At 1051 Magazine we have a special affection for Sound Of Berlin, as our premiere and its first release arrived almost at the same time. And I think that the gestation of both ideas also coincide in time.
That’s why we always have a space for their releases, for this sentimental reason and, of course, for their quality. This December will be a very Sound Of Berlin month in 1051 Magazine, we are going to start this week with the release of the eleventh reference of the Berlin label.
There is no one as good as Mike Shannon at creating sonic grooves and endless labyrinths of minimal sounds for our minds to get lost in.
The Canadian producer delivers his new Homage EP via Sound of Berlin on November 26th – “a sound that is very much what I associate with Berlin techno in the purist form”, Shannon comments – two new tracks with the force of a minimal producer laying down experimental techno drums.
While Homage EP is “a tip of the hat to the basic Sound of Berlin’s channel, a label that made the blueprint for the techno I love to play and produce”, the first track Graefekiez ups the tension and rolls on and on in a lovely saline wash, with the gentle tussle of something grainy underneath.
Graefekiez is focused and uses the endless catchy bassline to carry the minimal theme into a more dub layout. A tension percolates through the track before finishing and Heide’s Glowing – the second track – wraps things up with seven minutes of shimmering haze.
Heide’s Glowing is a bit messier, with noises appearing like sunspots alongside modular percussive elements that create a hedge maze of rhythms. The groove feels far more smooth as a result, as Shannon teases out the tension for an impossibly long period, touching on minimal and techno flavours along the way. There’s no single moment of release though the hats dropping around the second-minute mark come close, and the journey is a rare pleasure.
“When I was invited the first time to play there [Heideglühen, a legendary club in Berlin], I came home and wrote this track, still glowing from the experience. Often my work gets inspired by these moments. Berlin has a wealth of inspiration at the core of its night life that I often tap into. Wouldn’t do what I do if it wasn’t for that.” – Shannon adds.
Both tracks are breezy, minimal and snappy, capped off with shuffling drums and Shannon’s signature crunchy percussions and looped basses. Some of the best moments come later when rhythmic phrases swirl meaninglessly around each other before patched drums come in, grounding the rhythm.
The strongest moments on Homage EP strike this unlikely balance between experimentalism and dance floor pleasures, an ode to Berlin and its unique club scene and nightlife.
Mike Shannon is an electronic musician and DJ from Ontario, Canada. Though only in his mid teens, the mid 90s saw Shannon quickly establish a reputation as one of the Canadian Techno scene’s most universally respected musicians, noted for a lightning fast mixing style, often on 3 turntables. An early affinity with the reductionist labels of the mid-western US, including fellow Canadian Richie Hawtin’s Plus 8, quickly fostered his own curatorial ambitions. His uniquely focused vision as a label curator led to the creation of two imprints, Cynosure and Haunt Recordings, both providing jazz infused electronic minimalism that have defined and exploded current dance music norms in equal measure.
A frequent collaborator and strong proponent of recent modular synthesis technology, Shannon’s own productions have consistently looked into the beating heart of house and techno to establish new timbres and subtle variations of the of the music he holds so dear.
Mike Shannon lives and works in Berlin.
Stay tuned. Next week there will be more juicy news about Sound Of Berlin here at 1051 Magazine.
