Autechre: Laxir - Autechre Remixes 1994-2005

I've always been a big fan of Autechre's work. With their genuine style of electronic music which varies from catchy IDM tunes to (quite) abstract soundscapes they always manged to add something very exciting to their records. Besides the large number of albums and eps they were also busy as bees putting out a large number of remixes. Unfortunately, an official compilation was never released (maybe due to rights issues?) and so a couple of years ago I compiled a 6 disc home brew collections of Autechre's remixes all created between 1994-2005.

The tracks which are in rough chronological order display also the evolution of Autechre and more general the the change of electronic music over a decade. From dreamy ambient tracks like Saint Etienne's "Like A Motorway (Skin Up, You're Already Dead)" over to pushing tracks like Merzbow's "Ecobondage [Ending] Ae Remix" and abstract pieces like Hecker's "Itiso161/ae". My favorites are probably "Autechre Play Weissensee Against Im Glück" (composed by Neu!) with its drifting beats and the beautiful collaboration with post rockers Tortoise on "Ten-Day Interval (Adverse Camber)". The youtube playlist below features some of the compilation's tracks.

This version of Laxir is the second version which was finished in 2008 seeing some minor updates and including some cover artwork. You will also find included in the archives a text file with more specific information about the individual tracks. Cheers!

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Arcturus And The Deception Circus: Disguised Masters (1999)

This jewel is a 1999 remake of Arcturus' album La Masquerade Infernale. Arcturus being originally a (black) metal band tried something completely new here. At a time when when musical genres were still more fixed than today they released a remix album and somehow, I am sure this is how Arcturus imagined this record originally to be – to break the tight boundaries of the metal scene with new arrangements and electronic oevres.

It reminds me a lot of what later Ulver and Manes released: metal either stripped away entirely or heavily augmented with samples, orchestral synths and electronics with songs and sounds completely re-arranged.

My personal highlights include "Du Nordavind (1998 Re-recording)" with its fine structures, "The Throne Of Tragedy (Phantom FX Jungle Remix)" with its twisted beats and the “gangstafied” hip-hop version of the title track "Master Of Disguise (Phantom FX Remix w/gangstafications by S.C.N.)". After some line-up changes it seems like the Arcturus split up but there are rumors of a reunion in the future – let's see if they can up with something truly innovative.

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Alexandrina: Om de lut (2009)

This is the first album of the Moldavian artist Alexandrina Hristov. It's an excellent warm and interesting Jazz / Nu Jazz album spiced up with modern electronic sounds. I saw her live in 2009 in Romania and her concert was really fascinating not least because of the great backing band. "Om de lut" is Romanian and means "man (made) of clay". The lyrics are sung in Romanian, French and Russian giving this album a very special feeling.

Alexandrina is not only a great musician but she is also a fantastic painter (she painted the cover) - If you have some free bucks to spend you should check out her blog. Hope you enjoy this great listen!

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Delgarma: Den Andra (2010)

"Den Andra" of Delgarma ("The other" in swedish) was one of my personal suprises of 2010. Delgarma is a folk indie type of band from France (Rhône-Alpes) and the songs are presented by Laïla Roux (of possible Swedish origin) in English, Swedish and French.

It is a netlabel release of LCL which described the record as "...a mystical inspired and an enchanting music served by a unique voice" which I can definitely support. According to the band it took more than 4 years to complete the record and this results in so many colors of the album. My favorite tracks are "Sweet as a cat" (see youtube below), "Reveil" with a very easy going Reggae feeling and Att Sakna (the only Swedish track). The album is a free Netaudio release so you should definitely check it out and leave comments over at the band website!

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Kultur Shock: We Came To Take Your Jobs Away (2006)

A picture is worth a thousand words: This is definitely one of the greatest album cover I've seen. Kultur Shock is band from Seattle, USA playing music what I think is best described as Gypsy Punk similar to Gogol Bordello but more lively, aggressive. The band describes itself as a living organism with members originating from Bosnia, Bulgaria, Japan and the US and the lyrics presented by singer Gino Yevdjevich are really thoughtfully and ironic and deal to a large part about immigration. Here an excerpt from the first track God is Busy:

"I know, I'm stranger in your land,

I know, ladies and gentlemen,

I know, I am coming here to stay,

And take your jobs away.

And you know, I will trade your soul for mine,

Freedom doesn't cost a dime,

Don't waste your time, religion is crime,

I can make your problems go away right now,

'Cause God is Busy, may I help you?"

So all in all We Came To Take Your Jobs Away is really powerful energetic music coming along with a lot of humour. I wait for them to come to Europe for concerts again. But god is still busy...

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