The Horizont EP is a collaboration between Dutch-Canadian techno producer apaull and Detroit’s «Prince of Techno» Blake Baxter. apaull is a Dutch-Canadian electronic music producer and DJ, focusing primarily on the techno and house genres. With 16 releases in the last two years, on his label Furnace Room Records, apaull has worked with the likes of John Selway, Abe Duque, Neil Landstrumm, Christian Smith, Dave Clarke, and now Blake Baxter on various aspects of his musical project:
«I try to create the best art I can. Working with these industry stalwarts has been a great way to learn, push myself and create my own sound,» says apaull.
Blake Baxter is a pioneer of Detroit Techno music, and one of the creators of the Detroit Techno sound. He is a heavyweight with an unmistakable provenance. Blake was part of the first wave of Detroit House and Techno DJs and producers. He has released on notable labels such as Underground Resistance and Tresor.
He has worked with a variety of producers over the years on musical collaborations and you can hear his unmistakable sound coming through on each production. «It was a great honor for me to work with Blake on this EP. I think we were able to perfectly package both of our approaches and musical aesthetics into a pleasing result,» says apaull.
The release theme is about finding the horizon (or «horizont», in German) and using it, as an old-school sailor would, to chart your course. There are pitfalls, traps, and devastation along the way. That adversity is a chisel that, like water running down a stream, shapes you and the path you follow, which unfortunately never goes straight from point A to point B.
Thus opens the mix Ypsi 3.3 B.A.M that was made with Greg Stafford. «A driving bass-line and stabby keys pushes this techno, with hazy shades of electro, track into Baxter’s trademark vocals, commingling with apaull’s more disembodied vocals. I don’t know, but, I’ve been told. Find the horizon before you get old.”
While the sound is permeated by all the baggage of both, with the characteristic funk of the early Detroit Techno years of the late nineties, at the same time as the apaull‘s House mark. While the vocals, distinctive of that old-school techno, bring it up to date in contemporaneity.
«The Trapped mix imagines that you are stuck and trapped. What do you do then and how do you find your horizon? Dipped in acid vibes, this track emotes urgency and confinement. Claustrophobia, in this instance spells paralysis; resilience and determination lead to the freedom that can be found just over the horizon», that’s about it, says apaull.
The Trapped mix is a club injection, reminiscent of those early nights in Detroit when young people were entering the small but famous party circuit that techno brought forth. Maybe that’s why the vocals «trapped» feel like when the night completely imbued you and drove you out until dawn the next day. With very sensual and fresh rhythms, which also see the acid drops of Chicago House Acid emerge, everything is tinged with lysergic and a lot of sonic strength.
Everything reaches the climax of the night, of the sound and its intensity, which comes out of the sound layers, leaving us in the middle of off atmospheres and immersive silences. The sound synthesis makes the temporary bridge between Detroit techno and its export to Europe. Where will it go first, being already on the other side?
apaull regarding the final mixes: «The ‘All In’ and ‘ Instrumental ‘ mixes deliver pure Detroit old school vibes or as Abe Duque puts it: ‘The good sh*t’ . The ‘All In mix’ features the estuarine blending of Baxter’s soothing vocals with apaull’s more dismal intonations over crystalline beats. The ‘Instrumental mix’ strips all this way so you can just groove to the vibe.
The All In mix is an ode to the classic sound. Its sound structure, as well as the atmosphere generated with it; the funk groove, and the precise vocals. The intensity of the rhythm and its cadence. As well as the use of rudimentary simple machines, but not for that reason, simple -remember: electronics, from Detroit, and before that from Chicago, opens to infinity. So much so that the «horizon» vocals feel nostalgic, but at the same time projectors of the future.
The Instrumental mix lets our imagination run wild, allowing itself to be excited by perception, which in turn has gone into full throttle with the sound of apaull and Blake Baxter. With slight variations, among which I highlight the effects that feel like temporary loops, the quality of this mix lies in freezing time, even as the sound continues its march. In this way, the night undergoes two treatments: it is frozen in time, becoming infinite, and it is looked at with nostalgia since its becoming is always the day.
That’s for the sound. For the visual concept, the «Horizont» lettering on the cover is the work of famed Brooklyn artist Al Diaz. Al was selected for his unique art and as an ode to the counterculture and what should be its confluence with art. «Al Diaz’s career spans five decades. By the age of 15, he was the renowned subway graffiti artist known as «BOMB-ONE.» His friendship and collaboration with his high school classmate Jean-Michel Basquiat on SAMO® (an avant-garde graffiti project), and the iconic hip-hop record, «Beat Bop» are notable in contemporary art history. His mixed media work is exhibited and collected internationally.
Label: Furnace Room Records
Artist: apaull / Blake Baxter
Title: Horizont
Format: EP
Release Formats: Digital
Cat. No. FRR018
Distribution: Superstition
Domain: www.apaull.com
Release Date: September 20th, 2024
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Tracklist
01. Horizont ft. Greg Stafford (Ypsi 3.3 B.A.M mix)
02. Horizont (Trapped mix)
03. Horizont (All In mix)
04. Horizont (Instrumental mix)
apaull
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Blake Baxter
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Furnace Room Records
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