VERMONT レコード& CD

Review: Marcus Worgull and Danilo Plessow's Vermont project saw a couple of house music's most esteemed producers and selectors pursue an alternate musical avenue into ambient/balearic territory. The perfect musical accompaniment to Summertime road trips across the continent or for chilling with friends and loved ones at the beach house or by the campfire. Tracks from the II LP now get the remix treatment by some of the scene's biggest names here. Worgull's close associate and Innervisions boss Dixon is first up and remixes "Dschuna" into an evocative and life-affirming epic, in all its Afro and spiritually influenced glory that you could imagine him playing during one of his acclaimed DJ sets. "Skorbut" receives a shimmering disco-tinged remake by the one and only I:Cube of Versatile Records fame and also on the flip is Wassermann aka Wolfgang Voigt's totally epic Krautramatrik mix of "Paradigma" which takes the track deep into cosmic synth music territory.

Review: Three years on from the release of their eponymous debut album, Danilo Plessow (AKA Motor City Drum Ensemble) and Marcus Worgull once again join forces as Vermont. Like that acclaimed opus, II sees the duo exploring the worlds of ambient and electronica, along the way incorporating elements of 1970s kosmiche, and the kind of cyclical, minimalist compositions made famous by Steve Reich and Terry Riley. The results are uniformly excellent, with highlights including the Manuel Gottsching inspired "Nordeney", the Tangerine Dream style movements of "Gebirge", the Namlookian spaciousness of "Hallo Von Der Anderen Seite", and the hushed analogue creepiness of "Chemtrails".

Review: Motor City Drum Ensemble and Marcus Worgull's Vermont project returns to Kompakt with another elegant beatless adventure. Once again reminding us how ambient music can still carry a real tune and narrative, highlights include the clipped cascade of chimes of "Dschuna", the sudden flurries of light on "Demut", momentous overlapping guitar arpeggio of "Ufer" and warped layers and washes on "Hallo Von Der Anderen Seite". Rich in warmth and loaded with hidden twists on every listen, it's the ultimate foil to their better-known clubbier motifs. Beautiful.

Review: Vermont's self-titled LP from 2014 was one of Kompakt's most successful releases over the last couple of years, and the German imprint has decided to continue its remix re-rub after Prins Thomas' wet and wild excursion. This time, we have another three winners dishing out the reinterpretations: both Mano Le Tough and Marcus Worgull have a go at "Ubersprung", the former going for an ultra-slick, deep space vibe while the latter lives up to the Kompakt sound with his minimalistic yet beautifully melodic version. Last but not least, DJ Tennis remixes "Majestat" into an airy, outsider house joint for the more introspective sets. Quality, as per usual.

Review: Given the abundance of krautrock influences and cosmic synthesizer sounds on the Vermont debut album (simply titled Vermont), Prins Thomas was the natural choice to provide remixes. Here, he puts his typically cosmic, space-leaning stamp on three tracks from Dani Plessow and Marcus Worgull's much-hyped set. First, the Full Pupp boss delivers a chugging, hypnotic version of "Dynamik" full of rising and falling electronics and fizzing techno percussion. A slower, more Scandolearic take on "Elektron" follows, before Thomas memorably turns "Macchina" into a head-nodding chunk of woozy ambient dub. It's this, more than the EP's other dancefloor-focused moments, which really impresses.

Review: We've been waiting anxiously for this one and it's finally landed - not only on our shelves but also on our office turntable, where it's spinning around endlessly and hypnotising us into a state of total folly. Kompakt has always had a knack for signing the right record at the right time and this debut LP from Vermont aka Marcus Worgull and Motor City Drum Ensemble's Danilo Plessow is an absolute winner! The album is basically any synth lover's paradise, where sparse but rhythmic melodies glide in and out of foreboding tunnels and more docile landscapes. We're especially pleased with Plessow's impressive step into more experimental, Krautrocky territories and really putting his synth collection to work here.

Review: We've been waiting anxiously for this one and it's finally landed - not only on our shelves but also on our office turntable, where it's spinning around endlessly and hypnotizing us into a state of total folly. Kompakt has always had a knack for signing the right record at the right time and this debut LP from Vermont aka Marcus Worgull and Motor City Drum Ensemble's Danilo Plessow is an absolute winner! The album is basically any synth lover's paradise, where sparse but rhythmic melodies glide in and out of foreboding tunnels and more docile landscapes. We're especially pleased with Plessow's impressive step into more experimental, Krautrocky territories and really putting his synth collection to work here.