Tresor (German for safe or vault) is an underground techno nightclub and record label. The club was founded in March 1991 in the vaults of the former old Wertheim department store in Mitte, the central part of the former East Berlin.
Almost 20 years on, Tresor continues to be a popular club to this day, having expanded and reconstructed continuously several times to include an outdoor garden area, and a second "Globus" floor.
Tresor Records was founded soon after the club first opened, in October 1991. Featured artists on the label include Jeff Mills, Juan Atkins, Robert Hood, Stewart Walker, Joey Beltram, Pacou, Blake Baxter, Cristian Vogel and many others.
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2LP
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TRESOR 129XX-LP
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$35.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 12/6/2024
2LP, 180g white/grey vinyl, pantone printed sleeve, UV spot varnish. Includes download code with digital bonus tracks. In honor of its 25th anniversary, Tresor Records presents a white and grey vinyl edition of one of the most seminal albums in the label's catalog: Drexciya's Neptunes Lair. 2022 marked the 20th anniversary of the passing of James Stinson and the releases of the Transllusion and Shifted Phases albums. In recognition, the rightsholders, their families, and the label had commissioned Detroit-based contemporary artist Matthew Angelo Harrison to re-conceptualize the covers of Tresor's Drexciya-related catalogue. These editions were released sequentially, bimonthly, starting early-September 2022. The series started with Neptune's Lair, first released in 1999, and the "Hydro Doorways" single arriving shortly after, followed by Harnessed The Storm and Digital Tsunami. In the beginning of 2023, Transllusion was released. The series was completed by the long-awaited re-release of Shifted Phases. These records, individually and as a catalogue, represent some of the most crucial moments in the Tresor label history, with the sound and mythic world of Drexciya undoubtedly inspiring generations.
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2LP
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TRESOR 057X-LP
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Patience is a virtue well-rewarded in techno; finding the right groove to build on then holding your nerve long enough to pay off the wait at the optimum moment is a much more skillful endeavor than it would seem for such a minimalistic style. And few display this talent better than Detroit originals Scan 7. Part of the hallowed Underground Resistance family, Scan 7 first broke out in the mid-'90s with a series of jacking machine funk 12"s that showcased their savvy for self-control -- a faculty they have demonstrated in releases year-on-year since. Highlighting this continuous font of vitality, Tresor Records has returned to the source and is proud to announce the reissue of Scan 7's debut LP, Dark Territory. First unleashed on the label in 1996, the album has been remastered from the original DATs by Mike Grinser, augmenting already powerful tracks such as the snake-like, teasing "Unusual Channel" (mixed by the master Blake Baxter), and the harder-edged "VII" resulting in music that will, without doubt, provoke an enhanced response when the pressure is finally released. Repressed on vinyl with updated artwork, these tracks still sound like a blueprint for the future, testament to the prescience and assurance Scan 7's leader, Trackmaster Lou, clearly had when writing "I hope you enjoy my records in the phuture to come" in the sleeve notes nearly 30 years ago.
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12"
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TRESOR 372EP
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$17.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 11/15/2024
With Multiply Your Absurdities, Helena Hauff delivers her long-awaited 12-inch debut on Tresor: a multi-colored inauguration, masterfully crafted by the inimitable Hamburg producer and DJ. The title track "Multiplying My Absurdities" opens the record, with a slow burn of magnetic synths and numbing acid drops. Through its simple yet thrilling dynamics, it occasionally falls into playful skepticism, creating something truly unique, uncompromised, and beautiful. "Punks in the Gym" is named after an infamous climbing route in Australia. As its namesake, the track mercilessly rises to a techno summit. It gets steeper and steeper with every bar, resembling a volcanic dance where 303 earthquakes shake the ground before eruptions. Once you're halfway in, there's no turning back; all you can do is keep moving forward. The closing track, "Humanoid Fruit," transports to an even darker prehistoric landscape. Synths bursts remind of fossilized Pterodactyls revived -- a challenging but rewarding trip through acidic rain and the alleys of your mind. Originally released as the soundtrack for Teslaism by artist and filmmaker Bahar Noorizadeh, a third person musical racing game featuring Elon Musk and his self-driving car/lover and life coach, as they drive towards a shareholder meeting in a post-gamified Berlin landscape. It premiered at the Tresor 31: Techno, Berlin und die große Freiheit exhibition in 2022 and deals with stimulating skepticism about the emergence of a new era after Post-fordism that she calls Teslaism: "an upgrade to the system of production and consumption predicated on advanced storytelling, financial worldbuilding, and imagineering 'the look of the future.'" What has been once inspired by Helena Hauff's dystopian sound has now been made into an official music video for the track. Much like the video, Multiply Your Absurdities represents a journey into futuristic uncertainty.
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12"
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TRESOR 371EP
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Growing up on the north Atlantic-island of Iceland bestows one with an unusual and often intense relationship with light and color: Summers come with endless days, Winters with scant sunlight yet increased sightings of the Aurora Borealis; the mysterious and awe-inspiring glow across the sky. Channeling these energies, Exos comes to Tresor with his Green Light EP, a five-track collection of the sort of spectrally rich techno synonymous with the Northman's 27-year career. Across the EP, the five tracks fizz and pulsate driving ever forward, making the release's title a three-way play on words referencing the continuous travelling of photons, the verdant warping of the Northern Lights, and the universal color for Go, for forward propulsion. Smart wordplay can also be found in titles like "Grátt Silfur," a term in Íslenska (literally "grey sliver") which signifies a tension between two parties, further extending the color metaphor and dark/light dichotomy found elsewhere. Green Light EP continues 2024's blazing return from an artist who, similar to his output, is never stagnant: ever changing form yet ever moving forward.
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12"
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TRESOR 346EP
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Writing about techno is quite difficult without falling into cliché: there are only so many ways that you can say something about a music whose core elements are forged on deliberate repetition; where real talent is attributed to those who can find the perfect groove where nothing needs added or subtracted to hold the listener's attention for upwards of five minutes. Such tracks are the hallmark of Tresor's catalogue, and this joy in repetition can be found in works from Detroit, Berlin, Birmingham, Edinburgh, and more. And it is through this lens that Parisian artist, UFO95, focuses his output, resulting in Backward Improvement, an EP that sits perfectly in the spectrum of techno found in the Tresor chronology. The title itself makes an abstract reference to the influence of the classics of the genre, inspiring him to take a distinct less-is-more approach to production for this collection of stripped-down yet unrelenting techno chiseled from the live set which has fixed UFO95 as one of the next holdfasts for the future of the scene. Perhaps it is the fact the UFO95 only performs live that had led to such crisp and focused studio productions; each of the tracks showcase the artist's burgeoning talent for creating the essential foundations of techno; perfect, looping, instinctual grooves that are counterbalanced by an apprehensive tension from off-key tones. Backward Improvement marks the addition of a new name in the list of techno's best producers and proves that while the genre may now be in its 40th year there are yet sonic explorations to be made and variations that are worth unearthing.
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12"
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TRESOR 367EP
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The word "resistance" is deeply embedded in the ethos of techno. For her debut release on the Tresor Records, the British artist and Tresor resident, Imogen, explores the concept of resilience; a related and equally vital concept. Taking its name from a theological term meaning a fundamental change of mind or spiritual conversion, Metanoia is fueled by Imogen's processing of what she describes as one of the most challenging years of her life. Any struggle against injustice or misfortune takes time and effort which requires finding a fortitude within, not only to surpass the hardship itself but to not lose oneself to despair or bitterness in the process. Imogen's journey is summed up in the lead track, 'The Way She Moves' -- resilience is, after all, a persistence to continue, to move forward. The struggle against hardship is laid out in track titles like 'Tired Bonesand Growing in the Dark' before a sense of catharsis is reached in 'Breathe Again' and 'Melancholy Flower.' The music similarly mirrors her experiences, passing through sadness, anger, before ultimately landing at acceptance and a newfound drive for self-actualization and greater interoception; after all, the end goal of any resistance is liberation.
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12"
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TRESOR 337EP
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DJ Stingray 313's Industry 4.0 EP is a sonic exploration into modern manufacturing concepts and the impact on humanity. Moods and titles across the EP cover artificial intelligence ("Large Language Model"), the internet, and robotics ("Multi-Functional Robotics" and "Sensor Data") -- all set to his signature high-energy, industrial, cyborg-style productions. Together, the tracks on Industry 4.0 work as a striking and current introspective of humanity's uncertain evolution, moving as fast as the technology it creates.
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12"
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TRESOR 360EP
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030313 -- Berlin/Detroit, the fundamental techno union. Now Carhartt WIP, whose roots can be traced to Detroit, Michigan, join forces with Tresor for a collaboration that celebrates the enduring spirit of two music metropolises. Referencing the early '90s compilations like Tresor II -- A Techno Alliance, they present a 12" mini compilation with exclusive material from both cities. The compilation opens with "I.D.L.E.," a lost Model 500 track, of essential funk that touches the techno soul of The Motorcity, with trippy melodies and cosmic drilling traversing electrified Mojo freeways. It's followed by another true Detroiter: Ectomorph's "Searching (Live At Globus)," a first extract from their live set at Globus in 2021, which BMG and Erika played on borrowed equipment after Erika's case was lost on a flight. The A-Side stays in Detroit and finishes with "Your Body," an exclusive track by AMX, also known as The AM, one of Detroit's freshest funk techno sensations. She carries on the mentorship mindset by having learned from two of the greatest: D.I.E. and Scan 7. "Your Body" is a classic techno feel swinger, where subtle chords meet drum machine funk in the spirit of early Detroit techno. DJ Stingray 313 opens the B-Side with a bang. Precisely hacked techno, full of dark funk and that special industrial jack, that the man in the mask has made his own. A total "Dynamic Instability." Magic and furious. The thrill continues with "Metal Goat," by JakoJako, one of Berlin's brightest synth sensations. She provides an introspective grower that slowly evolves into a fast-paced techno grinder, laden with micro shifts and magic twists. The final tune comes from Erik Jabari, a newcomer from the 030 zone, emerging from the Hard Wax peers with haunting modular synth techno -- a feverish minimalistic trip of motorized kicks. DJ Pete performed as spiritual guidance on this one. It's floor proven. An overall cachet of 030313 -- the small compilation with a huge techno heart.
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12"
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TRESOR 365EP
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As with their three previous releases on Tresor (Dualism, Refreshing Part 1, and Dreams) for Love Letter, Fireground have created a heady melange of styles of techno synonymous with the turn of the century with such outrageous elan and jubilation that they practically embody the musical term giocoso: "We had the 'summer' concept in mind from the beginning, this pushed us to create a message in our sound making it uplifting and engaging, capable of conveying a positive, romantic and warm vibe. In our productions we always give priority to the harmonic parts such as melodies, pads, piano and guitar riffs, the peculiarity of this EP is that all the tracks were born first from these elements, and only at the end the groove was crafted, not due to a difference in importance, rather to ensure that the rhythmic part paid as much respect as possible to the harmonic part." This decision to build upwards from the harmonics has paid dividends: the entrance of a string section provokes visions of a rapt club crowd cheering with exultation; a looped groove stimulates a connection to such gleeful nostalgia that is almost certain to be heard at many festivals in coming months; a blissful pad sweeps over a track like the first rays of sun in the morning; a filtered synth rises to be met with a xylophone-like countermelody -- every track has a moment where the music overflows with some form of happiness. Together the collection promises, and perhaps even delivers, a summer both ecstatic and joyful.
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12"
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TRESOR 370EP
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At what point does a new tool or technology become so integral to a process as to be intrinsic? And what happens if that technology starts to subordinate its user? By reflecting on these questions, Machine Alliance, the new EP by Irish producer Kerrie on Tresor Records, connects her music to the sci-fi origins of techno and electronic music in general. With inspiration from classic books and films of the genre such as The Machine Stops, The Matrix, and Blade Runner, as well as modern explorations in art and philosophy like Free Your Mind and Techno poly, the EP's title takes on two opposing but intersecting meanings. One, based on the potential for machines to take over or replace humans, is a key idea of sci-fi that seems closer to reality with the arrival of machine learning and real artificial intelligence. The second has a much more positive view, one where the "alliance" is between the artist and machine to create the music, a process she places immense value on, being both cathartic and therapeutic, whilst also being a vehicle of addition and expansion: "I feel that it's a collaboration -- the machines are precise in their timing and I add the human touch (literally) in the live performance which adds natural imperfections, so we both provide something the other can't. There's also an element of growth; the machines get updates and so are always expanding in terms of their musical capabilities. And the more I push my own technical abilities I feel we are growing together in a constant synchronized dance." This "dance" results in four tracks of classic machine funk which combine the aforementioned ideas in sci-fi with a deep lifelong affection for techno. Tracks like "Ode to the D" and "Technopoly Dream" display this love through her choice of sounds and structure, both intentional and subconscious, while "Replicants" and "Human in the Loop" project into other genres to fully round this release off as a contemporary example of music rooted in both past and future.
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12"
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TRESOR 364EP
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Datashader emerges from the shadows with a striking breaks and bass-heavy debut release that challenges the fabric of digital existence. Replete with a Dopplereffekt remix, it nods to the legacy of revered anonymous acts such as Scopex, Drexciya, and Underground Resistance, pushing the boundaries of both electronic music exploration and its conceptual underpinnings. As a critique of the erosion of genuine human connection in the digital age, Datashader delivers a barrage of billowing subs, infectious electro, recon textualized jungle, and techno, serving as a poignant counterbalance to current dance floor-centric norms. It's a contemporary anti-soundtrack that offers a haunting mirror to the societal costs of technological convenience. Musically, Datashader's practice confronts dystopian reality, highlighting the alarming consequence of people becoming mere nodes in a network, reduced to a collection of data points. This is manifested sonically by a blistering assault of breaks, recontextualized IDM, abstract electronics and otherworldly synthscapes, conceived as the aesthetic counterbalance to much of contemporary electronic music's dancefloor focus. Datashader dives deep into genres and influences which stand for a form of sonic resistance.
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12"
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TRESOR 362EP
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Repressed; R.I.P. Juan Mendez aka Silent Servant is a figure in techno history that needs little introduction. As a member of the Sandwell District collective and the label's art director he collaborated on works that were responsible for a global focal shift in the genre as their label adapted and challenged the paradigm of minimal techno, taking influence from other sources such as dub, post-punk, and even classical minimalism. But Mendez's relationship with music goes back much further than these seminal releases. With In Memoriam, Silent Servant's latest release on Tresor Records, Mendez writes a deeply personal memoir of a 30-plus year career spent exploring and absorbing the shadowy side of music; a carefully crafted elegy to people, places, and times past and the lasting effect they have on the present. Across the four tracks, Mendez pays tribute to the earliest Detroit techno and electro, the Belgian EBM movement and the wave music that followed, the monumental dub techno sound from Berlin, and the harder, abrasive sound of the UK at the turn of the last millennium; exploring and referencing the genres that informed his later work. Each track name gives a hint to the timeframe he is revisiting and re-contextualizing as the EP repurposes the styles that exerted an influence on him. This EP represents a pure distillation of Mendez's memories whilst also cementing his place in the current and future sound of 21st century techno.
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2LP
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TRESOR 339LP
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Double-LP version. What are the differences and similarities between human and artificial sound, between oscillations generated by vocal cords and synthesizer voices, voltage amplified by speakers? On Silencio, Moritz von Oswald works with a 16-voice choir to explore this concept. Drawing from the ensemble works of long-standing inspirations Edgard Varèse, György Ligeti, and Iannis Xenakis, von Oswald and Vocalconsort Berlin delve into the space between sounds, creating a deeply textured collection that shifts between light and ethereal and dark and dissonant. As masterfully demonstrated in the early work of von Oswald and Mark Ernestus's influential Basic Channel project, repetition and reduction are key elements here, much in the tradition of techno and minimalism. The vast dynamism of the human voice adds to the profound weight of electronics while offering up a rhythmic source and sonic noise palette unexplored in von Oswald's repertoire. In Silencio, von Oswald dredges a dank murk, pulling clouds over a distant pulse. It hangs, ready to take on new forms. The compositions were written in von Oswald's Berlin studio on classic synthesizers, such as the EMS VCS3 & AKS, Prophet V, Oberheim 4-Voice and the Moog Model 15. These abstract recordings were transcribed to sheet music for choir by Berlin-based Finnish composer and pianist, Jarkko Riihimäki and performed by Vocalconsort Berlin in Ölberg church in the city's Kreuzberg district, only few meters down the road from where Dubplates & Mastering and Hard Wax opened their doors for music enthusiasts for many years so long. The recordings of the choral versions were then incorporated into the synthesized parts of the album and brought into a new electronic context; in Silencio, the focus is not on using one means to imitate the other, but to sonically discuss the tensions and harmonies between the two worlds and create a dialogue between them. The relationship between von Oswald and Tresor Records goes back thirty years, all the way to Blake Baxter's Dream Sequence in 1991 -- which von Oswald engineered alongside Thomas Fehlmann. The collaboration with Fehlmann lived on, seeing the duo team up as 3MB with Eddie Fowlkes or Juan Atkins. More recently, the Detroit-Berlin connection continued as Juan Atkins & Moritz von Oswald present Borderland (TRESOR 262CD, 2013).
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CD
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TRESOR 339CD
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What are the differences and similarities between human and artificial sound, between oscillations generated by vocal cords and synthesizer voices, voltage amplified by speakers? On Silencio, Moritz von Oswald works with a 16-voice choir to explore this concept. Drawing from the ensemble works of long-standing inspirations Edgard Varèse, György Ligeti, and Iannis Xenakis, von Oswald and Vocalconsort Berlin delve into the space between sounds, creating a deeply textured collection that shifts between light and ethereal and dark and dissonant. As masterfully demonstrated in the early work of von Oswald and Mark Ernestus's influential Basic Channel project, repetition and reduction are key elements here, much in the tradition of techno and minimalism. The vast dynamism of the human voice adds to the profound weight of electronics while offering up a rhythmic source and sonic noise palette unexplored in von Oswald's repertoire. In Silencio, von Oswald dredges a dank murk, pulling clouds over a distant pulse. It hangs, ready to take on new forms. The compositions were written in von Oswald's Berlin studio on classic synthesizers, such as the EMS VCS3 & AKS, Prophet V, Oberheim 4-Voice and the Moog Model 15. These abstract recordings were transcribed to sheet music for choir by Berlin-based Finnish composer and pianist, Jarkko Riihimäki and performed by Vocalconsort Berlin in Ölberg church in the city's Kreuzberg district, only few meters down the road from where Dubplates & Mastering and Hard Wax opened their doors for music enthusiasts for many years so long. The recordings of the choral versions were then incorporated into the synthesized parts of the album and brought into a new electronic context; in Silencio, the focus is not on using one means to imitate the other, but to sonically discuss the tensions and harmonies between the two worlds and create a dialogue between them. The relationship between von Oswald and Tresor Records goes back thirty years, all the way to Blake Baxter's Dream Sequence in 1991 -- which von Oswald engineered alongside Thomas Fehlmann. The collaboration with Fehlmann lived on, seeing the duo team up as 3MB with Eddie Fowlkes or Juan Atkins. More recently, the Detroit-Berlin connection continued as Juan Atkins & Moritz von Oswald present Borderland (TRESOR 262CD, 2013).
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12"
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TRESOR 358EP
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Argentinian producers Oscean return to Tresor with Chronium Radiance, their longest release so far, in which the duo continue the evolution of their sound, coalescing the elemental ideas explored in their first two releases and yielding sublime results. This landmark release will no doubt be seen as the point at which Oscean crystalized a trademark sound, balancing complex percussive rhythms with pulsing and cadenced music in which a universe of often oxymoronic ideas can be found, melded together with a deft touch to create a blissful sonic whole. There is a sense of space and airiness to side A of the record as synth parts drift across the more solid-feeling landscape of the basslines and percussion. Opening track "ChronoRebel" is a propulsive trance induction that brings forth cinematic images of billowing clouds. This nebulous quality is continued on "Neon Harmonies" where the highly syncopated drum track weaves through a haze of colorful synths that while lower tempo than the previous track somehow has an energy of a faster piece. The flip side has a denser, darker quality to it beginning with "Blaster Imploder," a deep and funky track that continues the convention-defying theme by being powerful and frenetic whilst also having a soft and exultant sheen. This is followed by "Echoes of Chaos" which closes out the 12" with a dynamic beat and spacious, sweeping synths that feel as though we are passing through the atmosphere heading towards some distant nebula. Alongside the tracks on the vinyl release, three digital tracks expand on the universe Oscean have built with a truly ecstatic love theme, a retelling of "Neon Harmonies" that unveils a river of dub, and a low tempo, drifting yet no-less affecting piece acting as the closing titles to our voyage to this Osceanic world. 180g 12" vinyl, full pantone printed sleeve. Includes download code featuring three tracks: "Random Destiny," "Neon Harmonies (The Other Version)," "Who Holds the Key?"
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3LP
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TRESOR 196XB-LP
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Triple LP version. Green color vinyl. 180 gram vinyl; silver pantone artwork; includes download card. Tresor Records presents a reissue of the sole output from Shifted Phases entitled The Cosmic Memoirs Of The Late Great Rupert J. Rosinthrope. Initially released in 2002, soon after James Stinson passed away, this LP plays a mysterious and compelling role in the Drexciya journey. While other records of Drexciya and related projects have received numerous reprints and editions, The Cosmic Memoirs... has remained out of print since its release. This rarity leaves it more open to interpretation with its place in the Drexciyan storm series, as it became increasingly hard to find and underexplored. This reissue does not merely close the loop on Tresor's reissue series of the Drexciya catalog but brings Shifted Phases to fresh ears more than other records. Accompanied by newly commissioned artwork from Matthew Angelo Harrison, the reissue also features the tracks "Crossing Of The Sun-Ra Nebula" and "Alien Vessel Distress Call", which were previously only on the original CD release. Track titles "Solar Wind", "White Dwarf", and "Lonely Journey of the Comet Bopp" reveal a focus on cosmic realms, suggesting a link with the Drexciya LP Grava 4 that moves from the underwater to the galactic. As it launches with mechanical blows on a precise orbit, each repetition entrenches the gravitational pull in the galaxy of Shifted Phases. In many places, it sounds like the readout of frequencies harvested from outer space, pockmarked with packet loss from the millions of kilometers distance travelled. The music is hard to contain, intuitively restless in motion through its unfolding universe and achingly resonant. It shapeshifts across affectedly melodic sequences such as in "Lonely Journey...", to the sparse, hard-hitting timbres found in "Alien Vessel Distress Call" and the mangled reverse vocals in "The Freak Show", somewhat reminiscent of another Drexciya side-project, Glass Domain. The mythology of Drexciya is evident in how keenly James Stinson and Gerald Donald created their imaginary worlds. In "Crossing Of The Sun-Ra Nebula", there is an indisputable reference to another Afro-futurist who delved deep into a galaxy of their own making.
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12"
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TRESOR 032EP
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2023 repress. Twenty-five years after its initial release, and accompanying the re-release of Internal Empire (TRESOR 027CD/LP), Tresor present a 180 gram pressing of Robert Hood's Master Builder. "25 years ago, I was faced with the challenge of following up on Minimal Nation. I cancelled all my tour dates for that summer, setup my studio in the living room and began to work on Internal Empire. My intention was to create something distinctively different. Looking out my living room window in Detroit watching people go by gave me a new perspective. It made me look at the world within myself." --Robert Hood
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12"
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TRESOR 356EP
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Tresor presents the debut split 12" from Chloe Lula and Ireen Amnes. Meeting in the darker, harder-edged side of the Berlin techno scene in 2019, the pair have regularly collaborated and performed together, but Synergy marks the first time they've shared a record sleeve. Amnes describes Synergy as "the world we built while thinking about our journey as friends and the connection we share as people and artists," and while the record highlights their relationship and shared influences, it also showcases how each has grown into their respective lane. Amnes's tracks lean into significantly more distorted territory, characterized by a dense fog of grainy pads punctured by sharp, expertly-programmed percussion. On "Our Bodies," these fragments are sculpted into driving hardware gear, replete with distant vocals and acidic squelches, where "Fragments of Desire" makes space for a more somber attitude, descending into murky, psychedelic electro. In counterpoint to Amnes's deep atmospherics, Lula's contributions are driven by intricate sound design and a focus on dancefloor impact. Taking cues from Regis and the Birmingham techno sound, she reins in the distortion of 2021's Errant Bodies for aufnahme + wiedergabe in favor of rolling techno and breakbeat-inspired rhythms that nod to her EBM influences. Making use of the extra space, she builds tension through heaving, textured basslines and crescendos of noise, and on EP closer "Event Horizon," she carves through the beat with her own metallic vocals. Synergy includes a digital bonus track from each artist.
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3x12"
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TRESOR 361LP
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Transparent Sound are the original dons of UK electro, not exactly household names yet an act with so many under-repped classics that once you dive into their catalog you might end up emptying your bank account on Discogs. To save you going down this calamitous path as well as to finally, raise TS to the level of notoriety they deserve, Tresor Records announce the release of Accidents 1994-2023. Formed by Orson Bramley and Martin Brown in Bognor Regis in 1994, Transparent Sound have managed to create 30 years' worth of some of the best electro from the British Isles, despite claiming to not know what they were doing nor how their instruments work. It's likely that it's this lack of knowledge that led to the quality and longevity of their output - the pair experiment and tinker with the machines until something pleasing appears then follow that sound down whatever path seems fruitful: "the confidence of ignorance" as a slightly more-famous Orson, Orson Welles, once put it. This tactic has paid off well and found them stumbling into many notable adventures, from remixing The Cure to performing during an intermission between two halves of a lecture -- none of which they understood as it was in Spanish. The compilation collects a lucky-for-you 13 of their most glorious electrical accidents on a three-disc set including the dancefloor hits "Punk Mother Fucker" (a mainstay of Villalobos sets at the time of release), and "No Call From New York" (as heard on Helena Hauff's perfect 2017, Essential Mix). The package also comes with "Windows To Your Sole" from the unreleased white label Transparent Sound 007, other unreleased tracks, and special 2023 edits, as well as six digital bonus tracks. 180 gram vinyl; full printed sleeve; download card.
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2x12"
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TRESOR 017LP
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The reissue of classic and seminal releases from the Tresor catalog comes round to Waveform Transmission Vol. 2 by The Vision aka Robert Hood which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Released in the same year he left UR and his hometown of Detroit in 1993, Waveform Transmission Vol. 2 represents a pivotal moment in Hood's career as his move to New York with fellow UR co-founder Jeff Mills led to Hood experimenting with a new work ethos through which he settled on his trademark sound. Fast, aurally assaulting, yet funky -- the release is techno as effective as it can possibly be; in this version, remastered by Thomas P. Heckmann, you see the first results of his transmutation as Hood manipulates the raw sounds he would soon distill into seminal works like Internal Empire and Minimal Nation. Ever philosophical and spiritual, in the sleeve notes for the release Hood dedicated the release "to the form of simplicity[,] the reasoning of vision[,] the understanding of where we came from and how we got here and to the perspective we use to construct over destiny" -- words which from our early 2020s vantage point almost foresee the influence this intuitive work would have on artists working from Birmingham to Berlin and beyond over the next three decades. 180 gram vinyl; full printed sleeve; download card.
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12"
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TRESOR 355EP
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LNS and DJ Sotofett return to Tresor Records with The Reformer EP. This new record moves forward with a crystal clear, direct and controlled output, leaving their debut album Sputters as an end-mark of a sonic era. Here they evolve into a topography full of contrasts, where harsh digital artifacts, scanner sounds, and vocoder voices cast melodic colors across cold landscapes of club-ready electro. "Reform" plunges deep into an electro sound splintered by binary bits and submerged pads that beckon a serene melody, which echoes and loops to entangle with mutant voices, noises and buzzes. "Plexistorm" leads with synthesized strings and arpeggiated acidic bleeps until a thick bass emerges, sounding almost like a long-lost Analord record. Heavily shapeshifting with effects processing, it proves primitive movements in dubbing are the perfect counterpart to this precise electro sound. With "Electric Terraforming", the duo uncover charged energy sources required for life on another planet, as broad synth pads and memorable vocoder harmonies draw this earworm to a close. Mighty washes of dub rule on "909 The Controller" as a skipping beat invites a slow, rippling melody and percolating reverberated synths.
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3LP
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TRESOR 350LP
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yet is a slippery word in English. Amorphous, these three letters in different contexts can define contrast or emphasis, set a place in time, show an expectation that something will occur or, paradoxically, that it is likely to stop. It is this mercurial nature that makes yet the perfect title for Tresor's latest compilation: the label follows on from the more explorative sections of 2021's landmark Tresor 30 boxed set with a compilation, featuring 13 artists making music that resist easy definition. Every track hints at and borrows from the familiar yet none follow the expected path: halfway through Deserto, Nandele & A-Tweed dramatically reveal a very different sonic landscape that was initially suggested; DJ Sotofett collaborates with Sri Lankan artist Kavadi with results that are unlike anything in the Norwegian producer's catalog as yet. Further invention can be found as Jean Redondo's "Hypersonic" moves across spaces inhabited by digital hardcore and hyperpop before swerving off-road and into a futuristic hip-hop section; on "No Longer Human", Ireen Amnes takes a different path at the crossroads melding hyperpop, trance, and sci-fi soundtrack atmospherics, Significant Other heads towards UK bass and dubstep, and France's Willis Anne skims by the outskirts of footwork with a piece that is almost completely uncategorisable. Yet more sonic experimentation comes from E-Saggila, Nadia Struiwigh, NVST, Solid Blake, and Viikatory who offer unique takes on the well-established electro blueprint, while Ryan James Ford, and Nit. both find ways to blend elements normally found in ambient pieces with those heard on a dancefloor. The feel of the compilation is yet again reflected in the enigmatic artwork by Malik Arbab, where shapes and colors suggest animals and plants but in a world that appears to be transient and constantly evolving. 180 gram vinyl; full printed sleeve; includes download.
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12"
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TRESOR 353EP
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After several years of performing as INIT with Benedikt Frey, she had her solo live debut in Berlin in 2022. This record follows releases on labels such as ESP Institute and Warning. GUM showcases DALO's expert mastery of rising tension through analog sound sources, as it swings in and remains with minimal changes and accentuation. "Woodpecker" enters a tunnel of reverberant claps, moving in a potent exercise of deftly manipulated acid. "Wavehall" draws vocal smears across expansive, droning basses and 140bpm techno rhythms. In "Bachlash", she takes inspiration from events of Iranian and Afghan women revolting for their rights, expressing hope for the rebound of control after long political oppression. Electro beats are introduced underneath the full-frontal melodic acid, while processed spoken word samples bring a new focus. DALO takes the rebounding control and strives forward into the unknown with "GUM", its segmented vocal samples playing a captivating partnership with acidic slides.
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12"
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TRESOR 352EP
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The phrase "concept album" brings to mind long and complicated works by '60s rock bands or rap magna opera destined to be pored over by Dissect podcast. But what if the concept is based on a simple conceit? With Refreshing Part 1, their third EP and first vinyl release on Tresor, Fireground soundtrack an imaginary night spent at the Kraftwerk building on Köpenicker Straße, moving between the smoke-filled basement of Tresor and the bass-heavy loft of Globus. Opening piece, "Never Sleep", has long been a feature of the Fireground live set and evolved over many months before reaching its final form in something of a "eureka" moment during a performance in Tresor. The track kicks off the EP with a hint to techno classic "Knights of the Jaguar" before quickly carving its own path through the foliage. The tribal leitmotif continues on second track, "Gaze", which again has subtle nods to classics whilst showcasing the duo's ability to bring new life to '90s house and techno tropes. "Obsession" dispenses with any pretense and gets right down to business from the opening second: Inspired by the Tresor dancefloor "when it reaches its peak; the strobe lights together with the smoke become so intense that for a few moments you can't see anything and completely abandon yourself to your sense of hearing." A counterpoint to the finessed "Never Sleep", "Obsession" was recorded live with minimal post-production this track finds Fireground at their rawest and most uncompromising. As if needing a spot of fresh air after the ferocity of "Obsession", the second half of the EP leaves the dense and smoky atmosphere behind and ascends towards the sky beginning with "Driving Stars"; lighter though this may be there's no loss of drive. Penultimate track "Into A Diamond" finds Fireground floating ever-upwards propelled by elements of jazz including a gorgeous electric piano solo that recall the airy mid-90s UK house of labels like Nuphonic, Heavenly, Faze Action, and Soma.
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3LP
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TRESOR 196LP
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2024 repress. Triple LP version. 180 gram vinyl; silver pantone artwork; includes download card. In early 2023, Tresor Records will reissue the sole output from Shifted Phases entitled The Cosmic Memoirs Of The Late Great Rupert J. Rosinthrope. Initially released in 2002, soon after James Stinson passed away, this LP plays a mysterious and compelling role in the Drexciya journey. While other records of Drexciya and related projects have received numerous reprints and editions, The Cosmic Memoirs... has remained out of print since its release. This rarity leaves it more open to interpretation with its place in the Drexciyan storm series, as it became increasingly hard to find and underexplored. This reissue does not merely close the loop on Tresor's reissue series of the Drexciya catalog but brings Shifted Phases to fresh ears more than other records. Accompanied by newly commissioned artwork from Matthew Angelo Harrison, the reissue also features the tracks "Crossing Of The Sun-Ra Nebula" and "Alien Vessel Distress Call", which were previously only on the original CD release. Track titles "Solar Wind", "White Dwarf", and "Lonely Journey of the Comet Bopp" reveal a focus on cosmic realms, suggesting a link with the Drexciya LP Grava 4 that moves from the underwater to the galactic. As it launches with mechanical blows on a precise orbit, each repetition entrenches the gravitational pull in the galaxy of Shifted Phases. In many places, it sounds like the readout of frequencies harvested from outer space, pockmarked with packet loss from the millions of kilometers distance travelled. The music is hard to contain, intuitively restless in motion through its unfolding universe and achingly resonant. It shapeshifts across affectedly melodic sequences such as in "Lonely Journey...", to the sparse, hard-hitting timbres found in "Alien Vessel Distress Call" and the mangled reverse vocals in "The Freak Show", somewhat reminiscent of another Drexciya side-project, Glass Domain. The mythology of Drexciya is evident in how keenly James Stinson and Gerald Donald created their imaginary worlds. In "Crossing Of The Sun-Ra Nebula", there is an indisputable reference to another Afro-futurist who delved deep into a galaxy of their own making.
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