Anyone with a firm grasp of the law of averages would understand that in a month where there was far too many good records, a fair proportion also came wrapped in excellent sleeve art.
Richard Brophy does some research into what happens when remixers rework classics cuts of yesteryear.
When the first instalment of From The Far Future was released 12 years ago, it sounded unlike anything else that came before it. There were some pointers, including Juan Atkins’s more introspective work like “Starlight” or the unflinching repetition of Rob Hood’s minimal techno, but these were mere reference points. From The Far Future saw Dixon carve out his own space, a location soundtracked by hypnotic, pointillist rhythms and layers of abstract sound. Appearing at the end of techno’s golden 90s period, a time when the grim heads-down conformism of the loop sound prevailed, it was and still is a landmark release, a collection that follows in the proud tradition of Drexciya and Red Planet by veering away from the pre-ordained co-ordinates and charting largely unknown waters.
The resurgent Tresor imprint have announced a new mix series, the first of which will be helmed by Parisian DJ Deep.
Shadowy Detroit techno outfit Scan 7 will return to Berlin label Tresor for the first time since 1999 with the Resistance EP, which will precede a ‘best of’ compilation slated for release later this year.
Detroit second wave artist Terrence Dixon will return to Tresor and the themes of his album From The Far Future with a forthcoming sequel, naturally entitled From The Far Future (Part 2).
Iconic Berlin techno label Tresor will mark the onset of their 250th release in a manner befitting of their status, with a trilogy of EPs that see a range of contemporary techno artists rework tracks from Juan Atkins‘ Infiniti project.
If you were asked to reel off the most revered clubs in electronic music history on one hand, you’d get to Tresor well before you reached the pinkie. The club, originally situated in the vaults of a disused department store occupied around the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, helped shaped the sound of contemporary techno. The likes of Jeff Mills, Juan Atkins, Robert Hood and Blake Baxter left their Detroit homes to become part of the musical revolution; many more were to follow. Berlin of course remains a bastion for techno, thanks in no small part to Tresor’s ongoing legacy, and this year the club’s record label celebrates its 20th anniversary. To celebrate they enlisted Detroit’s Mike Huckaby to curate and mix a compilation showcasing some of the label’s finest moments, with some of the aforementioned Motor City luminaries featuring alongside other Tresor stalwarts such as Surgeon, acid legend Bam Bam and Drexciya. To mark the compilation’s release here at Juno Plus we called on two of Tresor’s most influential figures – club founder Dimitri Hegemann and in-house record label chief Carola Stoiber – to select their five favourite Tresor releases, in no particular order, and discuss the stories behind them.
Detroit legend Mike Huckaby has been chosen by Berlin’s Tresor Records to mix their upcoming 20th Anniversary compilation.
A few years ago when the focus shifted from mnml to the classic 90s-inspired sounds of Berghain, Berlin-based artist Roger Semsroth did the unthinkable – he took a hiatus from techno. For the majority of producers involved in electronic dance music, where disposability and short-termism are defining characteristics, this move defied logic. It seemed Semsroth had diverted from the record-release-tour-earn money model that is pervasive in all forms of contemporary music. However, the man behind Sleeparchive had merely taken a brief break – and it is quite obvious that for Semsroth, someone who will be around when most of his peers are back doing day jobs, three years is indeed a shortish period.
At a time when all around him tried to outdo one another in the sincere techno stakes, he focused his efforts on making the most willfully noisy, experimental racket possible. Semsroth brings that sense of experimentation to Ronan Point, his comeback techno record. Great waves of noise underscore the rivers of viscous bass and titanium-plated drums that are at the heart of these arrangements. Fused with the kind of austere bleeps that made releases like “Hospital Tracks” such classics, this combination makes a potent dance floor fusion on “Point Two”. “Point Three” is less detailed and its rhythm is inspired by Detroit minimalism rather than the Finnish variant, but bookending this excellent comeback are “One” and “Four”, which present the listener with impenetrable walls of dense, frazzled abstraction. Welcome back you brilliantly awkward bugger.
Richard Brophy
With so much emphasis on a gritty warehouse aesthetic and a dearth of melodies, right now isn’t the most opportune time to be a deep techno producer. Then again, Vince Watson was never one to follow trends – and this approach has ensured his longevity when many of his 90s peers faltered and then faded into obscurity. Ironically, this release on the resurgent Tresor label marks a return to the approach that Watson had originally made his name with during the mid-90s on tentative releases for Dave Angel’s Rotation. Gone are the references to the more house-based narrative that Watson had embraced for Ibadan, replaced with a refreshingly pure (not purist) techno style.
The title track is a fist-pumpingly epic affair: Watson drops a high-tempo pulsing, acidic bass and then copper-fastens soaring, dramatic synths to it. “Flux” also sounds birthed in an analogue era, with its hypnotic rhythms trailing off into the bleepy ether, making for a wonderfully woozy but captivating feeling. Unlike the other contributions, “Kaleidoscope” sees Watson step out of his comfort zone with a brittle rhythmic arrangement that veers from linear techno into shuffling electro drums and back again. Of course, the motif that defines his work is present here as well, with dreamy, melodic chords enveloping everything.
Richard Brophy
In news that will make the techno intelligentsia weak at the knees, legendary Berlin label Tresor is set to reissue a slew of landmark releases from the likes of Jeff Mills, Juan Atkins, Drexciya and Joey Beltram.