trance / techno / house

originally released in 1993 by the italian imprint minus habens records, -concrete jungle- is the second album by this seminal project of dirk ivens (the klinik, absolute body control). a work considered as groundbreaking by lot of fans of early 90s industrial, noise and ebm. there are few electro-pioneers that are still active and successful and mr. ivens is one of them, inspiring a lot of acts to follow in the past three decades. -concrete jungle- is being released for the first time on vinyl in a limited/numbered edition of 700 copies. double record including all the original tracks plus the -extended play- ep (1994) and some songs from old compilations. artwork based on the original design and presented on a deluxe gatefold sleeve with printed inner sleeves and numbered card.

from the two individually revered artists seuil and le loup, comes the debut lp under their collaborative dj/producing alias hold youth. a collection of dance-orientated tracks, designed to make the body move, de la club explores the origins of hold youth’s fundamental influences to their modern day stance.a lp in two parts, the first vinyl is almost a retrospective of primarily state-side club sounds, but also of the pair’s early musical staples. paying homage to old skool production, the inspiration drawn from the detroit greats like moodymann and andres is clear on the funked-out, jazzy vibes of street my baby or the smooth flowing les enfants du soleil. hold youths love affair with head-bobbing hip hop also makes an appearance on the intro and outro, sampling the one and only j dilla, perfectly combined with their own personal beat-boxing. not forgetting their french 90s roots, kool & the boug oozes that warmth defined so well by pepe bradock and trankilou… a club track which has the power of subtlety to submerge the dancefloor that one level deeper. part two looks to the example of german minimal and micro house and brings us up to date with the sounds fresh from hold youth’s record bag today. be it the weird and murky territory of dodge this, or the eerie, glitchy world of black dog, their modern vision of de la club is darker and sturdier in its stature. but it is the ability to weave seamlessly between the lps two halves, two ideals, which truly characterises the hold youth ethos and their signature djing style.