Luke Slater / PAS / L.B. Dub Corp / The 7th Plain

out now: The 7th Plain – Chronicles I [A-Ton]

Artist:
The 7th Plain

Title:
Chronicles I

Label:
A-Ton

Cat#:
a-ton 01

Release Date:
05th August 2016

Format:
CD, LP & digital

Tracklist:
A1.
The 7th Plain
Boundaries

A2.
Ken Ishii
Extra
(The 7th Plain Remix)

B1.
The 7th Plain
Grace

B2.
The 7th Plain
Surface Bound

C1.
The 7th Plain
The Super 8

C2.
The 7th Plain
T Funk States

D1.
The 7th Plain
Slip 7 Sideways

D2.
The 7th Plain
Chords Are Dirty

Press Info (English):
A-TON is a new edition and platform of Berghain’s in-house imprint Ostgut Ton, focussing on ambient, archive and alternative music, differing from the club-focussed records on the main label. Furthermore the first A-TON offering – Chronicles I – marks the start of a series from Luke Slater’s The 7th Plain moniker, with remastered, previously released and unheard archive material.

First published on General Production Recordings between 1993 and 1996, Slater’s The 7th Plain pushed the further burgeoning genre of ambient music towards its boundaries by not limiting itself to mostly beatless synth pads, but by including propulsive beat progressions, nuanced rhythms and subtle melodies. The 7th Plain’s extramundane music dodged classification, as heard on the albums The 4 Cornered Room and My Yellow Wise Rug (both on GPR, 1994) – emotional, eerie and escapist music, at the time of release forward thinking records that in retrospect managed to overcome time.

Originally recorded at Slater’s Spacestation Ø, now all newly mastered for A-TON, Chronicles I depicts the futurist aesthetic and musical agenda of the 90s in a contemporary context, without nostalgia but confidence of its timelessness. With seven original musical pieces and a previously unreleased Ken Ishii remix, The 7th Plain sounds as spirited and relevant as ever.

While “Boundaries” (taken from My Yellow Wise Rug), “Grace” and “Surface Bound” (from The 4 Cornered Room) should be familiar to Slater aficionados, “The Super 8”, “T Funk States”, “Slip 7 Sideways” and “Chords Are Dirty” are previously unheard like the aforementioned remix of Ishii’s “Extra”.

Press Info (German):
A-TON ist eine neue Edition und Plattform des Berghain-Inhouse-Labels Ostgut Ton und konzentriert sich auf Ambient-, Archiv- und andere Musiken, abweichend von den clubfokussierten Veröffentlichungen des Hauptlabels. Darüber hinaus markiert das erste Release auf A-TON – Chronicles I – den Beginn einer Serie von Veröffentlichungen Luke Slaters unter dessen Alias The 7th Plain und präsentiert geremastertes, zuvor veröffentlichtes als auch bislang ungehörtes Archivmaterial.

Zuerst erschienen auf General Production Recordings zwischen 1993 und 1996, lotete Slaters The 7th Plain die sich stärker ausbreitenden Facetten von Ambientmusik aus und trieb sie gleichzeitig an die Genregrenzen, indem sich The 7th Plain nicht auf beatbefreite Synthflächen beschränkte, sondern treibende Progressionen, nuancierte Rhythmen und raffinierte Melodien mit einbezog. The 7th Plains außerweltliche Musik entzog sich somit der genauen musikalischen Einordnung, nachzuhören auf den beiden Alben The 4 Cornered Room und My Yellow Wise Rug (beide GPR, 1994) – emotionale, gespenstische und eskapistische Musik, bei Erstveröffentlichung vorwärtsdenkende Alben, die in Rückbetrachtung die Zeit besiegt haben.

Ursprünglich aufgenommen in Slaters Spacestation Ø, nun für A-TON komplett geremastert, zeigt Chronicles I die futuristische Ästhetik und musikalische Agenda der Neunziger in einem zeitgenössischen Kontext, ohne Nostalgie aber mit dem Wissen um die Zeitlosigkeit dieser Musik. Mit sieben originären Stücken und einem unveröffentlichten Ken Ishii-Remix klingt The 7th Plain so beseelt und relevant wie eh und je.

Während „Boundaries“ (von My Yellow Wise Rug), „Grace“ und „Surface Bound“ (beide von The 4 Cornered Room) Slater-Aficionados bekannt sein dürften, sind „The Super 8“, „T Funk States“, „Slip 7 Sideways“ und „Chords Are Dirty“ bislang ebenso unveröffentlicht wie der zuvor erwähnte Remix von Ken Ishiis „Extra“.

Listen:

Video:
Ken Ishii – “Extra (The 7th Plain Remix)”

Video created by the29nov films

Recommendations:
album “Unknown Origin” by L.B. Dub Corp on Ostgut Ton
album “The Messenger” by Planetary Assault Systems on Ostgut Ton

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Booking:
Octopus Agents

Websites:
Luke Slater
Luke Slater @ Facebook
A-Ton
Ostgut Ton

out now: Planetary Assault Systems – Planetary Funk 22 Light Years (Part 2) [Mote-Evolver]

Artist:
Planetary Assault Systems

Title:
Planetary Funk 22 Light Years (Part 2)

Label:
Mote-Evolver

Cat#:
MOTE047

Release Date:
8th July 2016

Format:
12inch, download & streaming

Tracklist:
A)
Kat
(Josh Wink Re-Interpretation)

B)
Kat

Press Info:
Fresh off of his re-activation of the seminal “Planetary Funk” series, Luke Slater delivers another new 12” with all of the purposeful intensity and sonic clarity to be expected from his celebrated Planetary Assault Systems alias. Pairing both an original mix and a spirited re-working by Josh Wink, “Kat” is a winning synthesis of all the elements that make P.A.S. such a continually relevant player in the game of moving bodies and opening minds: it once again pushes beat-driven sound to disciplined extremes, but not without clearly detectable traces of humor and playfulness.

As vocal repetition of the track’s simplistic and suggestive title is run through a maze of filters, pitch-shifts and delays, an equally busy set of tubular bass figures mirrors this approach and meshes with the insistent rhythm. Carefully inserted hard stops, crafty fading of sound from background to foreground, and unexpected breakdowns give the track a kind of restless feel that ensures its success as a peak hour selection, or as a reliable companion on inner-city underground transit journeys.

While the original mix on the b-side begins in a more subdued fashion, it isn’t lacking at all in concentrated energy. As is the case with so many other P.A.S. classics, this mix relies on geometrical sound sequences that slowly approach from a distance before they completely overtake the listener. Elements like static crackling are wielded here like active parts of the conversation rather than as atmospheric wallpaper, and the beat itself hits with a mixture of force and subtlety, with anxious drum hits doubling up on one another and regularly giving rise to new patterns.

“Kat” is the kind of record that gives Planetary Assault Systems fans both what they want, and what they didn’t expect: it steers away from easy techno conventions but never abandons that genre’s physicality and infectiousness.

Words by Thomas Bey William Bailey

Snippets:

Full Track Streaming:
“Kat (Josh Wink Re-Interpretation)”

Related Releases:
“Planetary Funk 22 Light Years (Part 1)”
Single “Kat / Haiku”

Recommendations:
EP “No Exit” on Mote-Evolver
EP “Future Modular” on Mote-Evolver
EP “The Eyes Themselves” on Mote-Evolver

Special:
“Boiler Room & Ballantine’s Stay True Scotland Live Set”

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Booking:
Reprise Talent Agency

Websites:
Planetary Assault Systems
Planetary Assault Systems @ Facebook
Mote-Evolver
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out now: Planetary Assault Systems – Planetary Funk 22 Light Years (Part 1) [Mote-Evolver]

Artist:
Planetary Assault Systems

Title:
Planetary Funk 22 Light Years (Part 1)

Label:
Mote-Evolver

Cat#:
MOTE046

Release Date:
27th May 2016

Format:
12inch, download & streaming

Tracklist:
01)
Dungeon
(Ø [Phase] Remix)

02)
Gated
(Ben Sims Edit)

03)
Dungeon

Press Info:
It’s almost hard to believe that the original series of “Planetary Funk” 12”s by Planetary Assault Systems dates back to the early 1990s, given the continued relevance of this hard-edged suite of tracks, and their ease of integration into present-day techno sets. Characterized by their unflagging momentum and by almost militaristic deployment of techno’s atomic particles – submachine-gun handclaps, acid-soaked bass patterns, the icy chatter of ride and hi-hat cymbals – the spirit of these tracks has never really vacated the club scene. The 21st century re-activation of the Planetary Funk moniker isn’t a nostalgic look backwards so much as an expansion of its original mission.

Leading off the proceedings on this first volume is “Dungeon,” a 1997 original from P.A.S. which already shows this unit transitioning from the fierce, frantic atmosphere of the earlier Planetary Funk EPs into something more akin to the project’s present-day approach: not more “laid back” by a long shot, but more mesmerizing and loaded with anticipation. The repeated slow fade-in and detuned drop-out of a wasp-like hum is just one fascinating feature of this eerie track, which also includes other ephemeral activities occurring on the perimeter and a glassy rhythmic figure which snares your concentration and refuses to let go.

The Ø [Phase] remix of “Dungeon” also takes the listener to a dark place of uncertainty and possible hidden dangers, but with more vigor and percussive intensity added to the mix: with an extra (over)dose of vibrato added to the signature hum from the original, with more force added to the kick drums, and more variety in the dialogue between other percussive strikes, listening to this paint-peeling, stomping creation is an exhilarating man-machine experience like snaking a motorbike at high speed through gridlocked traffic.

Not to be outdone, Ben Sims appears on the scene as well with a re-envisioning of “Gated,” from the first Planetary Funk A-side. Retaining all the controlled chaos which made this track a classic, Sims adds more of his own fuel to the fire by downtuning the bass, re-adjusting the tempo and adding extra distortion on the slamming kicks. Utilizing a full complement of additional tensionbuilding techniques, Sims doesn’t try to upstage the original but does try to show a definite evolutionary process at work. In fact, the whole record is a celebration of this evolution, showing how Planetary Funk has naturally adapted to strange new times, but has kept its soul and character intact.

Words by Thomas Bey William Bailey

Snippets:

Video:
“Dungeon”

Video created by the29nov films.

Recommendations:
“Function 4 (Remixes – Episode 2)” on Mote-Evolver
EP “No Exit” on Mote-Evolver
EP “Future Modular” on Mote-Evolver
EP “The Eyes Themselves” on Mote-Evolver

Special:
“Electronic Explorations – 405”

Buy Vinyl:
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soon

Booking:
Reprise Talent Agency

Websites:
Planetary Assault Systems
Planetary Assault Systems @ Facebook
Mote-Evolver
Mote-Evolver @ Facebook

out now: Planetary Assault Systems – The Eyes Themselves [Mote-Evolver]

Artist:
Planetary Assault Systems

Title:
The Eyes Themselves

Label:
Mote-Evolver

Cat#:
MOTE041

Release Date:
23rd February 2015

Format:
12inch & digital

Tracklist:
01)
The Eyes Themselves

02)
Strange Attractor

03)
Arc

Press Info:
Since the release of the Temporary Suspension LP on Ostgut Ton in 2009, foreman of Planetary Assault Systems, Luke Slater has validated his presence in the scene over the past 20 years by defining the genre’s past and will continuing to define its future. Subsequently The Messenger LP as well as the No Exit and Future Modular EPs proved he perpetually rests on the cusp of modern techno. While he has spread his allegiances across a number of the genre’s best labels, his own Mote Evolver label is, understandably, a source of the most compelling work from the man: the No Exit and Deep Heet Vol. 3 EPs being two of his more recent high-quality offerings. That trend seems set to continue with the release of Planetary Assault Systems’ The Eyes Themselves EP.

The title track is indeed a kind of treat for the mind’s eye – after a convetional rhythmic leadin, Slater gets down to business and unveils a few layers of crisp and captivating sound design. Irregular droplets of high-frequency sound fade in and then seem to fall around the listener like glowing rain on the surface of a distant planet, before receding and making way for more subtle phrases. All the while, fluctuations in the aggressiveness and persistence of the cymbal tracks fight to wrest the listener’s attention away from this mesmerizing rain, making for an intriguing push-pull effect.

Elsewhere, it is a sign of Slater’s strength that a track named for a well-known concept within dynamical systems (“Strange Attractor”) doesn’t come across as a completely arbitrary guess at what such a concept might ‘sound’ like. A number of lightly accented, quickly decaying micro-sounds come together here to become more than the sum of their parts, certainly connoting dynamism and at the very least keeping up a servicable spaced-out
groove.

Now, for those who prefer the grit and tension of urban reality to dancing numbers or speculation on other worlds, have no fear – the closing “Arc” is powered along by dirty filtered phrases, a faintly menacing shaker sample and the occasional impolite release of steam from the grating beneath your feet. It gives one the uneasy feeling of stalking in the shoes of a professional assassin, and it wouldn’t be out of place in some documentary film on the same.

Few sonic artists can go from an atmosphere of oneiric wonder to one of cold intensity in just a few short steps, let alone doing this in a techno music genre that has little margin for error when it comes to conjuring atmospheres. As such, The Eyes Themselves once again demonstrates Slater’s lasting contribution to techno: maintaining its reputation as a tool for stimulating both intellectual and physical energy, for aiding restless peregrinations of thought and for giving the body its freedom.

Listen:

Full Track Streaming:

Videos:
“The Eyes Themselves”

Video created by the29nov films.

Recommendations:
Ostgut Ton album “Unknown Origin” by L.B. Dub Corp
EP “No Exit” on Mote-Evolver
EP “Future Modular” on Mote-Evolver

Special:
“Slam Radio #112”

Commercial Streaming Services:
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Buy Vinyl:
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Booking:
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Websites:
Planetary Assault Systems
Planetary Assault Systems @ Facebook
Mote-Evolver
Mote-Evolver @ Facebook

out now: Planetary Assault Systems – Future Modular [Mote-Evolver]

Artist:
Planetary Assault Systems

Title:
Future Modular

Label:
Mote-Evolver

Cat#:
MOTE038

Release Date:
17th February 2014

Format:
12inch & digital

Tracklist:
01)
Future Modular

02)
Riot In Silo 12

03)
Serc

04)
Future Modular
(Subtracted Mix)

Track 4 is digital-only

Info:
Mote Evolver kicks off 2014 with Future Modular EP from Luke Slater’s Planetary Assault Systems alias, presenting sharp-as-ever fresh sound of P.A.S. that has enticed the audience as long as the mighty ‘Systems’ have existed. Never a stranger to a forward thinking sound aesthetic and with a title like ‘Future Modular’, P.A.S. packs the EP with 4 tracks (with digital-only ‘Subtracted Mix’ of the title track) that spark with Futurism and tightly channel the energy at the tip of the boiling point.

The title track sets the tone of the EP – positively powerful and playful – with its groovy bass drum and acid infusing an ample dose of funky rhythmic variations. But it wouldn’t be P.A.S. without the thrilling tension that locks you in, “Riot in Silo 12” on the B-side slips into the darker side, keeping the hats just below the surface and layer by layer uncovering the electrifying suspense throughout the track. “Serc” pops open with the bursting energy of kick drum then takes you to the uncharted realms of cold minimalistic drops reminiscent of early Sähkö purism, and masterfully brings a variety of moving elements and textures into dynamic captivating techno.

Future Modular is yet another top form techno EP full of ideas and dimensions from P.A.S., a superb successor to the constantly floor-stirring his previous No Exit EP to offer kinetic prowess that never diminishes.

Not only is 2014 going to be packed full of exciting Mote Evolver releases, but also legendary techno producer and label head Luke Slater will be kicking off his regular radio show, Spacestation, exploring the fields and minds of techno. Welcome To The Spacestation Episode 1 is now available for you to check out, featuring unreleased tracks! www.mote-evolver.com/radio

Listen: