Nous’klaer Audio-signed DJ and producer upsammy
The first edition of Hyperspecific for 2018 arrives with the usual round-up of releases from across the electronic music spectrum to tip my hat to, but this first column for the year also comes with the news that I will soon be translating this round-up into a (hopefully) digestible audio format via a monthly radio show shared here on tQโs pages.
Pulling together this column every other month can be a challenge, not so much in that itโs a struggle to dig for the good stuff to share, but rather in that in the age we find ourselves, in which word limits are required to ensure that readers stay until the end of an article, it can be hard to cap the selection. Lots of great music made by people who deserve attention thus falls through the cracks. The monthly show will therefore give me some chance to cast the net further with the releases and variants of electronic music that this column covers.
Hyperspecific will still continue in written form on a bi-monthly basis, but the inaugural edition of the Hyperspecific radio show will go online later this month and run monthly from hereon, with full tracklists. Keep an eye out for the first show coming to the site soon and continue below for some highlights from the year so far covering gritty, industrial flavours from Job Sifre, acid-tinged minimal from Etienne and more.
upsammy – Another Place
(Nousโklaer Audio)
Since its first release in 2013, Dutch label Nousโklaer Audio has leaned towards club music that is emotionally charged, punctuated by uplifting arpeggios and moments of dancefloor euphoria. These Torsing, aka upsammy, first appeared on the label last year, via a various artists entitled Paerels. The two tracks featured marked the first ever release of material from the DJ and producer who can regularly be found playing at Amsterdam club De School. โA Picture Of Uโ on that compilation stayed in line with the labelโs affinity for shimmering, synth-laden dance music but contorted around a drum loop more in line with โ90s IDM, while โWish I Could Stillโฆโ slowed the place stripping back the percussion for a more understated, yet captivating, affair that shared parallels with the hypnotic kosmiche sounds of early German experimentalists.
For her first full solo EP, Another Place, Torsing continues to play around with the hallmarks of what makes a Nousโklaer record. Opener โZonaโ aptly offers a chance to zone out as zaps of percussion and a rattling sample dance around eerie synth play that once again harks back to the more wistful moments of IDM during the late 20th century. Itโs an early highlight proving Torsing is just as comfortable creating music for moments away from the dancefloor as she is the club itself. โ09-06โ following it centres around a faintly acidic loop and shifting drums, its constituent elements sitting at a cross-section between lighter and moodier club moments. On the flipside, โAnother Placeโ comes off like an unfussy but effective electro jam, once again bringing to the forefront Thorsingโs eye for gorgeous synth loops, while closer โA Windowโ sees the record go full circle with a sparse rhythmic framework and graceful pads. Thereโs not a moment of filler on Torsingโs debut full EP and with such a promising start to her catalogue, she undoubtedly has a very bright future ahead.
Leif – Bluebird / Number 13
(Tio Series)
Following on from the inaugural release in 2016 on his own Tio Series label, which sees Welsh producer and Freerotation resident Leif issue his own tracks via a series of 10โs, he returns a little over a year on with two more offerings in the form of โBluebirdโ and โNumber 13โ. The second release in the series follows a similar pattern to that of the first with the producer once again building earworm melodies from gorgeous bell sounds. On the A side, โBluebirdโ hovers just below the 140 BPM mark building from a click-clack drum pattern and blossoming with gorgeous strings and synths, occasionally drenched in reverb, that recall the dizzying, sugary thrill of old video game soundtracks.
Over on the flipside, โNumber 13โ slows the pace with polyrhythms and the kind of hypnotic modular synthesis that wouldnโt sound out of place amongst the headier moments of producers like Donato Dozzyโs output before a grin-inducing, almost childlike bell loop enters the mix recurring in different strains with every 16-bar round. The components of this latest record from Leif are strikingly simple but, as with so much of his past output, effective in teetering on the precipice between music primed for dancefloor functionality and home listening – music to get lost in no matter the setting.
Ex-Terrestrial – Urth Born
(Pacific Rhythm)
Ex-Terrestrial is the pseudonym of Montreal producer Adam Feingold, whose release credentials under the latter name include outings on labels such as 1080p and Funkinevenโs Apron. That output was coloured by lo-fi, gritty and hard-edged techno and electro, albeit frequently coloured by woozy pads. Feingoldโs first turn to the Ex-Terrestrial alias in 2016 though, once again released via 1080p, saw him zone in on his ear for dreamy melodies and his overall oeuvre growing notably lighter in comparison to previous work via downtempo breakbeats and moments of beatless ambience. Returning once again to the alias at the start of this year, the four-track Portal Vision harked back to the bleep era of early โ90s Warp and further refined the sounds explored on his debut release under the alias.
Two months on and Feingoldโs next release as Ex-Terrestrial sees him join up with Vancouver-based label Pacific Rhythm known for its stoner-indebted, laid-back dance jams that frequently see the label associated with fellow Vancouver mainstay Mood Hut. Made up of four tracks, Feingold doesnโt switch up the formula for Urth Born, but itโs no less for it. Opener โUrth Manโ ruminates around warped plucks of guitar, breakbeats and cooed vocal loops offset by lingering squelches of acid. Following it, โEverybody Dreamsโ is a highlight, as the hazy pads of the spaced-out intro, complete with the sample of a dog barking, reveals a driving, almost motorik drum loop and balearic pianos that sit firmly on the right side of tasteful. โWater Walkโ sees Feingold return to the breakbeats, serving up an additional slice of downtempo glory before Montreal producer Priori brings it home with a reworking of โWater Walkโ which strips away the breakbeats for mesmeric drops of 303 acid which contort across the trackโs seven minutes. Following on from a strong release in summer last year by D. Tiffany, Ex-Terrestrialโs Urth Born sees Pacific Rhythm continue their strike rate for characterful dance music that oozes warmth.
Job Sifre – Het Bestaan
(Knekelhuis)
Now 13 releases in, Amsterdam label Knekelhuis has established itself as a reliable outlet for grittier, more industrial-edged electronic music in the years that have followed their first record back in 2014. Knekelhuisโ first release for 2018 sees relative newcomer Job Sifre step up to the label for the first time coming off the back of a debut record for Dutch label Artificial Dance late last year which explored the intersection between new wave and sludgy techno. On Het Bestaan, the producer serves up another five cuts of killer EBM-indebted club music. Opener โBestaanโ glides along at a chugging pace around an electro drum pattern and Sifreโs commanding dutch vocal while โZodiakโ serves as a collision of drum machines and lo-fi synths, with the record retaining an unpolished edge across its five tracks.
Over on the B side, โMars Expressโ might leave some of those listening to their vinyl copies scratching their heads. Cruising at just below 100 BPM, itโs certainly prime for some wrong speed experimentations from the more curious of DJs and home listeners with its warped, paranoid vocal loop buried heavily within the clash of drums and analogue synths. โAt Least We Tryโ, closing out the record, is where Sifre really shines here. Sitting somewhere between โ80s new wave and โ70s glam, the producer stretches out across nine minutes with psychedelia in abundance. Itโs no wonder that itโs been a regular feature of Lena Willikensโ hypnotic club sets of late.
Various – Introduction EP / Hi & Saberhรคgen – Light On Leaves EP
(Intergraded)
The second sub-label of Midlandโs Graded imprint (following on from the 2015 launch of its sample-based disco arm Regraded), Intergraded sees DJ and producer Harry Agius, better known as Midland, provide a platform for new and emerging producers. โThe idea for the label came about after being sent unreleased music and ideas by a number of artists over the last year,โ Agius said when launching the label at the start of the year. Intergradedโs first release, the simply titled Introduction EP, is a various artists affair, comprised of four tracks from as many different producers. Two of those, SIREN member Jay and NTS Radio regular Peach, make their production debut with the label. The formerโs โBalsam Drumโ opens out on dubby, bass-driven percussion not too far removed from the most interesting strands of UK techno emerging of late, with Jay pushing bare-bones, conga-aligned drum work alongside a stripped back, gnarly synth line that doesnโt fully enter proceedings until the halfway mark.
Peachโs contribution to the record, โSilkyโ, meanwhile takes an airier approach with gorgeous pads, a driving baseline and crooning vocals that give the track a timeless finish. Off the back of a series of self-released records, Body In The Thamesโ โSilver Thread Crystal Beadsโ builds around a UK funky-reminiscent drum pattern and shimmering melodies while Webstarrโs โThe Museโ offers a more measured take on the forward-thinking brooding synths.
Following up quickly on the labelโs first release, Intergradedโs second record presents four tracks from Scottish duo Hi & Saberhรคgen who are residents at Edinburgh club Sneaky Peteโs, where they first met Midland having booked him to play at the venue. Having passed on some tracks following that, now arrives the Light On Leaves EP. Opener โLovelessโ circles around cinematic chords, crackly sound effects and a captivating lead vocal. โParachuteโ brings the tempo down slightly with its sleazy drums, while the flipside offers more in the way of introspection via the twinkling melodies of closer โAlrightโ and the title trackโs chirpy pads and chugging percussion. Following on from a strong breakout release in 2016 via the Yumรฉ label, the Light On Leaves EP proves that Hi & Saberhรคgen have much more to offer in the vein of downtempo club jams.
Etienne – V3 EP
(SEQUALOG)
SEQUALOG is the label of French producers Etienne and TC80, founded last year as a means of giving the pair an outlet to release their own music on their own terms. The labelโs third release sees Etienne stepping up for his first standalone record on the imprint with four tracks of classy minimal techno and swung drums. On the A side, โV3โ centres around a simple acid loop and dissonant synths anchored to thumping kick drums, while โHpnoโ retains the 303 bassline of its predecessor, only this time with more wigged out, hypnotic results.
The drums on โHalcyonโ are harder still with Etienne stripping back the elements further with a rather low-key acid hook and shifting hi-hats. The closer โAzurโ is where Etienne really shines on V3 though, with the producer turning his hand to more overt melodies. The throbbing kicks remain, but roll along underneath soothing pads that sit somewhere between vocal and synth manipulation. Recent years have seen producers and DJs within the minimal techno scene increasingly drawing from the sound palette of acid house and electro, be it in their productions or DJ sets, and Etienneโs V3 is a prime example of the magic that can happen when itโs done right.
