Our Saturday selection:
VA – This is Techno Jazz Vol. 2 [Jazz-o-Tech, JOT026]
The Jazz-o-Tech label serves up a second volume of „This is Techno Jazz“ which again lays out a clear sonic statement.
This double album is a deep dive into the label‘s carefully nurtured sound with music from artists all over Europe.
What unites this label and its broad array of artists is a desire to fuse the traditional improvisation of jazz with the avant-garde experimentalism of techno. Over the last couple of years, it has done that to critical acclaim with a series of innovative EPs and LPs from artists all over Europe. Some are studio wizards, some are jazz trained musicians, all are cooking up fresh new sounds that push the boundaries of electronic and acoustic music further than ever.
Label statement „For each track, we put together jazz musicians and techno producers and asked them to freely express their vision of what techno-jazz should be. Our polycentric musical identity speaks of many possible futures in a multitude of individual dimensions, unified by an ambitious artistic effort to write a new chapter in music. The result is an innovative musical language that aims to provide a new sonic vocabulary for jazz and avant-garde electronic. We really hope you like it as much as we do!“
Finnish duo Aki Himanen and Aleksi Kinnunen kick things off just as their new album “A Thing with Feathers” is about to drop. Their ‚Valediction‘ is led by melancholic trumpets and hypnotic drums, while Reeko, Katharina Ernst and Leonie Freudenberger combine to create dark, heavily percussive rhythms and eerie synths on ‚Snake Spirit.‘ Flat Maze pairs glitchy techno with edgy piano chords and Mattia Prete, Daniel Calvi and Leonie keep up the pressure with clattering drums overlaid with a snake charmer like sax line. After Lyder‘s soothing and suspensory ‚Sea of Thought‘ with its gorgeous wind sounds and soulful vocals, techno legend Sunil Sharp remixes his collaboration with experimental label regulars TUN into a frenzied mix of free jazz motifs and industrial rhythms. Stanislav Tolkachev comes together with Aki Himanen & Aleksi Kinnunen for more detuned, unhinged synth madness, Bodek Janke & Studnitzky reset the mood with a calm yet menacing fusion of ambient synths, prickly rhythms and fluttering wind sounds, then Fabrizio Rat remixes his work with Bada-Bada into a pounding techno groove with mysterious jazz melodies. A Dinamite remix brings textured broken beat techno to the fore, Morgen Wurde & Tis keep it deeply dark and atmospheric on their cut with Tetsuroh Konishi and Sliver Galaxy then races off into the cosmos on high energy and uplifting jazz-techno rhythm. Finally, Bada-Bada releases the tension with a celebratory sound before Key Clef and Luigi Ranghino‘s ‚Piano Movimento 2‘ closes down in gorgeous Neo classical fashion.
This collection once again proves that jazz and techno belong together as it takes you on a roller coaster ride through many fascinating fusions. Jazz-O-Tech is a label that draws on the rich heritage of two of the most visionary and experimental genes in music: jazz and techno. Taking inspiration from the free form creative nature of those two musical worlds, artists on the label mix tradition with modernity, improvisation wit h experimentation, and create a new sound known as techno – jazz. Modern music needs to be ambitious. It must aim to deliver a musical message which is one step beyond what has already been heard. It must take you on a new musical journey into unknown dimensions and emotions. That is the Jazz-o-Tech mission.
Tracklist: VA – This is Techno Jazz Vol. 2 [Jazz-o-Tech, JOT026]
01. Aki Himanen, Aleksi Kinnunen – Valediction
02. Reeko, Katharina Ernst and Leonie – Snake Spirit
03. Flat Maze – Golden Cat
04. Mattia Prete, Daniel Calvi and Leonie – Palettes
05. Lyder – Sea Of Thought
06. TUN – New Door (Sunil Sharpe’s remix)
07. Stanislav Tolkachev ft Aki Himanen, Aleksi Kinnunen – Breakers Ahead
08. Bodek Janke & Studnitzky – Rebirth
09. Bada-Bada – R4G3 (Fabrizio Rat Remix)
10. Flat Maze – Petardo Boy (Dinamite Remix)
11. Morgen Wurde & Tis feat. Tetsuroh Konishi – Deutet
12. Soundscape Orchestra – Unknown Species (Silver Galaxy remix)
13. Bada-Bada – Venus
14. Key Clef and Luigi Ranghino – Piano Movimento 2
Buy release: Vinyl // Digital
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