Release Date:
15th April 2022 (Beatport, iTunes & streaming)
06th May 2022 (vinyl & more)
Format:
vinyl, download & streaming
Tracklist: 01. Rip The Cut (Luke Slater Remix 1)
02. Rip The Cut (Dubfire Remix)
03. Rip The Cut (Luke Slater Remix 2)
04. Rip The Cut (The Lady Machine Remix)
Press Info:
Luke Slater, Dubfire, and The Lady Machine remix Planetary Assault Systems’ ‘Rip The Cut’ on Mote-Evolver this April.
Originally released on Planetary Assault Systems’ 2011 album ‘The Messenger’ on Ostgut Ton, ‘Rip The Cut’ now sees a pair of remixes from Dubfire and The Lady Machine and two new versions from Luke Slater himself for his Mote-Evolver label this April.
Leading the release is Luke Slater’s first remix of the original, titled ‘LS Remix 1’, where grooving, swung percussion meets crunching samples and oscillating bleeps alongside dubbed out vocal FX. SCI + TEC founder Dubfire’s interpretation follows on, which brings squelching synths, rocking drums, and trippy atmospheres to the table.
On the flip, Slater’s second revision kicks off the B-side with a relentless barrage of drum machines, considered distortion, and a hard-hitting arrangement. Following her recent ‘Magnify’ EP on Mote-Evolver, Pornceptual Resident and Unterwegs Records boss The Lady Machine rounds out the EP, flipping ‘Rip The Cut’ into a certified stomper, applying brushes of expertly crafted additional effects and percussion to the original.
Press Info:
Luke Slater preps new Planetary Assault Systems album, Sky Scraping.
The iconic British producer, whose last LP arrived via Ostgut Ton in 2016, follows up this year’s Say It Loud on Token with a full length featuring a wealth of brand new material.
A figure who needs little introduction to fans of the genre, but whose consistency in the studio and on the road has repeatedly marked him out as true pioneer of sound design and performance with a singular vision, Slater first minted the PAS alias in ’93. Since then, a slew of singles and LP’s from the industrious artist have made sure Planetary Assault Systems has become a byword for hypnotic, funk-heavy Techno in a purist tradition. Toeing the line between heady, psychedelic material and all out main room fare – Slater’s work as PAS captures the very best facets of the genre, with economically selected parts exquisitely arranged and engineered with a shrewd and uncompromising ear for what really makes people move.
On the new LP, Slater draws on studio material but also components recorded during the PAS live show – and he’s keen to let fans know the focus is well and truly on the dance floor with this one: Sky Scraping is a loud and unabashed celebration of the formative and familiar environments so loved by the electronic music community, the dark clubs and festivals made special by their unique ability to bring like minded people together.
Sky Scraping kicks off in characteristically dense, psychedelic fashion with Labstract – a slice of classic PAS with cavernous low end and a tight, looping sequence doing the driving work while frenetic drum machine cuts and wide angle synth sirens shift the track onwards from one phase to the next. Follow up One For The Groove showcases the chunkier side of Slater’s production as PAS with an infectious 909 pattern propelled on in the high mids by a squelching synth patch. Bang Wap revisits the artist’s last outing on Token – a monstrous, unforgiving roller designed with peak time in mind. Say It Loud – the idiosyncratic proto-anthem that accompanied Bang Wap earlier in the year leads the LP onwards, before sequing into new recording Give In – a masterclass in dense, funky, face-melting Techno. Drums take centre stage on If I Die, as the artist returns to the 909 for a marginally slowed down cut that really highlights the artist’s connection to and natural affinity with groove and drum machine cuts. Coal thrusts the listener straight back down the wormhole – an extraordinary, driving piece propelled by a guttural lead synth sequence and ghostly drums, before giving way to Run – a dry, pared back recording with plucked, staccato synths that makes for a good contrast to its fathoms deep predecessor. Though not without moments of hysteria in its closing quarter, The Drag Train, featuring a classic, more mono finish begins the wind down towards the LP’s close. Nano Chameleon ties up Sky Scraping, a track as forceful as anything that has come earlier on the record – as it approaches its close, a warping lead powers the recording home with shuffling white noise percussion dipping in and out of the sonic main stage before giving way to a delicate, controlled chaos.
Tracklist: A. Luke Slater, KMRU & Speedy J DIALOGUE#1
B. Luke Slater, Anthony Child & Tom Moth DIALOGUE#2
C. Luke Slater, Anthony Child & Tom Moth DIALOGUE#3
D. Luke Slater, Anthony Child & Lady Starlight DIALOGUE#4
Press Info (English):
DIALOGUE was conceived as a series of musical letters written back and forth between Luke Slater, Anthony Child (aka Surgeon), KMRU, Lady Starlight, Speedy J and harpist Tom Moth (of Florence + the Machine) at the height of the pandemic between 2020 and early 2021. Using the common language of rhythmic ambient electronics, each DIALOGUE features three actors in a sonic conversation of longform improvisation between 15 and 25 minutes in length, with Luke Slater the common denominator.
The results are a brooding, psychedelic exchange of melody, texture, bass, oscillation, key changes and volume swells, which organically merge into complete compositions. It’s music that both reflects and transcends the artists’ common reality of isolation – a meditative, consciousness-expanding conversion of musical ideas born from necessity. Cosmic but not escapist. And very much of its time.
Press Info (German):
DIALOGUE wurde konzipiert als Austausch musikalischer Briefe, hin- und hergeschrieben zwischen Luke Slater, Anthony Child (alias Surgeon), KMRU, Lady Starlight, Speedy J und Harfenist Tom Moth (von Florence + the Machine) auf dem Höhepunkt der Pandemie zwischen 2020 und Anfang 2021. Mittels einer gemeinsamen Sprache rhythmischer Ambient Electronics besteht jeder DIALOGUE aus drei Akteuren in einer klanglichen Konversation als Langformimprovisation, in der Länge zwischen 15 und 25 Minuten, mit Luke Slater als gemeinsamem Nenner.
Das Resultat ist ein grüblerischer, psychedelischer Austausch von Melodie, Textur, Bass, Oszillation, Ausweichungen und schwellender Lautstärke, die organisch in ganze Kompositionen zusammenlaufen. Musik, die die gemeinsame Realität von Isolation der Künstler sowohl reflektiert als auch transzendiert – eine meditative, bewusstseinserweiternde Umwidmung musikalischer Ideen, aus der Not geboren. Kosmisch, aber nicht eskapistisch. Und absolut ein Zeichen ihrer Zeit.
Snippets:
Specials:
Luke Slater x Speedy J – “SHS 18”
Anthony Child – “Mysteries of the Deep CXXXVI”
KMRU – “RA.740”
Lady Starlight – “Boiler Room x Eristoff "Into The Dark" Live Set”
Press Info:
“How do things come to life? How does meaning appear?” These are questions that have informed Lifestream, the 2019 release by German composer, electronic producer, and classically trained pianist Johannes Motschmann. Conceived as a narrative arc, the album reflected the natural cycle of all things – from birth to death. Meticulously composed and gloriously realised, it succeeded in bringing such overarching concepts to life in rich, vivid ways. A year on, the German musician has invited friends and collaborators to breathe even more life into Lifestream for a new remix EP.
English techno pioneer, Luke Slater and German Berghain veteran, Chris Liebing both chose to remix the title track of Motschmann’s album taking the original tune into their own clubby spheres. Slater, who is a household name in the Brit-techno since the early 90s gave his version of Lifestream an insistent beat under which echoes of piano and other fragments of Motschmann’s track can be heard nostalgically. Liebing, who is a driving force in the German electronic music world with his ever- innovative approach, took the track into a deep and dark world of his own.
“What fascinated me most about Luke and Chris’ remixes was that they both developed the music and its underlying traces in very different ways, so what are actually secondary voices in my track suddenly came to the fore, and the main voices recede,” observes Motschmann of the two reworks. “It’s like a development into worlds of sound in which my music might otherwise never appear – As DJs, Luke and Chris take a different outlook on music making than I do, with my often very theoretical approach. The remixes have given me the opportunity of a new perspective: the composer becomes an astonished listener of his own melodies because they unexpectedly appear in a different context.”
Luke Slater has been responsible for some of the most lauded, richly-textured techno of the ’90s, not to mention numerous left field excursions under various monikers. From his beginnings as a resident at Heaven in London in 1989 and his involvement in the early outdoor rave scene, Luke has quickly become one of Britain’s emerging talents with several seminal releases. Over the past three decades, Slater’s sound has been honed across the globe several times over. He also boasts residencies at the likes of Berghain alongside appearances at about every major club or festival you could think of – from the Dutch forest settings of Dekmantel to the incredible setting of Fuji Rock Festival in Japan.
Chris Liebing is DJ, producer, radio host and the driving force behind the labels CLR and Spinclub Recordings. His sound has continuously evolved during his DJ career, always true to his techno roots. Although his contributions to the field have already firmly established him as one of the field’s great names, Liebing continues to innovate in the DJ booth with a setup more befitting a teenage computer game obsessive as well as releasing new material time and again. He’s known for playing hard, bouncy techno that is inspired by philosophy; always-deep tracks that range from looming apocalyptic landscapes filled with a sense of dread, to more optimistic emotional meditations.
Full Track Streaming:
“Lifestream (Luke Slater’s 7th Plain Remix)”
Press Info:
Token celebrates its 100th release with Luke Slater, a legend of the genre, releasing under one of his most iconic aliases: Planetary Assault Systems. For over 25 years, Slater has delivered unparalleled quality in his music – a formative figure in Techno and instrumental in defining the sound globally, few can touch the Brit for depth, urgency and hit rate.
Exhibiting near enough perfect renditions of classic dance-floor moods, the four track EP is a wrought iron rollercoaster through some of the artist’s most exacting work. Booming opener Bang Wap chugs unrelentingly while a lithe FX line does the bulk of the movement in the high mid range – building tension before a satisfying release in the last quarter. A2 Bolt is classic Planetary Assault Systems – hypnotic and driving with a single sequence dipping in and out of view. On the flip, Say It Loud could be an idiosyncratic hit waiting to happen – dry and tight in the drum department for maximum effect, and featuring a recurring vocal sample chopped and skewed for tension. Closer Shine takes a deeper, more psychedelic route with shades of the classic, jacking Detroit sound in the pitch bent lead line, but maintains the energy throughout with stylish delay sends upping the ante where required, all in all delivering a neat finish to the EP.
