This month we are listening to the excellent and Kruder & Dorfmeister K&D Sessions from 1998 that has had some remastering treatment. We also have some new release highlights from Scuba, Lake People and the Underworld cover of the Frankie Knuckles classic Baby Wants To Ride.

If you have heard some great music you want us to add to our playlist rotation, be sure to get in touch.

6th Borough Project – Izna
AK (aka Aljosha Konstanty) – Unspoken Words
Bass Clef – sometimes the only way out is to go further in
Bob Moses – All I Want
Bwana – Tengo
Carl Craig, Green Velvet – Murder Of The Innocent
Carl Craig, Green Velvet – Let It Go
Clark – Unfurla
Count Basic – Strange Life (K&D Remix)
Daniel Avery – Drone Logic (Factory Floor Remix)
Daniel Avery – Naive Response (Ø [Phase] Remix)
Daniel Avery – Free Floating (Matt Walsh Remix)
Daniel Avery – Knowing We’ll Be Here (KiNK Remix)
Darkotic & 6_DEL – 1992
Darkstar – Hold Me Down
David Holmes – Theme/IMG
David Holmes – The Ballad Of Sarah & Jack
David Holmes – Don’t Die Just Yet (Holiday Girl)
David Holmes – I Heard Wonders (Andrew Weatherall Vocal Mix)
David Holmes – Gone (K&D Session TM)
Depeche Mode – Useless (K&D Session TM)
Dzeta ‘n Basile – Drowning My Sorrow (Cozzy D Remix)
E.S.P. – It’s U
Evenings – Babe
Frankie Knuckles – The Whistle Song
Gorgon City – Cowgirl Live at Abbey Road
Groove Armada – Love Lights the Underground
Groove Armada – Soho Disco
Gui Boratto – Taxidermia
A Guy Called Gerald – Voodoo Ray
Holly Herndon – Chorus
Holy Other – Yr Love
Hot Chip – Need You Now
Jamie xx – Loud Places
Jamie xx – Sleep Sound
Jon Hopkins – I Remember
Jon Hopkins – Open Eye Signal (George FitzGerald Remix)
Josh Wink – Higher State Of Consciousness (Original Tweekin’ Acid Funk Mix)
Lake People – Escape Velocity
Lake People – Drifting Red
Lake People – Lamb Shift
Lamb – Trans Fatty Acid (K&D Session TM)
Lemakuhlar, Red D – Is Limited
Luv Jam – Californian Freestyler (Jacob Korn Remix 2)
Mama Oliver – Eastwest (Stoned Together)
Mark du Mosch – Reminiscing
Marshall Watson – I Want to Hold You Now
Marshall Watson – Heart of Mine, Beating
Moiré – Mr Figure
Mystical Sun – Blue Magnetic Ocean
Nathan Fake – Fortune Bru
Nathan Fake – Glaive
ovrWatch – Order 101
Palmbomen II – Lorraine Kelleher
Palmbomen II – John Lee Roche
Pye Corner Audio – Sleep Games
Rickster – Night Moves
Rockers Hi-Fi – Push Push (G-Corp Mix)
Romance – All Dis Music
Röyksopp – Eple
The Sabres Of Paradise – Smoke Belch II (David Holmes Mix)
Saint Etienne – Who Do You Think You Are (Aphex Twin)
Sandman, Riverside, Jeremy Ellis – Into Your Story (Kai Alce DISTINCTIVE Remix)
Scuba – Drift
Scuba – PCP
Scuba – Black On Black
Scuba – Dream
Sepalcure – I’m Alright
Sofa Surfers – Sofa Rockers (Richard Dorfmeister Mix)
Tomas – Mind Song
Underworld – Baby Wants To Ride (Underworld vs Heller & Farley)
Underworld – Baby Wants To Ride (Underworld vs Misterons)
Underworld – Rez
Underworld – Phonestrap 4
Vince Watson – Mystical Rhythm

Full link to the April 2015 Playlist page

We have gone a bit House for this months playlist update with new releases from Basement Jaxx, Groove Armada and Gui Boratto. Some classics thrown in from Leftfield and you will also find some Underworld, in celebration of the remastered version of dubnobasswithmyheadman.

Acronym – 16 Cygni
Alex Sosa – Your Name (Original mix)
Animal Collective – My Girls
Aphex Twin – minipops 67 [Source Field Mix]
Apollo 440 – Stealth Mass In F#M
Appleblim & Ramadanman – Sous Le Sable
Architectural – Witches’ Dance
Armin – Blue Fear (Original Extended Version)
Artefakt – Narcosis
Audion – Sky
Audion – Sky (Daniel Avery Remix)
Audion – Sky (Scuba Remix)
Audion – Motormouth
Basement Jaxx – House Scene (Edit)
Basement Jaxx – Back 2 the Wild (Gorgon City Remix)
Basement Jaxx – Unicorn (Club Version Long)
The Black Dog – Virtual
Bobby Womack – Please Forgive My Heart
Burial – U Hurt Me
Caribou – Can’t Do Without You
Christian Loeffler – Mt. Grace (Original Mix)
Cobblestone Jazz – 23 Seconds
Coldplay – Midnight (Jon Hopkins Remix)
Coldplay – Midnight (Giorgio Moroder Remix)
Dance 2 Trance – We Came In Peace (Original ’90 Mix)
Dance 2 Trance – We Came In Peace (’91 Mix)
Daniel Avery – Knowing We’ll Be Here
Daphni – Ye Ye
Darius Syrossian – Velvette
Darkotic & 6_DEL – 1992
Dave DK – Palmaille
Disclosure – When a Fire Starts To Burn
Disclosure – What’s In Your Head
Duke Dumont – Mumble Man
Dyed Soundorom – Tapioka (Agnes Remix)
Evy Jane – Closer
Evy Jane – Worry Heart
The Field – A Paw In My Face
The Field – No. No…
Four Tet – Love Cry
Geddes – Trial (Hosh Mix)
Groove Armada – Tuning In (Dub Mix)
Groove Armada – Set Me Free (Balearic Mix)
Groove Armada – You Got To
Groove Armada – Chicago
Groove Armada – You Got To (GA Edit)
Gui Boratto – Take My Breath Away
Gui Boratto feat. Come And Hell – Take Control
Gui Boratto feat. Come And Hell – Take Control (Come and Hell Mix)
GusGus – This Is Not The First Time
Hauswerks – Just Want U
Hector – Hide (Delano Smith Remix)
Holy Other – Touch
Huxley – Cobourg (Agnes Mix)
ilectrix – Plue Plue, techno!
Jagwar Ma – Man I Need Dub
Jagwar Ma – The Throw – Levitational
Jamie xx – All Under One Roof Raving
Jamie XX – Far Nearer
Jaymo & Andy George – Remember (DJ W!LD Remix)
John Maus – Hey Moon
Jon Hopkins – We Disappear (feat. Lulu James)
Jon Hopkins – Abandon Window (Moderat Remix)
The Juan Maclean – The Sun Will Never Set On Our Love
Justus Kohncke – Loop
Kevin Griffiths – Jaguar Shoes (Ripperton Mix)
Khotin – Everything Dub
Kolsch feat. Gregor Schwellenbach – Cassiopeia
Lance Herbstrong – Pela Janela (Thievery Corporation x AlexKid x Lance Herbstrong Remix)
Leftfield – Song Of Life
Leftfield – Not Forgotten
Leftfield – Release The Pressure
Leftfield – Open Up
Legowelt – Hollywood Murder Mystery (Original Mix)
Liquid – Sweet Harmony (Original Mix)
Lusine – Two Dots
Maceo Plex – Conjure Superstar
Marco Faraone – New Direction
Mark Broom – Section 2 (Alan Fitzpatrick Edit)
Martyn – Forgiveness Step 2
Martyn – Like That
Massive Attack – Teardrop (Pyrrhic Remix)
Michael Mayer – Lamusetwa
Moderat – Versions
Mosca – Bax
Nightmares On Wax – Flip Ya Lid
Nina Kraviz – Okain’s Scream (Sebo K Mix)
Nosaj Thing – Fog
Okain – O’Clock (Gerd’s Deep Mix)
Okain – 717 (D’Julz Mix)
Oneohtrix Point Never – Zebra
Partial Arts – Taifa
Petre Inspirescu – Talking Waters
Pinch – Qawwali
Remote_ – Echo Of You
Sascha Dive – Deja Vu (Virgo Four Merwyn Strings Mix)
Saschienne – Horacio Delirium
Scuba – Adrenalin
Sebastien Bouchet – Broken Heart
Sidney Charles – Wax Digger 88′
SL2 – DJs Take Control (Original Version)
Slam – Rotary
Spencer Parker – Neon (Guy Gerber & David K Mix)
Steffi & Dexter – Rosser
Subb-an – Off the Walls (Melon’s Club Mix)
Superpitcher – Delta
Telefon Tel Aviv – Your Mouth
Thom Yorke – Black Swan
Tom Demac – Days with Poly
Trentemøller – Vamp
Underworld – Hamburg Hotel Essex
Underworld – Surfboy
Underworld – Dirty Epic
Underworld – Spikee
Underworld – Dark & Long (Thing In A Book Mix)
Underworld – Dark & Long (1struffid3A15512)
Underworld – Mmm…Skyscraper I Love You (After Sky Id6 1551 2)
Underworld – Born Slippy (Original Instrumental Version)
Underworld – Banstyle/Sappys Curry
Unknown Artist – Blanc 2
Voigt & Voigt – Tischlein Deck Dich

Full link to the October 2014 Playlist page

After a three year hiatus (sort of), we are pleased to announce the return of one of our former resident producers to the air – Marshall Watson.

He will present a 2 hour mix as a warmup for Underworld’s huge Dubnobasswithmyheadman Concert in London this weekend.

Tune in on Friday 10th October 2014 for the set, times vary depending on where you live in the world:
[12:00 USA Pacific / 20:00 UK / 21:00 Central Europe]

Full link to the Dirtyradio Presents – Marshall Watson Live 10.10.14 page

Dirtyradio streams a curated archive of classic and contemporary underground electronic music. The library is regularly refreshed with music worth hearing.  This is a round up of tracks added to the playlist this month.

• Agoria – Scala
• Alex Sosa – Everything Counts (Original mix)
• Aphex Twin – Heliosphan
• The Asphodells – A Love from Outer Space (Version 2)
• Audion – Sky (Scuba Remix)
• Beautiful Swimmers – Big Coast
• Benjamin Damage – Up
• Biosphere – Patashnik
• The Black Dog – Ism
• Blood Orange – You’re Not Good Enough
• Boards of Canada – Turquoise Hexagon Sun
• Byetone – Morning
• Clark – Alice (Redux)
• Daniel Avery – Free Floating (Matt Walsh Remix)
• Darkside – Golden Arrow
• Darkstar – Timeaway
• Dave Angel – Dreams
• Dense & Pika – Black Deep
• Diamond Version – Get Yours
• Dirg Gerner – Vicious Cycle
• Doc Daneeka – Walk on in
• Donato Dozzy – Vaporware 04
• ENO ?HYDE – Daddy’s Car
• ENO ?HYDE – Who Rings The Bell
• ENO ?HYDE – Celebration
• Factory Floor – Fall Back
• Factory Floor – How You Say (Daniel Avery Remix)
• Falty DL – Uncea
• Fink – Looking Too Closely
• Fink – Perfect Darkness (Close Remix)
• Floorplan (Robert Hood) – Baby, Baby
• Four Tet – Lion (Jamie xx Remix)
• Four Tet – 128 Harps (Anthony Naples Remix)
• George Fitzgerald – Shackled
• Golden Bug – Midnight Rabbit
• Golden Girls – Kinetic (David Morley Remix)
• Golden Girls – Kinetic (Orbital Mix 3)
• Goldfrapp – Ride a White Horse (Single Version)
• Groove Armada – Pork Soda
• Groove Armada – Jack in Black
• High Water – Railroad Song
• Jackson And His Computerband – Vista
• Jacques Greene – Quicksand
• Jägerverb – Brocken Spectre
• Jamie Lidell – A Little Bit More
• Jamie xx – Sleep Sound
• John Tejada – Now We’re Here
• Jon Hopkins – Open Eye Signal
• Khotin – Vitebsk
• Khotin – You Could Feel The Sky
• Khotin – Dawn Flowers
• Lali Puna – Faking The Books
• Light Year – Come Together
• The Locust – One Way Or Another
• The Locust – I Am a Murderer
• Lone – Airglow Fires
• Mano Le Tough – Baby, Lets Love (Jacob Korn Remix)
• Mano Le Tough – Tempus (Original Mix)
• Mano Le Tough – Return To Yoz (Original Mix)
• Marshall Watson – Do Want What You
• Marshall Watson – Do Want What You (Mark Slee’s Low Slung Remix) [MK2]
• Martyn – Glassbeadgames (feat. Four Tet)
• Martyn – Love of Pleasure (feat. Copeland)
• Maya Jane Coles – Something In The Air (Bonobo Remix)
• Meatbingo – Trendy Robots
• Miyauchi Yuri – Mirea (Aus Remix)
• Moderat – Last Time (Jon Hopkins Remix)
• Moderat – Gita (Anstam’s Dustified Dance Edit Instrumental)
• Mu-Ziq – Houzz 10
• Mundo Muzique – Andromeda
• Nathan Fake – The Sky Was Pink (Holden Remix)
• Nicholas – Now Is The Time (Original Mix)
• Nicholas feat. Stee Downes – Things Of The Past (Original Mix)
• Nils Frahm – Says
• Nosaj Thing – Particles Aligned
• The O.T. Quartet – Hold That Sucker Down (Builds Like A Skyscraper)
• Palm / | \ Highway Chase – Escape From New York
• Peaking Lights – Beautiful Son (John Talabot’s Acetate Dub)
• Raudive – Traffic
• Recondite – Riant
• Scuba – Cyanide
• Scuba – Curious Paradox
• Seams – ClapOne
• Skream – Dutch Flowerz
• SOPHIE – BIPP
• Special Request – Ride VIP
• Subsurfing – The Number Readers
• Tensnake – Last Song
• Tensnake feat. Nile Rodgers & Fiora – Love Sublime (Duke Dumont Remix)
• Underworld – Sola Sistim
• Underworld – King Of Snake (Dino Lenny Remix)
• Wagon Christ – Nighty Night

Full link to the June 2014 Playlist page

This week’s album of the week comes from Seattle based duo Jordan Koplowitz & Reed Juenger, aka “Beat Connection”. Perhaps we could have generalized the sound of “Surf Noir” as ‘instrumental indie synth’, but instead of making presumptuous statements in an effort to put the sound into a category, we decided to catch up with the guys exclusively to find out a little more…

• dR: Where does the name ‘Beat Connection’ originate?
  Reed / Jordan: Well, its a homage (ok it sounds cool and we love the band so we used it) to the B-side of LCD Soundystem’s first single. Who puts out a song to start an amazing career about how washed up and old they are? Fuckin’ LCD does.
• dR: What should people expect to hear in this EP?

  Reed: We have been compared to a lot of artists, but in most cases as a combination of two or more, I think that many influences shine through, but this is kind of meant to be music that can fit a lot of different settings. Tracks like “In The Water” and “Theme From Yours Truly” are kind of just fun party music, and sometimes thats all you need.

  Jordan: What we’ve said before is that our music is challenging surf-y-psychedelic-balearic-disco-dance-electro-pop infused with a healthy dose of rock and house music. Some people may say that’s just chillwave…which we don’t entirely disagree with. I just think our music is a bit “dancier” than chillwave and has a bit more substance.

  Download Beat Connection • Surf Noir for FREE on Bandcamp:
  

• What albums have you listened too lately?

  Jordan: I have pretty eclectic tastes so it’s been all over the board. Here’s my list: Animal Collective – Fall Be Kind, Yeasayer – Odd Blood, Ruby Suns – Fight Softly, Cut Copy – In Ghost Coulours. Honestly I’m still really into Discovery by Daft Punk. I always make playlists and when I search through my computer and see Daft Punk I don’t see a reason to not put it on.

  Reed: Too many to list, and I’m weird: Nas – Illmatic, James Blake – CMYK – EP, Saint Etienne – Foxbase Alpha, ceo – White Magic, Cut Copy’s New Single! Also, I am going to go so wild on Tuesday when the new Arcade Fire album comes out. That’s one that I will be listening to all the way through on vinyl when its actually out.

• Are there any particular techniques that you use to achieve your sound?

  Reed/Jordan : Well we use some of the mainstays of electronic music, i.e. side chaining, selective compression, and some of the mainstays of chillwave with reverb and echo etc. But we also do try out some weird things, like degrading audio quality of some instruments by just playing them over our PA and recording them back into Logic. We really like to use instruments in ways like they’ve never been used or are uncommonly used. For example side chaining the flute in the song “Silver Screen” pretty ingenious right? maybe uncalled for…but It’s all about experimenting and being patient.

• How do you think net labels will shape / are shaping the future of electronic music?

  Reed/Jordan: Basically, people don’t buy that much music any more. The end result if you buy a cd is you put it on your mp3 player and thats that, so basically may as well buy digital, from the internet. I love buying dead medium music with big art, but cd’s are essentially on par with digital music, so I might as well save some money and buy some stuff online and get it immediately.

  I think that net labels are going to take over, its already become way easy for an artist to release their music, but way hard to support themselves because labels haven’t really caught up. So there are going to be more artists (which is a good an bad thing) and more net labels to release their music. And hopefully its gonna be a new paradigm where everything can co-exist. Beat Connection has toyed with the idea of starting their own digital label which will use sales money to one day release vinyl. We will just have to wait and see I guess.

• What was your first record you bought? Do you shop at record shops often?

  Reed: Well, this is embarrassing, and I probably bought or was given music before this, but best as I can tell… The first record I bought was a Spice Girls cd. There was this girl in my, i dunno, 2nd grade class who I had a crush on, and she loved the Spice Girls and all that shit, so I bought one of those cd’s so that I could start a conversation up with her….Problem was I definitely ended up buying another one. I try to buy as much of my music as possible, I’m pretty broke so I stream a lot of stuff, and I’m not holier than thou, I download music too. But digging through bins of old vinyl is a past time of mine.

  Jordan: (Lawl at Reed) I think the first album I bought was a Space Jam soundtrack cassette tape that I would always listen to as I went to sleep. The only problem with cassettes is that they make that horrible clicking sound when the first side ends. I would stay awake because I knew that sound was going to happen and I was going to have to switch sides. In the end….probably hurt my sleeping patterns.

  Reed: Oh yeah that tape sound when it reached the end of a side would freak me out every time.

• Do you play out live often? What sort of set-up do you have?

  Reed/Jordan: Well, soon, some of the songs on the EP were made without really considering how we were going to play it, so now, since its just the two of us, we are going through a pretty long and drawn out, but fun process of figuring everything out. A really key component to our live set-up is an MPC-1000, we also use a midi keyboard so that we can control some of synths we made in logic and then play them live. There is also a fair amount of guitar that gets played, and a lot of the drums and bass are played on a backing track through a program called torq which allows us to set loops so that we can jam on stuff instead of being super rigid.

• Any advice would you give to up and coming artists?

  Jordan: Basically, don’t be lazy. It’s really easy to start songs and then not have the ambition to finish them. Or to maybe finish a song but not want to master/fix it. It takes a lot of a effort, no doubt, but when you’ve put that many hours into making something, you’ll love that you did. Also, drink a lot of water. sitting and working on music for a long time can make you dehydrated!

  Reed: Drink beer instead of water. No but seriously don’t get too hung up on getting a label or booking shows, focus on the music and make music that you like and that you’re proud of. Then sell out immediately.

• Do you cook, what’s your favourite dish?

  Jordan: I cook up some sick beats! But no really, when I’m not working on music I’m most likely preparing a lavish dish. I extremely enjoy cooking. I think my favorite dish that I’ve made recently was a green curry with some buddies. It turned out pretty much perfectly, minus the fact we didn’t make enough rice. I do still really like quesadillas though, they’re so easy but so delicious.

  Reed: I AM THE GRILLMASTER.

• If you had a time machine, where would you go? 😉

  Jordan: Well this is difficult…does the time machine fly or do I have to stay where I am when I travel through time? I’ll assume it flies. I think I’d go back to ancient Egypt and try to live as a pharaoh or king or something. I’m very interested in cultures like theirs because science has come up with so many conclusions about it. I’d want to see if it’s actually like we thought. All this minus all the slave labor.

  Reed: Dude time travel is fuckin terrifying. I would have to go to the future because if you go into the past everyone is gonna think you are looney and you are gonna die from all sorts of sub par living conditions or some shit like that. If you choose the future there is the slim chance that people will be like: oh yeah your from the past? Oh thats cool me too, what up?

“Surf Noir” is in rotation on the dirtyradio.org playlist from 2nd August 2010.

Listen to the full album on Soundcloud:
Surf Noir – EP by Beat Connection

More Info:
http://thebeatconnection.wordpress.com
http://www.myspace.com/beatconnexion
http://beatconnection.bandcamp.com
http://soundcloud.com/beatconnexion

Full link to the Beat Connection • Surf Noir page

Swim is the record Caribou mastermind Dan Snaith has wanted to bring to fruition for as long as he has been making music. A mathematics scholar and an ingenious multi-instrumentalist/composer, he surprised critics and fans with 2007’s Andorra, a brilliant, electro-tinged pop breakthrough with a timeless grace that made most year-end ‘Best of’ lists and won Canada’s prestigious Polaris Music Prize.

After the startling infectiousness of Andorra, Swim is a more complex, multi-layered affair – rife with fascinating rhythms, instrumentation, and vocals (including those of Born Ruffians’ Luke Lalonde, who appears on ‘Jamelia’) – that becomes more alluring with each listen.

Album of the week, in rotation on the dirtyradio playlist from 26th July 2010.

Official Website: http://www.caribou.fm
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/cariboumanitoba

Full link to the Caribou • Swim page

Phonique’s third studio album, ‘Kissing Strangers’, honours Phonique‘s love for all the musical styles that he so dutifully conveys to the dancefloor. Across 15 lovingly produced tracks (each co-produced with long-time colleague Alex Kruger a.k.a Tigerskin, and also a heavyweight list of respected producers like Gui Boratto, H.O.S.H., Kiloo, Kikiorix, Abyss and Pupkulies) we encounter all that is rich, pure and beautiful about modern electronic music. From catchy, underground-pop moments, to strong club-ready cuts, its a long player in the true sense of the phrase.

Heavily laden with touching, timeless vocals from the likes of Ian Whitelaw, Ruben, Rebecca, Louie Austen, Georg Levin and Nadeshda, the fruits of real song writing talent add to the rich mix of uplifting melodic progressions and trademark Phonique synth lines. There are so many potential classics on offer here its hard to know where to start… but lets assume you start at the beginning! Every track is a highlight, so its well worth taking the time to let the album play right through, and experience it in sequence.

Saying that, its hard to ignore the delightful opening bars of Phonique feat. Kiloo ‘The Passion’, in its new album format, ‘Endless Love’ feat. Louie Austen – whose ‘rat pack’ vocal tones have us all in raptures, or the outstanding cabaret-jazz celebration of ‚A Change Receives The Blessing‘ feat. Nadeshda. Musicality in full swing; warm and touching like the spring breeze!

Later cuts that simply jump out of the platter into your ears are the sweet ‘Summer’ feat. Abyss, a re-affirming vibe we can all relate to, the stiring chord stabs of ‘Afrika’ feat. H.O.S.H., or Phonique‘s amazing collaboration with Gui Boratto – ‘Blindfolded’. But please, dig deeper, and there are even more treasured delights to be found!

More Info: www.dessous-recordings.com
Phonique on Myspace: www.myspace.com/phonique

Full link to the Phonique • Kissing Strangers page

The night sky is a shade of “Tiefschwarz” (deep black). Or at least it has been in Germany, Europe and the rest of the world since sometime around 1997 when brothers Ali and Basti Schwarz joined rhythmic forces. Their first venture was ‘24seven’, which firmly put the then sleepy Stuttgart on the map as a top nightlife destination. The deep house duo then debuted with their pertinently titled single ‘Music’ in 1998 and by 2001 the pair were expanding the parameters of modern dance music with their album ‘RAL9005’. Tiefschwarz quickly became a mainstay on the club scene.

With the licensing of the album by Classic Recordings, Tiefschwarz captured the attention of London, paving the way for their rise to international notoriety. Through high profile remixes they have also made a name for themselves as masters of reworking other people’s tunes. Depeche Mode (‘John The Revelator’), Madonna (‘Get Together’) and Spektrum (‘Kinda New’) are just three of the many artists who have had the Tiefschwarz treatment.

So that’s the background story. But the days of setting up their decks in the evening sun at the now legendary club ON-U in Stuttgart are now a distant memory for Tiefschwarz – you’re now more likely to find them in their studio in Berlin. And as it gets dark and the deep black of the night sets in, Tiefschwarz come to life – clubbing being their biggest vice, yet also their biggest strength.

Now they’re back with their third album ‘Chocolate’, and a major leap forward for the duo: things are different now for Tiefschwarz, as this is the first release on their own label, Souvenir. Ali and Basti now have the world at their feet and are revelling in the artistic freedom that comes with their independence, as you can hear in their latest work; the tracks reflect their musical development over the last few years. Techno and house still form the foundations, yet Tiefschwarz push themselves beyond their previous limits. They’ve found a new, intrinsic sound of their own that oscillates between numerous genres – at once both clear-cut and immensely intricate. One minute the steady bass drives a dancing rhythm, the next it would have you believe that four to the floor is actually a beat based on a prime number.

‘Chocolate’ is subtle, bitter, and sweet, without milk and sugar, it is hand crafted from only the finest ingredients. The tracks work perfectly on the dance floor, yet at the same time, the album as a whole is great to listen to outside of the club setting, due to its depth, enduring vocal tracks and subtle production methods. The first single ‘Find Me’ is the perfect example of striking the right balance between music to dance to and music to listen to – resident at Berlin’s Panorama Bar, Cassy can be heard on this track, who has made a name for herself through working with the likes of Steve Bug and Ricardo Villalobos. Alongside Cassy, guest features include Seth Troxler, Dave Aju and a talented new singer with an incredible voice, whose identity is yet to be revealed…

Ali and Basti worked with Philipp Maier, aka Santé to produce the tracks, and the new dynamic that has emerged from the collaborative production process has manifested itself in a distinct live quality. So much so that Tiefschwarz will now be performing as a live act for the first time, with Santé joining Ali and Basti to complete the live line up. Preparations for this summer’s Chocolate tour are well under way, with big ideas in the pipeline. Tiefschwarz aren’t just perfecting the art of creating their tracks live, but are also entering new territory with their plans for the use of visuals. Without wanting to give too much away, it’s safe to say that light and shadow will play a role in creating new depths within a charged and penetrating live performance. And the focus is not on two, ahem, three men with their laptops, but rather on the music itself.

Live dates and more information: www.myspace.com/tiefschwarz

Full link to the Tiefschwarz • Chocolate page

The LCL netlabel is synonymous with original, edgy and creative Dub, and for this new “Carte Blanche” release, Moritz Beller aka “Moolen” take us by the hand for an emotional journey thru post-rock and electronica landscapes that seems at the same time odd and familiar.

The master of both multiple instruments and sound production by this Hamburg based artist allows him to deliver an ambitious yet intimate mini LP, bridging ambient fields and saturated episodes.

Moritz explains: “I put all the influences – what i’ve heard, felt, just everything into my music. Now, in a retrospective view i can mention each drum pattern, guitar riff or piano theme which refers to a special situation, band or song.”

“‘Art of heartwork’ was inspired by all the things i’ve heard, felt and listened to from 2008 – 2010.”

“It’s like you’re on a journey. You’re driving through a rough urban agglomeration by night, twisted sounds stretching upwards into the air, the flashing light of a streetlight, the quiescence while you’re driving on a country road. The laid back atmosphere collides with distorted driving guitars – it all ends up in blaring shouts: for us, for them, for you! “cause we are for us, for them, for you.” ”

We caught up with Moritz Beller to find out more about the sound.

• dR: So, where did the name “Moolen”come from, is it made up?
  MB: Some People near my Hometown add a “-len” as a suffix to a word. the shortform of Moritz is usually “Mo”. So you have “Moolen”.
• dR: What is your main inspiration for your sound?
  MB: This is really hard to explain – especially in english language! I listen to a lot of music, especially the borderzone between electronic and analogue music. I like to absorb every sound in my memory, mix it in my mind and try to re-create this sound on tape.
• dR: So, what albums have you listened too lately?
  MB: Milestones in the last 2 Months: The Tallest Man on Earth (Shallow Grave / S/t EP), Henrik José – the little things (aka BLISS – i really like the bliss music, too ), Arms and Sleepers (Black Paris 86), This Will Destroy You/Lymbyc Systym (Field Studies)
• dR: And what was your first record you bought?
  MB: Mhhh… Puddle of Mudd – She hates me. Embarrassing!
• dR: Recently, we celebrated a global “Record Store Day” on dirtyradio, do you shop at record stores often?
  MB: I’m not often in a record store. i have no time (i take no time) to hang around in the record store and listen to music. I usually pre-listen it online and buy it when i get the chance.
• dR: How do you think net labels will shape the future of electronic music?
  MB: I’m really new to the Netlabel-thing. In my view the netlabel-“scene” is a kind of a parallel Music Industry without money. So there is no need to produce, distribute and promote commercial music. An artist is absolutely free in the way of making music. I dont think that the netlabels or the Creative Commons shape the future of electronic music. The Producer / Artist and the technical environment will shape the music.
• dR: With that in mind, are there any particular techniques that you use to achieve your sound?
  MB: Well, i don’t use any technique consciously. I just play with my Sequencer Software and the Audio Effects. In a retrospective way i see that i have used a lot of layering. The beginning of “tapedeck” is just a lot of layering work using ePiano and a handful of guitar-flagolette tunes.
• dR: Do you play out live often? What sort of set-up do you have?
  MB: I’ve never played my music live, yet. But im on it. It is really really hard to find musicians. The implementation of electronic and acoustic music is really hard to organize and to quantize.
• dR: What advice would you give to up and coming artists?
  MB: Do your thing.
• dR: If you had a time machine, where would you go? 😉
  MB: In the future, of course!

Check out ‘Tapedeck’:

[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/lcl/moolen-tapedeck[/soundcloud]

The album is in rotation on dirtyradio as our a Album of the Week.

Get all the 7 tracks of this LP free and legal on LCL Netlabel website
LCL CREATIVE COMMONS NETLABEL

Full link to the Moolen • Art of Heartwork page