the analog session

Sol i sinne, grå inne '17

Dragon Dreaming 2015

ARTIST: THE ANALOG SESSION
TITLE: BLACK GROUND
LABEL: HOT ELEPHANT
CAT. NO: HEM1511
FORMAT: CD / DIGITAL 
RELEASED: 11 MAY 2015

Italian electronic pioneers, Alexander Robotnick and Ludus Pinsky deliver their second album as The Analog Session. 'Black Ground' is a journey into electronic music, from the early 70s to modern techno, performed only with vintage analogue synths.

Wires, cables, knobs, keyboards: they are still a vital part of The Analog Session’s improvised world. But as opposed to 2013’s ‘April’ album, ‘Black Ground’ is more dance orientated in its vision. Although most of the tracks originate from improvisation, there’s more editing work on their individual parts so that they sound more structured and danceable than usual.

Initially conceived as a video project (currently with over 320,000 hits on Youtube), The Analog Session then became an album project and finally a live performance. For Alexander Robotnick and Ludus Pinsky it’s not about being nostalgic for an era they represented but is more a progression and improvisation in the present music scene currently dominated by computers. Like the vintage analog gear the pair use, the Analog Session is a living, breathing entity. On the one hand capable of organic brilliance and on the other, breaking down at a moment’s notice.

The new album tracks range from electro-disco to techno, opening up to melody and chord arrangements throughout. ‘My Dream’ for instance is an introspective theme that is developed through different arrangements, alternating with an almost electro-house rhythm. ‘Lonely Dancers’ is made up by a sequence of synth notes whose sound transforms and becomes the backbone of a track that could be perhaps be seen as ‘minimal-electro’ whilst ‘We Are Here’ has a style that's more difficult to define. As in ‘My Dream’, here too a dream-like theme disrupts the minimal atmosphere that provides the tracks structure.

‘Space Circle’ is built on an harmonic progression of four chords, repeated throughout the track whilst undergoing continuous variations - inversions and substitutions - where the tone-colour of the analog synths fully capture the alternating soundscape. ‘Shure I Like’ injects an element of 80s synth pop with its infectious melody providing a link to the duo’s long-estbalished past but ‘Wild Electrons’ takes us further into future-space as the duo explore the sound potential of the latest (polyphonic) synth assembled by Ludus Pinsky.

Finally ‘Black Ground’, the title track, brings us back to planet Earth where the analog sound reveals its concrete, earthly nature. The CD also includes two previously digital only remixes: ‘Ascension’ (Late Night Rmx) and ‘Effai’ (Late Night Rmx).

Tracklist

1. My Dream
2. Wild Electrons
3. Space Circle
4. Black Ground (Club Mix)
5. Lonely Dancers
6. We Are Here
7. Shure I Like
8. Black Ground (Original)

The Analog Session - Black Ground

Nummertjes


As ever with the Hell Yeah crew, there is an interesting back-story to the label’s next release, the ambitiously titled Coast to Coast EP. Firstly, the title refers to the fact that Justin VanDerVolgen hails from the east and Doc Martin the west coast of America, but that’s not all…

The label boss first heard Alexander Robotnick’s Undicidisco*track in a set by Golf Channel associate *Justin Vandervolgen. He went to ask what it was and turns out the track had only been released digitally. Keen to give it the full release it deserved on wax, he fully licensed it and got a remix from the man who first played it, as presented here. So far it’s done well, with Running Back boss Gerd Janson playing it recently at P-Bar – of, course it went down a storm... and Beats In Space's Tim Sweeney shouting "This is the Jam"... wow

The track itself is seven minutes of playfully droning bass synths and boom-bap percussion. It’s alive with darting synth tweaks and twitches and races through outer space at an inviting pace, radiating good time vibes from start to finish.

It’s a similar story with the flip – Hell Yeah’s Marco heard one of his (and dance music in general) heroes, Doc Martin, playing the Florian Meindl's bass driven original mix and immediately wanted to give it a full release, but not before asking Doc for a remix.

That remix is released here and is a heavyweight, shuffling bit of house funk with a tight, knotted and tumbling bass refrain propping up soaring diva vocals and grainy, infectious claps. It’s a wavy and hugely inviting groove that has plenty of lip-curling attitude to it.

A fine release with a great backstory that comes complete with great vinyl artwork designed by Andrea Amaducci, this Coast to Coast EP is yet another fine weapon in the Hell Yeah cannon.


Alexander Robotnick - Undicidisco (Justin VanDerVolgen Edit)

Champagne

Dirty Doering & Sascha Cawa - Ding Dong Dub Mix - KATER088

The Analog Session - Lonely Dancers (cut)

The Analog Session - Black Ground (club Mix) cut

The Analog Session - Space Circle (cut)

The Analog Session - Wild Electrons (cut)

The Analog Session - My Dream (cut)

Classic Blendbrank track, written and produced by Linntronix and Artego in 2007. Enjoy the free download. 

Blendbrank - La Magie

Das Runde Haus

Shattered Fragments

Recorded live at Jaegerklause Berlin by Martin Mietke. Mixed by TSD. Mastered by Dr. Hansen.

Hurricane Fighter Plane

Dim Electrics - Otherside

okupe blackqirex

Buy LP : https://teenagemenopause.bandcamp.com/album/nuit-de-noce

Essaie pas - 514 376​-​9230

Alexander Robotnick is the artist name of Maurizio Dami, an electronic musician, DJ and producer living in Italy.