Ostgut Ton Germany レコード& CD

Review: Alongside regular studio partner Andreas Baumecker, Sam Barker has released a swathe of admired singles and a couple of on-point albums on Ostgut Ton. Here he returns to the much-loved German imprint with his most significant solo release to date: a debut album of drowsy, sun-baked electronic positivity that expertly melds elements of hazy ambient, dub techno, off-kilter electronica and the classic kosmiche synthesizer soundscapes associated with Tangerine Dream. It's a lot less dancefloor-focused than much of his previous material, but that's not a criticism: indeed, the fact that it's warm, opaque and prioritizes fuzzy, slowly shifting musical movements is the album's greatest strength.

Review: Alongside regular studio partner Andreas Baumecker, Sam Barker has released a swathe of admired singles and a couple of on-point albums on Ostgut Ton. Here he returns to the much-loved German imprint with his most significant solo release to date: a debut album of drowsy, sun-baked electronic positivity that expertly melds elements of hazy ambient, dub techno, off-kilter electronica and the classic kosmiche synthesizer soundscapes associated with Tangerine Dream. It's a lot less dancefloor-focused than much of his previous material, but that's not a criticism: indeed, the fact that it's warm, opaque and prioritizes fuzzy, slowly shifting musical movements is the album's greatest strength.

Review: Ostgut Ton staple Sam Barker returns with the second edition on his eponymous sub label, featuring another intriguing collection of leftfield electronics. Opening epic 'E7-E5' is an utterly majestic and blissful affair that exists sonically at the intersection of dub techno and Motor City soulfulness, but next offering 'Bent' goes south of Heaven and into darkly dystopic realms for this off-kilter deconstruction of electro aesthetics. Over on the flip, we have the glassy-eyed IDM of 'Polytely' taking you on a glorious nine minute brain dance. Mastered by Stefan Betke at Scape Mastering.

Review: Nobody could accuse Spanish producer JASSS of being backwards and coming forwards on this, her Ostgut Ton debut. The Berlin-based label, Berghain's recorded outlet, usually conjures sonic images in line with the stereotypical soundtrack of the club's main hall, but anyone who has spent a reasonable amount of time in the imprint's back catalogue will know that's a reductive assumption. The crew regularly veer into all kinds of leftfield electronic avenues.

Even so, JASSS' arrival marks one of the wildest rides this platform has ever offered listeners. From the resoundingly emotional and joyous opening wide bands of synth, 'Birds You Can Name', to the euphoric industrialism of 'Busto' and the operatic, neo-tropical pop of 'A World of Service', this is benchmark-setting curveball stuff we cannot get enough of.

Review: Although arguably best known for her angular, industrial-influenced techno output, Siliva Jimenez Alvarez AKA Jasss has proved adept at delivering oddball electronica, modular-rich ambient and the kind of scuzzy industrial pop of which Trent Reznor would undoubtedly prove. A World of Service, her sophomore album and first for Ostgut Ton, builds on the latter side of her sound while expanding into new musical territory such as autotune-sporting future R&B ('Luis'), buzzing downtempo darkness (the immersive and intoxicating, percussion-rich 'Busto'), leftfield 21st century synth-pop (the curious but excellent 'A World Of Service') and even a dash of jangling, radio-friendly cheeriness ('In Your Mouth'). An impossible album to pigeonhole, but one that's consistently excellent and genuinely worthy of further inspection.

Review: Ostgut Ton ain't just house, techno and concrete, they're ambient, experimental, electro and musique concrete. This is the biggest compilation the label has released since they let Emika run wild in a closed Berghain and Panorama Bar to capture sounds of the humming club for 2010's Funf compilation. Barker & Baumecker and Fiedel saw releases on that compilation and now they contribute a track each to Ostgut Ton's abstract Various LP. B&B offer up some dubby frenetics in "Meiose" while Fiedel supplies some melodica and two step rhythms in "Grunewald2". Tobias' "Dark & Troubling Things" share a similar beatless murk to music from Canadian ambient artist Loscil, while Rolando's track "Neglected" is a stand out. DIN adds some minimally-charged Chicago house to the LP, while Virginia and new name Crushed Soul opt for something more electro. Dave Sumner then seals Various with a primitive "Golden Dawn" featuring Stefanie Parnow for something totally different to what Function fans are accustomed to.

Review: German powerhouse label Ostgut Ton turns 16 with another of its big and mighty compilations. Ostgut Ton Funfzehn Plus 1 spans 20 tracks and features a number of top draw collabs from artists who work closely with the label. Some come together for the first time such as Martyn and Duval Timothy, or Len Faki and Honey Dijon, and all were due for release last year originally. They say "the music focuses on the interwoven nature of the label and the club in its multitude of different spaces and musical facets." We say, get it bought.