Trendline... Together...

At a Vinnies on the outskirts of Craigieburn I stumbled upon this Swiss rock CD which, amongst some remarkably cheesy pop rock, has some epic hidden AOR featured on the channel this week.

Trendline, a Swiss group from Grenchen in the Alps, combined to only release this album in 1995. Together was recorded over ten days at a countryside home in Lüterkofen-Ichertswil, which was apparently the home of legendary Swiss jazz pianist Six Trutt.

I can't really find any record that any jazz painist called Six Trutt even existed, yet the group say the stories and atmosphere that he and his wife created allowed for them to come together and create an album that represented this harmony. 

I can tell you that there's not really much jazz sensibility about most of this album. On the whole it's cringe-worthy euro pop rock, but there is something about the optimism and naivety that makes this CD so endearing.

The art direction too is inspired, the cover looks like it could be a late 90s trance mix, and the photos are all re-touched to look like an 80s yearbook. 

The first track I've uploaded, Sandy & John, is an acoustic flute and guitar duet arranged in three acts, which actually does seem to take in the mysterious Six Trutt's jazz knowledge. 

I've also uploaded the albums final song, SvePaHe (Invitation), which features echoed guitar stabs, disjointed percussion and maybe even the cries of a young child. The back of the CD insert is probably the best way to understand this tune: 

"The CD "Together" is an incentive to produce it in such a way that even the listener feels that the help of others is needed to achieve the set goals. Unfortunately, today's world brings with it many other manifestations such as hatred, war, oppression, and manipulation, etc., which lead to the opposite. However, since all of these tendencies have their beginning or origin in people, and the soul is also involved, the themes in our songs illuminate the various corners of the soul and its desires, dreams, fears, worries, losses, etc., which we try to convey in our music. With this in mind, it is worth immersing yourself in the last song on this CD, as an unconventional style of music and sound was used here."

Pretty weird. But it's also pretty interesting and I'm really happy to have found it in that one Craigieburn Vinnies. 

There are some photos of the CD here:

Kontakt at Angel Music Bar

Going to the club next month for Kontakt!

Few crew from Amsterdam are bringing their energy to Angel on Good Friday Eve and I am so stoked to be in the local reception party.

Opening the upstairs dancefloor from 22:00 - 22:30. 

Can't wait!

If you're in town and keen you can cop tickets here:

https://weeztix.shop/ruxv9359

 

Mateo & Matos - Feelin' Sexy (Kevin's Sexy Dub)

Next up on the channel we have some deep dubbed out house remix via Kevin McKay on his own Glasgow Underground label.

I bought this back when I first started buying records, blindly, while buying from a Discogs seller because it was one of the few labelled 'deep house' and I thought that 'dubs' were always cool. 

Have played this cut a few times, had it go off and only recently realised it wasn't already online.

Feelin' Sexy by New York house mainstays John Mateo and Eddie Matos originally appeared in August of 2002 on Glasgow Underground, but the vocal seems to make the track far too cheesy.

Another Heavy Dub was released in early 2003, but I think the Sexy Dub here that appeared later that year on an EP with other remixes from 1999's The Real Thing has snuck through as an underground bomb.

The cheesy vocal is dubbed beautifully and the introduction of bongoes and a pulsating bassline evoke images of smoke-filled dark dancefloors with eyes closed. 

Big tip to pitch it up for an intoxicating, psychedelic house experience. 

You never know what you might have at the back of the shelf!

Check out the record on Discogs here.

Jürgen Lugge - Zeit

Next upload is some German soft rock from guitarist Jürgen Lugge.

Lugge released a two pop rock albums in the 1980s before joining mostly cover band Torfrock for a few releases in the 1990s.

Lugge released Der Erste Schritt, which translates to 'The First Steps,' in 1980 on Lupo records, a label which only looks to have released Lugge's work.

I love the artwork of this album. Bare feet and a crushed dandelion give a Lynchian feel, and in the photo on the back cover he looks like a German Dr. Jacoby. 

The track I have selected, Zeit, has clear salsa influences, beautifully layered German vocals and funky sax melodies. Luckily it lacks the cheesy 1980s pop rock guitar riffs that other songs on the album have. 

The lyrics are poetic and somber, if only revealed to me when translated. Ziet or 'time' echoes throughout the track, underscoring detached and distant remarks like: "(time) we never have enough of it" or "(time) it's eating away at your brain" and finally "(time) is just as scarce when there are two of us."

Maybe I should be more precious with my time. Maybe I should learn German. 

Check out the record on Discogs here.

Acid Chess Club

 Stoked to be back at Runner Up in Collingwood Yards for Acid Chess Club tonight!

Bringing some brain music for chill, hectic and open tournaments from 7pm. 

You can also catch more regular gig and radio updates on instagram: @empty.deejay

Honoured to be on this poster by Jack Irvine too!

Gunn Sound - Survivors of London

These rips come via a friend of mine from Denmark, Jake, who managed to track down some underground Australian bass music.

Here's what Jake said about the CD:

"So me and my friend Chris have been digging this Australian scene for a while now, finding some amazing off the radar stuff. This Gunn Sound CD i specifically discovered as a recommendation in the inlay of some aus dub CD compilation (cant remember which one hehe), and seeing that it wasn't online or on discogs, but on sale on Ebay quite cheaply, i figured why not. Great stuff and great to browse around the Aus scene!! Love from Aarhus, Denmark."

I think Jake may have been talking about seeing Gunn Sound on cult Sherriff Lindo compilation Dub For The Masses, where the 7th track from this album Portobello (Dub Version) appeared, which looks to be the only other appearance of John Gunn. 

It blew me away when Jake sent me the Ebay listing for this CD and asked for me to send him the files. He has spoken to me a number of times before about his love for the Australian dub scene in the late 1990s, particularly the work of Ali Omar. Finding something not only not online but not even on Discogs is a true digging achievement. 

Survivors of  London seems to provide a link between the deep dub of the late 90s and the bass and breaks ubiquitous in Australia in the early 2000s. 

For these uploads I've picked; Anybody, the aggressive and unflinching album opener, Intruders, a floating, atmospheric drum and bass gem, the haunting and mysterious Caribbean and the final track Fading Away (Dub Version) where the breaks and bass constantly emanating from Survivors Of London fade to close out what is a fascinating piece of Australian underground music history. 

Thanks so much  to Jake for allowing me to upload these on the channel, I aspire to have a find like this of my own one day. 

Good luck trying to track a copy down!

Here are the videos:

Here's some photos of the CD:

Technique - When There Is Love (Life Is A Dance)

When I'm digging, there's a big difference between what I pull out to listen to for Empty Archive and my own collection. 

Usually for the channel I'm looking at white labels, simple texts or retro designs or stuff that looks particularly weird. When it comes to me buying other records, there are a bunch of labels I will always listen to, but I know that usually I'll be able to find it online.

Strangely, this particular cut seems to have fallen through the YouTube cracks. 

Downtown 161 is a classic New York City house label, probably known best for Kerri Chandler's Thing For Linda records. The depth of their catalogue means I always pull their stuff out, but their prevalence means I know it's probably already online. 

When I found this record and listened to the number of videos of the Beat Is Down side, I was intrigued, but hardly blown away. Luckily I held onto it long enough to hear this gem. 

When There Is Love (Life Is A Dance) seems to be a re-arrangement of a 1994 release on Downtown 161 by Phillip Daniel as Technique. It also features a remix by (maybe) one of the Burrell's, although they go uncredited aside from the title. 

For this release in 1997, Chicago legend Derrick Carter (as the sleeve so desperately communicates) gives the original the Red Nail treatment. 

With chaotic tribal percussion underneath the beautiful vocals of the mysterious Azarian and gospel-esque stabs evoke visions of smoked-filled sweaty dancefloors.

Life Is A Dance is also, I think, an illuminating example of how drastically house music was moving in the 1990s in the US. The 1994 versions and these from 97 are starkly different, yet both fantastic in their different styles and the singular thread that binds them, house music, is richer for them both. 

Enjoy!

Find the record on Discogs here