|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2x12"
|
|
MACROM 069LP
|
KUF create emotion-laden dialogues across layers of time and dimensions of sound. With three albums the Berlin trio pioneered an astonishing inversion of the typical electronic band set up, by pairing a plethora of disembodied, sampled voices with acoustic real-time interaction on bass, drums, and keys. Yield, their fourth album, presents a shift in focus. Less weight on the vocal core -- lots of new integrations of sampling, synthesis and band action in different constellations. This diversification of sources pulls the conceptual stops out and yields a dazzling array of magical instrumentalism. Bold. Catchy. Flourishing. From Gold (MACROM 048CD/LP, 2016) to Universe (MACROM 055CD/LP, 2018), KUF solidified an irresistible marriage of android vocal cords and highly energetic beats. Their third album Re:Re:Re (MACROM 060CD/LP, 2020) applied the concept to remix/cover version hybrids of classics from Macro's stellar back catalog, tackling originals by the likes of rRoxymore, KiNK, Patrick Cowley, Santiago Salazar, and Stefan Goldmann. With proof that the concept could be applied with supremely gratifying results to such diverse contexts, time was ripe to go back to the drawing board and reimagine the perimeter. Now Yield breathes the freedom of playful reassembly of the main ingredients. A sampler's cut-up capabilities triggered by frisky fingers. Persistent bass. Adamant drums. Rough soul, intertwined by improvised outbursts and shaped with the aesthetics of raw MPC-based chunky techno. Twelve slices of hyper-integrated real-time magic.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2x12"
|
|
MACROM 060LP
|
2x12" version. Electronic/acoustic wonder band KUF deliver a special surprise for their third album: eleven sizzling hot takes on tracks drawn from the Macro Recordings' stellar catalog, as originally crafted by some of today's most respected artists in electronic music. KiNK, Patrick Cowley, Peter Kruder (of K&D), Stefan Goldmann, rRoxymore, and more get the treatment. With a nod to the label's previous highly original compilations and mixes from the Macrospective and Vinylism series, Re:Re:Re captures more new ground. KUF's previous albums presented an astonishing inversion of the typical extended electronic set up, in that they paired a plethora of disembodied, sampled voices with acoustic real time interaction on bass, drums and keys. Re:Re:Re shifts the focus of sampling altogether to scanning entire tracks and compositions which are then reimagined with the band's singular approach. Neither just remixes, nor faithful reproductions, KUF engage in careful sound archaeology. From re-programming key sounds to holistic granular deconstructions, the original's sound palettes are reproduced to serve as a springboard towards entirely new instalments. The resulting tracks range from intimate ballads to full power dance floor movers, spanning a highly engaging arc of sheer listening pleasure. Also features Santiago Salazar, Raudive, Jorge Socarras, and Anno Stamm.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
MACROM 060CD
|
Electronic/acoustic wonder band KUF deliver a special surprise for their third album: eleven sizzling hot takes on tracks drawn from the Macro Recordings' stellar catalog, as originally crafted by some of today's most respected artists in electronic music. KiNK, Patrick Cowley, Peter Kruder (of K&D), Stefan Goldmann, rRoxymore, and more get the treatment. With a nod to the label's previous highly original compilations and mixes from the Macrospective and Vinylism series, Re:Re:Re captures more new ground. KUF's previous albums presented an astonishing inversion of the typical extended electronic set up, in that they paired a plethora of disembodied, sampled voices with acoustic real time interaction on bass, drums and keys. Re:Re:Re shifts the focus of sampling altogether to scanning entire tracks and compositions which are then reimagined with the band's singular approach. Neither just remixes, nor faithful reproductions, KUF engage in careful sound archaeology. From re-programming key sounds to holistic granular deconstructions, the original's sound palettes are reproduced to serve as a springboard towards entirely new instalments. The resulting tracks range from intimate ballads to full power dance floor movers, spanning a highly engaging arc of sheer listening pleasure. Also features Santiago Salazar, Raudive, Jorge Socarras, and Anno Stamm.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2x12"
|
|
MACROM 055LP
|
2x12" version. KUF create emotion-laden dialogues across layers of time and dimensions of sound. Voices recorded in private are chopped up and brought out center-stage to sing with beats hammered out right here and now. Glowing synths push forward. Basslines rise to grab the melodic role of a track while a vowel is truncated and locked into a grid, driving the rhythm. Voices move within the frame of a sample, performed by hands pushing keys, guided by the ear, immersed in a trio session's deep flow... A vortex of quirky hands, responsive ears and glowing circuits. Since Thomas A. Edison first recorded the human voice in 1877, the recording arts have changed music forever. Musicians have explored the endless possibilities of bouncing their input onto layers of tape, off the walls of an echo chamber or the circuitry of electronic helpers -- technology that modulates, spatializes, shifts, divides, or multiplies the work of human hands and mouths. An era of sampling offered a cubistic analysis of the recorded past and DJs took dancers onto intricately fractured time travels. This is the historic foundation that KUF keep probing. Just like the sampler and the DJ before them, they found new ways to re-allocate where machine and man stand when making music together. Most importantly, they turn the resulting friction into sparkling bursts of energy. Universe digs deeper into the android vocal chords. The album offers sweeping melodies, different beats, and persistent bass. Immerse in the intimacy of the voices, probably recorded in trains, backstage areas, and at late night private parties during Berlin Lichtenberg warehouse rehearsals. By striking the keys, KUF squeeze out and serve up all the soul accumulated in those savory phonetic shreds. Wood striking metal, thick bass strings moving air, oscillators humming eagerly. Physical and electrical, alive and stunningly beautiful -- after a year well spent in smoky clubs, on festival stages and in extensive nocturnal sessions, KUF deliver chapter two of their unfolding saga.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
MACROM 055CD
|
KUF create emotion-laden dialogues across layers of time and dimensions of sound. Voices recorded in private are chopped up and brought out center-stage to sing with beats hammered out right here and now. Glowing synths push forward. Basslines rise to grab the melodic role of a track while a vowel is truncated and locked into a grid, driving the rhythm. Voices move within the frame of a sample, performed by hands pushing keys, guided by the ear, immersed in a trio session's deep flow... A vortex of quirky hands, responsive ears and glowing circuits. Since Thomas A. Edison first recorded the human voice in 1877, the recording arts have changed music forever. Musicians have explored the endless possibilities of bouncing their input onto layers of tape, off the walls of an echo chamber or the circuitry of electronic helpers -- technology that modulates, spatializes, shifts, divides, or multiplies the work of human hands and mouths. An era of sampling offered a cubistic analysis of the recorded past and DJs took dancers onto intricately fractured time travels. This is the historic foundation that KUF keep probing. Just like the sampler and the DJ before them, they found new ways to re-allocate where machine and man stand when making music together. Most importantly, they turn the resulting friction into sparkling bursts of energy. Universe digs deeper into the android vocal chords. The album offers sweeping melodies, different beats, and persistent bass. Immerse in the intimacy of the voices, probably recorded in trains, backstage areas, and at late night private parties during Berlin Lichtenberg warehouse rehearsals. By striking the keys, KUF squeeze out and serve up all the soul accumulated in those savory phonetic shreds. Wood striking metal, thick bass strings moving air, oscillators humming eagerly. Physical and electrical, alive and stunningly beautiful -- after a year well spent in smoky clubs, on festival stages and in extensive nocturnal sessions, KUF deliver chapter two of their unfolding saga.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2x12"
|
|
MACROM 048LP
|
LP version. Macro has been the home for the albums of some of electronic music's most exciting live acts, such as KiNK and Elektro Guzzi. So when a live band enters this context, it should better enter with a bang. KUF do just this with Gold. KUF is a three-piece, featuring keys, bass and drums, cooks up a sound that is as warm, cozy and exciting as it is utterly alien. The rhythm section hints at the great history of dirty funk and bouncing R&B, but the grooves are firmly of today: dance-centered, thrillingly interactive and broken up at the best possible joints. The bewildering thing about KUF is that it is a vocal-led group that has no singer on stage at all. All vocal elements are based on self-recorded samples which keyboard whizz kid Tom Schneider melds, bends and squeezes in real time. With no artificial synchronization in place, Valentin Link on bass and Hendrik Havekost on drums push the disembodied voices into an arena of hyper-integrated real-time magic of rough soul, intertwined by improvised outbursts and shaped with the aesthetics of raw MPC-based cut-up techno. The openers, "Gold" and "Princess", are full-on instances of the brightly burning world of KUF, with the other ten tunes never ever letting you down. All along, the Berlin based trio take their audiences through a full range of emotions and constantly shifting dynamics. The thorough integration of this extraordinary degree of sheer diversity into a unified experience is simply astonishing. But never forget this is a live band, and that's how anything here has been developed: live, in direct interplay. Seeing is believing.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
MACROM 048CD
|
Macro has been the home for the albums of some of electronic music's most exciting live acts, such as KiNK and Elektro Guzzi. So when a live band enters this context, it should better enter with a bang. KUF do just this with Gold. KUF is a three-piece, featuring keys, bass and drums, cooks up a sound that is as warm, cozy and exciting as it is utterly alien. The rhythm section hints at the great history of dirty funk and bouncing R&B, but the grooves are firmly of today: dance-centered, thrillingly interactive and broken up at the best possible joints. The bewildering thing about KUF is that it is a vocal-led group that has no singer on stage at all. All vocal elements are based on self-recorded samples which keyboard whizz kid Tom Schneider melds, bends and squeezes in real time. With no artificial synchronization in place, Valentin Link on bass and Hendrik Havekost on drums push the disembodied voices into an arena of hyper-integrated real-time magic of rough soul, intertwined by improvised outbursts and shaped with the aesthetics of raw MPC-based cut-up techno. The openers, "Gold" and "Princess", are full-on instances of the brightly burning world of KUF, with the other ten tunes never ever letting you down. All along, the Berlin based trio take their audiences through a full range of emotions and constantly shifting dynamics. The thorough integration of this extraordinary degree of sheer diversity into a unified experience is simply astonishing. But never forget this is a live band, and that's how anything here has been developed: live, in direct interplay. Seeing is believing.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
12"
|
|
MACROM 047EP
|
Kuf are a trio of keys, bass, and drums. The rhythm section hints at the great history of dirty funk and rhythm and blues, but the grooves are firmly contemporary -- dance-centered and broken up at the best possible joints. The prominent vocal elements are all based on self-recorded samples that keyboard whiz kid Tom Schneider melds and bends and squeezes in real time. With no artificial synchronization in place, bassist Valentin Link and drummer Hendrik Havekost push the disembodied, highly abstract voices into an arena of hyper-integrated real-time magic. This EP includes a special guest VIP remix for the club.
|
|
|
|