A History of Detroit Techno: Foundations

Juan Atkins & Moritz von Oswald Present Borderland: Transport

Lightyears

a dark and wondrous psytechno track that merges haunting electronic landscapes with pulsating rhythms. Engineered to twist perception and time, its hypnotic bass lines and futuristic sounds create a cerebral auditory experience

Friday Paradox

Clear

Cosmic Cars (House Mix)

Various Artists | Soma25 
[SOMALP113] 
release date: 14/04/17
Limited Edition 5xVinyl BoxSet

A1. Robert Hood – The Bond We Formed
A2. Jeff Mills – A Tale From the Parallel Universe
B1. Daft Punk – Drive (Slam Modular Interpretation)
B2. Adam Beyer – Just Things
C1. Blawan – Clipper
C2. The Woodleigh Research Facility – S.O.M.A 25
D. Josh Wink – Synodic Period
E1. Slam – Stepback (Jonas Kopp Remix)
E2. Slam – Visions (Kobosil Remix)
F. Percy X – X Track (Vril Remix 2)
G1. Slam - Tempest
G2. Steve Bicknell – Mind Cycles
H. Funk D’Void – 808 Planet
I. Joe Stawarz – Cry (Deepchord Remix)
J. – Joe Stawarz – Beebear. (Deepchord Remix)


Soma Records is inarguably one of Techno's major forces in 2017 and since it’s inception on the streets of Glasgow, Soma Records has stood for uncompromising quality of the highest level in every area it operates.
Label figureheads Slam formed the label in 1991 together with friends Glenn Gibbons & Dave Clarke and subsequently forged one of electronic music’s most widely known and well-respected labels. Soma quickly began to develop its own sound with classics such as Slam's timeless ‘Positive Education’ and helped launch the careers of many great artists like Surgeon, Envoy, Funk D’Void, Silicone Soul and Alex Smoke as well as the discovery of French duo Daft Punk who released their first rudimentary, raw outings on the label back in 1994.

With their eyes firmly fixed on a vision of the future, Soma began the quest to instil their unquenchable passion and thirst for electronic music onto the world around them.



Box Set

Soma have enlisted the likes of Jeff Mills, Robert Hood, Steve Bicknell, Andrew Weatherall (appearing as Woodleigh Research Facility), Blawan, Adam Beyer and more to provide brand new musical excursions for today's dance floors and beyond. These, coupled with many of today's new, up and coming names in the techno genre like Kobosil, VRIL & Jonas Kopp choosing their favourite tracks from the Soma back catalogue to remix sees Soma’s futuristic vision remaining strong with the celebration of 25 years being one of a forward thinking nature rather than one of nostalgia.

Ostgut’s Kobosil brings Slam’s ‘Visions’ into the prevailing drone-ebbed world, the veiled VRIL douses the timeless X Track by Percy X in his dubbed out demeanour and Jonas Kopp’s EBM workout of another Slam classic, ‘Stepback’ creates the standpoint for the project: “Always forward, never back”. Jeff Mills’ provides otherworldly connections with ‘A Tale From The Parallel Universe’, Weatherall delivers future/retro acid and Josh Wink unleashes a 9min epic dance floor burner. Robert Hood provides a straight up, fast paced dance floor workout; all coming together to form the collective consciousness of the Soma attitude. Slam deliver ‘Tempest’, a track that perfectly sums up the whirlwind last few years the pair have enjoyed as they continue to be at the forefront of the global Techno elite. Completing the assemblage of original tracks is Soma’s own Funk D’Void, bringing his unique brand of jacked up electronics with ‘808 Planet’.

Visual Construct

In accompaniment, Soma decided it was necessary to match the unique musical sensibilities displayed with an artistic environment that clearly juxtaposed the ideas set forth in the project. This led to collaboration with Scottish artist Kyle Irvine. His highly detailed, powerful yet delicate illustration style is truly unique. Each design was handpicked by Soma especially for the box set, which features exclusive Soma 25 Logo stickers, a poster and illustrated vinyl sleeves. Each individual sleeve has its own story line with enigmatic characters including Lantern Man and Little Bo, who live in a dimension beyond our own. Look out for Kyle’s designs on the Soma25 remix singles and forthcoming, limited edition clothing lines produced in conjunction with Forty Clothing Glasgow.

Mastered by Conor Dalton @ http://glowcast.co.uk/
Artist Link – www.instagram.com/kyle.irvine

SOMA25 Box Set

A Tale From The Parallel Universe

Jeff Mills - A Tale From The Parallel Universe (SomaLP113)

Conducted

Sundog

Heavenly Revisited Album

Kevin Saunderson as E-Dancer - Rock To The Beat

Kevin Saunderson as E-Dancer - Into The Future

Good Life

Inner City - Good Life (Remastered)

Dave Clarke - Red2 -  Wisdom To The Wise

On A Journey

Feel

Psycatron release on Guilty Pleasures! AVAILABLE NOW.

Psycatron featuring Blake Baxter - She Is Music - SOUNDCLOUD EDIT

Black Technician (UR Mad Mike Remixes)

Robert Hood - Black Technician (UR Mad Mike Remix)

Motor: Nighttime World 3

Robert Hood - Motor City

Integration

Metropolis

Celebrating the best club-ready house and techno. Curated by SoundCloud.

Before I got into this music I wanted to be an originator ; I wanted to be original".
Founding member of the legendary group Underground Resistance as a 'Minister Of Information' with ‘Mad’ Mike Banks & Jeff Mills, his seminal works on Jeff Mill's Axis and his very own M-Plant imprint paved the way for a wave of stripped-down dancefloor minimalism that directed much of techno's path throughout the late Nineties.
Robert Hood makes minimal Detroit techno with an emphasis on soul and experimentation over flash and popularity. 

"Growing up in Detroit, I grew up with Motown in the house - a lot of Motown and Philadelphia soul, artists like Marvin Gaye of course and Curtis Mayfield. I remember Isaac Hayes, the soundtrack from ‘Shaft’ had come out. My father was a jazz musician; he played piano, trumpet and drums. My mother was in an R’n’B group.
We listened to a lot of Motown - in fact, my grandfather’s first cousin is Berry Gordy.
"I was influenced by my father - I wanted to play trumpet like he did."
Robert's father tragically died when he was just 6. The photo of Robert siting down holding a trumpet is his fathers.
"I had to beg my grandmother to let me borrow the trumpet to take a picture with it"

In the early 90's he began to concentrate on his own production 'Vision EP', the 'Riot EP' and X-102 were big stepping-stones for him as they were the first releases he worked 100% on his own. The X-101 to X-102, were Waveform Transmission projects with Mills for Tresor. He slowly progressed to work more and more on his own, but collaberated on some of the first Axis releases with label owner Jeff Mills as H&M (Hood & Mills) with ‘Tranquilizer EP’ and ‘Drama’.

He soon decided it was time for him to start his own label to focus on what was in his soul musically. M-Plant started in ’94. I had developed this “grey area” sound - what I mean by that is that in Detroit, even when the sun is out, there’s something in the atmosphere. I don’t know if its pollution or whatever, but the sky has that grey haze over it. It’s got to be something from the industrial factories there. I’d never really heard a sound like that before and it came from a Roland Juno - it was a chord sound that really went along with my depiction of what Detroit was at that time. A lot of buildings were abandoned and there was a lot of lifelessness in the city, especially downtown. The M-Plant, in minimalism, kind of reflected that. I remember thinking of Detroit like a museum. You know, like a work of art standing still, suspended in time. There wasn’t a whole lot of activity going on.

Releasing singles such as "Internal Empire,", “The Protein Valve” "Music Data," and "Moveable Parts", "The Pace", more recently "Range", "Alpha" and that isn't even touching his other monikers Floorplan, Monobox, The Vision, etc.
"M-Plant is what I've always wanted to hear: the basic stripped down, raw sound. Just drums, basslines and funky grooves and only what's essential. Only what is essential to make people move. I started to look at it as a science, the art of making people move their butts, speaking to their heart, mind and soul. “It's a heart-felt rhythmic techno sound. M-Plant is just M. minimal. “

Although his desire to remain underground has been replaced by an urge to reach a wider audience, mainly via his housier, disco, gospel moniker Floorplan with his daughter Lyric Hood,   Hood remains fiercely critical of artistic and economic movements destructive to inner-city communities and has combined his musical enterprises with outreach and social activist ends. 



Robert Hood - Black Technician (UR Mad Mike Remix)

Robert Hood - Floorplan

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