Public Possession Germany Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Munich's Public Possession maintain the heat of their first two releases from Tambien and Matthew Brown, turning to another lesser known talent in Bell Towers for the excellent Lightrail 12". Those vinyl buyers out there with photographic memories will recognize the name Bell Towers from releases on Internasjonal and Hole In The Sky and the young Melbournite comes through with his most epic work to date for Public Possession. In original form "Lightrail" takes the shape of a strident house cut that builds with a sense of glistening euphoria over some eleven minutes; it's complemented by a wholly more rugged remix from Protect U that at times feels like an EBM cover version of Yello's "Oh Yeah". Killer cover art from Perks and Mini's Misha Hollenbach too!

Review: Munich record store turned label Public Possession return with a fourth 12" offering and a second release from Australian producer Bell Towers. If you were lucky enough to grip Lightrail, Rohan Bruce Bell-Towers PP debut of last year, you'll no doubt have been impressed by the progression in sound and ideas from his earlier material for Internasjonal and Hole In The Sky. Listening to the five tracks that make up Territory, the now London-based producer's new EP, it's clear the Bell Towers sound has matured even more. There's thick analogue techno, classic Chicago house and Italo disco influences at play here, but it's all finished off with those little production nuances that set Bell Towers apart. The mind bending slow burner "Jungle Of My Mind" is a stand out track.

Review: Bell Towers has become Public Possession's go-to man, releasing a trio of singles on the Munich imprint throughout 2014. The Hyper-Realised EP continues this productive partnership, delivering two more slices of kaleidoscopic, melodious house to heighten the senses. "Hyper-Realised Self" sets the tone, delivering the kind of enveloping, melodious, cheery deep house jam that sounds like Pender Street Steppers after fistfuls of prescription anti-depressants. "Jumpin' Off Into The Sea Of Your Love" is similarly happy, with the Aussie producer layering chiming melodies over dreamy chords and a tactile groove and sensual synth-bass. Both tracks are wonderfully chipper, and sound tailor-made for sun-soaked outdoor parties.

Review: Melbournian DJ/producer Bell Towers is one of Public Possession's most prolific artists. This 12" is his seventh for the Munich-based stable in just under four years. It's something of a celebratory, peak-time affair, with A-side "All Aboard" offering a near perfect balance of flanged, ear-catching disco guitars, elastic live bass, DJ-friendly special effects, and a house sensibility. "Night Train To Nowhere" is a more druggy and trippy affair, with Bell Towers channeling the spirit of kraut greats Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream on a cut that sits somewhere between Italo-disco, kosmiche, and quirky, left-of-centre house. In other words, it's another rock solid EP.

Review: Hailing from Australia but based in East London, Rohan Bell-Towers has become one of the artists most readily-associated with Marvin and Valentino's Public Possession label. I'm Coming Up is the seventh PP release bearing the Bell-Towers name and the title cut sees him whipping up some forthright club tackle. There are plenty of sliced up soul-enriching samples licking about the jam, but the focus is on straight up house rhythms that scream out for peak time play. There's a more esoteric lilt at work on B-side cut "I'm Always Down For You", which slows things down a touch and works in some choice vocal choppery and a bassline to die for and is complemented by a remix from rising talent Kris Baha.

Review: This one is for those that snooze out there. Public Possession address the clamour for a re-edition of the excellent Buro Hahn Edits 12" from London-based Australian producer Bell-Towers. Originally released back in 2014 as part of the Munich label's ongoing Under The Influence series, this 12" offered Rohan Bell-Towers the chance to show off some of his weapons-grade dancefloor edits which demonstrated the producer's distinct sense of fun bleeds through everything he touches. Lead cut "My Love" sees Bell-Towers tweak out a mid-'80s synth pop curio from the West Country, whilst the grumbling "Bump This" sounds like it was plundered from a similar era. "Deep Forest" is on some new age breakbeat house tip, whilst "Love Theme" slows it right down for an end of night contender. If you slept in 2014 when this originally dropped, don't make that same mistake again!

Review: Back in 2014 Bell Towers cemented his growing bromance with the Public Possession crew by delivering a fine collection of quirky reworks entitled Buro-Hahn Edits. In the four years since, the Australian exile has become one of the label's most prolific artists. Here he finally delivers a follow-up, expertly rearranging more obscure, left-of-centre gems. Typically, opener "Call Me (Please)" is a dreamy chunk of chugging, Italo-inspired '80s synth-pop, while "No, I'm Not An Easy Girl" is a slightly delay-laden chunk of jaunty Balearic-minded electrofunk whose chorus and saucer-eyed chords will stick in your cranium. Turn to the flip for a dash of sparse drum machine magic ("Sexy, Sexy, Sexy, Sex"), a sax-laden, poodle perm sporting Italo sleaze-job ("You Got Me Running"), and some jangling, soft focus Balearica ("The Cat").

Review: Melbournian eccentric Bell Towers is back on Public Possession for the first time in 2018, carrying with him all the tools to turn your common-or-garden flat-pack bookcase into a portal to another dimension. In its EP opening "Dance Mix" form, "IKEA Hack" pits a druggy, chugging analogue machine groove against chiming melody lines, glossy synth-pop chords and twinkling piano lines that inspire the same kind of euphoria that most feel after leaving a branch of the well-known Swedish furniture chain. It's accompanied on the A-side by the rather delicious, slow motion Chill Out Mix, while side B is taken up by a long, lo-fi, eccentric and crackling Baba Stiltz remix that helpfully features vocal samples explaining how to turn some off-the-shelf consumer product into something entirely different.

Review: Bell Towers' solo dancecraft has always had a knowing sense of transcendence to it, one that refuses merely to fan-serve 'floors, and which rather prefers to challenge the listener ever so subtly, all while still keeping the sound thoroughly pleasurable. After a six-year hiatus on the front of disco edits, Towers (not his real name, FYI) returns with a third addition to the Buro Hahn, his patented series for just that endeavour, resident on the Munich label Public Possession. Though we don't know their origins, 'Can U Feel It' and 'On The Spectrum' bring an expertly sheeny, filter-happy suggestiveness to each original, the latter of which is an especially sultry verging on lecherous song. 'Lucky' is comparatively but happily cheugy, conferring something of the vibe of an obscure Japanese sitcom's title sequence, while 'Shower Scene (Extra Steam)' rounds things off on a note of bemusement with an excellent 90s-style vocaloid house number. The last track especially is a need-to-know sample source, internet searches of which still nonetheless come up empty. Could it be you who finds it?

Review: Bell Towers is ready to party and you will be too once you've be chaired by this new EP on Public Possession. The titular cut 'Party Boy' opens up with some colourful disco energy and a vocoder vocal that has a charming retro-future fee. After the instrumental comes the thrilling and high-speed loops of 'DJ, Music, Money' which are pure carnage and then things take a more downtempo direction with the deep, spaced-out sounds and lush twinkling synth patterns of closer 'Party Void'. Lots of ground is covered in this EP, all of it superb.

Review: The latest installment of Public Possession's Under The Influence series is an all-star affair, featuring off-radar re-edits of various obscure, left-of-centre dancefloor gems. Perhaps the most talked-about track comes from Samo DJ's, who's deliciously wide-eyed "Flyer Edit" breathes new life into a cheesy AOR tearjerker, turning it into a Balearic gem. There are a couple of excellent Italo-related reworks - Bell Towers' deep, evocative "I'm Obsessed With You", and Hey Convict man Tamas Jones' rousing version of Italo classic "The Heat of the Moment" - but its Tambien who steal the show. "Deep Hai" is fantastic - a trippy dub disco revision of an obscure Dutch synth-pop gem.