of my music gear and only kept a few software bits. The software never really inspired me, I simply like knobs and things, also the never ending possibility’s in software made me go nuts. As in I simply got lost in making sounds and not tracks. So I decided to get a few bits of hardware and use the computer as a recorder. So just jamming and I will see what happens.

Got a old boss effects processor, an Emu ESI 4000 sampler an Elektron machinedrum and I already had a small and incomplete (as if it will ever be complete) Eurorack. I will start with those.
And although I fear this, will put it on the website.

Hopefully I will find the energy to get very active again. It will also help me focus on one thing and this will be good for my recovery.

Ansome – Stowaway

Another great techno find for me last week, the album Stowaway by Ansome. Discovered it after I bought a new EP by Perc and checked out other releases on the label.

Exactly my kind of Techno, dark and relentless, like an old locomotive. Poldark and Back alley Sally are the favorites for me at the moment. But the whole album is excellent.

Moderat II

Well, as always late to the party. The earlier releases by Moderat are still on the ‘to listen’ list. But today I browsed around the internet and found out that Moderat III was out.
Opened Spotify and started listening. And started with Moderat II instead of III. So this is a review of II, an album from 2013.

Just what I needed on this Sunday afternoon being exhausted and moody because of it. Very chilled out tracks and very well produced.

Bad kingdom has very nice beats and a good vocal, a good track for driving through mountains. The next song versions bubbled along and has a sort of break beat feel to it, at least that’s what I made of it.

Let in the light is a very nice background track for working , gently flowing. Can see myself playing it with a cup of coffee in the morning as well.
Milk somehow got on my nerves. Skipped it after a while. Don’t know exactly why.

Nice beats again on Therapy, bit more busy as well , really liked this one. The next song Gita wasn’t for me. Ilona was a good one again with a nice vibe and cool beats. Damage done and this time just passed by and I wasn’t really listening any more. Good chilled out music and a nice album overall.

New discovery – Vohkinne

Just discovered techno producer Vohkinne , read an interview with him on attack magazine.

Nice dark techno just the way I like it , not everything he made is on Spotify, but you’ll get the idea. Search for vinyl as he releases his tracks on the black stuff mostly.
Really like his style.

Moodymann – DJ Kicks

Today I listened to the new DJ Kicks, one of the best and long running DJ mix series. This time by Moodymann.
Lot’s of records I never heard and an excellent soundtracks for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Not the best DJ kicks for me but a very good one indeed. And for the Moodymann fans, loads of edits by the mann.

It’s on Spotify as well, so check it out.

Favourite labels – Planet Core Productions

planetcoreproductions

This time about the label Planet core productions and it’s sub labels. Which were many, they released a lot of records. Some absolute rubbish, others classics to this day.

It was based in Frankfurt and run by Marc Acardipane. He also made a lot of the tracks, as did Miro. The label started in the early 90’s and ran up until 2000/2001 I think.
It was mostly known as a hardcore label by many. But they mixed all sorts of styles , trance and techno influences were very common. My first purchase and one of the best releases i think was
PCP 935 Future. I bought it sealed and didn’t open it straight away when I got home. At first I didn’t like it at all, to be honest. But after a few listening sessions it quickly became one of most played records, although at that time I didn’t own that many.

The label had other sublabels, Dance Ecstasy 2001, Coldrush , Super Special Corp, Kotzaak to name a few of the most well known. At first they were sold in just a few record stores and a lot of people found the tracks a bit to forward thinking, a few dance floor hits like , later when slaves to the rave became a monster hit in the hardcore/gabber world, people started looking at the label. Making it harder for me to be on time and being able to buy the latest. Therefore I missed a few. Thank god for Discogs.

A few very cool releases are The Mover The Final Sickness, Reign Hall , Rave creator a new mind part I & II, Miro Purple moon and many more. Pretty much all of the releases on Cold rush records are excellent. Check it out if you get the change. Even if you are not really into the harder styles. It’s worth it.

Ipman – Depatterning

Ipman’s Depatterning was waiting in the playlist for some time. Finally got round to it and I really liked it. Old school sounds in unusual ways and sequences.

Rave sounds, jungle stuff , nice edits and cool grooves. A couple of party tracks and some experimental stuff. It’s a compact album which maybe could use 2 more tracks.

All in all just my kind of music. Favourite tracks : Gravity Dub and IPA. But all the tracks are quality. Must listen.