Sandwell District goes dark

Sandwell District goes dark

2 January, 2012 | 4.49AM

• Written by: Beatportal
• Filed under: Music News: female, function, regis, sandwell district, silent servant

Sandwell District isn’t the most secretive outfit in underground dance music; they don’t wear masks, like SBTRKT or Redshape, and they’re not anonymous, like Burial once was. Nevertheless, the British label and artist collective has become known as one of techno’s shadowiest operators, preferring cryptic communiqués to cut-and-dried PR. Female, Function, Regis and Silent Servant may comprise the collective’s principals, but even on the group’s landmark 2010 album Feed Forward, it was unclear who was doing what, exactly.

Now Sandwell District complicates the mystery with a new post to the group’s WhereNext? Tumblr, its preferred method of communication.

In a statement titled “New Values,” they write, “Beginning the 31st of December 2011, regular audio communications from Sandwell District will cease. All vinyl artifacts have been decommissioned. There is a possibility of future, albeit regular, print communications with audio accompaniment.”

They go on to explain that “the Sandwell experiment will exist through live actions,” closing with the pronouncement, “Statis is death. See you on the other side.”

As they shuffle off their mortal coil, we highlight a few key releases from the Sandwell District catalog; just click “Continue reading” below, and visit WhereNext? to download “(Sounds) Quarterly #1,” a free mixtape featuring contemporary artists like Regis, Sandwell District, and Powell alongside electronic classics from Cabaret Voltaire, Delia Derbyshire and Throbbing Gristle.

Sandwell District is dead. Long live Sandwell District!

Sandwell District – Feed Forward Versions (2011)

Sandwell District’s masterful album Feed Forward, originally released on vinyl in 2010, gets a set of subtle tweaks in this digital release, including reworks from Regis and Function and a live version of “Svar.” All six tracks are killers; “Grey Cut Out (Sandwell Version)” and “Falling The Same Way (Regis Mix)” stand out for their unusual sense of lightness, even optimisim.

Function – Variance 3-4 (2009)

Berlin’s own Marcel Dettmann—a man whose name has synonymous with an entire style of sooty, mindbendingly intense techno—turns up to rework Function in his inimitable style; the Regis mix is also a corker, with one of the sickest kick-drum patterns imaginable.

Various – Untitled 1 (2010)

Detroit-inspired techno-funk, cryptic rhythmic tools and extreme bleep minimalism from Function, Silent Servant and CH-Signal Laboratories (8003 Lucerne).

Various – Untitled 2 (2010)

Regis remixes Female into a lurching, syncopated form akin to the abstractions of T++ or Shackleton, teetering in the balance between techno and dubstep.

Silent Servant – Negative Fascinations (2009)

Beyond the familiar pings and bleeps of “Discipline,” there’s an eerie tonal undercurrent that has more in common with ambient music.

Function – Variance (2009)

The mysterious CH-Signal Laboratories (8003 Lucerne) delivers a bleepy, steppy remix for Function, with the 808 in fine form.

Function – Isolation (2008)

Bleeping and pinging, this two-tracker is essential for fans of Sleep Archive, Pan Sonic and classic Plastikman.

Female – Cally (2005)

Dirty, rubbery minimalist techno that, seven years later, sounds simply timeless.

Silent Servant – The Silent Morning (2006)

Along with trim dub techno and a grittier, more distorted version of the same, the EP is notable for “The Silent Morning,” a perfect four minutes of melancholic dark ambient.

CH-Signal Laboratories (8003 Lucerne) – Hypnotica Scale (2008)

A wooden tumble of clicks and thumps, a tangle of polyrhythms—minimal techno at its trippiest.

Silent Servant – The Blood of Our King (2008)

“Doom Deferred” is clanging dub techno with a cavernous Berghain vibe; “Disciple to Master” is an ominous reduction channeling vintage Autechre via Basic Channel.

Function – Anticipation (2008)

Two indispensable tools for a late-night spiral into stripped-down delirium.

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