Presales Week -1375

Roland Appel started producing music and spinning records in the early nineties. He was a member of Fauna Flash (together with Christian Prommer) and the Trüby Trio (with rainer trüby + Christian Prommer). In 2002 he released an album with Peter Kruder and Christian Prommer as Voom:Voom . With every project he toured the world and played clubs and festivals from Montreal Jazz Festival, Sonar Festival to Fabric London, New York, Berlin and Tokyo. From 2004 to 2006 Roland lived in Paris. During this time he started to write music for his solo career which quickly gained an international following. In 2006 returning to his home town of Munich he teamed up with engineer Jan Krause to start recording once again. Whether Roland incorporates an accomplice or is working solo, there’s hardly a dull moment in the studio or on stage, captivating his audience by combining the integral influences of Detroit techno, folk, disco all the way to soul and house. One of the most in demand tracks from the ‘All Night Long’ album, ‘Snow...’ gets a full single release as a result of the huge response from disco heavyweights Horse Meat Disco, who took the time to contact us to tell us how much they love it. Old school disco in every way, certainly not ‘space’ and nothing ‘nu’ about it.....DFA darlings Runaway turn it in a slow burning house direction that builds the tension until every last drop is wrung out in a sweaty pool on the dancefloor. Nice.

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
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Germany
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The Dutchman Jeroen Verheij aka Secret Cinema is now looking back on almost twenty years of experience within the field of electronic music. His first production "Sonar System", which has originally been released on the legendary Belgian label Hithouse under the alias Meng Syndicate in 1990 and was re-released two years later on Music Man, is rightly belonging to the absolute classics of Rave Techno and has antedated the Rotterdam-Detroit sound axis with providing a staccato somewhere in between a piercing snare and an acid siren. Also, his Motor City Techno diamond "Timeless Altitude" from 1994 is for sure in many people's memory. However, with a total of three albums and a multitude of maxis, mainly for Michel de Hey's label EC Records, he also has caused some sensations and his contribution to the current Cocoon Compilation I ("Kurzweil") was more or less the most ingenious track that has been produced in re TechHouse meets piano & strings. The title track of this record "Jazz Me", is brilliantly located exactly at this junction of melodic harmony and powerful Techno bass. The concentrated bass kick gets its trademark sound with cowbells, a Detroit strings motif from the likes of Inner City and improvisations on the vibraphone - never before has Jazz sounded more uncompromisingly adrenalinesque! The flipside "Shake Ur Tech-Ass" can be taken literally, purely rhythmic hedonism with intensive bass and the right feeling for suspenseful noise, just like Plastikman meets Bodzin in an overheated basement club 'round the corner.




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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
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DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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Phil Kieran has been in the upper echelons of the electronic music game for more than a decade, but is only now releasing his debut album under his own name. Known for rocking clubs and releasing a string of killer twelves, Belfast-based Phil has hooked up with German powerhouse Cocoon in recent times. Sven Väth's label is now about to release "Shh", a groundbreaking piece of work that will undoubtedly gain Phil plaudits across the board. "Shh" seems to not only reference every sound Phil has ever loved in music, but is formulated in a completely fresh and futuristic way. Listen carefully and you can detect elements of dub reggae, old hardcore like LFO, hip-hop, early 90s electronica such as Autechre/Black Dog and other Warp staples, as well as the futuristic techno that Phil excels in. For the album Phil went back to old sound lab recordings dating back to the 1950s and 60s. Utilising some of these sounds in the initial construction, he built up tracks using a combination of old samples sourced from original and weird places and some live new instrumentation as well. There are live drums, some electric/acoustic/bass guitar and live keyboard playing as well as some choice guest vocalists.
"I tried to use all my knowledge from when I first got into music to try and make an album that captures everything I've ever loved about music," Phil says. Phil has synthesized his myriad of influences into one radically beautiful whole: blissed-out vocal samples, space age electro, cavernous bleeps, fizzy technoid 4/4 beats, glistening glitches, crackers crackles, early R&S sounds, warm keys, acerbic bassline undertows, dense echoes, Orbital cinematics and randy robotics all feature, but really this is an album far greater than the sum of its parts. It's very much a home or car listening album, perfect for post-club play, although plenty of the individual tracks contain discerning dancefloor dynamics too. Cutting his clubbing teeth at Shine in Belfast, Phil now has over 100 dancefloor releases to his name on quality labels like Skint, Soma and NovaMute, and is widely respected throughout the industry among the technoscenti. He's also recently broken into movie scoring, creating the soundtrack for recent Steven Soderbergh film The Girlfriend Experience with fellow Irish compatriot David Holmes. To exorcise some demons a few years ago he created a live techno punk band Alloy Mental, variously melding Joy Division basslines onto pummeling punky T.Raumschmiere-style technoid power-drivers. He also has an impeccable DJ rep that's won him placings in DJ magazine's global Top 100 DJs poll, and a guarantee to promoters that he'll inevitably rock the joint to its foundations. But now Phil has just entered the next phase in his career. "Shh" won't be a secret for long: it's almost certain to take its place amongst not only the albums of the year, but as one of the landmark releases of the last two decades.


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The first catalogue number from the house of Formatik comes from Format:B The A-Side (Hotrod) is a pushing, wooden battering monster in the typical Format:B manner The Hugo Remix gallops through the house arena like a thoroughbred stallion. Extremely "wonky" breaks paired with a post modern house beat makes it the perfect alternative. Redux on the B-Side is a heavyweight techno layout. Sirens, massive baselines and a dark atmosphere that sometimes, but only sometimes, reminds you of old black and white horror films make this track the perfect addition to this first EP.
Three different styles, that's the way we want it. Stay tuned.





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Germany
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Eijajei - Aye ya yay! This is a hit record! But what else would you expect when two of Berlin’s hottest DJ and producers, Guido Schneider and Jens Bond, are working together!? Following the duo’s major success on Pokerflat in 2004, we’ve managed to get the two of them back together for this exclusive release on Highgrade. The results are well worth it. “Getting Sleepy“ pulls us comfortably into the musical world of Jens Bond and Guido Schneider. Without being obvious, and certainly not lazy, the track reclines into a laid back groove that hooks straight into the rhythm, creating a perfect atmosphere for the psychedelic vocals and hypnotic groove. You wont be able to escape the mood, making this the perfect techno weapon for the late night hours. We like! “Eijeijei“ is the highlight of the record: Warm drums, siren like vocals, the whole thing seems to come from a long way away with incredibly smooth beats which make this track so special. Maybe this is the sound of a table dance bar in the jungle? It’s incredibly sexy in any case.

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
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DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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A1 space monkey A2 anual rings B1 the walker B2 day after
“This is my best album for sure“, says Todd. We can’t be exactly sure on that one, all three albums from Todd Bodine have been great. “Forms” however, is perhaps the most complex and mature album that the Berlin producer and DJ has accomplished to date. And it’s also out with us! Todd has worked at full speed over the last six months to bring us this fine piece of work. As a DJ playing around the world and as a producer in the highest ranks of consistency, Todd Bodine has constantly developed as an artist. Releases and remixes on respected labels, and collaborations with various artists have made him an internationally popular electronic musician. In 2007 he finally began to perform as a live act, and what club would better fit Todd’s new live premiere than the Panorama Bar in Berlin!? Todd shows with “Forms“, his innate knowledge of the two sides of electronic dance music. This is a meeting of peaktime euphoria with the relaxing bliss of the hazy morning light. A meeting of hypnotic natural rhythms and driving cut-up sounds. Todd can impress you with dancefloor bombs and also with his sophisticated sound visions. The sound of Detroit would probably be the best comparison. All of the tracks are cleverly designed to work without being overly intellectual. Everything flows and is filled with a subtle density of character that is well known to those familiar with Todd Bodine. This album speaks it’s own language, a rare and unique form of communication that very few other producers are able to replicate. A worldwide Todd Bodine tour is currently in the pipeline, stay tuned!

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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C1 count on it D2 next stop D1 stormy weather
“This is my best album for sure“, says Todd. We can’t be exactly sure on that one, all three albums from Todd Bodine have been great. “Forms” however, is perhaps the most complex and mature album that the Berlin producer and DJ has accomplished to date. And it’s also out with us! Todd has worked at full speed over the last six months to bring us this fine piece of work. As a DJ playing around the world and as a producer in the highest ranks of consistency, Todd Bodine has constantly developed as an artist. Releases and remixes on respected labels, and collaborations with various artists have made him an internationally popular electronic musician. In 2007 he finally began to perform as a live act, and what club would better fit Todd’s new live premiere than the Panorama Bar in Berlin!? Todd shows with “Forms“, his innate knowledge of the two sides of electronic dance music. This is a meeting of peaktime euphoria with the relaxing bliss of the hazy morning light. A meeting of hypnotic natural rhythms and driving cut-up sounds. Todd can impress you with dancefloor bombs and also with his sophisticated sound visions. The sound of Detroit would probably be the best comparison. All of the tracks are cleverly designed to work without being overly intellectual. Everything flows and is filled with a subtle density of character that is well known to those familiar with Todd Bodine. This album speaks it’s own language, a rare and unique form of communication that very few other producers are able to replicate. A worldwide Todd Bodine tour is currently in the pipeline, stay tuned!

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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Detroit based multi instrumentalist Jimmy Edgar brings his unique electronic vision to Items & Things for the label’s keenly anticipated fourth release. Edgar’s versatility is well documented with influences ranging from jazz, funk and R&B through to Chicago house and of course Detroit techno. For this outing he puts his distinctive R&B tinged electronica to one side, laying down some timeless acid house grooves that pay homage to the founding fathers of the genre. The sublime techno soul of the title track Funktion House kicks off the 4-track EP with sweet chord stabs and laid back laser sweeps dominating the intro. A gentle yet infectious background melody that’ll pull bodies to the dancefloor like bees to honey completes the summertime vibe with each element effortlessly evolving as Edgar applies subtle ring shifts and delays to the down tempo groove. The tension gradually builds with some acidic tweaks eventually emerging to complement the squelchy bassline but the track never loses sight of its soulful origins, keeping the floor ticking over and soothing the collective spirit in a wash of old school nostalgia. Dark acid tones abound on Young Thing with its dirty, scratchy vocal parts posturing over a sparse, razor sharp 808 groove in a return to the days of Phuture Fantasy Club and Fast Eddie’s Acid Thunder. The nervous tension resonates back and forth between the liquid acid and the pitched down vocals creating the perfect late night dancefloor moment that’ll turn the most innocent of clubs into a heaving sweatbox, maintaining the high standards and left field agenda set by the label’s previous three releases. The beats get nasty as another of Detroit’s next generation, Thrill Cosby aka Seth Troxler goes to work on reforming Funktion. The mood is relentless from the off with another twisting acid line accompanying a host of peripheral bleeps, efx and reinterpreted retro synth stabs from the original version. The groove pushes forward urgently, cloaked by freaky pitcheddown vocals that repeat hypnotically into a full-on electro funk breakdown that disorientates and seduces in equal measures. Edgar’s own acid remix of Funktion offers a more toxic take on the original theme. It’s raw, stripped down with urgent snare rolls, machine gun claps and cavernous reverberating vocal efx. The jacking bassline becomes embroiled with the splayed hi-hat pattern before a complimentary second bassline fleshes out the sequence. The powerful acid rush continues to ebb and flow, teasing the floor constantly before he finally drives it to point of climax, tweaking the controls to oblivion until the track dissolves into a sea of delay.

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"Whereas nonmakers must content themselves with the merely undeniable fact that two times two is four, he rejoices in the irresistible truth to be found, in abbreviated costume, upon the title page of the present volume."
-E.E. Cummings

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
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"City Wasteland" comes as a full CD as well as a split in two 12inches including some tracks that are vinyl-exclusives. Sebastian Lohse a.k.a. Break SL from Dresden is still quite young, but you can feel that he already defined his own universe of sounds and proper production skills. The second 12inch (City Wasteland Pt.2) now starts with the track "Move!" which doesn´t carry it´s name for nothing...this is true-school Techno! Next, "Dirtbomb" shows some nice edges and has a kinda dark feeling. Hovering samples and a raw, dirty feel on the drums gives the whole track a very subtle blues. On the flip Break SL enters deepest territory of Detroit-influenced Techno with "Weird Dancer". The last track here "TFF" is a vinyl-exclusive which delivers intense and acid-like drum layers ...Chicago galore!
"Thanks for purchasing a real copy!"





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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
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Germany
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Our man from Italy hits base again! He was the first house-agent that we've send out on a pure digital Upon You mission. He mastered it with such bravory that our Headquater see it worthwhile to hit session two on vinyl. In phase A1 he successfully recovered a hole row of bad house replicates under the code name "Shadittz" to bring back the good taste. "Back from the middle" is the motto in Phase A2, essentially contributing the bust of a few lousy tech-house bosses that where about to sell scuzzy loops to minors. His work was very useful for us and an easy seizing for mr. superbrain Tolga Fidan who could complete the mission as our remix profiler.




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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
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DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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Exciting times at Wagon Repair as London duo Dollz at Play release their debut EP after 5 years of taming dance ?oors throughout Europe and the world. London transplants Xochitl and Bea, originally from Mexico and Spain respectively, have been tipped for great things. 'Oscura Wand in Paris' is a mid pace bass driven minimal electro strut, equally suited for the Miami sun or Berlin dawn. Sleek and deep, spoken words punctuate a tight percussive ascension into a synth hook that ties together a broad mix of resonant tone and psychotropic modulated vocals. 'Oscura Wand in Paris (Danny Boy Dub)' is a subtler beast, pacing elements into an ethereal and meditative ambient journey. Intermittent vocal emissions and soaring tones colour a bubbling percussive loop in a contemplative downbeat mix.
'Oscura Wand In Paris (Mr.C Remix)' sees Dollz at Play manager and Superfreq head honcho Mr. C providing the ?nal mix, a deep and engrossing techno trip founded on swelling synth, bouncing
bass and epic melodic elements that launch the track above and beyond its earthly origins.






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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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