Wax Works at CryptiQ (Prisoner of War camp)

This weekend signals the end of the summer months and for the very last party we’re travelling to Perth, to play at one of the most interesting venues in the country for one of the most original promoters, CryptiQ.

Located about an hour’s drive from Glasgow, Scotland’s own Prisoner of War camp will be hosting a selection of Glasgow’s house and techno DJs this Saturday.  The venue will be set up with 2 stages and a fully licensed bar with your ticket covering the bus to the venue and back again.

Tickets are £25.

You only need to check the photos of the venue to see that this is not one to be missed and it will certainly live long in the memory of everyone who’s there.  We play for 2 hours on Saturday night, so if you’re reading this, I hope to see you there for it.

Just in case you still need some convincing, here’s a video from our last gig at Chambre69 earlier this year.

Full line up

Hut 1

Junior (Sensu)

Ivan Kutz (Platform 18)

Missing Persons Club

Jonathan Carroll (No sleep)

Hut 2

Quail (Animal Farm)

Wax Works

Andy Barton (Headway)

Stu Johnston & Mark Dickov

John Gallagher (Tantric)

6pm – late

Klockworks 10 - Etapp Kyle

The latest and 10^th record from Ben Klock’s Klockworks imprint comes from the up and coming Ukranian producer Etapp Kyle, who delivers 4 tracks of really high quality.

The 4 tracks all share a similar aesthetic and are a perfect example for high quality, contemporary minimal techno.

‘Astra’ kicks off the EP with a track which immediately made me think of Jeff Mills’ Something In The Sky series, a cool melody carries the track, whilst the drum patterns subtlety change and drift in and out keeping you locked to its groove.  ‘Drama’ has a darker vibe and picks up the pace a bit; the main hook is another simple loop that alters slightly after 16 bars, before the drums change.  It’s not complex stuff, but it makes for a very effective track and my 2^nd favourite from the record.

B1 ‘Aurora’ is my favourite from the EP and the real standout track. I think that it sounds like something in between artists like Recondite and DVS1.  Breaths of white noise that make way for shuffling hi-hats set the tone early, but as the track develops everything but the melody makes way for almost trance like elements that change the tone (I think it’s cool, but I’d love to have a version that’s just the main loop).  When the beat drops back in it brings the energy.  For me, this is one to be playing near the end of a pretty magical set.

‘Prizma’, the last track, is a pretty cool track, but it’s probably the weakest of the EP for me.  However, that being said, I really love Etapp Kyle’s style on this record and the m_nus track ‘Yuma’.  They are far more distinct than his earlier, more atmospheric productions, but whether that is a change of direction or simply the influence of the labels remains to be seen.

Wax Works meet Ø [Phase]

Ahead of our night on the 7^th of September at Stereo, we caught up with Phase to get a brief insight into the man behind the alias.  Make sure to check out his latest EP and the mix at the bottom of the page.

If we go back, right to your first release on Steve Bicknell’s Cosmic Records 13 years ago, can you tell us how that came about? 

I used to go to pretty much all the Lost parties and loved the output from their label. I sent Steve an acetate with 4 tracks on in the hope he might like them and received a phone call a week or so later. Of the 4 he really liked Module Overload (the track the subsequently became the a-side of COS024), the two b-side tracks came later. 

I take it at this time making music was something you were doing, whilst working as a mastering engineer, but this has changed since, what was behind your change in focus?

To be honest, there's a lot of reasons; one was that the music industry went through drastic changes and the big studio where I was based had to close, it was at that point that I started to shift away from full time mastering and focus on production. It's still an interest for me but my true passion has always been the DJ production side.

As a DJ, you’ve been fortunate enough to play in countries all across the world, what clubs have left the biggest impression and where do you love to play?

My most memorable parties are often the one-offs where the promoters have transformed a warehouse space especially for that night. I played such a party for Karbon in Stockholm last new years eve; really good fun.
And a cliche perhaps, but Berghain Berlin always leaves a lasting impression. I think the strict door policy makes a huge difference. As a performer you always know that you're in front of a crowd that's that bit more pure and genuinely interested in what they're hearing.

What has changed for you since the success of Binary Opposition and did the idea for the album come off the back of this?

It's helped me connect with new people mostly, which is always nice and no doubt contributed to some remix commisions this year. The album, I've intended doing for a long while. The tracks draw upon ideas going back to various points over the last 12 years or so. 

Token Records has been your home label since 2007 and an important part of your career so far, how would you describe your relationship with the label and what part has it played in your development as an artist?

Since meeting, Kris & I have become great friends so where my releases are concerned we have a very close relationship and discuss things in great detail. We both have a firm belief in long term development and this has definitely been instrumental in shaping my musical path over the last 6 years. 

When is the album due out and what do you have planned for the future?

The album is due out in October and will be followed up with some very special remixes. I will be gigging around that and aim to do some more remixing myself where possible. 

Frames of Reference, the debut LP from Ø [Phase] is due out on the 21st of October this year.

The latest EP "On The Edge" is currently available in record shops.

Ø [Phase] plays at Stereo on 7th September, entry is £5 and doors open at 11pm.

Phase RA MIX

TRACKS:

1. Stanislav Tolkachev - Building Peaks

2. Shifted - Gates

3. Steven Brown - Polar

4. Martin H & Samuel L Sessions - The Leap

5. Marcel Dettmann - Bleep 5

6. Ø [Phase] - Behind The Sun

7. Forward Strategy Group - Applied Generics

8. Ads - Transversal

9. Ø [Phase] - The Chasedown

10. Dax J & G Wild - Revok (Ø [Phase] Remix)

11. Truncate - Pad Mode

12. B & R - Afterlife

13. Psyk - RDNM

14. John Thomas - Psycho Groove

15. Developer & Truncate - Diffraction (Jonas Kopp Remix)

16. Ø [Phase] - Binary Opposition (Process 1)

17. P.A.S. - Sucktion

18. Robert Hood - A Time To Rebuild

19. Steve Bicknell - Lost Recordings 5 (B1)

20. DVS1 - Evolve

21. Developer - Dirty Drive ('Shifted' Remix)

22. Chris Page - Decoy (Blawan Remix)

23. Ø [Phase] - [Unreleased]

Wax Works & CryptiQ present Ø [Phase]

Ø [Phase], real name Ashley Burchett, made a massive impact with the huge Binary Opposition release on Token Records last year.  However, Phase has been putting out records since 2000 and saw his first record released on our previous guest Steve Bicknell’s Cosmic Records.

Not a prolific producer by any means, he seems to be a man that works at his own pace.  This approach has a positive impact on his output, however,  as there’s a timeless quality to a lot of his music, the sort of thing that producers who rush to meet release schedules and see their tracks forgotten after a just a few months, should maybe take more notice of.  Process 1 & 2 are great examples of this, as they are amongst the biggest techno tracks of the last 12 months and have been played by all your top techno DJs, but they still sound just as fresh & exciting when you drop them.

With an album due to be released in the very near future and bigger things just around the corner, this is a brilliant time to see him play.  He has recorded some absolutely storming mixes for Resident Advisor and Smoke Machine, so you’re in for a treat if techno is your bag.

The night is at Stereo, which is BY FAR our favourite venue in the city and it’s definitely the only club that you can really say feels like it’s a techno club.  So for less than it’ll cost you for a packet of fags, you can come and see one of the most exciting UK techno artists in the coolest venue in the city, with a sound system that is sounding fucking brilliant.

Fuck you, if you’re not into that.

Acronym

Acronym is a fairly new artist with only 3 releases to his name, however, I expect it’s someone that we will be a lot more familiar with in the next few years.  His tracks are deep and atmospheric, similar to Abdulla Rashim’s work, although, not quite as mental.

His latest EP is available now through the Northern Electronics Bandcamp page, although it costs slightly more with postage, the label will receive a lot more than if it is bought via a shop. 

The video above is for a track from his first EP on the label Dimensional Exploration, which I assume is his own label, so give it a listen and check out the samples for the new yin.

All 3 of his records come highly recommended.

Posted Missing

It's been months since I last posted and it's been months since we last played; part of that was due to the fact that I felt like throwing in the towel and part of it was down to me having nothing to say.. or nothing that I could put into writing anyway.

But here we are.

It's two months since we had Eric Cloutier & John Osborn in Glasgow and it's been two months without a night in Glasgow breaking the mould.  In a 'techno' city, how many nights in the last 8 weeks have booked a techno artist?  infact, in the last 8 weeks, how many nights have booked someone that is fucking interesting?

Fucking zero.

We tried.  We got fucked about twice and we made mistakes. BUT, if you were at Sigha then you were at the best techno night in Glasgow this year.  Hopefully the video will be online again soon for anyone who disagrees.

Why wasn't the June party just as good? Well, we were up against Rockness & Jeff Mills at the sub.. but we still got in 150+ through the door and there wasn't a bad tune all night.  Which, normally, we would have been cool with.... but. and it's a big BUT.    Chambre69 had previously agreed to pay the DJ fees for both artists. However, 3 days before the gig they pulled out of this; we were told if we can't pay them, then we need to cancel.  This, understandably, left us a bit... fucked.  So the night went ahead and we did our best to make it work - we hope everyone had a good time and we appreciate everyone who made an effort to come down - we then had to cancel our bookings with Move D, Kassem Mosse & Donato Dozzy, leaving us absolutely gutted and looking like a bunch of fucking twats (tbf, we were for being so naive).  This is on top of our night with Kassem Mosse & Kowton being cancelled because Numbers wanted to put on a party; which we did without any fuss.

But fuck it right? Shit happens and it's part of the curve; we want to try and bring forward thinking and exciting techno artists to Glasgow (a city that enjoys a crowd of clubbers more intersted in taking drugs, looking cool and downloading the latest Richie Hawtin hair doo). So we will try?

Black Country Music Club.

New Wax Works Mix

Here's the latest mix from the Wax Works crew, enjoy!

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