Uturn 1: An Exploration in Trance

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Artoffact Records presents the Uturn Series, a collection of releases in sleek crystal slimline cases dedicating to injecting club oriented dance music into the electro scene. Each release will be a collaboration between two artists, one on the Artoffact label and one from one of our partners. Together, our collective goal is to produce quality releases aimed at DJ culture and geared towards electro music built on techno and trance sound structures. The aim is to move the body and offer an alternative in the electronic mix.

Tracks:

Als die Gotter Fleisch wurden
Grind
Hass Kot
Kruegers Krieger
The Earl [DJ Hellraver remix]
Optics
Probe
Surface
Valve

Album Description

Artoffact Records presents the Uturn Series, a collection of releases in sleek crystal slimline cases dedicating to injecting club oriented dance music into the electro scene. Each release will be a collaboration between two artists, one on the Artoffact label and one from one of our partners. Together, our collective goal is to produce quality releases aimed at DJ culture and geared towards electro music built on techno and trance sound structures. The aim is to move the body and offer an alternative in the electronic mix.

Customer Reviews:

One flaw - too short!.......2003-03-22

What a great idea ArtofFact Records came up with - take a couple of already talented EBM artists and have them apply their talents to a new musical genre - trance. It's a project that I hope continues, as both participating bands, Massiv in Mensch and Negative Format, seem to embrace the new style wholeheartedly.

Massiv in Mensch is a German outfit whose previous album, Belastendes Material, is an extremely well-produced work. However, hit songs like "Offensivschock" are strongly reminiscent of Front 242. But the tracks on Uturn 1 are wholly their own, pulsing with unique energy and innovation. "Grind" in particular shifts gears constantly, daring the listener's attention to wander. MiM obviously took their trance-project experience to heart, as their follow-up album, Die Rein, is a masterful fusion of hard EBM and trance - their trademark light humor and unexpectedness are hard to resist. Could the Uturn tracks have marked a turning point in their career? Time will tell, but it certainly seems so at the moment.

Alex Matheu's Negative Format project was also similarly affected. Before Uturn 1, his previous work (Distant Pulses, for example) was good, but more influenced than innovative. But the four instrumental tracks here all point to a new direction, especially the absolutely hypnotic "Surface." And like MiM, his following works (the EP Static and full-length Cipher Method) took a huge leap forward. It's almost as if the trance experiment of Uturn awakened a slumbering part of his programming.

All told, this is a fantastic collection to listen to on its own merit. The sole problem is just as soon as you get into it, it's over, with each band contributing only four tracks each. You're left wanting more.....which I'm sure is the point. When listened to in the context of each band's career, Uturn 1 represents a bridge between phases for both Massiv in Mensch and Negative Format - it's the change that's most delightful to witness. If you like what you've heard here, definitely look into Die Rein and Cipher Method - you'll see what I mean.

Here's hoping ArtofFact's Uturn series continues!

Music: