2007 was a strange year for techno. Dancefloors worldwide were hooked by the minimal craze, vinyl sales were in a massive slump, Europe was gripped by widespread recession and Berghain was relatively unknown to those outside of Berlin. With this in mind, if someone told you they were going to start a record label, and press on vinyl, you'd probably have told them that they'd be mad to do so. But Kr!z, driven by a need for an artistic outlet, had other ideas.
Armed with tracks from Inigo Kennedy, Sub Space, Ø Phase and Radial, he pitched his stall and made his statement of a new darker direction that techno could take. Token Records was born and the result was music made for dark basements rather than huge arena's hired by promoter with bottomless production budgets. As the years have rolled by releases from Inigo Kennedy and Ø Phase have continued and spattered amongst them has been EPs from the likes of Oscar Mulero, Go Hiyama, Xhin, Mark Broom and Eschaton as well as the roster additions of Ctrls and Rødhåd, which have been received with critical acclaim from all corners of the techno world and has helped cement the labels position at the forefront of our ever enhancing scene.
As we reach the present day, Token Records present us with 'Aphelion' to serve as a celebration of their achievements to date and as a prelude to what the future looks like for the Belgium imprint. Collecting together label mainstays, techno legends and bright new stars was only going to end in something spectacular, covering the expansive tapestry of sounds that make up what we class as techno. There's no warm up as we're thrown straight into what seems like the Army Ants march to war with Ø Phase's 'Insectoid'. Lucy drops the pace with 'Sana Sana Sana Cura Cura Cura' and his subtle use of modular rhythms before Ctrls ups the ante with the frantic progression of 'X.Y.'
Rødhåd continues the heady vibe with 'Haumea' and it's trippy synth patterns that intertwine with each other in oscillating waves and slowly enslave your subconscious. 'The 808 Track (Parts 1 & 2)', from Luke Slater's Planetary Assault Systems alias, makes tremendous use of the classic 808 sounds that have been a staple of techno since it's inception. The UK techno legend run continues as James Ruskin utilises almost playful, infectiously jacking programming on 'No Trace' and Surgeon showcases his heavily distorted industrial sound on 'Fixed Action Pattern'.
Inigo Kennedy, no less of a UK techno legend himself, mixes heavy kicks and aggressive percussion with emotive lead lines for those late night transcendent moments. Not wanting to go out on a whimper, they've rounded off with one of the most exciting additions to UK techno in the shape of Blawan and Pariah's double act, Karenn, and their 'Pace Yourself' which does anything but. Stabs drenched in reverb overlay gothic bells which perch delicately on top of a relentless 4/4 kick drum to leave you craving more when you reach the final curtain.
If this album is to be a statement of everything that Token Records embodies, then they're definitely going with the attitude of put your strongest foot forward. And what results is a structurally sound fortress of techno that could withstand anything nature, or man, could throw at it. It's solid as the day is long and bound together with quality from every junction. The journey to this point has been a very fruitful one for Token and the future is one that should be observed very closely.
If you're still not sold on whether you should buy this from our words alone, you can stream the full album from the Soundcloud player below. You can buy the Triple Vinyl + CD pack now from Juno as well as all your other esteemed outlets. For more info on Token Records, head over to their Facebook Fan Page
We've already brought you the news of We Fear Silence presents Blueprint Records @ Cable and Grounded Theory @ Arena but here's the rest of the weekends action around the globe, and it's a busy one! (I'm going to be brief otherwise I'd be here all day
Detroit
We begin in the birthplace of Techno, Detroit, for the Movement Festival. Saturday night CLR set up camp at the Hart Plaza with a headline set from Collabs (Chris Liebing & Speedy J) and support from Tommy Four Seven, Drumcell and Monoloc.
Tickets available on Resident Advisor
Interface 36 - Scene 04 - Official Movement After Party @ The Works (Sunday 27th May 10pm - 7am)
Line Up
DVS1
Cell Injection (Drumcell / Audio Injection)
Raiz (Live)
DJ Hyperactive
Kyle Geiger
Jeff Derringer
+ more. Full info and Tickets on Resident Advisor
Berlin
Klubnacht @ Berghain / Panoramabar (Saturday 26th May 12)
Berghain:
Kr!z
Ø [Phase]
Inigo Kennedy
Jonas Kopp (Live)
Boris
Henning Baer
Panoramabar:
Amirali (Live)
Tama Sumo
Ivan Smagghe
Andrew Weatherall
Sonntags:
Red D
Dinky
Oliver Deutschmann
Full info on Resident Advisor
Wax Treatment Carnival Weekend Open Air Africa Special @ Gretchen (Sunday 27th May)
Line Up
Yard (Outside) - 12:00 - 22:00:
CGB-1 (Wax Treatment)
Duncan Brooker (Honest Jons)
Adamantios Kafetzis (Teranga Beat)
Hugo Mendez (Sofrito)
Mark Ernestus presents Jeri-Jeri with Mbene Diatta Seck (Live) (Ndagga)
Box 1 (Inside) - 22:00 - end
Analog African Soundsystem - Samy Ben Redjab & Pedo Knopp
Appleblim (Apple Pips)
Shackleton (Live) (Skull Disco)
Shed (Wax Treatment)
MMM (Live)
DJ Pete (Scion Versions)
Full event info on Resident Advisor
Copenhagen
2011 was a hell of a year for Plex. Their three parties at Corsica Studios saw a whole host of names take the stage including Surgeon, Perc, Ancient Methods, Delta Funktionen, Morphosis, Sigha and more. 2012 looks like it's going to be more of the same...
For the first party, the line up is stella as always. Headlined by Antony 'Shake' Shakir with support from a Mystery Guest, A Made Up Sound (aka 2562), Inigo Kennedy and a few others (check the flyer above) spread across the two rooms. Tickets are still available through Resident Advisor, although it sounds like there's not many left, so don't hang about. You can find the rest of the event info on RA too.
Seven months ago Stroboscopic Artefacts descended on London's Corsica Studios to showcase their label to the capital for the very first time. If you was there, then like us, you'll hold very fond memories of that night. That was April but now we're in November and our friends over at EarToGround felt it was time London got exposed to the collective again.
The party coincides with the launch of Xhin's superb 'Sword' album so of course the man from Singapore is the deserved headliner and we know he's going to mark the occasion with something extra special. He'll be expertly backed up by SA artists Lucy, Pfirter (making his London debut), Inigo Kennedy with visuals from Oblivious Artefacts.
Room 2 isn't looking too bad either. After already playing host to Mike Dehnert, ETG are now bringing over the other two members of Fachwerk Records, Roman Lindau and Sascha Rydell for an extended b2b set. Additional support comes from ETG boss Gareth Wild and one half of the team behind the first release on ETG's label, Dax J.
Tickets are still available on Resident Advisor. Get them on the Event Page, you can also find the rest of the info there too. And of course once it hits 6am the party will be far from over because they'll all be heading to Cable for the after party and help Jaded celebrate turning 7. Expect some big names and huge surprises. All the details and tickets are on the Jaded Resident Advisor page
There's a couple of notable events coming up this weekend. Two in London and one on the sunny south coast in Brighton. Up first is the EarToGround label launch party at Corsica Studios. They've enlisted the services of the excellent Inigo Kennedy and Shifted who will be supported by a host of residents and guests all in the name of celebrating their first release. Tickets are available through Resident Advisor
Still in London, but this our second pick is something a little bit different. Warm are throwing an intimate party at Plastic People, the last before they close for a month to refurbish the venue, and they've pulled out all the stops.
As one half of legendary dub techno label, Rhythm & Sound, one half of Basic Channel, the founder of Berlin's most famous record store, Hardwax, Mark Ernestus certainly has some credentials that are worth sitting up and paying attention two. Mark will be joined for Paul St Hillier aka Tikiman who will be providing guest vocals throughout the night. There's also an unnamed special guest who I expect will be quite special indeed. Tickets are still available from Resident Advisor
Finally, it's the 2nd Birthday of Brighton venue, Life. They're throwing two days of parties, starting tonight, with great lines ups across both nights, although it's Saturday that really grabs us. A 12 hour party, 3 hours from Marcel Dettmann, 2 from Appleblim and plenty more besides. And of course, tickets can be found on Resident Advisor
