Transparent Sound have been leading the UK electro charge since forming in1994, and just as their Transparent Sound Recordings imprint championed the electro-funk beats of the late Nineties, Orson Records is a similar vehicle for today’s experimental, electronic club sounds. And now with ‘The Two Headed Monster’ they are pairing together Orson artists with like-minded, visionary producers and DJs for a wonderfully openminded snapshot of the music making clubbing in 2006 so life-affirmingly vital again.
In the clubs you’re seeing an interaction between live acts and DJs, and the DJs themselves, by using laptops and programs like Traktor, Ableton and Final Scratch, are bringing in new technological elements to their sets,”comments Transparent Sound’s Orson Bramley on one of the key concepts behind the series. “‘The Two Headed Monster’ is about trying to show the differences - and similarities - between these things.” For the debut release in this series, Transparent Sound have hooked up with Fabric resident and long-time champion of cutting-edge, underground dance music, Craig Richards. Both artists have a musical admiration for one another that has grown dramatically over the last year.
I’ve got an interest in electro and more recently Transparent Sound have been making music which is deeper, groovier and more four-four based as opposed to the electro they used to do. So I guess we’ve both become a lot closer together in what we do,” says Richards of his involvement. “I put out one of their records last year, I play their stuff and we have a mutual respect for one-another, so it seemed like a good idea to work on something together.
Their contributions to the debut release for this project show how the boundaries are increasingly becoming blurred between sounds, styles and reference points: without less fickle media endlessly pigeonholing genres into safe, sanitised little boxes, each exclusive from the other, dance music has been given a new lease of life. And it’s all here. Transparent Sound have put together a live studio mix that draws on the many weird and wonderful styles of music that are influencing their productions. From the driving bass assaults of ‘Vintage’ and ‘ProperTechno’ through to the more delicate, intricate rhythms of ‘Variations Of An Attitude’ and ‘Voyeur’s Chance’ right through to the sublime ‘Hell Bent’ and ‘The Cider Club’, it’s an engaging, melodic and dynamic set oftracks that although diverse, remain fluid and coherent throughout.
Craig’s DJ mix, his first to be released in two years, is a deep, hypnotic collection of current favourites and rediscovered gems that never once takes its eye off of the dancefloor. Many of the tracks he’s edited himself, ands as well as this he’s added a load of his own FX. Craig says “It’s quite bouncy and groovy, and is probably closer to the first mix I did for the Fabric series than the Tyrant one from a couple of years ago. I tried to keep it moving around as much as possible, messing around with the tunes and sneaking in things that people wouldn’t always expect.” The end result’s a thrilling Trans Europe Express-way ride through the EU’s most daring discotheques and illicit after-parties, and it makes for a devastating trip.
‘The Two Headed Monster’, the first full-length release on the label, is to be accompanied by a series of limited-edition coloured vinyls and samplers. These three releases will come in the form of tracks from Craig’s DJ mix, a brandnew TS production ‘Hell Bent’ (with remixes from Dub Kult, Espion andMesak) and an exclusive studio collaboration between Craig and Transparent Sound.
