In June 2010 I moved to Berlin. I'd been in Barcelona for 3 years previous to that. Overall, as good as my social life and the experiences that I had there were, musically I was treading water. Constantly trying to not repeat myself, but invariably just backing myself into a corner and rarely coming up with anything good. It was a tough time for me musically. Indeed, I had thoughts of just packing it in which luckily some good friends talked me out of. Everything changed once I moved to Berlin. The different environment and way of life was exactly what I needed to get my creative juices flowing again. That same month I sent three tracks to Connaisseur, which would become the Ghosts EP. At that point the label asked me if I wanted to do an album for them. It wasn't something I had properly considered in quite some time, but I jumped at the prospect. I had self released my debut album back in 2005 which was a collection of tracks I made from 2002 until that point. I was so proud of that album, still am. Sonically it was flawed. Partially due to the limitations of the software I was producing on but mostly due to my own engineering inexperience. Something which I am gradually getting better at but I'm still hopelessly bad at at times. Anyway, that album sold a few copies around Ireland, but nowhere else. Once I started releasing internationally I was just stoked to be releasing EPs. I was all about them. I didn't listen to any electronic albums period. Only EPs and single tracks. I thought that the album was pointless in the electronic world. Luckily I came around from that point of view, and it coincided with Connaisseur asking me to do the album. So then I tried to decide what angle to take with the album. Should it be a bunch of tracks all written in a short period of time with a similar theme, or a collection of different tracks brought together under the umbrella of an album? Should I cater for the floor or for the home listening experience? So I racked my brains for a bit and thought, "what would I like to listen to from start to finish in an album?". I told the label that I thought the album should be organic, some tracks might work in deeper sets but the most important thing is that they could be listened to in a variety of environments and not sound out of place. And the label agreed with me. .
With that I started working in earnest on the album. I tended to work in quick bursts over two weeks, churning out many tracks in a similiar vein, then banging my head off the keyboard for months at a time until the next wave came, with invariably a slightly different evolution of my sound. However I had a particularly prolonged dry spell which would last from the end of that summer until January of the following year. Again I had written myself into a corner. Put too much pressure on myself to come up with the perfect album tracks, and just end up firing blanks. But luckily after a trip home to Ireland for Christmas and a harsh flu, I found myself in January with a new burst of Inspiration. One which lasted, on and off for the rest of the year. Already I had exceeded the initially proposed deadline of March 2011, so I simply pushed on. We agreed that what I had done so far was worthy of release but the album was not finished yet, so it was worth waiting. Along the way I had settled gradually into my life in Berlin. I was gigging more regularly than ever which gave me a nice sense of security. And I also met my fantastic girlfriend who became a sounding board for my new creations, letting me know her honest thoughts on the tracks ("It sucks", "Is that what you call music?", "So when does the beat come in?") Eventually by October 2011 I had it completed. Then began the tortuous process of mixing it down finally. During this period I also found out which tracks I really loved and which ones were grating on my nerves. So I also whittled it down, wrote new replacements and nipped and tucked everything until it was all fitting just right. The tracklist was even in flux as late as the week of mastering, a race to the finish line as such. Equal parts synthesis and sampling, but 100% organic, touching on various different genres. In a way it's return to my initial methods of music creation, but also an evolution from that. A listening experience from start to finish and constructed as such. It also marks the first time I've worked with vocalists, featuring contributions from Emilie Harsongkram, a friend of mine who also used to live in Barcelona and two English singers, Emma Greenfield and Moss Beynon Juckes, who fortuitously were singing acapella in a bar in Berlin about two weeks before the album was due to be mastered. It's been a long and complicated process, full of ups and downs. I can't say it was always easy. There were lots of heated arguments with the label about what constituted a good track or not, what artwork to use and what direction the album should go. I put my foot down many times, and equally came around to see their point of view after much stubborn procrastination. But I think that was instrumental in shaping the album for the better. Indeed the sessions towards the very end were some of my favourite and I'm already itching to start work on the follow up. So here you have it. Exactly one year and a half of my life on record. Encapsulated forever.
Tracklisting:
01: THE DROP
02: DROWNING 1
03: FATHOMS
04: AN ISLAND IN SPACE
05: WHO BENDS FIRST?
06: TRAPPED INAMBER
07: MY KARASS
08: THE CHASE
09: STRANGE THINGS ARE AFOOT
10: ALOOF
11: SWIM AWAY More

The album title, as you might know, means “through hardships to the stars”, and that is precisely Wareika’s motto. You could say, that the trio from Hamburg is the hardest working bunch in the music business. Only last year, they released two albums straight: “Formation” on the Danish boutique label Tartelet Records, and “Harmony Park” on worldwide respected Perlon Records. The enormous output by the trio is reminiscent of jazz musicians of the 60ties.
Wareika have released several singles and have done some astonishing remix work within the past three years. Therefore, their collection of ten remixes, or better, reworked and interpreted songs, will give you a fine impression of how Wareika have elaborated their unique sound over the past four years.
To involve Alex Flitsch of Connaisseur Recordings was self-evident for the band. They started out on his label, made several remixes for it, and contributed tracks to the Grand Cru compilation. This also made it a matter of course to feature the exclusive remix of Connaisseur-act Kollektiv Turmstrasse’s “Tristesse” on this album. In order to give it even more of a proper album feel, Wareika have delivered an intro and outro, making this collection sound more balanced and harmonious.
Please enjoy this almost 80 minute long journey to the stars with Wareika
Tracklisting:
01: WAREIKA – AD ASTRA (INTRO)
02: AUFGANG – BAROCK (WAREIKA REMIX)
03: GUS GUS – THIN ICE (WAREIKA REMIX)
04: DANIEL NITSCH – ROOM TO ROOM (WAREIKA REMIX)
05: MATHIAS KADEN – STATE OF STASIS (WAREIKA REMIX)
06: ALEX FLATNER & LOPAZZ – DINOSAURS (WAREIKA REMIX)
07: PATRICK CHARDRONNET – EVE BY DAY (WAREIKA REMIX)
08: KASPER BJÖRKE & HIS FRIENDLY GHOST – GO AWAY GONG (WAREIKA’S INCANDESCENCE RESISTANCE)
09: SOUKIE & WINDISCH – SUNDROP (WAREIKA REMIX)
10: KOLLEKTIV TURMSTRASSE – TRISTESSE (WAREIKA REMIX) – EXCL.
11: MANOLO – COMMANDO (WAREIKA’S CRAZY SET MIX)
12: WAREIKA – PER ASPERA (OUTRO)


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For the past months, we have been living solely for this project, and together with this venture of our heart, we have grown.
Rebellion der Träumer (Rebellion Of The Dreamers) is so much more than an album to us. It reflects our development over the past years, assimilating
experienced impressions and presenting another side of Kollektiv Turmstrasse. It reveals our true nature and what we really are: Träumer dreamers. A great deal of love, time and passion was invested into this album, aiming to touch both heart and mind, and to entrain you on a musical journey. Meanwhile, our soundtrack for dreamers had inspired several artists, filmmakers and graphic designers to work on the visualisation of some pieces. By and by,music and films will be made public on www.rebelliondertraeumer.de.
Tracklisting
01: AFFEKT / 02: DAZWISCHEN 1 / 03: SPHÄRE / 04:DAZWISCHEN 2 / 05: KONTAKT / 06: DAZWISCHEN 3 / 07: UNEINS / 08: DAZWISCHEN 4 / 09: DEINE DISTANZ/ 10: DAZWISCHEN 5 / 11: WAS BLEIBT /12: DAZWISCHEN 6 / 13: SCHWINDELIG /14: DAZWISCHEN7 / 15: HEIMAT / 16: DAZWISCHEN 8 / 17:GOLDMARIE / 18: DAZWISCHEN 9 / 19: ADDIO ADDIO

Here are some Comments from people, who already listened to the album:
Hot Chip: „Some great melodies and some beautiful sounds on there..“
Jimpster: „Great stuff all round“
Joris Voorn: “It's quite impressive, very nice melodies and deep melodic production, a real listening experience! „
Caribou: „Sounds cool!“
Laurent Garnier: „A superb album that i will listen over and over“
Solomun: „A beautiful piece of Music“
Markus Kavka: „In dieser Platte stecken so viel Liebe, Sehnsucht und große Gefühle, dass man nicht mehr von ihr weg kommt. Rebellion der Träumer" ist eine ganz große Platte."
Nick / Juno UK: „A stunning new melancholy direction for Kollektiv Turmstrasse“
Makossa/ FM4 Austria: „erwachsen und chillig“
Jason/ Proton Radio: "Kollektiv Turmstrasse are simply my favorite outfit in our scene today, and this album exemplifies why: theatrical, organic music that has no equal“
Ripperton: „This album turns around on my player since you sent it to me. „



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ELEMENTAL ASSETS refers to the essential things in life, to the things which I need to exist. Music is a big part of what's essential to me, just like the air that I breathe and the love I receive from my loved ones. The titles of the tracks are a reflection of my feelings and experiences of the past two years. For instance: Flirtatious Concubine was produced right after my deeply inspiring booking in Tokyo, whereas Late Night Thinking speaks for itself. Inspirited Away came into life thinking about two producers who really inspired me: Steve Rachmad and John Beltran. A NOVELTY to me was working with singers and I am so much obliged to Miss Kittin and Sam Leigh-Brown for their input in Le Flaneur andHigh
Maintenance. They lifted the tracks up in a way I could only have wished for.
I would like to give a bit of an explanation of how it came about. The CD consists of tracks produced by myself over the past few years, in which I spent a lot of time enhancing my production techniques and developing my creativity. Some tracks were made in rough times, while others were made under happy circumstances and perhaps you can tell. For me, music is an emotional vent allowing me to express my feelings and freeing me of my restlessness. This makes the album very personal and I am terribly excited to share it with the world and with you.
Tracklisting:
01: Intro (1:32)
02: Late Night Thinking (6:52)
03: Passionate Timidity (6:50)
04: Does It Ring A Bell (6:43)
05: Le Flaneur (vocals by Miss Kittin) (6:21)
06: My Challenge (7:18)
07: Flirtatious Concubine (6:59)
08: High Maintenance (vocals by Sam Leigh-Brown) (6:41)
09: Inspirited Away (7:52)
10: Updraft (7:17)
11: Driven (7:21)
12: Margje Hendrika (6:01)
Some DJ-Reactions:
Laurent Garnier wrote: Lots of great things in there. Will play the hell out of this. Very good work
Agoria wrote: That sounds great!
Gregor Tresher wrote: Very nice album, Late Night Thinking and Does It Ring A Bell are my favorites.
Craig Torrance (Mixmag): I really like the Estroe album!
Ellen Allien wrote: very beautiful album..like it..a lot.
Dave DK wrote: Support on "La Flaneur"!
DJ Yellow wrote: really nice album... need time to listen to all of it .. so far the trax with Kitty vocal is the one for me
Brendon Moeller wrote: "Elemental Assets" is filled with deep musical beauty, charm and most importantly, honesty. Estroe has injected her soul into this and it can be
heard."
Philip Sherburne (The Wire) wrote: This sounds really nice - I'm glad to hear some "living room techno," as you guys call it, because frankly I have enough oonce-oonce
in my life right now. Nice to hear the shades of early '90s R&S/Apollo type sounds... looking forward to spending more time with the full album...
Sis wrote: toll toll toll
Fabrice Lig wrote: Really great album ! A nice global and emotional project. I love all the tracks with some favourites ; Love Passionate timidity, my challenge, inspirited
away, of course updraft, bravo Estroe !
President Bongo (GUSGUS) wrote: mmm interesting indeed!
Andrew Grant (circoloco / barraca music) This is super...my fav is prob Le Flaneur or My Challenge. The whole Album preaches mystery with deep touches of techno. Nice work
from Estroe 9/10
Smokin Jo wrote: Thanks for the music, it's very nice for listening and well produced.
Sasse wrote: Hello, like this alot.. love the term "livingroom techno" as it fits perfectly the mood ! But it´s a shame to listen to this as links, send me a CD please! On a first
listen it sounds like a nice mixture of melodic techno, some tracks reminds me of elderly B-12 and the early 90s Holland take on Detroit, but the new school tunes are nice and
well produced as well. Especially the use of strings is excellent, which i`m personally missing alot in todays techno and house. Well done as a first album I´d say
Jussi Pekka wrote: love it!
Darko Esser wrote: First of all: Esther congrats with this milestone! And it's a beautiful and shiney one ;-) I am enjoying what I hear, especially the 'different' tracks
that show another side of Estroe the producer. As a whole it's a very coherent piece of work!
stephan bodzin wrote: estroe is providing a highclass album for listeners & clubbers. Spohisticated production meets musical passion. love this one and will it again right
now :-)
Justin Drake wrote: Lots of interesting things here. Late night thinking is the immediate stand out.
Meat wrote: nice long player, for the silent hours of techno!
Robbie (Akbal) wrote: My favorite Le flaneur with cool vocals from Miss Kittin... great deep lush on all the tracks....I enjoyed listening to it..
Electric Indigo wrote: love the little electronic noises on le flaneur - excellent groove too and caro's vocals are really nice! i really like the swing in flirtatious concubine,
again a great rhythm and very nice sounds :) - this is my favorite tune on the album. apart from driven that is a classic to me already... and i also like the intro a lot. a very
comprehensive album.




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