One of Freerange’s longest standing artists Manuel Tur serves up another brilliant release in the form of Love Me Well. Someone who needs very little by way of introduction, Manuel has been honing his craft for nigh on two decades with a discography which includes some of the most influential labels and associations in electronic music. Running Back, Innervisions, DFA, Ovum, Objektivity, Mule, Drumpoet, Permanent Vacation, Andhim, André Hommen, Tensnake, Shit Robot, Tale Of Us, Ane Brun… you get the idea. Manuel continues to be in demand as a producer and remixer and remains relevant thanks to his golden ears, precision engineering and Midas touch. For his tenth Freerange release (not including his three LP’s!) he delivers a diverse three track EP which spans the house spectrum from the deep, emotive late night mood of the title track through sublime, delicate and hauntingly beautiful Paperasse and rounding off with the driving, acidic, minimal disco groove of Touch Move. Proper job! More

It’s been five years since we had Manuel Tur grace us with a solo release on Freerange. In that time he and studio partner Adrian Hoffmann have been busy igniting dance floors with their side projects Clavis and Amberoom for labels such as Innervisions, Ovum, TAU and Freerange as well as remix and production work for artists like Andhim, André Hommen, Tensnake, Shit Robot, Tale Of Us, Ane Brun, Larse and Asobitai. Manuel continues to push his sound forward on three original tracks which make up the Organic Reach EP. On the lead track Astrakan he has crafted a sublime slice of deepness centred around a driving groove, building layers of chiming chords and a perfect bassline. Sitting somewhere between Motorbass/Super Discount, DJ Q/early Nuphonic and Steve Reich this track looks set to cast it’s majestic spell on those whose idea of a banging tune isn’t confined to obligatory 8 bar kick drum dropouts and white noise risers! On Hold Your Hand Manuel coming up with another masterpiece of deep, emotive, widescreen atmospherics with organic percussion, pulsing bass and jazz vocal refrain adding to the dramatic late-night mood. Finally, Organic Reach closes the EP in a dark and heavier style with experimental textures, time stretched fills and mutant sonic explorations making for what must be Manuel Tur’s most ‘techno’ production for Freerange to date. More

Massive remix package alert!! Whilst randomly flicking through his Itunes library Manuel Tur hit upon a selection of remixes that have been made of his music over the years and realized that, as well as many of them having gone criminally under the radar, many are absolutely solid gold and all of them deserve to be put together on one LP to showcase these beauties. The artists involved reads like a who’s who of underground house and techno with vintage names like Pepe Bradock, Ian Pooley and Isolée rubbing shoulders with young upstarts like Ugly Drums and Damiano von Erckert. For those who are already familiar with these remixes we wanted to make sure you had some brand new and exclusive music to get your teeth into so added three brilliant remixes of tracks from Manuel’s latest LP Es Cub to the package which is exactly what you have here on this sampler release. All three names need little by way of introduction, being Poker Flat honcho Steve Bug, Feel and One Track founder John Daly and Innervisions and Pets regular Aera. All three deliver their own unique take with their trademark quality and attention to the dancefloor all present and correct. Steve Bug’s Remix of Ara Anam kicks off the release in classic Bug style with clipped beats, simple stabs and that warmth of production that makes everything he does work so nicely in the club. John Daly is up next ditching his more cosmic, spaced out deep house sound for a straight up dub techno onslaught. Not your usual Freerange fare of course but when the music is this good who cares? Play loud in a smokey warehouse or not at all! Finally, Aera gives us his spin on Agrafena, a twisted and edgy track with crazy synths and stripped back beats taking us on a turbulent magic carpet ride into the future. Or something like that.
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With Manuel Tur’s Es Cub LP just out and winning high praise from all corners of the electronic music press we present you DJ’s and vinyl aficionados with the second part of the two separate 12’s highlighting Manuel’s brilliant third album. As RA put in their review - “This is among the most seductive collection of house tracks so far this year.” In 2012 Manuel spent a year living in Ibiza, the birthplace of his father and somewhere he has always felt a strong connection with despite never having lived there. This period became something of a sabbatical, a year of orientation both privately and musically and despite managing to visit not one single club in his entire time there the esoteric and cabalistic nature of the island clearly became a big influence. Here in Part 2 things get off to a suitably raw and bumpy ride with El Soplo where a depth and certain majestic beauty are created from the simple, stripped back, rolling beats and flowing pads. Flux takes things in a more minimal direction with echoing percussion hits and plucked synth line giving a sense of space, the driving, the single note bass reminding us of the more techno side of say Ame or Baikal. Flipping over we have Basilia which picks up the tempo and pushes a single reverberating vocal hit to the front of the mix before we are introduced to the glassy chiming arpeggiations that have become Manuel’s signature sound for this LP. Finally, El Dub goes for a subaquatic vibe with a slow pace and dubby FX allowing us to get absorbed in the foggy haze Manuel creates with his thoughtfully conceived minimalism and minute attention to detail.
Expect to be hearing much more from Manuel in the coming months. He has become in demand for his mixing skills, working regularly with Andre Hommen for
Objektivity, Shit Robot for DFA and Marcus Worgull for Innervisions.
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With the Manuel Tur LP Es Cub just about to drop we present you DJ's and vinyl aficionados with the first of two separate 12's highlighting Manuel's brilliant third album. In 2012 Manuel spent a year living in Ibiza, the birthplace of his father and somewhere he has always felt a strong connection with despite never having lived there. This period became something of a sabbatical, a year of orientation both privately and musically and despite managing to visit not one single club in his entire time there the esoteric and cabalistic nature of the island clearly became a big influence. Ara Anam sets the tone with it's warm, minimal approach, a sure- fire dancefloor pleaser highlighting Manuel's production skills and giving a glimpse of the new direction Manuel has taken with this LP. Next up we have title track Es Cub (taken from his pet-name for his impromptu studio set up in a box room in his Ibiza home) which continues with the deep, techno influenced sounds. Hints of clipped minimalism combine with the driving, analogue synth sounds of say Baikal or Amé. Flipping over we're treated to About To Fall and Werk containing both depth and a certain majestic beauty gained from the simple, stripped back rolling beats and flowing pads. Expect to be hearing much more from Manuel in the coming months. He has become in demand for his mixing skills, working regularly with Andre Hommen for Objektivity, Shit Robot for DFA and Marcus Worgull for Innervisions. More

Manuel fondly named his small studio set up at his Dad's place Es Cub (The Cube) and it was here in this sanctuary away from the distraction of clubs and friends that he began to forge the tracks that we present on this LP. As Manuel describes, what started life as a collection of little finger exercises and sonic experiments soon grew into fully arranged club tracks. These were clearly influenced by the omnipresent house and techno that he could hear drifting from the nearby beach club which rose above the rustle of wind-swept trees and chirping cicadas whilst he sat on his terrace. If all this sounds like a bit of a Balearic cliché, then so be it because Manuel is happy to admit to just how much the esoteric, cabalistic nature of Ibiza influenced him in the making of Es Cub.

TRACKLISTING:
1 - Ara Anam 2 - Es Cub 3 - About To Fall 4 - Werk 5 - El Soplo 6 - Flux 7 - Basilia 8 - MKS-70 9 - Es Dub 10 - Agfrfena
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2012 was an interesting year for Manuel Tur. Having released his second LP Swans Reflecting Elephants, the Spanish-German producer moved to his fathers birthplace in Ibiza to spend a year on the island where he felt a strong connection despite having never lived there. One year spent on Ibiza might not be that out of the ordinary for a music producer and DJ but when you take into account that he visited not one single club in that time choosing instead to spend his days and nights in the hills amongst fig and almond trees just reading, watching films and contemplating his future musical direction then things become more interesting. Manuel fondly named his small studio set up at his Dad's place Es Cub (The Cube) and it was here in this sanctuary away from the distraction of clubs and friends that he began to forge the tracks that we present on this LP. As Manuel describes, what started life as a collection of little finger exercises and sonic experiments soon grew into fully arranged club tracks. These were clearly influenced by the omnipresent house and techno that he could hear drifting from the nearby beach club which rose above the rustle of wind-swept trees and chirping cicadas whilst he sat on his terrace. If all this sounds like a bit of a Balearic cliché, then so be it because Manuel is happy to admit to just how much the esoteric, cabalistic nature of Ibiza influenced him in the making of Es Cub. As Manuel puts it, "Looking back at the year in Ibiza it's been sort of a Sabbatical for me, a year of orientation, both privately and musically. The album is like a diary or sonic photo album from this time - as cheesy as this sounds. It's no musical manifesto or a concept album or anything too serious though. I've done most of the tracks in a couple of hours. El Soplo for example, consists of just a kick, hihat, clap, ride, bass and two simple synth parts. Es Dub was just a loop I've dubbed out live on the console in only one take while waiting for the postman to arrive." This spontaneity, simplicity and playfulness, combined with the warmth and solitude of an Ibizan hideaway, not to mention the cold, industrial minimalism of Manuel's Ruhr Valley Essen roots all make for an interesting fusion on Es Cub. Take opener Ara Anam for example, we could just as easily be on the Space Terrace as we could at Panarama Bar. Tracks such as Werk and Flux combine hints of clipped minimalism with the driving, analogue synth sounds of say Ame or Baikal whilst About To Fall and El Soplo contain both depth and a certain majestic beauty gained from the simple, stripped back, rolling beats and flowing pads. Far from being the throwaway sketches that Manuel modestly implies, we hear strong melodic motifs and hooky samples appearing throughout the entire LP which brings a unique identity to each track as well as adding a cohesive gel to Es Cub. Expect to be hearing much more from Manuel in the coming months. He has become in demand for his mixing skills adding his touch to releases from Andre Hommen for Objektivity, the latest Shit Robot LP for DFA and an EP from Marcus Worgull for Innervisions. In addition to his releases on Freerange and Mild Pitch he has also co-produced releases on labels such as Running Back (producing for Dplay), Ovum and Mule (co-producing with Langenberg as Ribn). More

Next up in the Mr Bongo Cuban Classics series is an outing by the mighty Juan Pablo Torres from 1978. Released on Cuba’s state-owned Areito imprint, Algo Nuevo showcases trombonist, bandleader, arranger and producer Juan Pablo Torres' unique scope of sound. A melting pot of an album that weaves together jazz-funk and traditional Afro-Cuban genres with tripped-out synth touches and dancefloor grooves.

The opener 'Pan Caliente' is a fiery celebration, combining a driving groove with Latin percussion, feverish horns and infectious “la-la-la” vocals. The wild, squelching cosmic synthlines give an otherworldly touch to proceedings that sit nicely on a modern dancefloor. 'Guajira 2001' is perhaps Juan's future-focussed take on the vibrant style of Cuban dance-led music called guajira. Blistering bongos, congas and claves moving together with trumpets, trombones and twanging acoustic guitars that you can’t help but bounce to.

Other highlights include, 'Cacao', a Cuban cosmic funk strutter that places the claves upfront, with a scatting vocal line and percussive climax reminiscent of George Kranz electronic disco anthem 'Din Daa Daa' from 1983. Elsewhere, 'Elvira' further showcases the psychedelic essence of many of the album’s tracks. A deep Latin workout where tasty percussive breaks and scorching keys blend with trippy vocals and rumbling synths.

A varied album encompassing a variety of Afro-Cuban genres and rhythms entwined with flashes of mind-bending cosmic influence. Algo Nuevo is a further jewel in Cuba’s musical crown of riches, with plenty of dancefloor treats and downtempo numbers held within.

Featuring replica artwork, the vinyl release is presented with an OBI Strip.

“One of my favourite albums” - Luke Una More