Amrint Keen is the new alias of Lake People, reserved for his dance music productions with a rather Electro feel to it. And he has something to tell... It's a welcome return on Uncanny Valley after the release of "Break The Pattern" last year. "Believe" has so much punch that the glasses in the club run the risk of falling off the bar. However, it still manages to create a feeling of yearning. At "Dancing in the Parking Lot" we welcome Uncle Acid on the dance floor or in front of the petrol station, just to be carried away by warm synth cascades a short time later. Finally, "Natural Homeostasis" creates a symbiosis of stomping bleepy British techno and a great day with your blankie.
Credit 00 delivers his debut album "Game Over". After four EPs for Uncanny Valley the Leipzig based musician is now ready to let loose his electronic visions on full length. As everybody can confirm who saw him playing live or DJing, the head behind Uncanny Valley's sub label Rat Life is a slave to the rhythm on a full-time basis. Obsessed with sound, he can't stop pushing the buttons of his synthesizers and drum machines like someone torturing the controls of an Arcade machine. "Game Over" is an electronic love letter to the romantic fantasy worlds of classic video games and their bleepy and clonky sounds which used to be common also in repetitive electronic dance music. Collecting tracks from the last six years, "Game Over" is also a passion project that channels all his influences. You can get a glimpse of the ingredients that make up his record collection. Whether it is Hip Hop,Techno, Electro Boogie, New Beat, Italo, Jungle, Reggae, House or Chill Out. Though, all those different sounds and styles do not tear this album apart. It's a bit of a miracle that it feels so flawless for what happens between the appetizing "Level One" and the final track "The Last March". Those beats on "Game Over" can be brutally effective like the fatalities in Mortal Kombat while the overlying sounds can be smooth like the lemmings' animations in the eponymous Amiga game. Just listen to the title track. Or the instant hip shaker "Breakers Revenge" that comes with a little help from friends like Sara Stammburg on vocals and Max Rademann on Rhodes. Without losing sight on the dance floor Credit 00 creates an electronic wonderland that delights dancers and connoisseurs at the same time. To top things off the wonderful artwork was created by Alexander Dorn a.k.a. Credit 00 himself. The double 12" comes with an arcade video game inspired sticker designed by Credit 00 himself.
Here are some plain and simple cuts by yours truly Credit 00 that push just the right buttons to make people move.
The tracks were made exclusively for his live set but they are too good to keep them back. Without superfluous frills these four bangers scream "Party" in every note but as usual with Credit 00 there's also a melancholic side somewhere behind those tricky beats. House is a feeling!
In a world without hope, a world with no appetite for sonic adventures, there's only one man who can save us all. He is... the Sample Jesus! From behind the enchanted pyramids of Egypt comes a man that has nothing to prove but a lot to give. Taught by a legendary Pharaoh, he has lived the life of an eremite for decades. Exhausted after years of asceticism there was only one goal on his mind: to blow all the misery out of our heads. On the constant search for the perfect sample he listened to the finest Mongolian folk to experimental Tuvan Throat singings. It was only recently that he was returning from his self-imposed exile to come up with a record that hits deep in everybody's soul. Hallelujah, House-heads and Hip-Hop-kids, be prepared. Listen to the word of the Sample Jesus!
From the heart of Macedonia comes Herzel with his first EP for Uncanny Valley. The four tracks point him out as an expert for creating tracks on the blurred line between Rave and darkness. If you are listening on a proper sound system, it is almost impossible not to be moved by the mighty drones of FORMS that almost feel like tectonic shifts. GLIDE runs in similar veines and brings power to the dance floor with rolling bass synths and sublime pads. A little more straightforward is GLOWWORMS with sharp drums and an acidic synth theme only to finally merge into an elegiac climax. Finally, TWO hits hard with slapping synths and a dubby bass line, a gripping yet somehow nasty track.
Give'n'Take is a new series on Uncanny Valley that focuses on favourite and like-minded producers from some of our core artists. For the start, Cuthead picked Max Graef, S3A and Moony Me and also contributed two tracks to the EP himself. Berlin's wunderkind Max Graef hands in "Tittenkuschler", a slow burner that will find a home on heartfelt dancefloors and sofas alike. Cuthead's follows up with a punchy house affair called "Braziliance" and the super-relaxing Hip-Hop-cut "Oef Oef". On the flipside we have S3A from Paris with the discoid "Theuz Hamtaak". He takes no prisoners with extensive sampling and an up and down bouncing arrangement. "Magergarten" from Vienna's Moony Me runs in the same vein with its string-heavy break and powerfull drumming. For the visual component Uncanny Valley asked Lucas Hunter aka Luca Lozano aka Luke to create one of his oldschool-praising artworks.