Porter Ricks - Port Of Transition / Port Of Call

Third release on Chain Reaction, from 1996.

It's been a while since I put up any of this sort of stuff, and this one is a cracker. The A-side starts off with the familiar muffled hiss and bass kick, then kinda electronic static noises come in and before you know it they're washing all over you. This is an epic piece of minimal dub techno, a fine addition to the CR stable. On the flip, things start off a bit more quietly before the noise kicks in. This one's got an extra bit of bass-related activity.

If you like the 'Ricks then head on over to Friendsound where you can download their album which includes Port Of Call, along with another couple of 'Port'-related tracks. There's always been a nautical theme to their music apparently, including their moniker which comes from a character in the TV show 'Flipper'.

Right - off to start stage one of getting my shit together for ATP, bus leaves at 6am Friday and out for pints tomorrow...



Porter Ricks - Port Of Transition / Port Of Call
A - Port Of Transition
B - Port Of Call

Buy it here

Monolake - Cyan

Debut release for Monolake on Chain Reaction, from 1996.

Turns out that one half of this Monolake lineup is the dude who invented Abelton Live! So... no Monolake, no Optimo!?!? They've produced stuff constantly from 1996 right up till self-released stuff today. Check the fairly wanky biog that they've done for their Discogs entry:

"Monolake is an open project dedicated to computer generated music, founded in 1995 by Robert Henke and Gerhard Behles. We were impressed and influenced by Minimal Techno music and Drum&Bass and at the same time discovered the sonic richness and sophistication of academic computer music. These poles became the source and inspiration for our own creations."

Gerhard was Mr Abelton, and he's been replaced by the guy from Various Artists. Fuck me - this lot are more incestuous than that Sabres lot!

The A-side has the trademark Chain Reaction sound, but with driving bass, an overlying synth melody(!) and some additional plinky plonky noises at some points - hey, it's almost commercial!

The B-side's got a bit of a fuzzy scratch at the start but you soon get over it. It's much more of a drone with lots of subtle changes through it. The fuzzy scratch may even be part of the track. Drums kick in after about 3 minutes and it's like the fog clearing, a great track indeed.

This is a wee gem in the Chain Reaction stable - well glad I picked it up again today...



Monolake - Cyan
A - Cyan I
B - Cyan II

Buy it here

Vainqueur - Elevation

The 7th 12" on Chain Reaction, from 1996 and follow-up to this release.

This is a bit weird - there's no drums on this at all, yet it manages to have a very clear sense of rhythm. There's what sounds like it might be the treated hiss of a hi-hat but I'm not sure. Lots of "loud, swirling synthetic drones" according to someone on Discogs.

It's all a bit trippy and takes you away to a different place for half an hour or so, if you do both sides in the one go. Recommended headphone listening...



Vainqueur - Elevation
A - Elevation (Version 1)
B - Elevation (Version 3)

Buy it here

Various Artists - Remixes

Ah, the mysterious Various Artists, who I posted a Chain Reaction EP up by a couple of months ago. That EP was entitled '1-7'. This is a set of remixes of the follow-up (which I've not got the original mixes of for some reason). This one featured 8, 8.5 and 9. What a joker, eh?

The remixes are suitably far-out, by Autechre, Funkstörung (who I'll need to put up some stuff by), Pole, and Monolake (likewise). Can't really describe what it sounds like, but expect various spacey beats, minimal noises, waves and waves of 'quiet noise' and a beatless number at the end.

This one goes out for Tony fae Fife, the man who gave us the Psychick Warriors demo tape below...



Various Artists - Remixes
A1 - 8 (Ae Mix)
A2 - 9 (:Funkstörung. Mix)
B1 - 9 (Pole Mix)
B2 - Modulo 8.5

Buy it here

Erosion - 1 / 2 / 3

It's been a while since I posted any Basic Channel / Chain Reaction stuff, so here's a minimal-as-hell EP from 1997.

The producer of this trio of tracks is Torsten Pröfrock, the same guy who was Various Artists and Traktor from previous posts. But - this one was also mastered by a certain Mr Von Oswald, and you can hear his influence across all three tracks.

The A-side is a 4/4 12 minute hypnotic trip into a dark place, then the beats are put right to the back of the mix in favour of some right haunting noises for B1. Things get even more spaced out for B2, as the beats are done away with completely in favour of, well I don't quite know how to sum it up but I imagine it would be good for those moments when you just need to zone out but your mind's AWAKE AS HELL - should help do the trick.

Any Maurizio fans should check out this album form earlier in the year - looks like he's back on form...

Erosion - 1 / 2 / 3
A - 1
B1 - 2
B2 - 3



Buy it here

Various Artists - 1-7

Check this fuckin joker - calling himself 'Various Artists' - aye that's a nice easy one to store/google/find. Turns out he's also the Traktor dude I posted a while back. Known to his mum as Torsten Pröfrock, he's done other stuff on Chain Reaction as Erosion and Resilient which I'll stick up at some point.

Minimal as hell, this is one for the Basic Channel hardcore, not too much on the 'melody' front here. I fuckin love it, but it's definitely an acquired taste.

Before doing this blog I had no idea I'd bought so many Basic Channel / Chain Reaction records. Turns out I've got hunners of the bastards...



Various Artists - 1-7
A1 - 1
A2 - 2
A3 - 3
B1 - 4
B2 - 5
B3 - 6
B4 - 7

Buy it here

Vainqueur - Reduce

Definitely not Maurizio, as I'd previously thought, but a chap by the name of René Löwe. His stuff's been out on various Moritz labels though, you'll probably have a fair idea of what it'll sound like.

I prefer the B-side to the A but they're both worth a punt if you're into the Basic Channel / Chain Reaction kinda thang.

I was hoping that his name would turn up in Google translate as 'wanker' but it's 'winner'...



Vainqueur - Reduce
A - Reduce 2
B - Reduce 1

Buy it here

Scion - Emerge

I always thought this was Maurizio, but no, it's another couple of dudes who are also Vainqueur (who I also thought was Maurizio - get with the program ya fud). Must be the same studio gadgetry then, as there's definitely a similar sound to them all.

This was the first release on the Basic Channel offshoot, Chain Reaction. A nice stiff single brown cardboard sleeve here, with grainy bits on it. These things MATTER.

Right. Time to go and put my face on before braving the bus through to Edinburgh...



A - Emerge0
B1 - Emerge1
B2 - Emerge2

Buy it here