Articles by " East to West"
Bjørn Rohde – ‘Soundscape EP’
Posted under: It is always a great feeling when you discover a label that is curated so perfectly, you knew you could (and will) download the entire discography and love every single bit of it. For me right now, that label is Drift Deeper—a small online space created as a spin-off to the ever wonderful Dub Techno Blog. You can’t go much deeper into the dub techno than this.
Nestled in the never-ending ambiance and tickling 4/4 beats of Drift Deeper is Bjørn Rohde—a solo producer out of Barcelona that takes you from the slow, minimal confines of his starting environments and quietly slips in the encroaching beat. It is mastery in the way the two intertwine and lightly ricochet off each other—it becomes a dance between two new lovers, each partner learning their steps.
The two-track EP is called Soundscape, and is available for free download here.
Storytellers: Lindsay Tuc
“THE AMAZING MOSCATO BROTHERS”—a very short story by Lindsay Tuc.
It might have been 2008. I know for sure it was a Tuesday night. The Walrus and I (I’m serious, everyone calls him that) only ever did acid on Tuesdays, not that we did acid every Tuesday, just that when ever we took acid—it was always on a Tuesday. At the time I drove a 1992 black Mercades coupe and wore a gold watch. I always drove because The Walrus can’t drive, he still doesn’t have a driver’s licence and the world is better off because of that. I am very happy that I am alive and writing this story and I strongly discourage operating a sports car or any other motor vehicle whilst intoxicated.
I dig girls, women too; all sorts of girls. I also dig other things like records but this story is about girls. I can’t remember her name but she was big and dark and South African. We were doing exactly 99 kilometres per hour on the eastern freeway through the pelting rain to meet her and her friend at their town house in Box Hill—we took our hats off to avoid suspicion. The Walrus was text messaging the girls over some dating app I had downloaded for my shiny new iPhone. He loved using the iPhone, and he is good at talking to girls, which was perfect. A perfect storm.
“Moscato!” The Walrus yelled from the passenger seat, directly into my ear, as if he’d been kicked in the nuts. “We need to get some fucking moscato.” We promptly got the off of the freeway. Both of us knew that moscato was some kind of sweet wine and that the girls wanted at least one bottle to drink. We doubled back and slid into Brunswick East like Luke Skywalker diving his X-wing into the death star. “You know what we are” my trusty navigator said as a statement, not a question “the fucking amazing moscato brothers!”—he swears a lot. He went into some dialog about how we were valiant knights delivering sweet wine to two damsels in distress or some of the usual bullshit he spouts; I was concentrating on the road. Somehow we made it to the Railway Hotel in one piece. We strolled into the bottle shop like it was nothing and informed the poor lady behind the counter that we were the official moscato brothers and that we needed two bottles of moscato and a small bottle of whiskey pronto. I paid, The Walrus left a twenty cent tip.
Long story short, as this is a very short story, we made it to Box Hill in high spirits. Beeping twice as instructed we lit a cigarette to share and marvelled at the tonal qualities of a Mercedes car horn. The two South African girls switched the light on and let us in.
“Aaaay it’s the moscato brothers!”
My South African princess was a lot bigger than she looked in her profile photo, her friend was pushing four feet tall at best and wearing a hospital gown and bracelet. The Walrus would like me to point out here that he had no intention of sleeping with either of these girls as he had a girlfriend at the time who was prettier than anyone else’s girlfriend I’ve ever met. That girl could stop traffic, and eventually left him for Jennifer Hawkins’ ex boyfriend. She never liked me anyway, so stuff her.
Sooooooo cuddly… I could have cuddled that girl for the rest of my life and still be happy with my accomplishments. I pushed my head into her massive bosom as she stroked my crotch and sipped moscato and it was fantastic. The tiny girl was on the opposite couch teaching The Walrus how to swear in Afrikaans. The room was littered with African animal plush toys, it was pure bliss. We were on safari. We had reached our destination. Time stopped.
According to The Walrus, the cursing lesson progressed into stabbing lessons as the very small girl in the hospital gown had a knife discreetly hidden upon her person. South African house music that we had never heard before was blaring out of the stereo, which I quite enjoyed until The Walrus suggested that we leave immediately… I suggested that we all get naked. The Walrus had had a knife pressed to his ribs and was bleeding. He stood up screaming bloody murder, pulled out his favourite aluminium knuckle duster and dragged me by the back of my shirt outside to the car. Dude totally killed my high.
Since then I have deleted all dating profiles, sold my car and enjoy cycling, not only for the financial benefits but also for fitness and public safety.
Gardland - “EP (HNGR001)”
From the isolated, Australian desert-farmlands in which it was produced, Gardland brings to us their very first release: an EP of four very different, yet equally energetic techno tracks. From the grimy, industrial warble of “Decalogue” to the epic, 1980′s acid-rave track that is “1767″, the duo explore the edges and the proliferations of heavy techno. Then they pull back—soft, restrained percussion sounds decorate the minimal canvas of “Plague Bearer” before plunging into “Haut Mal’s” world of dark synth and relentless rhythm.
I asked one half of Gardland, Alex Murray, how exactly he shifted his musical creations towards the genre of techno.
I wanted to feel emotion when I played music and I wanted people to respond to the music I was making. I started making and listening to it at the same time and it felt like the right mood for me at the time. I always liked the way you can make the most fucked up dark music yet still make people enjoy themselves and dance.
Gardland often speak of a spontaneity and improvisation employed in their tracks. It is this fluid nature and the unyielding desire to move one’s body that is projected on the listener, hypnotising them to respond.
If you think the release is exciting enough in itself, you’ll be pleased to know that it is the first of many out on brand new label Hunter Gatherer. Run by the Gardland boys, the label has a very distinct vision—to foster the currently evolving Sydney scene. We are on the tip of something extremely exciting right now, and these guys are just some of the very talented people leading the way.
Hunter Gatherer is seeking to fill a void in Sydney’s music landscape, to build a record label that promotes electronic music that is uncompromising, passionate and human. While the label’s sonic pallette is indebted to the tropes of techno, Hunter Gatherer does not seek to push certain sounds or genres, but rather an attitude; a focus on fostering organic musical personalities and artistic self-determination.
Asger Jorn - ‘Untitled’ EP
The matter that fills space—rolling over languidly, infinitely. Huge bodies that float in unknown orbit, not straying far.
It has been a long time since a musician has really excited me the way Asger Jorn does. There is a melody in his music which is easily transferrable to a live setting, a swirling of atmospherics, however, which you couldn’t imagine anybody else hearing. It transcends both the personal and the communal, its intensity swinging somewhere in between.
Asger Jorn is a solo producer out of Sydney, currently making an interesting transition from his earlier, more beat-centric sounds to his current ambient rhythms. Download his most recent, yet untitled EP here, or stream it below.
Baba X – “Hold You Tight”
Warped magic in underground cities, reverberating off the limestone walls. There’s a coldness that you can sense—you don’t know that there is running water on the walls that slowly finds its way from underneath the mountain down onto the floor. Which way do you turn? Deeper into the labyrinth, that will take you to the heart of the bass? Or the opposite direction, out into the frosty night and the bitumen that will cushion your feet as you meander home? You hesitate for a second, as the ache in your limbs challenges the unstoppable twitch in your feet. You hesitate, and then decide.
Baba-X from Melbourne is usually known for his warm, jazzy beats that traverse a wide spectrum of glitch in a soft, slow manner, so it was an absolute surprise when I heard this absolute banger on his SoundCloud. The warped, distant-like techno beat is like an injection of hot lava into the veins. It will fire you up straight away, and sadden you when it fades away…
