WEEK 04 - Main records
How did I get there? Well, by letting the curiosity behind "who sells my Redrop record" surely did at first, but then I realized when writing about the 10 Years Of Rawax that this store had probably one of the greatest Deep & Dub Techno records, considering old and new releases, that I had seen over this year of hunting for physical record stores to talk about.
So here we are, in a region which is on the first bullets of my to go to list, the region around Frankfurt Am Main. Home for an extremely powerful and awfully danceable style of music, no matter the genre, but also home of one of the most famous sausages in the world ! Look at you fancy pants, dancing the night away with your pockets full of wurst.
In 2019, stated as one of the last surviving physical record stores in Offenbach by Schone Ecken Aus Offenbach, it feels even more natural to select records from this place today as the purpose of this blog is simply to defend and debate the value of physical actors of a mostly online Electronic Music community (but definitely not only, with more than 16 000 pieces for sale in-store). I'll say it again, and repeat it every single time you come here, that these spots are the guardians of the safety and the comfort of our movement within the realm of Music. And therefore, will get on to this week's selection without using any more of your time.
Ohm & El Choop - Stolen Time EP
Of course we'll kick this in with one of the coolest being this website has allowed us to get to know : Ohm, this time alongside El Choop as a partner, and Octal Industries on the remix duty.
The Heavy, driving, eponymous Stolen Time opens up the show sitting perfectly in the middle of Dub and Techno with the great help of a weighted deep pad and a simple yet very intense rhythm section, which we elected as our pick from this release. Octal Industries then takes over the end of the Aside on the remix duty, as we said, emphasizing depth with the great help of a slightly heavier and more repetitive rhythmic section, pushing the walls to make more space thanks to a massive reverb.
Decryption will take a housier road and push the gas pedal for the ship to take off to the sky. Definitely more of an irresistible uplifting feeling going on here but the question "why the fuck didn't you chose this one as pick Anthony?" now runs through my mind, for as much as this track is effective. After feeling myself like a donkey torn apart between Oats and Hay, the arrival of Ballistics feels like a savior for my mind as it goes deeper into Dub, leaving space in my head enough for a bunch of shitty thoughts to go away. As if I just farted and opened the window, I realized the pick is actually the record and if you listen to this track first, you might actually get an even bigger bang when you get the record.
Shmart.
Tm Shuffle & Monoder – Midnight Tracks
We'll keep it up in the good north, as we also found a recent Kontakt record, as they are still on the path to constantly deliver one of the highest level of quality in terms of uplifting music.
Sharper rhythm and more intense stabs, looking like a tiny cute little blond girl with an 11.43 in hands asking you to move your feet, now and not next year, the well fitting with these days Isolation track is walking the first steps of the red carpet that this record has layed on the floor. A great sense of contrast between this very light headed rhythmic section of which the major element is a very intense inviting 909ish groove, and this stab banging your head, creates the perfect atmosphere to evolve into as a listener.
Maline Génie is here on the remix duty three times, remixing the two originals and delivering an ambient version of Stop Breaking My Heart , complete the Dub Techno ideal setup which consists of receiving energy and taking your mind to an abstract place. Using the darkness to elevate the might to the light, and movements and rests, to glue it all together.
Tm Shuffle, Monoder and Kontakt are surely delivering here something that can be named a masterpiece.
Costas – Acid Constellations EP
Here's an EP of which the sound fits perfectly with what made the legacy of the label. Rora, the Swiss passionate vinyl lovers stroke again late August 2021 with this piece which probably flew out the window on the first week it was released.
Acid Constellations combines all the ingredients of a the recipe for a successful and effective deep track. A simple and sharp rhythmic section, a comfortable pad, melodic elements providing questions and answers, all of that providing subtle and gentle movement within and a tune that your heart can sing along with.
Sculptor goes deeper and higher, pushes the ground and the sky continuously to provide a pressurized huge space for the head to feel light while keeping the feet tapping the beat (and it helps you become a poet for your lonely nights on tinder too).
Flip the record, and you'll find another interpretation of the signature deep sound you have been experiencing by going through all Rora releases, but not just another. With Levels, Costas is here genuinely presenting another tome for the never to be finished story of this genre of music, written by the hands of a divine artist able to translate the idea of deepness to the common people. And I will personally take this last sentence at the one defining the entire release as all tracks, considering they do feel different from each other, fulfill a task which has many times been attempted but counts more defeat then success. Magnificent record.