There seems to be so many things piled up as usual. But I’ll be quick to post them in order to catch up. Sublime Porte arranged an event called Non-Static Night back in May and hosted Tim Hecker. I think he is one of the most important ambient producers of our time and he has a really unique style in creating beautiful textures through highly manipulated sounds. Though he is famous for his abstract ambient works, he actually made some decent experimental techno under his Jetone moniker almost a decade ago. Recently, his new 7″ “Apondalifa” was released on Room40 and is available for both purchase and download. Anyway back to the event, his performance was really impressive as expected; 30 minutes of slow moving drone accompanied by overdrived mid range frequencies and booming sub bass.

The night started with Sensible Sucker’s live performance which is my oldest and abandoned project. I put some of the old ideas together and combined them in newer techniques I learnt in recent years. Here’s the recording of 25-minute session from event, hope you’ll enjoy it.

Academy vet Tufan Demir aka Beto Narme comes with a four-track EP Multiple Choice on Istanbul’s highly-regarded net label Sublime Porte Music Workz.Digital versions hit the information superhighway in early July, but get a taste of the concluding track, Figment Dots, below for a slice of dubby tech ambience, Istanbul-style, and check the full sampler over at the Beto Narme Soundcloud… continue reading.

As we passed the cold slope, I should write the things that I skipped to post. Monolake’s Silence album was basically my deary winter listening. No need to tell how incredible music Robert Henke does, but his whole approach to artistic creation makes him a special one. I’ve managed to find some interviews he chats about Ableton, production process, sound-design, compression, other effects… and all the things you might want to know about his music and live performance. So, here are the interviews: by Peter Kirn, by Derek Walmsley and by Caro Snatch.

Another interview I want to share with you is with Darshan Jesrani who is half of Metro Area. Their self titled LP is unarguably one of the most important albums in electronic dance music. After almost a decade it sounds so up to date, though it doesn’t have much modern elements in it. In the interview he gives some insight into how the LP came about, track-by-track. Also, anyone wonders if they will come up with another album, can check the interview Morgan Geist gave to Juno Plus.

Beside Monolake’s album, I really spent a lot of time on Pat Metheny’s Orchestrion; not only because of listening pleasure and beautifully arranged music, but to understand how the arrangement took place. Basically it’s a recording Pat Metheny plays; not only the guitar but every instrument, simultaneously by sending signals from guitar to other instruments. Well, it sounded a bit suspicious but you can check details about his workflow and a little background about the project on his webpage. Here’s a part from Orchestrion’s Electronic Press Kit, you can also find other related videos on youtube.

Though I am a big ambient music fan, I think the best time for enjoying the ambient/drone music is definitely the winter. So, here I listed some recommendations, some nifty goodnight music kept me occupied during previous months.

• The Beautiful Schizophonic – Erotikon (Crónica)
• Need More Sources – Seo-ri (Cotton Goods)
• Pausal – Lapses (Barge Recordings)
• Balmorhea – Constellations (Western Vinyl)
• Relmic Statute – Morning Tapes (Hibernate)
• Eluvium – Similes (Temporary Residence)

Talking about ambient music, I want to share another thing before end this post. The track in the soundcloud column posted below is an amazing live performance from the project called No Accident in Paradise. NAIP is a freeform ambient music project located in Jena/Leipzig/Royce Town. For more info and other recordings check their official page.

All the arrangements are being made for my Beto Narme project’s debut EP “Multiple Choice“, however, there are still some weeks before the release. But the new Beto Narme podcast is online now on soundcloud. This third edition of Sublime Porte podcast series is composed of deep and subby dubstep and techno just like the previous one.

+ Olmeca has launched a website called Electrolmeca and the main feature of this page is about the electronic music scene in Istanbul. There is the interview i gave, you can read here. (Only in Turkish)

Environ has always been an interesting label; it was and still is a record label that consistently release good quality disco and some house tracks. I just found a dj mix of mine that was built around Environ galaxy and instantly uploaded it to soundcloud. I’d probably alternate the playlist if i did the mix nowadays, but the huge classics are already taken place in the mix. So it was recorded sometime around late 2006 and was broadcast on Dinamo 103.8. Enjoy!

Tufan Demir – Environ Mix (15.01.2007 @ Dinamo 103.8)

The cross-fade controller never rests! Bringing the time-honoured tradition of hip hop breaks, tape edits, and reggae selectors bang up to date, Amsterdam resident Aardvarck has been plying his trade as a DJ and producer since the late 80’s. Aardvarck emerged when techno and hip hop was developing out of a swamp of post-punk synths, reggae, and new wave, and he has been cutting and splicing his own trail ever since. As a producer, Aardvarck has gotten props for a gang of projects. From singles and remixes on the pioneering Djax label, to his Find The Cow album on Amsterdam’s finest techno outlet Delsin, to his seminal Cult Copy LP on Rush Hour – he’s always been exploring club sonics. He’s also linked with Steven de Peven in Red Nose Distrikt since 2002, as well as contributing to the Beat Dimensions compilations and Viral Radio events with ex-Academy-participant Cinnaman. In this Tribute show, Aardvarck pays homage to the jazz giant John Coltrane, weaving through his massive discography with a specially selected bunch of edits.

Henrik Schwarz is a long time veteran of the German deep house scene, cutting his teeth as a DJ in the nineties, but it’s been his forays into production and epic approach to tunes that have brought a soulful jazzy groove to the 4×4 groove. On th eotehr hand, Bugge Wesseltoft has been constantly pushing the envelope of what jazz music can be. This Norwegian mastermind is far beyond any tired ideas of ‘fusion’ and has been interested in dance music and working with DJs since the early stages of that culture in Europe. Together they form a duo extraordinaire with a very special live project. Relentlessly improvising, Bugge and Henrik work with each other’s material, create blends and new forms of existing and even previously non-existing pieces. To put it in a nutshell, they just play together – and very well so. During their stay at RBMA’s London edition, Schwarz and Wesseltoft brought their classic yet modern set-up to the stage of the honourable Royal Festival Hall. Get the Bugge!

I’m also starting a new mix series called “Sense Of Sensible” on RBMA radio this month. My initial plan was to stick to post series here but this way it will be much better because the show will be monthly and you know how punctual I am about this page. So watch this space for news about the show.

Anyway, for those of you living in Istanbul and still don’t think that going out in winter is a depressing activity I’ll be mashing up discofunksoulhiphop together at Gizli Bahce on Friday night and will be spinning more deep also Detroit stuff before and after Jimmy Edgar at Ghetto on Saturday Night. So, see you later this week.

I’m not sure if there was something kind of special about 2009, but musically speaking it was another unpredictable year in all genres. Actually the whole decade was unpredictable in its entirety – emerging technologies, rapid changes in world economy, altered social movements… All in all they made everything change so fast that as a result the way we perceive music has become ephemeral. I have never been a massive fan of pointing how fast we consume everythin, but I seriously think that we’ll never have enough of trends, hypes and fashion. At some point the music media has to pump certain things on the surface and forget about them next day to keep their masses excited. This is what happened to IDM, Kompakt, minimal techno/house or space disco in the last decade. The last toy is dubstep and we’ll see how long it’s gonna take until they tag it as boring which has already started actually.

Anyway, without a second thought the past decade was the golden era of new and emerging music genres/styles. Earth-shattering technologies have triggered big changes in music production at the end of 90’s and together with the great developments in audio hardware/software; the appearance of new ideas has increased substantially. As such a seminal turning point, the year 2000 is well worth a look back. So I whipped up a list by re-checking some of my favorite music from that year.

• Auch – Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (Force Inc. Music Works)

• Bohren & Der Club Of Gore – Sunset Mission (Wonder)

• Burnt Friedman & The Nu Dub Players – Just Landed (~scape)

• Château Flight – Puzzle (Versatile)

• D’Angelo – Voodoo (EMI)
Neo Soul: hate it or love it, there is the fact I believe the artists who can be labeled as Neo Soul are making much more interesting music than today’s other modern R&B acts. Though, the style is kind of invisible on mainstream level, there were some albums made major impact on charts. Just like D’Angelo’s Voodoo which is an album that provides enough material for being pop while achieves to exhibit different styles like jazz, funk or hip hop and combines them perfectly. Other thing I really fancy about late 90’s and early 2000’s Neo Soul records is there is this wide range of dynamics gives a great listening pleasure on high volume, not like today’s poor, squashed and loud R&B hits.

• Dettinger – Oasis (Kompakt)

Another sound I really miss: Kompakt’s good old ambient records. Oasis is the peak point of a kind of ambient music that combines both Chain Reaction style cold-atmosphere and shoegaze aesthetic. It’s definitely a music for the winter, yet it really fits to the mood of blurry early mornings or late-late nights. I think it’s never been more than 3 months I survived without listening to the album since the time I bought it. Hence, I can say that the record is quite addictive. Even though the layers are pretty repetitive and music is simple, it is incredibly hypnotic and truly brilliant.

• Dj Rolando – Jaguar (430 West)

• Eyvind Kang – The Story Of Iceland (Tzadik)

Eyvind Kang is one talented musician, he has worked with different names like Mr. Bungle, Bill Frisell, Laurie Anderson, just to name a few.  He is also pushing boundaries  and creating different musics. This is an epic album that I enjoyed listening to when I was travelling with trains. Music is quite unique; it feels like it delivers a marvelous journey through an imaginary source. Can be considered as cinematic listening since the music slowly goes around a theme with variations which encompassed by engrossing soundscapes and medieval-like atmosphere.

• Gas – Pop (Mille Plateaux)

What a great year 2000 was for innovative ambient music. There are many similar music is out there right now, but back then it was kind of thrilling to have a music made with new approach. This record can really be described as typical Gas, yet it’s my favorite one among the other albums. The reason is I hear different sounds and visualize different images every time I listen to it. One scrumptious thing about Gas’ music; it’s hard to focus on individual sounds, mostly because of Wolfgang Voigt’s unique mixing and production techniques. Therefore it gives different pleasure or takes you to different places with each listening. It’s difficult to define the music when it comes to the feelings and the situation is not getting any easier here because it just sounds like a natural flow.

• Godspeed You Black Emperor! – Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven! (Constellation)

• Kid606 – Soccergirl EP (Carpark Records)

Kid606 is best known for his hardcore beats with mind blowing angry noises, but here’s a little exception. Though I’m not a fan of all his works, I really love his softer side. The albums he released on Mille Plateaux were genuinely good and I can say the same for this overlooked EP. It may not be his most original sounding work, because sonically it reminds of the time when first electronic ambient music emerged. However, the atmosphere that sequences make provides a delicate and almost a poetic line of beauty.

• Kid Koala – Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (Ninja Tune)

• Luomo – Vocalcity (Force Tracks)

This album was my first introduction to Sasu Ripatti and the whole Force Tracks label. It was the time when minimal or micro house was still tied to roots of house music. Though the tracks on the album have very groovy bass lines and a fluent structure, they probably can’t be perceived as dance-floor-ish by today’s young clubbers. The title is quite illustrative of what dominates the album and that is the soulful vocal lines. Sung in laid back style with simple lyrics, vocals get more intimate with the wise use of dub-like delay and reverb effects. If the track lengths weren’t about 12-13 minutes or the whole production wasn’t built in textural atmosphere, Vocalcity could easily be described as pop music but it soars high into some sonic ether that is too original to fit into any genre.

• Moodymann – Forevernevermore (Peacefrog)

• MRI – Rhythmogenesis (Force Tracks)

Oh, I can’t tell you how I miss Force Tracks. It was the time when we were actually waiting for the label to release next stuff and getting excited for it. I truly relied on their taste when they put an EP or album out. Now it looks, those times were kind of magical. Anyway, Rhythmogenesis is another fascinating example of early minimal-dub-house just like Luomo’s Vocalcity. I don’t know if it has become my obsession by the years to determine Basic Channel influence whenever I hear delayed chords in plain 4/4 texture but there are some moments I feel the same on this album. Not in a bad way, of course; MRI takes the influence to someplace else where staccato samples chops with melodic notes and some disco flavor.

• Pan•American – 360 Business / 360 Bypass (Blast First)

I can easily state this album as one of my favourites of all time. Quirky drones, ice-cold loops, gloomy soundscapes and fragile melodies; all is drawn together in a manner that can be only achieved by an artist like Mark Nelson. Back in the day, it wasn’t really common to come across music production quite like this: traditional use of real instruments in a context where both influences from minimal dubby techno and drone rock take place. 360 Business / 360 Bypass also provides a wide sonic space that combines the aspects of given styles in a way which wasn’t truly explored before.

• Pan Sonic – Aaltopiiri (Blast First)

I think one of the best concert experiences I’ve had was when I went to Pan Sonic’s gig soon after they released this album. Aaltopiiri is a bit different than duo’s other albums; it’s not really noisy or exhausting. It’s the very opposite actually; textures are really tidy that makes the listening experience very intense. Even though it’s filled with mechanic electronic signals and noises, emotions are kind of attached to the tracks which draws a great picture of urban human life.

• St Germain – Tourist [Blue Note]

It might be the favorite record of Lounge Café/Bars during the first half of the last decade; Tourist is a milestone in the history of fusion of jazz and electronic music. The album has many hits, even the mainstream ones but I don’t think there is any track on the album is below the average; the production at its best, everything’s well arranged and the most important is the mixture between genres is no faked up synthesis. It’s still a great album to play from beginning to end, especially on Sunday evenings.

• Super Furry Animals – Mwng (Placid Casual Recordings)

• Sutekh – Periods.Make.Sense (Force Inc. Music Works)

How cool experimental-minimal/click techno was back in early 2000’s, it had everything that it lacks today: mysterious ambience, interesting clicks and cuts, driving basslines which wasn’t necessarily written for dance floor and so on. Before the wide use of vst plug-ins there wasn’t many works in this class, however it has become less and less interesting with excessive use of micro sounds. It was actually tagged as experimental in so many reviews but after some point heavy beats kick into the music. Though the whole micro-click-glitch triangle is out of sight now, Periods.Make.Sense still sounds fresh.

• Sutekh & Twerk – Deadpan Escapament Reconstructed (Context)

• Soulphiction – Bust Me (Perlon)

• The Necks – Hanging Gardens (Fish of Milk)

• Vladislav Delay – Multila (Chain Reaction)

• William Ørbit – Pieces In A Modern Style [Maverick]

Ismail Genc’s most recent offering Derivate comes on the heels of his Havantepe project where he created dubby circles in techno. This time around the Istanbulite derives new approaches from emerging musical ideas in a bid to combine them in his distinctive style.

The title of the EP comes from the locations in space where gravitational forces and the orbital configuration of an object balance each other. There are five Lagrangian Points in the Sun-Earth system numbered from L1 to L5 and of the five points, three are unstable and two are stable. L1, L2 and L3 constitute unstable equilibrium points and the tracks on this first part of Lagrangian Points EP’s are named after them.

On these four tracks you are invited to experience a dreamy techno space, filled with human emotions and shattered beats. Inspired by some dubstep elements, Derivate delivers three tracks of dub-tech-based minimal grooves and Tufan Demir’s Beto Narme strips down L2 and appends more dubstep edge to it with sharp rhythms.