Mechatronica’s first 12” has married a range of electro styles, cementing a solid footing for further excursions; whether these outings will range into different genres, time will tell.
A new electro label? A brave endeavor five or six years ago but the desire for frosted machine funk is plain to see. The success of labels such as Shipwrec, Solar One Music, CPU and Brkntoys are proof of a growing audience, not to mention forerunners like Abstract Forms and Cultivated Electronics.
Now it’s tricky to pin Mechatronica as an “electro” label. Past events at their eponymous Berlin club night do lean towards the colder edge of electronics. Names like DMX Krew, Morphology and Dez Williams jump from past flyers; but warmer tones are also present with Vertical 67 and Sneak Thief. Nevertheless, their first outing is definitely from the certain corner of machine music.
The EP is a balance of established talent and upcoming names. -=UHU=- is not new to the scene, the Latvian has graced the likes of Transient Force and Frigio as well as setting up his own -=Universal Human Underground=- Records platform. Despite this past activity, recent years have been quiet on the output front. “Never See” is his first appearance on vinyl in quite some time and it’s a curious return. Heavily distorted bass and crushed percussion is the bedrock from which bleep and plink echo and trill. The track is at once dark and, dare it be said, uplifting with its harsh currents and ghostly samples countered by that playful synthline. The compilation has a juxtaposed quality running throughout. Privacy delivers skewed sounds, warm notes chilled by haunting strings and shrouded vocals. The track is at once complex yet has a broken edge which pulls it towards the floor. Etcher enters with some of his trademark acid, the machines of house melting some of the arctic chords. The biggest names open. Sync 24 hooks up with Luke Eargoggle for a sinister piece of grooving electronics. Biting bars and swirling winds are met by fractured samples in the aptly titled “Broken Electronix.”
It’s always encouraging to see a label grow out of a club night. There’s that sense that the foundations are there, connections have been made and an identity has been established. But the proof is in the eating, or in the vinyl. Mechatronica’s first 12” has married a range of electro styles, cementing a solid footing for further excursions; whether these outings will range into different genres, time will tell.
MTRON001 is available on Mechatronica.
