Another Red Planet

My remix of Narcotic 303's track Red planet made it to a free EP, released by net-label Deep in Dub. I like the company of the other remixers, and my track is number nine, it was intented to be a very ambient interpretation of the original creation.

Please enjoy.

"Better then any drug"

Rod Modell is one of the central figures on the loosely defined genre of dubtechno. An amalgam of sound consisting of influences of ambient, dub and techno. Modell was recently featured on Nowamuzyka, where  he answered a couple of questions by Pawel Gzyl, some of the answers which might be of interest to the readers of this blog. He talks about influences and production techniques, but also about musicianship and how he would rather consider himself a sound-designer.

Recalling a period of being part of the Hare krishna, he was took by the impact of repetition and variences in sound. Repetition being a figurative aspect of what we know as techno. Stating the experience of the krishnas as a "major influence". After being part of a chant they employed, he explains that he entered a different state of mind:

"Something in my head just snapped after about 15 minutes, and I could feel a flood of endorphins rushing. It was euphoric. Better than any drug. Some kind of kundalini awakening. [...] These repeating patterns and percussion continued for an hour. Modulating and building speed. And the euphoria kept building. This was my first exposure to anything like that, and was definitely a major influence."

You can read the entire interview here, maybe while listening to his album The coldest season, which happens to be one of my personal favorites.

Deep Chord Presents Echospace - The Coldest Season by modernlove

Slownoise – Dark Matter EP

This is a review of the excellent artist Slownoise EP Dark Matter, that I crosspost from VKRS. It is a  more lenghty review then what I usually do in english. It has also been quoted on Cold tear records website.

"Cold Tear Records are a rising star on the net-label scene. They are also the outlet for dub-techno artist Jeremy Davies, a.ka Slownoise’s latest release – Dark matter EP. It’s a gem, a testimony of what can be done with dub-techno and is anything but standard.

In the short description found on the label’s site, we learn that Davies were influenced by astronomy writing this EP. I imagine looking at the vast expanses of the sky makes for great inspiration, perhaps also something for the listener to think of while enjoying this offering. Looking strictly at the end result I feel that there is a form of understated intensity in which he drives the slew of tracks forward into something which feels both vintage and fresh at the same time.

The strictness of techno is definetly there, especially in the rhythms, while the relaxing forms of dub makes this into a journey putting my mind at ease. This combination is hardly new, but the level of craftsmanship Slownoise shows is rare. It is also quite gritty and comes with an unpolished feel, that should appeal to those who preferr to steer away from a crystal clear sound that sometimes end up sounding stale and lifeless.

My favorite on Dark matter is the track The great attractor, which pays homage to early electronic dub while having a playful feel, blending percussive elements with deep bass while saturated delays tear the monotonous melodic stabs into something quite unlike itself. Also Dark Flo is worthy of mention, as it blurs the edges between dubby techno and 2-step, employing a rhythm which is less strict – but thankfully with none of the fanatical “massive drop”-hysteria heard in the contemporary dubstep scene.

The remix-team does a good job as well. Here we have Brickman, Giriu Dvasios, Soap and Moonwalker all chiming in with one remix each. 

All in all this is a solid release, with eight tracks to lighten the night sky – and nicely enough it can be downloaded freely from archive.org or Bandcamp.For those who think this kindness should be rewarded, Cold tear records also has the EP out in CD-format for purchase online."

Slownoise - Dark matter EP

Mako Reaktor

I have a new mix out, exclusively done for Materia sounds. It goes generally in a similar style as my mix on VKRS - but with all different tracks. The title of Mako reaktor is a homage to the classic video-game Final Fantasy 7.

Seeing as my mix is their 12th pod-cast, there has been a lot of fascinating music featured previously. I especially recommend everyone to listen to You are Buddha, by Martin Nonstatic, featuring a lot of his own material flowing freely and seemingly effortlessly. Naono's Oceanic wonder is also a quality listen, inspired by everyday sounds and surroundings from which I presume is his city of residence - Athens, Greece.

There are of course more to be found, so heading over to Materia Sounds is not a bad idea.

Suecae - Mako reaktor:

Postscript: Mako (魔) means "magic light", it is a liquid form of lifestream of the earth of Final Fantasy, and is the primary energy source used throughout the world of the game. This energy is harvested by man to generate electricity, and a latent idea found in the game is that it's continued extraction would mean the death of the planet. Read more about this on Wikia.