ToolBox Records

Excellent Tribe acid techno from Art Manifeste

Following NOIZE CREATOR‘s release for the NASDIA imprint comes another devastating beast. „When there's no more room in hell the dead will walk the earth.“ Scattered beats, bashed Amens, sonic mayhem and bad bass describes best what happens in „UNDEAD“. An untold story of violent proportions while the flipside holds „FLESH“. „They prey on humans, they do not prey on each other. That's the difference.“ And there is something that brings new life into the bodies of those dead maniacs. A well arranged druminferno packed in this surreal nightmare. The gates of hell are open and the dead are walking ... ACTIVE UNDERGOUND hit the shelves with its 8th release already. It all started in 1998 when NOIZE CREATOR unleashed his first two assaults on 10“. Since then the sound of ACTIVE UNDERGROUND significantly changed with each release and now turned into the dark side of a non existant breakbeat culture. After a first flashback in shape of a double CD holding tracks from all vinyl only releases plus lots of bonusmaterial (AU06), a 3x10“ album was released in 2005 to give all those hunters and collectors a 2nd chance in grabbing a copy of AU01 and AU02. But now is the time for some bloody torturing. AU08 is the 1st part of the „Trilogy of the Dead“.

Ever since his first contact with Ad Noiseam and the release of his debut album “Eating Movies” (adn44) in 2004, Matthew Peters expressed his wish to release his long-running, massive trilogy. “The Madlands”, a gathering of three mini-albums forming a very coherent entity, finally sees the light of the day in the form of a triple package showcasing Mad EP's most delicate and soundtrack-oriented work to date. If there is a story behind every song, then there is an entire travelogue that could accompany "The Madlands". Composed over seven years, while living in ten different apartments in five cities, then finalized in Brooklyn for a Berlin-based label, this deeply personal work reflects the life of Mad EP, a nomadic musician trying to find his way home. Sometimes literal and programmatic, other times artistically abstracted into metaphors, the music of "The Madlands" tells a series of seemingly unrelated tales interwoven into a single, cohesive one. Combining his oldest tracks with his most current (including his first electronic track ever written as well as tracks written shortly before handing in the whole trilogy), this non-linear collection roams deeper into the mad psyche and gives even more attention to his instrumental background. Featuring tracks written with long-time collaborators Mathhead, Chaonaut and David Young, as well as together with Matthew Peter's improv-jazz formation (The Manhattan Gimp Project), “The Madlands” appears as one of the most meditative, laid back and somewhat emotion-ridden work of Mad EP so far; the voices (essential on the previous albums "Eating Movies" and "Not Afraid Of Spiders") have been silenced, the melodies and soundscapes have taken the beat's preponderance. Mad EP might invite us to a journey through Mad lands, but you're certain he will not let your hand go.

Two years have passed between the release of AZ-Rotator's album “Science of Chance” album and “Freaky Vintage Disco Breaks”, but they have been two very busy years for Uge Ortiz (AZ-Rotator). Besides polishing the four tracks of his vinyl début, he has proved to be a must-have acts for festival all over Europe. From Barcelona's Sonar Festival to Berlin's Transmediale, from sunny outdoor stages in Spain to Germany's loud Maschinenfest, he has demonstrated repeatedly the dichotomy of his project: detailed, subtle and carefully crafted in the studio, but unmistakably dancefloor-oriented and crowd-pleasing on stage. If the previous “Science of Chance” was the fruit of a long, careful studio labour and the accomplishment of a producer with an ear for crystal-clear tracks, “Freaky Disco Vintage Breaks” is its catchier, heavier and dancier pendant. Still razor-sharp, it is a much more playful and radiant release, in which AZ-Rotator manages to marry his hi-fi (or is it sci-fi?) beats with old-school hooks and body-shaking melodies. Freaky and broken in its details but vintage and disco in its ambition and target, AZ-Rotator's new record comes as a much welcome bridge the complex form of IDM and the party function of electronic beats. A highly seductive, catchy, energetic and clever courtesy of AZ-Rotator's electronic wizardry.