Fuse - 1998 - 11 - 07 - Cari Lekebusch @ Fuse, Brussels Part 2

Hannah_Addams x Disconnekt @ Anomalie (Berlin) 08.08.2021

Function lays down the Sandwell District style on this week's RA podcast.

Over the space of the last four years, Sandwell District have managed to carve out a place in the hearts of techno fans worldwide with their austere minimalist sound aesthetic. The label was actually founded by Birmingham-based Peter Sutton (AKA Female) back in 2002, but lay stagnant until it was revitalised with two releases from Sutton three years later. It has since developed into an international effort, with the Sandwell artist roster sharing the label managing responsibilities.

One member of their American wing is David Sumner (AKA Function), who got his first break via a trio of techno twelves for Damon Wild's Synewave imprint. Sumner then went on to launch his own label under the Infrastructure banner, releasing a flurry of his own material before getting in contact with Sutton's Downwards bedfellows Regis and Ian J. Richardson to sign some of their tracks. Their relationship has since grown, with Sumner becoming a fully-fledged member of their techno alliance and using it as a platform for his claustrophobic Sähkö-esque minimalism and bleakly hypnotic warehouse techno. For this RA podcast, Regis and Sumner picked the tracks, while Sumner did the mixing, and, as you might expect, it's a journey deep into the world of techno.

What have you been working on recently?

Finishing up a new Function 12-inch that will form the basis of an album and John's finishing a new Silent Servant 12-inch. Regis has been working with Ancient Methods on a 12-inch for DN.

Where and how was the mix recorded?

It was recorded at our studio in Berlin, Regis and I decided on the records together but it then made more sense to just have me do the physical mix. I had set up a chain that included Ableton, turntables, hardware and effects.

Can you tell us a little about the idea behind the mix?

I think the idea was to somehow represent what we have been doing live/out over the past year (this was a challenge to do in one hour as we play between three and five hours as a rule). From the outset it was about creating tension.

Sandwell District seems to have its basis in a lineage of anonymous techno production. Yet you consent to interviews, do podcasts, etc. How do you walk that tightrope effectively?

I think that's maybe a misconception as artist names do appear on the label. People may come to that conclusion due to operational methods we sometimes employ, as an example, artist names are sometimes added onto a release a few months after it has come out (no doubt due to indecision at the time or some internal squabble). The N/A thing was an experiment in human nature .... probably.

You recently played the Labyrinth Festival for the first time. Can you talk a little bit about the experience?

Macbook Pro, UC-33, Roland TR-808, TR-909, SH-101, Space Echo, Lexicon PCM-80, 24 Channel Mixing Desk, three hour time slot after the legendary DBX in the mountains of Nigori...

Regis and Silent Servant have a reputed love for post-punk. Are you also listening to quite a bit of rock music, or is it all techno?

From Sonic Youth to Rob Hood, Einsturzende Neubauten to U.R and The Jesus and Mary Chain to Mr. Fingers there is a connection that makes perfect sense to everyone involved with this so-called label.

What are you up to next?

A Function longplayer, a Sandwell collective album project, a limited Sandwell Mix CD, a remix package of Function tracks featuring mixes from Ben Klock, Norman Nodge and CH-Signal Laboratories and a collaboration with Jerome Sydenham, among a number of other projects.


HG - 02A - Horizontal Ground
Sweet Exorcist - Testfour - Warp Records
FB - 04A - Frozen Border
Ben Klock - Check For Pulse - Ostgut Ton
Ø - Sähkörausku - Sähkö Recordings
Function - Variance (Marcel Dettmann Edit) - Sandwell District
Silent Servant - Discipline - Sandwell District
Choice - Acid Eiffel - Fragile Recordings
Moritz von Oswald - Watamu Beach Rework - Desolat
Peter Van Hoesen - Face Of Smoke - Komisch
The Vision - A-472.0 - Hardwax
DVS1 - Running - Klockworks
DBX - Losing Control - Accelerate
G-Man - K.6 - G-Man Records
Marcel Fengler - Twisted Bleach - Ostgut Ton
Function - Disaffected (Ben Klock Remix) - Sandwell District
Function - Variance - Sandwell District
Daniel Stefanik - Effervescing Elephant - Freude Am Tanzen
Tadeo - IO (Cassy Movingonmix) - Apnea
Ben Klock - Subzero (Function-Regis Remix) - Ostgut Ton
DJ Slip - Every Time Takes a While - Creation Rebel
Lil' Louis - Frequency - Dance Mania
Ø - Atomit - Sähkö Recordings
T++ - Audio 1995 #8 - Apple Pips
Shed - Estrange - Ostgut Ton
John Carpenter - Police State / Romero And The President - Milan

RA.177-Sandwell District (19.10.2009)

Aremun Podcast Reggy Van Oers

Youtube video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaFJGvwaczU

Robert Hood Boiler Room X Red Bull Music Academy DJ Set At Mutek

Considering that this mixtape was coming from Answer Code Request, a guy to whom taking his own sweet time is absolutely key, so far we’d been pretty happy content to wait, safe in the knowledge he was planning something special. But today, it arrived and we’re understandably excited to be able to share this with you ahead of both his upcoming performance here this weekend and ahead of the release of his contribution to the eight track MDR Compilation, which is due out on 20th March.

Catch him playing live in Room Two on Saturday.
Advance tickets: http://www.fabriclondon.com/club/listing/1052

Answer Code Request - fabric x MDR Mix

Electric Connection

► Ellen Allien on the decks for our T2 Rave in Berlin
► Follow us on SoundCloud: http://blrrm.tv/subscribe-sc

Ellen Allien Boiler Room x T2 Berlin DJ Set (90s Set)

DJ mix compiled from all my early 1990-1995 releases on H-Productions Sound Architecture.

tracklist:

In Sthlm We Dwell (B2 mix)
Drum and Noise Style (B2 mix)
Live and Direct D (D side)
Low Profile B (B side)
In Sthlm We Dwell (B1 mix)
Drum and Noise Style (A1 mix)
Jazz Maze
Drum and Noise Style (B1 mix)
En Liten Javel
Skitsnack
Low Profile D (D side)
Smygbakslugslyna
Forstar Du Nu
Mad Poet
Output 1 (A1 mix)
Live and Direct C (C side)
Low Profile A (A side)
Live and Direct B (B side)
Output 1 (B1 mix)
Low Profile C (C side)
Live and Direct A (A side)
In Sthlm We Dwell (A1 mix)
Output 2 (B1 mix)
Sugardaddy

All tracks written and produced by Cari Lekebusch.
Also known as the Phun-Key RhyThm Doc-Tor.
Compiled from HYB001-HYB024, previously released 1990-1995.
Mixed and recorded at the HPHQ Stockholm, 2017.

***
All tracks can be found at my Bandcamp:
https://h-productions.bandcamp.com/
***

Hybrid Productions 1995 - Sound Architecture Mix

Einzelkind, the artist named Arno Völker, is part of a small collective of producers and DJs within Frankfurt’s techno scene. Known best for their love of stripped-back house and techno, their music is tied closest to Frankfurt suburb Offenbach, and more specifically the region’s best club, Robert Johnson. A number of different crews make up this group of artists: one of them is Völker’s label Pressure Traxx, while others like Traffic and HardWorkSoftDrink share a similar musical ethos.
 
Though he was making music long before Pressure Traxx, in the last six years it’s the main outlet Völker’s become known for. He’s released seven of the label’s records, mostly alongside co-founder Frost. These typically feature nostalgic 90s-style acid sounds, crossed with raw minimal and breakbeats. Other Pressure Traxx affiliates include Ricardo Villalobos, who joined forces with Völker for last year’s 'Arnorac EP'. Völker returns to Farringdon at Cocoon next weekend, so he sent us a mix drawing from the same dubby house and minimal that make up the label’s sonic identity.

Einzelkind plays RM2 on 04/05: fabricldn.co/1c29v1

Tickets

Einzelkind - Forms x Cocoon Promo Mix

Both as a DJ and a producer, Patrick Gräser aka Answer Code Request has honed a hybrid musical approach that stands out in a world of uniform 4/4 techno. Melding pad-driven harmonies, intricate breaks and an industrial sonic palette, Gräser has occupied a unique space within the Ostgut Ton cosmos since debuting on the label in 2012 and becoming a Berghain resident shortly thereafter. His various releases and remixes for Ostgut Ton, MDR, Dolly Deluxe and Monkeytown Records continue to be highly sought after. As a DJ, he has taken his bass- and breaks-heavy techno to clubs and festivals around the globe, while remaining an integral part of the Berlin scene.