On paper, this TTT collaboration between two of Paris’s more interesting producers of recent times seems a little unlikely. On one hand, you have L.I.E.S regular and Editions Gravats co-owner Low Jack, a producer whose distinctive output has blurred the boundaries between industrial-influenced stripped back techno, experimental noise, dirt-encrusted ambience and opium-soaked. On the other, there’s D.K., whose recent releases for Antinote have been almost the opposite: breezy, picturesque, warm and melodious, with clear Balearic and new age house influences. While his releases under the alternative 45 ACP alias have been a little on the dustier, more distorted side – particularly the Change of Tone mini-album on L.I.E.S – unfettered beauty and positive mood enhancement remain the foundation of his output.
The Trilogy Tapes has become one of the most unavoidable and tight-knit forces in underground dance music. Will Bankhead’s continually inventive ways to present variants on the label’s TTT logo on fabric have been worn countlessly by producers and fans alike – meaning that even if you’ve not heard anything from their back catalogue, you’re probably still familiar with The Trilogy Tapes.
This month’s column features records from The Trilogy Tapes, Planet Mu, Berceuse Heroique, Nous, meandyou. and more.
Get to witness a rare London performance from Dynamo Dreesen and SVN for free and add some Acido, SUED and The Trilogy Tapes vinyl to your collection.
The absurdists rule this time around as records from Rezzett, Herva, Morgan Buckley, Altar Of Flies and more feature.
Mix Mup is often mentioned in the same breath as Kassem Mosse. This isn’t entirely without good reason, and for a pair of longtime friends and collaborators, perhaps it’s even to be expected. Their mini-album on The Trilogy Tapes is regarded as a modern-day classic by those in some circles, and its popularity has certainly encouraged the automatic mental association of MM and KM among listeners. As anyone familiar with Mix Mup’s solo productions will readily attest though, it’s a wonder the Leipzig artist has remained more or less under the radar for this long. For over a decade, Lorenz Lindner has crafted a delightfully diverse string of 12”s. It’s been in the last few years that he has really excelled, most notably with the woozy grooves and clattering intensity of After The Job for Hinge Finger in 2013, or in the potent, rippling dub textures throughout Drive-By on Mikrodisko the year prior.
One of the best things about the insurgence of low fidelity, punk-like house and techno from the last few years is that it’s reflected the ongoing leveling of status and skill through access to tools whilst simultaneously railing against linear, canned computer music with the nasty bits ironed out. The music is antagonistic – but often also gleeful, playful; indicative of a willingness to mess with the rules and pull cheap or arcane tricks to achieve. Sure, the online tutorials on how to fake tape-hiss in Ableton might yet stand as an enduring monument to the movement – but in a climate where we’re drinking out of mason jars and seemingly rolling towards a bourgeois engagement with faux ‘vintage’ and faux ‘artisanal’ maybe that has a fair currency as a mirror on contemporary cultural interest.
Will Bankhead’s label will issue Skip Intro by the Leipzig artist later this month.
Test the limits of your speaker system with an eye-bulging production from the Italian duo’s upcoming release for The Trilogy Tapes.
A live cassette from the mystery production unit is out now and will be complemented by a new TTT 12″ next month.
Philippe Hallais could have gone either way. Formerly part of production duo Darabi, the Parisian re-emerged under the name Low Jack in late 2012 on local label Get The Curse with some accomplished, if not especially distinctive, house cuts that were rough round the edges. Working from this formula, Hallais could have mined out a relatively successful few years of DJ bookings off the back of similarly executed twelves. Instead it seems like Hallais has been creatively spurred on by those around him in Paris, like Quentin Vandewalle of Antinote and L.I.E.S. boss Ron Morelli. The resultant Low Jack material for In Paradisum, Delsin, L.I.E.S. and his own Editions Gravats label has been challenging, wilfully experimental and largely excellent.
The first week of 2015 brings us soundtrack-influenced wave experiments, furious techno, a slew of instrumental grime and more.
Our review of 2014 continues, as Tony Poland, Scott Wilson and James Manning run down our 15 best record labels of the year.
Listen to a new production from the reclusive Leipzig artist’s upcoming return to The Trilogy Tapes.
