Where does one begin with Stephen Brown? A product of Scotland’s early adoption of techno, he was more under the radar than his peer Neil Landstrumm. However, as mid-90s releases like Skyways and A Function of Aberration attested, Brown was every bit as experimental, pushing techno to acceptable limits. While Landstrumm re-imagined the ghetto swagger of Chicago on Brown by August, Brown rewired Detroit techno via the two aforementioned records and a series of releases for Djax that disregarded notions of linearity and the dance floor in favour of wild, disjointed rhythms, hyper-speed tempos and waves of analogue abandon.
The Edinburgh-based producer is set for a fourth appearance on the Amsterdam label – get a taste here.
Ostgut Ton keep their fires of 2013 well stoked with a new EP from Detroit luminary Rolando.
Theory Records are celebrating their 40th release with a release from Ben Sims featuring a bumper package of remixes from Skudge, Rolando, and Robert Hood.
If you live in London you’ve probably already heard about this weekend’s Secretsundaze 10th anniversary double party – well, here’s your chance to win a pair of tickets to both gigs.
Berghain and its residents may be the epicentre of the techno and house universe right now, but they never forget to acknowledge who and what they have been inspired by. Indeed, while Ben Klock’s mix CD for sister label Ostgut Ton last year showcased new school talents like Martyn, Jonas Kopp and Roman Lindau, it also featured a long-lost Tyree classic as well as giving tacit recognition to Detroit’s influence on modern-day Berlin techno with contributions from Rolando.
While the “Knights of the Jaguar” creator has focused his efforts in recent years on house music, “De Cago” sees him re-explore the middle ground between these styles and fittingly, there’s a solemn vocal intoning ‘Detroit…Chicago’. This is a familiar trick and one that has gained currency as a lazy crutch in recent times. Thankfully though, in Rolando’s hands it becomes an effective weapon as he filters it in DBX-style and it also helps that he underpins it with a dense, drummy groove and chilling, atmospheric chords.
“Junie”, which provided the outro to Klock’s mix, opts for a radically different approach. Like Carl Craig’s more introspective work – “Landcruising” springs to mind – Rolando favours a mid-tempo arrangement, with the somnambulant pace providing the ideal backdrop for orchestral strings and a sombre bassline. The sum of these parts proves yet again that Detroit artists still have the ability to surprise and inspire, 25 years after the city birthed techno.
Richard Brophy
