Special remarks : 12" with printed sleeve, 180g Vinyl
Tracklist:
A1 Coar Julian Jeweil Remix / A2 Has To Do Justin James' 519 Flip
B1 Sheep Monoloc Remix / B2 Girl One Cosmic Boys Remix
Shortinfo:
Originally released on Richie Hawtin's Minus label a decade ago, Restore stands alone as Houle's very first long-player and helped to establish his penchant for the quirkier side of techno and his superlative production skills. Spread across three 12"s & 11 tracks it encapsulated the dark, minimal, groove-driven sound purveyed by Hawtin and the rest of the Minus crew, while retaining a strong sense of Houle's unique character and identity. Now it's the perfect time to breath new life into an album that has stood the test of time, still utterly infectious and absorbing - a collection of music that captures an era of stripped back, yet captivating sounds. 10 years since its release, the album is getting the remix treatment and Marc has called in some of the very best in techno talent to give Restore a fresh makeover. The selection of artists who've contributed to the 'Restored' project includes heavyweights such as Joris Voorn, M.A.N.D.Y. and Popof together with additional reworks from stars of the new generation such as Danny Daze, Julian Jeweil and Harvard Bass, all giving his tracks a new lease of life. In addition, Houle himself has also stepped up to offer a new contemporary take on his own music, collaborating with vocalist Genevieve Marentette on 'Demor'. "Restore was the beginning of it all for me. It was influenced by the sounds of Detroit and the endless parties I went to there in the 90s. It was my first album and to me it had the perfect balance of darkness, groove and electronic sounds. 10 years later, I am excited to present Restored with some modern interpretations on old tracks by some friends and colleagues who have kept the party going throughout the world."- Marc Houle
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Special remarks : 12" with printed sleeve, 180g Vinyl
Tracklist
A1 Borrowed Gear Joris Voorn Remix / A2 Talk To Me Baby Danny Daze Doom Dub
B1 Clock Width Havard Bass Remix / B2 Late For Work Popof Remix
Shortinfo:
Originally released on Richie Hawtin's Minus label a decade ago, Restore stands alone as Houle's very first long-player and helped to establish his penchant for the quirkier side of techno and his superlative production skills. Spread across three 12"s & 11 tracks it encapsulated the dark, minimal, groove-driven sound purveyed by Hawtin and the rest of the Minus crew, while retaining a strong sense of Houle's unique character and identity. Now it's the perfect time to breath new life into an album that has stood the test of time, still utterly infectious and absorbing - a collection of music that captures an era of stripped back, yet captivating sounds. 10 years since its release, the album is getting the remix treatment and Marc has called in some of the very best in techno talent to give Restore a fresh makeover. The selection of artists who've contributed to the 'Restored' project includes heavyweights such as Joris Voorn, M.A.N.D.Y. and Popof together with additional reworks from stars of the new generation such as Danny Daze, Julian Jeweil and Harvard Bass, all giving his tracks a new lease of life. In addition, Houle himself has also stepped up to offer a new contemporary take on his own music, collaborating with vocalist Genevieve Marentette on 'Demor'. "Restore was the beginning of it all for me. It was influenced by the sounds of Detroit and the endless parties I went to there in the 90s. It was my first album and to me it had the perfect balance of darkness, groove and electronic sounds. 10 years later, I am excited to present Restored with some modern interpretations on old tracks by some friends and colleagues who have kept the party going throughout the world."- Marc Houle

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Special remarks : 12" with printed sleeve, 180g Vinyl
Tracklist
A1 Business M.A.N.D.Y. Remix / A2 Demor Marc Houle and Genevieve Marentette Edit B1 Pepper Monkey Safari Remix
Shortinfo:
Originally released on Richie Hawtin's Minus label a decade ago, Restore stands alone as Houle's very first long-player and helped to establish his penchant for the quirkier side of techno and his superlative production skills. Spread across three 12"s & 11 tracks it encapsulated the dark, minimal, groove-driven sound purveyed by Hawtin and the rest of the Minus crew, while retaining a strong sense of Houle's unique character and identity. Now it's the perfect time to breath new life into an album that has stood the test of time, still utterly infectious and absorbing - a collection of music that captures an era of stripped back, yet captivating sounds. 10 years since its release, the album is getting the remix treatment and Marc has called in some of the very best in techno talent to give Restore a fresh makeover. The selection of artists who've contributed to the 'Restored' project includes heavyweights such as Joris Voorn, M.A.N.D.Y. and Popof together with additional reworks from stars of the new generation such as Danny Daze, Julian Jeweil and Harvard Bass, all giving his tracks a new lease of life. In addition, Houle himself has also stepped up to offer a new contemporary take on his own music, collaborating with vocalist Genevieve Marentette on 'Demor'. "Restore was the beginning of it all for me. It was influenced by the sounds of Detroit and the endless parties I went to there in the 90s. It was my first album and to me it had the perfect balance of darkness, groove and electronic sounds. 10 years later, I am excited to present Restored with some modern interpretations on old tracks by some friends and colleagues who have kept the party going throughout the world."- Marc Houle


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"This album is about the cold dark grey Berlin winter" - Marc Houle.
A simple statement, sure - but anyone who experienced Berlin during the winter of 2009 / 2010 will know exactly where Marc is coming from. Each day and night the temperature remained below freezing, the sky grey from an unsettling lack of sun. Ice covered streets from Kreuzberg to Prenzlauer Berg. The conditions did, however, grant Marc the opportunity to spend all of his waking hours in the studio, absorbing the warm welcoming heat generated from his analogue synths. The experimentation during this winter period was the catalyst for Marc's latest long-player for Minus - quite possibly his most accomplished and personal release to date. 'Drift' is an album of tracks inspired by the prolonged Berlin winter, and the depression, which it so often causes - from the chill of the coldest nights felt on tracks such as 'Inside' and 'The Next', through to songs that encompass the frustrations of gray skies such as 'Seeing In The Dark.' Marc has created a season of emotions and in doing so put forth his own personal frustrations towards what is considered 'techno' in its most basic form. Locking himself away during a winter season to fully embrace his own idealism has resulted in an album on which his rebellious nature and desire for a more experimental musical mentality has cast him further from the standard practice of our techno underworld. His grievances are at their most clear on the title track, which is an intense, and ultimately angry, techno belter produced as the winter season caused feelings less of 'beauty' and more of suffocation. 'Drift' is not without moments in which the sunlight peeks through the layers of heavy clouds, however. Tracks such as 'Sweet' and 'Hitcher Man' provide the audible interpretation of a person dreaming of warmer climates. The not so forgotten idea of being elsewhere, with the experience of finally seeing the snow fade away and the clouds drift towards springtime skies. By the time the album reaches its finale, with the track 'Hammering', it's clear that Marc's winter blues have receded, as the few remaining patches of ice melt into puddles of past musical memories. While summer has not yet arrived, the sun is starting to make its presence felt, warming the city streets once more. A mainstay of the Minus camp, Marc Houle has been known to push the boundaries with his output for the label, always adding tweaks and twists from analogue synths, unexpected, obscure sounds, and an onslaught of vocals and playfulness. He is a producer clearly not satisfied with following the guidelines set by other techno practitioners. His take on electronic music is one in its own, a personal sound that draws upon his early influences from industrial, retro and Detroit, along with a modern vision of path-finding techno. His ability to play with ideas and equally provide functionality for the floor sets Marc Houle apart. And his latest venture for the label, although inspired by the coldest moments of the year, is undoubtedly hot as fire.
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To mark the label’s 50th release Marc Houle gets right back to basics with two raw, stripped down future classics. What’s more both vinyl cuts, “Techno Vocals” and “On I t” clock in at under six minutes meaning that this compact 12inch’s sound and message is going to be coming through extra loud and clear. On “Techno Vocals” (as with all Houle productions) each sound is perfectly realised, commanding its own space with metronomic discipline. The rigid drum patterns, analogue explosions, regimented snare rolls, laser guided effects and delayed bleeps interact with supreme efficiency, while the arrangement is mapped out with cool, calculated intent. More

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. More