ORTLOFF :: From Leipzig with Love

Ortloff is a label taking on a spread of sounds but releasing them with a discerning ear. An imprint with a glut of genres and some excellent examples for any electronic music fan.

[Releases page] Visual art and music often go hand in hand. True of late there has been a return to the minimalism of white labels and plain sleeves, but historically the two mediums have lived in vivid harmony. In Leipzig a music label has developed out of an artistic movement. Ortloff is a hub of audio and visual artistry, an imprint with a range of sounds in its growing catalogue.

Opening its aural doors in 2009, Ortloff began with a trio of compilation 12”s. These first steps mapped out a number of styles and sounds. Dub techno, deep house and ambient were explored by artists such as Mod.Civil, Map Ache and Marko Fürstenberg.

Techno returned to the menu with Mod. Civil, with two EP offerings of beefy entrées and more subtle hors d’oeurves Funktionen Part 1 and Funktionen Part 2 see deep house and dub techno investigated with some thoughtful pieces for both the lounge and floor. The close of Part 2, is a wonderful circa 90s piece of sci-fi techno; slow and powerful but with just the right amount of assertion.

The German imprint has looked to unknown artists for solo EP projects. Last year Boston’s John Barera was introduced. House is the blueprint, with the US artist and folding in echoes of past incarnations of the sound. Acid lines and raw charges are cut with piano and vocal ensembles for uplifting and downright derelict takes.

PorkFour comes from a different place. Recently featuring on Black/Red, the German artist tangles elements of electro disco with deeper electronica undercurrents to produce special heady works. Rumbling hardware bulges and throbs to the rhythm of a 4/4 beat. The newcomer isn’t above experimentation, with some strange warbling entering V/OCT. Playful at times, poppier at others, PorkFour bends and shapes sounds in the traditions of Rephlex and Toytronic.

Ortloff is a label taking on a spread of sounds but releasing them with a discerning ear. An imprint with a glut of genres and some excellent examples for any electronic music fan.

All releases are available on Ortloff. [Releases page]