Obi Blanche / Lost Tapes

Tigerbeat6

Obi Blanche, the man behind the twitching and grinding beats dubbed Hobo-tech by him and his comrades, has come a long way to greet you. From Finland to Berlin this tech-savvy hobo has travelled a winding road to arrive at his current sound. Starting out in his teens producing Hip-Hop beats, Obi progressed through the Mod scene onto IDM and sweaty electro club music as a member of the critically acclaimed New Judas family – all the while playing in several bands like the seminal Ovali Virta and Pets On Prozac. Aside from soundtrack work, DJ gigs and shows across Europe, Obi Blanche has done much loved remixes for The Raveonettes, Boy 8-Bit, Le Corps Mince De Francoise, Kid606, Les Gillettes, Zombie Nation, Norman Palm, KA-SO-RE and Pepe Deluxe. “The Lost Tapes” should have come out years ago, but they didn’t. They’ve been played at parties around the world, streamed on the internet and loaded onto friends’ mp3 players. And yes, also sitting on Obi’s hard drive, anxiously waiting to see the light of day. The tracks on “The Lost Tapes” have never been forgotten, many people have been asking for a release since they’ve first heard the tracks until today, and here it finally is! We guarantee, at first listen you will be a bit shocked by the variety of tracks and almost contradictory nature of the musical statement being made, but eventually you will understand and probably ask yourself “Why aren’t more musicians releasing records like this?” Big four on the floor drum machines collide with chopped up scratchy beats, and raging live guitars sit comfortably alongside squelchy vintage synthesizers. From micro-house to garage rock, nothing is sacred here. The production is dirty, done with loads of hardware gear, i.e. SP-1200, MS-20, 909, analog delays, loopers, guitars and a huge pile of stomp boxes. The main influences are indie music, techno, house and acid – so we understand if you just want to file it under the generic term “Electronica” but make no mistake that “The Lost Tapes” is not generic at all, and is packed with personality and flavor along the lines of great artists like Zongamin, Ark, MR. OIZO, Akufen, Siriusmo and Zombie Nation. These tracks are danceable, but you can also enjoy the album at home and not get bored with extended intros and outros only intended for making DJ’s’ lives easier. The songs have a spontaneous and warm analog feel to them, their own unique touch will make you run from your conversation and turn up the stereo. There is no dead weight or filler on this album like you may sadly hear a lot of these days. These songs are not for feeding the latest internet music consumers’ need for new and “fresh” electronic music – instead, they are time tested and peer approved modern day classics, that we think will work forever.

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