Forest root

Let's party like it's 1998*. The soundtrack? A sudden, notable eruption of new music from the near-holy trinity of Jan Jelinek, Oval and Pole, three pioneering titans of experimental electronica. 


Jelinek has just launched only his second release as Farben since 2004 - a self-released 12" of deviant disco, like its predecessor. Stefan Betke is about to unleash his first as Pole in several years (also his debut under his own label & again a 12").


Meanwhile, the past year's outpouring of Markus Popp's reinvented Oval is poised to continue with - somewhat unimaginably, given his torrential recent output - the 'lost tracks' of OvalDNA. In contrast to his peers' vinyl-clad modesty, Popp's maximal "much more than a regular music CD" package is also to include a DVD & software).


To these ears, Popp's playful, textured workouts are particularly compelling. Inevitably, though, Farben's warped loops & Pole's bassy warmth offer much as well. 


Anyway, the comparison is probably witless & certainly unfair. OvalDNA excavates 17 years in unearthing its 35 tracks, even if some are recognisably of the zithery, twangy 'new' Oval (others are clearly not, as inspired glitches like Gegenlesen & Savvy below underline - "I am almost sure there will be a lot to like about this record, especially for fans of the classic Oval sound," Popp says). 


Jelinek & Betke's releases document their notable efforts to still be making new music after all this time. Still, OvalDNA manages to sound rather more contemporary than either (despite being the opposite, of course) - perhaps reflecting the constraints imposed by Farben & Pole's closer adherence to genres, especially Betke's willingness to keep mining dub techno tropes. Happily, Jelinek seems to smuggle in a little breadth to his palette from the Oramic sci fi territory he's been exploring as Ursula Bogner.  



Oval - Glass UFO


*OK, so Oval's legendary 94diskont. came out a few years earlier. But the point - unexpected, welcome resurgence of 90s legends - stands... 

farben - xango (album preview)


Farben - Xango EP - clips

Oval - Gegenlesen 30s preview


Oval - Pockyrocky 30s preview


Oval - Savvy 30s preview


Oval - Stealth 30s preview


Oval - IV 30s preview



Navigating Oval

Blurb: "As the next step in the evolution of a legendary producer, on September 1st 2011, Stefan Betke is founding a new artist label named “pole.” 

Made for the music of pole, this new imprint will keep Betke’s large back catalogue available, as well as give his forthcoming releases an autonomous structure for experimentation and creativity.
For over a decade, Stefan Betke has been working as a label owner, publisher and mastering engineer, contributing his experience to the development of electronic music.
The artist label “pole” is intended to create a place where pole´s original and unique sound can be developed further, and combined with new production methods and ideas.
In the second half of 2011, pole will re-release his full back catalogue digitally, including classical records such as “1,2,3,” “Steingarten” and “Steingarten remixes,” as well as his new music on a series of 12 inches released on vinyl and digital. 

As Pole puts it: “My new music will sound very warm, has a lot of bass and stands in a strong relation to my musical history."

Wurzel - Excerpt by pole


Wipfel Dub - Excerpt by pole


Wipfel - Excerpt by pole


Pole photo by Kai von Rabenau. Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.

Return to Navapolatsk

Lovely, dubby squelch from cross-border collaborations with Belarus, curated by ~scape: I/DEX vs Pole > Minsk, Pinch meets Pavel Ambiont > Poison / Remedy (both from Connections, re-upped [original post] to mark its release today...).

"The first Unsound Minsk in May 2007 was a revelation for Western European artists who performed, as well as the local audience. It was an event that via (mostly) electronic music created a spontaneous and strong route directly between the Belarus capital and the rest of Europe. Pole – Stefan Betke – was one of the artists who performed on that night. Together, Unsound, Betke and the Minsk team IN-Touch decided to take things further, to join Belarus producers and musicians with their counterparts from Germany, Poland, the UK, Switzerland and Sweden to form new collaborative projects. The artists on this CD travelled to Minsk for a week at the end of September, giving workshops and working on recording sessions with Belarus artists, working in a variety of music genres.

This CD is the result, a very diverse collection of tracks recorded in Minsk and mastered in Berlin. On the one hand imbued with a dark, heavy atmosphere, at times the music here is also playful, revealing the talent and energy of the Belarus artists, as well as the open minds of everyone involved. The project has led to releases beyond this compilation, and the continuation of forged collaborations. It promises the opening of more channels, more connections."

More background.

PsyPhotos by Pavel Ambiont

Bonus: I/DEX's fine Scalene (from Seqsextend, Nexsound).

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.

Cosmic pitch

Exclusive: days away from LMYE's second anniversary, the honour of hosting an unreleased track by Groupshow leaves me choking up a little. Granted, I'm a sentimental windbag - but the Jelinek/Pekler/Leichtmann post-krautrock powerhouse isn't, fortunately. 

From the same sessions as the new The Martyrdom of Groupshow (~scape), Eastern (Lune Jaune) shows off their restlessly intelligent & off-kilter sound. The trio's vast experimental lineage - & their comfort with tricky, even unloveable texture - is scrawled all over the satisfyingly abrasive Memory Foam. 

Plus, for anyone who missed this public 'service' first time around, hear all 12 sanctioned samples from Martyrdom lovingly stitched together into a sad anorak's single file. Made so you didn't have to (not that you'd have considered it, anyway), it gives an intense immersion in the Groupshow sound in just over 10 minutes... 

Alternatively, hear the whole thing via Spotify. 

& here's a still-blinding Berlin performance by the trio - then unnamed, or possibly known as Kosmischer Pitch (& also at least once as Center of Excellence) - a few years back.  

Photo by Marco Microbi/Club Transmediale.  

NB: interview with Hanno Leichtmann & overview of his countless projects & engagements (solo, Pole, Static, Forest Jackson, White Hole, Vulva String Quartett...) to follow. 

In the meantime, check out a fascinating, astoundingly presented interview with Jan Jelinek by Colin Buttimer (Hard Format/Eleventh Volume). 

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.

Navigating Navapolatsk

Lovely, dubby squelch from cross-border collaborations with Belarus, curated by ~scape: Pole vs I/DEX > Track 3, Pinch meets Pavel Ambiont > 1_18 (both from the forthcoming Connections, neither track title particularly reliable...).

Blurb: ""Connections" is a forthcoming compilation to be released in collaboration with scape early 2009, available for free download. Showcasing a diverse range of artists in electronic, club and experimental music, the compilation breaks through the EU's eastern limits to bring together producers and musicians from Western Europe and Belarus. "Connections" is funded by the ECF, as well as the Goethe Institute Minsk, Polish Institute Minsk, Swedish Institute and Pro Helvetia. Curated by scape, Unsound festival and IN-Touch."

More background. 

PsyPhotos by Pavel Ambiont

Bonus: I/DEX's fine Scalene (from Seqsextend, Nexsound).

More, possibly related Belarussion collisions tomorrow night, should you find yourself in Minsk with time on your hands (featuring both I/DEX & Pavel Ambiont, plus Frank Bretschneider & Alva Noto - together, seemingly):

All of this hybrid ~scapery reminds me that the new Round Black Ghosts is out & no doubt essential...

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.

Polar clarity

Stung by LMYE's thundering denunciation - well, possibly - ~scape have sorted their Pole giveaway. It's now soared past its original 12 seconds (which you'd probably be right in assuming was more a reflection of my fuck-wittery than any fault of theirs...) to the full six minutes-plus: frohliche Weihnachten!

Alles Klar (originally from the monstrous Round Black Ghosts compilation) isn't Pole's finest moment - try the widget of 1 below for some of that. But on the basis that inferior Pole is superior to most everything else around, its mesh of restrained percussive skip, wild spurts of noise & a fat farting bass - a fairly experimental take on dubstep - needs a listen...

Delighted to see that Herr Betke is touching down in the UK this spring - & even more excited by the prospect of him, Herr Jelinek & other ~scape-sters at BEMF in Brussels a week later (an event so cutting-edge its venue doesn't yet acknowledge it...).

Wonky honk

No great surprise that a wonky, honking (&, yes, chunky) Jelinek remix of some previously unencountered jazztronica should float LMYE's boat: Yeah, That's Right (Meteors Noire remix) [from this EP] NB: ad-supported giveaway from We7, as you'll hear... 

From the same stable as Our Theory, who include Blue Noter Eric Truffaz, is the Nublu Orchestra: visit L.E.S Gardens [from this album] for a more sprawling, spacey take on honked-up 'tronica. 

For once, thumbs down to ~scape, by the way. A fresh Pole 12" (half-fresh: a new track & his contribution to this awesome compilation) is great news - but a 12-second freebie? Lower-res but somewhat meatier are this extract & this one. 

Thumbs up, though, to the excellent Beta Lounge's "countless hours of expert audio arrangement and dj mixes digitized live at our studios in San Francisco, Hamburg, and from locations across the globe" - 774 sets archived with love over 12 years, including Burnt Friedman/Jaki Liebezeit/Atom Heart, Jah Wobble, Pantha du Prince, Efdemin & even Derrick May, plus Pole & Jelinek: donations welcome.

Pole position

#1 in an occasional series: Fantasy Remixes...

The re-release of Pole's staggering 1, 2 & 3 on ~scape makes me want to hear his huge talent in other contexts. A dose of all that smear & buzz & textured dubby weight would do wonders for LTJ Bukem's gorgeous but perhaps too perfect Horizons (from Logical Progressions, Level 1) - imagine its glossy brilliance reframed by the spacey crackle of Pole's Fragen (from 1), say.

Right on for the darkness

Get over to Skull Disco pronto for a giveway mix. It's a dark, clanking hour in DST's company - one that really encapsulates this huge, echoey sound.

Would have liked to link this up with one of the awesome Shackleton & Peverelist remixes of Pole. But LMYE's lonely but sincere 'policy' on not posting music unless the artist has made it freely available won't allow that...

For now, here's the original Winkelstreben (from Steingarten). Before the Peverselist treatment, it was a fine piece of 21st century Krautrock.

Also, check out an earlier Pole collision with a dubby edge: the shimmering Balalaika Dub with Manuela Krause (from Mein Freund Der Baum on Monika Enterprise, home of a number of LMYE's German electronica favourites; also on this quite tasty compilation, which also includes Burial Mix lynchpin Tikiman/Paul St Hilaire & Cabaret Voltaireist Richard H. Kirk's Sandoz...).

Back to SD, live video: