Having won the patronage of techno royalty Jeff Mills (who reportedly bought up multiple copies of Function’s superior Isolation twelve to sell in his Tokyo store), the label now celebrates a dozen releases in typically low-key fashion, with three remixes by the cream of their talent pool of unknown artists’ unknown tracks.
Shortcuts is something of a concept album. Back in 2004, Dave Huismans (aka 2562) found a job in a city where he had to work long hours and had few friends. In such circumstances, after a hard day at the office, the temptation to collapse and do nothing often becomes too much… Huismans however used the unfortunate situation as a challenge, and set himself the task of producing a track a night for three weeks.
Since his debut for Ai in 2003 Claro Intelecto (aka the Mark Stewart who wasn’t in the Pop Group) has established himself as one of the most talented of British techno producers, without ever actually bettering his magisterial debut. We look at his latest release for Manchester’s Modern Love label.
Two slabs of white vinyl from two veteran Detroit producers who wish to remain anonymous, under the banner of Sons of the Dragon. The rhetoric, track names and sound of the project has a distinct whiff of Underground Resistance about it, but let’s leave the whodunit speculation to the online forums and let the music do the talking.
Mathew Jonson’s Wagon Repair used to be a must-check label, but in recent times has come to resemble a curate’s egg; good in parts. So I was intrigued with the Discogs Real Love ep which paired up Italians Donato Dozzy and Giorgio Gigli with their border-buddies from Geneva’s Mental Groove label.
Wasteland comes with a certain degree of hype absent from previous Tin Man releases. Alongside the usual props from Hardwax, the mini-album was also single of the week on Boomkat. Adding to the air of expectation was the credit on the label that Rashad Becker, one of the key players at Berlin’s legendary Dubplates and Mastering had a hand in production duties.
Laubner seems to be ploughing his own furrow with what I can only describe as “lonely house”: maudlin synthlines weave in and out of clattering snares, while the low end thumps impatiently in the background. If house is a feeling, STL is pretty down.
This is one of the great joys of techno and house. A small label comes out of nowhere with an attention to detail and level of quality rarely found in the usual glut of releases that we flick through every week.
It all started in middle England, mid-teens, with a tape in my friend’s car…
