Browse by Artist: HEARTTHROB

Artist:	HEARTTHROB
Title:	Time for Ensor
Label:	MINUS (CANADA)
Format:	12"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	MINUS 031EP

"Debut single from the elastic sounds of Brooklyn's Heartthrob. One thing is certain with the wide-eared palette in the hand of Heartthrob, aka Jesse Siminski -- melody and swing are in harmony. Time for Ensor is a debut single full of playful bass lines and pop motifs decorated by animated electronic symbolism. Heartthrob's sound contains the balance of respect for dance music's past while embracing focus, freedom and fun via today's soft/hardware possibilities and potential. Dancing the line between sparse and complex, Heartthrob's subtle hooks on 'Golum' and off-world echoes in the title cut. 'Time for Ensor,' are more in the moment than moody or grabbing nostalgia. (T)his fresh outlook is a preview to much more sonic art from Jesse Siminski in the future."

Artist:	HEARTTHROB
Title:	Baby Kate Remixes
Label:	MINUS (CANADA)
Format:	12"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	MINUS 048EP

Heartthrob's "Baby Kate" with remixes by Magda, Konrad Black, Sascha Funke and Plastikman. This EP kicks off with Magda's beautifully-crafted, percussive dub, complete with a morphing, distorted motif, bouncing acid bass and subtle use of space. Then there's Konrad Black's energetic signal to rave, with its gated hookline, phat electro bass and nu-school flavor. Sascha Funke presents a blissed-out bassline, skanking hi-hat patterns and hypnotic melody, and finally the EP concludes with Plastikman's dive into the track's murkiest depths. It's an 8-minute subsonic adventure that leaves you lost.

Artist:	HEARTTHROB
Title:	Setting Up
Label:	MINUS (CANADA)
Format:	12"
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	MINUS 093EP

Jesse Siminski's (aka Heartthrob) Setting Up is poised to have crowds swooning over his sound once again, desperate for his aural attention while sweating the night away in a perpetual state of techno bliss. The title track teases the listener with a well-crafted hypnotic strut, "Your Body" uses vocals as a featured instrument in the flirtatious overall palette, "Dancing" is a straight forward stomper, and "In My Room" is utterly filthy dance music with a devilish glint in its eye.

Artist:	HEARTTHROB
Title:	Dear Painter, Paint Me
Label:	MINUS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	MINUS 063CD

This is the debut full-length release from Berlin-based Heartthrob aka Jesse Siminski. With Dear Painter, Paint Me, Siminski has assembled a remarkable collection of emotionally-charged, provocative, humorous, self-reflective techno tracks that continue the upward trajectory that started with the ubiquitous Baby Kate 12" and his genre-busting collaboration with Gaiser. As the title suggests (borrowed from a series of paintings by Martin Kippenberger), Heartthrob is a musician who wears his heart on his sleeve, and a maverick musician even within the M_nus ranks, focusing intently on the melodic, harmonic and tonal aspects of his music while openly railing against the "redundant percussive techno stuff" that currently clogs dancefloors. But that's not to say he lets up on the beats for a second, in fact, his tracks are equally characterized by a deep understanding of the formal and conceptual ideas that define and shape the M_nus sound. Add to that the mischievous time signatures, a penchant for the dramatic and an underlying sense of the absurd, and you have all the ingredients for a hi-octane rollercoaster ride. Following the continuous play CD format, the opening track "Future's Past" sets the emotional and structural tone for the next 50 minutes. Coming on like a funked-up John Carpenter movie theme, it's cinematic, big room techno at its best. Epic in proportions, "Confession" is one of the major achievements of the record and continues the expansive theme. Timeless techno strings drift in to dominate the first half of the track, while the lush soundscapes, hypnotic melodies and edgy peripheral efx combine to create a structurally complex, symmetrical arrangement. "Signs" (which has figured heavily in Richie Hawtin's sets) features a funky bass line, loose hi-hat groove and sci-fi vocal efx that soon make way for an urgent, cavorting melody. In a similar fashion, "Out Of Here" employs a crazy swing-beat groove in tandem with a fragile, otherworldly main motif. "Blind Item" is another linear groove that relies on an endlessly morphing, hypnotic hookline. "Interference" is a breathtaking example of edgy, paranoia-inducing techno. "Slow Dance" has a beautifully ugly main theme, pumping bass line and call-and-response percussion fills. "Heading For A Heartbreak" with its quirky, acid overtones has the feel of a 1960s sci-fi pilot theme that was just too far out to make into a series. It's a warm, satisfying end to an album that not only hints at so much more to come from this increasingly influential producer but will be one of the highlights of the summer and beyond.

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