Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Breaking The Line
Given the solid reputation and impressive back catalogue that Various Production has established over the years it must have been with equal parts pride and fear that Gold Panda found himself as the first 'signed' artist to be putting out a release on Various' eponymously titled label. The Miyamae EP came out in July and it's a definite winner for all concerned as it maintains the high standard set by the label owners while nicely opening up the path for other producers to follow in Gold Panda's footsteps.As with Various' own releases, Miyamae isn't a record to be easily pigeonholed as it takes in all manner of influences including techno, electronica and dubstep and even includes some good old computer game sounds. Whilst there's a clearly a massive amount of digital processing going on, the EP also maintains a strong organic feel, particularly through the presence of the melodies and it's perhaps the unashamed Japanese influences that are the strongest reference point here. Back Home and Mayuri exhibit strong dancefloor sensibilities, although it would certainly be interesting to hear these dropped in a peak-time club environment. Long Vacation is more of an excursion into sonic experimentation and is delivered at a pace more akin with the live set Langer and I saw Gold Panda perform a month or so back as well as the "Before" mini album of his I picked up too.
Gold Panda - Mayuri //Various Production buy
Various' ventures have long since been of interest to me and I'm glad to say this deviation from their previous path delivers pleasing results. Gold Panda is currently in the middle of his debut live tour and details of further gigs can be found at his MySpace page. Various Production are also due to do a free live gig at London's Cafe 1001 on October 1st.
Labels: Gold Panda, Various Production
Monday, March 16, 2009
Further Variations
As their name suggests, Various Production have long since established itself themselves as an act whose musical output is not going to be easily pigeonholed and with past efforts including everything from folktronica to dubstep, each new release brings with it the anticipation of whether it's going to better their previous high points and which direction they're going in this time round.Various' Trycycle EP is due out on March 23rd on their own eponymously titled label and sees the duo keeping their trademark heavy beats but on 'B Side' in particular, taking on board influences from the wonky / aquacrunk sound that's been gathering momentum over the past year or so. As is often the case, Ramp sees Various bring a vocalist on board and this time the honours go to V.E.X. who spits out his urban rhymes to the accompaniment of sparse percussion and playful synths. Last up is the title cut which is a rather loopy instrumental outing and while pleasant enough, it brings less to the table than 'B Side' which for me is the real gem in this package.
Various Production - Trycycle // Various Production (Vars022)
Labels: Aquacrunk, Dubstep, Various Production
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Sunshine Underground
RAW's Sonar Review.The problem with Sonar is that there’s just far too much to try and fit into a 4 day trip. Trying to take in all of the quality music at the festival’s official proceedings would be task enough in itself but there’s also the myriad of unofficial parties put on by labels and promoters in the clubs and on the beaches and if you haven’t done the full Barcelona tourist thing previously not trying to see at least some of the many sights the city has to offer is just rude.
So, having spent our first morning in Barcelona queuing in the baking sun to pick up our tickets and then heading up to Gaudi’s surreal Park Guell to chill out for a bit, Langer, myself and the rest of our rave posse finally got to the festival with just enough time to sink a few beers before James Holden took to the decks on the first afternoon of ‘Sonar by Day’. While his set was pleasant enough and contained a few tasty cuts, he’d chosen to go for an electronica selection so it never really 'went off'.
We chose not to buy ‘Sonar by Night’ tickets this year and having waded through Resident Adviser’s listing pages before we left and seeing the abundance of techno parties that were due to take over the proceedings this decision seemed justified.
After studying the form we decided to opt for the Raum Playa night which had a lineup big enough for a festival in its own right and also read like a who’s who of techno to boot. Having spent an hour wandering round the city trying to get a cab we finally got to the somewhat isolated location and were suitably impressed with our surroundings. However, despite the quality venue and impressive lineup things never really bubbled above lukewarm with music selections across the board seeming to be solid minimal shufflers without the presence of anything particularly anthemic - even the intro to Kraftwerk's numbers was looped to infinity without the gorgeous synths being allowed to drop! Jay Haze was however one exception and definitely an artist I plan to check out more in the future.
Recovering from the night before by lounging around in the sun and checking out some quality beats was the perfect cure and day two of the festival provided the perfect opportunity to enjoy Sonar for what it does best and we allowed to simply be introduced to new music. At the start of the day, there was no-one on the bill that I had any real interest in seeing (only Warp's Clarke but he turned out to be disappointing) but following a day lounging around in various places, Nettle, DJ Muerto, and the snappily-titled Facto Delate y Las Flores Azules all provided quality entertainment and are now on my 'ones to watch' list.
So the night was once again upon us and we kick-started things with the free BPitch beach party - unfortunately we arrived late and the party finished early but we did catch at least some of Ellen Allien's set which was well and truly rocking the crowd. We decided to ease our disappointment of missing out by going to check out the Plantage 13 and night at Moog with Bodzin/Huntemann. For me, Bodzin's performance turned out to be the highlight of the weekend as it was 90 minutes of dirty beats, white noise, euphoric synths and a full on party atmosphere. It was a live set and Bodzin provided added entertainment by wearing white gloves and leaping around like a raving loon - seeing someone that side of the booth clearly having so much fun was a joy to behold!
Bodzin in White Gloves Shocker! Ellen Allien at the BPitch beach party.
Photos: Jeremy Armitage/ Resident Advisor david suñé/Resident Advisor
So our final day beckoned and as I'm sure you're tiring of this somewhat lengthy blow by blow account I'll keep this as brief as possible:
C2C - never heard of them before going but they provided some wicked hip hop cut up stuff on the main stage (not surprising really as my post Sonar investigations reveal they are current reigning 4 times DMC champions!)
Various Production - dirty, dirty dubstep-tinged beats with live vocals - heavy!
Claro Intelecto - Quality Techno / Electronica although nothing particularly outstanding and not quite as good as I was hoping for
Andy Stott - Claro's label mate & much more on the money on this particular day - wicked!
Junior Boys - not bad although the beers were kicking in at this stage
Hey Willpower - entertaining for their ludicrously camp performance but I seem to remember the music being somewhat dodgy
PlanningToRock - interesting video and audio stuff to end the festivities
Right, that's me done. In a nutshell: It rocked - bring on next year!
Andy Stott - Handle with Care // Modern Love
Claro Intelecto - Post // Modern Love
Nettle - Grit (DJ Rupture & Jenny Jones remix) //theAgriculture
Jay Haze - Boring Acid // Musik Krause
Rekorder - Rekorder 8.1 //Rekorder (This is Bodzin & Huntemann btw in case you weren't already aware)
We chose not to buy ‘Sonar by Night’ tickets this year and having waded through Resident Adviser’s listing pages before we left and seeing the abundance of techno parties that were due to take over the proceedings this decision seemed justified.
After studying the form we decided to opt for the Raum Playa night which had a lineup big enough for a festival in its own right and also read like a who’s who of techno to boot. Having spent an hour wandering round the city trying to get a cab we finally got to the somewhat isolated location and were suitably impressed with our surroundings. However, despite the quality venue and impressive lineup things never really bubbled above lukewarm with music selections across the board seeming to be solid minimal shufflers without the presence of anything particularly anthemic - even the intro to Kraftwerk's numbers was looped to infinity without the gorgeous synths being allowed to drop! Jay Haze was however one exception and definitely an artist I plan to check out more in the future.
Recovering from the night before by lounging around in the sun and checking out some quality beats was the perfect cure and day two of the festival provided the perfect opportunity to enjoy Sonar for what it does best and we allowed to simply be introduced to new music. At the start of the day, there was no-one on the bill that I had any real interest in seeing (only Warp's Clarke but he turned out to be disappointing) but following a day lounging around in various places, Nettle, DJ Muerto, and the snappily-titled Facto Delate y Las Flores Azules all provided quality entertainment and are now on my 'ones to watch' list.
So the night was once again upon us and we kick-started things with the free BPitch beach party - unfortunately we arrived late and the party finished early but we did catch at least some of Ellen Allien's set which was well and truly rocking the crowd. We decided to ease our disappointment of missing out by going to check out the Plantage 13 and night at Moog with Bodzin/Huntemann. For me, Bodzin's performance turned out to be the highlight of the weekend as it was 90 minutes of dirty beats, white noise, euphoric synths and a full on party atmosphere. It was a live set and Bodzin provided added entertainment by wearing white gloves and leaping around like a raving loon - seeing someone that side of the booth clearly having so much fun was a joy to behold!
Bodzin in White Gloves Shocker! Ellen Allien at the BPitch beach party.
Photos: Jeremy Armitage/ Resident Advisor david suñé/Resident Advisor
So our final day beckoned and as I'm sure you're tiring of this somewhat lengthy blow by blow account I'll keep this as brief as possible:
C2C - never heard of them before going but they provided some wicked hip hop cut up stuff on the main stage (not surprising really as my post Sonar investigations reveal they are current reigning 4 times DMC champions!)
Various Production - dirty, dirty dubstep-tinged beats with live vocals - heavy!
Claro Intelecto - Quality Techno / Electronica although nothing particularly outstanding and not quite as good as I was hoping for
Andy Stott - Claro's label mate & much more on the money on this particular day - wicked!
Junior Boys - not bad although the beers were kicking in at this stage
Hey Willpower - entertaining for their ludicrously camp performance but I seem to remember the music being somewhat dodgy
PlanningToRock - interesting video and audio stuff to end the festivities
Right, that's me done. In a nutshell: It rocked - bring on next year!
Andy Stott - Handle with Care // Modern Love
Claro Intelecto - Post // Modern Love
Nettle - Grit (DJ Rupture & Jenny Jones remix) //theAgriculture
Jay Haze - Boring Acid // Musik Krause
Rekorder - Rekorder 8.1 //Rekorder (This is Bodzin & Huntemann btw in case you weren't already aware)
Langer's Sonar ReviewErr. What he said.
Our identities are now revealed! RAW (Left) Langer (Right)
Labels: Andy Stott, Claro Intelecto, DJ Muerto, Ellen Allien, Facto Delate y Las Flores Azules, James Holden, Jay Haze, Nettle, Oliver Huntemann, Raum, Sonar, Stefan Bodzin, Various Production
