Early Autumn Charts

Early Autumn was a good time for fans of contemporary electronic music (preferrably with lots of bass in it). We saw a few heavy releases, which more or less lived up to the expectations (Robot Koch, Rustie, Modeselektor, Martyn, ill.Gates, Zomby), my pet labels, Saturate! Records and Robox Neotech released fantastic debut EP's (Raadsel, P-Fang), many quality tracks floated around the interweb. Meanwhile on my local scene, U Know Me Records confirmed their status of the best label for contemporary, twisted hip-hop beats made in Poland with very fresh and 'vintage' release Futura by a talented producer Galus. I hope my next charts will be equally rich with interesting contents.

Dr. Krank's Top Tracks (Early Autumn)

1. Kidkanevil – Robot Carnival (First Word Records)
2. Robot Koch - Nitesky  (Project Mooncircle)
3. Raadsel – Resurrection (Saturate! Records)  
4. Zomby – Things Fall Apart (f. Panda Bear)  (4AD)
5. Galus – Futura (U Know Me Records)
6. P-Fang - Graveyard (Damscray remix) (Robox Neotech)
7. Starkey – Eris (Adult Swim)
8. Cardopusher feat. Sensational – Papusa (kid606 remix) (Tigerbeat6)  
9. Rustie – City Star (Warp)
10. Raadsel & Luisterwaar – Tissue Box (Saturate! Records)
11. SaBBo – I’m Ready (ft. Onili) (Generation Bass Records)
12. Modeselektor – Pretentious Friends (Monkeytown Records)
13. Tilman Ehrhorn - Sat (Himuro Yoshiteru remix) (Mad Hop vol. 3)
14. Ill.Gates, Mat the Alien & Dash – Otoro (Muti Music) 
15. Kraddy – Black Box 
16. Martyn – Ghost People (Brainfeeder)
17. Speaker for the Dead – Illusionaire (Digital Self Release) 
18. Ott – Squirrel and Buiscuits (Autonomous Music)
19. Ugress – Coffee (Pushwanger edit) (Uncanny Planet) 
20. MC Zulu – Festival Madness (Perception 2020 Recordings) 

Ugress - Pushwagner soundtrack + Wulfhöken Spaceport Affairs

DOKTOR KRANK'S RELEASE OF THE MONTH

I have been a fan of Norwegian producer Gisle Martens Meyer a.k.a. UGRESS for years. He is among my top-10 artists currently working in the field of electronic music. It is really sad that not many people outside his home country know his fantastic compositions. Thus, I was really stoked to see his two new releases hitting the airwaves recently.

The soundtrack to the documentary on a famous Norwegian artist - Pushwagner is a collection of new and previously released tunes, now remastered and edited, showcasing diverse projects of Mr. Meyer - apart from Ugress, also Ninja 9000, Nebular Spool or Shadow of the Beat. The music is simply AWESOME! Pushwagner is the best soundtrack I've heard in a long time, a spacey cinematic trip through sad but beautiful and intriguing sonic landscapes. It is also the best release from Ugress camp in years. He perfectly builds the atmosphere, sometimes using extensive orchestration then moving to more low-key areas, just to return to a hectic, pumping beat and ear-catching synths which are his trademark.  He tells a story with his music, and I'll definitely buy a DVD with the documentary to see how it worked with moving pictures. People, don't sleep on Ugress, even if you've never heard about him. Highly recommended by Doktor Krank.

Pushwagner is available via Ugress store, bandcamp, iTunes or any other digital service.

There will be also a physical CD release, but only packaged together with the DVD when the time comes.

Ugress - Pushwagner by GMM

A few days ago Ugress also released a new EP - Episode Three: Wulfhöken Spaceport Affairs. Starting from futuristic, club-oriented electro in Robot Revenge the artist takes the listeners for a rollercoaster ride through dubby Flutter (serious head-nodding bizniz!) and synth-driven extravaganza in Avenue des Silhouettes. We finally arrive at midnight to a secret location in my personal highlight of this EP - An Evening with the Enemy. Once again Ugress shows his strenght in building moody cinematic landscapes. Another release not to be missed. You can grab it for FREE from bandcamp.

UGRESS - GHOST VON FROST

My favorite project from Norway - Ugress has just posted on his soundcloud and website a beautiful 'cinematique' track Ghost von Frost. I was instantly hooked on Ugress years ago after listening to the second full-length album released in 2004 called Cinematronics (check the link and grab a few freebies or buy this album). I still listen to this record regularly and Monochromatic World, Manhattan Saphire, Cowboy Desperado are among my personal all-time anthems, while Nightingale has been a ringing tone in my mobile phone for more than 4 years now!  Cinematronics is easily among my  top 10 records of this century. I ain't no kidding you and I ain't no exeggerating :) The project of Gisle Martens Meyer has not repeated the success of this record in my opinion but cinematic pop-electronic of Ugress always attracted me. The same goes for the latest offering - Ghost von Frost, one of the best tracks I've heard from Ugress for a long time reminding me of the top quality music from Cinematronics or Resound. Mellow and uplifting. Cinematique par excellence! Listen and download:

Ugress - Ghost Von Frost by GMM