fabric 69: Sandwell District

Hot on the heels of Ben Klock's contribution to the fabric CD series we have another techno selection from our favourite techno duo as Function and Regis, as Sandwell District, bring you fabric 69. Although the pair still DJ together regularly all over the world, this is the first release in any form, as Sandwell District, since the label ceased on NYE '11.

What starts off a dark intense examination of your psyche steadily grows and expands into a full on techno workout laying homage to the 20 years of techno that the pair have been so instrumental in building and so heavily influences their sound. Check out the official teaser video from fabric below

fabric 69: Sandwell District emerges from the static from Fabric London on Vimeo.

Tracklisting

1) Silent Servant - A Path External [Hospital Productions]
2) Function - Voiceprint (Loop/Edit) [Ostgut Ton]
3) VCMG - Spock (Regis Remix) (Loop/Edit) [Mute]
4) Boyd Rice / Frank Tovey - Extraction 7 [Mute]
5) Raime - Exist In The Repeat Of Practice [Blackest Ever Black]
6) Ike Yard - Loss (Regis Version) [Blackest Ever Black]
7) Vatican Shadow - Church Of All Images (Regis Version) [Blackest Ever Black]
8) Fiedel - Andreas (Bonus Beats) [Fiedelone]
9) Cub - CU2 (UST Funk Mix) [Cub]
10) Mary Velo - Detune [Frozen Border]
11) JPLS - Basis [Minus]
12) Rrose - Wedge [Eaux]
13) Ø - Syvåys [Såhkö]
14) Rrose - Wedge [Euax]
15) Function - Modifier [Ostgut Ton]
16) Carl Craig - Darkness [Plant E]
17) Markus Suckut - Hunt [Figure SPC]
18) Samuel Kerridge - Waiting For Love Part 1[Downwards]
19) Untold - Motion The Dance [Hemlock]
20) Surgeon - As You Breathe Here Now [Semantica]
21) Mark Ernestus - Mark Ernestus Meets BBC [Honest Jons]
22) Plastikman - Plasticine [Plus 8]
23) Trevino - Uptight [Klockworks]
24) VCMG - Spock (Regis Remix) [Mute]
25) Planetary Assault Systems - Flat Tire [Mote-Evolver]
26) Factory Floor - 16-2-16-9-20-1-14-9-7 [Blast First Petite]
27) James Ruskin - Into A Circle [Jealous God Music]
28) SS/S - Sicario de Dios: Siglo 2 [Jealous God Music]
29) Laurent Garnier - At Night [F Communications]
30) Function - Voiceprint (Reprise) [Ostgut Ton]

fabric first members will of already found the CD on their doorsteps or in their postboxes. For those of you that aren't members you can grab your copy from the fabric Website.

If you're lucky enough to be in London this weekend then fabric's Room 2 will be hosting the official CD launch party. If you've caught Sandwell District at fabric in the last few years you'll know just how special these occasions turn out to be. They'll be joined by Sandwell District artist Rrose, who will be making his fabric debut. As one of techno's most mysterious, yet captivating characters, the live show is likely to be one of the most impressive things you'll see. Terry Francis has been entrusted with the all important task of warming up the room as he has done expertly on many many occasions in the past.

Tickets are available through the fabric website, where you'll find you can get a discount if you buy your tickets and CD together.

Video: The 29 Nov Films, Mørbeck - Morbius [Candela Rising]

We don't know a lot about The 29 Nov Films except that they're an independent organisation that makes incredible videos for EDM music. You just need to scan through the videos on their Youtube Channel to see their works on tracks by Monolake, Planetary Assault Systems, Henning Baer, Shed, Rrose, Pattern Repeat, Shifted, Samuli Kemppi and many many more SDD favourites, the list is literally endless.

For the video in question they set to work on a piece by Berlin DJ / Producer, Vault Series collaborator (with Subjected) and member of the Grounded Theory stable, Mørbeck. 'Morbius' comes from the 'Magneto' EP on the new London based, vinyl only label, and brainchild of past SDD guest Billy Allen, Candela Rising.

The video (probably The 29 Nov Films' most twisted video, that we've seen) acts as a perfect accompaniment to Mørbeck's intensely hypnotic composition. Drawing you in as disturbed visuals intertwine with rumbling basslines, drifting bells and sharp hi hats to leave you feeling entirely removed from your comfortable surroundings, and very much trapped inside that house, part of the little psychopathic girls' world of demented homicidal activities.

The EP will be available to buy in the next couple of weeks. You can get an e-mail from Juno, letting you know when it's ready to buy, now. Mørbeck has contributed 3 original pieces and Jeroen Search offers up an interpretation of 'Mystique'. Check out the samples below

Get yourselves over to the Candela Rising Facebook Page, and 'like it', to keep informed of all of the labels movements. And be sure to subscribe to The 29 Nov Films' Youtube Channel to see all of their new videos.

Video: Lada - Lostbanhof

It's been a while in the making but finally the Lada 'Lostbanhof' official video is with us. Lada is the production alias of Dasha Rush and Lars Hemmerling. The EP was released in September last year on Fullpanda Records.

The video was shot in a disused train station building in Berlin and features some familiar faces to SDD blog readers. You'll spot Milton Bradley and Henning Baer in there alongside Dasha and Lars. It makes a perfect accompaniment to the release. Both are trippy and slightly unnerving yet the warmth of the music, and some of the less sinister characters, make you feel safe and comforted.

Harping back to the times of silent movies and classic horror, follow Alice as she takes you into an alternative reality. She meets different characters, along the way, who display the varying sides of human nature. Locked in an internal battle, her head telling her to leave this wicked place and return to the light, while her heart and imagination is compelled to stay by the mystery of the magic place.

'Lostbanhof' is still available in most good record stores. If you've not got it already I'm sure it'll be high in your list of priorities after watching the video. For more info on Lada you can check out their Facebook Fan Page and while you're at it, check out the Fullpanda Records Website too

Video: Regis (Live) @ We Fear Silence pres. Blueprint Records (3rd Mar 12)

After seeing him perform at previous Blueprint Records nights as part of Sandwell District and O/V/R, a Regis solo set has been long overdue. Last Saturday the time eventually came. A packed out Cable, already warmed up nicely by Mark Broom and James Ruskin, waited in anticipation. As the final moments of Plaid's 'Morning Blues' remix pulsated around the club, you got the feeling something special was about to happen.

What followed was an hour of Regis at his very best. A mixture of new material and vintage Downwards classics that have sculpted modern day techno and influenced so many of the artists we know and love today. For those of you who didn't make it down, we caught a small video of the proceedings. Check it out below.

It doesn't quite make up for missing the night but what can I say? Just make sure you're there for the next one in May. We've heard the line up for this and all we'll say is, it's very special. But then every line up that Blueprint Records and We Fear Silence put together seems to be of the highest quality. Which is why we're so happy to have it as part of our London scene.

More info on We Fear Silence can be found on their Website and as for Blueprint, head over to their Facebook Fan Page

Video: Dave Clarke - fabric 60

The new fabric cd is out and it's mixed by Dave Clarke. If you're a fabricfirst member, like me, then you'll already have yours. If you're not, then go get yourself a copy right now. If you need a little bit more persuading then help is at hand in the form of a fabric promo video. Check it out below...

Hatch into fabric 60: Dave Clarke from Fabric London on Vimeo.

The CD is available at all good shops, some rubbish ones and online through the fabric website or from Amazon. You'll find all the tracklisting and album info on the fabric site.

The launch party will be held in the legendary techno bunker that is Room 2, on the 12th November, and Dave Clarke will be joined by Octave One. Tiefschwarz and Tom Trago will be joining Craig Richards in the Main Room and the Room 3 line up is yet to be announced. Tickets are available on Resident Advisor.

Facebookers can 'Like' Dave Clarke's Fan Page and Twitterers can follow him here

Video: Marcel Dettmann b2b Ben Klock @ Blueprint Records, Cable (8th Oct 11)

Saturday night was the third and final Blueprint Records party of year and it was an absolute belter. I witnessed the full four hours of Marcel Dettmann's back to back set with Ben Klock and i can tell you the first two hours were incredible, the third hour was totally unreal and the last hour was pretty much out of this world. They toyed with our emotions, dropping it deep before launching back even harder.

I've seen both Marcel and Ben play separately over the last few months and, although, all those times, the nights have been quality, something about Saturday was better than almost anything I've heard before. I left feeling thoroughly discombobulated after having my mind systematically taken to pieces by the Berghain residents. I managed to get a video of the two hard at work, but this fails to do the party justice. In hindsight I should of got some of the crowd, but thinking wasn't really an option at the time, with the barrage of beats coming from the Cable soundsystem (which sounded better than I've ever heard it before).

Special mention of course goes to James Ruskin. His first set of the evening set the place up perfectly for what was about to happen, then when Marcel and Ben had finished, James stepped up for another 3 hours to keep the party going right through till 9am.

All in all it was an incredible night and the best Blueprint Records party yet, bring on 2012. I can't wait to see how they're going to top this year!

Delsin Records @ fabric (20th Aug 11)

It wasn't difficult selecting our pick of the weekends events today. There is really only one event worth worrying about, fabric, and another first class line up in Room 2. The Amsterdam based label will be making the short trip across the English Channel and bringing with them 4 acts from their superb artist roster, in Brendon Moeller, Mike Dehnert, Delta Funktionen and Newworldaquarium.

It's a simple decision of where to go tomorrow night but with Stacey Pullen, Levon Vincent and Bruno Pronsato in Room 1, it's going to be difficult to choose where to be once you're inside the club, but fabric have really pulled it out the bag for what's supposed to be one of the worst weekends of the year for business. And because of that reason fabric is reward it's faithful by making it free for all fabricfirst members (Of which we are). You can't say fairer than that!

Tickets are still on sale on the Resident Advisor Event Page and for everything else fabric related head over to the fabric website. Delsin can be found on Facebook and Twitter. Also for a little insight into the minds of Delta Funktionen and Newworldaquarium check out this video interview that Plastic Dreams did with them earlier on in the summer at this years Sonar festival

Dead Sound & Videohead - The Chosen [Perc Trax 048]

Industrial action is somewhat the sign of the times from Perc Trax of late and thankfully we're not talking about them going on strike. Recent releases from Forward Strategy Group and of course Perc's very own debut album, 'Wicker & Steel' have set the standard for things to come.

Perc Trax 048 sees a first release from new boys Dead Sound & Videohead, although it's not their first outing on the label after their recent remixes for Go Hiyama and Samuli Kemppi's 'Arabia EP' that came out on Perc Trax last month. If you was impressed by that then you'll discover similar feelings when listening to this one too.

Hailing from Stoke and fusing influences of experimental music with a wealth of techno knowledge from the UK and Berlin sounds to create something that is different and exciting, when lined up against your run of the mill attempts at industrial techno.

Dead Sound & Videohead - The Chosen (Perc Trax) by Perc

To go along with the release, a video of 'The Chosen Path' has been assembled and uploaded to youtube.

The release is out on Beatport now and will be in vinyl stores imminently. More info on Perc Trax can be found on their Facebook Pan Page

Video: Stroboscopic Artefacts Showcase @ Sonar

We're gutted we missed Sonar this year, especially the Stroboscopic Artefacts, and as is always the case with the SA boys, they didn't waste time in getting some video evidence of the amazing party up on the old t'interweb.

The showcase saw performances from Lucy and Dadub as they display their considerable talents. Check out the quick video

Stroboscopic Artefacts Showcase @Sonar 2011 from Amélie Ravalec on Vimeo.

More info on Lucy can be found on his Facebook Fan Page and the same applies for Dadub

Video: fabric 58 - Craig Richards presents The Nothing Special

The Nothing Special is easily one of our favourite club nights. It was there we had our first live experiences from Kenneth Christiansen, Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Sandwell District, Brendon Moeller and many more.

The Nothing Special is a concept dreamed up by fabric's musical director, Craig Richards. A place where he can have total musical freedom and allow the huge variety of the his record collection to shine through, perfectly complimenting the live acts in which the night is built around.

To celebrate the release of the CD, fabric have put together a promotional video with some interesting footage from around the iconic London nightspot.

The CD launch party will take place at fabric this Saturday 25th June in fabric's Room 2 with live performances from 2562 and Conforce and of course Craig Richards. Tickets are available on Resident Advisor.

Traversable Wormhole - Live @ Movement Festival, Detroit (29th May 11)

We're gutted that we missed out on Movement Festival this year. We've still not been and we've already put plans of Movement 2012, but we've hard a couple of sets and watched a few vids to console ourselves. It looked amazing.

However there was one video which annoyed us more than any of them. Our previous SDD guest, Traversable Wormhole, performed live on the Torino Stage and someone managed to catch a 23 minute video from the performance so we absolutely had to share it.

It's not even close to as good as being there but it's still an amazing video from an amazing artist. We're praying for some new Traversable Wormhole material, but as was the case with the project before the CLR remixes, you won't know about it until you see a copy in your local record shop. So keep your eyes peeled.

Szare - 'Action Five' Video [Idle Hands 006]

Ahead of Szare's 'Action Five' release on Idle Hands, they guys at the label decided to get some footage Teufelsberg in West Berlin to create a video for the release.

The video itself is almost as interesting as the location. Teufelsberg is a man made hill created out of the rubble after WWII. The hill was built on top of a former Nazi Military School, which the Allies tried to destroy with explosives but the building was so tough that in the end the simplest solution was to bury it under the ruins of an estimated 400,000 destroyed buildings.

'Action Five' will be out soon on Idle Hands at all the usual places. More info on Idle Hands can be found on their Myspace Page

Szare is playing on Friday in London at Colony Vs. Perc Trax @ Corsica Studios. Tickets available on Resident Advisor

Echocord Jubilee Comp

Echocord Records was founded by our next guest, Kenneth Christiansen, in 2002. 9 years and 49 releases later it's all come down to this. The 50th release. Featuring tracks from the artists that have made Echocord one of the worlds most respected Dub Techno label.

'Jubilee Comp' is a celebration of everything that's come before it. It's being released in 4 parts throughout this month. Firstly it's being released as a CD, with three 12" releases accompanying them. The CD and the first two 12" are in all the best shops now, so make sure you get your copy before they undoubtedly sell out. The third 12" will be in the stores before the month is out.

More info on Echocord can be found on their Facebook Fan Page

Tracklisting

1) Fluxion - Tides

2) Quantec - My Safe Harbour

3)Deadbeat - House Of Vampires

4) Onmutu Mechanicks - Calyx

5) Brendon Moeller - Farmhouse

6) Luke Hess - Kratos

7) Resoe - Tanzfieber

8) Stephan Hitchell - For Convextion

9) Fenin - Salty Dub

10) Mikkel Metal - Waho

50.1 features the tracks by Fluxion, Quantec and Deadbeat. 50.2 has the Onmutu Mechanicks, Brendon Moeller, Luke Hess and Resoe tracks, whilst 50.3 features the remaining tracks from Stephan Hitchell, Fenin and last but by no means least Mikkel Metal.

Devoted Echocord fans around the world have been looking forward to this release, but some have gone further than others. OOooHACKERooOO is a youtube user from Hungary who likes to spend their time making music videos. They've picked out the Onmutu Mechanicks and Luke Hess tracks and created stunning imagery to go alongside stunning music. Check out the videos below.

There's plenty more on their youtube page so once you're done with these two, head over to check out the rest of their great work.

Of course you can next catch Kenneth Christiansen in London playing for us at Public Life on the 8th July. £5 tickets are available on Resident Advisor now, but they're strictly limited so don't delay in getting yours!

Videos: Redshape (Live) @ fabric (8th Jan 11)

This weekend Redshape brought his amazing live show to fabric's room 1 and we was there to catch the brilliance. For those of you that weren't there, we got a couple of videos to give you a little insight into what you missed out on

As we posted last week, Redshape will be performing live for Slash Dot Dash on 12th March alongside Horizontal Grounds' 19.454.18.5.25.5.18. Full event and ticket information will be announced soon!

Videos: Sandwell District @ Timewarp Holland (4th Dec 10)

Photo by Luke Garwood

Winter is always warmed up by one of our favourite festivals, Timewarp, in one of our favourite countries, Holland, and this time they switched it from Rotterdam to one of our favourite cities, Amsterdam. So far everything is looking rather promising but just to make it that much sweeter the guys at Cosmopop decided to get our boys, Sandwell District, involved too.

Held in Sporthallen Zuid, a sports centre near Schipol Airport, filled with 40,000 wanting clubbers, the stage was set. Darko Esser and Steve Rachmad did stellar jobs on warm up duty before Sandwell District took the stage. And they only just made the stage too. Schipol was having difficulties caused by the snow so Dave and Karl's travel plans changed drastically. Originally intending to fly from Berlin straight to Amsterdam, they instead flew to Dusseldorf and had to get a taxi to Amsterdam and arrived only 20 mins before the start of their set. Anyway they simply shrugged all the problems aside and went to work in the only fashion they know how!

Unlike in October @ Berghain, when i was unable to get some videos (rules is rules) I took full advantage this time round. And here they are

Plenty more videos can be found on our Youtube Page

Shed (Live) @ Wear Fear Silence, Cable (11th Sep 10)

Last Saturday we made our way down to SE1 for the latest in We Fear Silence's string of events at the South London superclub, Cable. A massive line up, including Surgeon, A Made Up Sound, Peverlist and more, was assembled to join Shed in the launch of his new Album 'The Traveller'.

I caught the end of his amazing set on the trusty iPhone for your viewing pleasure. The album is available in all good shops on CD and Vinyl and available digitally from the usual download sites. More info on Shed can be found on his Myspace Page

Schermate - Schermate 009

Visionary underground dance music, Schermate are Laric & Stefano Greppi. The group was founded in early 2009
after Stefano Greppi & Laric (Alessandro Larice) met in record stores where Stefano worked.
Schermate Recordings Label founded in early 2009 by Schermate that prints only their own productions on limited edition coloured vinyls.
The first 8 releases have found their ways into the hands of Ricardo Villalobos, Richie Hawtin, Boris, Raresh, Traversable Wormhole and many more big names across the world. The releases have covered a mixture of groovy tech house right through to extremely dark techno. These boys put some serious amounts of detailing on their productions and it's really apparent when you listen to their work. Real nice guys as well as I found out when I met up with them in London last month.
For the 9th release in their series they've produced something a little bit special. On the A side is a track called 'Brettenshuffle' but it's the B side which is really interesting. The whole side is made up of 32 'Locked Grooves'. These are essentially loops that will keep playing and playing and playing until you tell them to stop, or move on to the next loop.
Stefano and Laric are definitely ones to look out for in the future. More info can be found on them at their Myspace page

How to use the Pioneer DJM 2000

The DJM 2000 was first unveiled back in March, but since then not much has been said about it, until now.

Pioneer have now released a video which takes you through everything on this feature packed mixer.

For more infomation check out the Pioneer Website

Wax 30003 / Wax

The third installement of tough techno tracks from Hardwax, Berlin! Scant info, limited run and raw, stripped down proper grooves.

Available at the following stores

BM Soho

Hardwax

Decks

Juno

Matthew Herbert brings his big band to Matter on the 9th June

Electronic pioneer Matthew Herbert (Bodily Functions and Around The House) comes to matter on Wednesday 9th June, when he'll perform with his Big Band.

Appearing with Herbert and his band will be the extraordinary lead vocalist Eska, and also the Goldsmiths Vocal Ensemble, who'll provide choral backing for the performance.

Eska is currently working on her debut album with Herbert acting as producer and is leader of the Ensemble who performed previously to rave reviews with Herbert's band last year at London's Barbican.

The performance at matter will be only the third time this show has been performed with the choral and visual additions and represents an exciting new exploration of the themes presented on Herbert's album 'There's Me and There's You' - his second with The Matthew Herbert Big Band.

The supporting act for the matter performance will be chosen by Matthew and announced shortly.

Doors open at 7pm and the show is expected to finish at 11pm. Tickets are £18.50 and can be purchased from either Ticketweb or Resident Advisor.

Here's the promo video for the event