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PORCE006  Blaubac - 'Perdurance' CD album

9 tracks, 65 minutes of music: released 4.6.02

What we say: Whereas ‘Wind Chill’ displayed a delicious heart of darkness, ‘Perdurance’ radiates a beautiful, energetic warmth.  Still characteristically and unmistakably Blaubac: dynamic and unique, detailed and beat-driven electronica.  Guest vocalists and instrumentalists further broaden the sound, their contributions precisely woven into each infectious composition.  The result is awesome.  A grand claim perhaps, but this is progtronica at its best.  Previous work has proven to have a longevity and appeal, as fans of Boards of Canada, Squarepusher, Autechre, Aphex Twin and Radiohead even, find their way to Blaubac.  But is it possible to be more unique? ‘Perdurance’ says, "Yes – indefinitely."

What others have said: (Mark Rowland, Penny Black)  Blaubac specialises in producing smokey, stuffy dub influenced braindance.  Interest has grown in Blaubac over the past year, mainly due to the success Radiohead achieved with their decidedly braindance influenced album ‘Kid A’, which definitely took its cues from Blaubac on some of its tracks.  The addition of the vocals doesn’t stop the tracks from being unmistakably Blaubac, but they do add and enhance the music, giving it an extra element for Blaubac’s electronic sketches to organise themselves around.  This puts ‘Perdurance’ far above your average electronica album in its ability to form itself into proper songs without really compromising its sound.'

(Milton Keynes Citizen article, in anticipation of the Blaubac session on Garden Of Earthly Delights, CMRK, 16.10.02)  'Mainstream they certainly aren't, but they deserve investigation nonetheless!  Apparently, the success of Radiohead's 'kid a' opus has increased the interest in the mob they called Blaubac...  You could almost call their noise progtronica apparently...'

(Fourth Dimension)  ‘Latest album, with nine cuts of crisped & progressive (with the emphasis on ‘prog’ sometimes!) ‘tronix, coursing through avant ‘n’ bass, chillscape & breaks territory. There are a lot of ideas thrown in but, ultimately, Blaubac’s take on proceedings outweighs all else. This is a good & strong follow-up to last year’s ‘wind chill’.’

Listed in DJ Martian’s top albums of 2002 (in July!)

(Shane Quentin, Radio CRMK)  ‘Your finest release so far’        (Smallfish)  'I really rate this band - combining as they do, manipulated live sounds with textural electronics and beats.  Rich tones and abstract sounds evolve into a fusion of soundscapes and glitchy electronics.  Imagine Loscil collaborating with Alvo Noto, then on some of the tracks, G-Stone getting involved?!  Deep and funky without being obvious.'        (Graham, Iocentral,  score: 5 out of 5)  'So what perdures? After the fantastic 'surprisingly pleasant ep' and debut album, 'wind chill', Blaubac returns to the scene.  So the first fitting question of ‘any good?’ answers to – YES...  An overall wholly confident and bold hour of quiet loud.'

PORCE001  And Then Nothing - 'Submerge / Think of you' 7"
intended release date 21.1.01; actual release date, after some colossal hold-ups with the covers, 26.9.01

What we say: Chronologically the 4th release on Moth, yet categorically and catalogically the 1st.  This duo went missing in the psych era and long dwelt underground, only to re-emerge under said influence and psych out, throwing real instruments at found beats.  In fact, one of the pair surfaced a while back to invent the notion of folk-funk, and became an UNKLE/MoWax main dealer, supplying them with breakbeats.  Recorded in a psych style.  Two pieces; one upbeat, one with a darker deep, both with a play it again hook.  Too hi to be lo-fi; too tripped to be trip hop.  You've heard close to this, and then nothing like it.

What others have said: (Jake Kennedy, Record Collector, Nov’01 Single Of The Month) ‘A simple trick, but a good one – and one that is criminally under-used.  We are, of course talking about a good bass-line, matched up with a relatively ghetto-fabulous live beat.  Add a Roy Budd horn break (!), and you have an instrumental mood-piece that would sit well in any eclectic DJ set.  Whether or not that is what And Then Nothing want is another matter entirely.  Although we say this after only the third release, here at the Singles Bar we love Moth Records already.  (please note that RC described this as a CD release - it isn't - but we love them anyway)

Listed in Record Collector’s Top 20 Singles of 2001

(Zeitgeist e-zine) 'Wow.  Double wow.  Now, doubtless, you'll think I've missed my medication again, but "Submerge" is quite possibly the funkiest, but in a completely and utterly non-funky way, track I've ever heard.  A fantastic bass line, but it sounds like it emanates from a virgin all boys prep school.  Dirty, but without the faintest conception of its filth.  "Think Of You", pales into insignificance, but has a spacey instrumental power which would normally attract me sharpish, but no, time to flip it over again.  Magnificent.'

PORCE004  Blaubac - 'Wind chill' CD album
9 tracks, 63 minutes of music: released 21.1.01

MP3 clips at www.blaubac.co.uk

What we say: Following on from the excellent and well-received 'surprisingly pleasant ep', comes the debut album from Blaubac.  Over an hour of electronica that is diverse and quite unlike anything else.  Constantly evolving, dark and experimental, but by turns warm, lush and melodic.  Distinct from the purely electronic boundaries of the genre, 'Wind chill' is deeper and instrumentally more complex.  Unique.

What others have said: (Jake Kennedy, Record Collector, Jan’01) ‘As Moth’s relatively small output continues to exceed all expectations, it seems as if the small Maidstone label can do no wrong. Indeed, Blaubac’s debut feels very much like a record it will be cool to say you bought when it came out. So do so.'

(Lane, Resonance Vol.9, No2)  'it’s a vast digital landscape you could get lost in as you twist and turn through its twilight grooves.  Dark, defiantly structured songs and high quality production values suggest that this is an attempt by a new artist to create an album with longevity in an arena known for modishness.  It’s obviously too early to suggest that it’s a potential classic, but it’s a classy album.’

For the extensive interview and review of Blaubac on the Electronic Music Reviews site, go...    here

PORCE003 Blaubac - 'Surprisingly pleasant ep' CD
3 tracks, 23 minutes: released 26.6.00

What we say: Blaubac knows the art of the philtre, and rcreates the sounds that seduce across time with an ep of jazz-influenced electronica.  This is techno for people who can differentiate Kriedler from Koner, Mantronix from Max Tundra and still have the space in their record collections for the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Andrew Hill and Alban Berg.  A deep, sometimes disturbing reprise of popular music's journey toward the heart of darkness.  Remember that the funk was an erotic odour long before it became a form of disco. (lane, resonance magazine)

What others have said: (Zeitgeist e-zine, Dec’01) ‘Blaubac are good.  Most defiantly recommended.’        (Smallfish) ‘electronics abound on this nice little ep’        (Rough Trade) 'warm, womblike electronica for fans of Boards of Canada’        (Record Collector) ‘mind-expanding rhythms and beats, with a toe-tapping undercurrent, experimental but never dull, this medley of tunes will baffle you during the long, dark nights’        (Fourth Dimension) 'three very nice cuts of crispy, melodic and slightly angular crinkled-beatronica... a way forward that beckons encouragement'        (Graham, Iocentral)  'in Blaubac you will never be disappointed. (score 4.5 out of 5)'

PORCE002 Stormcrow - 'Pardon my french / Schtomp' 7"
2 sides of music: released 26.6.00

MP3 clips at www.bubonic.co.uk

What we say: 'Pardon my french' is the long overdue 2nd single from Stormcrow, dragged out of its chrysalis by Moth Records.  The first single 'Earth beings / Misanthropic' (on Adjust Your Head) initially gained itself a Single of the Month spot in Record Collector.  'Pardon my french' is a simple, yet extremely catchy piece of sampladelica, marrying an abrasive rap vocal with an infectiously funky lounge groove.  'Schtomp' finds the Stormcrow in more familiar queasybeat territory, throwing plenty of squelchy, bubbling sonic pollution over a rasping, honking backbeat.

What others have said:  (Richo, Adverse Effect)  ‘The trouble with lounge-oriented grooves is that they’re better suited to albums, I think.  All the same, this infectious sample-driven single is the second one by Stormcrow.  Between the title track’s melding of a hefty rap over a lolling rhythm & some lost planet sounds and the flip’s dive into slightly more babbling realms, there’s enough here to suggest those at Moth know exactly where Mo Wax have been going wrong in recent years.  As such, Stormcrow, please, I await your debut album with pleasure.  And so should you.’ 

(Norman Records) 'stormcrow release their 1st new single in donkeys years... it sounds like some 60's groovy beat they've nicked and fecked around with but I could be wrong??.. in fact both sides are fairly similar in that respect... I enjoyed it greatly and decided it was smashing.'        (Rough Trade) ‘more extraordinary break and sample music from mr.crow’        (Record Collector) ‘simplicity like this often makes for the best tunes’        Listed in Graham Duff's Totally Wired (surf 107.2) Top 25 Singles of 2000        (Zeitgeist e-zine)  'Booker T meets Vanessa Paradis, they're getting it on in some dingy back alley, and then Ice T pops in for some manly lovin'...  And this is what they're listening to.  But then they flip it over and the mad sounds of Hawkwind and Jacques Bre doing a Captain Beefheart boogie scares them off.  Where's me lithium?  Mummy, I'm scared, but in rather a pleasant way.  Ah, the flashbacks.  Help.  Buy.  Now.'

Moths played on the air: Totally Wired with Graham Duff (Brighton's Surf 107.2fm);  Xfm Dublin with Dudley Colley;  Garden of Earthly Delights with Shane Quentin (CRMK 89.8fm);  Radio C 95.1 in France with Emmanuel Stranadica;  Belgrade Yard Sound System (B92) with Goran Simonoski, also broadcasting in Zagreb (Croatia), Ljubjana (Slovenia) and Zrenjanin (Serbia);  Another World with Yurij Kirillowski in Ukraine;  and probably more but who knows..?

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