(06.11.07) Outside of Detroit, The Netherlands is the home of electro. Labels like Clone, Bunker and Viewlexx have all added their own slant to electro. Another imprint has been doing the same since 2002, releasing uncompromising raw electro cuts: Marguerita Recordings. The Utrecht based label was formed by Ben Spaander aka Cosmic Force, an artist some will know for his solid electro pieces on Clone. For five years now, Marguerita has been putting out records by Cosmic Force, under a number of aliases, Dexter and D.I.E. The most recent excursion by the dutch imprint is by one of the daddies of the
electro scene. Many will know him as Urban Tribe, but this compilation comes to you under his disc jockey form: Drexciyan DJ Stingray. Retrospective Studio X 1996-2002 is a non-stop mix showcasing Cosmic Force under a number of pseudonyms from across his discography.
Electro is an underground entity. It can be difficult to discover who is making this stripped analogue music, especially those making it well. Too many times minimal electro isn’t clever enough, it seems happy to loop endlessly without any change. Marguerita is different to these run of the mill labels. With Cosmic Force at the helm, the label has released some wicked pieces. But Retrospective Studio X 1996-2002 is not just about Marguerita, the mix is a bringing together of Cosmic Force, Double Dutch, Ototax and Proskool tracks taken from Clone, Marguerita and Phlegmatik. If there is one creature constructed to execute this mix it is the marble fingered Drexciyan DJ Stingray. The mix moves seamlessly from Cosmic Force’s early releases to his most recent material. Sometimes mixes of one musical style can get a little tedious, but Retrospective Studio X 1996-2002 is forty-two minutes of innovative electro. Spaander’s tracks move from dark
sinister electro into acidic knob twiddling, techno beat sharpness into gurgling analogue squalor. Tempos raise and shift in this compilation, cross fading from crisp Detroit snares into distorted 303 beats.
This mix is Marguerita Recordings’ manifesto; raw electro sounds for the 21st. DJ Stingray is the orator of this message, his decks the loudspeakers shouting a mantra of analogue street aggro among the populace. The compilation tells the story behind both artist and imprint, outlining the development and history of each. Retrospective Studio X 1996-2002 will
give the listener a blueprint for what Marguerita is trying to accomplish, release vintage coarse analogue sound for a new time.
Retrospective Studio X 1996-2002 is out now on Marguerita. [Purchase]
