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Cognition Techno/Electro Report and Chart for May 1999
The two must have techno imports this time 'round come from Space DJz (the rugged "Solaris" prepares us for their upcoming "On Patrol!" album for Soma) and Lucky People Center. The latter's latest single, "International" (SE Beverage), features a stunning remix from groupmember Simon "Wildplanet" Hartley that, once purchased, will likely remain glued to your turntable. But there are plenty of impressive slabs of domestic techno wax worth tracking down, so let's dig right in. Chicago steps up with "The Bomb", a tweaky bit of mastery from High Octane head honcho DJ Rush, while more moody and subdued is the as yet untitled debut from Convextion on his Texan Vext imprint; good things are bound to come from this new enterprise. New York is well represented once again. On Damon Wild's Synewave imprint, you'll find Clint Foster's laidback "Iridiums" EP and the bouncing bassdrum and percussion ballastics of Gain (SW 43). Dietrich Schoenemann gets tribal on the "Time Is Slow" 12" for his own Hidden Agenda; watch next for the debut EP from Tony Rohr. California's Kit Clayton returns to NY's Parallel imprint for the tonguetwisting "Angular Adventures In The Land Of Sound & Shape" and Antfactor puts together some new material for "Message From The Colony"; both come up with yet more exceptional electronics that live up to their reputations. Plenty of action going down in Detroit and, as expected, throughout the state of Michigan and the Great Lakes area. Theorem launches the fourth release in his series for Richie Hawtin's M_nus; soon come is a CD compendium of the best of the bunch. Ikon, Poke, Poker, and Paper contribute a track each to the first release on the D label. Following up Jason Justin's "Imitryx" EP on Great Lakes Records is Chisel's L.A. Williams with two lengthy building DJ tools on "The Freight Train" EP. Daniel Lui releases a quality techno 4tracker in the "Calculated Misconceptions" EP, the third issue on his Chair imprint. Ann Arbor's Fanon Flowers releases Obscurum's "Subtle Changes" EP on his own Mechanisms Industries, while recording EPs for Mike Dreben's Sonic Mind imprint and the German Spiel-Zeug that include both atmospheric as well as more tracky mixing foundations. Number 9 on Dow is the smooth yet strangely titled "Endow", while John Tejada returns to Seventh City for the brilliant "To Lead A Secret Life"; watch for upcoming material from label operator Dan Bell in the near future. Octave One and Juan Atkins are artists you can trust to buy on sight; new from the former on 430 West is the "Art And Soul" single, while the latter morphs into M-5 for a new EP on Metroplex. Underground Resistance have a major winner in the newest material from Rolando; as The Aztec Mystic, his "Knights Of The Jaguar" borders on perfection and demands you buy two copies. Better known as Slam, Orde Meikle and Stuart McMillan also record more accessible, club oriented techno as Pressure Funk; "Twisted Funk" is the full length debut on Glasgow's Soma. For voodoo rhythmatics at their finest, make sure you grab Female's "Angel Plague" doublepack (UK Downwards). Sean Deason unveils yet another amazing album in "Allegory & Metaphor" on his Detroit based Matrix imprint. Europe is represented by a selfreleased full lengths from Saundart ("Part 1 & 2"; for fans of Basic Channel and the most minimal Plastikman) and Warsaw's Jacek Sienkiewicz ("Recognition" will appeal to fans of Tejada and Robert Hood). Exploring computer music is the ".aiff" compilation on Taylor Deupree's 12k (watch for the forthcoming longplayer from Shuttle358), while Transmat kicks off 1999 with the aptly titled "Time : Space" to showcase forthcoming singles as well as albums from John Beltran as Indio and Aril Brikha. Out now is Microworld's "Signals" 12". Electro continues to show that not only is it techno's father, but it's damn healthy too. Two new labels join the ranks this month, Surface Effect from Glasgow and Hypervinyl from Pittsburgh; be sure to check out their first releases when they hit your local shelves. Both Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan continue to produce vibrant electronics and hi tech funk. The latest from Vmax is the "Static" EP with its crisp, uptempo bump. Direct Beat drop the debut from the youngest of the Burden clan in Munchman's "By Design" EP, while Aux 88 hits with the "Computer Speaks" 12" (best for me is the lowslung rework of "Play It Loud" on the B), and Di'jital returns with "The Mind Of The Master". Peoplemover makes a showing on Atkins' Metroplex, while Disko B unleashes a quality 4tracker "by artists unknown". Hmmm, who could that be? The Mighty I-F drop the "Pack" 12" and the long awaited "Man From Pack" album on Interdimensional Transmissions for North America and Disko B for the UK and Europe. Two words: buy it. Recommended electro compilations include the "Oral-Olio: An History Of Tomorrow" package from Ersatz Audio featuring Adult, G.D.Luxxe, Kitbuilders, and Perspects, and Intuit-Solar's "Comin' From Tha D" two volume set. If you smile at the thought of exclusives from Ectomorph, Shake, DJ Recloose, DJ Godfather, Disco D, and Sean Deason, then you'll want this. And it's not all electro, there's even downtempo material from Dan Bell and Terrence Parker that shows as long as artists are focusing on their hearts and not their pocketbooks, this music is sure to keep on progressing. Rather have someone else take care of the mixing? Number 3 in !K7's Electro Boogie series comes from the UK's Depth Charge. "Shape Generator" is less scratch happy-- compared to Dave Clarke's previous contributions-and much darker in tone; culprits here include Electrecord's Third Electric, Anthony Rother, J. Saul Kane's Octagon Man, and even Soft Cell's "Tainted Love". Cognition Techno Top 25 (in no particular order) --Daniel Lui--"Calculated Misconceptions" EP (CAN Chair)
Cognition Electro Top 10 1. I-F-"The Man From P.A.C.K." 2 X LP (US Interdimensional Transmissions/DM Disko B test)
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