Terence Fixmer’s path through the changing techno landscape of the past 20 years has been anything but direct. Indeed, the French born producer, musician and Planete Rouge label founder has long been influenced by the periphery of continental European dance music subgenres from electronic body music, new beat and acid, before combining them into his own pioneering hybrid of futuristic, EBM-inflected techno with classic releases such as 2001’s Muscle Machine or the collaborative Between The Devil LP with Nitzer Ebb’s Douglas McCarthy as Fixmer/McCarthy. While the sound in recent years has been rediscovered and recast in diverse contexts by a new generation of producers, Through The Cortex sees Fixmer gravitating toward a different kind of industrial-tinged electronics, led as much (or more) by analogue sequencers, melodies and ultra-saturated sounds of synthesizers than drums and percussion. Across eight tracks at a compact but varied 40 minutes, the LP touches on an aesthetic hinted at in recent Ostgut Ton releases (2016’s Beneath The Skin EP and 2017’s Force EP), revealing a sonic narrative through noisy, screaming synth/vocal riffs with a jagged, guitar- like post-punk sensibility. Through The Cortex is techno with a voice – or rather multiple voices – guiding listeners through hypnotic, space- and social-themed terrain as a kind of dark soundtrack to darker days. The result ranges from the slow John Carpenter-inspired Escape From Precinct 13 funk of “Expedition” and the patient yet muscular stomp of “Fury” to the mesmerizing Suicide-like pop of single “Accelerate”, where Fixmer, using his voice as an instrument, chants the track’s ambiguous title in an invocation of systemic change/collapse. Elsewhere, the story is told with more abstract and wailing vocals like on “Shout in A Black Hole”, or in the warm, entrancing chords floating across the stereo image in ostensibly changing time-signatures on “A Halo Somewhere” – the LP’s uncharacteristically kosmische musik come-down. The track, and Through The Cortex as a whole, reflect what can be described as Fixmer’s idiosyncratic take on both techno subgenres as well as the larger pool of electronic music in general. This broad approach translates into a sound that is not only difficult to pin down, but also one that lends itself to multiple listens. More

Having remixed Depeche Mode and DJ Hell as well as releasing a new Fixmer/McCarthy single with Douglas McCarthy (of Nitzer Ebb), 2017 has already proven to be a productive year for Terence Fixmer. With the new Force EP, the Berghain resident follows up on 2016's Beneath The Skin EP (O-TON 97), offering four stylistically different but congenial Techno scenarios for club use. The record's eponymous track on A1 doesn't think twice: the initial signal horn starts as sudden as the staggered kick drum rhythm, reoccurring throughout the cut's 6-minute playtime while sustained and oppressive screams from a synth, extra multifaceted EBM percussion and synth drones add to the overall sombre atmosphere of “Force”. The musical vibe distinctly changes with “Sidewalk” which puts more focus on synth melodies – like its predecessor a Techno cut per se, but with a stronger accent on hypnotic motifs. On B1 “Melting Planets” emphasises the kick: clocking in slightly slower than the other three tracks – at 122 bpm – the bass drum here sounds extra vivid, ever-present and spot-on, just as if Terence was playing the drum kit sitting right next to you. With additional percussion and swirling melodies “Melting Planets” is a lulling, mesmerizing meditation in Dub Techno. “Striking Patterns” on B2 links to the best moments of Force EP's A-side, combining bone-dry bass drum hits and distinctive brazen, banging noises, pulsing synths pads and sizzling surface sounds. More

Kobosil, Norman Nodge and Marcel Dettmann offer new versions of Terence Fixmer's 2003 "Aktion Mekanik Theme" on Ostgut Ton. It's safe to say that Terence Fixmer's track "Aktion Mekanik Theme" (Music Man Records, 2003) was as much a landmark release for Techno as the whole Aktion Mekanik compilation was for EBM as a genre. More

It's safe to say that Terence Fixmer's track "Aktion Mekanik Theme", originally released on Music Man in 2003, was as much a landmark release for techno as the whole Aktion Mekanik compilation was for EBM as a genre. "As an artist who's been pushing EBM sounds into the modernity of Techno it was a logical step to do the compilation back then," Terence says. "I wanted to show my influences as a Techno artist, as Detroit sounds weren't my roots at all, but classics by Front 242, Fad Gadget, Nitzer Ebb, Crash Course In Science or Snowy Red. I met Music Man's Stefaan Vandenberghe through Emmanuel Top in '93, and of course I was a fan of his label. Music Man was obviously the perfect place for this EBM project: they are from Belgium, they knew the bands, many of them were proud of this sound. So I discussed my idea of putting out a compilation with some classic and landmark tracks from the EBM direction with Stefaan, and it got made." While Ostgut Ton now releases three new versions of "Aktion Mekanik Theme" by Kobosil, Norman Nodge & Marcel Dettmann, Music Man now reissues the original version on red 12" vinyl.



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English:
Fünfzehn + 1 is a commemorative compilation celebrating 16 years of Ostgut Ton – and the first glimpses of light at the end of a long dark tunnel for parent club Berghain. Originally planned for release in 2020, the music focuses on the interwoven nature of the label and the club in its multitude of different spaces and musical facets. Ostgut Ton artists and close affiliates worked together in pairs to make music dedicated to five different floors, each represented by a specific 12" vinyl. The result is a diverse selection of sometimes functional, other times more abstract sonic tributes; musical homages to spaces they have both influenced and been influenced by. With the pandemic having forced the club to close temporarily, the collaborative nature of the 5x12" boxset represents an attempt to transcend varying degrees of isolation and to wrestle with memories of music and space that had been inaccessible. But certainly not forgotten.

German:
Die Compilation Fünfzehn + 1 feiert 16 Jahre Ostgut Ton – und das Licht am Ende eines langen, dunklen Tunnels für sein Stammhaus Berghain. Ursprünglich zur Veröffentlichung im Jahr 2020 geplant, reflektiert die vorliegende Musik die Verflechtung von Inhouse-Label und Klub bzw. dessen unterschiedlicher musikalischer Facetten. Ostgut-Ton-Künstler*innen und -Freund*innen arbeiteten gemeinsam an Stücken, die fünf Floors gewidmet sind – und im Vinyl-Boxset fünf 12"es zugeordnet werden. Die 20 Stücke sind musikalische Hommage an Räume, die die beteiligten Personen sowohl beeinflusst haben, als auch von ihnen beeinflusst wurden. Das Ergebnis sind mal funktionale, mal eher abstrakte klangliche Näherungen. Nachdem die Pandemie den Klub vorübergehend zur Schließung zwang, stellt der gemeinschaftliche Charakter dieser Compilation einen Versuch dar, unterschiedliche Maße der Isolation zu überwinden und mit Erinnerungen an Musik und Räume zu ringen, die lange Zeit unzugänglich waren. Doch sicherlich nicht vergessen.

English:
Fünfzehn + 1 is a commemorative compilation celebrating 16 years of Ostgut Ton – and the first glimpses of light at the end of a long dark tunnel for parent club Berghain. Originally planned for release in 2020, the music focuses on the interwoven nature of the label and the club in its multitude of different spaces and musical facets. Ostgut Ton artists and close affiliates worked together in pairs to make music dedicated to five different floors, each represented by a specific 12" vinyl. The result is a diverse selection of sometimes functional, other times more abstract sonic tributes; musical homages to spaces they have both influenced and been influenced by. With the pandemic having forced the club to close temporarily, the collaborative nature of the 5x12" boxset represents an attempt to transcend varying degrees of isolation and to wrestle with memories of music and space that had been inaccessible. But certainly not forgotten.

German:
Die Compilation Fünfzehn + 1 feiert 16 Jahre Ostgut Ton – und das Licht am Ende eines langen, dunklen Tunnels für sein Stammhaus Berghain. Ursprünglich zur Veröffentlichung im Jahr 2020 geplant, reflektiert die vorliegende Musik die Verflechtung von Inhouse-Label und Klub bzw. dessen unterschiedlicher musikalischer Facetten. Ostgut-Ton-Künstler*innen und -Freund*innen arbeiteten gemeinsam an Stücken, die fünf Floors gewidmet sind – und im Vinyl-Boxset fünf 12"es zugeordnet werden. Die 20 Stücke sind musikalische Hommage an Räume, die die beteiligten Personen sowohl beeinflusst haben, als auch von ihnen beeinflusst wurden. Das Ergebnis sind mal funktionale, mal eher abstrakte klangliche Näherungen. Nachdem die Pandemie den Klub vorübergehend zur Schließung zwang, stellt der gemeinschaftliche Charakter dieser Compilation einen Versuch dar, unterschiedliche Maße der Isolation zu überwinden und mit Erinnerungen an Musik und Räume zu ringen, die lange Zeit unzugänglich waren. Doch sicherlich nicht vergessen.

1.Rimba7 by MMM 05:25
2.Champu Princess by Avalon Emerson / Roi Perez 06:36
3.An Ode To Audre by Tama Sumo / Lakuti 06:05
4.Session 2 by Substance / Soundstream 07:35
5.Temple Of Love by Len Faki feat. Honey Dijon 09:52
6.Años Perros by JASSS / Silent Servant 07:28
7.9/8 Gumbo by Luke Slater / Barker 06:45
8.A Friend Of A Friend by Ben Klock / Etapp Kyle 06:09
9.The Call by Marcel Dettmann / Norman Nodge 05:36
10.Untitled 15+1 by Pom Pom 07:20
11.Ever Given by Oren Ambarchi / Konrad Sprenger / Phillip Sollmann 10:14
12. Reset Walking by Martyn / Duval Timothy 04:50
13.Iteration by Jessica Ekomane / Zoë Mc Pherson 05:35
14.One Final Thing (Not Zero) by Atom TM / Tobias. 05:00
15.B-Section by Answer Code Request / Gerd Janson 06:31
16.Fontane by Ryan Elliott / André Galluzzi 06:41
17.Ride Out The Wave by Paramida / Massimiliano Pagliara 06:42
18.Labskaus by nd_baumecker / Nick Höppner 06:08
19.Cigarette Glow by Terence Fixmer / Phase Fatale 06:23
20.Remember The Future by Comets 06:32 More

English:
Fünfzehn + 1 is a commemorative compilation celebrating 16 years of Ostgut Ton – and the first glimpses of light at the end of a long dark tunnel for parent club Berghain. Originally planned for release in 2020, the music focuses on the interwoven nature of the label and the club in its multitude of different spaces and musical facets. Ostgut Ton artists and close affiliates worked together in pairs to make music dedicated to five different floors, each represented by a specific 12" vinyl. The result is a diverse selection of sometimes functional, other times more abstract sonic tributes; musical homages to spaces they have both influenced and been influenced by. With the pandemic having forced the club to close temporarily, the collaborative nature of the 5x12" boxset represents an attempt to transcend varying degrees of isolation and to wrestle with memories of music and space that had been inaccessible. But certainly not forgotten.

German:
Die Compilation Fünfzehn + 1 feiert 16 Jahre Ostgut Ton – und das Licht am Ende eines langen, dunklen Tunnels für sein Stammhaus Berghain. Ursprünglich zur Veröffentlichung im Jahr 2020 geplant, reflektiert die vorliegende Musik die Verflechtung von Inhouse-Label und Klub bzw. dessen unterschiedlicher musikalischer Facetten. Ostgut-Ton-Künstler*innen und -Freund*innen arbeiteten gemeinsam an Stücken, die fünf Floors gewidmet sind – und im Vinyl-Boxset fünf 12"es zugeordnet werden. Die 20 Stücke sind musikalische Hommage an Räume, die die beteiligten Personen sowohl beeinflusst haben, als auch von ihnen beeinflusst wurden. Das Ergebnis sind mal funktionale, mal eher abstrakte klangliche Näherungen. Nachdem die Pandemie den Klub vorübergehend zur Schließung zwang, stellt der gemeinschaftliche Charakter dieser Compilation einen Versuch dar, unterschiedliche Maße der Isolation zu überwinden und mit Erinnerungen an Musik und Räume zu ringen, die lange Zeit unzugänglich waren. Doch sicherlich nicht vergessen.

1.Rimba7 by MMM 05:25
2.Champu Princess by Avalon Emerson / Roi Perez 06:36
3.An Ode To Audre by Tama Sumo / Lakuti 06:05
4.Session 2 by Substance / Soundstream 07:35
5.Temple Of Love by Len Faki feat. Honey Dijon 09:52
6.Años Perros by JASSS / Silent Servant 07:28
7.9/8 Gumbo by Luke Slater / Barker 06:45
8.A Friend Of A Friend by Ben Klock / Etapp Kyle 06:09
9.The Call by Marcel Dettmann / Norman Nodge 05:36
10.Untitled 15+1 by Pom Pom 07:20
11.Ever Given by Oren Ambarchi / Konrad Sprenger / Phillip Sollmann 10:14
12. Reset Walking by Martyn / Duval Timothy 04:50
13.Iteration by Jessica Ekomane / Zoë Mc Pherson 05:35
14.One Final Thing (Not Zero) by Atom TM / Tobias. 05:00
15.B-Section by Answer Code Request / Gerd Janson 06:31
16.Fontane by Ryan Elliott / André Galluzzi 06:41
17.Ride Out The Wave by Paramida / Massimiliano Pagliara 06:42
18.Labskaus by nd_baumecker / Nick Höppner 06:08
19.Cigarette Glow by Terence Fixmer / Phase Fatale 06:23
20.Remember The Future by Comets 06.32 More

Giving form to a broad personal project of continuous inquiry and existential expression, A World Of Servicemarks the Ostgut Ton debut of Spanish producer, DJ and artist JASSS aka Silvia Jiménez Alvarez.

The evolution of A World Of Servicehas curved around genre collapsing and unexpected metamorphoses. Formerly the name of the monthly radio show JASSS hosted in Berlin, and soon to be the title of her expansive multi-sensory touring concept in collaboration with Ben Kreukniet, here A World Of Serviceis powerfully concentrated in sonic form. Throughout the album JASSS muses on the especially current human and technological barriers to interconnectivity; both lyrically and musically she deconstructs the self, unmasks anxieties and interrogates the insufficiencies of language as applied to gender, identity and interpersonal relationships. Forming her own fluid, nuanced lexicon in response, JASSS seeks a deeper understanding of her multiple selves, emerging through unbridled adolescent rage and the wisdom of maturation, traversing liminality with abstract electronics and baroque industrial pop. Visually this is underscored by Matt Lambert’s uncanny floral cover portraiture, as well as the record’s distinct scent of wet earth, flower and woods developed for the album by Meri Bonastre and applied to the vinyl innersleeve.

Following the imaginative nostalgia of Weightless, her 2017 debut album for iDEAL Recordings, as well as her series of blistering dancefloor 12”s for Whities/AD 93, A World Of Servicefolds personal and societal concepts in on themselves, not seeking answers but rather luxuriating in the unique friction that questions create. JASSS is intensely focused yet musically unbridled; this is reflected in tonal shifts of A World Of Service. Through the computerised yearning and bruising of a heartbreak on “Luis”, to the jagged and wordless tundra of “Vapor Dentro”; the intriguing juxtaposition of warm, alluring Spanish vocals against rigid pillars of industrial heft and bass grind (“Camelo”), and the soaring maximalist industrial popof the album’s closer, “Wish.”

As intensity rises through the pandemic-era trip hop of the album’s title track “A World Of Service”, JASSS sings: “Pleasure / Is nowhere to be found inside this world of service / I call to be my life.” Pleasure may remain elusive to her, but in the determination to make peace with her various identities in this technological age, JASSS offers a compelling glimpse into an essential type of artistic voice.

Tracklisting
1. JASSS Birds You Can Name 00:02:54
2. JASSS Camelo 00:03:21
3. JASSS Luis 00:03:36
4. JASSS Busto 00:03:46
5. JASSS A World Of Service 00:04:40
6. JASSS In Your Mouth 00:03:35
7. JASSS Vapor Dentro 00:04:09
8. JASSS Wish 00:03:56
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Follow-up to 2019’s BARKER001! Hand-stamped vinyl! More

Etapp Kyle returns to Ostgut Ton with Nolove, a project encompassing a four-track EP, short film and forthcoming web exhibition focusing on Western Ukraine. Specifically, the music and artwork home in on the cities of Kamianets-Podilskyi and Chernivtsi in Bukovina, where Etapp Kyle grew up and developed his interest in electronic music. Although now part of Ukraine, Bukovina had previously been part of Moldova, the Habsburg Empire, the Russian Empire, Romania and the Soviet Union. Its turbulent history and position on the border of Romania and Moldova have resulted in an extremely varied tapestry of cultural influence, as featured in the video for title track “Nolove”. There, youth, fashion, music culture sit side-by-side next to religion, violence and war – and larger political struggles. The EP gives shape to the musical developments Etapp Kyle has made in both the studio and DJ booth since the release of 2017's Alpha, his latest 12" for Ostgut Ton. In contrast, Nolove's four tracks are minimalistic, detailed electronic ventures inspired by personal reflections on Chernivtsi and Ukrainian cultural identity. Forward-facing in rhythm and melody, the EP offers meticulously-produced leftfield dancefloor impressions of the region’s past, present and future. More

On 1972, veteran producer and live musician Tobias Freund offers up four tracks of layered and meticulously-crafted techno using his extensive archives of tape recordings collected since childhood. Referencing a mix of profound political events in German history and esoteric meditation guides, the Berghain resident's warm, detailed sound edges beyond the floor toward brain-tingling home listening and wanderlust autobahn escapism. The EP begins with the titles track’s buzzing synths panning rhythmically across the stereo field like a hypnotist’s pocket watch, while a somber, sampled string melody pushes further into cosmic territory before concluding with a bi-lingual eulogy. “Schism” soars with a never-ending snare roll and sparse kicks – an entire track floating on a break that never lands. On “The Wisdom Of No Escape”, Freund combines soft, polyrhythmic bleeps with esoteric vocal samples on an inward path of hallucinogenic internal discovery. EP closer “Electric Storm” makes a turn for the ultrastoned, with hats and writhing vocals disintegrating and reforming over a soft, round steady pulse. Overall, 1972 features a sound that Tobias. has honed for over 30 years, having initially made a name for himself mixing various pop hits in the 80s and 90s while simultaneously producing experimental electronics under various pseudonyms including Metazone, Phobia, Pink Elln, and Zoon. On his own Non Standard Productions imprint he has regularly collaborated with the likes of Max Loderbauer and Ricardo Villalobos and most recently with visual artist Valentina Berthelon as Recent Arts. His releases and lengthy live techno sets with AtomTM continue to set the bar high for improvised electronics. More

Scanning Backwards, Phase Fatale’s second full-length album following his 2017 debut album for Hospital Productions, is music about control. Using the connection between weaponized sound and psychological manipulation as a conceptual foundation, Hayden Payne explores the ways in which music – and sub frequencies in particular – are used to influence thinking and to synchronize emotions and behavior: from military technology to sound systems and the physicality and sexuality of queer techno culture. Known for his innovative post-punk takes of dance music as featured on EPs for unterton and Ostgut Ton, the Berghain resident draws on his background as both a guitarist and sound engineer to create a heady mix of broken rhythms, noise-, and shoegaze-inflected techno, often at slower tempos. The result is music with space and pace to expand, highlighting the intense rushes of frequencies found in both sonic warfare and functional dance music. Over eight tracks named after a combination of historical and fictional narratives from literature and science fiction, Payne’s rhythmic excursions explore different manifestations of sound as power – specifically within the context of seeing Berghain as an instrument itself. More

"What binds you to places? To remembering them. Places you can feel, when you feel at home. Places that affirm your very existence. This place for me is the Oderbruch. This album is dedicated to it.” – R.P. The fifth studio album by Shed aka Rene Pawlowitz centers thematically on the Oderbruch region in former East Germany where the producer and DJ grew up and continues to split his time (when not in Berlin.) Both the album and track titles as well as the artwork by Arnim To¨lke [Ectoplasma (Oderbruch)] reflect Pawlowitz’s deeply personal associations with the borderland’s marshy landscape, as well as enormous political and historical changes the region underwent as the last Eastern front during World War II – and, later, following the dissolution of the GDR. Nevertheless, Oderbruch is not a concept album. Instead, it’s an ambivalent ode to the area in which Pawlowitz’s family has lived for generations. It’s a musical reflection on place and personal history: meeting up at the local gas station, a view to the water, techno rattling the closed windows of cars peeling out toward Berlin or the next local party, cruising along rural parkways flanked by trees with fruit ripe for picking, past weeping willows and abandoned factories where industry once thrived. Outside buzzes with the sounds of nature inextricably linked with childhood memories, but also a landscape defined by the bloody defeat of the Nazis at the Battle of Seelow, ushering in the fall of Berlin and with it, the entire fascist regime. The album’s nine tracks are inspired by the intertwined nature of the subjective and historical, which ring through Shed’s idiosyncratic take on breaks, bass, techno, symphonic ventures, ambient and hardcore. But unlike Shed’s previous records, Oderbruch incorporates broad pastoral landscapes – left behind and returned to. Both fit Shed, who under various aliases (Head High, Hoover, Wax, The Higher, WK7, Equalized, The Traveller) has long influenced a number of dance music scenes in Berlin and beyond. More

For their second Ostgut Ton EP, Sunao Gonno and Nick Höppner worked together on three tracks over the course of two years between their respective studios in Tokyo and Berlin – editing, altering and tweaking each other’s musical additions with a penchant toward melodic, multilayered house and techno that floats easily beyond the functional. Accordingly, Lost is defined by the interactive playfulness and unpredictability of their collaborative process, elements often missing from dance music. Höppner initially met Gonno on various trips to Tokyo. But it wasn’t until Gonno came play to Panorama Bar in 2015 that the two first entered the studio together: “I think we spoke three words in eight hours,” explains Sunao of their previous studio jams that eventually led to Fantastic Planet EP [O-TON 95, 2016], describing a flowing musical process in which music succeeded where words failed. On Lost, the duo continue further out into inner space. On “Bangalore”, the duo showcase their mastery of creating expansive long, psychedelic ecosystems of melodic phrasing and rhythmic development; drawn-out techno exploration. “Love Lost” slows things down to a post-disco boogie chug of breaks, bass, dubby synth stabs and sadness. EP closer “Start Trying” is a sweaty, post-peaktime trip of strings and dilated pupils. Swirling melodies braindancing long after the after party. More

Steffi and Virginia return with an eight-track double EP on Ostgut Ton, inviting us into new dimensions of the sonic world they have crafted together over a number of years. Work A Change is out September 20, 2019 on 2x12” vinyl and in digital formats. Since their iconic 2011 collaboration “Yours” – which became an instant classic – the duo have experimented with new ways to express their unique strand of dancefloor melancholy. Unlike the grand maximalism often associated with vocals in dance music, Steffi and Virginia’s creations use the voice less as a centerpiece and more an integral part of the groove itself, subtle in temperament and equal to its counterparts. Impassioned vocals spiral around melodic leads and warm harmonies, offering a gentle kind of catharsis that deepens with each listen. Work A Change immediately transports us to a parallel aural universe, refusing to settle into one style and merging multiple references into peculiar new formats. Opening track “Be True To Me” is subdued but inviting, working its way into the conscious with harmonic glitches and a deep, grooving bass lead. “Sight From Above” then slows things down for an angular cut of low-slung machine funk. The B-side, “Help Me Understand” lands us on another planet entirely, complete with extraterrestrial synths and animated robotics. Opening up the C-side, “Until You’re Begging” is a molecular construction of fragmented motifs, both precise and hazy at the same time. Similarly, “Internal Bleeding” takes segments of percussive grooves and rearranges them into complex polyrhythms whilst retaining a careful sense of balance. Closing off the release is title track “Work A Change”; one last high-speed voyage into spiralling drums and hammerdrill bass. Work A Change expands on Steffi and Virginia’s aesthetic, merging elements from a number of genres into a cerebral, highly personal release. It also signals a change of direction for the duo's work, voyaging through new terrain while retaining a sound that is undoubtedly their own. More

Pleasure-seeking and pain-avoidance as a rave metaphor fits the music of Sam Barker. The Berghain resident and Leisure System co-founder has spent the last few years exploring the euphoric potential of altering key variables in dance music formulas. This was especially true on his 2018 Ostgut Ton debut EP Debiasing, which was flush with unconventional rhythmic chord stabs, melody and percussion but devoid of kickdrums. What seemed like an experimental exercise on paper was in reality equally geared towards the club: tracks that worked for the floor but resisted the genre categorizations that kick drums often provide. This has come to define Barker’s sound. Now, on his debut solo LP Utility, Barker turns his focus toward melding experimentation and dancefloor pragmatism with the psychology behind the musical decision making process. In his own words: “After ‘Debiasing’ it occurred to me that my musical decisions were often unintentionally utilitarian, following an instinct to maximize pleasure in one way or another. It’s sort of unfashionable to admit, but by removing elements that have strong genre associations, this became a natural consequence.” Accordingly, Utility is a playful but non-ironic musical approach to a whole spectrum of utilitarian and transhumanist ideas: from models for quantifying pleasure and “gradients of bliss” to abolishing suffering for sentient beings (not just people) through the ethical use of drugs and nanotechnology. Over nine tracks, Barker’s vision ebbs and flows through waves of deeply psychedelic musical vignettes; free-floating and futuristic melodies and rhythms as targeted brain stimulation. The sound draws heavily on modular synthesis, as well as self-built mechanical instruments and plate reverbs to create atmospheres that are at once alien and emotionally recognizable, functional and utopian. Utility is by no means a concept album. Instead, it is an honest take on music as both pleasuremaximizer and consciousness-expander. More

Pleasure-seeking and pain-avoidance as a rave metaphor fits the music of Sam Barker. The Berghain resident and Leisure System co-founder has spent the last few years exploring the euphoric potential of altering key variables in dance music formulas. This was especially true on his 2018 Ostgut Ton debut EP Debiasing, which was flush with unconventional rhythmic chord stabs, melody and percussion but devoid of kickdrums. What seemed like an experimental exercise on paper was in reality equally geared towards the club: tracks that worked for the floor but resisted the genre categorizations that kick drums often provide. This has come to define Barker’s sound. Now, on his debut solo LP Utility, Barker turns his focus toward melding experimentation and dancefloor pragmatism with the psychology behind the musical decision making process. In his own words: “After ‘Debiasing’ it occurred to me that my musical decisions were often unintentionally utilitarian, following an instinct to maximize pleasure in one way or another. It’s sort of unfashionable to admit, but by removing elements that have strong genre associations, this became a natural consequence.” Accordingly, Utility is a playful but non-ironic musical approach to a whole spectrum of utilitarian and transhumanist ideas: from models for quantifying pleasure and “gradients of bliss” to abolishing suffering for sentient beings (not just people) through the ethical use of drugs and nanotechnology. Over nine tracks, Barker’s vision ebbs and flows through waves of deeply psychedelic musical vignettes; free-floating and futuristic melodies and rhythms as targeted brain stimulation. The sound draws heavily on modular synthesis, as well as self-built mechanical instruments and plate reverbs to create atmospheres that are at once alien and emotionally recognizable, functional and utopian. Utility is by no means a concept album. Instead, it is an honest take on music as both pleasuremaximizer and consciousness-expander. More

Detroit native Ryan Elliott has made a handful of weighty contributions to both Berghain and Ostgut Ton, including his Rocksteady and Stepmode EPs as well as his Ostgut Ton 5-year anniversary mixtape and the label’s inaugural digital mix compilation, Panorama Bar 06. A resident DJ at Berghain / Panorama Bar since 2010, Elliott’s mixing is technical, confident and fast, stubbornly riding the border hard between house and techno, melody and rhythm, stayed and future classics. It’s also this DJ’s perspective that has informed Elliott’s own analogue productions, with Paul’s Horizon turning its focus toward deep and slick percussion. This is apparent from the get-go, with the title track’s triangle/clap interplay, funky 5-6 kicks per bar, and bleary-eyed atmosphere. From there “Martinsville Morning” slows down into an understated sunrise groover, led by bassline, strings and pads. EP closer “Grafton Road” turns up the pace again with gasps for hats, aggressive punctuating snares, and a modulating synth bubbling-up throughout. Paul’s Horizon – Ryan Elliott’s first EP in six years – falls musically between Berlin and Detroit, between house and techno and between hypnotic repetition and unpredictability, revealing a subtle ear for groove and composition. More

Since becoming a Berghain resident in 2017, Dominick Fernow’s risk-taking hybrid live/DJ sets as Vatican Shadow have become conduits for infusing techno with contrasting musical ideas – from noise, industrial and ambient to distorted melodies and rhythms that push the club’s borders in unexpected ways. It’s an idiosyncratic approach to techno rooted not only in Fernow’s 25-plus years as an experimental and noise musician under more than a dozen aliases (e.g. Prurient, Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement) but also in his role as founder of the vital New York-based Hospital Productions, whose discography exceeds some 500 releases. The label – which in 2017 celebrated its 20-year anniversary – is also home to the majority of Vatican Shadow output to date.featuring exclusive tracks by Genesis P-Orridge, Virile Games, Los Angeles Death Cult, Ron Morelli, Volvox, JK Flesh, Alberich, Ugandan Methods | Prurient and Merzbow –
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Peter Kuschnereit, also known as Substance or DJ Pete, has long been known to heads as an essential figure in Berlin dance music, though he has comfortably flown under the international radar. Born and raised in the central district of Kreuzberg (where he still lives in the same high-rise he grew up in), this year marks the 30th anniversary of his DJ career – and a fitting moment to announce his first solo EP on Ostgut Ton following contributions to previous compilations Fu¨nf and Zehn and his longstanding relationship to Berghain. Locally, his influence has been multifaceted: an employee at the famed Hard Wax record store for some 27 years, Kuschnereit is also one of the core DJs in the legendary Wax Treament party series, helping to unite diverse strains of global dance music – from dubstep, grime, house and techno to Senegalese polyrhythms – all pumping through the KILLASAN sound system. Indeed, eclecticism has become a kind of trademark for Kuschnereit as evidenced on various mid- 90s and 2000s deep techno classics with Vainqueur on Chain Reaction and Scion Versions, a funky Latin techno 12” as DJ Pete on Surgeon’s Counterbalance, recent live collaborations with Sleeparchive as TR-101 and dozens of his online Wax Treatment podcasts. Rise And Shine sees Kuschnereit fusing his deep, industrial aesthetic as Substance with the resonant bass-heavy leanings of DJ Pete, as evidenced on the title track’s off-kilter metallic riddims and multiple, interlaced SH-101 and Prophet 5 melodies. From there, potential set-closer “Countdown” blasts off with relentlessly rattling, scraping breaks, hissing German vox and big chords. The compact explorations of “Bird Cave” and “Distance” offer a more atmospheric take on bass and rhythm, while EP closer “Cruising” re-explores the uncanny, Berlin deep techno cosmos Kuschnereit has helped define, this time in denser form. More

After a seven-year hiatus, the longtime Berghain resident Norman Nodge is back with four new tracks of deep, narcotic techno. Hailing from Brandenburg, Nodge spent the 90s as a DJ, promoter and mentor to the likes of Marcel Dettmann and Marcel Fengler before becoming a Berghain resident in 2005. Since then he has occupied a special place in Berlin techno with a sound that is at once forceful, dubby and hypnotic, evident not only on his Berghain 06 mix and various 12”s and compilation contributions for Ostgut Ton, but also on EPs for Dettmann’s MDR imprint. A lawyer by trade, on Embodiment EP Nodge reflects on decades of observing how dancers develop an intuitive relationship to music and process new sounds. “Tacit Knowing” (A1) is a nod to the feedback loop between the instincts of dancer and producer, combining bassline, breakbeats and Detroit-like strings, which subtly develop into a cavernous techno roller. In contrast, “Discipline” (A2) is aggressive, updated peaktime acid packed with the sounds of metal and overdriven snares. On the flipside, “Gathering” (B1) is a bongo-heavy tribal groover, while “Embodiment” references a more halcyon Ostgut Ton aesthetic – one that resonates not only in the space of the club but also within the bodies of those occupying it. More

The Panorama Bar mix series strikes back for its 7th installment with club veteran and psych- house maestro Andreas Baumecker aka nd_baumecker. A Berlin and Panorama Bar resident since 2004, Baumecker’s sets have long been known to heads as a foundational part of the club’s identity: deep, unpredictable, funky, bassline-heavy, melodic, and seamless flowing between different rhythms and key-changes. As a producer, Baumecker’s studio focus (with Sam Barker in Barker & Baumecker) sits comfortably between pop, dancefloor and spiraling left field electronics; on top of two LPs and numerous EPs on Ostgut Ton, the duo have also remixed the likes of Vessels and shoegazers Ride. But Baumecker honed his musical sensibility not only through DJing and studio work, but also as a buyer for famed Frankfurt record store Delirium (founded by Ata and the late Heiko M/S/O), as well as an in-house booking agent for Berghain / Panorama Bar. This composite identity as a selector, collector, club curator and musician feeds heavily into the diversity of Baumecker’s 120-minute vinyl-only mix – including the six exclusive tracks over two 12”s. FaltyDL kicks off Panorama Bar 07 | Part I with the appropriately titled “Paradox Garage Part 1 (With Your Love)”, blending US garage, breakbeats and chopped vocals. The alternative rhythms continue with Jinje´ (of Vessels fame) slowly building machine-funk anthem “Big Skies”, while the B-side is reserved for Gen Ludd’s dreamy, shutter-opener “Bloods Avalanche”. As the exclusive tracks imply: nd_baumecker’s Panorama Bar 07 mix hedges no bets with bold melodies or rhythms, focusing more on groove and depth than genre. Full tracklisting to be announced. More