This week on Neue Haus we’re exploring some of the wonkier, more abstract and more artistic interpretations of techno that have emerged in recent months. Techno is built upon the ideas of steady rhythm and repetition; it’s super exciting, then, to see that there is a massive movement of techno musicians who turn these conventions upside down to make something excitingly unfamiliar.
Chief among these artists is Call Super, the London-born, Berlin-based artist who just released his last album, Arpo, in November on the exciting Houndstooth label. Arpo is one of the more bizarre techno albums of 2017 – skim through it and you won’t exactly find an easy point of entry. There are no locked grooves and no slow, easily mappable developments over time. Instead, after listening in full, you’ll find a mix of left-field club tracks that doubles as a psychedelic world of icy drum pads and imaginative musical motifs.
Another exciting record we’ll be looking at this week is the new Claro Intelecto album Exhilarator, released on Dutch label Delsin. Manchester native Mark Stewart’s techno project has taken five years off since 2012’s heralded Reform Club LP; this November, he returned with an album full of dub-influenced tracks. Exhilarator is harsher and sludgier than Stewart’s previous work; these tracks begin as puddles of noise and feedback, building up to deliver an unexpectedly clean sort of sting. Similar to Call Super, this music is frighteningly dynamic techno; expect a surprise attack instead of a siege.
Unlike both of those artists, our third artist is an anonymous rookie – all we know about LOFT is that they are from Claro Intelecto’s hometown of Manchester… and that they had one of last year’s most interesting releases in the Three Settlements Four Ways EP. If you like Call Super, you’ll love this – LOFT’s music is similarly bright-eyed and soft-toned, but packs an extra punch that, when shrouded in playful synths and tricky rhythms, comes as a welcome surprise.
Plenty more featured this week – we’ve got a tricky single from Hessle Audio producer Ploy, a couple house cuts off of Fred P’s new album as fp-oner, a rare single from Jai and A.K. Paul’s new label Paul Institute, and maybe a brilliant new Yung Lean song if we’ve got time! I hope you tune in. The show starts at 3pm local time.
By Owen Zoll