artist: Various Artists

title: Level Records 10b 12"

label: Level Records

release: Nov 07

rating: 8/10

To celebrate the 10th release by Dusseldorf based electronica label, Level Recordings, a three-part series of 12”s have been dropped over the course of the last 6 months. Level Records was started in 2004 by Daniel Fritschi as a specialist label with a focus on deep minimal music and since its inception its ranks have swelled with talent from the likes of Anders Ilar, Slg, Fax and Fritschi himself. With this three-part series they celebrate their own unique brand of eerie, atmospheric minimal tech-house which forgoes the cold, sterile aesthetic usually associated with minimalist electronica in favour of dubby grooves, jazzy arrangements and soundscapes which possess real soul.

10a:

The first of these commemorative releases is appropriately titled, ‘10a’. Released in Oct 2007, the A-Side sees classical musician turned electronica-stalwart, Marcin Czubala kick off with ‘diagonal’, a track that starts off with smatterings of brushy snares and kicks underpinning a melodic deep-house core. Treble heavy melodies cross paths with bass heavy synth clusters and hollowed beeps to carve out a progressively meandering retro-house soundscape that bounces with menacing techno-ised intent. On the flip side, efforts by Bvoice & Khz along with the established Anders Ilar provide another dose chilled-out and subtly crafted tech-house. Sounding a bit like 4Hero meets ambient Autechre, Bvoices & KHz’s ‘present for KHz’ exists on a backbone of deep and bouncy three-dimensional bass throbs that creates a leftfield house dynamic thanks to the out-of-sync placement of beats and notes. This ‘free’ approach makes for a jazzy feel that is steeped in dark and breathy atmospherics. Anders Ilar presents ‘made for us to love’ the 5th track off his forthcoming full length ‘Sworn’, an album that recently scored a 9/10 in these very pages. Anders Ilar is an expert at developing forlorn, minimalist micro-tech and this track is no exception. Like some kind of electro sorcerer, he hangs heavily processed melancholic strings in a slow-motion stouper over deep shifting bass hooks and mid-tempo kicks whilst hypnotic patterns appear and disperse alongside.

10b:

November’s ‘Level 10b’ see’s four artists from across the world pitted together in a miniature world-tour of electronica. ‘Prestige’ by Ferenc Vaspoeri shimmers with a classy Mathew Jonson-esque tech-house vibe in which squelchy House-inspired synths and clustered kicks mix it up with a bustling array of out-of-focus melodics and fx before the whole entity drops down into a deep and dubby mélange of euphoric motifs and slinky beats. Japan’s Hidenobu Ito is on hand to provide a highly unique piece of evolved electronica which sees howling windlike atmospherics cascade across a backdrop of squelchy, aqua beats to an hypnotic and quietly menacing effect, an effect that is heighted due to the counteraction with intermittent bursts of rather upbeat and inside-out melodics. Antonelli Electr’s ‘Materialized’ is a slightly bizarre foray into the Chicago school of House with sliding synths and disorientating carnivalesque melodics shooting across an upbeat terrain. Mexico’s ‘Fax’ contributes ‘Voltage’, a track not found on his excellent ‘Bilateral EP’. Similar in style to the best works of ‘Rothko’ and fully seizing the haunting power of the electric guitar, ‘Fax’ manages to captivate listeners with a mellow and bittersweet soundscape of perfectly arranged guitars motifs which sweep listlessly across the soundscape and nestle amongst deep, dubby groovescapes to create a track which stirs the soul.

10c:

Commencing with the high-nrg deep-tech of ‘Freefall’ by Slg, the gauntlet is thrown down for the post-midnight dancefloor session with Febuary 2008’s ‘Level 10c’, a period of the night where clubbers gain their second wind and connect emotionally and mentally with the deep, hypnotic soundwaves that seep from the soundsystem. Utilising a dubby sci-fi atmosphere and rolling bass-grooves, melodic bleeps and glitches are spliced and euphorically arranged to stretch out into a sonic oblivion. Jeff Milligan, a name well known across techno’s far reaching expanse, is on hand to deliver a rather abstract slice of glitch’n’crackle in which he fuses alien micro glitches over naturalist sounding grooves to provocative effect. Label founder, Daniel Fritschi remixes ‘Paracaidas’ by Fax, creating a slow-motion and hypnotic piece that sees organic and subterranean bass grooves prop up fluttering clicks and pops before atmospheric melodics trickle in like liquid waves of sound filling a jagged river bed made of rubber. ‘Ekkohaus’ immediately sets out his intent with a pounding layer of kicks that mutates into a densely produced flicker of bass-y beatscapes accompanied by piercing micro-glitches, sampled throatwork and some rather out-of-focus melodies that produce an SND-style micro-funk sound. Interestingly, all the elements seem to communicate with each other creating an organic and funky tech-house soundscape that is like some sort of sonic narrative.

Overall the ‘10’ series is a testament to the quality of the Level records roster and showcases classic, unreleased and forthcoming material across the spectrum of deep minimal electronica. Its nigh on impossible to pick one of these releases over another so do yourself a favour a bag them all as the whole series works best when spun in order taking the listener on a real journey into the heart and soul of deep dubby tech-house. (KS)

For fans of: Mathew Jonson, Audion, Rothko, Cobblestone Jazz, Jamie Jones, The Green Kingdom, Board of Canada, SND