Moon PooL & Dead Band - Gossypol

Here's a newer release from one of my favorite newer local groups. As always, Moon Pool & Dead Band are proving themselves to be on the cutting edge of innovation (or something cool sounding like that). AA Records do have some cool things to offer, but they generally only produce limited runs, so pick this one up soon! Although MPDB are retaining their original style, some of the drum beats in Gossypol are almost hip hop-like. Neat stuff!

AA Records

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Paperclip People - The Secret Tapes of Dr. Eich

Paperclip People is one of the many aliases of Carl Craig. Starting with his first contribution to a Virgin UK compilation in 1989, he will go onto establishing Planet E a couple years later and has been DJing and producing ever since. The Secret Tapes of Dr. Eich is just another one of the great productions Planet E has put out. Easily the most interesting and unique (or at least this is the only label I've seen do this) aspect of the label's website would be their inexpensive mp3 downloads. As far as I can tell, for only $1.50 (1.12 Euros), all of the full lengths and 12"s Planet E offers can be obtained. Often, this is what services charge for a single track.

Super Cheap Planet E

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Urban Tribe - Loyal Opposition

This is a newer Urban Tribe record (2010) coming out of Planet E. The A2 track Apathy's great in particular with the more noise-ier style that it has, along with B2 Insolitology and its driving distorted synthesizer I'd expect from the likes of John Maus. Either Sherard Ingram is going more experimental or I just really need to listen to the complete Urban Tribe discography.

Planet E

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Drexciya - The Journey Home

Although Drexciya was technically two people, it's believed James Stinson (also with Elecktroids, well, both members were actually), who has since passed, did the majority of the production. Gerald Donald, the other member, continues to make music under different aliases. Like many techno artists, Drexciya primarily concealed their identities until their demise. Although they would do interviews, they were known to conduct them hidden under Star Trek masks. The Journey Home is Warp release, which in itself should be proof that I'm posting a solid record. They're responsible for releases from Aphex Twin, Autechre, and Flying Lotus, just to name a few. Drexciya are well-worth listening to in depth and their originality and creativity are tough to match.

Warp

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Blake Baxter - The H-Factor

The poet, techno producer, and vinyl protectionist advocate Blake Baxter is a Detroit veteran, even though he's currently living in Los Angeles. In 1988, he was one of the artists featured on the "Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit" album released by Virgin 10 out of London. A major Detroit venue, the Majestic, was practically home to Blake back in the early 90's and this allowed him to make an important contribution in expanding techno's audience. Disko B, or "Disko Bombs", out of Munich released the ever-so-bangin' "The H-Factor" and has been putting out a consistent stream of records since 1991.

Beatport

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Eddie 'Flashin' Fowlkes - Black Technosoul

One of the seemingly lesser know originators of techno, Eddie 'Flashin' Fowlkes, is the self-proclaimed godfather of 'techno soul'. Growing up on a healthy diet of Motown and soul and receiving his first mixer in 1977, Eddie will go onto recording his first single "Goodbye Kiss" on Metroplex in 1986. This album, and along with many of his others, were released on the ever-so-famous Tresor out of Berlin, this being the third. Black Technosoul was such a pleasant surprise the first time I listened to it with its high energy, helping the explain his nickname 'Flashin'.

Tresor

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Model 500 - Night Drive

Night Drive is one of the first Model 500/Metroplex releases and a Detroit classic. The primary track, Night Drive (Thru-Babylon) was supposedly inspired by the drone being dispensed from the factories off of a Detroit freeway, which melds together quite well with the themes within early techno. The term 'transmat' used (taken from the name given to a transportation device in Doctor Who) will later be taken up by Derick May to name his own label. On another note, the only difference between the first and second tracks (Night Drive (Thru-Babylon) and Time Space Transmat) is that the former contains Juan Atkins vocals while the latter does not.

Purchase

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Cybotron - Clear

Juan Atkins met Richard "Rik" Davis when they both attended Washtenaw Community College where Rik handed Juan Atkins demo tapes he had recorded, all leading up to Cybotron. This name, "Cybotron" (derived from "cyborg" and "cyclotron"), comes from"The Grid" that the two had written, a dictionary of more or less "futuristic lingo". This book will later serve as their major inspiration for all their music. The similarities Kraftwerk had with techno are extremely apparent, even though Atkins claims he was completely unaware of the German group for the first couple years of his career.

"The beauty of first hearing Kraftwerk was that the sounds were so similar to what I was doing, and these guys were halfway across the planet" - Juan Atkins

This release also includes the ever-famous single "alleys of your mind". It's hard to have a blog of this nature without posting this techno essential.

Also, I'm not even going to bother with a "purchase" link because I have no clue where one could pay for their music and have money directly or indirectly travel into their bank accounts.

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Detroit Grand Pubahs - Madd Circus

The ever-so-famous Detroit Grand Pubahs have returned with another release (well, about a year ago) and it's reliably good. With artists such as DGP, you can expect to hear a near-exact style in their music that won't stray too much, thus take any significant risks. Still, Madd Circus has a slightly more 'sophisticated' sound that seems to branch more into techno than their earlier recordings. If you aren't interested in a second Detroit Grand Pubahs album, then you're likely an asshole, and nobody's interested in those.

Juno

*Download link needed to be removed. My apologies.*

Underground Resistance - The Punisher

Jeff Mills and Mike Banks started Underground Resistance in response to the big music industry. Like many other acts, UR keeps interviews to a minimum to allow their music to do all of the talking. To further their 'mystique' is their militaristic feel, stemming from Bank's father's army background and T.G. Williams, a mentor who's an impressive three-time wounded Vietnam veteran (a persistent type, apparently). This album was the result of attempting to beat the 'opposition at its own game' and a general dislike for the European rave scene. To push an over-the-top sound, out came the birth of "The Punisher" which was well-received by these very same Europeans, ironically. This release is in fact named after the Marvel comic book character, and after its success, Underground Resistance began to take on Punisher's logo-deal, as shown below.

Purchase

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Urban Tribe - FACT mix 222

I decided to post more Urban Tribe because of how many people downloaded the previous link. Sherard Ingram's (DJ Stingray) latest release is a mix released through FACT magazine to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Planet E, which released his "Covert Action’/'Rebirth" single in 2002.

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Track listings:
STATION BASS / ORIGNAL MIX 2 / HYDRAULIC RECORDS
HELL + JONZON / BAZETOYA / DISKO
SILICON SCALLY / PROTEUS / FIREWIRE
CONDITION RED / THE SAFETY IS OFF / UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE
THE ADVENT / WASPER / KOMBINATION RESEARCH
FRUSTRATED FIGURES / ELASTIC / CLONE RECORDS
MATT CARTER / EXPLODE / FIREWIRE
ROBERT HOOD / RIDE / MINIMAL NATION
TACTICAL SYSTEMS / PHASED ENERGY RECTIFICATION / ROULETTE REKORDZ
SCAPE ONE / OMEGATROPIC / TEMPLE DOG RECORDS
DECAL / FREEKIN EMPIRES / ROTTERS GOLF CLUB
TIME TRAP TEKNIK / FUTURE CITIES / ECKO UNLIMITED / KOMBINATION RESEARCH
E8 / CLONE RECORDS
DOUBLE DUTCH / LAUNCH DETECTED / MARGUERITA RECORDS
MARCO BERNARDI / MORPHEUSIS / FRUSTRATED FUNK
IILEKTROLAB / REAL PIMP SATAMILE
D.I.E. / LET YO BODY ROCK / MAP RECORDS
DJ LHOIE / SUBLIMENTAL / SUBJECT DETROIT
MARCO BERNARDI / PREACHER TEACHER / FRUSTRATED FUNK
SILICON / SONIC DISTRESS / FRUSTRATED FUNK
VENOMOUS / THE TOXIN / UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE
3 PHASE feat. DR MOTTE / DER KLANG FAMILIE / NOVA MUTE
BILEEBOB / CALL ME / UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE
SILICON / ELECTRON PUSH / NSC RECORDS
DREXCIYA / DANGER BAY / UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE

Panic in Detroit - v/a

Here's a compilation from the short-lived "Buzz" (Electric Soul's sub-label) out of Berlin. Generally speaking, I've never been a huge fan compilations, but this is too solid for me to pass up. Multiple artists on here have extremely limited recorded material, not to mention there's not many sources offering this either, so hey, enjoy.




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Track listing:
01 Open House Featuring Placid Angles- Rainforest (6:31)
02 Prototype- The Path (6:35)
03 Yennek- Serena "X" (5:23)
04 M500- Dimensions (5:51)
05 Eddie "Flashin" Fowlkes- O.C.C. (5:13)
06 Lucky Charm- Double X-Posure (6:13)
07 Inertia- Satisfaction (6:34)
08 Eddie "Flashin" Fowlkes- Pure Afro Sound (4:44)

Punisher - Recycled Dreams

Michelle Herrman, or Punisher, is probably best known for beginning Seismic Records (not to be confused with the UK label) in 1998. Asides from this, she has quite a bit of local fame with multiple years of playing at the annual and well known Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF). Her more recent endeavors include the creation of Hej Records with John Overfiend. Although I'm yet to see her play for myself, I've heard many people recount just how fantastic her performances are. A friend of mine swears that Punisher is the only techno show he's been to where he's noticed the sensation of his eyes moving in its sockets because of how intense the bass was.

Hej Records

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Moon Pool & Dead Band - Untitled (CDR)

Through pounding dark synths and experimental techno, Moon Pool & Dead Band are quickly chiseling a solid reputation for themselves. This group's very unexpected when dealing with the member's backgrounds. Nate Young (Wolf Eyes) coming from a more noise-based group and Dave Shettler (The Sights), a well-known garage rock band. Moon Pool manages to stick to classic analogue equipment and the driving heart of Detroit techno; reinventing their roots and owning a devastatingly fresh style. I would also recommend listening to a live set or even attending a performance. They seem to play a notably different show every time.

*Please note how the artist's tag's technically incorrect. Blogger doesn't allow "&" within a label. Also, please excuse my anally retentive habits.

AA Records

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Urban Tribe - Acceptable Side Effects

Sherard Ingram (DJ Stingray) is, in a sense, the leader of Urban Tribe, which could be called a collective involving Carl Craig, Kenny Dixon Jr., and Anthony "Shake" Shakir. The project began on Carl Craig's label; Planet E. He intentionally keeps his identity a bit mysterious, avoiding the mainstream and performing with a ski mask. Urban Tribe holds a rather original sound, seeming to be influenced by German electronic music while reaching inside himself to create an experimental sound of his own.

Planet E shop


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Aux 88 - Is it Man or Machine?

For nearly 20 years, Tom Tom (Tommy Hamilton) and Keith Tucker (DJ K-1) have been performing as Aux 88, although they began as RX-7 in 1985. They're "exclusively" on Puzzlebox Records from now on, started by Tucker. This year at the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF) they absolutely blew me away with the addition of special guests and the "Unstoppables Dancers" at a point. Here's an album to really feed that electro urge.

Webstore

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