Ilian Tape Germany

Review: High pressure manoeuvres from Ilian Tapes on this mysterious and highly limited one-off run. 'Pulse' is a Samurai style slab of hybrid dub techno that's layered in grains and textures whole 'Procedure' flips the UK garage two-step vibe into a distorted, crunchy and physical groove that's not dissimilar to Tim Wright's early work on Mute. Once again, a very special release from Ilian... Blink and you'll miss it.

Review: Ilian Tape staple Andrea returns to the imprint, marking a big one for the Munich-based operation with a massive album by Skee Mask also this week. As always, UK and rave influences are abundant throughout the talented producer's work and this one is no exception. This EP is called Sktch and features the cavernous, glacial and downright knackered dub techno of 'Sarec', followed by the sinister subterranean breaks of Auxl and the meditative deep dubstep frequencies of 'Kjones' which sees him delve deeper into off kilter territory.

Review: Over the last few years, Dario and Marco Zenker's excellent Ilian Tape has given us some of the purest and most bold-faced techno around. The label has built up a solid reputation as being all about the music, minus the hype, and Italy's Andrea has been there at the forefront of their growth. The Turin-based producer returns to the moody imprint with his third EP for the label, led by the thumping, hypnotic swings of "Outlines" - containing possibly the best kick drums we've heard since Head High - and the break-ridden journey that is "Rainbow", on the A-side. The flip sees "Machine" enter a no nonsense mode, where a fast percussive groove locks tightly within a sea of intergalactic pads, and dubby, broken pastures on "Choral". All in all, this is a fine selection of wild, dare-to-be-different dancefloor tracks that span many styles and influences. Tip!

Review: Heavy Bounce Swiss Precision.

Review: In 2012, the Zenker brothers introduced a new series on their Ilian Tape imprint: The Bias Tapes. We are now into the third edition come 2018 and it's a great one, we must say. Like the name may suggest, The Munich Edition features some heroes of the local scene such as Kareem El Morr: who delivers the dark side electro bass of "Eros 404", likewise label boss Dario Z. (ft. Maurice P.) goes down the same toute on "CEJ". Elsewhere, dubby and cyclical warehouse techno in the vein of G-Man can be heard on Konrad Wehrmeister's "CWS" and usual suspects Marco & Stenny hammer the message home in typically bold fashion with the emotive "Imcon".

Review: RECOMMENDED
Glaxian opts to go deep with this one, donning the moniker Kas to present a 12 track collection of work best described as haunting. The sense of foreboding, ominous possibilities, space, and stepping into the unknown is tangible throughout, with the producer painting complex pictures of machine-driven futures in which only the odd rays of light make it to ground level.

Not so much dancefloor, but not unfamiliar with the idea of a dancefloor, tunes are split between eerie drone work ('Self Aware Field (Part 2)'), breakneck broken rave ('Holographic Matrix of Informational Totality'), and ethereal science fiction wonders ('Last Silence' sounds like we're listening to first contact from off-world). 'Mystery Beyond Mystery' providing perhaps the best example of when all those totems are brought together - something very special indeed.

Review: Exploratory Smoldering Rubble Dub.

Review: Since he started producing music, Berlin-based American sound artist Jake Muir has been obsessed with sampling. His 2018 album "Lady's Mantle" was based on manipulated chunks of vintage Californian surf rock, and its follow-up, 2020's midnight symphony "The Hum Of Your Veiled Voice" was sourced from a wide variety of old records, and inspired by the work of experimental turntablists like Marina Rosenfeld, Janek Schaefer and Philip Jeck. On "Mana", Muir looks back to a misunderstood musical movement. Around 1995, a group of New York producers and DJs - including DJ Olive, DJ Spooky and Spectre - pioneered a genre-dissolving sound by unifying hip-hop techniques with ideas pulled from dub, jungle, ambient music and industrial noise. Badged "illbient", it was a short-lived genre that felt like a high-minded psychedelic cousin of the UK's trip-hop. Muir uses illbient as the springboard for "Mana", utilizing a selection of samples to inform his frothy drones and foreboding atmospheres. He ushers the material into 2021 by diverting it through his own contemporary worldview, attempting to recreate the hyperreal fantasy histories of Japanese RPGs (think "Dark Souls" and "Final Fantasy") and nod to sensual, tactile soundscapes of European industrial labels Staalplaat and Soleilmoon. The result is a magickal, sensory journey that's as physical as it is representational.

Review: Skee Mask, who only recently was found out to be called Bryan Muller, comes through with his second LP to date, making a wonderful follow-up to 2016's Shred. Compro is, ironically, comprised of a much more explorative palette of sounds, with many corners of the album veering off into otherworldly ambient, often through a striking new-age sensibility. The most impressive element of this album is its flow and evolution across its 12 tracks, sounding a lot more like one single-minded thought rather than a collection of disparate dance-not-dance tunes. The quality of the recording is noticeable, too, with tracks like "Rev8617" or "Via Sub Mids" sounding professional, both in vision and style. Through an intricate collage of breaks, samples, polyphonies, and subtle electronic manipulations, Skee Mask has truly mastered his own art, and is giving a new direction to the wider 'UK rave' sound. BIG.

Review: Munich based producer Bryan Mueller aka Skee Mask presents his latest album titled Pool, via local imprint Ilian Tape which follows up his LP Compro which came out three years ago. There's an extensive collection of sonic experiments on offer on this one, such as opening cut 'Nvivo' which goes down an IDM route, to the glassy eyed rave euphoria of 'LFO', the intelligent drum and bass reductions of 'Rio Dub' and UK influenced steppers like 'Crossection'.

Review: Ilian Tape fam: Stenny returns with some long-awaited fractured schematics. Last spotted on the previous V/A EPs, this is his first solo EP for over 18 months and he's making up for lost time... Opener "Stress Test" hits like a cross between Youngstar and Tim Wright circa 2001 while "ElasTCT" takes a much bumpier technoid approach in a way you could imagine Craig Richards playing at 5am. "Adequate Force" racks up the electro shock therapy with a blistering breakbeat whipslap which DJ Stingray would happily play, before closer "Fail Better (Bent Mix)" takes things back to the jungle foundations. All molten breaks and glacial pads. Keep it rolling.

Review: Enduring UK techno legend Surgeon links up with one of the modern scene's most vital labels in Munich's Ilian Tape. His fierce four track spreads mind melting synth work and industrial tinged percussion of a range of BPMs, with 'Place Of Angels' being the most raved up and intense. 'Europa Code' is a much slower and more mindful tune with a snaking rhythm and mysterious leads and 'Crater 101' is the blistering peak time banger any techno set needs. 'Winged Assassin' is our favourite, though, with its nagging synth loops and clattering percussion being a perfect mix of tension and release.

Review: The rise of Ilian Tape has been piloted by Dario and Marco Zenker with a steady assurance, so it makes perfect sense for the brothers to helm the first long player project from the Munich label. Immersion is a vibrant, atmospheric stroll through their various influences and inspirations with plenty to admire amongst the ten tracks. There is the bustling, leftfield breakbeat techno of "TSV WB" and pounding "High Club" (a no-nonsense dancefloor assault blessed with occasional eyes-closed chords), as well as sublime tech-jazz of "Cornel 21" and pitched-down junglisms of "Innef Runs". Interestingly, there are also a number of crusty, distorted ambient interludes, with "Erbquake" sounding particularly potent.

Review: There's an undeniably far-out feel to the Zenker Brothers' second album, Cosmic Transmission, which adds further layers of trippy textures, hallucinatory sounds and smoky intensity to the aural blueprint first explored on their 2015 debut full-length Immersion. There's much to admire throughout, from the mind-bending ambient weirdness of opener 'When Nothing is Safe', and the slipped dub haze of 'Whose In Control', to the drug-addled IDM of 'Natural Connection', and the polyrhythmic techno trip of 'Divided Society'. Most striking of all is the trio of tracks that close the album, all of which are powered forwards not by heavy techno beats (or even their usual crunchy, off-kilter breakbeats) but rather a series of ear-catching, fuzz-soaked synthesizer arpeggio lines.

Review: In recent times the Zenker Brothers seem to have spent more time running their inspired Ilian Tape imprint than they have producing music. While we'd hardly criticize their choices - Ilian Tape goes from strength to strength - it's certainly good to have them back. The Munich-based siblings begin their first outing of 2020 with the melodious, far-sighted electro shuffle of "Shaketown", before wrapping mangled, mind-altering electronic riffs around a crunchy techno groove of "Chi Boost". "Bengel Mode" sees the siblings successfully combine alien-sounding riffs with a denser techno rhythm track, while closing cut "Outside" is a sparkling trip into hypnotic, slow-release ambient techno territory with nary a kick-drum in sight.

Review: The Zenker Brothers and their Ilian Tape venture get stronger by the minute, and here Marco flies solo with this latest EP, sounding in utterly rude health with it. "Geezin" is a distinctive opener, ditching standard 4/4 propulsion in favour of an airy drum machine arrangement infected with the slightest flurries of hardcore breaks and offset by wistful synth patterns. It's a curious combination that works magnificently, but for those wanting something a little more direct "Splifer" is on hand to deliver a more classically Zenker techno mantra. "Darai" brings the swing back in fine style, throwing down a chunky stomp to match the sizzling hats, and then "Lubiana" wrecks the surroundings with its magnificent pummel of low end percussion and gritty production values.