Bern -- Just Married (2005)

Thinner

• Tech-house 
• Electronic music 
• Deep house 
• Micro-techno 
• Experimental techno 
• Minimal techno 
• Ambient techno

Laurent Bernonville'i 4-loolise taiese on välja andnud legendaarne Saksa netiplaadifirma Thinner -- ainuüksi see on kvaliteedi märk. Pealtnäha taltsas muusika, mis sobitub hästi just hetkel valitseva sombuse ilmaga -- kussutav, hüpnootiline, minimalistlik. Ei paku järske helilisi haake ega emotsionaalseid raputusi (mis reeglina kipuvad taanduma labaseks tümmumiseks -- seda nii heliliste lahenduste kui etteaimatavustega). Mõni võib ehk küsida seepeale, et mida siis seal üldse intellektuaalselt kuulata on? On küll -- tuleb sügavustesse - antud juhul - mikroskoopiasse sukelduda. Helipilti taandatakse kohati abstraktse piirini Kuulda roostes ukse kiiksumist, leebelt pragisevat bassi ning tajuda ühenduslülisid tehno ja hausi vahel (kuigi esimest on selgelt rohkem). Bernonville ei ole musikoloogi kohuseid täitmas, et seda visandada ja populariseerida -- stiilid on vahendid toomaks esile peaaegu kuuldamatu (vaik)elu sagimist ja värvikirevust. Tuletades meelde lausungit - vähem on rohkem -, ütlen, et vaikne on valjem. Kui pealkiri vihjab sellele, et tegu on pulmakingitusega, siis on see igati vääriline and.

Deluge – Metapop Complex (2005)

Thinner

• Deep dub 
• Deep house 
• Synth-pop 
• Club dance 
• Electronic music 
• Electro house 
• Dub house 
• Tech-house 
• Remixes 
• Dub techno

 

Ma olen alati imetlenud house-muusikute kindlameelsust ja kannatlikkust püsida ühe või paari žanri piirides. Veel enam siis, kui on aastaid või suisa aastakümneid seda viljeletud. Vahel on tekkinud tunne, et muusikaprogrammi või riistvara on tahtlikult piiratud, et mitte nišši ületada. Meenutab koroonatingimustes kodutrenni tegemist – hantel võib-olla eksisteerib toanurgas, samas kõhulihase-, triitsepsi- ja biitsepsi harjutused saab ära teha põrandat, voodireformi ja tooli kasutades. Siht ja järjepidevus loevad. Tegelikult on (näiv) piiratus hea, kuna kvaliteetset house-muusikat ja selle ristandeid sugulusstiilide techno ja dub`iga tundub alati vähe olevat. Siin kümneloolisel albumil – mille on üllitanud legendaarne Saksa plaadifirma Thinner – on stilistilisi rõhuasetusi ja žanrilisi seisukohavõtte eelpoolmainitute piirides küll ja küll – vahel riivates ka elektrot ja süntpoppi –, aga lõppude lõpuks loeb kvaliteet, atmosfäär ja vaib. Deluge on Jean-Sébastien Roux, samuti tuntud kui Tlon (album sisaldab ühte remake`i selle nime all ja teine töötlus on leibelikaaslase Daniel Zax'i tehtud).

Digitalverein – Changes LP (2004)

Thinner

• Electronic music 
• Dub house 
• Dub techno 
• Dubtronica 
• Ambient dub

Comment: Jörg Schuster (aka Lufth, and Sensual Physics) is an artist and a designer of graphics for computer software from Dortmund, Germany. He can be considered a main domestic artist within an acknowledged imprint called Thinner. In fact, Germany can be considered home for many outstanding dub and minimal techno labels and one of such cornerstones is certainly Thinner. One can just conclude from it the artist should be worthwhile. This 8-track outing is as emotive as it is hypnotic. The first adjective does not exclude the latter, and vice versa. The vibes just come in, starting to wobble around one`s head and soul and then keep mutating slowly, almost invisibly into something else. The format is mainly restricted with techno, dub, and atmospheric and nocturnal electronic developments yet at times one may perceive something punctual and iterative therefore creating a bridge between the aforementioned styles and krautrock. There is even up one track by employing exquisite vibraphone sounds and thereby resembling a bit of Tortoise. At times dub rhythms are replaced by more bold steps (proto-dubstep?) yet preserving its wobbly feel. Just listen to it, just feel the touch of it.

Dolby – Dub:Expo EP (2002)

Thinner

• Dub house 
• Dub techno 
• Alternative 
• Electronic music 
• Deep house

Comment: this set of 4 compositions used to excel at dub house (and dub techno in lesser extent) frequencies which happened many years before dubstep appeared to please our mind. However, all those low yet predominantly flowing basses did predict the birth of the style. It is a nice listening experience in a rainy evening while being wrapped up by the deep and charming and warm oscillations. At times the main layer of the basses is embellished with tickling electronic effects and iterative reverberations being so characteristic to dub music. Or a flow of crackling hisses breaks into a layer of the basses to wobble together charmingly. Behind the project is a producer from Leipzig, Germany, Marko Fürstenberg, who is being widely known within the webaudio/netaudio world and the outing is a part of the discography of a cult imprint, Thinner. Glorious vibe.

Blamstrain – Kavel EP (2002)

Thinner

• Dub-house 
• Electronic music 
• Ambient dub 
• Dubstep 
• Hauntology 
• Abstract 
• Ambient techno

Comment: Blamstrain is a Finnish producer whose 31 minutes being laid out at the legendary German imprint Thinner are something truly divine and mentally overwhelming. Something truly fascinating which must be heard. The words are too weak to transmit the flow of impressions coming out of it. All of that used to happen 15 years ago when Blamstrain was a young, 16 year-old guy. More profoundly, it happened in 2002 when dubstep as a style was not officially recognised and Hyperdub as an imprint was not established yet but there were certainly some artists who were going ahead of its time. For sure, you can hear slowed-down subwoofer frequencies dominating and driving glitched-out and microscopic noise blended vinyl-alike hiss and crackle-tinged terrains which stand there as on its own and on the other side it is also the fine background for fragmented yet bittersweet melodies as if a channel for the listener who would like to go back in time to visit sweet places and beloved periods (especially at Kuluntalahti). Hence the artist does have the similarities with The Caretaker, and on the other side, some ambient moments remind of Mille Plateaux related stuff like being produced by his compatriot Vladislav Delay, and Gas. By listening to it you do not think of people as the kind of clever swines (or some swines are clever than others – by paraphrasing Moz who does have birthday today). All I want to say it just one word – classic. Must own and listen to it.

Theodor Zox – Pastels 1-4 (2004)

Thinner

• Techno 
• Minimal techno 
• Tech-house 
• Deep house 
• Electro-house

Comment: this is so good...this is so good how these minimal techno, tech-house and electronic propulsions are up to change incessantly places with one another. Ultimately the whole chimes like a seamless mix for late hours on a Friday. You can see a formula behind it but the formula is set out to be susceptible to changes and abandon the presumed hard core. One can perceive exquisite vibrations which constitute the glue to hold all that stuff gently together. The issue is a bit of the discography of Thinner, the legendary imprint from Germany.

Digitalverein – Internal Course (2003)

Thinner

• Dub house
• Club dance
• Deep house

Comment: at the time the hours come closer and closer to the end of a day it is time to listen to deep house drenched vibes and rhythms replete with velvety shades and wobbling dub frequencies and something very magical yet indescribable within and around it. Those slightly shifted layers being juxtaposed against each other and over each other used to create psychedelic vibes within the compositions. Furthermore, it is not a mechanical work at all because of including many beatific harmonies and propulsive gears to eventually conjure up warm emotions inside the listener`s soul (Face The Horizon). Digitalverein is the project of Jörg Schuster and Internal Course is the follow-up to Zu Hause also being released under Thinner. In a word, this issue must be considered a classic deep house item. 

Dick Richards - Costa Daurada EP (2003

Thinner

Lastfm

• Tech-house
• Minimal techno
• Microhouse
• Dub techno
• Experimental techno
• Remix

Comment: this 4-piece EP reveals Dick Richards stark affinity for microscopic rhythmic frequencies and suggestive harmonies within the realm of house, techno, and dub (in a lesser extent, though). In spite of it the issue`s characteristics seem often to be way too far away from rhythms of the ordinary club lounge venue. It is rather cerebral music consecrated by Detroit techno tradition and the artists` aesthetics of such labels as Minus, Kompakt and Basic Channel. Indeed, every pop, crackle and slit on it seems to be thorougavaldamahly controlled and managed to constitute such a soothing gem. Indeed, though 11 years has passed, Costa Daurada EP echoes still in a refreshing way. The release was done available by cult dance music label Thinner.                  

Rktic - Northern Lights (2001)

Thinner

9.1

/Ambient dub, Organic electronica, Dub-Tech, Tech-dub, Breaks, Dub, Minimal techno/ 

Comment: this set of 6 (mostly long-running) compositions by Ronny Pries rotates mostly around knee-deep, sappy dub configurations which are embellished with elusive ambient horizons, concrete music-near whiffs, drilling techno propulsions. On the other side, this issue can be considered as a whole searching for balance between spaced-out, wobbly structures and divergent pace progressions. Solid.

Gastòn Arèvalo - Austral (2009)

Thinner
Lastfm

9.7

/Ambient techno, Minimal techno, Club dance, Ambient dub, Deep techno, Dub techno/

Comment: this batch of 4 tracks used to drift between sublime dub frequencies and refined techno tabs. The Uruguayian producer Gastòn Arèvalo used to produce his music in an organic way which is strongly inspired by his love to nature. However, there can be drawn parallels upon the acts of such labels as Basic Channel, and Mille Plateaux. The results are without exception flawless, soothing, sultry, and pleasing, however, incurring the listener`s visceral and intellectual sites in very deep way.

krill.minima - Urlaub Auf Balkonien (2007)

Thinner
Lastfm
 

8.7

/Dub-tech, Experimental electronica, Dubtronica, Tech-dub, Crossover/

Comment: by my opinion, this set of 9 notches takes on a journey through grey-tinged landscapes which are covered with essentially thick dub vapour and hazy electronic whiffs at any point of the location of the issue. The compositions are lengthy and profound, though, being without any suggestive turns and striking forays. Instead of it the subject is up there to be manipulated through soothing currents and discursive oscillations which foray into the subconsciousness of the listener.

Lufth - Tendenzen (2003)

Thinner
Thinner 

9.1

/Trip-hop, Dub, Breaks, Experimental electronica, Chill out/

Comment: undoubtedly a label called Thinner was one of the first netlabels who had provided qualitative kind of dance rhythms and broken beats. This 4-track publication takes on sublime, slow-paced pieces including mainly acidic trip-hop progressions and glowering dub-moulded mist, however, involving some acoustic chords in between the aforementioned styles either. In a word, the set is rich emotionally and sensually. It is truly worth to be remembered.

Jason Corder - Microcosmos (2004)

Thinner

9.4

/Dub house, Fusion, Electro house, Bubblegum house, Tech-house, Deep house, Cinematic/

Comment: First of all, it is an excellent album for your body and soul, for your lower part and for your upper part by a guy from Lexington, Kentucky who is also known by his dense ambient soundscapes. Actually I don`t have idea why it seems to me that old house music issues will be improving during time course. It veers from slightly neurotic electro house and stuttering tech progressions to bouncing bubblegum disco(theque), from cinematic dance fusion to such numbers having its shift into depth and paying its tribute to dub. This 10-track album was issued on the legendary Thinner label in 2004. Obligatory for sure!