OK, so the fact that we officially closed this blog in 2010 serves as some excuse for not dropping by here to give an update on things sooner but this post is a little overdue so as I'm here now, I'll cover off a couple of bits at once. As mentioned previously, my main musical focus after quitting blogging was always intended to be making music of my own and last year finally saw the official release of some my music - hoorah! My debut EP , Beyond The Green Wall, [...]
Another installment in my irregular updates and it's good news on the Nanorhythm front again. This time, my alter ego has taken to the decks and knocked out a mix / podcast for his new home, Broken20. Clocking in at around 70 minutes, Bunker Funk dishes up a helping of stripped down warehouse-friendly techno, featuring cuts from some of my favourite dancefloor-focused producers and a cheeky little number, hot from my own basement studio. Head on over to Broken 20 to check it out for yourself. [...]
Hello again! OK, so three months on from our 'final' post, things have been going pretty much as planned on the musical front with me having actually finished some new tracks and got round to sending some demos out. The vinyl release that I'm hankering after still eludes me but my release debut is looking ever more likely on the Broken20 digital imprint I mentioned previously. You'll have to wait a little while until you can spend your hard-earned on some Nanorhythm product (I'm currently pencilled in for Broken20 release #4) but today sees [...]
As mentioned in my last post, changes are afoot at the ill-ec-tro-nic and the news is that Langer and I have decided to close the blog down. Over the four and a bit years we’ve been running the site, we’ve enjoyed ourselves immensely and while we never really had a goal for the blog, its primary aim in providing us with a vehicle with which we could share our music tastes with a wider audience has been well and truly met and in fact had we been pushed to baseline our expectations at the start we would certainly [...]
Bit of a whirlwind tour of a few bits and pieces today ahead of a change to be announced in our next post. First up is The Black Dog who've had two really tasty things out recently in the form of the excellent Music For Real Airports long player as well as a package of remixes from their last LP, Further Vexations. Both are out on Soma and despite my initial scepticism about what an airport-themed concept album might sound like, I'm glad to say my fears about MFRA were unfounded [...]
Since having heard Production Unit's 'It's Personal' on The Highpoint Lowlife 2010 Mixtape I've been waiting eagerly for it's release. It seems like an age has gone by since then but the Ghost Track EP on which it features is now available via the HPLL website and I think will be hitting the main digital retailers within the week. The track and in fact the whole EP itself is not something that's easily pigeonholed although both dubstep and techno influences can clearly be heard throughout. The net result on It's Personal and, to a lesser extent, [...]
As mentioned on these pages back in January, the debut release on Dark Arx Recordings was one that made me sit up and take note and set a high benchmark for subsequent output on the label to follow. Well, release number 2 is now upon us (has been for a couple of weeks actually) and this time it comes from label head Dark Arx himself and is most definitely a continuation of the initial high quality standards. Where the first release hinted at a dubstep agenda, Dark Arx's [...]
Luis Flores isn't a name I've come across previously but on the strength of his Pain and Prosthetics release on Hidden Agenda it's certainly going to be one I keep an eye out for in the future. Delivering three dark and brooding club tracks full of tension and perfect for building up the climax in a set, this is definitely a release for discerning techno heads. The digital version also features a bonus cut in the form of 'Vitamins 4 U' which takes things in a slightly different direction due largely to the vocodered Anthony Rother-style vocals. Not quite [...]
In celebration of their latest two (Saturday night) mix CDs and the fact that the curators of said mixes ( DJ T. & Optimo ) are both playing at Fabric next Saturday we have one of each mix plus a pair of guestlists for the night up for grabs. Both mixes are pretty tasty although it will probably come as no surprise to anyone who's been following the ill-ec-tro-nic for a while to hear that it's the Optimo mix that really sets our pulses racing. Optimo's proven track record of throwing seemingly incompatible tracks together but [...]
The resurgence of 'the Basic Channel sound' in recent years is something which is often commented upon in both the media and in record store catalogue listings. The deep, dubby vibe and metallic synths that typifies the phenomenon seem to crop up all over the place these days be it as part of a track's accompaniment in either techno or dubstep circles or as the actual basis of the track for next generation BC / Rhythm & Sound / Maurizio-influenced producers such as Quantec or Deepchord / Echospace . [...]
For today's post, I'm going to try and dispense with some of the usual hyperbole in order to try and keep things trim and concise for you guys as well as to help minimise the time I spend staring at the screen trying to think of suitably expressive ways of describing what your own ears will tell you anyway. There's also no real theme or connection between the tracks featured other than the fact that they're taken from releases which have tickled my fancy in recent weeks. Abstract elecronica seems to have [...]
Apologies for the radio silence over the last couple of weeks - Langer and I ended up going on a very last minute snowboarding trip and tools were downed almost instantly with scant regard for our adoring public. Those of you with a similar passion for the white stuff may wish to keep your eyes on this - a project being run by the people Langer and I stayed with while we were away. Anyhow, back to the music! Easter weekend will soon be upon us and just as much of a tradition as [...]
As I mentioned shortly after it's release, LJ Kruzer's Manhood & Electronics is a truly delightful slice of ambient electronics perfectly suited to a spot of horizontal listening. However, as I'm sure you've gathered by now, I also have rather a penchant for doing the techno shuffle so was excited to learn that select cuts from the LP were being given the remix treatment with the express intention being to give them a little dancefloor oomph. The Manhood & Electronics EP comprises two remixes each of both Poil and Tam with all of the [...]
The relevance of the mix CD in today's times of frequently flowing and freely available podcasts is a subject which gets debated frequently but my stance on it is simple: if the mix is good then the CD is worth buying. Excellent examples of such worthy purchases were highlighted last month in Langer's double headed Fabric feature and the latest addition to the Boogybytes series is another such case in point. Boogybytes Vol.05 is mixed by Seth Troxler and is the first in the Boogybytes [...]
More goodness from the Stroboscopic Artefacts camp to kick things off for today. This time it's from the label's digital only arm and their beta sampler. The release showcases a more diverse output than the tracks I've heard on the label's vinyl offerings and rather than watering down the label's techno focus it simply pushes their agenda into house, minimal, dub techno and even dubstep territories. Each of the four cuts on offer comes from a different producer and is of a high standard but for me it's the dark steppa's filth of Perc 's 'Wooden Art' that steals [...]
Despite being going since 2008, the Prologue label only came to my attention recently. The first release to make me take note, was Iori's Unknown Place EP as I had recently come across his work on Galaxy , the debut release on the Phonica White series. Across both of these releases, Iori has made his agenda pretty clear with a heavy focus on post Basic Channel dub techno and his sound palette is warm, deep and very immersive. My one criticism of his work is that his tracks have a tendency to take hypnotic minimalism [...]
The Fabric and Fabriclive mix series have just reached their half century each and continue to push the envelope exploring new sonic territories. Fabric could have easily sat back and ploughed the same old furrow as other so-called 'superclubs' by putting out generic mixes from the scenes trusted big hitters. However they have gone the other route and keep on championing rising talents. The two new mixes come from Martyn and D-Bridge & Instra:Mental. Martyn can be considered now to be a big name, however Fabric is still the first label to release mix [...]
Bit of a mixed bag today but we kick things off by heading straight for the jugular with a slab of relentless dancefloor dirt perfectly primed for darkened warehouse spaces. Having missed out on the first Stroboscopic Artifacts release, numbers two and three have definitely aroused my interest. The vinyl versions are limited to a pair of two tough dancefloor numbers but the digital releases also incorporate a pair of stripped down tools for the adventurous DJ to play around with. Xhin 's Fixing The Error / Link came out back in November with Lucy and [...]
Without wanting to get too hung up on genre classification, I can't help but feel that Boomkat's Dubstep / Grime / Funky category, under which it has filed Binary Sequences' debut EP, provides a rather inaccurate prejudice of what this release is going to sound like. Sure, the tracks contained within 'Below The Ice' exhibit dubstep rhythms and deep dubby atmospherics often associated with the techier side of the Dubstep genre but to me at least, the underlying feel is certainly more Electronica than Grime or Funky. Anyhow, that aside, what matters here is the quality of the [...]
The ill-ec-tro-nic
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The National
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