Quantum Decay

Iron In The Soul by Cacophonous Bling on Mixcloud

This is something I recorded at the beginning of the month, but forgot about; (doesn't sound like much of a recommendation, does it?) In any case, after listening to it a few times, any gallops are fleeting at best in the grand scheme of things, so I've decided to upload it.

A Short Chat With Steve O'Sullivan

Steve O’Sullivan started releasing material in the mid-nineties, on Russ Gabriel’s Ferox, as well as his own Mosaic and Green labels and Soma. He has recorded under a variety of aliases, as well as his own name, and this short chat coincides with the release of his first original material for some time, a one-sided slab of vinyl, ‘Kutchie Dub’, under his Wise Caucasian pseudonym. He’s probably best known for his take on dub techno, but to limit him to any cavernous, vague, ambient explorations would be wrong. His music, and that of his labels, particularly Mosaic, which was revived last year, does so much more and over the years has come to be regarded as seminal, not just for the music released, but for its philosophy and all-round aesthetic. Steve was kind enough to answer a few questions I put to him through the miracle of social networking.

How did it all start for you, and would you say that your musical upbringing was typical?

Well, I guess the real starting point was the effect that listening to electronic music had on me in my teens. There was so much fantastic music being made at that time and then, of course, house and techno came along and pretty much changed my life. The DIY aspect of techno, in particular, attracted me and before I knew it I'd started to produce and here I am, 20 odd years later, talking to you...

Mosaic, Ferox and Solid Groove have all started releasing music again over the past year. Coincidence, or some shadowy plan for world domination?

Definitely Coincidence. World domination would never be possible with the type of music we put out. I really can't see Steve Aoki and the EDM crowd suddenly playing our tunes...thankfully!

How, if at all, does the techno and house which characterizes the productions coming out on Mosaic, differ from similar fare?

Well I think it's important to make sure that the tracks I put out don't sound like every other new release out there otherwise there would be no real point in running the label.

In terms of characterising the sound I like to think that Mosaic has a clearly identifiable sound or vibe , even if that sound changes from release to release, but I'm probably too close to the music to critique it or sum up adequately what makes a Mosaic record stand out. All I can say is that I've never had a business plan or goal other than to select tracks that I love and cut them so they sound the way I like music to be heard. I know that doesn't answer the question but honesty is better than bullshit, right?

I read in an interview with TEA, which you did at the beginning of last year, that you “hit a creative wall”. How easy was it for you to come back into music, and what can we expect from your upcoming EP?

Well you never forget how to produce but ideas and inspiration tend to ebb and flow. Finishing tracks became a big problem for me and the longer that went on I just got stuck in loop mode. So I took a break and six months became a year and then nine had passed.

A couple of years ago I just started to enjoy the whole creative side again. It kind of felt like the early days when I was just making beats for fun and it was at that stage that Sushitech got in touch and we spoke about ideas for some new projects.

How easy was it? Well, effortless if I'm honest. Although I wouldn't dare play those early tracks to anyone: I think all producers have to get a few turds out of the way before something more special comes along and some of those early ideas were far from great!

As for the new stuff...I've always been a believer in only releasing music that I would buy myself and never just to fill a place in a release schedule so I've consciously limited what new music would see the light of day over the last 18 months. I decided about a year ago to work entirely with hardware again and use the computer only as a tape machine and since making that decision things have just started to sound and, more importantly, feel better! So much so that I think some of my recent productions are up there with the best of my tracks from the 90s.

I recently resurrected my 'Wise Caucasian' alter ego for a single sided 12 that has just come out on Sushitech and that, together with a recent remix on an Italian label called Sorry For This, are probably two of the best dub techno tracks I've ever made.

Early next year I have two EPs on Sushitech coming, one 12" of deeper techno and another of more minimal techno in the vein of my old green series from the 90s. I also have a remix for Burnski's new label, Constant Sound, coming which has one of the phattest bottom ends that I've ever managed to achieve in the studio.

All in all I'm pretty excited to see how these new tunes go down and hope that they resonate with those who have appreciated my sound over the years.

What is it about the current musical climate that persuaded you to start again?

As I said already I only started up again as the enjoyment of the whole production side of things had come back- I had a bad case of writers block up to that point.

I never shut myself off from what was going on over the years but, if I'm honest , I wasn't as immersed in things as much as I was when the label was running or as I am now.

Having reconnected with things after my break I gotta say I have been really encouraged by how things are going both in terms of the music being made and the enthusiasm of the promoters and DJs who are making their mark. The most inspiring thing, though, is that it's the younger generation who are leading and moving things forward rather than old timers like myself.

Are there any plans to revive Bluespirit or Bluetrain? If so, would your focus on the finished product be much different from that of Mosaic?

I'm not sure as they were both of their time but It's funny that you mention it as I've just been working on some Bluespirit style beats this morning. If I'm still happy with those in a few weeks time then maybe we could see a revival of that name.

As for Bluetrain I think if I'm ever going to use than moniker again it will probably be for some serious dub , non 4/4 stuff, but whether that happens or not will depend on how the studio sessions go.

How important is it to release exclusively on vinyl,

Well I'm not a vinyl purist by any means but there's something special about the way this type of music sounds on vinyl that I love. Audio purists may argue about the imperfections of the sound, but a piece of vinyl can look quite beautiful, especially if you take the time to cut the music in interesting ways. I've always cut my records so that they look unique as  well as sounding unique .

Is the selection process for artists on Mosaic now any different from the first time round, and who would you like to have on the label that you haven’t managed to recruit?

Most definitely different. I started the label up again to give new producers the chance to be showcased alongside more familiar names. So that now involves listening to hundreds of tracks each month whereas in the past the majority of artists were either friends or guys I had approached directly.

There are loads of names that I would still like to recruit but I will keep my mouth shut just in case my mentioning it here jinxes things!

My main goal with the split series is just to find new talent and the new artists I've had involved so far are amazingly talented. Hopefully I can find a few more.

Your work on every label that’s featured you has been characterized by a soulful, deep dubbiness which also has momentum and can be as floor-focussed as it’s possible to be within the confines of which you work. Few producers can pull this off. What’s your secret?

Secret? Well there's not much to it if I'm honest. I love a good kick drum, some heavy bass and I can't play the keyboard and those limitations led to the sound I have.

Having said that, with minimal music it's all about the placement of sounds and percussion and how they relate to each other and we all have our own unique way of doing that, so, I will take the compliment graciously!

Who/What are your greatest influences, musical or not?

Robert Hood, Adrian Sherwood, Jeff Mills, Maurizio and Nitzer Ebb... The list could go on forever but those are probably the most evident in my work.

Could you give an all time, genre irrespective, top five?

Well it changes but today it's . . .

Robert Hood - Master Builder

Nitzer Ebb - Belief

Friendly as a Hand Grenade - Tackhead

Radio Babylon - Meat Beat Manifesto

Lonnie Liston Smith - Expansions

December Chart

Photo of the abandoned Italian disco Ultimo Imperio by Antonio La Grotta.

Impossible Romance – Visonia (Last Known Trajectory)

Bloodlines – Marcel Dettmann/Silent Servant/Anthony Parasole (The Corner)

Vimmes – Holdie Gawn/Micawber (Sylphe)

X – X (Rush Hour)

Polyfonikdizko – Mutant Beat Dance (Rush Hour)

Sap Sap Seoi La – Samo DJ/Over The Hill/Taro Tokugawa (Public Possession)

Gutz – AN I (Cititrax/Minimal Wave)

 The Return Trip Vol 4 – Heko/Gnork/Oddnipp (Blind Jack’s Journey)

 Will & Florian – Will & Florian (Rush Hour)

Yttre Rymden – Farbror Resande Mac (Mystic & Quantum)

Differ-ent EP - Differ-ent aka DJ Bone (Don't Be Afraid)

Title: Differ-ent EP

Artist: Differ-ent aka DJ Bone

Label: Don’t Be Afraid

Cat Number: DBA018

Genre: Techno

A: Different (hrall)

B: Different (ity)

My youngest son is doing some homework at the moment which involves completing a crossword in which the skeleton makes up the words. The perfect reminder then, to write this small, but overdue piece on DJ Bone’s debut release from his alter-ego, Differ-ent. The sound is crystalline and, like this review, concise. ‘Different (hrall)’ is an insistent, linear dialogue with west Africa, while ‘Different (ity)’ is its tonal opposite, sacrificing intricacy for the more wide-open spaces of a sinister, softened around the edges, dub–imbued industrialism. Both tracks are sharp as needles, full of clarity and, as examples of repetitive beats, stand out from the crowd.

Chris Mitchell On The Ones & Twos

20140403 Chris Mitchell from studio r° on Vimeo.

Came across this the other day and, as I'm a sucker for watching DJs doing their thing, particularly when shot in good quality, decided to post it.

Parachute EP - sonofdistantearth (Lobster Theremin)

Here be my review of the upper-case challenged sonofdistantearth's release from the increasingly essential Lobster Theremin.

Spectrum EP - Nicuri/Joey Anderson (Sound Theories)

I wrote a few words about the debut release on Nicuri's new label for Ibiza Voice. Check it here.

Favourite Five: Svek

I’d originally intended to write an article about Svek for Ibiza Voice. It’s first incarnation was planned to be a joint piece with another long gone, but influential imprint, Austrian label Grow! However, I soon realized that I wouldn’t be able to do both justice in the space I’d have, so I decided to just write about Svek instead. Things started to slide though and I forgot about it, but then interest was revived when someone on the Svek Facebook page gave me contact details for Stephan Grieder, Svek’s head. I quickly got in touch, but had a portentous feeling as soon as I did. It would have been nice had Stephan agreed to an interview, but he didn’t want to participate, saying:

“Big thanks, but the Svek period is over for me.

Living in Sweden country of Avicii, Swedish House Mafia ect...

I left because of an impossible marketing storm in the music industry for very little quality..

Thank you for support !!”

A pity, but that’s up to him. In any case, instead of an interview, I thought I’d write a little about the label and post up my favourite five from it.

I was doing the vast majority of my record shopping in the mid-nineties in Rough Trade, Paris which, thanks to Ivan Smagghe, Jerome Mestre and later, Arnaud Rebotini, was almost exclusively a house and techno mecca. God knows how much I spent there but let’s say I could have almost had the deposit for a small house over the three years had I not bought anything. Svek was one of many labels I took it upon myself to collect, but it’s resonated more than most over the years. I can’t say why exactly, but probably because it had such a way with a groove that made it hard to forget. Also, in anticipating minimalism a good few years before it dropped, it actually sounded much better than anything which subsequently came out of that genre. The funny thing is that I don’t have the first few releases, ’10 Inch Madness’ by Alexi Delano was the first, so I missed out on the Calico, Ari Jukka and Gene Hunt ones, and still don’t have them. Conversely, I never thought that the deeper house cuts on the label, a lot of which characterized the later output, held a candle to the earlier, dubbier ones. With these, Svek really epitomized what dancefloor-focussed dub techno is really capable of.

 If I’m honest it’s probably because the time I associate with buying these records was one of the happiest periods in my life and those releases which came out after I left Paris don’t evoke anything like the same feeling of nostalgia. They’re still strong though, but one cursory plod through Discogs seems to suggest that it’s the earlier, techier, dubbier stuff which is the most sought-after, and has the highest asking prices.

In no particular order then:

The Persuader Untitled B2 - Jesper Dahlback 

The best known track off this EP and, the one I'm posting, although the rest of the release is very strong. This is simply the most unique piece on the release.

Bon Voyage - Air Frog

The most recent release here, again a unique piece of work. It's all about the bass.

Kaos - Stephan G & The Persuader 

A release which for me typifies the dubby, minimal sound of a lot of early Svek better than anything else. The B Side is great too, replacing the vocal with steel drums, and getting deeper.

Pattern One - The Concealed Project

One of four tracks on this release which come from the mind of Adam Beyer and is a world away from what he is usually associated with. Melancholic, dark and chilling.

Snorkelmannen O Hans Vanner - mr Barth & The Persuader

Kari Lekebusch and Jesper Dahlback team up for some Basic Channel - style grooving rinsed with swathes of poignant ambience.