Salvador Breed and Stijn van Beek met while studying Sound Design and Music Technology in 2006. Ever since then the pair have been beavering away behind an arsenal of blinking banks in Amsterdam. The musical fruit of their friendship is Breek, a partnership that smears the boundaries of styles and sounds with festive flare and a rainbow steaked uniqueness. For their vinyl debut 'Yokai', a candy coloured cornucopia of elements are swirled and whirled. Braindance, electronica and neo-classical are festooned with dubby tones and underground grit in a unique sound of diverse textures and deep tones. Faster works, like the swooping joy of "Yokai", are countered by more contemplative "Ama." "Hang" is a whimsical dreamscape of squirming acid lines, crisp drums and angular notes that combine to produce a brilliantly bright piece. "Mu-Onna" and "Oiwa" are more abstract works that melt vocals with sweet strings before the final piano swells and ambient rains of "Burabura." A daring and dynamic vinyl debut from this eccentric duo with stunning artwork from Warren du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones.
Memory Disks. Volume One. Chevron. The Blackpool born sorcerer is conjuring up spellbinding tracks that boil and bubble between supernatural rave, occult acid and inverted techno. Dripping from speakers, a concoction of swirling chords simmer as a spiced shower of razor edged rhythms are poured into the pot. Shadowy notes ghost like phantoms behind crunching beats, beastly bars growl as keys slide and slither between nine short, medium and long excursions into the glow-stick festooned musical mind of Jonathan Valentine. Nestled amongst the bewitching synthesizer psychedelia, peering from behind the purple forests and white dwarf frogs, are less frenetic works, a soft balance to the frenzied chicanery and chrome plated magic. Simply put, a weird and wonderful EP where the only stable point, the only spot of secured safety, is the needle on the record.
Memory Disks. Volume Two. Chevron. Jonathan Valentine returns to Shipwrec with a second instalment of his mind and motherboard melting music. This mini album is packed to bursting with ten tracks of acid soaked electronics, chiptune glossed chicanery and retuned rock reworks. Volume two picks up where the first left off as the Blackpool wizard reimagines and reshapes drill and bass, beatless ambient and funfair funk. A catherine wheel is ignited from the needle drop to send a rainbow of sounds and styles spinning and swirling under the shimmering brilliance of Valentine's daring creativity. Stand back and simply enjoy.
Shipwrec are opening a new style chapter with Coco Bryce. Dub, jungle, skwee and breakbeat come together to form the signature sound of the Myor label boss. From laid back Caribbean rhythms to sweat dripping bedlam, Coco Bryce comes with melting pot bubbling over with influences and styles. Mesak and FFF have been drafted in on remix duties, each adding their own flavour to this heady brew. A 12" brimming with exotic spices and sounds from an artist who dares with his musical ingredients.
Shipwrec is 50 releases old. No mean feat and to celebrate the dutch label is returning to one of its stalwarts, Ed Upton aka DMX Krew. For this very special 12" the veteran audio alchemist conjures up five tracks of machine music magic. Squirming, acid soaked electro forms and melts in "Bush Baby Bug Eyes" before the shapeshifting "EQShift Trak." "Language Reponse" goes up a gear, rhythms zipping along on a highway of bright bars as synth lines beam warmth. The flip skids into the corners for the chiptune freshness of "Irrational Momentum" before the wave funk wizardry of the title piece. Ed Upton cracking open the champagne for this Shipwrec milestone and once again proving his undeniable prowess behind the machines.
1997. 'Drexciya don't have no phone. They're too busy to do your remix'. Mad Mike's response was short and to the point, enough to put off some; but not Vincent Koreman. Addicted from an early age, the dutch producer dug deeper and deeper into the mythology and mystery of James Stinson and Gerald Donald. The sounds, images and ideas conjured up by the Detroit electro duo pulled Koreman in, his "fascination" growing ever more "intense" as the underwater dwellers sonically prospered. Fast forward twenty years and that fascination has not diluted one drop, in fact the aquatic dream of the wavejumpers is the inspiration for "Recolonization". These tracks "would have never had existed," says Koreman, "if it wasn't for Stinson and Donald creating that great, energetic, abstract electronic music and coupled it with an original vision on the African diaspora, art and culture." This music is an homage to the enigma of Drexciya, a tribute to the machine marine men who pioneered electro and a vision. Drvg Cvltvre continues that vision, one of "an underwater race" that has reconquered Earth, overcoming "big business, corporate greed and water pollution" to reclaim the surface from man. Forget mankind. Our time is over, 'Recolonization' is here.
"Primus Motor" sees Ekman return to many of the sounds that gained him a reputation as an artist on labels like Bunker and Berceuse Heroique. Although harsh bucking acid lines, pockmarked notes, brutal beats and eerie echo are all present, a new tone has been added to the caustic palette. A psychological nuance, an undercurrent of the inchoate has been investigated and exploited to chilling effect. Crippling psychoses. Debilitating neuroses. Physical pain. Suffering stalks this first full vinyl album. Sinister sounds encircle the eight offerings, hovering like vultures over inhospitable plains of ashen grey, jagged peaks and dark sweeping swamps. Hope is all but drawn away in this bleached audio landscape, drained by sheer synthlines and reduced renderings. Amidst the sorrow and strain there are pin pricks of joy, albeit bleak and pallid ones. An album that unnerves as it engages, a collection of icy radiance and industrial indifference from a dutch master.
A1 – Autapse: Ekman starts the SFL EP with a piece of wobbly acidic bliss called Autapse. The main part of the track is a very hypnotic retro acid line that seems to be all the rage again these days, and why not? It’s the definitive of sound that always conjures up the great days of the late 80’s acid house movement. Anyway back to the track, the percussive elements are simple but allow the main players in the piece room to breathe. Crisp hats and claps take the lead and they are supported with soft kicks and stuttered tapping sounds. There is an eerie synth sound that haunts its way around the acid line and adds to the overall hypnotism of the tune. The bass line really gels all of the other components together and completes what is an excellent opening gambit from Ekman.
A2 – Uncertainty Principle: This is a more energetic and dance floor focused track. There is a real sense of urgency in the tune; the use of great squelchy sounds is superb and really uplifting. The beat structure is tight and quite progressive sounding in its arrangement style. The rounded claps and brushed hats are very groovy and when coupled with the solid 4/4 kicks really sound quite exciting (Would be great loud). The extra tripped out sounds also add to this mesmerizing ritual towards the temple of tribal dance. They create a very welcoming embrace into the realms of your on head whilst your legs go all jazzy and weirdJ. This is a top tune make no mistake about that.
B1 – Synaptic Feedback Loops: The title track of the EP carries on the traditions of the “A-Side”. Deep and meaningful acid lines are the order of the day here. There is a wonderful deep spacey pad sound the envelopes the main acid and really gives the track depth. The filters used on the acid line work really well as they reveal the rasp of the line as the track develops. This is a tune for you mind and takes you away with the drifting sounds softening the more harsh protagonists. The percussion is minimal but as before really gives the synth sections the chance to shine. A subbed out solid kick drum leads the march on acid house towers, in support a delayed clap swings in to flank the kick, and an open hi-hat completes the charge.
B2 – Antimony: The sounds here are quite out there and have a cold vibe about them. Think machines going on the attack as they decide to become self-aware. Don’t be fooled though the feel of the track works to perfection when compared with the others in this collection. Antimony feels very clinical and precise and less organic than the previously mentioned tunes. There are some superb percussive parts here, oscillating kick drums, tapping wood blocks and crisp clap sounds and sharp hats the groove is very cool indeed. The almost reverse sounding synth sound is very pleasing and welcome in this sci-fi adventure on a crazed spaceship of oddball robots and computers gone mad.
Scotland's premier electro alchemist is back on Shipwrec and this time flying solo with five shards of sharpened machine music. Beats rain down in solid sheets, a hail of drum patterns pelt and pound. Acid scorn, speeding snares and scorched sound roar and rumble in the menacing "Days of Rage." The 12" hisses and howls, sending forth a searing line of percussion as gears crank and grown. "Glasgow to Detroit" is just as fiery, scorn and sparks leaping off burning bars. Aggression is always at the surface, and behind the razor rhythms lurks a palpable paranoia, as in "Daisy Cutter" or "Uprising." The only respite comes with the complex and textured "Stones and Sticks." Harsh mechanics from an industrial heartland.
An Atlantic crossover brings together Detroit's Stingray313 and Glasgow's Galaxian for a very special 12". More collaboration than split, the EP sees each artist fly solo as well as combining their admirable analogue abilities. Pressures are high from the outset, Galaxian twists and teases patterns in the reverbing reverence of "Storm Coming." BPMs surge as the two merge for the cold "NU-1000." Lilting notes ghost between rasping rhythms. And it is around such racing drums that warmth flows, as in the meandering softness of "Graphene." Beats don't abate as Stingray takes the helm for the blistering bass of "Dopant."
Illektrolab has been missing in action for seven years. An electro machine, this Satamile alumni went rogue; ducking under the radar in 2007.
Now found he's ready to return to the front line. Four weapons make up Illahertz. Clipped beats break and reform, basslines bubble and bulge as computer funk is lanced by pared steel. Drums race in eerie future wastelands, fizzing static and samples circling before acid rains down. Future and past influences sharpened into dangerous electro blades by a prodigal son.
Shipwrec is delighted to welcome an electro pioneer into the fold. Larry McCormick has been at the coal face of machine music for two decades, carving razor sharp cuts under his Exzakt alias whilst spearheading future funk on his exemplary Monotone Records. Intelectro exemplifies twenty years of experience, twenty years of music production and twenty years of talent. "Banger" does exactly what it says, a crunching work that breaks with millisecond-perfect precision before deeper layers are unfurled. "Vibes" feels like three compositions combined. From its spacious intro the track dives into acid chords before resurfacing in refined warmth. Vintage grooves open "Rocker" with some extra muscle added through heavy kicks as samples circle to an ever tighter noose. Styles shift and strafe across the quartet leaving the lines of set expectations to blur and ultimately disappear. "Ride Low" is the final proof of this, understated percussion leading to sky soaring sytnhlines and free flowing harmonies. A 12" that melds disparate sounds with frightening ease, an artist bridging electro past, present and future.
Lost Trax embody the idea of underground techno. The shadowy group, members unknown, began their music careers over 20 years ago. Output may be low, but quality is high; the style being no compromise techno brilliance. And that's what's on show here. Kick drums and squirming acid bars are at the core of "Faith", a track where soaring strings shift and reshape. The chiselled claps and barbed bass of "Flatliner" follows, taking its cue from the heyday of Detroit. A watery world of analogue abstraction greets the listener on the flip, "Lost" being an atmospheric journey into to the squelching swamps of the TB303. Sniping beats introduce the lush tones of "Renderer." Blurring the lines of electro and techno the track is an elegant end to an EP of deep and dense layers.
Aquamarine Puzzle marks a new step in the sound of Luxus Varta. Six paths are etched for this journey into time, space and the machine. A spectrum of sound is allowed to roam, to wander into strange worlds of galvanised synthlines, serrating snares and soulful strings. The 12" is perfectly balanced, astral melodies countered by crisp and precise rhythms, distant harmonies tethered to absorbing bass. A renewed partnership with machinist in arms Paris The Black FU of Detroit Grand Pubahs is formed for the mechanical dreamscape that is "Globb." A complex and utterly compelling encounter with the Luxus Varta nebula.
It seemed like Neo Ouija, a Norfolk based IDM imprint, had closed up shop. Four years of silence suggested that founder Lee Norris, aka Metamatics, had decided to call it a day. But looks can be deceiving. 2016 saw the boss release a CD album of fluid acid, squelching electro and heartfelt electronics. Shipwrec are now bringing four choice cuts from Bodypop to the vinyl faithful. Proudly sitting on the "difficult to define" shelf, Norris seamlessly shifts from frigid winter moods to warming autumnal sunshine. Old-school sounds are rewired, softened by delicate keys and steady beats. Machine music morphs into organic matter. Acid coils, echoed bleeps and clicks grow and blossom into vivid audio vistas with Metamatics, once again, proving his musical mastery.
Noamm is the electronic equivalent of a honed switchblade. With surgical precision the Bass Agenda alumnus incises keys, cuts chords, pierces percussion and razors through rhythms. It is this slicing sound that the Greek artist brings to his debut 12" for Shipwrec. Seven tracks of machined melodies and frigid fire make up Psychoanalysis. The EP is brimming with calculated fury and clinical rage. From the coursing cruelty of "Ruhestimmung" and the menacing "Dance Macabre" to the future world coldness of "Das Schwarze Korps", Noamm is direct and straight to the point with his hard hitting style and no-nonsense approach. Few respites are to be found on this 12", "Into The Abyss Of Changing Subconsious" being the only refuge from the arctic winds and audio blasts that scour this record. Frosted ferocity from start to finish from this exciting musician.
Emile Facey (Plant43) has been at the forefront of electronic for more than twelve years. During that time the British producer has released on a host of seminal labels, expanding his style and sound in new directions. Although Plant43 is typically classified as a purveyor of electro, behind those driving rhythms and steely percussion a tenderness has always been present, an emotion expressed in lilting melodies and complex harmonies. It is these melodies and harmonies that come into focus on Plant43's debut ambient album. On "From Deep Streams" is a rich and textured tapestry of synth work, a soundtrack that organically unfurls from nightime woodland walks and city stargazing to mindful solitude. The eight tracks offer the listener a calming journey into stillness, an excursion through gentle audio currents and a moment to pause and take in an inspiring vista of sound. Recorded over the space of 3 months, this album gives the quiet, the subtle and the sometimes underappreciated centre stage whilst casting light on yet another side of Emile Facey's ever-evolving music.
Following his acclaimed Scars of Intransigence album of 2014, Emile Facey (Plant43) is back on terra Shipwrec. On skeletal rhythm supports strings and bass intertwine, link and disappear. Facey performs audio alchemy, transforming cold chords into organic warmth, transfiguring electrical impulses into palpable emotion. Frigid currents flow through bright bars, ephemeral percussion snap at heels of soaring keys as Plant 43 draws you deeper and deeper into the bare and beautiful brilliance of Grid Connection.
Two miscreants of UK electronics have been drafted in by Shipwrec for a 12" of techno debauchery. Richard Bevan and Joshu Doherty, aka Posthuman, have been addicted to acid from their first contact with the caustic and cruel chords of the TB303. Since then the two cousins have gone on to curate 10 years of I Love Acid as well as doling out some toxic classics of their own. The duo deliver the soured goods once again, starting the audio anarchy with the ominously titled "Netflix and Kill". Drum patterns are gnarled and nasty in this slow burning jacker where basslines boil over into a thick syrup of late night revelry. The flip is taken over by the bullying sounds of "The Damocles Syndicate." The track rumbles with venomous menace. Coils of 303 spite bulge and contract under the strict resolve of a stern beat in this ready made floor filler. Two helpings from two malevolent masters of the silver box.
Scientists. White lab coats. The whirr of computers. SC-164 was a sonic experiment. Greg Schappert, an electronic musician known as Donor, was the willing subject. Its purpose? To melt man and computer in audio form, machine music created by an artificial being. But soon it became too powerful, self aware. The creators tried to pull the plug. They were too late. Now this assailant floats from machine to machine, communicating its message through serrated snares and bruising bass. SC-164 was cast aside by its makers. Now the project has one objective, to corrupt circuitboards and speakers with an infectious strain of corrosive electro.
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