Ostgut Ton Germany レコード& CD

Review: The brilliant Answer Code Request follows releases for his own imprint and Marcel Dettmann's MDR label to make his Ostgut Ton debut with the Breathe EP, which delivers three cuts of his individual brand of weighty, breakbeat-inspired techno. Each of the three tracks sees him in particularly ravey form; "The 4th Verdict" combines a chugging synth line with minimal Mills-inspired percussion, while "Ghostes" offers a suitably spectral vision of club techno in its cavernous chords and heavy breakbeat rhythms. The title track however must be his most euphoric to date combining headspinning chords with taut drums.

Review: Code sees Patrick Graser issue his debut album as Answer Code Request with the twelve track set comfortably ranking among the best long players issued on Ostgut Ton in recent times. Though Graser has been releasing records under his given name since 2008, it's his work as Answer Code Request that has seen the German truly find his sound. First appearing under the moniker in 2011 with the self-released Subway Into EP, Graser has gone on to release with MDR and Ostgut Ton with the Breath EP issued on the latter earlier this year a fine taste for what to expect from Code. ACR's weighty breakbeat driven techno is very much in evidence here, at times it feels like how Hessle lad Joe might sound if he grew up in the outskirts of Berlin ("Field Depth" in particular). At other times Graser's suggestion that Code is influenced by the 90s sounds of UK bastions such as Warp feel very much true and the more you listen the more you feel he's successfully managed to deliver a cohesive and continually compelling techno album.

Review: Code sees Patrick Graser issue his debut album as Answer Code Request with the twelve track set comfortably ranking among the best long players issued on Ostgut Ton in recent times. Though Graser has been releasing records under his given name since 2008, it's his work as Answer Code Request that has seen the German truly find his sound. First appearing under the moniker in 2011 with the self-released Subway Into EP, Graser has gone on to release with MDR and Ostgut Ton with the Breath EP issued on the latter earlier this year a fine taste for what to expect from Code. ACR's weighty breakbeat driven techno is very much in evidence here, at times it feels like how Hessle lad Joe might sound if he grew up in the outskirts of Berlin ("Field Depth" in particular). At other times Graser's suggestion that Code is influenced by the 90s sounds of UK bastions such as Warp feel very much true and the more you listen the more you feel he's successfully managed to deliver a cohesive and continually compelling techno album.

Review: Berghain resident Patrick Graeser returns as part of the Ostgut Ton family, with his second full length opus. Much like his 2014 debut Code, Graeser has honed a hybrid musical approach that stands out in a world of uniform 4/4 techno - as heard over the years on MDR, Music Man and of course his own Answer Code Request imprint. Gens is a diverse yet cohesive affair, between the more straight-ahead tracks like "Knbn2", "Cicadae" or the particularly seething "Sphera" (which are breakbeat driven, bass-heavy and UK inspired), there are some mentalist IDM journeys ("Ab Intus/Audax") and even breathtaking ambient moments like "Orarum" and "Mora". Brilliant stuff.

Review: "Neume", the title track from Answer Code Request's first Ostgut Ton outing for two years, sounds like a dancefloor warning of dark times ahead. Percussively intricate but rhythmically hypnotic, much of its' allure stems from the producer's use of seriously foreboding chords and creepy string sweeps. "Meta" is a little more positive in outlook, with dreamier chords and pads combining well with a beat pattern that sits somewhere between Tectonic techno and West London broken beat. Finally, he expertly combined pitched-up hip-hop beats, heavy analogue bass and sunset-friendly pads on the deliciously hazy closer, "Vis".

Review: Ostgut Ton reach the midway, or Funf, point of their programme of 12" issues from last year's mammoth Zehn boxset which draws for the contributions from DVS1, Answer Code Request and the Dutch connection Doms & Deykers. DVS1 is up first with "Ecks", a blinding little DJ tool rife with skittering drums and trademark touches of psychedelia, whilst Answer Code Request's "Zeitspielraum" has a touch of the Underworld classic "Rez" to it. Plenty of broken drums too, naturally! Martyn and Steffi have the keys to the B-side and they use the space to lay down their own breakbeat house epic "Whirling" which bodes well for the mooted Doms & Deykers album that is supposed to be out this year.