Richie Hawtin’s Mixmag Live! is his first major DJ mix release, which was distributed by Moonshine Music. Hawtin, a native of Windsor, Ontario, became known in the 1990s by his alias Plastikman, and became the acknowledged master of minimal acid techno. This mix stands as an early classic of minimal tech house with a variety of great tunes. It leads off with “Dry Ray” by German duo Lausen (which is by far the best track on their lone 12″). While being a one of the best techno mix CDs ever, it’s downfall is the less that clear tracklisting. As you can see below, Discogs lists 22 tracks. However, when I owned this myself years ago, there was only 11 tracks on the CD itself. There’s no way of knowing which track was which, unless you actually own the vinyl versions of everyone song. For example, according to the tracklisting F.U.S.E. “Substance Abuse” is track 8 on the CD, but it was actually the beginning of track number 5. Also, the Lausen track mentioned earlier is the full song, so at least that part is correct. It’s hard to say because I can’t find any of these tracks to verify, but something doesn’t seem right. One of the standout tracks on the CD, track 5 is credited as Freddy Fresh “5 Mouths”. However, that might not even be right, because it sounds like two separate songs, which back-to-back, happen to sound awesome. And I might even be wrong anyway. Unfortunately, I do not believe that Fred Fresh track even appeared on a commercial vinyl release, so there’s no way of knowing. It’s definitely not the same as his recent DJ mix CDs, which break down the tracklisting in agonizing detail in the liner notes. Having said all of that, you can just ignore the tracklisting entirely and just focus on the music, which is what is the most important part anyway.

Tracklisting:
1.1 Lausen / Dry Ray
1.2 G-Man / Quo Vadis
1.3 Octave One / Empower
1.4 Mark Broom / Jump
1.5 Teste / The Wipe
1.6 Fred Fresh* / 5 Mouths
1.7 Goio / Basic Needs
1.8 F.U.S.E. / Substance Abuse
1.9 Plastikman / Spaz
1.10 Plastikman / Helikopter
1.11 Dwarf / Percussion Electrique
1.12 Plastikman / Spastik
1.13 Akilah Bryant / Eye Trip
1.14 .xtrak / Boiling_Point
1.15 Naughty & Tolis / Electricity
1.16 Tobias Schmidt / Dollar
1.17 DBX / Live Wire
1.18 Too Funk / Venus Fly Trap
1.19 Syncrojack* / Cash Machines
1.20 Paul Hannah / Key Follow
1.21 Sensorama / Harz
1.22 Ramon IV* / Altes Testament

Lausen – Dry Ray

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Fred Fresh – 5 Mouths

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This is by request for ‘oldskool’ who said he was desperately seeking it. What Is Real is a single release from 1991 on Belgian label Les Disques Du Crépuscule, which has previously released A Certain Ratio, Tuxedomoon, 23 Skidoo, among others. This came around the start of their electro / house period in the late 80s to mid 90s, when they starting getting more recognition again within techno circles. “What Is Real” is different then the version found on the album Body and Soul, which is obviously why Discogs lists it as the single version. I like this style of Cabaret Voltaire; they made some good stuff then. However, probably my favorite period of theirs is the mid-90s stuff on Instinct Records. That was some classic trance / ambient stuff that was really great. For some reason, Discogs lists this as ‘IDM’ but I wouldn’t classify it as such at all. I normally wouldn’t post the same artist back to back, but a request is a request after all. Enjoy oldskool.

Tracklisting:
1 What Is Real (6:57)
2 What Is Real (Virtual Reality Mix) (7:08)
3 Legacy Of The Computer (6:02)

Cabaret Voltaire – What Is Real

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Cabaret Voltaire – What Is Real (Virtual Reality Mix)

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Cabaret Voltaire – Legacy of the Computer

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An overlooked classic. Cabaret Voltaire is one of the most early, respected, and influential acts in the history of electronic music. Hailing from Sheffield, England (also home to Clock DVA and the Human League), Cabaret Voltaire released music for nearly 20 years. Drinking Gasoline came shortly after the departure of original member Chris Watson who went on to form The Hafler Trio and did sound design for a number of BBC documentaries. This left the group as a duo of Richard H. Kirk and Stephen Mallinder. Drinking Gasoline is a more accessible work in terms of their older style of music, but held an electro-funk edge that is still interesting to this day. Richard H. Kirk maintained a solo career throughout it all with “a release schedule that keeps discographers sweating and diehard fans near bankruptcy.” After dawning the 90s with a series of great trance / ambient releases for Instinct Records, the band went their separate ways. Richard H. Kirk still continues to record as Sandoz, Electronic Eye and many others.

Tracklisting:
A Kino (8:28)
B Sleepwalking (8:27)
C Big Funk (8:10)
D Ghostalk (7:59)

Cabaret Voltaire – Kino

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Cabaret Voltaire – Big Funk

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Mick Chillage is a DJ / Producer of hailing from Dublin, Ireland. As one half of The Chillage Idiots, their radio show at XFM Dublin has been broadcasting on the airwaves and the Internet since 1992. Eye On The City is his second release, a 3 track EP that follows the Soundscapes release in 2007 for Herb Recordings. Clocking in at only a little over 17 minutes, Eye On The City is a wonderful piece of uplifting, melodic techno. In some ways, it reminds me of the old Darren Price album on Novamute, Under the Flightpath. My only wish is that this was longer. Mick has recently had a track featured on the compilation Late Night Express for This Side Music, which also released this EP. Mick states on his Myspace profile that 2009 will bring new projects and possibly a full-length album, so we’re definitely looking forward to that.

Tracklisting:
1 Eye On The City (5:05)
2 Project Echo (9:10)
3 Altitude (3:20)

Mick Chillage – Eye on the City

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Martin Dupont was a French new wave group (and here I thought it really was a guy named Martin Dupont!) that formed in the early 80s. Their sound has been described variously as minimal synth, dreamy electro and coldwave. The first release was the Your Passion 7″ in 1982. They went on to release 3 full-length LPs before disbanding in 1987. Minimal Wave brought them into the 21st century with the release Lost and Late, which compiles selected tracks from the 1985 cassette, as well as the first two releases. Many people who make the rounds about the Internet might be familiar with a few songs from the group on the numerous Flexipop bootleg compilations. However, given that the original releases are most likely pretty rare, this release allows for the opportunity to hear the group a new way, and with some flashy artwork to boot.

Tracklisting:
A1 Just Because (Remix 1985)
A2 No Hands
A3 Wagui
A4 I Love The Lovers
A5 Other Souvenir
A6 Your Passion
B1 Shake Your Flowers
B2 Without Face
B3 It’s No Use
B4 Lost And Late
B5 Just Because

Martin Dupont – Just Because (1985 remix)

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Martin Dupont – Wagui

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Martin Dupont – It’s No Use

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EarthBeat is a compilation of pre-FSOL material on British label Jumpin’ & Pumpin’, which released a lot of this early material. Besides a remix of the classic FSOL track “Papua New Guinea” (from their first album Accelerator), we are treated to a host of side-projects by the boys such as Mental Cube, Yage, Smart Systems, Indo Tribe, and Humanoid. This compilation itself is pretty rare, but recently, they have been making things available via their label fsoldigital.com. For example, a lot of rare older tracks (not these ones) were released on the recent compilation By Any Other Name, and also The Pulse EPs, the latter of which was released on Jumpin’ & Pumpin’ in mid 2008. While baring no resemblance to FSOL material, EarthBeat is a fascinating look into early 90s acid house and techno, and while a lot of these songs aren’t my taste (the vocal tracks for example), there’s enough good stuff on here to interest any fan.

Tracklisting:
1 Mental Cube / Q (Original) (4:15)
2 Yage / Quazi (6:32)
3 Candese / You Took My Love (4:19)
4 Future Sound Of London, The / Papua New Guinea (Dumb Child Of Q) (4:23)
5 Indo Tribe / Owl (4:57)
6 Semi Real / People Livin’ Today (5:03)
7 Yage / Theme From Hot Burst (4:35)
8 Indo Tribe / Shrink (4:27)
9 Mental Cube / So This Is Love (4:51)
10 Mental Cube / Chile Of The Bass Generation (4:02)
11 Smart Systems / Tingler (Remix) (5:04)
12 Yage / Coda Coma (4:51)
13 Indo Tribe / In The Mind Of A Child (5:04)
14 Humanoid / Stakker Humanoid (Coby ’94 Mix) (6:06)
15 Smart Systems / Creator (2:58)
16 Indo Tribe / Bite The Bullet Baby (3:16)

Mental Cube – Q (Original)

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Indo Tribe – Owl

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Semi Real – People Livin’ Today

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Yage – Theme From Hot Burst

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Most people who are fans of electronic dance music are familiar with the German duo X-Dream. Marcus and Jan have been leading figures in the tech-trance scene since the early 90s, releasing albums and singles on such labels as Tunnel and Blue Room. We Interface, their fifth album, adopts a new style which is wholly different than previous X-Dream output. The first noticeable change comes with the addition of Ariel Muller, who was responsible for lyrics and vocals on the album. The opening track, “The 1st,” and also the last original track “X-Eyes,” are classic examples of 80s electro nostalgia, complete with vocoded Transformer-style vocals. Several tracks, such as the title track, are reminiscent of the UK hard house stuff that was popular a few years ago. X-Dream also comes up with two slabs of dark, hard techno in the vein of producers Richie Hawtin and Adam Beyer. The only track that does absolutely nothing for me is the final remix of “The 1st” by UK electro/big beat trio Fluke. Other than that, the whole album flows well and the changes in style throughout make for an interesting listen. I was disappointed at first, but after a few listens it began to grow on me. X-Dream has always been noted for their quality releases over the last 15 years and We Interface is no exception.

Tracklisting:
1 The 1st (5:51)
2 We Interface (5:09)
3 Superintelligence (5:25)
4 Try To Save Your Song (6:09)
5 Ultratube (6:18)
6 Quantum Lab (7:46)
7 Virus (5:44)
8 Distressor (4:39)
9 Slim Drum (5:35)
10 X-Ray Eyes (5:22)
11 The 1st (Fluke Remix) (7:08)

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Kraftwerk 2 was quite literally the 2nd release by pioneering German group Kraftwerk. It tends to not be as “experimental” as the first release, with Discogs describing it as “krautrock”. Released in 1972, it was 2 years ahead of their “first” release that everyone knows them for: Autobahn. Strangely enough, most of the songs on Kraftwerk 2 don’t really seem to go anywhere. “Kling Klang”, the first song, is almost 17 and a half minutes long (and nearly half of the entire LP itself!) and is somewhat reminescent of songs on Kraftwerk, with the flute and organ. However, the only other song that is somewhat interesting is “Strom”. The other 4 songs on the album literally do very little. It is worth including for completion’s sake since I already posted the first one earlier. However, I don’t think I’d rush about trying to track a copy of this down on vinyl, since it’s probably rare and expensive. Strangely enough, I don’t think either one was every released on CD, except for 2 European bootlegs, so if anyone was interested in owning a copy, vinyl would be the only way to go.

Tracklisting:
A1 Klingklang (17:36)
A2 Atem (2:57)
B1 Strom (3:52)
B2 Spule 4 (5:20)
B3 Wellenlänge (9:40)
B4 Harmonika (3:17)

Kraftwerk – Klingklang

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Dream Injection is one of the best compilations of trance, ambient, and IDM ever released. It was my first introduction to the world of ambient techno and still holds a deep place in my heart to this day. Spanning 6 volumes in 3 years, the series was released by German label Sub Terranean. Volume 1, which we have presented here, holds so many great artists, it’s hard to even name them all without just giving the whole damn track list. All of these songs are so great, from the bigger name artists to others like Age (Thomas P. Heckmann), Fuse (Richie Hawtin) and Soma (David Thrussel). It’s got Juno Reactor’s High Energy Protons, an absolute classic of early goa trance. And some lesser known acts such as Implant Code (already featured in one of my earliest posts), Leviathan (an album which I must track down), and more more more. I can’t say much more, the music will just have to speak for itself on this one. And if you don’t believe me, check out the hearty endorsement from DJ Frankie Bones on Discogs. The hardest part will be to decide what songs to feature.

Tracklisting:

1-01 Future Sound Of London, The / Omnipresence (6:41)
1-02 Beaumont Hannant / Teqtonik (6:59)
1-03 Speedy J / Pepper (Original Version) (7:44)
1-04 Time Modem / Zvyozony (3:44)
1-05 FUSE* / A New Day (3:53)
1-06 Biosphere / The Fairy Tale (Remix) (5:58)
1-07 Autechre / Doctrine (7:49)
1-08 µ-Ziq / Tango N’ Vectif (4:02)
1-09 Lumukanda / Walk In Thee Black Forest (7:31)
1-10 Underworld / Spikee (12:30)
1-11 Chekists, The / Global (Remix) (5:01)
1-12 Air Liquide / Theme From Robot Wars (4:11)
2-01 Sun Electric / Sarotti (6:21)
2-02 Leviathan (3) / Slavedance (4:49)
2-03 AFX* / .215061 (Analogue Bubblebath 3) (3:50)
2-04 Difficult Child / Fear (4:49)
2-05 Soma / Dark Koma (6:07)
2-06 Juno Reactor / High Energy Protons (Orion Mix) (6:30)
2-07 Clock DVA / The Operators (6:44)
2-08 Implant Code / Hyperspace Enter (5:27)
2-09 Atom Heart / I See More … (8:29)
2-10 Zen Paradox / The Light At The End… ? (9:40)
2-11 Age / Eine Fremde Lebensform (5:44)
2-12 Kenny Larkin / Maritim (6:37)

Time Modem – Zvyozony

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Air Liquide – Theme From Robot Wars

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AFX – .215061

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Difficult Child – Fear

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Clock DVA – The Operators

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Zen Paradox – The Light At The End

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Micro Chip League was another short lived project that released a series of 12″ singles throughout the late 80s. This electro-industrial act was comprised of Talla 2XLC (Robotiko Rejekto, Bigod 20, Umo Detic etc) as well as Alex Henninger and Ken Taylor. Talla 2XLC (real name Andreas Tomalla) went on to form one of the earliest techno clubs in Germany, called… wait for it… TECHNOCLUB. He also formed the record label Music Research, home to many influential sub-labels such as Zoth Ommog, New Zone, and more. More recently, throughout the 90s and on, has been a globally recognized trance DJ and producer. Code Numbers is the only full length LP released by Micro Chip League and is full of all kinds of great, early techno / industrial. A handful of 12″ releases followed up until 1990, when the project ceased. It looks like some of the later material starting drifting towards synthpop and euro house, so it might be best to stick with the earlier stuff 1986 and 1987. In 2005, BOY Records released Different Mixes – The Complete Collection Of MCL, however, that title is not entirely accurate, because there are several remixes missing, relying heavily instead on the backbone of 5 Razormaid remixes. Code Numbers is definitely a fine album and along with all the great early techno/EBM tracks, it’s nicely rounded off by “Shortwave Symphony”, a beautiful, almost mourning song with it’s synthesized strings and horns. By Satellite!

Tracklisting:
A1 Microchipleague (5:02)
A2 Satellite (3:54)
A3 Stranger (5:05)
A4 New York (4:58)
B1 Communicate (Original Razormaid Mix) (7:17)
B2 Power Plant (4:19)
B3 You Know (4:58)
B4 Short Wave Symphony (5:02)

Micro Chip League – Microchipleague

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Micro Chip League – Satellite

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Micro Chip League – Communicate (Razormaid rmx)

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Micro Chip League – Shortwave Symphony

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Contact is the first of 2 unreleased albums by Portuguese ambient project Dream Metaphor. The group was formed in late 2004, and now consists of three members: Replycant, who is responsible for music and visuals, Dailia on vocals, and Joana, a live dancer. Contact only consists of 5 songs, clocking in at 15 minutes in length, but it is a very nice first release. The beats and vocals are very sparse, the later of which for the most part consists of occasional voice samples. The music is very laid-back and melodic. Dream Metaphor has a second album released in 2006 called Sexta-feira 13, which I can only assume is just as good. It would be nice to hear more material from them, and I hope that soon they will release some new albums. They are active live, and have some videos for viewing on their Myspace page.

Tracklisting:
1 First Contact (Angels Flesh)
2 Slow Contact (Ice Isolation)
3 Out Of Contact (What God Thinks)
4 New Contact (The Course Of The Future)
5 Last Contact (We Are Already Dead)

Dream Metaphor – Slow Contact

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Dream Metaphor – New Contact

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