Records from Beau Wanzer, Shit & Shine, Dez Williams, Bing & Ruth, Line Idle and more caught the eye for their own particular reasons.
There’s a lot to admire about Quentin Vandewalle’s Antinote label, not least his steadfast refusal to pander to DJs. That’s not to say Antinote records can’t be played in clubs – far from it, in fact. It’s just that the majority of the label’s dancefloor successes have come from records that eschew the tried-and-tested in favour of more left-of-centre thrills, like the wonky tribal rhythms of Albinos’ bizarre but brilliant Ritual House series, or the scratchy techno experiments of Iueke’s archival Tape 12″s. These aren’t records for DJs, but rather records DJs can play: imaginative electronic music to dance to, rather than out and out “dance music”.
Nicolas Molina will grace the Parisian label with a third 12″ entitled On The Top Of A Deep Hearted Fern.
Quentin Vandewalle’s Antinote is a rare beast: a label that is almost impossible to pin down. Though the Paris label first surfaced with the archival proto techno of Iueke, Antinote has developed into an increasingly open-minded concern, hopping between the John Carpenter-inspired synth-wave of Nico Motte’s excellent Rheologia, the Future Times-ish tropical wizardry of DK, the cozy dream-pop of Syracuse, And that’s before we get to the dense and off kilter rhythms of Albinos.
The unheralded French musician is set to debut on Quentin Vandewalle’s label with the album Fourrure Sounds due next month.
Few who heard All Day Everyday, the debut single by Parisian producer D.K. on Get The Curse Music, can have failed to have been charmed by its dreamy, new-age influenced pads, hissing analogue rhythms and sun-baked synthesizer melodies. It was rather surprisingly overlooked on its release in January, save for a few heads who drew comparisons with the tropical house and new age techno promoted by Future Times and Canadian brothers-in-electronics Mood Hut. The comparisons were fair. The mysterious French producer’s use of dense, off-kilter analogue rhythms, fizzing cymbals and picturesque melodies echoed the likes of Aquarian Foundation, Pender Street Steppers and, most potently, Maxmillion Dunbar. The 12” even boasted a stripped-back dub that sounded not unlike Max D’s work for L.I.E.S. as Dolo Percussion.
Ahead of its release on Antinote, the debut album from the Parisian newcomer can be heard in full here. Read more
Watch a video for the Parisian pair’s cosmic new release on the Antinote label.
At this point in the development of Antinote, the identity of the Parisian label is becoming a little more tangible. That’s not to say there is a pre-conceived style to be adhered to, not least when many releases have been mined from previously discarded archives, but rather that there is a certain spirit that embodies the music released thus far. It would be churlish to ignore the African influences in many of the releases, most explicit with the Albinos records, but also pleasingly apparent on this latest missive from Iueke, otherwise known as label co-pilot Gwen Jamois.
Young Turks, Public Information, Créme Organization and Antinote feature amongst a baker’s dozen of record sleeves from May.
Stream all four tracks from Geena’s forthcoming Surowych Utworow EP for the Parisian label.
Parisian label Antinote returns to the dusty early 90s archives of Iueke for their fourth release.
Many new labels fall victim to brute predictability with their release schedule, fearful to step out of the irritatingly rigid proximity of just one or maybe two substrates of dance music. The charmingly unpredictable and eccentric output of Antinote Records has ensured the Paris based label founded little more than a year ago by Quentin ‘Zaltan’ Vandewalle and Gwenael Jamois has never looked vulnerable to such pitfalls as these.
Antinote Records founder Zaltan offers up an hour’s worth of Parisian thrift store gems for our latest mix.