Various
Touched Electronix 002

Momentaufnahmen is a new label run by German DJ/Producer Pascal Stürmer. The first release, a debut under the new moniker 'Active Nature', sets the tone for the upcoming releases with 4 tracks of deep and reduced techno.

Up next in our main series are Milan-based dub techno outfit Primal Code. With a solid back catalogue comprising releases for Hypnus Records, TGP and Konstrukt, the Italian duo have honed their skills to impressive effect over the last few years, forging a sound signature thoroughly engaging on both body and cerebral levels, and now punching in on KOC to breathe further hard-hitting opaque heat into the collection.Putting things into gear, “AI Calculator” propels us across dim-lit streetscapes and murky subterranean entrails, pared-down to a minimal array of modular signals, subtle machine inflections and particularly acute rhythmic progression. Steering the original into further pumped-up, DJ-friendly territories, NAFF affiliate Priori, hot on heels from his sophomore album, drops the hammer badman style, bringing forth the racing muscular bass and squelchy machine talk on loop mode to keep everyone on their toes from start to finish. Flexing a different kind of acidic swagger, “Autopilot” pulls out the weird extra-terrestrial jazz tropes and whirling dynamics for a round of proper otherworldly bop in the outer-space. Last but not least, “Mainframe” rounds off the release on a more openly experimental note, letting the loops, envelopes and textures float in a haze of half-controlled abstraction. The result evokes something of an immunocompromised Rubber Johnny getting glazed as he weightlessly drifts off from a galaxy to another, and into another world completely.

Back in the nineties, Human Beings were pioneers in the Dutch techno scene. And The Matrix may well be their finest moment. SoHaSo gives this stone-cold classic the re-release it deserves, together with a magical Plaid-remix and a forgotten track, straight from DAT. Together with Quazar and Fierce Ruling Diva, Utrecht-based duo Human Beings were among the very first brave enough to go live, back in 1992. Dance music was still called house or techno. Other flavors only came later. Both Allert Aalders and Bert van der Grift were proper nerds. Their studio was filled to the brims with vintage synthesizers and drum computers and all machines were constantly challenged. Van der Grift sadly passed away in 2005 after a sudden cerebral haemorrhage, marking the abrupt end of Human Beings. The Matrix ticks all the boxes of a proper Human Beings-tune: crystal clear melodies sweeping from corner to corner, ultra-clever drum programming and a main theme that knocks your socks right off. In the energetic live version, they have shaped the track to perfection. A secret weapon that works wonders on dancefloors, even 30 years later. London duo Plaid strip The Matrix to its bare essentials, focusing on the main melody while giving the kick a bit more oomph in a Plaid kinda way. Ghost in the Shell is exactly that. A forgotten off-beat track, made during one of those many sessions in Bert's crampy studio. Its murky downtempo rhythms take a nod to both Meat Beat Manifesto and Renegade Sound Wave. Ah, those golden days....

When we first heard the tracks that are now part of this EP we were convinced an Italian producer from the 90’s had just dusted off a pack of DATS from his archives. Little we knew that Derral was a young, fresh and very talented gentleman from the outskirts of Barcelona. The 4 tracks on this OCD release are reminiscent of what it could be heard in Italy’s Riviera Adriatica legendary clubs in the early 90’s or on labels like UMM, MBG, or Heartbeat and the whole EP is a sneak peak into the promising future Derral has ahead of him.