Browse by Artist: SWAYZAK

Artist:	SWAYZAK
Title:	Groove Technology
Label:	STUD!O K7 (GERMANY)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$17.50
Catalog #:	K7 122CD

"Swayzak's music strikes an elegant balance; a precise attention to both the minute details as well as the overall picture has run through all their recordings to date. Their craft, evident on 1998's Snowboarding In Argentina and 2000's Himawari is the art of uniting apparent contradictions in a deep and endless cosmos of sound. Demanding due attention, Swayzak's musical language is coded; a sonic cipher that refuses to give away its secrets too easily. What they do is create a sound that owes much to deep house, minimal techno, and electro, but is ultimately far closer to the crackling fantasies of dub. Swayzak may require a bit more attention than your average house-by-numbers stomper, but the rewards are well worth the effort. James and David have crafted a hand-picked selection of tunes from like-minded artists such as Mike Ink, Studio 1, Basic Channel, Herbert and Luomo into an absolutely breathtaking mix ." Includes tracks from: Phillipe Cam, Pile, Akufen, Styro 2000, Headgear, Ellen Allien, Basic Channel, Delay 05, Closer Music, Ricardo Villalobos, Luomo, Cim, Herbert, Colin Newman & Corrado Izzo, Stephan Laubner, Convextion, Monolake, Studio 1, Bergheim, Michael Mayer, Bitstream, Kotai/Bader, Son.sine, Round Four.

Artist:	SWAYZAK
Title:	Dirty Dancing
Label:	STUD!O K7 (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	K7 128CD

"Swayzak are more than just musicians. Drawing inspiration from years of listening to everything from pop to dub reggae, and playing with tape loops, samplers, delay pedals and synthesizers, James Taylor and David Brown have had a distinct creative vision from the beginning. Though their sound confounds critics searching for that catch-all category, Swayzak have brought a consistency to their releases which has carried over to the striking graphics adorning their album covers. Just as Swayzak's keen sense of perspective and color informs their signature imagery, their Dub -wise production techniques and pop sensibility help to breathe deep house soul into the icy skeleton of minimal Techno?s sparse rhythms. And now comes a third studio album, another superb collection of songs that continue Swayzak's journey to the center of the groove. With the help of collaborators like Carl Finlow AKA Silicon Scally, Clair Dietrich, Adult., and Headgear, Swayzak have crafted some of the deepest, most melodic, electro-infused dance music ever. Dirty Dancing fuses everything from echoing dub, vocal house, minimal techno, and angular electro into a beautifully composed set of futurist pop. Sparse yet warm, propulsive yet soothing, Swayzak are more than just a couple guys with a studio kit."

Artist:	SWAYZAK
Title:	Make Up Your Mind
Label:	STUD!O K7 (GERMANY)
Format:	12"
Price:	$8.00
Catalog #:	K7 128EP

"British electro duo Swayzak`s first single is apt to give you a lasting taste of what the album (due this fall, on !K7) is all about: An exceptional round trip through their universe of beeps, bubbles and straight drums. More than a teaser, 'Make Up Your Mind' is an astonishing and very unique little hit single for connoisseurs, polished by Clair Dietrich's distant vocals overflowing with soul. Just don't label them 'Eighties', Swayzak are beyond any revival notion; 'Make Up Your Mind' is every note-bit tomorrow with a sound that means innovation when it says future. Vivid, beautiful, romantic, clairvoyant and subtle pop music for this century."

Artist:	SWAYZAK
Title:	I Dance Alone
Label:	STUD!O K7 (GERMANY)
Format:	12"
Price:	$8.00
Catalog #:	K7 134EP

"Standing in stark contrast to the ethereal melodics of their first single off of Dirty Dancing, Swayzak's latest is all rumbling synths and icily detached vocals. Featuring vocal turns from electro pioneers Carl Finlow (Voice Stealer, Random Factor, Silicon Scally) and Nicota from Adult, 'I Dance Alone' straddles the space between the synth-heavy sound of the burgeoning electro scene and the propulsive rhythms of techno. Building on the foundation of Swayzak's original mix, Carl Finlow's Silicon Scally Mix is seven minutes of proper techno a la Underground Resistance and Drexciya. Darkfamer's mix takes the track down a notch without compromising its instant dance floor appeal. Taking 'I Dance Alone' into pure robo-disco heaven, Connecticut Ron's mix will have fans of Georgio Moroder in a frenzy thanks to some deft turns behind the boards."

Artist:	SWAYZAK
Title:	In The Car Crash
Label:	STUD!O K7 (GERMANY)
Format:	12"
Price:	$6.50
Catalog #:	K7 143EP

"The A-side starts with the shaken-but-not-stirred album mix of 'In The Car Crash', a brilliant slice of dub techno from Roger 23. The Canadian producer duo Headgear, who co-produced the original track, provided their epic re-interpretation for the B-side. Over ten minutes, they slowly but surely mutate 'In The Car Crash' into a monumental vocoder pop tune. Finally, Hamburg DJ and producer Carsten Jost, a new recruit into the universe of the Swayzak's best friends, drops an eight-minute instrumental remix sure to be a hit with fans of his output on Sender Records, Klang Elektronik, Dial Records, Ladomat."

Artist:	SWAYZAK
Title:	Loops From the Bergerie
Label:	STUD!O K7 (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	K7 166CD

"David 'Brun' Brown and James Taylor, as the British duo Swayzak, created the definition of minimal dub-techno with a penchant for vocals. What began with 'Snowboarding in Argentina', developed further with 'Himawari' and reached a climax with 'Dirty Dancing' now receives the fourth much-expected title, 'Loops from The Bergerie'. This marks the first time that Swayzak have taken the step of bringing live vocals to the stage and underlines even more the importance of vocals in their songs. Loops From the Bergerie points the way forward for Swayzak. What may look like a retro step backwards technically proves to be a musical step forward. This sign of maturity, with a deep-rooted sound, raises the Brits from laptop heroes to real producers. Swayzak has finally come of age."

Artist:	SWAYZAK
Title:	Another Way
Label:	STUD!O K7 (GERMANY)
Format:	12"
Price:	$8.00
Catalog #:	K7 169EP

"Second single from Swayzak's fourth album, Loops From The Bergerie, pumps forward and rocks effortlessly. The flanger-swathed synthesizer textures give our ears wings and send us spiraling inward until we're suddenly ripped out of the trance by this voice. Soft and clear, the voice takes us by the hand and leads us into a melancholic state radiating pure beauty. Techno and vocals, melancholy and dance floor suitability -- only very few can fuse all these elements together successfully. Swayzak once again surpasses narrow-mindedness with a resounding and captivating tune, which brings together everything that makes them different to all the others."

Artist:	SWAYZAK
Title:	Speak Easy
Label:	STUD!O K7 (GERMANY)
Format:	12"
Price:	$8.00
Catalog #:	K7 174EP

"It's time for the third extraction from Swayzak's Loops from the Bergerie, the current album from the British ambassadors of Vocal-Dub-Techno. With 'Speak Easy,' David 'Brun' Brown, James Taylor and Kenny Paterson rock back onto the dance floor. The remix is produced by Christian Harder (producer of Mediengruppe Telekommander). He frees 'Speak Easy' from the shuffle beat and replaces the mist with a clarity that, while adding a little bit of pop, is also reminiscent of the characteristic sound of the old Swayzak days."

Artist:	SWAYZAK
Title:	Route de la Slack: Remix EP
Label:	STUD!O K7 (GERMANY)
Format:	12"
Price:	$9.00
Catalog #:	K7 193EP

Three classic older Swayzak remixes, as excerpted from their Route De la Slack CD. "A1: Dale Lawrence from Detroit is the man behind 'Devil of Rotation' by Theorem. In 2002, Swayzak and Dale released the 12" Swayzak vs. Theorem 20100 on Swayzak Recordings. Here is the much sought-after remix. A2: Bergheim 34. Swayzak's remix version of 'Random Access Memory' which was released on Klang Elektronik. Swayzak kept Bergheim 34's live drum sounds and highlighted Anne Vortisch's sweet voice with a straight forward mixture of dub and punk. B1: For his track 'Tic Toc,' Will Saul called on !K7's Ursula Rucker, and in doing so, he inspired Swayzak to do a remix. The minimalist, futuristic Swayzak version was released on Saul's break-beat label Simple Records in 2005."

Artist:	SWAYZAK
Title:	Route de la Slack: Remixes & Rarities
Label:	STUD!O K7 (GERMANY)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	K7 195CD

"A collection of remixes and previously unreleased tracks entitled Remixes & Rarities to celebrate the group's tremendous recording history. The first disc contains 12 of Swayzak's best remixes, featuring reworkings of songs by Senor Coconut, Theorem, Will Saul and many more. Swayzak's remixes are as distinctive as the original works; their dark interpretation of Slam's 'Human' has a completely different style than the vocal techno remix of Tahiti 80's 'Changes.' Swayzak is known for taking a well known song like 'Random Access Memory' by Bergheim 34 or 'Smoke On The Water' by Senor Coconut and reinventing the track, transfixing critics and dancefloors alike. The second CD concentrates on Swayzak's past. It includes previously unreleased rarities from 1994 to 2005."

Artist:	SWAYZAK
Title:	Snowboarding In Argentina
Label:	SWAYZAK (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	SWZ 001CD

Originally released in 1998, here is the edited and remastered version of Swayzak's Snowboarding In Argentina, compiled from two versions that were originally released in the UK (Pagan) and USA (Medicine Label). A culmination of the early Swayzak years, Snowboarding In Argentina is finally re-issued as it should be. Ten years on, it is deemed a classic by many for its deep and melancholic house tendencies -- it is also inspired by a darker Detroit/Berlin techno edge, with a hint of dub reggae and ambient padisms thrown in! Snowboarding In Argentina came out of the melting pot which was 1990s London. The Swayzak roots began in 1994, but did not start their true journey until the release of Bueno/Fukumachi EP in 1997, earning the fanhood of Laurent Garnier. In his sophisticated French tones he said, "beautiful and moody." The duo were ecstatic when a distributor chased them down the street wanting copies, and the top London techno store sold out of copies in days. Recorded in various bedrooms around London, the tracks were made over weekends -- while others partied, they stayed in, drank beer & tea, smoked pot and experimented with their sound. When time would allow, they would stick their heads in a Jah Observer Soundsystem to get some vibes. They used a 2MB Akai Sampler, Atari Computer, a cheap drum machine and a couple of analog synths. The creation of this LP was a truly minimal experiment and each mix was hand-crafted, culminating in hours of DAT recordings to sift through. Some of the tracks lasted 30 minutes (nowadays deemed genius) but then, to quote a journalist -- "who has the time to listen to this?" -- many were edited down manually. A release that was truly ahead of its time.

Artist:	SWAYZAK
Title:	So Cheap
Label:	SWAYZAK (UK)
Format:	12"
Price:	$10.00
Catalog #:	SWZ 013EP

"The winter seemed longer that year. The hard ground remained barren with no concession to the new life below. There was little color in our days, monochrome and fluid we felt as if we had slowed the clock in some wakeful hibernation state. How could we live again? What magic catalyst would reaffirm our existence? We dreamed of comets, fireflies and volcanoes. But neither fire nor fury was to be found. The only solution must come from within: creation. The machines were cleaned, oiled and primed. We began our task with some glee, willing ourselves to make the colored light. We longed to bask, vitamin D deficiency, a pallid opacity in our faces. 'So Cheap.' Started life in southern France on a vintage PC. Went to London for a new suit and haircut. Became a live / CDR favorite. Pure Swayzak classic, moody synths, skipping beats and 'Reverb by the Rub of Love' -- danger in the building. Prehistoric techno slapper. Nil by mouth. 'Schlaffen' -- cash converters revenge. Get up early -- no sleepers."

Artist:	SWAYZAK
Title:	Smile And Receive
Label:	SWAYZAK (UK)
Format:	12"
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	SWZ 014EP

Swayzak present 3 tracks from 2007's Some Other Country album. "Smile And Receive" was remixed by Roger 23, featuring Cassy on vocals -- a super-sub Chicago house track and pure analog/wonky heaven. "Claktronic" uses live percussion, flutes, and a child's voice for a very trippy vibe that will be looping in your brain all day. "Distress And Calling" is a blissful, Philip Glass-inspired sub-bass growler, with arpeggiated vocals, deep bass and tight snare drum. The bigger the system, the better this one sounds.

Artist:	SWAYZAK
Title:	Bueno/Fukumachi
Label:	SWAYZAK (UK)
Format:	12"
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	SWZ 015EP

Originally released in 1998, Swayzak's classic Snowboarding In Argentina is finally re-issued as a series of 3 12"s. Ten years on, it is still revered for its deep house tendencies, its Detroit/Berlin techno edge, and for its dub and ambient padisms. The first of the original 3 12"s that would comprise Snowboarding In Argentina was 1997's Bueno/Fukumachi EP. Each mix was hand-crafted, culminating in hours of DAT recordings to sift through, and many were edited down manually. This material is now re-edited, remastered, and reissued on blue vinyl.

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