Category: HANDS

Artist:
Monya

Title:
Straight Ahead

Label:
Hands Productions

Cat#:
HANDSD281

Release Date:
04th September 2019

Format:
CD, download & streaming

Tracklist:
01.
Listen

02.
Widerstand ist Pflicht

03.
Nachdenken

04.
Straight Ahead

05.
Schachmatt

06.
Benjamin

07.
Listen
(S.K.E.T. Remix)

08.
Gegen die Wand
[feat. HUREN]

09.
Excursion with Sergej

10.
Search of a Compromise

11.
Outro

Press Info:
HANDS welcomes Monya, and we think it is a match made in heaven: Berlin-based producer, remixer, Djane, live act and Corresponding Positions label boss Monya is an inimitably dili- gent and authentic artist, and she‘s not afraid to call her style what it is: Industrial techno. „Straight Ahead“ is her second full length album, the first to be released physically, and it makes best use of the format, a milestone for the genre in its seemingly effortless combina- tion of rhythmic force and sweeping sounds.

Within the global techno scene, Monya is surely known all over, with her career now stret- ching over a decade and a list of supporters, remixers and collaborators including the likes of Perc, Steve Stoll or Ethan Fawkes (to name just a few). And it is especially through her label Corresponding Positions that she pursues her passion for the innovative, the fresh and the outcasts.

that said, „Straight Ahead“ sports an abiding techno aesthetic with a continuous rough edge: What makes you „Listen“ more effectively than a bold mixture of wailing feedback noise and rhythm? Add some sturdy bass, and get a succession of raw and ready bangers: The highly political „Widerstand ist Pflicht“, the paradoxically titled „Nachdenken“ the self-explanatory title track, the earworm „Schachmatt“ and the extra distortion of „Benjamin“.

From there, diversion is granted: Now label mate S.K.E.T. remixes the opener in his recent 90s-flavoured fashion (one may say „rave“ here), and „Gegen die Wand“ features the vocals of David Foster aka Huren, some punk attitude for you! „Excursion with Sergej“ and „Search of a compromise“ appear comparably minimal and more experimental, before the „Outro“ closes the circle, returning to the album‘s noisy beginning.

The sound of „Straight Ahead“ is as timeless as it is cutting-edge, and not trying sound immodest: Straight ahead brilliant.

Snippets:

Full Track Streaming:
“Schachmatt”

“Widerstand ist Pficht”

“Benjamin”

“Gegen die Wand” [feat. Huren]

Special:
“Archaic Podcast 242”

Recommendations:
Monya’s “Political Revolution EP” on RND. Records
Monya’s “Steine Im Weg EP” on Corresponding Positions
Orphx’ “Pitch Black Mirror” on HANDS | Sonic Groove Records

Buy CD:
HANDS @ Bandcamp
more soon

Buy Download:
HANDS @ Bandcamp
Qobuz
JunoDownload
Beatport
iTunes
7Digital
Clone Digital
more soon

Commercial Streaming Services:
Tidal
Qobuz
Spotify
Deezer
Apple Music
Youtube Music

Booking:
Altar for Monya

Websites:
Monya
HANDS

Artist:
Monolith

Title:
Crashed

Label:
Hands Productions

Cat#:
HANDSD205

Release Date:
May 2014

Format:
CD & digital

Tracklist:
01)
No Escape

02)
Rotated

03)
Roadblock

04)
Dope Traps

05)
The Victim

06)
I Control Evolution

07)
Crashed

08)
Wired

09)
The Source

10)
Man Without Shadow

11)
10 Minutes Before Blackout

Press Info (English):
With Monolith an acknowledged veteran joins the HANDS label roster. “From Belgium to Berlin” – that’s not only Eric’s personal biography in short, it’s also the route that the sound he had its stakes in creating has taken: Partially club-compatible, entirely rhythmic and absorbing, this is premier league entertainment for contemporary electronic aficionados across the scenes, from the electro industrial underground onto the Berghain dance floor. It’s general knowledge that Eric van Wonterghem is a member of Absolute Body Control and Sonar, and that he has a notable past as Insekt, as well as under the Monolith moniker itself. On this behalf, “Crashed” is his 8th album already, and he can also look back at a string of live performances as well, forging his hypnotic and tribal rhythmic noise sound. This album shows the timeless facets of the “Belgian” sound that Eric van Wonterghem and his various fellow musicians have created over the last three decades, and that’s still newsworthy today: The icy, repetitive electro industrial sound, dominated by incisive rhythms with crashing cymbals and slight distortion, clinical and yet strangely warm and analogue has intrigued generations of underground music fans since its inception in the early 80s, and now it has arrived in the scene of Berlin, today’s minimal techno capital of the world, where it’s namechecked (and sometimes ripped off) by a new generation of producers. “Crashed” stands as good proof that Monolith is still capable of cutting-edge productions himself: A short, forbidding intro of static fuzz and swelling atmosphere (“No Escape”) and then 10 tight and rhythmic tracks. Some stand out as downright recommendations for the dance floor – following in the line of his recent vinyl 12” on Sonic Groove – like the rhythm noise/dub techno hybrid “Rotated”, the slightly EBM-ish “Crashed” and the hard-hitting “The Source”, while others draw from various other aspects: “Roadblock” is a raw, stomping boulder of sound, “The Victim” operates in rather purebred dub techno territory, “I Control Evolution” sounds rather klinik-al with its distorted 808 pattern and mock vocals. “10 Minutes before Blackout” finishes off an album that offers braindance and physical moments, done with expertise and a unique handwriting.

Listen:

Recommendations:
“Near Crash EP” on Adam X’s label Sonic Groove
Monolith remix of Adam X’s “The Wormhole Nexus”

Buy CD:
Hands Productions
Going Underground
more soon

Buy Digital:
iTunes
JunoDownload
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Booking:
Neuwerk for Monolith

Websites:
Monolith
Hands Productions