This is Techno Jazz Vol. 2
This double album is a deep dive into Jazz-o-Tech carefully nurtured sound. What unites the 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 that cooked up fresh new sounds that push the boundaries of electronic and acoustic music further than ever.
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 poly-centric 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 in their track Mattia, Daniel and Laonie 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 rollercoaster ride through many fascinating fusions.
This is Techno Jazz Vol. 1
We are very proud to present THIS IS TECHNO JAZZ. VOL 1, a genre defining collection of music from artists coming from the jazz and techno scenes like Distant Echoes, TUN, Tensal, Mattia Prete, VSK, Fabrizio Rat, Gianluca Petrella, Flat Maze, Luigi Ranghino, Wrong Assessment, Irakli, Key Clef and more. Together, these contemporary innovators perfectly define the label’s vision for jazz and techno fusions.
This label is all about drawing on the rich heritage of two of the most visionary and experimental genes in music: jazz and techno. Taking inspiration from the freeform creative nature of those two musical worlds, artists on the label mix tradition with modernity, improvisation with experimentation, and create a new sound known as techno-jazz. THIS IS TECHNO JAZZ. VOL I will showcase these ideas across 11 tracks (10 tracks in vinyl limited edition to be released in September).
Dystopian label associate and Out-er co-owner Distant Echoes opens up with ‘Faction 200’ featuring Gianni Denitto on sax. It is a cosmic adventure with freeform sax lines driving above rippling synths and broken beats. Milan based Wrong Assessment has built up a fine discography over the last five years, releasing his moody techno on the likes of Planet Rhythm and Dynamic Reflection. His deeply hypnotic sounds here feature the experimental jazz quartet Gamapawa, with swirling pads drifting about to make a mysterious atmosphere as distant trumpets bleed in and out of the mix and walking bass recalls the atmosphere of 70’s jazz fusion. Heavy and industrial sound designer and audio engineer VSK then remixes the Torino Unlimited Noise trio’s ‘Jason’ into a loopy, glitchy, unresolved bit of deep techno with thoughtful jazz chords and plenty of dubby bass weight.
Tensal is next and links with Torino Unlimited Noise for ‘Devourer of Senses’, a straight-ahead slice of linear techno that is powerful but also intriguing thanks to the off-grid keys, increasingly intense synths and dark sax motifs. Lecce’s techno dreamer and forward thinking DJ, promoter and producer Mattia Prete offers ‘Burning Man’ Ft. Israeli pianist Uri Gincel and Berlin based experimental guitar player Daniel Calvi. It’s a cavernous and absorbing track with freeform jazz drums and heavy drones that zones you out. Dreamy and abstract techno man Chevel can make all forms of techno, and here remixes Antares Mates’s ‘Movimento 2’ into an experimental track with bright synths, sharp sax phrases and melodic rain over a jittery beat that suspends you in the cosmos. Producer and piano player Fabrizio Rat and brilliant trombone player Gianluca Petrella are another accomplished Italian pair and their ‘Turn’ is an elastic deep techno track designed to melt your mind with its dancing hi hats and increasingly manic trombone hits.
Irakli & Daniel Calvi’s contribution is a dark and menacing piece with sci-fi synths that make for a turbulent intergalactic soundtrack, and ‘Petardo Boy’ by producer Stefano Mori and pianist Uri Gincel aka Flat Maze (who released their Dick Dunker EP on this label last year) is a tender and intimate techno cut with gentle keys and a sense of playfulness in the wonky chords. Last of all, synth magician Key Clef and piano legend Luigi Ranghino are label regulars who close things out with ‘Piano Movimento 1’, which layers up intricate phrases of jazz piano, evolving echos of drum machines and surging bass. It’s poetic, intense, and thrilling.
The digital edition of the release includes also a bonus tracks by Finnish duo Aki Himanen on trumpet and electronics, and Aleksi Kinnunen on drums. “Dystopian morning jam” is an hypnotic progression of tight drum textures and dreamy trumpet phrases which slowly build up to a powerful final musical catharsis.
This is a collection of avant-garde music that breathes new life into both jazz, and techno, with fantastic results.
Cabaret Contemporain | Club Sensible
It has been almost 15 years since Cabaret Contemporain embarked on its fearless musical adventureand asserted a distinctiveness within the current scene. Resolute advocates of experimentation, its five members – Giani Caserotto, Ronan Courty, Simon Drappier, Julien Loutelier, and Fabrizio Rat – primarily employ acoustic means, skillfully manipulating their instruments using the famous “prepared piano” technique to create sounds and rhythms reminiscent of the electronic sphere. The result is fiercely unclassifiable music, dynamic and stimulating, a kind of hyper-organic techno mixed with minimalist music.
Six years after “Séquence Collective,” the group now presents “Club Sensible,” their fourth album. To create it, a slightly different approach was taken, especially regarding the instrumentation. Elements such as electric bass and synthesizer, integrated into the creative process, blend with the acoustic instruments used since the beginning. However, the approach remains the same, focusing on an intimate dialectical relationship between acoustic and electronic elements. Moreover, everything heard on the album is played by hand, without the intervention of sequencers. This renders the music lively, unstable, imbued with the imperfect human touch—a fundamental aspect of the overall project.
Recorded in late June 2022, the album was meticulously finalized through constant collaboration among the six members. Featuring ten tracks, all previously performed live from various periods, “Club Sensible” suggests the contrasting nature of the collection, at times highly energizing, sometimes ethereal, occasionally both captivating and soaring.
Starting smoothly, the opening track “Cheval” quickly accelerates, executing techno beats with finesse, guaranteeing an effect on dance floors without reaching frantic paces. In direct continuity, the following track, “Charpentier,” builds on an even more sustained rhythm, delicately pounding out joyful techno beats. Infused with a lingering groove and progressive ascent, three other tracks – “Barbara,” “Ballast,” and “Velours” – reveal an irresistible dynamism. While capturing the fervent, highly communicative energy the group delivers live, the album aims not just to incite dance fever. More atmospheric, meditative, and differently gripping, tracks like Arc,” “Bora,” or “Levante” create suspended spaces and offer breathing moments. Throughout “Club Sensible,” there’s a balance between these poles, seemingly achieving an ideal equilibrium on the title track, at the heart of the album, and on “Polaris,” the (splendid) final piece. Inclined towards trance through various means, it keeps heads spinning without necessarily driving feet to tap constantly.