Review: Inigo Kennedy Requiem Remixed (TOKEN54)

Taken from last year's powerful album Vaudeville, this new set of remixes of 'Requiem', radically transforms and updates the already haunting original.

Efdemin's 'Journey To The Stars' mix is perhaps closest to the original, but is fleshed out with extra tonal work and deep echoes. Tone by tone it gradually drifts from the original in an intriguing way. The handclaps give it a more clubby feel, but it enhances rather than sacrifices 'Requiem's' intricate textures.

The 'Dies Irae' version by Kangding Ray is a slower, darker and heavier interpretation. Subdued or potential chord structures buried in the original are brought to the surface,  creating a tough but still shimmering, hallucinatory atmosphere through subtle modulation and transformation.  

Regis' sinisterly-titled 'Human Host' has a grinding bass and strict beats, yet is more subtle and expansive than some of his mixes. 'Requiem's' familiar eerie chords are narrowed into 

swirling, malevolent drones that radiate tension. Heading towards the halfway mark there's a long beat-less interlude of dark drones. Mutated fragments of the original clamber out of this black hole accompanied by reinforced beats. From here on the track turns more darker and more severe before fading out uneasily. 

Last in line and instantly furthest from the original is Dasha Rush's outstanding 'Requiem For Humanity' version. It's a radical and haunted piano re-arrangement that slowly turns back towards a more electronic sound. It seems obvious in retrospect, but probably not even Kennedy could have imagined such a radical re-working. It's all the more radical with the added despairing vocal sample listing the woes of the world:  "we have lost the way … we have barricaded the world into hate". It's an absolutely unique and remarkable hybrid - the closest description might be a kind of  apocalyptic techno jazz noir with a martial beat but it's so other-worldly that standard descriptors scarcely fit it. 

July 6th, 2015 

12” // Digital Download 

Review: Lucy and Klock – War Lullaby Stroboscopic Artefacts SA024 – May 11th, 2015

Having previously released label mainstay Lucy’s collaboration with Speedy J (Zeitgeber), Stroboscopic Artefacts now present the results of his work with Ostgut Ton producer Ben Klock. War Lullaby is a curious title for a curious release presenting a variety of styles, none of which turn out quite as might be imagined.

The initial mood set by 'Bliss' is graceful and fluent. Rippling, gamelan-like tones and subtle bass pressure engineer a feeling that's simultaneously subtle, tense and optimistic.

The title track is instantly memorable, introduced by an eerily smooth bassline hovering in a void. Once the beat kicks in a futuristic minimal disco feel develops which is then made strange by the final element - a heavily-filtered and indecipherable speech sample. This is a very distinctive and original track and the highlight here.



With its muffled kick ‘Santeria’ initially seems dubbier/housier but a de-tuned bleepy sequence and a spiralling minmal acid line soon take it in another direction before it gradually shifts again into an uneasy form of ambient dub.

The closing ‘A Ghost Lovestory’ is essentially a long ambient outro with a hazy atmosphere made more interesting by an underlay of static hiss. The press release slightly tempts fate by stating that “ things can get very interesting when the two working methods superimpose perfectly, but can be just as interesting when the two fall slightly out of phase with one another.” The duo seem to have deliberately left gaps unclosed and allowed their techniques to drift out of synch, allowing a certain oddness to creep in to these hybrid tracks. Rather than offering a grand statement,the duo leave it to the listener to decipher and assess the tracks.

RBF + VIVID PROJECTS PRESENT: AN EVENING WITH TEST DEPT, BIRMINGHAM, MAY 28TH.

OFFICIAL AFTERPARTY FOR THE LAUNCH OF THE PC PRESS BOOK 'TOTAL STATE MACHINE'

DJ SETS, TEST DEPT. INSTALLATIONS AND LIVE FOOTAGE OF TD ACTIONS AND CONCERTS
 
DJ SETS FROM:

TEST DEPT.
STEPHEN MALLINDER (WRANGLER/CABARET VOLTAIRE)
CODEX EUROPA
ANDY BLACK FOREST

Test Dept; the authentic industrialists, sonic material handlers, utilisers and recyclers of society’s debris have re-emerged to engage with the current cultural and political climate, exploring new ways of expression in a strategic programme of actions and releases.

The symposium at Aston University where academics, contributors to the book and other interested parties discuss the influence and impact of the group will be followed by an after party at Vivid to celebrate Test Dept’s return to the public sphere.

The return is realised in the form of the book – Total State Machine – published in April 2013 by PC-Press ; an extensive documentation of the history, work and actions of the group up until their 2014 DS30 installation at Dunstan Staiths, commissioned by AV Festival to commemorate the anniversary of The Miners’ Strike of 1984/85. The book is launched in London on April 23rd and will feature a screening of the DS30 documentary. The Birmingham event will also celebrate the release of the 12” vinyl single; Tested Product for Record Store Day and the re-release of Shoulder To Shoulder; their album with the striking South Wales Striking Miners Choir from 1984 which will be re-released on 1st May on red vinyl.

 The evening will feature DJ sets from Test Dept themselves, PC Press editor Alexei Monroe in his Codex Europa guise and the legendary Stephen Mallinder. Test Dept will line the walls with art manifestos and statements from their historical archives and show footage of live performances and actions from some of their historic performances. There will be a stall selling the book, CDs, vinyl and official Test Dept merchandise.

 

7:00PM - 11:00PM £5 ENTRY

Vivid Projects

16 Minerva Works, 158 Fazeley Street, B5 5RS Birmingham, United Kingdom

Review: Mike Gervais Assailant EP

Mike Gervais

Assailant EP

Label. SYSTEM

Format. Vinyl & Digital

Cat.Number. SYSTEM002

Release Date. March 9th, 2015 (Vinyl),

March 23rd, 2015 (Digital)

This memorable new release from veteran Minneapolis techno producer and promoter Mike Gervais represents the cutting-edge of American techno. It's the second release on his System label and features two original tracks with 2 remixes. 

Assailant itself has an instant kick and an intense propulsive energy, yet is no mindless banger. The sounds are sharp and clean with morphing sounds coiling and cutting through the mix. As it progresses, drones come to the fore, creating an atmosphere that's both cold and positive.

Luis Flores' remix retains only twisted traces of the original with added Latinate percussion producing a version that's simultaneously more danceable and colder, filled with spiky detail. The Doubt remix starts with stretched, morphing tones before introducing a subtly clubby bass. The overall feeling is more abstract and minimal, with texture and atmosphere prevailing over impact.

Some producers might be overshadowed when having to follow up serious remixes of their work but in this case Gervais' own 'Stumble' outclasses even these. It's a fluent blend of elegantly arranged dark layers and acidic fragments that constantly mutate and modulate, demanding active listening rather than unthinking submission to the beat.