textura

Albums
Alsace Lorraine
Becuzzi & Orsi
Andreas Bertilsson
Cheju
Coleclough & Liles
Dev/Null
DJ Bone
eRikm (Ferrari) & Lehn
Fisk Industries
Fridge
Hanna Hartman
Jazkamer
Laub
Madagascar
Manasyt
Mus
Organum
Pandatone
People Press Play
Laurent Perrier
Porn Sword Tobacco
Pylône
Milford Reynolds
Rumskib
Skeletons and Kings
Ran Slavin
Stateless
Televise
Throbbing Gristle
Tied + Tickled Trio
Akello Uchenna
Brendan Walls
John Watermann
Mark Williams
YACHT
Z'ev / David Linton
Zonk't

Compilations / Mixes
Beat Dimensions Vol. 1
Buzzin' Fly Vol. 4
Hernan Cattaneo
Hot Chip
Jamie Jones

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
A Guy Called Gerald
Ambivalent
Apparat
Atone
Audion
Dan Berkson
Andres Bucci
Taylor Deupree
Emot. Joystick / Line 47
Feel the Beast
Renato Figoli
John Keys
Komonazmuk
Ed Laliq
Miskate
Peace Division
Alix Roy
Sinner DC
Someone Else
Urban Tribe

Apparat: Holdon
Shitkatapult

Let's hope Holdon, the first 12-inch single from Apparat's upcoming Walls, is indicative of the album's quality because Sascha Ring's music has never sounded as good as it does here. Admittedly, he gets help from some top-drawer remixing talents but his poppy original definitely holds its own against the others.

First up is Chris De Luca (former Funkstörung member) and Phon.O (Carsten Aermes) who give the song a huge ‘Miami Bitch' electro treatment that weds a soulfully funky vocal by Raz Ohara with tribal hip-hop beats that exude more than a hint of Timbaland. Strong too, Modeselektor gives the tune a skanking club mix driven by a beautiful bass rumble, a primitive vocal croak, and arcade-styled synth stabs. With its lurching rhythms and wobbly bass, the “Holdon” original suggests Ring's been listening to his share of dubstep though Ohara's vocal pushes it in an electro-funk direction. The sole instrumental, Ring's ‘rave' version of “Fractales” revisits the aerodynamic style of his Ellen Allien collaboration Orchestra of Bubbles. Panoramic beauty is the result, with guitar streams, bubbly keys, and surging rhythms coalescing into five minutes of blissed-out euphoria.

June 2007

This review also appears in Grooves.