These records just in at Filter Musikk…
“Life is full of surface noise!” That’s what broadcasting legend and musical savant John Peel used to proclaim when arguing for the continued relevance of vinyl in the face of the “cleaner” sound of digital. The quote came at a time when MP3‘s future dominance was just starting to establish itself.
Ironically, today MP3’s have been superseded with streaming (arguably a lower quality of music format) and in the tumult around commercial compensation for artists and the value of music on platforms like Spotify, the surface noise of vinyl is inaudible.
Independent record labels are opting for more physical-only releases, while there are record stores solely dedicated to that format. Old records are getting remastered and re-produced in their original format and new records are garnering a lot more attention if they arrive in a record sleeve.
For today’s music nerd, the surface noise of everyday life is the wistful evocation of the snap, crackle and pop of their favourite record. It’s the sound that permeates out of Oslo’s Filter Musikk everyday, and even if you’re not at the listening station with a pair of headphones, you can hear the tsk tsk of a needle scrubbing through the grooves of some record.
Here’s the latest from the shelves of that hallowed ground, as we get into another cut with Filter Musikk.
*Filter Musikk are back in the sauna next Wednesday.
Sequent Consult – Substance of Faith EP (12”)
Norwegian artist incoming. Rub800’s launches his new Sequent Consult alias and label with a vinyl only limited run of the first EP, Substance of Faith.”New label with a DIY spirit” proclaims the artist and that ticks all kinds of boxes here.
Four blissed out Techno tracks squeak and and bleep like a robotic fever dream throughout. The groove is minimal and it’s firmly rooted in every track, unwavering and purposeful, allowing synths and pads to streak across into unknown territories. At one end of the spectrum, the title track is a solid dance floor filler, including accessible melody and a ear-worm vocal snippet, while at the far end “Slow Burnt” offers an off-kilter downtempo stepper.
There’s an atmosphere of mystery and tension through the whole release, a sonic sci-fi opera in the language of machines. It’s a strong start to a new label and this new alias, and we sincerely hope there is more lined up for the future and more homegrown talents follow suit.
Ulo S. is the new alias of Lou Karsch, the man behind LKR records and a host of aliases that have been released on everybody from Further Electronix to Kalahari Oyster Cult. It’s no surprise, he’s based in Melbourne where there’s always been this odd confluence of everything.
The Australian city is like the Bermuda triangle of music, where the world’s oddities arrive and in an odd fusion of genres from emerging artists spills back out in the world unfamiliar. From the ersatz jazz-prog of Midlife to an anything-goes label like Butters Sessions, Melbourne is a strange yet endearing place for music.
On Ulo S. first release, unusually melodic bleats and squawks cultivated from synthesisers are offered up on a bedrock of simple rhythmical constructions. A lot of Acid and plenty of a drive tunnelling its way through the dance floor. On the title track a vocoder and fuller textures touch something closer to synth wave, but at its core this record’s intention towards the dance floor are clearly marked out.
Legowelt – The Sad Life Of An Instagram DJ (12″)
Legowelt is not a complete stranger to Instagram. He has been making videos featuring some of the more obscure and affordable equipment in his sprawling gear-heaven. Showing us some of the unique features of these oft dismissed synths and drum machines, he’s also using the time to craft the beginning of future songs.
The eccentric DJ seems anything but sad when doing this and these quirky videos always put a smile on my face at least. Or does he mean another kind of Instagram DJ?
Humorous- and nerdy titles aside, this record delivers that Legowelt charm in abundance. Electro remains the foundation for everything Legowelt and this record is no different. Even when dies move into a straight 4/4 kick like on “No One Wants To Buy My NFT” or ”Soundblaster Pro Tripper”, there’s always an Electro sensibility in the arrangements and sounds.
Between the titles of the tracks and their sounds, Legowelt’s DIY impromptu style is everywhere and immediately recognisable. It’s always consistent and as more and more of these ageing producers capitulatie to trends or simply drop out, Legowelt’s music is becoming more unique than ever.
Italo Disco is always going to have a place at Jaeger. There’s something about the bubblegum attitude and the grooves of these records that just work on the dance floor.
Although Giorgio opened the door, the wealth of artists and records that followed, is still continually being catalogue. It feels like every time we do this piece, there’s a new reissue/remastered version of an Italo Disco masterpiece. Some are well-known, often coveted records, while others are obscure digger references and there are so many labels operating today, whose sole purpose it is to unearth these gems and present them to a new audience.
Cela falls somewhere between those two categories as an artist duo (Marty Celay and Robert Drake) that was well known in Disco circles working with the likes of Chic, but who only created one such creation themselves.
“I’m in Love” is not one the most obscure tracks, lighting up dance floors in and around 1979. Its soulful bass groove and unforgettable hook has waned little. For 11 minutes there’s nothing else you want to hear and in the stripped-back US version the build-up creates just enough tension for a DJ to transport a dance floor to new heights.
The Source Experience – Throwback (12″)
A throwback both in name and attitude, back to a time when Techno was raw, impulsive and unforgiving. It wasn’t about elevated tempos or the size of the room, but the brutality of the sounds and energy of the track.
It’s something Robert Leiner aka The Source Experience knows all too well as somebody that cut his teeth on that sound back in the beginning. That’s the sound he instilled at R&S through records like his self-titled debut, which went on to establish R&S as one of the leading lights in the field of Techno at the time.
Some three decades on from that record and The Source Experience continues to perpetuate that sound with another record for Börft. Acid motifs squeezed between clenched teeth, emerge from the thunderous drum programming on the title track and “Acid Crack.”
On “Far Out,” Leiner eases in than Electro arrangement. Pliable synthetic pads swaddle sharp metallic rhythms, in stark contrast to the first two tracks. There’s no hook and the sonic nature of the tracks are irreverent to any clichè or archetype. That’s exactly how it should be.