im starting to feel dizzy....excellent music

release date (vinyl / cd / digital): 21st of October

“I've intended to do an album for a long while. The tracks draw upon ideas going back to various points over the last 12 years or so - some of the hooks I wrote years ago other bits are brand new. In some ways I wanted it to reflect a personal arc and the way I tend to do things  - never rushed”

‘Frames of Reference’ is the some 12 years in the making debut album from UK based techno producer Ø [Phase].

Best known by his work on the Belgium based Token Records his style ranges from gritty minimal techno to Detroit influenced material. His debut ‘Module Overload’ was released on London’s Lost/Cosmic records in 2000 and was followed by a string of productions for London's Surface/Inceptive Records and Ben Sims Ingoma imprint.

The move to Token came in 2007, he shortly after began DJing professionally and has since performed at parties across the globe whilst becoming a regular guest at Berlin’s techno Mecca, Berghain performing alongside esteemed peers and supporters such as Marcel Dettmann, Len Faki and Ben Klock. His continued works have seen constant support throughout the techno world and have featured in CD mixes by Robert Hood, Dave Clarke, François Kevorkian and Fumiya Tanaka amongst others. Alongside his production work Ø [Phase] is also a mastering engineer and on/off artwork designer. Starting out at London’s prestigious Sony Music/Whitfield Street Studios, he has cut records for numerous underground dance acts as well as working on projects for mainstream artists.

Now after a string of acclaimed releases on Token and a selection of remixes for the likes of Robert Hood, Mark Broom and Peter Van Hoesen comes Ø [Phase]’s debut long-player ‘Frames of Reference’. Opening with the brooding and building swirl of ‘Binary Opposition (Process 3)’ Ø [Phase] sets out his template of evolving, richly textured atmospheres underpinned by shards of dark and light. ‘The Bwiti Initiate’ revolves around a bouncing techno rhythm that could most certainly traverse the house/techno divide whilst ‘Distracted’ and ‘Misaligned’ are the kind of unadulterated, pummeling, cavernous techno tracks that have made Lost such a party institution.
Then we have tracks like the soft beating ‘Just Another Dance’ providing a lighter edge, embellished with warmth and strings and the thick, densely woven tapestry of ‘Shadow Caster’ which goes from experimental to dancefloor and back again with consummate ease. The off-kilter lilt of ‘Perplexed’ drags us further into the dark before keys and a hint of a melody draw us back upwards for air whilst the fat driving bass of ‘Dirtro II’ and funkier edged menace of ‘On The Edge’ show a virtuoso producer at the top of his game. The closing introspection of ‘Self Deceit’ wallows in subtle nuances before a mid section synth and string intervention pulls us back from the brink before finally descending into the void.


Tracklist: 

2LP 
A1. Binary Opposition (process 3)
A2. The Bwiti Initiate
B1. Distracted
B2. Dirtro II
C1. Misaligned
C2. Just Another Dance (album version)
D1. Shadow Caster
D2. Self Deceit

CD & Digital:
1. Binary Opposition (process 3)
2. The Bwiti Initiate
3. Distracted
4. Dirtro II
5. On The Edge
6. Perplexed
7. Misaligned
8. Just Another Dance (album version)
9. Shadow Caster
10. Self Deceit

www.facebook.com/ashleyphase
www.residentadvisor.net/dj/phase 
www.tokenrecords.com
www.facebook.com/tokenrecords 

Frames Of Reference

Ø [Phase] - Distracted

This 5321

This piece of art was recorded a night of 2023 using only the Roland TR8-S Drum Machine. However the first track gave a warm welcome to my modular system. Processed through a Soundcraft analog mixer which I recorded its stereo output into the computer.

Rhythm Performer

Rhythm Performance 1 (Modular Joined)

Speedy J - Armstrong

DVS1 Evolve HUSH01A (DIGITAL AVAILABLE AT LINK)

MOTE050 :: Planetary Assault Systems - Deep Heet Vol. 4

Since 2006, the Deep Heet series of recordings has shown the public an especially distinctive side of the production work of Planetary Assault Systems. With a unique ‘engine room’ ambience and a focus upon maintaining a continual surge of pure energy, each volume in the Deep Heet collection has lived up to that title, subtly suggesting the kind of sustained and voluntary temperature rise that has traditionally given way to spiritual or visionary experiences. Just check out tracks such as “Flat Tire” from Volume 3, with its hard percussive edge accompanied by a pervasive hiss like boiling matter changing into gas. P.A.S. helmsman Luke Slater also thinks highly enough of this series to re-work tracks like “Whistle Viper” in recent live sets, or to offer up others (e.g. “Raid”) for remixing by Mote-Evolver allies. 
It’s only appropriate, then, that the 50th overall release on Mote-Evolver should also be the fourth overall volume of Deep Heet. In keeping with Slater’s recent forward-thinking self-assessments like the “Planetary Funk” anniversary series, this is simultaneously a summary of past successes and another new evolution in style and content.  This new set of four highly concentrated cuts shows how effective Planetary Assault Systems can be at fueling the imagination by fusing together rhythmic and incidental elements into a unified, animated meshwork, without even a prominent melody to help out. For example, on the compelling track “Lazer Organical,” listeners will find themselves in the midst of a testing range where thick arcs of coherent plasma ricochet off of the walls. 

Deep Heet Vol. 4 also showcases Slater’s aptitude for choosing just the right moments to deviate from a steady groove: on the mesmerizing bubblebath of “Random Kingdom,” he allows listeners to sink into the rising sonic foam before interjecting with some sharp metallic hits. The leadoff track “Desert Races” proceeds in similar fashion, weaving a web of luminous sequencer patterns around the listener before and cutting in with sudden fluctuations or distortions that function like a hypnotist’s suggestions after an entranced patient has become fully responsive. “Life Rhythm,” on the other hand, is a total immersion session in which Slater’s presence seems to recede into the background and listeners themselves may begin imagining overtones and sonic ephemera that weren’t programmed into the original track.

MOTE050 :: Planetary Assault Systems - Random Kingdom B1

Released on Slater’s iconic ‘Freek Funk’ album on NovaMute - one of the most seminal techno albums of the 90s - ‘Love’ finally gets the remix treatment it deserves more than two decades after its initial release.

Marcel Dettmann provides two takes on Love, his ‘City’ remix features a cacophony of metallic rhythm, ebbing pads and plenty of swing whilst mantra-like vocals operate throughout, followed by the thudding ‘Black Glove’ remix with its murky tones and rattling effects.

Luke Slater - Love - Marcel Dettmann Black Gloves Remix

A second mix created from all the 1990's classic hard & minimal techno tracks heard at the weekly "Voodoo" club night in Liverpool, across the Le Bateau, Mardi Gras and Clear club residences.

James Ruskin "The Divide"

MOTE033 :: SHIFTED :: RAZORS EP
Following the release of his critically acclaimed album, Crossed Paths, Shifted’s next release on Mote-Evolver is the incendiary Razors EP.
The EP opens with title track ‘Razors’ a six minute odyssey. Sounds are layered one on top of another and create a strictly cyclical structure. Shaking, rattling sounds helicopter overhead, syncopated noise unfurls in the mid-ground and underneath hypnotic beats are laid down relentlessly. It’s a dizzying combination.
Following on from this disorientation ‘Over’ ratchets up the BPM and rules it with an iron fist. This is merciless techno that’s full of intelligent details. Out of nowhere jangling blips and bleeps collide with feral bass. Shifted is no stranger to creating dance floor optimised cuts and ‘Over’ is the sound of a producer with a very finely honed craft.
The flip side begins with ‘Bloodless’ a title that suggests cold hearted, zestless deeds and a track that is ironically anything but bloodless. Rendered in twisted beats and synthesised noise there’s a cautionary tale to be heard, a warning about shiny surfaces that conceal deadening agendas.
The EP closes with the unsettlingly ‘Trouble’. It’s just as likely to have you listening reclined, with your eyes closed, as it is to leave you slightly paranoid looking over your shoulder. The palette is stripped back giving rise to psychologically charged atmospherica. ‘Trouble’ leaves you with far more questions than it answers.
Across the ‘Razors EP’ Shifted displays the range and diversity of his productions with refined electronic experiments next to broken beats and strange atmospherica aside lethal dance cuts.
Tracklisting: 
A1: Razors 
A2: Over
B1: Bloodless 
B2: Trouble

Ø [Phase] - Distracted

Token Records

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