Sven Grünberg is a real person and not a fictional Lufthansa engineer who secretly became electronic musician in the 1970s and appeared from the obscurity later. Grünberg, who turns 60 this November, was born in the Estonian capital Tallinn and cut his teeth in the local seventies bands Ornament andRead More →
In recent years, Lower Parts has become one of my favourite labels that has not only engaged international talents but also boosted a new generation of electronic producers from native Greece. When the label founder Panajiotis aka Asty Tekk asked me for a mix I felt really honoured. Now the resultRead More →
Since the early nineties, Russ Gabriel has been a driving force of the UK techno scene. He’s mostly known as the founder of Ferox Records, a label that is still around after more than two decades and just released Cottam’s new EP. Latest addition to Gabriel’s own immense catalogue was aRead More →
Der Schaumreiter scheitert in einem Raum voll Scheiter. Vapeurs en fleurs vous lêtes tourbillons de gaz amoreux. These are two extracts from the poems of the Estonian-born multi-talent Ilmar Laaban who was primarily known for his surrealist and intense poetry. As an artist with the gift of music, he was also keenRead More →
Twenty years ago to the day, I was standing at 2030 Grand River, Detroit, in front of a metal door. A friend I was visiting in Troy had given me a lift to the city, to catch sight of the downtown before heading to techno’s sanctuary Submerge. Before that I made a stopoverRead More →
For a brief time in the 1990s, Ann Arbor electronic artist Andy Crosby aka Spesimen entered the electro scene with two releases on his own Infocalypse Records. His solo efforts included EPs on Amici Curiae and Pomelo, but before really taking off, Spesimen disappeared from the radars. Up to theRead More →
By 12th August of 1996, when Superstition Records issued “1st Premonition”, Fred Giannelli didn’t need any introduction anymore. After touring with the proto-industrial group Psychic TV in the 1980s, Giannelli moved on to electronic dance sector and adapted a number of monikers, such as The Kooky (or Cranky) Scientist, Mazdaratti and releasedRead More →
The 25th anniversary of Peacefrog will not be a quiet one, when the seminal UK label admitted it plans to ‘re-press some early catalogue and favourites’. In 2011, the 20-year celebrations were marked with a couple limited edition and coloured vinyl represses of some sought-after tunes, such as both the original andRead More →
Fragrances, jeans, alcohol, a selection of hit CDs and suddenly, “The Techno Sound Of Berlin (Berlin 1992 – Tresor Kompilation)” – it was my first, unexpected meeting with release. It happened in 1992 at Amerest, an upmarket store in the university city of Tartu that opened in the dawn of market economy inRead More →
As DJ and producer, synth-obsessed Alden Tyrell has been a stalwart of the Rotterdam’s Clone community and remains active to the present day, despite releasing (the first) retrospective already in 2006. By that time, Tyrell had become a renowned artist in the world of neo-italo and electro disco, who wasRead More →