Now we bring news of a sequel later in the year, with Eno Piano 2 due to be released on 25 October. It is prefaced by a radio version of 1-1 from Music for Airports, which will no doubt be made available soon. In the meantime, you can enjoy being reacquainted with the full version below:
BUNKR‘s third album is centred around Antenne, a 24-hour pirate station transmitting instrumental music only, “devoid of any human voice to provide us with clues. No big ups for the SW9 crew, no ads for the turbo-sound rave with safe security. The 97.9 FM frequency was vibrant with all manner of cosmic, unending playlists of widescreen techno, breakbeats, ambient washes and occasional forays into obscure German synth music.”
The commentary goes on. “Who or what was behind Antenne we may never know; without doubt the unknown makes it all the more alluring. But this album serves to keep the memory of Antenne alive along with the countless other faceless pirate stations from the golden era of electronic music. Just maybe those radio waves continue to hurtle through space like gradually decaying echoes from a once brave new world, readying to connect with our brothers and sisters on the back side of the sun.
Antenne transmitted and informed, we listened and absorbed.”
What’s the music like?
The concept is an ideal one for BUNKR’s music – which could indeed have been teleported from 1996 – but has certainly come via a contemporary mind that knows how to make things fit in the modern world. Antenne flows beautifully, like one of those DJ sets, with BUNKR – aka James Dean – securing music of great fluidity and no little energy.
The beats have more breaks this time round, and his music feels faster, the likes of I Feel Eye See, Controller 29 and Nectar Rushes tearing up ground with very different beats, as they cleverly and energetically intertwine their loops. There is still room for the slower atmospheric grooves we know he can produce, Ceres Outpost and Waiting In Tofino the pair of beauties appearing on here. Meanwhile Oriam Speedway works intricate bleeps and percussion into formation.
Does it all work?
It does. BUNKR’s music is as expressive as ever, the moody soundscapes painting many a picture – and working so well in instrumental form. The greater variety of beats is the icing on the cake.
Is it recommended?
Enthusiastically. James Dean is a prolific writer – this is his third long player in five years – but each one adds a thrilling chapter to what is turning into a compelling story. If atmospheric electronic grooves are your thing, then you need look no further.
With two decades of cutting edge pop music behind them, Eva Padberg and Niklas Worgt return with a slick set of tunes and grooves, described as “their most multifaceted and layered long player yet”.
What’s the music like?
Punchy, poppy and very enjoyable. The pair know how to write a good pop song, and the ten nuggets here are very well formed and extremely well executed.
Hooks, lithe bass lines and supple rhythms are in plentiful supply, and the strap lines are brilliantly delivered. In Between captures all of these qualities, its leading line – “that’s where you’ll find me” – doing the trick. Meanwhile songs like It’s All Yours have a great match of riffing and rhythm.
Does it all work?
It does – the only complaint being that it’s all over a bit too soon.
Is it recommended?
It is. This is an upfront score of electro pop tunes, winningly delivered.
Marshall Jefferson needs no introduction as a house music master, for he is one of the genre’s cornerstone names, a founder member of house in its Chicago form.
If he had only made a single record – Move Your Body – Jefferson would already be of great importance to house music. Yet he used that as a springboard to decades of a consistently good output, where he crossed over easily to pop circles – or kept in with the deeper stuff.
With this House Masters compilation Defected have managed to assemble a set of 40 tracks from 1987 to 2022, no doubt overcoming a number of licensing issues on the way.
What’s the music like?
Consistently good – and often goose bump-inducing. Naturally the compilation starts with the piano-led Move Your Body, a bona fine classic – but it is the first of many, including a couple of the best cuts from Ten City, the quartet with whom Jefferson made house and disco-infused pop. The joyous, spring-loaded That’s The Way Love Is only gets better with age, likewise Devotion and Love Is Just A Game.
The deeper side makes itself known with the spaced-out Mushrooms shows how well he does the deeper side of things. The creeping chord sequence of The Cow (Is Already Waiting) works well, as do the volleys of percussion in Raindance.
Remixes and co-productions also feature, and Mission is slower – if a bit smoother. Vicky Martin’s Not Gonna Do It, meanwhile, is a classic extended mix. Other highlights are On The House’s Pleasure Control, a funky treat with busy piano, and Virgo’s R U Hot Enough, an excellent brass and piano workout. Ragtyme’s I Can’t Stay Away is a big room vocal winner, another linkup with Stingily, while Richard Rogers’ Can’t Stop Loving You features a particularly smoky trumpet.
Does it all work?
It does – a generously filled and well linked collection, partying its way through two hours.
Is it recommended?
Wholeheartedly – and more than that, it is an essential part of house music’s history lesson.
BUNKR, an electronic musician whose first two albums have been greatly appreciated on these pages, is back with a third album.
Antenne is due on Friday 28 June – and if you head on over to Bandcamp on the page below you can hear the first excerpt from it, Ceres Outpost. The signs are good for a quality third opus! Keep coming back here to find out more in the next 10 days…
