Flamingo EP

Artist :
Release Date : 29. April 2022
Catalog ref. : 015

Followed by further releases on AvantRoots, Sirion Records, Splendid Lo-Fi, Cynosure Recordings, Tip Tap Records, Manuscript Records, Endemic Records, and Kaato Music throughout the years, Bern-based deep-house agitator Mastra makes a remarkable entry on Sound of Berlin with Flamingo EP, available digitally on April 29.

The tune that got Mastra signed to Sound of Berlin was Flamingo Nights, which is a hit. There’s a straightforward, dubby chord progression that radiates out from the center.
The music on the second track Flamingo Days feels deeper, slower, and more layered than the first one.
The seams are inaudible, and these two tracks take on a dubby, straight-forward beat quality somewhere between techno and deep-house.
Mastra’s steady hand helps them melt into each other and evolve into something else entirely, something that feels groovy and universal as his own work.
“For me, there was always the fascination that music or in other words audible frequencies open completely new horizons.  It is the only way to transmit information that cannot be manipulated and has the ability to transport emotions.” – Mastra adds.
This attention to detail is what gives Mastra’s productions their depth of soul, which is often lacking in this occasionally grueling corner of dance music.

Flamingo EP will be released digitally on April 29, followed by a music video by Guza a few weeks later.

— Mastra - Flamingo Nights (Official Video)

Homage EP

Artist :
Title : Homage EP
Release Date : 26. November 2021
Catalog ref. : 011

There is no one as good as Mike Shannon at creating sonic grooves and endless labyrinths of minimal sounds for our minds to get lost in.

The Canadian producer delivers his new Homage EP – “a sound that is very much what I associate with Berlin techno in the purist form”, Shannon comments – two new tracks with the force of a minimal producer laying down experimental techno drums.

While Homage EP is “a tip of the hat to the basic Sound of Berlin’s channel, a label that made the blueprint for the techno I love to play and produce”, the first track “Graefekiez” ups the tension and rolls on and on in a lovely saline wash, with the gentle tussle of something grainy underneath.

“Graefekiez” is focused and uses the endless catchy bassline to carry the minimal theme into a more dub layout. A tension percolates through the track before finishing and “Heide’s Glowing” – the second track – wraps things up with seven minutes of shimmering haze.

“Heide’s Glowing” is a bit messier, with noises appearing like sunspots alongside modular percussive elements that create a hedge maze of rhythms. The groove feels far more smooth as a result, as Shannon teases out the tension for an impossibly long period, touching on minimal and techno flavours along the way. There’s no single moment of release though the hats dropping around the second-minute mark come close, and the journey is a rare pleasure.

“When I was invited the first time to play there [Heideglühen, a legendary club in Berlin], I came home and wrote this track, still glowing from the experience. Often my work gets inspired by these moments. Berlin has a wealth of inspiration at the core of its night life that I often tap into. Wouldn’t do what I do if it wasn’t for that.” – Shannon adds.

Both tracks are breezy, minimal and snappy, capped off with shuffling drums and Shannon’s signature crunchy percussions and looped basses. Some of the best moments come later when rhythmic phrases swirl meaninglessly around each other before patched drums come in, grounding the rhythm.

The strongest moments on Homage EP strike this unlikely balance between experimentalism and dance floor pleasures, an ode to Berlin and its unique club scene and nightlife.

Prisma EP

Artist :
Title : Prisma EP
Release Date : 27. August 2021
Catalog ref. : SOB 009

The EP, consisting of two tracks, “Prisma” and ”Glitch Behaviour”, showcases DJ T-1000‘s versatile style. The leading track ”Prisma” is convincing with its groovy beats and hypnotic yet glitchy synths. The second track is honoring its title with heavy fast-paced beats, glitchy sounds, and a mesmerizing rhythm that feels out of this world.

Now based in Berlin, Alan D. Oldham, aka DJ T-1000, has been dubbed ”Detroit‘s Renaissance Man” by Muzik Magazine. A lifelong cartoonist and graphic designer, young Oldham published his own indie comic book “Johnny Gambit” in 1987 to local notoriety. Hired that same year by his childhood friend Derrick May to illustrate several memorable pieces for his new Transmat label, this led to Oldham’s very first involvement in the fledgling techno scene. More art requests quickly followed, most famously from the Djax-Up-Beats label (NL), where his art took center stage for many years. At the same time, college-student Oldham was hired at local radio station WDET, hosting Detroit’s first-ever all-electronic radio program, “Fast Forward,” introducing artists like UR, Richie Hawtin and Carl Craig to local airwaves.

Five years later, Oldham found himself under the tutelage of UR’s Mad Mike Banks. Initially hired as UR’s “Minister of Information,” working side-by-side with Rob Hood and others in the office, Oldham was eventually tapped to replace his departing friend Jeff Mills as DJ on UR’s world tour, and DJ T-1000 (and his label Generator, distributed by Submerge) was born. For a year afterwards, Oldham toured with Banks in the UR techno boot camp. Since those long-ago days, a solo Oldham continues to rock crowds in Berlin (with an unofficial residency at Tresor), Milan, Barcelona (unofficial residency at Moog), Madrid, London, Tel Aviv, Tokyo and all points in between with his own no-nonsense brand of bangin’, funky-ass techno. When DJ T-1000 is on the flyer, fans know he’s bringing the ruckus.

In 2004, Oldham finally left a flagging Motor City for the Midwest boomtown of Chicago. And in 2005 he finally established his permanent European base in the world’s latest electronic music

capital, Berlin. When he’s not behind the decks or in the studio producing electronic dance music for labels like Tresor Berlin, Inzec (CH), Minimalsoul (CH), or his own Pure Sonik and Generator imprints, Oldham has provided artwork for the electronic music industry for almost 20 years. His drawings and large-scale paintings have been on display in art galleries in Chicago, Berlin, Paris, Los Angeles, and most recently a sold-out opening in Amsterdam.

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