Tune #78: Leftfield - Space Shanty

Leftism is a landmark album by Leftfield that defined the electronic scene of the 90's. Released (for the first time) in 1995, it was the apotheosis of old school progressive house, which was already blooming in UK. Leftfield was originally a project created by Neil Barnes in 1990 with the production of Not Forgotten, which is claimed to be the first progressive house track ever*. One year later, Neil teamed up with percussionist Paul Daley, who remixed Not Forgotten in its most popular form: the Hard Hands version! Both versions of the track were released by short-lived Outer Rhythm records, which ceased to exist in 1992.

The closing of Outer Rhythm led the duo to form their own label, which shared the same name with the Hard Hands remix. The label acted as a beacon to promote the dubby-house sound with deep basslines and tribal rhythms. Leftfield was still the central point of Hard Hands, followed by new artists.

In 1999, the second album Rhythm And Stealth was released by Hard Hands: dub elements & fat basslines were still dominant here, but in a dirtier and darker manner. Although it is also a great album, it never reached the status of Leftism for most listeners.

It was certain that the presence of Leftfield would be everywhere in the 90's. The seminal Renaissance: The Mix Collection featured 3 different versions of track Song Of Life, one after the other. Their music was also included in the original music scores of Gen-X films (Hackers, Trainspotting, The Beach). Neil Barnes and Paul Daley are also responsible for one of the most influential Essential Mixes (1994), as featured in Pete Tong's weekly radio show.

Leftfield stopped as a duo in 2002, when the two guys decided to pursue different paths. The project was revived in 2010 by Barnes for a live tour, in order to relive the great times of the past. In 2015, the third album Alternative Light Source saw the light of day, having an extremely different style in comparison with the classic "Leftfield sound" (Mr. Barnes should have chosen a different alias for ALS).

Twenty-two years after its initial release, Leftism is back again in a new remastered version and with new remixes! It is time to remember some of the finest moments of the original album:
- the acid prog monsters Song Of Life & Space Shanty
- the African tribal feeling of Afro-Left
- the collaboration with John Lydon of Sex Pistols in Open Up
- the dub breakbeat of Inspection (Check One)

LEFTFIELD - SPACE SHANTY


For some funny reason, this track reminds me of Dhalsim's theme in the innovative Street Fighter II (also a landmark in video gaming history!!!).


* The same claim exists for Andrew Weatherall's remix on Sly And Lovechild - The World According To Sly & Lovechild. According to Neil Barnes, Andrew Weatherall's early sets had a large influence on him and helped shaping the basic elements of progressive house.

Tune #77: Efdemin - Parallaxis

Deep.Hypnotic.Mesmerizing.

EFDEMIN - PARALLAXIS


Three years ago, the studio album Decay was released by Phillip Sollmann, the man behind the alias Efdemin. Efdemin's LP has been recently added in my music collection, after wandering randomly in Youtube and listening to one of the album's tracks. It is a kind of an oxymoron for a guy like me who discovered new music at first through P2P programs to become obsessed with buying hard copies at an older age!

Back to Efdemin: Phillip Sollmann produces music for the last 20 years. Originally hailed from the city of Kassel, he moved to Hamburg in the early 90's and he was hugely influenced by the local music scene. His first EP appeared in 1999, a collaboration with his friend Alexander Polzin under the Tobin moniker. The next step was the inclusion of a new track in the first installment of Total compilation, a sampler series that continues to this date by Kompakt. Their reluctance to create their own record label led to their co-operation with Dial, a newly created label by Paul Kominek, David Lieske and Peter M. Kersten, who shared the same music tastes.

In 2002, Phillip Sollmann move to Vienna, in order to study music. The Austrian techno scene was hardly existent, so Sollmann experimented with musique concrète compositions, a valuable experience that can be detected in studio album Something Is Missing of this period (2006). However, his passion for techno music re-emerged, as he had already moved to Berlin in 2005.

The last 10 years have been very productive for Efdemin: 3 studio albums and many 12''s, most of which were released under the umbrella of Dial. While in the 2 first two albums techno is blended with strong deep house elements, the Decay seems to be the most techno-ish, sometimes in a minimal manner and other times more banging.

You can read here a track-by-track review of the album by Phillip Sollmann himself.

Although my favorite track from the album is possibly Solaris, Parallaxis is presented in today's blog spot, just for the blissful breakbeat remake by Traumprinz (his real name is a mystery!).

EFDEMIN - PARALLAXIS (TRAUMPRINZ'S OVER 2 THE END VERSION)

Tune #76: Prins Thomas - H

Thomas Moen Hermansen is definitely not a newcomer as a producer. His earliest releases date back to the early 00's, according to the Discogs vault. Recently, he drew the attention of the electronic music community with his latest studio album under his Prins Thomas disguise.

The story of the Norwegian producer begins in mid-80's, when he was aspiring to become a hip hop and electro disc jockey. In 1992 he took a new turn by joining different bands, only to return back to DJing in 1994, when he accepted the offer of some friends to become the resident DJ of a club in Norway.

Thomas has a wide taste in music: growing up in family where his stepfather taught him the music of many important musicians (like the Beatles, the Cramps, the Clash, Miles Davis, Mozart and others) stimulated his inspiration for music, which has always been a daily part of his life. In his youth, he learned to play the cello and the clarinet (not the most common music organs to join a band!). He started to collect records from an early age (a hobby that he still maintains), providing him with the ability to compose eclectic music and DJ sets. Therefore, Thomas is fairly considered one of the most interesting electronic music producers in Norway, along with his friends Hans-Peter Lindstrøm (a frequent partner in crime) and Todd Terje.

Today's track is extracted from the latest album Principe Del Notre, released in February 2016 by Smalltown Supersound:

PRINS THOMAS - H

Principe Del Notre is a fine example of what is called "cosmic disco" (although it's a term that Prins Thomas does not accept for his productions). While the first CD is beatless and ambient, the second one is an uptempo rework. However, both parts retain the spacey feeling, which is evident in most tracks. The album can be considered as a homage to the German krautrock bands of the 70's and the ambient artists of the 90's, who served as a strong influence for Thomas throughout the years. I believe that the two CDs should have been mixed, in order to create a seamless music experience to the listeners.

The success of Principe Del Notre spawned the release of a remix album (Principe Del Norte Remixed) in October 2016, including some popular names, like the Orb and Ricardo Villalobos, and some lesser known (Young Marco, Hieroglyphic Being, Sun Araw, I:Cube, Gerd Janson, Dungen).

The Norwegian electronic scene is pretty small compared with other countries, but it has delivered very interesting projects the last years. The turning point had been made by Röyksopp, who pushed the Norwegian sound beyond the country's boundaries. Thomas Moen Hermansen continues the tradition with his works!