Andy Vaz – Straight Vacationing LP [YRE028]

House, Techno & Detroit // By: MarkuscloseAuthor: Markus Email: markus@netlabelism.com
More Authors Posts (76) // 02/10/2011 // No Comments

Netlabelism presents two Digital Album Remixes from his forthcoming Album as free download.

It’s been nearly 7 years since Andy Vaz (founder of the much respected Label- Imprints such as Background Records, A Touch of Class and his latest House Label Yore Records) released his last full length album “Repetitive Moments last Forever”. Now he’s back with his second and current artist album: Straight Vacationing” (Yore Records), released as a fully fashioned 2×12” Vinyl / Digipak CD as well as Digital Download package. The album’s 8 tracks dive deeper into the various aspects of house music.

From oldschool acid house, over melodic dreamy detroit-inspired tunes to hard hitting Jacking Chi-style house: it’s all there. The album perks up the moment the opening track “Detroit In Me” throws its acid-like bass line determinedly alongside a female vocal motif (“I just got to put a little Detroit in me ») and a wealth of radiant synth smears; the track title leaves little doubt regarding the style in question, but Vaz polishes the track’s Detroit surface to a mirror-like sheen. Followed by something similar to what Maceo Parker might sound like soloing over a funky Detroit-style base, saxophonist Andreas Pasternack spreads his creamy playing all over “Stubnitz” and in so doing bolsters the album’s already soulful character. The album’s poppiest moment arrives in “Just Another Round,” which Vaz powers through a lead bass line and sweetens with a female disco vocal. The funky-as-hell bass playing is rooted in the grand Larry Graham-and-Bootsy Collins tradition, and the music’s cold sweat, not to mention the honk of Pasternack’s sax, might remind listeners of a certain age of the J.B.’s, James Brown’s ‘70s band.

On the clubbier tip there’s “Fukuoka Liquid,” a bubbly, acid-techno shape-shifter featuring a hammering groove overlaid with synth stabs, and “Worlds Collide,” an exercise in jacking acid-techno. An occasional guest adds a distinctive touch to the material too, which occurs when Timir Roy’s tabla playing takes the house-driven sunshowers of “The Other Place” to a, well, whole other place. Overall, the album is much more than just a nice addition to house music, because it’s unique sounding and adds a welcome bonus in form of additional digital only remixes by the likes of: Patrice Scott, Alton Miller, Orlando B., Kez Ym, Ibex, Rick Wade and Memory Foundation to the Package. Netlabelism lets you grab two of these remixes upfront as a teaser to the forthcoming LP. [MS]

Andy Vaz – Detroit in Me (Orlando B. Oldskoo Remix)

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Andy Vaz – Stubnitz (Memory Foundation Remix)

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DOWNLOAD THE TRACKS

Deep Link To: The Release Page

Gassyoh – Gets EP [MARU-030]

Ambient & Experimental, Deep House & Techno, Electronika, House, Instrumental, Minimal, TechHouse, Techno & Detroit // By: simiolioliocloseAuthor: simioliolio Email: simon@netlabelism.com
More Authors Posts (40) // 10/09/2011 // 2 Comments

The world of netlabels has given tens of thousands of artists the opportunity to express themselves in ways that would have never been possible under more traditional methods of music distribution. Imagine the millions of demo CDs that have landed on the doorsteps of commercial labels, and been subsequently thrown away, some not even listened to. Running a label is a risky business, and in order to sign an artist, the gamble must have odds in your favour. If the music isn’t quite good enough, it will never be be given the opportunity to land on a large number of appreciating ears.

‘Maltine Records‘ is a fantastic netlabel, with an explosive character and a more individual angle than most netlabels out there. They are currently showcasing 99 releases of delightfully experimental music, which can range from quirky jazz house to ‘complete-mess-core’. I love the comic-like image of the crazy alien DJ at the top of every page. I also love clicking on the heading ‘Text’, and reading ‘nothing…’ on the page that loads. Above all, I love the way you can stream or download the track very easily. Being able to stream a tune before you commit to downloading the whole EP can save a huge amount of time when trawling through netlabel websites, and I don’t understand why a netlabel wouldn’t implement this feature.

My favourite artist on this label is Gassyoh, and he makes some of the most bizarre techno/house I have ever heard. He has released 8 EPs on this label, and the ‘Gets EP’ was released in 2009. I first heard one of the tracks from this EP on the Machtdose podcast, and I was instantly drawn in by his surprising techniques, and super-fun fuzzy style. Take, for instance, ‘I am a Clicktrack’

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Although the pretty melodics in this track are supplied by ‘Antonelli’, the funky cutting and track progression is the deal maker here. Gassyoh has a jokey style to his music, and I love this form of anti-pretentiousness. This remix could very easily go off the rails (based on some of his other tracks), but there is a leisurely consistency and exciting progression to this track, which seems to slide through a gauntlet of subtle twists and changes.

This track is followed by ‘Erotic Frange Disco’:

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I like to think of the inside of Gassyoh’s mind being inhabited by evil-looking cell-based organisms, all with mischievous smiles and dark, deranged eyes, dancing around like speed-balling Smurfs. As it starts, it is apparent that this is the same artist. The funky chords arrive, but then…. demolition. I have just never heard anything like it. Yes, perhaps it does sound a bit like a 9 year-old Nathan Fake discovering a high-feedback short-time delay effect for the first time, but the very virtue of this music is that it is free expression, limitless composition, not conforming to trends and standards due to money-making tactics and requirements, and this links back to my original point.

You send this to a commercial electronica label, and it won’t be signed. It has too much house/techno in it, it should be on a house/techno label. You send this to a commercial techno label, and it won’t be signed. The production isn’t strong enough, the style isn’t going to compete with current techno trends, and no DJ would ever play it, unless he wanted everyone on the dance floor to leave!

It fits into no niche, so would be unlikely to get signed by any commercial label. Luckily, netlabels are run by interesting and open-minded people with enough dedication to devote time to non-profit organisations. I might start a netlabel called ‘WAPP’. We Are Privileged People!

Deeplink : Maltine Records

Deeplink : Release Page

Deeplink : Gassyoh on Soundcloud

Erich Schall – Tröte [wuerfel 12]

Deep House & Techno, House // By: NetlabelismcloseAuthor: Netlabelism Email: markus@modularfield.net
More Authors Posts (118) // 15/05/2011 // No Comments

Erich Schall seems to be a person not so much interested in generating the next hype, or even jumping on the bandwagon of the current one, but instead seems to create his own music with a refreshing serenity. His music trusts in the straight bass drum without following its dictatorship. It aims at the dancefloor as well as the music Aficionado at home. This is not one minimal sound developed over eight tracks. It’s more than one and a half idea developed in each of the eight tracks, and most of the time very unique ideas at that. We have clicks and blinks, noisemakers (“Tröten”) and guitars, dubbed and delayed, intoxicating and nicely clouded. Major and minor, sharp and flat (yes, the concepts musicologists talk about all the time) are equally treated. Or for the non-musicologists out there: “Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony” (as M. Jackson and P. McCartney have found out in the last millennium).

Erich Schall doesn’t care for the hype-of-the-month, although he seems to be well informed about all the styles in the electronic world and collects modular components from every genre, just to be able to pop them out of his collector’s box when it really makes sense in the context of his track. This is a very nice and relaxed way of creating tracks, maybe not the way to create instant hits, but at least you’ll still be able to listen to his music once the hype of the month is over. Erich Schall’s Tröte will remain a quality release, whatever path the musical trends choose to follow.

Erich Schall – Echokammer

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Deep link to the release page