Tag: Monotonik

Sushi Brother – Let’s Cruise {mtk058}

Artist: Sushi Brother
Title: Let’s Cruise
Label: Monotonik
Catalog #: mtk058
Release Date: 2001/07/19

A return release from Sweden’s excellent Sushi Brother, another ex-demo-scener who’s really kicking things with an unique elektronik style, this one even more indescribable and intriguing than a chocolate potato (or a deep-fried Mars Bar).

Sushi Brother has his excellent ‘Shadowfighter’ former mtk.release out on 7″ about now, courtesy of Bop Records, btw – it also includes the Frank and Bill remix we also released, and with Bill (Yard) apparently featuring on the new Brothomstates EP on Warp, it couldn’t be a better point to release it.

But Meester Sushi is the _real_ star this time out, and “Let’s Cruise” is sorta extrasupamutated electronic scr0nk, with an almost P-Funk groove and stab chords over lots of sliiiiding bass and syncopated percussion effects. So, it’s a little bit like the Star Wars Cantina Band meeting Bootsy Collins at a LAN party, right? Riiiight.

Credits:
cover by sushi’s supertalented friend

Tracklist:
01 – Let’s Cruise

Artwork:
Front Cover

Download

License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial 1.0 Generic (CC BY-ND-NC 1.0)

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Super Science – This Is Over By Inches {mtk057}

Artist: Super Science
Title: This Is Over By Inches
Label: Monotonik
Catalog #: mtk057
Release Date: 2001/07/11

Another release from Australia’s darling, and no, we don’t mean Dame Edna, rather Super Science, whose Surgery Records album, “Love Like Life In Miniature”, is a Gulliver-like masterpiece of melody, vocals, and beautifully fractured beats – as we’ve said before, something with the crossover appeal and unique angle of an artist like Capitol K.

This time round, “This Is Over By Inches” loops up the distinctive Super Science sound – delicate synths, snatches of repeated phrases and unique-sounding hums of melody, and puts a gorgeously twisty sheen over the top. There’s so many layers of cosmic+melodic debris in there, we’re going to have to go ahead and call it the asteroid belt in the mote in God’s eye.

Credits:
cover by rents

Tracklist:
01 – This Is Over By Inches

Artwork:
Front Cover

Download

License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial 1.0 Generic (CC BY-ND-NC 1.0)

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Vibrants – Smack My .SID Up – Best Of Vibrants {mtk056}

Artist: Vibrants
Title: Smack My .SID Up – Best Of Vibrants
Label: Monotonik
Catalog #: mtk056
Release Date: 2001/06/30

Finally here, and the first non-.MP3/.MOD release on Monotonik, we’re _very_ proud to present an officially sanctioned compilation with the creator-picked best of the .SID (Commodore 64) tunes from the legendary Vibrants crew.

Even for those of you who weren’t C64-owners or fans, know this – Vibrants are a Danish crew who were formed back in 1987 and number some of the biggest composers in Commodore 64 history, including Laxity and Drax (both also members of the fabled Maniacs Of Noise), Metal and JCH. Collectively, they’re one of the few providers of non-videogame .SIDs to make it into the High Voltage .SIDs all-time Top 100.

Anyhow, we asked the Vibrants guys themselves to come up with a definitive album-sized collection, and here it is – 16 totallyamazing tracks spanning almost 10 years. So whether it’s the opening phunk of Laxity’s “Syncopated”, the lush tempos of JCH’s “Chordian”, the cosmic groove of Metal’s “Fusion”, or the soaring melodies of Drax’s “Scarlet”, you’re pretty much sorted for .SIDs and whizz..

So, hopefully this compilation really shows off why there’s recently been a custom synth (the SIDStation) built around the SID chip, and Zombie Nation could simply sample a David Whittaker .SID-based tune and have a gigantic hit record with it (“Kernkraft 400”). SID’s back, baby, if, indeed, it had ever been away..

Credits:
cover by rents

Tracklist:
01 – Laxity – Syncopated [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]
02 – Drax – Scarlet [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]
03 – Metal – Camel Funk [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]
04 – JCH – No Filter [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]
05 – Drax – Sincerity [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]
06 – Metal – Geologic [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]
07 – Laxity – Highscore [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]
08 – JCH – Push It [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]
09 – Metal – Fusion [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]
10 – Drax – Hermetic [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]
11 – JCH – Chordian [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]
12 – Laxity – Laxity Again [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]
13 – Drax & Metal – Nymphoman [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]
14 – JCH – Aliensong [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]
15 – Drax – Fury [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]
16 – Metal – Ramlösa [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]
17 – Laxity – Zimx USA [SID] [FLAC] [MP3]

Artwork:
Front Cover

Original
FLAC
MP3

*FLAC & MP3 zips also include the original versions.

License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial 1.0 Generic (CC BY-ND-NC 1.0)

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Lackluster – One-Offs EP {mtk055}

Artist: Lackluster
Title: One-Offs EP
Label: Monotonik
Catalog #: mtk055
Release Date: 2001/06/21

Monotonik is _very_ proud to present an exclusive 6-track EP from Finland’s Lackluster, aka Esa Ruoho, an artist we’ve been releasing (as Distance) since way back when we were putting out .MODs, and have seen go from the limited-edition “CDR#2″ on Monotonik (our only physical release ever) to critical acclaim through his 12” and album releases on the UK’s DeFocus Records, and more recent vinyl and CDs put out through Rikos, Merck, and U-Cover, to name but a few.

“One-Offs EP” is a collection of material from the last year or so which, quite simply, blows us away. From the starting bloopshuffle into expansive caverns of “Plip”, through the perverse percussives of “Shoo”, and into the suddenly retro, gorgeous simplicity of “21/01/01”, this suddenly feels eons past “Container”, even after its 5-star Muzik rating.

Pausing for the breathy interlude of “Sfacidx3mulch”, the EP forges on to the simply epic and extended multilayering of “Rumk8”, as formerly heard in the live@technature performance, and finally to the wonderful “Kcl2”, all echo-ing organ chords and zen-like calm. What a trip.

[Check out the special+exclusive Flash cover and download page from Tpolm’s super-talented Fthr here, thanks to Jaska for the great cover used above.. and see Lackluster’s own site at http://www.m3rck.net/lackluster for lots more info on all his releases..]

Credits:
cover by jaska

Tracklist:
01 – Plip
02 – Shoo
03 – 21/01/01
04 – Sfacidx3mulch
05 – Rumk8
06 – Kcl2

Artwork:
Front Cover

Additional Links:
[Badncamp]

Download

License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial 1.0 Generic (CC BY-ND-NC 1.0)

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Darkhalo – Stratosphere Sniper {mtw022}

Artist: Darkhalo
Title: Stratosphere Sniper
Label: Mono211
Catalog #: mtw022
Release Date: 2001/06/17

We’re delighted to put out another release from West Coast US breakbeast, Darkhalo, with whom we released a rather well-received .MOD a while back. We loved his sorta progressive vs. nu-skool, distinctively Californian rolling beats, obviously born outta the City of Industry, and all the yummier for that.

Therefore, “Stratosphere Sniper” is another prime example of the CA massive blowing things up for smarts, and we’ve been mentally grooving (we’re too dorky to dance) pretty much all this week to the heavily overlaid, intricate breaks and gorgeously produced doublespeed bass-snare-snare. Ah, there you go! We’ve actually just got down some Leeroy Prodigy style gangly moonwalk moves that fit it perfectly. What’s your favorite groove position?

Credits:
cover by rents

Tracklist:
01 – Stratosphere Sniper

Artwork:
Front Cover

Download

License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial 1.0 Generic (CC BY-ND-NC 1.0)

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Vim! – 8-Bitten, Break Smitten {mtk054}

Artist: Vim!
Title: 8-Bitten, Break Smitten
Label: Monotonik
Catalog #: mtk054
Release Date: 2001/05/28

The return of the spaced cowboy comes in the form of this newly minted Vim! track, with the UK artist fresh from his new Surgery album, “Linden – The Home Of The Hits”. And actually, this great track isn’t on that CD, since it’s a special, exclusive tribute to all those classic old .MOD instruments and instrumentals everyone used to adore, with a newskool spin on it – hence the name of the track.

So, if you’re digging the whole dumb drumbreak breaking things up a bit, plus the funked-up piano and bass weirdness making it all into a sorta neo-Squarepusher goes 1989 Soundtracker evolution, you’ll probably dig this track. Put it this way, nobody else is making music like this – they wouldn’t dare.

[Oh, for tracks which are on Vim!’s Surgery CD, try the excellent and earlier ‘Timecrunch EP’, and for tracklisting and future CD distribution info, try our artist news page..]

Credits:
cover by rents

Tracklist:
01 – 8-Bitten, Break Smitten

Artwork:
Front Cover

Download

License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial 1.0 Generic (CC BY-ND-NC 1.0)

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Luminfire – Mono BPM Vol.1 {mtwdj04}

Artist: Luminfire
Title: Mono BPM Vol.1
Label: Mono211
Catalog #: mtwdj04
Release Date: 2001/05/17

With all the mp3s Monotonik+friends have been releasing of late, sometimes people (including us!) forget about the 200+ .MODs we released from 1996-1999, all of which are still available on the Mono site!

Fortunately, US-based Luminfire hasn’t forgotten about the early house, techno, and beat-based .MODs we put out as Mono back then, and so he put together this mix for us that highlights some of the best material from back then. Want your Mortimer Twang? We got it here. Want your ChuckB and TheFoxII? This 60-minute mp3 mix provides in abundance.

The tracklisting for “Mono BPM Vol.1” is as follows:

01. Dreamfish – Shredless Wonder (d/l .mod )
02. TheFoxII – Discodance (d/l .mod )
03. Mortimer Twang – Velvet Disko (d/l .mod )
04. Iso+TheFoxII – L’Ambient (d/l .mod )
05. Dreamfish – Sunrise Technology (d/l .mod )
06. ChuckB – Dig Deep (d/l .mod )
07. Twilight – Wired (d/l .mod )
08. TheFoxII – U Got To B U (d/l .mod )
09. Twilight+Mortimer Twang – The Future (d/l .mod )
10. Basehead – Indigo (d/l .mod )
11. ChuckB – Blur Reality (d/l .mod )
12. Substance – Parallel (d/l .mod )
13. Twilight – The Go Loop (d/l .mod )
14. Carebear – Farawayadventure (d/l .mod )

Credits:
cover by rents

Tracklist:
01 – Mono BPM Vol.1

Artwork:
Front Cover

Download
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Basehead – Beacon {mtk053}

Artist: Basehead
Title: Beacon
Label: Monotonik
Catalog #: mtk053
Release Date: 2001/05/08

A long-time denizen of the ‘tracker’ scene, and more recently a videogame musician on titles such as the multi-award-winning Ion Storm opus, “Deus Ex”, we’re delighted to release this great piece of clicked-up electronics from the Boston, US-based Basehead.

“Beacon” is a really special piece of clickish-house, with some of the sharpened drums and syncopated rhythms that characterise that particular subgenre. Add the deeper-than-subterranean sub-bass and echo-laden lead lines swimming in and out of the tune-mist, and you end up with a truly originalsounding track which is noticably different to a lot of the lusher, slower material Monotonik has been releasing of late. In any case, enjoy, and look out for more material from Basehead on Tektite Records soon.

Credits:
cover by rents

Tracklist:
01 – Beacon

Artwork:
Front Cover

Download

License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial 1.0 Generic (CC BY-ND-NC 1.0)

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Pretty Boy Crossover – Autumn Week {mtk052}

Artist: Pretty Boy Crossover
Title: Autumn Week
Label: Monotonik
Catalog #: mtk052
Release Date: 2001/04/26

Us here @ Monotonik are delighted to release a second mp3 from Australian duo, Pretty Boy Crossover, aka PBXO. Their album, “The Building And Formation”, formerly to be released on Skam before indecision set in down Manchester-way, is due for release any day now on Surgery Records, the Australian label we’ve been forging close ties with of late. And with PBXO supporting Arab Strap on their recent Melbourne appearance, the force is strong with these Australian wunderkind, no?

So, “Autumn Week” is a mellow as yellow, hi-hat-toting float through the lands of the etherea, with beautifully phrased synths dropping in and out, plus the quiet babble of voices eternal. Thus, not only is this beautiful, it’s fragile – and fragility leads to tranquility in PBXO’s unique universe.

Credits:
cover by rents

Tracklist:
01 – Autumn Week

Artwork:
Front Cover

Download

License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial 1.0 Generic (CC BY-ND-NC 1.0)

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Idmonster – The Force May Be With You {mtk051}

Artist: Idmonster
Title: The Force May Be With You
Label: Monotonik
Catalog #: mtk051
Release Date: 2001/04/15

After his first release as Pendle on our sister label, Mono211, the UK-based former Butterfly Child bandmember and now TV/film/advert soundtracker returns on Monotonik via his Idmonster pseudonym (id? idm? definitely monstrous!) And it’s not just a slight return, either.

“The Force May Be With You” is a truly divine track, starting in a sea of disembodied voice fragments and cosmic chord co-location, before adding layer on layer of pastoral strings, theremin (?), and jittering that percussive speech over and over, like instant transportation between thousands of conversations every second.

And sometimes it sounds a little like the most laidback air-raid siren in the world ever, cranking up. We like that.

Credits:
cover by rents

Tracklist:
01 – The Force May Be With You

Artwork:
Front Cover

Download

License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial 1.0 Generic (CC BY-ND-NC 1.0)

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