new lp by stefan goldman

round three of the trilogy!

part 1 of a 3 part installment

outstanding soundscapes in philharmonie berlin!

incl cd!

fulminant alvum by kuf ! incl. stefan goldmann, raudive, peter kruder..

next stefan goldmann sureshot !

kuf create emotion-laden dialogues across layers of time and dimensions of sound. voices recorded in private are chopped up and brought out center-stage to sing with beats hammered out right here and now. glowing synths push forward. basslines rise to grab the melodic role of a track while a vowel is truncated and locked into a grid, driving the rhythm. voices move within the frame of a sample, performed by hands pushing keys, guided by the ear, immersed in a trio sessions deep flow… a vortex of quirky hands, responsive ears and glowing circuits. since thomas a. edison first recorded the human voice in 1877, the recording arts have changed music forever. musicians have explored the endless possibilities of bouncing their input onto layers of tape, off the walls of an echo chamber or the circuitry of electronic helpers - technology that modulates, spatializes, shifts, divides or multiplies the work of human hands and mouths. an era of sampling offered a cubistic analysis of the recorded past and djs took dancers onto intricately fractured time travels. this is the historic foundation that kuf keep probing.

written & produced by roboknob. mixed by stefan goldmann. mastered by rashad becker. info: weve said it before: technos vanguard can be found in the east right now. sofias quirky techno underground is densifying. evolving around the diviat slon parties (residents: stefak & stefan goldmann), the beton nights, the indoors offspins of artmospheric festival and unannounced appearances of kink under his cyrillic guise, raw and rave-infused techno is increasingly defining the citys sound of the small hours. roboknob are part of this movement, and this is their debut ep. a live hardware duo, yasen and stanislav drop rugged, noisy machine jams around the bulgarian capital and have been regulars at artmospheric. the ep’s tracks have been distilled from their live repertoire and mixed by stefan goldmann into sharply defined form with added bite.dexydi is greek for acid - the corrosive liquid, not the music. accordingly, its heavy-handed single-note bass attack will cut through anything.spellbind is more bouncy with frantic upward movements, distorted percussive fallout and a seasick bass foundation. liulka handles two layers of time rubbing off of each other: quirky and pushing high in the sky, against the bass drum mechanics down low. a suitable acoustic symbol for sofias state of techno.

macro proudly welcomes rroxymore to its stellar roster of artists. rroxymore has turned heads with her outstanding dj sets and no-prisoners-taken live act. her recent collaboration with oni ayhun, paula temple and planningtorock as recon decon 1 on noise manifesto promised a great future, and that promise is kept in tautologies. from the techno drive of darksun to the housed-out oddities of q19 and dff: this is as fresh as it gets.

industry sheds all personalized effort and tests how far you can get by using presets only. all sounds are factory presets of 3 obsolete 1990s japanese workstation synths, all effects are presets, all notes are quantized and most panning is purely accidental (laid out in the preset sounds). industry doesnt rely on successful presets, but on failed sounds of now obsolete synthesizers - industrial assumptions of where culture will go, but where it chose not to. the result is a surprisingly pleasant listening experience with effortless grooves and rich textures - and mildly demonic connotations. from smooth to kicking - a conveyor belt enjoying mood swings. as beautiful as the scheduled meeting of a pvc sheet and a thermoform mould on a workbench.

stefan goldmanns adem finally brings a new concept of handling melodies to the world of house and techno. pushy synths tuned to arabian intervals, playfully pitch bent around one repeated note that sticks to the kick as if its life depends on it. its as if a parallel universes acid has been invented in some lunatic asylum in tirana. this primitive melody is as alienatingly synthetic as it is offensively brain-dissolving. in the hands of a dj, adem” is like the captagon formula in the hands of the bulgarian secret service: many deaths, big bucks. chalga, tallava, manele - call it anything. the b-side’s rigid chain is as detuned, yet strictly limited to a rogue off-beat bassline pumping in between metallic house drums. thats it.

7 inch incl mp3

an ardent heart is a focused techno mini album that brings forward stefan goldmann’s most dancefloor-centered material in a decade. the tracks push and pull relentlessly. despite their linear appeal, there is an intricately balanced interplay between the heavy-handed kicks, the bouncy bass accents and the sizzling, yet clear-cut details whipped up by the rallying drums. the peculiar, seemingly “vocalised” mode of synthesis is maybe the most unifying sonic characteristic of the six tracks and one coda. formant shaping, vowel filters and airstream perturbations let a wide range of sounding elements speak in the tongues of a cybernetic babylon. layered polymetric patterns perforate the aural plane with alien scripts. clearly structured, yet opaque messages that seem to have traveled for aeons emanate from the red-hot circuitry. they spill into a network of delays, channeled down into labyrinthine corridors, enveloped in electrostatic noise. most tracks build on chance patterns evoked with hardware sequencers and freeform modulation sources. the resulting synthetic systems are as cohesive as they exhibit vast internal variation and range. thus balancing simplicity and complexity right in the middle, the results are just as immediately gripping as they can feed sustained attention. a wide palette of distortion and overtones mark the contours of individual elements that seem to have near-physical qualities – as if there were metallic strings, thick membranes, a resonating sphere, all struck by electric mallets, caused to vibrate by mechanical bows and sung by silicone lips.

anno stamm is the revered 4/4 branch name of berlin’s lars stoewe. as anstam he has been at the forefront of dark beat science, touring extensively with the likes of moderat and thom yorke’s atoms for peace and has appeared at festivals ranging from mutek and ctm to sonar and dimensions. ‘annothek’ is his second ep for macro. the three tracks build on the same set of sound sources and offer three different views at their glowing core. elastic basslines pierce through a bed of sweet and warm chords, surrounded by sizzling noise percussion. definitely on the more introspective side, the three cuts offer a special emotional depth while maintaining a bit more than just enough oomph to get the action going. late night and early morning are the possible settings. it’s a declaration of tender love that comes with a gentle push towards the closest darkroom.

between the vast flatlands of western ukraine and the pacific shores of vladivostok, a new quirky techno underground has been racking up hefty grid rhythms below the radar. initially free from the weekend routines of the established club circuit, producers from etapp kyle to stanislav tolkachev have been experimenting with the possibilities of shifting grids in their post-socialist bedroom studios.

between the vast flatlands of western ukraine and the pacific shores of vladivostok, a new quirky techno underground has been racking up hefty grid rhythms below the radar. initially free from the weekend routines of the established club circuit, producers from etapp kyle to stanislav tolkachev have been experimenting with the possibilities of shifting grids in their post-socialist bedroom studios.

tough techno versions, derived from stefan goldmanns synth-heavy a1 film soundtrack. five cuts remixed into the mighty 4/4 grid (mostly). free wheeling hardware synthesis and heavy-handed beats line up for concrete-blasting impact on constructor and a-drive. the b2s spikes is a more loose affair around a scintillating analogue synth riff. contrastingly, inward slope features a warped beat layout and wavetable splashes, sounding like a weeping robot fighting with a cat. roadside lot is a soothing ambient fm tech tool. thats it. on to the next fifty.

literary all the granny smith apple trees grown today, from uruguay to hokaido, are clones from mrs. smith’s original tree in sydney. bananas, oranges, watermelons, garlic & other fruits of daily delight are routinely replicated without any input of external ideas - i.e., they are cloned. there is no general ethical or aesthetic decision to be formed about clones, since you have already imbibed them ever since your first bite. thus, you are not in a neutral or otherwise preliminary position, but already involved, kneedeep.

nice price deal !!! macro has been the home for the albums of some of electronic music’s most exciting live acts. so when a live band enters this context, it should better enter with a bang. kuf do just this with their album debut. the three-piece outfit with keys, bass and drums cooks up a sound that is as warm, cozy and exciting as it is utterly alien. the rhythm section hints at the great history of dirty funk and bouncing r’n b, but the grooves are firmly of today: dance-centered, thrillingly interactive and broken up at the best possible joints. the bewildering thing about kuf is that it is a vocal-led group that has no singer on stage at all. all vocal elements are based on self-recorded samples which keyboard whizz kid tom schneider melds and bends and squeezes in real time. as if it was the most natural thing to do. with no artificial synchronization in place, valentin link on bass and hendrik havekost on drums push the disembodied voices into an arena of hyperintegrated realtime magic of rough soul, intertwined by improvised outbursts and shaped with the aesthetics of raw mpc-based cut up techno.

macro has been the home for the albums of some of electronic musics most exciting live acts. so when you are a live band and you enter this context, youd better enter with a bang. kuf do just this with their debut ep for the label.

oh, the terror. lestasi delloro delves deeper into new yorks gritty shades of techno. returning after 2014s super-bold iscariotic lips, this new ep for macro enforces his signature clashing of disparate ends within the same, driving beat. the a sides pyrrhic mundi is endless drama, stages after stages towards eliminating mind/body separation. the b side holds percussive structure rubbed against edgy metallic sound first with every light is blue, and then unfolds into ultimate basement club action in sky unknown. heavy low end maintained throughout.

techno exists in a distorted field. what is wrong elsewhere is right here. what shouldnt work works. awake at night and asleep by day. rough is beautiful, slick is rotten. with macro, things are always a bit more wrong than usual. and thats how they also end up being a bit more beautiful than usual. stefan goldmanns fossil water: fender bass tones weave a pad, from the thumping bottom up to the silky top, congregating into intense moments of dance floor bliss. the b-side throws us in at the deep end, with the tense yet laid back workout of nephelin, tipping over into the sheer techno claustrophobia of de-gauss. dark and warm like a stockholm syndrome: feeling cozy while the horror comes upon you.

macro has released albums by two of technos greatest live acts, kink and elektro guzzi. it would have been a shame if the two didnt exchange their special skills on each others killer material. and thats just what they did: kink remixed atlas into a tranced-out, peaktime world-domination slammer of pure euphoria. elektro guzzi let the snares smack and the pads build up on vodolaz into nirvana. dream team double pack: nothing better to let the sun shine through the summer of 2015. even at night.

elektro guzzi have been called many names: man-machine, clockwork, techno organism.

anno stamm is the revered 4/4 branch name of berlins lars stoewe. as anstam he has been a central project in the 50weapons stable, touring extensively with modeselektor / moderat and thom yorkes atoms for peace.

live techno-tanzband trio elektro guzzi are set to release their new studio album observatory via berlin based record label macro. from their 2010 s/t debut album and 2011 follow up parquet (hypnotic, near kosmische reverberations - clash) elektro guzzi have taken their man machine live show of bass, guitar, drums around the world, from landmark clubs like fabric and berghain to major festivals roskilde, sonar and mutek.

kink spent years of backwards-engineering the sounds of detroit, chicago and early warp. tweaking whatever software was available, he learned all the sideways possibilities of hacking into the sonics of analog classics with the beauty of digital degradation: alias noise, bit crush, noisy fft grains - his one-of-a-kind results electrified dance floors all over the world ever since. now, all the elements of kinks live sets have been bundled like a laser beam in his debut album

a beat and a bassline: if you have a sweet tooth for what makes the world of dance music go round, stefan goldmann nails it four times in 4x4inch for you.+

written & produced by christopher ernst,mixed by stefan goldmann new yorks l estasi dell oro has become quite a phenomenon on the vinyl underground through his releases for voodoo down & his own flaneur audio imprint. the principles of what exactly makes his tracks pretty irresistible are brought to ultimate focus in iscariotic lips / reverse & repair: multiple layers of noisy bits, shuffling time signatures around until you lose all orientation. 5 over 4 over 3 bend your mind in several directions all at once

raudive a.k.a. oliver ho heads home with two guilty dancefloor pleasures. gritty surface, smoove bottom. for those damp, dimly lit cellar clubs: low ceilings, fog, smoke and all that.ruins runs a relentless groove against angular guitar overtones, blowing out the valves of its amplifier. metal sheets, rusty strings, sweaty bodies. visitor is built on a naughty percussion sequence and is elevated by a morphed girls inquiring voice straight out of a 1984 shibuya version of blade runner.

it is a double vinyl set of empty locked grooves that contains nothing but its very own surface noise - and physical structure. it is a sculptural revision of stefan goldmanns earlier locked groove-based double vinyl the grand hemiola, but it also serves as a genuine hauntological vinyl surface noise tool kit, out on its own. pulling a knife or other tool to its grooves allows for cutting your literally uniquely own beats directly into the record.

if the parquet album saw them delivering a unified vision of dancefloor purity to massive acclaim, cashmere now takes elektro guzzis signature man-machine sound up a notch!

kampong pressure - cover artwork incl. 20 page booklet w/ exclusive photos by dimitar variysky

das erste umfassende dokumentarische filmportrait des rastlosen avant-techno-innovators. / the first comprehensive documentary film portrait of technos most restless innovator!

>xenomorph / vespertilio< follows up peter kruders >law of return< track, that was a highlight, both in the music world in 2009 and in macros ever brilliant catalogue - and one of the now most sought after recent vinyl collectors records. xenomorph takes off where law of return ended. 2012 couldnt start deeper: detail rich, dreamy, pushing enthusiastically forward into the new year. vespertilio then moves between the off-centre sound aesthetics of a morricone soundtrack and the intensity of hypermodern subbass droppings. this is an irresistably deep double package, exceeding even the boldest expectations. a masterpiece. no more, no less.

elektro guzzi deliver one of the most thrilling live performance models for techno and an innovative leap in the art of band performance at the very same time. its almost the antithesis to what a band is supposed to be. while they use guitar, bass and drums only, they take the most unusual playing techniques and put them together into a rigid mechanical form where it all makes instant, evident sense. yet, if they had not performed live extensively, becoming audience favourites from mutek to sonar or berghain to fabric, it would be hard to believe this is really how the music is created. that said, everyone who saw them deemed it impossible they could go even further into the man-machine direction. yet it is exactly what they did.

produced by elektro guzzi and patrick pulsinger recorded directly to analog tape. no edits. no overdubs.
elektro guzzi redefined the meaning of performing techno live. with just guitar, bass and drums, they take the most unusual playing techniques and put them together into a rigid mechanical form where everything makes instant, evident sense. if they had not performed live extensively, becoming audience favourites from mutek to sónar and from berghain to fabric, it would have been hard to believe this is really how the music is created. that said, it seemed impossible they could go even further in this direction. yet thats exactly what they did. parquet, their second studio album sees them in monomaniacal, claustrophobic techno mode. throughout the nine tracks the distinctions between instruments and roles are totally vaporized.

two djs, one tracklist - an innovative double dj mix concept by the makers of macro. two djs, one tracklist. probably for the first time in the history of dance music a release focuses on extracting the pure sound signature of the dj. when the tracks to choose from are limited to one playlist, the sequencing decisions and mix styles of the djs reveal their individualities. as well as the different possibilities the music allows when formed into one continuous stream.macrospective is the first conceptual double mix offering a 1 on 1 comparison of the art of djing with two masters of the craft. but you’ll also love it for being a comprehensive retrospective of one of the most intriguing contemporary label catalogues in electronic music. the two mixes by macro founders stefan goldmann and finn johannsen highlight key works of the label (including poll winners the maze, law of return, arcade & lunatic fringe), bringing out the versatility and individuality of each track.

in a world of crossover and remixes, macro is the first electronic music label to release a cd of pure original works of a contemporary classical / avant-garde composer. commemorating friedrich goldmanns 70th anniversary, the cd presents four late key works. in addition to the retail version, british magazine the wire will distribute the cd to its subscribers. it is the first time the wire distributes a cd by a single german composer. being confronted with dull new ambient and unsatisfying classical/electronic >crossover<, theres a whole new generation ready to experience relevant, deep music away from 4/4 functionality and aesthetic shortcuts. it is just about time to overcome the substitutes and go for the deep end. thus goldmanns music with its clarity, inventiveness and deep appeal becomes increasingly more relevant for the electronic community. friedrich goldmann, who passed away in 2009, was one of germanys most distinct composers. his works were commissioned and performed by leading interpreters, including the berliner philharmoniker, pierre boulez, ensemble modern, arditti quartet and daniel barenboim. his music is not only heard at concert halls and festivals worldwide, but was also commissioned for major events like expo 2000 and the 20th anniversary celebration of the fall of the berlin wall at the brandenburg gate. as a conductor he has recorded cds with the works of stockhausen, henze and rihm. friedrich goldmann was also the academy professor who taught paul frick – now successful with brandt brauer frick in performing techno with the means of a classical ensemble. he is also the father of macros founder stefan goldmann. he therefore had influence on two key figures of experimentation at the intersections of classical and electronic music (which may hint at why an electronic music label releases this album).

macro greets rhythmic expressionism: stefan goldmann’s “the grand hemiola” is the first real innovation in the vinyl format in years! 144 locked grooves build a toolkit that breaks out of the limitation of one 4/4 cycle and brings unique possiblities to create complex polyrhythms just with two decks and a mixer. stefan goldmann’s first ever double vinyl album is a take on the infinite possibilities of rhythmic layering. percussion-heavy, focussed on clashing metres, deeply exploring the sound set – from the orchestral “grand hemiola”, to the triplet-feel of “megi’s waltz”, from the 11/8 pattern of “double hendecagon” to the anti-loops of “away from the flock”: a unique, non-conformist album of haunted acoustics, haptic percussion and deep rhythmic expression. a true, first time invention comes on two sides of the vinyl set: “the grand hemiola” loop toolkit overcomes the time restriction of locked grooves: one record contains loops in 4/4, the other in 3/4 (employing the time differences of the rotation rates 33 and 45 rpm). in the mix, they sum up to an extended cycle of 3x 4/4 or 4x 3/4 and enable building complex “3 over 4” polyrhythms (“hemiolas”). you can mix loop into loop for hours without ever getting trapped. more than an album, this is a note: pitch down side d to approx. -1.5 to match the loops’ bpm rate on sides b & d

man/machine: since their self titled debut album, vienna’s elektro guzzi made an impact on the scene no one could have imagined. being the first ever real techno live band, they took the scene by storm with their unparalleled stage appeal and future-forward sound. rocking clubs like berghain and fabric as well as numerous festivals (including sónar, time warp, spring 10, ade and mutek), it was the headstart of 2010. playing constantly live at countless gigs, plus live and studio appearances with patrick pulsinger and stefan goldmann, elektro guzzi’s music was set on fast forward evolution mode. “extrakt ep” captures the latest state of elektro guzzi’s incredible live sound, recorded in london with the outstanding capabilities of brendon ‘octave’ harding, the trusted engineer of dub legend lee ‘scratch’ perry, and mixed by mega-producer patrick pulsinger. the four cuts capture elektro guzzi’s raw side, turning out dark sexy grooves with an almost indie edge - probably their most danceable and dj friendly studio material to date - specifically produced for the vinyl format

do you remember why you started going out in the first place? if not, the maze will remind you with the largest feedback overdose since jimi and miles devastated the isle of wight. recorded in one take in an all-analog set up, stefan hooked up drum machines, distorition pedals and a theremin-controlled fuzz box for the ultimate screaming machine jam. now spanning two sides of a 12inch.

man/machine: viennas elektro guzzi challenge the meaning of live in electronic music. bored of laptop sets? with a classic setup of guitar, bass and drums elektro guzzi quantize themselves to an unheard level of discipline, tightness and danceability. no computers, no pre-recorded loops, no solos. probably the first time techno is really played live. as sequential as they may sound, they couldnt be more analogue. but however traditional they may look as a band, they certainly do not sound like one. the quest for the ultimate live presentation of techno has come to an end.

with 2009s magnificiently deep >cone ep< raudive aka oliver ho became an integral part of the ever brilliant macro family. the man is in there for a reason. now he drops one of macros most dancefloor-centered, yet distinctively future forward outings so far. >paper< - the chord, the bass, the strings! all deepness ingredients are there and it would be just classic if it wasnt raudive in control, whose chord is rather acoustic than synthetic, whose strings are rather xenakis than detroit - and whose bassline is just pumping genius blasting any reference system. but its a double pack of excessive excellence. >brittle< is papers evil sister and a giant step in groove design, throwing the thrills of the unknown right at your dancefloor. its repetitious, maniacal vexation patterns put any record to shame that has ever been called hypnotic. 2010 is right here. the ep is rounded off with the shimmering >sienna< - a no-beat melodic variaton set against the warmth of grainy crackle. one of the most thrilling releases by one of the most thrilling labels

man/machine: viennas elektro guzzi challenge the meaning of live in electronic music. bored of laptop sets? with a classic setup of guitar, bass and drums, elektro guzzi quantize themselves to an unheard level of discipline, tightness and danceability. no computers, no pre-recorded loops, no solos. probably the first time techno is really played live. as sequential as they may sound, they couldnt be more analogue. but however traditional they may look as a band, they certainly do not sound like one.
limited to 500 copies.

2nd single from the patrick cowley & jorge socarras album >catholic<. bleeding edge remixing by oni ayhun and noble editing by morgan geist added for your pleasure. while still everybody keeps guessing whos behind the mysterious and burning hot works of oni ayhun, macros got the mans first ever remix! o.a. obscured cowleys >memory fails me< with his trademark darkness and took it to the edge of engineering. and its got all that feeling, too! if you asked yourself what a forward-thinking patrick cowley might have done today - here is a serious offering. >burn brighter flame< is the disco heart of the album. with all disco crate digging of the decade, >bbf< is the ultimate find. since the original artists had intended this one to be a single theres also a stunning instrumental! we just remember how everybody got tears of joy when finn johannsen mixed the different versions of this for the first time at berlins picknick. who could have been asked for an edit of this gem other than metro areas morgan geist? creating a dialogue between the vocal and instrumental versions, his edit offers even more variety for the dj to mix in and out of this great tune.

lost for 30 years - unreleased masterpieces by disco legend patrick cowley and indoor life singer jorge socarras - remixed by morgan geist (metro area) & kink (rush hour)! first single from the forthcoming album “catholic” by patrick cowley & jorge socarras. “soon” is a dark proto-techno track with hypnotic lyrics and warped synths, while “robot children” builds on a rigid sequencer bassline and futuristic sounddesign. these masterpieces were lost for 30 years and get released for the very first time! the first remix comes from no one less than metro area’s morgan geist - and it’s arguably one of his best mixes to date. responsible for environ’s unclassics series, he certainly was the first call for the job. his rework transforms cowley’s trademark production sound into 2009, respectful for authenticity and forward thinking at the same time. rush hour’s kink has turned heads with his incredible production skills and live appearances. his remix of “soon , derived from the original’s drum machine sounds, catapults the track to the future. bass heavy with a rugged beat, this is one to cross boundaries from techno to dubstep to experimental!

peter kruder is one of those emblematic names that lead a whole decade and inspire myriads of djs, producers and clubbers all over the world. while he enjoys unprecedented success with kruder & dorfmeister and crossed into the platinum range (selling 1 million copies of the k&d sessions album), he never lost track of the underground. probably his stellar career would never have happened exactly this way if there wasn’t the other kruder: the adventurous dj, the deep producer, the challenging a&r at g-stone, the producer behind dj hell’s highly acclaimed “teufelswerk” album. in 15 years peter kruder has done only 3 singles under his own name though. when you get your ears around “chordal” and “law of return” it becomes totally clear why this rare outing happens on macro. kruder meets his macro debut full on modernism - showcasing his deep, dark, dancefloor grounded side. with a crisp harmonic sequence reminiscent of tchaikovsky’s nutcracker suite, “chordal” hijacks brains on the dancefloor with its vacuum depth and sizzling details. “law of return” on the other side is a kruder signature take on deepness - solemn chords wrapped around a hypnotic groove give you tears of joy. a masterpiece!

santiago salazar, ladies and gentlemen! member of underground resistance, producer of los hermanos, recording artist for planet e. a biography made in heaven. macro pulls the most incredible people these days and theres a method to the madness: >arcade< immediately shows why santiago is known to be one of detroits most forward thinking producers and djs. the chords! the hook! the synths! the drums! finally an anthem thats 0% retro and 100% euphoria. leaving the recent fashions behind, >arcade< spreads all the warmth and enthusiasm one could dream of this year. this is 2009! and if this wasnt enough: hot on the heels of >art of sorrow<, man of the moment stefan goldmann does his first remix for macro! his stunning version is a 15 minute monster. not just a jam, but a fully composed journey from deep reverberation to drum machine fueled peaks to a japanese flute and koto workout. depth on a new level. this is the difference this label makes - others do ambient, cosmic or krautrock. macro does the thrilling stuff.

under his raudive alias, oliver ho has created a trademark blend of future forward house and techno that has been the sound to some of the greatest moments on our favourite dancefloors over the last couple of months. recently labels like cocoon, drumcode and pokerflat were blessed to release superb pieces by raudive and he created enthusiasm all accross the board from ricardo villalobos to sven väth. for his macro debut he moved a step further: the cone ep with its 3 cuts of twisted house brings some serious madness to the club: raudive’s signature beats get a strong jazz infusion with bits of saxophone and an out-of-control piano spinning around the pumping bassline. crazy all the way while delivering a maximum of dancefloor appeal.

slap - one of the most obscure and forward thinking acts from the early 80s meets the spearhead of today’s electronic music, ricardo villalobos. the originals are disturbingly brilliant electronic excursions, while villalobos’ jazz-fueled rework is one of the deepest mixes he has ever done. vivid drums are built around a driving bassline, aiming the track right at the floor. not to mention the rough claps! imagine miles davis’ “bitches brew” joined by throbbing gristle, playing “minimal techno” live. earlier this year macro unearthed namlook’s long lost “subharmonic atoms” featuring outstanding pépé bradock remixes. this continuation of the “prototypes” series is none less of a dream team. slap’s experimentalism just seems to be the right inspiration for ricardo villalobos, who takes it to a level of weirdness only he can achieve while retaining such danceability. essential!

!!!!!!strictly limited to 500 copies!!!!!! together with stefan goldmanns debut cd the transitory state, macro releases a strictly limited box set containing five 7? records holding the electroacoustic album voices of the dead. with his releases for innervisions, perlon and macro stefan goldmann has been a key figure at the cutting edge of post minimal techno and the renewal of house music. this album is a distinctively different affair though, reaching far beyond the scope of dancefloor electronics. starting a trilogy of concept albums, stefan goldmann searches for the common root of all music in an electroacoustic setting. from this album turret is already renowned as the intro sequence of richie hawtins groundbreaking de9 transitions mix compilation and was also commissioned by the biblioteque nationale de france for the imeb phonoteque public collection. the artist explains: at first sight we recognise upfront elements like a melody or rhythmic pattern, which we associate with a certain piece or style of music, but there is tension between two notes, hard-to-define background information that at a closer look is found everywhere - within the music of coltrane and stravinsky, death metal and 9th century byzantine chants. if there is anything like a total, secret common ground, than its this information lurking in the background. these are the voices of the dead, the heritage of an endless line of ancestors brought forward through the centuries. i tried to make these elements audible as clearly as possible. really like this weird space ambient one. ive put katorga and izo already into my final scratch computer and have been playing them! (richie hawtin on voices of the dead) record release event at berghain / panorama bar berlin on september 4th, 2008, feat. ricardo villalobos, mika vainio (pan sonic) and ulrich schnauss (tbc).

phreaky / twisted minimal techhouse styled ....

an incredible ep with namlook exploring the edges of minimal techno and deep ambient, while the remixes are pepe bradocks most dancefloor oriented works in ages! macro delivers a stunning release by a man who has not only produced 3 collaborational albums with richie hawtin, but also runs the ultra influential fax label with an artist roster ranging from speedy j to bill laswell to klaus schulze: namlook is a true electronic pioneer in a league of his own. the track >subharmonic atoms< was produced back in 1995 and is re-released by macro as a long out of print electronic prototype on the edge of minimal techno and ambient. but dont think this is a retro affair: subharmonic atoms sounds incredibly fresh and proves it is as groundbreaking, innovative and timeless as jeff mills early axis works or hawtins concept1 series. entirely remastered from the original source and cut in unparalleled sound quality, it is available on a single 12inch side for the first time ever. the release is completed with nothing short but french remix master pepe bradocks triumphant return to the dancefloor. his versions of >atoms< are rocking upfront house burners, which his fans have been waiting for since 2003s intrusion ep. definitely one of this years hottest packages

loom and thread aka daniel klein, tobias fröhlich and tom schneider

stefan goldmanns veiki is a bold foray onto new rhythmic ground for machine-based dance music.

new macro compilation

the music in this album is derived from works originally commissioned for the five hour music theatre work alif, as premiered at berlins maerzmusik festival of 2016.

kuf create emotion-laden dialogues across layers of time and dimensions of sound. voices recorded in private are chopped up and brought out center-stage to sing with beats hammered out right here and now. glowing synths push forward. basslines rise to grab the melodic role of a track while a vowel is truncated and locked into a grid, driving the rhythm. voices move within the frame of a sample, performed by hands pushing keys, guided by the ear, immersed in a trio sessions deep flowÉ a vortex of quirky hands, responsive ears and glowing circuits. since thomas a. edison first recorded the human voice in 1877, the recording arts have changed music forever. musicians have explored the endless possibilities of bouncing their input onto layers of tape, off the walls of an echo chamber or the circuitry of electronic helpers - technology that modulates, spatializes, shifts, divides or multiplies the work of human hands and mouths. an era of sampling offered a cubistic analysis of the recorded past and djs took dancers onto intricately fractured time travels. this is the historic foundation that kuf keep probing. just like the sampler and the dj before them, they found new ways to re-allocate where machine and man stand when making music together. most importantly, they turn the resulting friction into sparkling bursts of energy. Ôuniverse digs deeper into the android vocal chords. the album offers sweeping melodies, different beats and persistent bass. immerse in the intimacy of the voices, probably recorded in trains, backstage areas and at late night private parties during berlin lichtenberg warehouse rehearsals. by striking the keys, kuf squeeze out and serve up all the soul accumulated in those savory phonetic shreds.

based on the eponymous play by brothers and author/performer team tobi and mike mŸller at schauspielhaus zŸrich, swiss experimental documentary film a1 traverses through time and space along switzerlandÕs first and most elongated highway structure. rich in archival sources, it sheds light on the costs and benefits of rapid movement: social, migratory and ecological patterns, economic and military designs that are mostly not immediately obvious to the casual motorist. stefan goldmannÕs soundtrack engages the filmÕs multi-layered aesthetics full on, providing a dazzling array of short compositions. profoundly synthetic in production, this free-wheeling phantasmagoria of peculiar, yet intensely likeable miniatures branches off into all directions Ð from minimalistic to overflowing, calm to banging, nightmarish to soothing. the visual patina of historic documents is playfully mirrored in intense distortion and noise artifacts, bound into rhythmic units and melodies formed of ghost notes. finding ever new ways of mining his techno background to yield surprising new forms and ideas, stefan goldmann has proven his abilities in a dazzling range of projects over the past years. works for dance, ensembles, an opera and various object-based creations made him a natural choice for the job of finding a refreshing way of linking sound and image. on its own, the music holds up by putting the listener on a high-velocity road trip of the curious mind.

macro has been the home for the albums of some of electronic musics most exciting live acts, such as kink and elektro guzzi. so when a live band enters this context, it should better enter with a bang. kuf do just this with their album debut.

friedrich goldmann would have turned 75. macro is celebrating the composers anniversary with a luxury box set cd edition of the complete trios of 1986 - 2004 and his singular oboe quartet (2000). two of the recordings were produced by goldmann himself, and all feature musicians with a long-term working relationship related to and deep expertise of the composers oeuvre such as ingo goritzki, bjšrn lehmann, members of ensemble mosaik and knm ensemble. the cd is accompanied by a 48 page booklet, featuring extensive essays by bjšrn gottstein (artistic director of donaueschingen music days) and musicologist bruno santos, exploring goldmannÕs groundbreaking aesthetics.

industry sheds all personalized effort and tests how far you can get by using presets only. all sounds are factory presets of 3 obsolete 1990s japanese workstation synths, all effects are presets, all notes are quantized and most panning is purely accidental (laid out in the preset sounds). industry doesnt rely on successful presets, but on failed sounds of now obsolete synthesizers - industrial assumptions of where culture will go, but where it chose not to. the result is a surprisingly pleasant listening experience with effortless grooves and rich textures - and mildly demonic connotations. from smooth to kicking - a conveyor belt enjoying mood swings. as beautiful as the scheduled meeting of a pvc sheet and a thermoform mould on a workbench

live techno-tanzband trio elektro guzzi are set to release their new studio album observatory via berlin based record label macro. from their 2010 s/t debut album and 2011 follow up parquet (hypnotic, near kosmische reverberations - clash) elektro guzzi have taken their man machine live show of bass, guitar, drums around the world, from landmark clubs like fabric and berghain to major festivals roskilde, sonar and mutek.

kink spent years of backwards-engineering the sounds of detroit, chicago and early warp. tweaking whatever software was available, he learned all the sideways possibilities of hacking into the sonics of analog classics with the beauty of digital degradation: alias noise, bit crush, noisy fft grains - his one-of-a-kind results electrified dance floors all over the world ever since. now, all the elements of kinks live sets have been bundled like a laser beam in his debut album

when messiaen set out to transcribe birds songs as models for his compositions, he couldn t have predicted that by now wild birds would have started to learn mobile phone ringtone patterns. for a system of objects, raudive aka oliver ho maps an obliquely constructed world in which you lose all certainty of what is nature and what is design. raudive celebrates dance and auditory scenes as rituals, employing our surroundings as sources of ahistorical found sound - primitive technologies used to reach magickal states. a drum machine and a wooden stick, a sawtooth-shaped electric current and a split rock all turn into empirical objects of the same class, without a definite past or a predictable impact.

live at honen-in temple is a document of a one-off site-specific performance in one of the most impressive settings a live electronic concert could possibly ever have. featuring a wealth of new and unreleased material, stefan goldmann has custom-tailored a sound world as clearly detailed as the hidden gardens of honen-in.

kampong pressure - cover artwork incl. 20 page booklet w/ exclusive photos by dimitar variysky

introducing the raudive alias, he created a reduced, sexy, dancefloor-centered wave of greatness for labels from drumcode to cocoon. this sound turned out to be highly attractive for the djs to play and for the girls and boys to dance to. the unparalleled appeal of his beats left the usual minimal competitors sounding rather dull. thus raudive quickly became the blueprint of techno modernism and one of todays most influential genre-bending production styles. macro unleashes the highly anticipated debut album - chamber music. chamber music is both: claustrophobic in sound design, reminiscent of the dark and sweaty concrete club spaces this music inhabits, as well as carrying acoustic qualities of induced instrumental experimentalism. bitches brew voodoo reeds, new york no wave voices and european avant strings spin a mesmerizing dark patina around the ultra-sexy year-3000-rhythms. no wonder theres huge dj support all accross the board - from miss kittin to richie hawtin, surgeon to trevor jackson, ricardo villalobos to jeff mills. massive deep edge and one of 2010 finest albums so far!

man/machine: viennas elektro guzzi challenge the meaning of >live< in electronic music. bored of laptop sets? with a >classic< setup of guitar, bass and drums elektro guzzi quantize themselves to an unheard level of discipline, tightness and danceability. no computers, no pre-recorded loops, no solos. probably the first time techno is really played live. as sequential as they may sound, they couldnt be more analogue. but however traditional they may look as a band, they certainly do not sound like one. the quest for the ultimate live presentation of techno has come to an end. produced by patrick pulsinger (hercules & love affair, m-plant, cheap), the album is a masterstroke resulting in great dancefloor movers, state of the art analogue recordings and a prime showcase of elektro guzzis incredible creative capabilities. played live with no overdubs, this record breaks down the demarcation line separating man and machine. everything in techno has been done? you aint heard nothing yet. !!! elektro guzzi live at s—nar (barcelona), berghain (berlin), fabric (london), trouw (amsterdam), spring festival (graz), flex (vienna), rote sonne (munich), mellow festival (sofia) and maaaany more

with his releases for innervisions, perlon and macro stefan goldmann has been a key figure at the cutting edge of post minimal techno and the renewal of house music. with the transitory state, he finally unleashes his highly anticipated debut cd. two separate albums in one package - a double whammy with benchmark club tracks on cd1 and an electroacoustic concept album on cd2. cd1 features some of todays most significant underground anthems, including sleepy hollow and lunatic fringe - both voted top 10 tracks of the year in the polls of groove, resident advisor and de:bug mags, seriously crossing boundaries with heavy dj support all accross the board from richie hawtin to carl craig to laurent garnier to gilles peterson. the entire collection ranges from the lush afterhour bliss of prefecture to the dark modernism of blood to peak time frenzy with the bribe. all tracks have been carefully edited exclusively for this release by the artist and six appear on cd for the first time ever, thus adding brand new and previously unreleaed tracks and parts. cd2 contains the album voices of the dead which will also be released as a ltd. edition 5x7? vinyl box set. starting a trilogy of concept albums, stefan goldmann searches for the common root of all music in an electroacoustic setting. from this album turret is already renowned as the intro sequence of richie hawtins groundbreaking de9 transitions mix compilation and was also commissioned by the bibliotheque nationale de france for the imeb phonotheque public collection.

macro welcomes arthur clees

acoustic sources-only mix

cd

electronic / experimental

great electronic works by stefan goldman