You don't know what to expect with the pampas. There are no guideposts, because there is nowhere to direct to. In fact, you trust your inspiration, which you find in the blowing of the wind and the scratching of the gobbler. It's an attitude like this, that is used by the label maker DJ Koze and Pampa acts like Jackmate and Isolée to make their contact with House music. It's an encounter with an open end. When musical clichés are forgotten, they look at the music with children's eyes. 

In January Gabor Schablitzki released his first track for Pampa under his majestic and well known alias Robag Wruhme. Koze knew that behind "Thora Vukk" was way more than what met the eye.  Schablizki remembers: "Stefan (Kozalla) told me : If you're in the flow right now, then produce an album! So I did, which took me half a year. During this time I worked a lot with piano Rhodes and field recordings. Stefan recognized this phase and plowed me a way to create an album. "Wupp Dek" was done right after "Thora Vukk“ : A rhythmic clangor touched by a smooth pad Schablitzki's voice sings in a promising way : "Like it, like it, like it". Again and again you wait for the grooves and the track makes you stay there full of expectations. "It's a classic opener, it takes forever 'til the bass drum hits. But once it's there, it's really there and doesn't leave that soon. The whole album is found on that track!" Then the rousing grooves and seductive sounds fade away to leave room for something else, something unexpected : Water runs, echo sounds draw a picture of a vast, cold room. Within seconds a pressuring atmosphere evolves that wakes one's curiosity on a whole different level. That cut, that canyon is the silver lining through the whole album. 

The club tracks are separated from each other by six eerie sometimes disturbing "bridges" (Brücke in German). Thora Vukk unites two streams, one bright and one dark, twisted in each other, which cannot be more conflictive, but depend on each others existence. It’s the dark gloominess of those soundscapes that make the clubby melodic tracks shine. After the first bridge, the clanking glasses of the album version of "Thora Vukk" sound as if they were sung with the tongues of angels. Where the percussions of the 12"-Edit spread the party vibe, the album version is enchanting with grace. "Bommsen Böff" with its unexpected break sounds like a postcard out of sound from a past era. Schabliztki explains: "Those three tracks brought the album to life." After those were done, the creative Eros took possession of him. "I can't really tell anything about "Pnom Gobal" I was already in the flow when I made that one. In that phase I am unable to interact with the "outside world“ and later I can't recreate what happened with myself. One's for sure, I like the track! It sounds so dry. Then there is the deep bass drum. I sang the vocals right into my laptop after a hard week-end with a hint of alcohol left on my vocal chords." The first three tracks are body music. The gracefully built grooves communicate with every single fibre of your muscles. They pull on your extremities like on the strings of marionette. With „Pnom Global“ the album enters your soul: Adorable strings create an absorbing meanwhile unseizable Pop moment. 

"Tulpa Ovi" is the only track that was not created during last years’ sessions. It is a remainder from 2004/2005 and was supposed to be part of the Wighnomy Brothers album. The blue prints of the unreleased album were rumbling around in Schablitzki since then. Now it's getting realized: In contrast to Robag Wruhme's first album, the new one was set to be "more grounded and filled with melodies and self recorded samples- ideal for the bedroom or passenger cabins of any kind." Schablitzki created a huge library of sounds like slamming drawers or mid-summer rain recorded in his friends' spacious kitchen. Those field recordings are no secondary accessories. By setting them into a rhythmic shape they dominate the structure of the tracks. Due to the constant variation the fan of the grooves is opening up every time in a new manner. The rattling sound of dishes in "Prognosen Bomm" is easy to identify, the filtered and transposed starting-click of a neonlight is hard to recognize as such. With the breathtaking hook lines of the second triptych Schablitzki is drawing a wonderful Pop fresco. One is still stunned and Thora Vukk is already at the end. That's the name of the last track - Schablitzki: "Ende" was giving me headaches, I told Stefan three times: I can't get it done, but he constantly responded : Stay with it. The idea is good." Schablitzki asked friends and long time companions to sing a short vocal phrase so he could assemble that into a choir: "Of course only a few amongst them are singers, so it was really hard to mix it down to a whole chorus - but the result is absolutely astonishing, it's my favorite track of the album." The charm of the choir is lying in its fragility. "Ende" is a whispered, enchanting good-bye - a lullaby you still hear, when you are already dreaming. 


PAMPACD002 - Robag Wruhme - Thora Vukk

Taken from PAMPACD002 - Robag Wruhme - Thora Vukk, released on April 29th, 2011.

Robag Wruhme - Wupp Dek

Robag Wruhme - Brucke Eins

Thora Vukk

Robag Wruhme - Bommsen Böff

Robag Wruhme - Brücke Zwei

Robag Wruhme - Brücke Vier

Out Now: https://orcd.co/CRM294

Catz ‘n Dogz make a standout debut on Crosstown Rebels with two compelling new house tracks on ‘Can’t Stand’, complete with a remix from leftfield innovator Robag Wruhme.

A pairing whose renowned reputation has been built and shaped across an illustrious career, Polish duo Grzegorz Demiañczuk and Wojciech Tarañczuk, aka Catz’ n Dogz, have been serving up their own diverse and varied take on house for more than fifteen years. Founders of their own Pets Recordings imprint, in that time they have released on esteemed labels, from Diynamic to Defected, Glitterbox to Watergate and more, while playing at almost every major club and festival across the globe. Their fresh in-between sounds and knack for cooking up curious and impactful sounds have made them mainstays of the scene, and that run of stellar releases continues here with a debut appearance on Crosstown Rebels as they link with ZenSoFly for ‘Can’t Stand’ - with longstanding German favourite Robag Wruhme on remix duties.

Opener ‘Can’t Stand’ sees the pair reunite with vocalist ZenSoFly, a talent they’ve worked with on notable hits like ‘Wave.’ Her vocals bring soul and attitude over a tight, rubbery and sleazy house beat, underpinned with a heavy bassline - providing the sort of chunky cut to lock in a dancefloor and make it march in unison.
Robag Wruhme has been a Pampa label mainstay and famously curveball producer for many years with his scintillating blend of minimalism, melody and unusual sound sources. That is the case again with this remix, a dark workout that hurries along on snappy drums, detuned vocals and scuzzed up, droning synths to ensure maximum impact.

The EP is closed out with ‘Wake Up’, a widescreen and atmospheric cut packed with detail. The bassline is taught, freaky vocals echo within the mix, and synths spray about to dramatic effect, delivering another full flavour house cut with a dark soul and futuristic designs.

Catz 'n Dogz - Can't Stand Feat. ZensoFly (Robag Wruhme´s 'Flodder Bukk' Rehand)

Talmi

The Drifter returns to Maeve with a bang. This 2-tracker carries a familiar Drifty feel but is a total graduation for the label founder.

Everything sounds better, his voice, the machines, the mix - this is next level. The vocal on title track, "Ultraviolet" has a distinctive darkwave feel, a touch melancholic, but accomplished. Brooding synth bass underpins the track leading the listener into the cosmic abyss, a journey one is only too happy to surrender themselves to. The trip continues with "Avoid The Void", an ironic title given the listeners fate so far. On this cut we lose the melancholy and march straight to the dance floor. Littered with ping pong acid warbles, clipped vocal samples and driving drums, Avoid the Void is a single minded monster.

It may have taken some time for The Drifter to come correct with original work, but after listening to this its hard to argue it wasn't worth the wait.
credits
released July 21, 2023

Mixed by Milio
Mastered by Gio Conti

The Drifter - Ultraviolet

“I love maintaining a different approach to making music as much as I possibly can.
A fitting description of Milio, always in search of a new
form in electronic music.

The Dutch composer delivers on this philosophy for his debut EP on Maeve. With such a prolific output, the real challenge lay in selecting the right collection of tracks that present the different sides of Milios music, something we hope Eventide EP shows.

Mastered by Gio Conti
Mixed by Milio

Milio - U

Milio - Eventide

Buy/stream: https://kompakt.fm/releases/total_23

Okay, you’re listening to the 23rd edition of Kompakt’s annual compilation series TOTAL… hold on… 23??? It’s impossible to look at this number without thinking of William S. Burrough’s Captain Clark anecdote, the Illuminatus trilogy and the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu. But don’t you worry, we’re not giving in to eikositriophobia. We’re enlightened folks, after all.

The lively dance begins solemnly with KOLLMORGEN’s deep-subtle minimal gem “Muddy”. Making her debut is the wonderful ARGIA with the somewhat misleading title ‘No Concept’ – the Madrid native indeed has a very precise plan. Also, our number one hit guarantor, JÜRGEN PAAPE, is represented here with his brand-new super hit ‘Alone In Italy’. His colleague MICHAEL MAYER is also in top disco spirits with ‘Talmi’. One of the secret weapons of the current season comes from STEPHAN BARNEM & FUTURISTANT. ‘Don’t Cry’ is a passionate New Wave belter for eternity. JÖRG BURGER proclaims a new, trippy genre: Cinematic Dance, before C.A.R. & PATRICE BÄUMEL slowly raise the energy level in the ‘Four Down’ Club Mix. JOHN TEJADA then cruises calmly at the desired cruising altitude while the cabin crew serves refreshments. ‘Duration’ by BARNT/MAYER pays tribute to an artist formerly known as Prince with grand rave romanticism, and about REX THE DOG’s summer smash hit ‘Change This Pain For Ecstasy’, there’s really nothing more to say. The Thuringian force of nature ROBAG WRUHME must not be missing here, of course. ‘Fire’ once again shows him in top form, with one of the dirtiest basslines in techno history. Joining us from London is HARDT ANTOINE, who spells u n d e r s t a t e m e n t with ‘All We See’. And finally, REINHARD VOIGT feat Eduard Weber bring it all together – live from the grand Comedy Barn of folk music. Cheers!

Total 23

Michael Mayer - Talmi

Can't Stop is Jonathan Kaspar's debut EP on Maeve.

The title track runs to almost 12 mins and although debated and discussed many times, both the artist and label felt the track needs this length to fully intoxicate a dance floor. It is, in short, a trip.

Mano Le Tough steps up on remix duties for Can't Stop and delivers his signature magic touch. Littered with live percussive elements, it takes the original to deeper hypnotic level before firing the machines into life and surprising the listener with a soaring hook and glittering melodies.

Come Close is a straight up, heads down techno roller, made for late nights and hazy mornings in special dancing spaces. Rounding off the release is, "Too Late But Sorry", a sweet track that is reminiscent early Kompakt records in its beauty and pace.

All four tunes have their place in any DJ set and already have found an adoring audience the world over, it's fair to say we are extremely proud to have this on Maeve.
credits
released October 12, 2023

Mastered by Gio Conti

Jonathan Kaspar - Too Late But Sorry

Jonathan Kaspar - Come Close

Jonathan Kaspar - Can't Stop (Mano Le Tough Remix)

Jonathan Kaspar - Can't Stop

Pampa Records is a independent record label dedicated to releasing music that's seriously danceable without recourse to the tried and tested ingredients. A home for tunes that will conquer hearts and take root there forever, music that's brave and not afraid to break with convention. The record label is owned by DJ Koze.

Pampa is happy to receive demos at demo(at)pamparecords.com. If we like your music we'll be in touch. But if you don’t hear from us, it doesn't mean that the music isn't good, it just means that it doesn't suit to us and our plans. Thanks for sharing!

Robag Wruhme - Brücke Vier

Pampa Records

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