West Coast electro whiz, Sutekh is going to be born again this October. Not literally of course, but The Leaf Label have repackaged all his best Remix work to stuff into two handy CDs (or two separate double vinyl gatefold sleeve LPs if you prefer) with artwork by General Working Group
Sutekh (aka Seth Horvitz) is one of those artists at the forefront of the new wave of electronic music production that can create a remix from manipulating computers, samplers, synths, sound EFX and the like. Much like Matthew Herbert, his talent has created a worldwide demand to create “everything from minimal house and techno to dense dissonant noise collage.” This album is a collection of 23 tracks that have been pulled from many different labels so London’s Leaf are to be congratulated for saving fans much wonga and leg work in this respect.
In addition to Sutekh’s own Context Free Media Label, his work has appeared on Force Inc/Mille Plateaux (Germany), Orthlorng Musork (USA) and Soul-Jazz’s electronic sub-label Microsolutions To Megaproblems.
It’s here that we find US tech-funk meets LA beat heads Ammoncontact. The Trabajadores Mix of ‘Baila Con Los Niño(s)’ originally appeared on Beat Tape Personalities Remix 12″. The preceding track by O.Lamm’s is a similar beat nodder with added harmonica and banjo pickings going on. We know Chessie from the best track on Dublab Presents In The Loop 1 (Plug Research), ‘Daylight’ is a dark moody heavy bass dub up, definitely one for fans of Madtone.
Readers of Wire Magazine might spot that the last cover disc (June 2005) started with Hanne Hukkelberg’s ‘Ease’ and this album starts with an exclusive Sutekh remix of this track. The rest of side A is completed by a couple of instrumental synth hip hop tunes.
Side C is more techno oriented with more computer noises in a more 4/4 syle — but not done in the obvious boring fashion that can be commonplace in this genre. The ‘Vancouver And Fairfield’ remix is very busy.
The last side includes the Trisagon Mix of ‘Memoria’, which was apparently recently used by fashion designer Alexander McQueen for a film soundtrack to one of his shows. It’s certainly electro blip techno and races along at a breakneck pace. FACT04 (Spring) picked this remix as their “You need this” 12″ of the issue. It and the Wobble track are just the sort of thing that they play at Phonica (FACT’s associated store) all the time. As an aside, with last year’s demise of vinyl specialist Mr. Bongo from Poland Street, in these MP3 download days, many congratulations to Phonica Records for making it to their 2nd Birthday Party this month.
Back to the Sutekh remix album, the other half of the package, Remixes 1999-2002 has yet to be sent out but on the strength of 2004-2005, it’s likely to get the next issue of FACT’s “You need this” LP. If you’re interested in the work of Daedelus, Ammoncontact and Theo Parrish one end of the scale, Four Tet, Henrik Schartz and Agoria at the other with Wire Magazine in the middle, you’ll definitely going to enjoy this collection. I even got into the apocalyptic nursery rhymn big bass bounce scratch of the final track, now that’s “like a yo-yo on a trip on high,” leftfield!
It’s enough to get you salivating for his own new album especially with the news that he has been studying classical and jazz music on a baby grand piano in his basement in San Francisco for the past two years and the tabla in India. Add his obvious love of electro-funk-hop into the mix and it all this sounds very promising (album planned for release early in 2006).
Sutekh Autumn 2005 tour:
24.09: Chroma / Tenerife, Canary Islands
07.10: Dis-patch Festival / Belgrade, Serbia
08.10: Minirock@Cabaret Renz / Vienna, Austria
14.10: Maria / Berlin, Germany
15.10: SightSound Festival / York, UK
20.10: BIOS Festival / Athens, Greece
22.10: Cosies / Bristol, UK
26.10: The Spitz / London, UK [www.spitz.co.uk]
27.10: Nottingham, UK (unconfirmed)
28.10: LEAF IS TEN, Dj’s & More, The Queen, Brixton, London, UK [
29.10: Worm / Rotterdam, Netherlands
Reviewed: Sutekh – Born Again: Collected Remixes 2004-2005 Cat. No. BAY 52 VA
Official Release date 17th October 2005 will be a 2CD/4LP Package compiling Sutekh’s remix work. A1 is exclusive to this release.
Tracklisting:
A1 Hanne Hukkelberg – Ease (In C Mix)
A2 Kammerflimmer Kollektief – Absencen (Remix)
A3 TV Pow – Friendshop Patrol (Guitar Hereos Mix)
B1 O.Lamm - Bed Of The Cylinder In Three Concentric Zones
B2 Ammoncontact – Baila Con Los Niño(s) (Trabajadores Mix)
B3 Chessie - Daylight Remix
C1 Ben Nevile -Vancouver And Fairfield Remix
C2 LOD – 4WD Remix
C3 Dapayk – Tyffaniecell (March Of The Valkyries Mix)
D1 Wobbly – Clawing Your Eyes Out Down To Your Peady
D2 Murcof -Memoria (Trisagon Mix)
D3 Ned Sublette & Lawrence Wiener -Big Bang / New Flora (Death Row Mix)
Links:
The Leaf Label
Carlos Nino interview including how he was ‘discovered’ by Soul-Jazz
Soul-Jazz: A new 12-inch, entitled “Two Vireos” is out now on the Microsolutions sublabel
Contact Free Media
Plug Research www.plugresearch.com
Ben Nevile
LOD – Runs Sinergy Networks and Klitekture.
Murcof
Wobbly
Dapayk
Phonica – www.phonicarecords.com: Saturday 24th September 2nd Birthday Party @ The Key Kings Cross with DJ T, Andrew Weatherall & Riton.
Wire www.thewire.co.uk The Wire Tapper Vols 11-13 free with subscription offer
Contemporary Art Centre ELEKTRODIENOS:
“Remixology doesn’t replace a track so much as proliferate it into parallel alter dimensions. Remixology is the science of continuation and the art of drastic remaking, total remaking, remodeling.” (Kodwo Eshun)
