For Berlin Undercover Anton Kubikov brings a touch of Chicago to the streets of Saint-Germain-des-Prés with his version of ‘Café de Flore, the Parisian coolness exemplified in 2000 by Doctor Rokit (one of British producer Matthew Herbert’s numerous aliases). Bringing up the tempo a notch, leaving out Herbert’s accordion and acoustic guitar, working a steel tongue drum plugin and reverberating, atmospheric pads into the skippy 4/4, et voilà, French downtempo becomes jazzy microhouse with Kubikov’s fingerprints all over it.
Anton Kubikov is a composer, DJ and a bit of a poet. He is a well-known figure in the international electronic scene since 1994. His music has appeared on over 90 releases on vinyl labels and digital compilations such as Kompakt, Fabric, Force Tracks, Trapez, Salo, MAYAK, Pro-tez, Nervmusic, Traum, Freizeitglauben, Heisenberg, with the Scsi-9 project, Multiplear Juras Lieturs and under their own name. His DJ set always features high quality underground music and creates a unique atmosphere on the dance floor. For 28 years of his career, Anton has visited almost all continents except the North Pole, Antarctica, and Africa. In 2022, Stately Records released Anton’s full dub-techno album on vinyl, and several more releases are planned on independent labels.
For Northern Vector, paying homage to their idols from two techno capitals of the word – Juan Atkins, Thomas Fehlmann, Moritz von Oswald – by tackling the deathless 1993 tune ‘Jazz Is The Teacher’ by M500 & 3MB became something of a learning curve. “Learning the jazzy keyboard parts and synth chords took some effort. But it was a great learning experience. It was a nice afternoon session at Mike’s Berlin studio coming up with the ideas.” Ditching the original synth strings, accentuating the bassline, and jazzing it all up with silky major sevenths – while retaining the signature sound of Northern Vector – their tech house-leaning take has every opportunity to get the floors moving this summer.
Northern Vector, a producer-trio consisting of Mark Thibideau, Matt Thibideau, and Mike Shannon, go back 30 years. In the early 90s they all lived in southwestern Ontario, and it was around this time when they got into synthesizers and making electronic music. Not long after Matt released his first record ‘Polarised’ as Altitude on Blue Recordings, Mark put out his debut release ‘Microdots’ on Woodwork Recordings under the moniker Crave, and Mike started his label Cynosure Recordings. This summer we will get to see Matt Thibdeau will play live at Superbooth, Berlin (13 May) and Shannon at Caprices Festival 2023 (7 April) in Switzerland.
About the original: “Jazz is the Teacher” by 3MB, a collaboration of Thomas Fehlmann, Moritz von Oswald, and Juan Atkins, is a groundbreaking fusion of jazz and techno released in 1993. The track features live jazz instrumentation by saxophonist Evan Parker, adding a dynamic quality to the music. It rebelled against commercialization, inspiring artistic freedom and experimentation in electronic music. Experience the unique sound and cultural significance of this influential track.
Artist : Alinka Title : Sunday Morning Catalog ref. : SOB002
About the Release
The EP perfectly radiates with Alinka’s distinct sound, while showcasing a harder-edged electro rhythm and bassline, fused with sharp, futuristic synths.
“I wrote the EP specifically for this project, so it was inspired by my time living in Berlin. It’s a dedication to Berlin’s dance floors and dancers, and the special energy that exists in the city. ‘Sunday Morning’ specifically is an ode to Panorama Bar as it’s my favourite place to play in the world and I’ve had many magical Sunday’s there.” Alinka
