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12"
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RB 117X-EP
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An acid house always leaks! Redshape's visits to Running Back are a welcome recurrence and a soothing reminder that techno and house can still come in several shapes and sizes. Related and referring to earlier acid studies on Release Me and to a certain extend on Rise, the masked man continues to find new approaches to the 303 canon with "Acid Leak". True to form, the seasoned producer choses groove over governance, lets batteries leak and strikes a chord or two with old lovers and new votaries of the classic club techno titans of the '90s -- strings included. "Wing Wing" is an exemplary excursion into the special and unmatched Redshape zone that rejoins rock and dental drillers, while "Acid Flow" counterpoints the titles track's opulence with a dub version -- both hit like a streak. The curveball and icing on the cake is "Frantic". Hi-tech-jazz in technique and -soul in attitude, it feels like a late contender to the quintessential Deepest Shade of Techno compilations. Four to the floor!
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12"
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RB 083EP
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A varied EP with classic Redshape tropes. From slow motion techno poems to clever DJ tools.
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2LP
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MONKEY 091LP
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Double LP version. Gatefold sleeve. One of Berlin's most iconic and recognized underground producers is back with his new album A Sole Game. Following up 2012's Square (RB 005CD/LP), Redshape continues to forge distinctly cinematic and suspenseful dance music, blurring lines of past, present and future. As a true disciple of '90s techno, that era's sounds have always been an essential part of his musical DNA, while avoiding simple re-enactment. As on previous full-lengths, his tracks build dark and eerily romantic narratives of their own. Sebastian Kramer may have kept his Redshape project faceless in the past, but his music has always been driven by a strong personality. "I always tried to do my own interpretation of something I really liked," as Kramer puts it. For The Dance Paradox (DSR 080CD/LP), his 2009 debut, his old love for the Chemical Brothers's organic sound made him incorporate live drums. On Square, he recreated Brian Eno's '70s tape-looping setups. A Sole Game marks a departure from this slightly imitative approach, spawning his most self-aware record to date. The title hints at this process of self-reflection; if this whole business of music-making is nothing more than a game, an album is the only chance for its players to show their skills. In typical Redshape style, the eight tracks of A Sole Game take one on a journey through nighttime worlds and dusky industrial landscapes haunted by howls and other strange voices. It's obvious that one of the most important goals was to craft a seamless whole of an electronic album that works without interludes or what others would consider "album material". Each track is a universe of its own and ready to be played in a club. A limited amount of instruments made it possible for the songs to sound quite homogenous despite being constructed very diversely. Most of the melodic structures stem from a Prophet 12 synth; most of the drums from 808s and 909s, providing a warm and analog sound. This traditionalist techno setup allowed for a fast and immediate workflow while recording the foundations of each track. Later on, Kramer took these recordings and elaborately arranged and processed them, trying to maintain the sometimes naive and pure emotions of the initial recordings and establish an organic feel. By fusing this proper songwriter approach with the codes of techno, Redshape takes a big step forward in his musical evolution.
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CD
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MONKEY 091CD
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One of Berlin's most iconic and recognized underground producers is back with his new album A Sole Game. Following up 2012's Square (RB 005CD/LP), Redshape continues to forge distinctly cinematic and suspenseful dance music, blurring lines of past, present and future. As a true disciple of '90s techno, that era's sounds have always been an essential part of his musical DNA, while avoiding simple re-enactment. As on previous full-lengths, his tracks build dark and eerily romantic narratives of their own. Sebastian Kramer may have kept his Redshape project faceless in the past, but his music has always been driven by a strong personality. "I always tried to do my own interpretation of something I really liked," as Kramer puts it. For The Dance Paradox (DSR 080CD/LP), his 2009 debut, his old love for the Chemical Brothers's organic sound made him incorporate live drums. On Square, he recreated Brian Eno's '70s tape-looping setups. A Sole Game marks a departure from this slightly imitative approach, spawning his most self-aware record to date. The title hints at this process of self-reflection; if this whole business of music-making is nothing more than a game, an album is the only chance for its players to show their skills. In typical Redshape style, the eight tracks of A Sole Game take one on a journey through nighttime worlds and dusky industrial landscapes haunted by howls and other strange voices. It's obvious that one of the most important goals was to craft a seamless whole of an electronic album that works without interludes or what others would consider "album material". Each track is a universe of its own and ready to be played in a club. A limited amount of instruments made it possible for the songs to sound quite homogenous despite being constructed very diversely. Most of the melodic structures stem from a Prophet 12 synth; most of the drums from 808s and 909s, providing a warm and analog sound. This traditionalist techno setup allowed for a fast and immediate workflow while recording the foundations of each track. Later on, Kramer took these recordings and elaborately arranged and processed them, trying to maintain the sometimes naive and pure emotions of the initial recordings and establish an organic feel. By fusing this proper songwriter approach with the codes of techno, Redshape takes a big step forward in his musical evolution.
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12"
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RBLV 001EP
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Redshape: "10 Years Redshape Live is a thank you to the labels I mainly worked with in the past ten years and also to all the people on world's dance floors. Starting on Running Back, the Best Of Live series will contain tracks which were only part of my live set. As I always record my shows, I searched for the moment, in which each of those tracks had their biggest and also earliest impact. I took that recording and rebuild them part by part to make them proper DJ versions. Named after the cities where they were performed."
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12"
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RB 050EP
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Running Back's 50th anniversary comes courtesy of Redshape. After his utilitarian Bonuz Beatz effort earlier this year, the masked man is back on the monolithic techno tip. Graced with a sense of tradition and a modern style of execution, "Leaves" is the sort of warehouse rave signal that exceeds the sole purpose of a tool. Speaking of which, it comes in two different mixes to choose from accompanied by two unclothed versions for the creative DJ mind.
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12"
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RBB 001EP
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Running Back proudly presents: Redshape's Bonuz Beatz Vol. 1. Revisited, reduced and refined beatdown versions of some of the masked man's greatest hitz. Breakbeats, toms and open hi-hats a-plenty with more bounce to the ounce. Not only for DJ use.
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CD
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RB 005CD
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Square is the follow-up to Redshape's album debut The Dance Paradox (DSR 080CD/LP), that is if you don't want to count the double impact 12" Red Pack as an album. And indeed, it is an album in the truest sense of the term. Pamphlets, theories and opinions about the dubious role of "the album" in techno are dime a dozen, i.e. squaring the circle, but the man with the mask makes an effort to prove all of them wrong. Square doesn't care for styles, genres or expectations; it can hold its own. Spread across 12 tracks you are as likely to meet vintage Redshape on tracks like "It's in the Rain" or "The Playground (Square Version)" as you will encounter new facets of him with the Hyperdub-affiliated Space Ape featuring "Until We Burn" and "Moods and Mice" or with a cluster of ambient pieces ("Orange Clouds," "Landing," Departing"). Working its way through all these states and moments on and off the dancefloor, through melancholy and industrial romanticism alike, Square leaves you with the feeling of having experienced an electronic music album with identity that trusts in itself and wants you to trust in it. No matter if your perspective comes from a classic album like Kenny Larkin's Metaphor (R&S, 1995) or is informed by the recent retro futuristic developments in the United Kingdom, if techno means more than a desperately compressed kick drum to you, Redshape with all his idiosyncrasy finds his way into your heart.
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2LP
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RB 005LP
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Gatefold double LP version. Square is the follow-up to Redshape's album debut The Dance Paradox (DSR 080CD/LP), that is if you don't want to count the double impact 12" Red Pack as an album. And indeed, it is an album in the truest sense of the term. Pamphlets, theories and opinions about the dubious role of "the album" in techno are dime a dozen, i.e. squaring the circle, but the man with the mask makes an effort to prove all of them wrong. Square doesn't care for styles, genres or expectations; it can hold its own. Spread across 12 tracks you are as likely to meet vintage Redshape on tracks like "It's in the Rain" or "The Playground (Square Version)" as you will encounter new facets of him with the Hyperdub-affiliated Space Ape featuring "Until We Burn" and "Moods and Mice" or with a cluster of ambient pieces ("Orange Clouds," "Landing," Departing"). Working its way through all these states and moments on and off the dancefloor, through melancholy and industrial romanticism alike, Square leaves you with the feeling of having experienced an electronic music album with identity that trusts in itself and wants you to trust in it. No matter if your perspective comes from a classic album like Kenny Larkin's Metaphor (R&S, 1995) or is informed by the recent retro futuristic developments in the United Kingdom, if techno means more than a desperately compressed kick drum to you, Redshape with all his idiosyncrasy finds his way into your heart.
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12"
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RB 030EP
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The man with the mask shouldn't need an introduction: Redshape's ability to maneuver between true school techno, malicious house, breakbeat bombs and Motor City romanticism is ornamented with his very own mark. For Running Back, he delivers something like a summation of his work. "On Da Floor" is subterranean haunted house with a broken heart, while "Goom" features a take-your-shirt-off Reese-bass-line. If you like it dry, the "Bonus Beatz" of "Goom" will satisfy your needs. Bass drum jungle music.
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12"
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MM 140EP
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After 2007's amazing 2084/Ultra EP on Music Man, Redshape presents another floor-smasher. Both "Robot" and "Neon" are amazing gems in his own original style. Not to be missed.
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12"
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MM 128EP
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After the recent very well received releases by Deetron and Robert Hood, the new Music Man is by the mysterious Redshape. With highly-acclaimed works on Styrax Leaves and Delsin, he is one of the producers of the moment to keep a firm eye on in the future. "2084" is a superb atmospheric track with a trance-y feel to listen to, eyes closed. "Ultra" is a slow stomper with a brilliant analog old school flavor. An exquisite release, no more, no less!
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