R&S RECORDS
R & S R E C; O R D S
Weren't they big back In tho day? Not just big but huge. R&S were at the forefront of the European techno scene and helped cement Belgium's standing in the world of the electronic beat with releases from CJ Bolland. Derrick May. Aphex Twin. DJ Hell. Dave Angel. Ken Ishii and System 7 to name but a few.
So what happened? Named after founders Renaat Vandepapeliere and Sabine Maes. R&S started off releasing disco tracks in the 803 and released their first acid house track (‘Drop the Deal' by Code 61) in 1987. They soon gravitated towards the harder end of the electronica spectrum and were massively influential during the 905. As tastes changed their power waned. but. you can't keep a good horse down and they relaunched in 2008.
A bunch of Iolglono you any? What‘s that not to do with us our In Scotland? There are two reasons you should care (beyond their seminal back catalogue). Firstly. Optimo's ever reliable JD Twitch has a new compilation In Order to Edit out on R&S. Secondly. he's guesting at Men & Machines' first birthday with an exclusive R&S only set (the first 50 punters in the door will receive a free copy of the CD). to thou m chaps must ho M8 fans? 'They represent a clear path through the history of techno and electronica from the European side.’ explain Alasdair Stuart and Ewan Dunnett. “Their resurgence can only be a good thing. Few record labels have been more important to European techno.’ The pair cite CJ Bolland's ‘Mantra' and Outlander's ‘Vamp' as their favourite R&S releases. Should m In nlooly with tho Ion Ii Moohlnoo ethos 'Our nights tend towards techno and house. but we also like playing earlier electronic music that influenced the development of these genres. such as EBM. synth pop. industrial. disco and dark wave. We play music you can thrust too.’ they explain with a cheeky wink.
(Henry Northmore)
I R88 special at Men 8 Machines’ first birthday. Stereo. Glasgow. Sat 23 May.
30 TH. Ll" 14—28 May 2009
TECHNO CLAUDE VON STROKE Cotton Cake at The Sub Club. Glasgow, Fri 15 May
Like many teenagers in Detroit during the 19805. Barclay Crenshaw (aka Clade Von Stroke) grew up listening to The Electrifying Mojo's seminal Midnight Funk Association radio broadcasts, which exposed a generation of young producers to the music of Prince. Parliament, Funkadelic and Kraftwerk. Aged 16 Crenshaw unsuccessfully approached Juan Atkins to work as a studio engineer at the fledgling Metroplex Records. before turning his attention to university and a period spent working as a film production assistant in Hollywood. In 2004 he produced Intellect. a documentary profiling some of the most influential figures in electronic music, which inspired him to found his own record label and start recording under the alias
DRUM 8. BASS XPLICIT Potterrow. Edinburgh, Fri 22 May
Wander through the doors of Edinburgh Uni‘s Potterrow on 22 May at": you might be in for a bit of a surprise. Over the last year or so the ‘\.'f;l‘.x.l; has once again started tO host a grOWIng number of Club nights and ‘éi'Ti‘: events run by some of the capital's more established promoters. Dn'”. expect y0ur usual fix of union pop fodder tonight though, it's time try another Xplicit takeover. Three headline guests combine to dish on: a broad Spectrum Of beats. joining the dots between grime. hip hop. dubstep. DaB, electronic and more. Probably the most eagerly antmpixiV/t act on the bill are Chase & Status. Signed to Andy C's Rain Records 1W: production duo from London have seen their profile shoot through t"r: «2‘ over the last 12 months. Diversity is the key for these boys. and tt‘e ' sound straddles a wide range of mu5ical styles in a manner that n‘a", nape tried but few have mastered. 80$ influenced dubstep anyone?
Bringing a live element to the night are Foreign Beggars. ~.vho'l| be testing the talents of the sound engineer With furiOus a mix of rapping. beatboxing. turntablism and freestyhng. Widely regarded as the most versatie "it. Mr. group in the UK. they've been in the game long enough to knot. .wmt works where and when. and should slot nicely into the night's proceedings, Finally. Shy FX is the last name you need to know about. but if yet/1e at , interest in quality drum & bass/jungle then we're gOing to assume ,Ou
already do. (Richie Meldrum)
Claude Von Stroke. ‘Deep Throat’. his first 12in on Dirtybird. sold over 11,000 copies and in 2006 he recorded ‘Who‘s Afraid of Detroit'. which Richie Hawtin called the best record of the year.
Now Crenshaw thinks that being a late starter may have helped him: ‘It‘s the same philosophy as being a good novelist or screenwriter. What have you really experienced when you are still a teenager? What can you really write about when you are 16 living at home with your parents? I feel like the life experiences i had from starting so late made me better at communicating and gave me more to pull from in the studio.‘
This year Crenshaw‘s ascendancy to techno’s upper echelons will be confirmed by the release of his Fabric 46 mix. an intoxicating. hypnotic compilation containing a number of his own compositions and future Dirtybird classics. (Colin McKean)
Chase 8 Status