In 2011 we’ve discovered The Only Way Is Essex, we’ve torn up our own high streets in the name of something or other, and we’ve planted the seeds for divorce from Europe. Yet out of hard times comes good music – so while 2011 can hardly claim to have been a great year for the UK, it’s been a pretty storming affair for electronic music. So how about something cheery for once? How about 10 albums and 10 compilations that made 2011 a better place? Choosing them wasn’t easy – but from a shortlist of several hundred covered by DMC over the year – and a couple that slipped through the reviewing net – we have the following for your listening pleasure: read more… 

DMC World

Buy ERA ONE now on CD & digital…

The Wednesday that just finished was a total non-starter, a fuzzy-headed, dim-witted washout of a day that felt like a month’s worth of caffeine-deficient Monday mornings strung together into a painfully long blur of dead-end sentences, dropped kitchen implements and barely sidestepped collisions with public transit. I blame myself, mostly, for being too old to realize until a few minutes ago that most of this crabbiness and stupidity derives from the fact that I was up until close to noon on Sunday battering myself, my girlfriend and my neighbours with techno records after coming home from Paco Osuna’s Saturday-night gig at Footwork. But, for that reason, I also blame Toronto deep-tech producer Arthur Oskan, who capably cued up Osuna on Saturday but then came back to the booth once the Minus Records-affiliated headliner was done to drop a second, seriously dirty, driving and damaging set upon the up-for-it crowd until they kicked everyone out around 5 a.m. Read on…

Toronto.com

The Toronto house label celebrates reaching a half century of releases with this remarkable piece of work from head honcho Noah Pred, who has somehow crammed 50 of his favourites from the catalogue on to one seamless mix without making it sound saturated. Pred starts off with music of remarkable depth, chilled but still with a forward urgency in the beats of Meesha, Eric Downer and KiloWatts. As the music gradually builds it heads off into darker territory in the fourth section, with material from Co-op and Pred himself, and a key turning point is reached with what appears to be a blend of Tonepushers’ ‘Praxic’ and Pete Grove’s ‘No Relief’, where the music pauses in a big breakdown, and the tempo comes back subtly raised. Pred keeps a firm hand on the tiller but generates a load of energy, making it almost impossible to listen to this music and stay still. Thoughtless are in a healthy state if this is anything to go by – and go buy you should, if your tastes encompass deep house in any shape or form.

DMC Update

Back in 2007, Arthur Oskan released two collections from his very first forays into musical production and performance. Entitled 1995-97 – The Auracle Sessions Vol. 1and Vol. 2, they comprised 20-odd tracks of deeply atmospheric music that ranged from twisted acid house to downtempo and broken-beat Boards of Canada-esque electronica. While Oskan’s methods, structures and subject matter may have developed through the years, it’s clear from A Little More Than Everything that his fondness for deeply evocative, dreamlike soundscapes hasn’t wavered.

Those aforementioned structures are, in A Little More Than Everything‘s case, largely techno. Given Oskan’s repute as a live performer, it’s actually a little surprising how “clubby” the album, on the whole, feels. You could well imagine that this debut would be the perfect setting to indulge in long, beatless, meandering pieces. Instead, Oskan draws out long phrases and loops within otherwise quite uniform 4/4 moulds. In most cases, this is done with such an acute attention to detail that the relative barrenness of the tracks in question act as a celebration of single-mindedness, forgoing all unnecessary distractions in favour of a single, unifying point of clarity.

Take “Fat Mobile,” for example. After the shimmering ambience of “Sentimental” and the spectral groans of “Blood from a Stone” have gently eased you into the album, the guttural low end of “Fat Mobile” thumps hard, at first feeling like an uninvited, drunken guest banging at the door of your sophisticated dinner party. But once Oskan has drawn all the suspense possible out of a few hesitant chords during the elongated break and the cacophonous bass returns, it feels good, right and entirely welcome.

Similar in structure but far darker in tone, “Morning Call” embarks on its seven-and-a-half minute journey with little more to show for itself than a rigidly menacing, hostile bassline. It’s edgy, but not oppressively so, the tension again broken by a drawn-out break in the clouds. Towards the end of the album Oskan delves deeper into melody. Both “Two Seasons” and “Moodswings” are hauntingly beautiful analogue pieces, with the latter’s gently trembling undulations pulling especially urgently on the heartstrings. Despite the obvious care and attention with which the rest of the album has been crafted, these two closers can’t help but make me wish for five or six more in a similar vein, the result of which would surely have been a truly stunning album rather than just one that is undeniably excellent.

Resident Advisor

Toronto-based Thoughtless Music celebrates its 50th release over four years with the end of the first era, in this 73-minute mix, titled Era One. Collected and mixed by the label owner and curator, Noah Pred, the journey traverses over 50 tracks, marking the selection as the first “inaugural installment [in] the culmination [...] of thoughtlessness“. Pred lays down a continuous mix full of highs and lows, abstract sounds and beats, pounding away at your mind with a quality controlled production. Minimal and tech-house rhythms are neatly folded and unwrapped to reveal a sonic landscape capable to separate the frequency space even among the muddiest of the noises. Every little sound feels EQd to live in its own head space, propelling the label into a category of production houses concerned with quality over quantity. When the price of a good or service is marked by a simple supply vs. demand curve, and when the supply in this digital age of such output may seem unlimited, Thoughtless Music skids on the limits of this formula, where the result just doesn’t make sense, and you still want to pay for the music. “Showcasing a wide variety of sounds within the parameters of modern techno and house music, the mix builds from deep excursions to peak-time jams and back again, weaving a fluid tale that stands as both a testament to the Thoughtless sound and a statement of things to come…” Weaving in 50 tracks, overlaying on top of each other in three channels, is no easy task, showcasing the label’s three year output of over 300 individual tracks is another. Faced with one of the most difficult dilemmas of distilling your catalog to a fraction of your favorites, Pred appears to seamlessly roll over the task with this gorgeous, mind bending mix.

Headphone Commute

Toronto’s Thoughtless Music mark their 50th release with a 50-track mix that takes in the best of the first 49, plus a new track ‘Unsung’ by label boss Noah Pred, who’s also mixed the whole lot together. As you might hope/expect from such an extensive selection, there’s a fair degree of stylistic variety, but “deep techno” would cover the overall mood pretty well. If you said, more specifically, “deep techno that househeads should also enjoy, with dubby, proggy, or more abstract touches here and there,” you’d pretty much have it nailed. Genre tags aside, it’s a highly enjoyable 73 minutes of thoughtful, melodic, but still floor-friendly electronic music. Go seek.

I-DJ

For the past three years, Toronto’s Thoughtless Music has been turning out a steady stream of forward-thinking techno and after-hours house. With contributions from over 100 artists from around the world, and nearly 300 tracks and remixes released digitally, the label has become an important piece in the international techno scene.

Looking back at the first era of releases, label boss, producer and accomplished DJ Noah Pred tackles the almost impossible task of stitching together 50 tracks from artists, including the Big Smoke’s Eric Downer, the West Coast’s Jay Tripwire (who will perform at the Manitoba Electronic Music Exhibition in June), Winnipeg’s Tone Pushers, San Francisco’s Limaçon and Chicago’s Kate Simko. Pred approaches this diverse sound arsenal like he would any DJ set, layering, adding and subtracting elements like a pro. Era One works both as an introduction and document of the label, but also proves techno is alive and well in North America.

Winnipeg Free Press

Toronto’s Thoughtless Music celebrates its fiftieth release with a seventy-four-minute mix by Noah Pred, the label’s manager and a well-respected DJ and producer in his own right. For the project, Pred selected forty-nine tracks from the 293 built up over the label’s three-year-plus run and even managed to sneak in a brand new exclusive of his own (“Unsung”) to bring the total to fifty. The first in what’s intended to be an ongoing Thoughtless Era mix series (a new one’ll appear at fifty-release intervals), Era One offers a fluid and relentlessly grooving set of fresh techno and house cuts that suggests Thoughtless Music’s profile deserves to be higher than it currently is. Included among the producers and remixers are KiloWatts, Animaltek, Signal Deluxe, Evan Marc, Kate Simko, DJ Maus, Jay Tripwire, Falko Brocksieper, Derek Marin, Limaçon, Rennie Foster, Jeff Bennett, and others. Needless to say, the mix has its share of jacking and percussive moments (Marc Cotterell’s remix of Signal Deluxe’s “Replicants” one example), and there’s no shortage of bass-heavy bangers, house-flavoured tracks, and feverish peak-time moments (even a few acidy ones) on offer too.

If there’s one thing about the mix I would’ve preferred otherwise, it’s how the indexing of the tracks involved is handled. Rather than separate markings for all fifty selections, they’ve been grouped into ten indexed tracks, with each containing anywhere from three to seven selections. That means it’s difficult to identify a given track when it lands in the middle of an indexed track (unless one is familiar enough with the Thoughtless catalogue to do so), and hence difficult to discuss the release on an individual track basis; as a result, it’s hard to know, for example, whether the radiant cut steamrolling through the middle of index five is Pred’s “Unsung” or Ludwig Coenen’s “Frontline.” But that’s more a reviewer-related issue than a purely listening-based one, and the release hardly suffers with respect to the latter as a result. One thing’s for sure: if Pred’s fierce mix is representative of Thoughtless Music’s catalogue, it’s surely a high-intensity one because the mix hardly ever pauses to catch its breath (Rennie Foster’s “Drifting Dub” of Pete Grove’s “No Relief” and a few moments at the start of track ten the rare exceptions).

Textura

Toronto, ON-based Thoughtless label owner, producer and DJ Noah Pred debuts Era One, a 73-minute mix celebrating the first 50 releases on his label. Produced using Abelton Live, Pred seamlessly layers and combines his back catalogue of talent without too much manipulation, staying true to the traditional format of mixing and honouring the diversity of the label’s output. From minimal techno to house stompers, the mix starts off with Italian producer Roberto Bardini delivering a mysterious, deep, dub-y techno excursion. Toronto duo Co-op offer “Peace By Piece,” an infectious house shuffle with light, melodic tones carrying it through. One of Toronto’s leading producers, Arthur Oskan gets showcased in the mix a few times and will be coming out with his debut full-length release on Thoughtless next month. In three years, Thoughtless has released almost 300 tracks and continues to expose the world to a wide array of fresh, new talent. On Era One, Pred successfully highlights his repertoire while demonstrating his meticulous skills as a DJ.

Exclaim

Damn it, techno is still the Best Music Ever, but this to-the-death electro-phile, aging raver and longtime-half-assed bedroom DJ has been unforgivably remiss in staying on top of his s–t since dance music began abandoning 12-inch vinyl and Technics 1200s for a digital future/present all but unknowable to stubborn, turntable-tweaking Luddites like me who can barely get a laptop up and running, let alone master the Traktor S4. Noah Pred had been flexing his muscles as a skilled techno jock off and on around these parts long enough that he arrived a known quantity when he pulled up stakes from the Sunshine Coast and moved to Toronto in 2006. He’s further distinguished himself as a forward-thinking purveyor of contemporary music-making tech — wanna learn the ins and outs of Ableton Live? Pred’s got a seminar with your name on it — and, as the man in charge of the Thoughtless Music label, a curator of fine nu-skool techno tracks that bump, wiggle and glaze with the soul of classic Detroit whilst satisfying 21st-century Berlin’s appetite for a bit of early-morning leather-bar ooze.

Most of Thoughtless’s output to date has been confined to the digital realm so, vinyl- and CD-hugging anachronism that I am, it’s only been through Pred’s breathlessly mixed new compilation, Thoughtless: Era One, that I’ve realized how much of the label’s excellent output I’ve been missing. Terrific CanCon here from the likes of Jamie Kidd, Eric Downer, DJ Maus and Pred himself, not to mention several cuts by San Francisco’s Limacon, whose Tarry Not album was one of last year’s best. Tightly mixed, finely layered, nicely bumpin’.

The Toronto Star

“Later this month, Thoughtless Music will release Era One, mixed by label boss Noah Pred. Though Thoughtless Music launched less than four years ago, the Canadian imprint has already released hundreds of tracks over nearly 50 records. Era One, which aims to be the first in a series due out every 50 releases, marks this achievement by packing 50 Thoughtless tunes into 73-minute mix. Chatting recently via email, Pred gave us the rest of the scoop…”

Read the full interview on Resident Advisor!

TLM040: Adam Jay & Angel Alanis – Drift Away

“Steam” pulsiert funky und ein wenig bretternd, lässt die Synths ordentlich losbrabbeln und tritt immer wieder mal sanft nach, während der Titeltrack mehr auf den klassisch housig ravigen Chordgroove abfährt und drauf hinwegfedert. Auch hier wissen wir aber mit den Remixen nichts anzufangen.

DE:BUG

TLM039: Derek Marin – While She Sleeps

Manchmal ist nichts besser als ein kantig aufgeräumter Groove mit technoider Bassline und ein paar dubbigen Chords, und wenn Marin dann noch in die Harmonietiefe geht und aus dem Stück plötzlich die letzten Nuancen Pop rausholt, dann wird das schon ganz schön groß. “Rakimuse” mit seinem Sirenengruftigesang ist allerdings eher unerträglich und die Remixe kurz überflüssig.

DE:BUG

TLM032: Rodux - Iron Fan

Sounding like Christmas on the club floor, the expansive and ultra-energetic quality of Rodux’s ” Iron Fan” exudes a thickly layered tech house tribalism that’s kept within the minimal genre by its underlying dub-y throb. While the title track’s big room bounce is unbreakable, this EP sports four remixes that each producer takes a decidedly different tack with. The first, from Rodux, strips the track down to a chunky tech-house gallop. Joe Silva gets it down to hard-edged techno basics, while Edgar De Ramon funkifies and hammers away in a progressive tech house stomper. Chris Fortier brings on the after-party version, which smoothly lightens the whole track up while also most closely resembling the original. And Rodux winds it all down with the deep and dub-y, Rhythm & Sound-like “Orchids.”

Exclaim!

TLM032: Rodux - Iron Fan

Multi-talent Rodux is about to drop his debut EP on the Thoughtless label after having been featured prominently on the label’s Thoughtless Times V.3 compilation. The Iron Fan EP serves up a batch of fresh crossover gems ranging from smooth tribal minimalism to melodic progressive and funky tech house. The original mix is a winner on its own. Supported by a chunky house beat, the tune is an almost epic blend of mesmerizing, somewhat proggy melodies and well balanced effects that show Rodux’ skills for making complex track structures and powerful hooks. With plenty of breaks and unexpected twists, this is one of those big room tracks that will destroy any floor at any time. Stepping up for the first remix is Rodux himself who delivers a stripped down but very powerful tech house stomper with fragmented percussion and a myriad of very effective sounds. The dub vibe of this one makes it a proper tune for minimal focused DJs who still want to bring on the heavy artillery. Up next is the Joe Silva remix. Packing an utterly nasty rhythm and an energetic bass-line, this uptempo monster is sure to generate mass hysteria across clubs. Prepare for madness when this gem kicks in! Edgar de Ramon’s remix is another tech house rocker featuring a selection of well placed drums and cymbals that provide a certain ‘shuffle’ feel. The track is made up almost entirely from short snippets and a staccato rhythm: ‘less is more’ is definitely applicable here. US prog honcho Chris Fortier takes care of the last remix on this EP with a smooth blend of sinister effects, throbbing bass and a moody rhythm that slowly crawls itself to a short but effective break. Closing the EP is a fresh track by Rodux called Orchids, a minimal, dubby tune oozed in moody vibes and numerous sound fx. The many twists and breaks, along with its deep atmosphere, make this a true beauty to listen to. Now this is an EP worth being proud of! The original mix itself is a fantastic piece of work, which had me thinking that the remixes could only let down. Au contraire. Each remixer has managed to add his own flavour, resulting in four equally brilliant mixes. Add Orchids to this and you’ve got yourself a stunning EP worth every penny.

365Mag

TLM031: Limaçon - Tarry Not

Christopher Lee a.k.a. Limaçon finished his debut full-length – and it is unexpectedly calm, almost funky – dark funky. Starting with ‘Shaken’, a track with beautiful dark vocals, the productions are gliding through the album most perfectly. He literally invades and develops his own soundscapes (sound worlds, sound dimensions) which frequently hit vocal fragments that seem to just hover in space. With this charming yet haunting production, he manages to bring two elements together: an atmosphere of dark groove that is on the one hand easily relaxing but also designed to be played on large sound systems: despite his love of detail and his usage of the finest melodies, throughout all his tracks it’s the dark, grumbling, mumbling and low pitched elements of funk/radio samples that give the album its face.

DE:BUG

TLM031: Limaçon – Tarry Not

Deriving from the Latin limax (“snail”), a limaçon is a geometric circular pattern, similar to that of a cardioid. Santa Cruz based Christopher Lee, adopted the name Limaçon in 1997, to create a solid, minimal, and driving sound of tech-house, that cleans out the crevices of my mind, previously occupied by all noisy thought. Yes, this extremely hypnotic, four-to-the-floor beat, is relaxing for me. Once your focus latches onto the repetitive patterns, it leaves no room for worries, anxieties or concerns. There is just this sound, rolling forward with the clean, polished, granular synthetic sounds. In his bio, Lee talks about his production : “I try to keep a balance between something for your mind and something for your body, between experimenting with new sounds and giving people something they can grab onto.” With a few digital releases and 12-inchers behind his belt, Tarry Not is Lee’s debut album, on Canadian digital label, Thoughtless Music. The latter, by the way, is part of the extended Native State family, with a few excellent releases by Noah Pred, Evan Marc and KiloWatts. Recommended for the minimalists and followers of Steve Bug, Claro Intelecto, and Surgeon. Be sure to pick up your digital copy directly from Beatport [preferred], also available on Bleep, Juno, and of course, iTunes.

Headphone Commute

TLM031: Limaçon – Tarry Not

The bubbly funk riding tech house from Limaçon’s (aka San Francisco producer Christopher Lee) first feature full-length, Tarry Not, is another Thoughtless Music calling card. Fun and playfully foreboding, Tarry Not’s tracks contrast with, as well as build upon, each other. Squirrelly effects and house loops play slave to the thump and grind of the techno foundation, and Limaçon successfully exudes a minimal vibe while being far from sparse in production. The aqua-tech motor of “Shaken” and the squelchy synth and bass stabs of “Labels” marry and fatten up in the bubbly bass shuffle of “Aye Wolf,” and the low riding funk of “Tarry Not.” “Sans Rip” digs its moody synth pads into darker, rawer territory, and “Nudge” pounds with a restrained psych edge. Track by track, the quality and originality remain high, which for anything techno-derived can be a considerable challenge, in lesser hands. A Thoughtless Music production, so you know it’s clean, but this time it’s not so polished that it can’t lose itself in a bit of grit, which makes the whole Tarry Not tech-house motor hum.

Exclaim!

TLM031: Limaçon – Tarry Not

The first great album of 2010 comes from none other than Northern California’s own Limaçon. His debut, “Tarry Not,” on Thoughtless Music pushes beyond the limits of minimal, techno and progressive into new realms of sound and rhythm. Limaçon is Christopher T. Lee, a native of Santa Cruz, and, since his debut release on Poker Flat in 2005, has been causing a buzz around the Bay with his live sets. In addition to Steve Bug’s label, Limaçon has releases on Resopal Schallware, SF’s Auralism Records, and the now-defunct but still legendary label, Force Inc. But with “Tarry Not,” his debut album, Limaçon spreads his sonic wings and takes off into fresh territory as an artist. What sets this album apart in the minimal scene is the high regard Limaçon places on intricate yet expansive melodies. Instead of placing a few random hits on the upper octaves of the keyboard and calling it a melody, Limaçon’s melodic tendencies embrace the full range of frequencies. “Labels,” one of the album’s best tracks, begins as a bouncy tech-house number, then as the track progresses a playful melody appears on a backdrop of warm chord changes. Then the bass begins to expand and grow, a second bass line begins to roar along with the first one and the next thing you know, the track has mutated in a dance floor monster complete with an acid-house flourish. This interplay of bass, mid- and high-range frequencies creates the rich texture that is the hallmark of this album. The other ingredient is the amazing sonic palette Limaçon dips his brush into when painting his sonic landscapes. Every sound is richly detailed and intricately arranged. On “Sans Rip,” Limaçon draws from progressive house with a repetitive deep chord build, but instead of succumbing to the traps inherent to that genre, minimal techno sounds begins to build on the driving beat, morphing and growing into a compelling story. Another example of Limaçon’s ability to moderate all his influences is the track, “Nudge.” Futuristic synths shred across a barren soundscape, but before the track becomes just another study in sound an intriguing bass line appears and reflective chords add musicality and depth, something most minimal tracks lack. Ultimately, this is Limaçon’s greatest achievement with this album: he shows that you can make minimal techno that is both ground-breaking in its sonic composition, yet accessible with its appreciation of melody and harmony. Limaçon has flipped the script on minimal and hopefully other producers will be listening – I certainly am.

The MML

TLM031: Limaçon – Tarry Not

Northern California based producer Limaçon (real name Christopher Lee) is no stranger to the global minimal community. His tunes have been released through respected labels such as German minimal institution Poker Flat, Resopal and Auralism, eventually ending up on quite a few compilations too. The Thoughtless label now brings us the man’s debut album, on which Chris showcases his broad taste and impressive music production skills. Tarry Not features ten tracks that range from subtle minimal techno to more tech-house and techno oriented flavours, with moody bass-lines gently being woven through the album’s content. Opening track Shaken immediately pinpoints Limaçon’s trademarked sound: thumping kicks, filtered percussion and repetitive house loops packed with numerous sound effects create a very danceable vibe for starters, after which the electro flavoured Labels, an early highlight on the album, spices things up with its fierce rhythms and nasty bass stabs. Every single track of this album is like a jigsaw: although unique in its shape and sound, the combination of them all results in a solid musical flow, adventurous and energetic at all times, and covered in a clear and crisp production. Whereas many minimal techno albums tend to lean towards vivid, joyful melodies, Limaçon rather opts for soaring, almost punky synth sweeps, providing this album with a very deep overall vibe. Take Sans Rip for instance. This uptempo, 8-minute tech-house/techno hybrid opens like your average deep house track but slowly evolves into a major floor-filler as multiple layers of doomy synthesizers, motorized bass-lines, and raw effects are added in the most exciting way. Result: peaktime mayhem. Other highlights include the punchy The Line, the title track Tarry Not, and closing track Limantour South. After the release of several hot EPs, Limaçon once more shows his skills by serving up a very well produced album. With plenty of diversity and a superb overall production, Tarry Not is one of the better albums in the field of minimal and tech-house. More of this stuff in the new year please.

365Mag