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2LP
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PFR 039LP
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The electronic musician and Poker Flat founder's contemplative new studio album takes in minimal house music, moody techno and effervescent breaks across 11 unique tracks. His previous LP Paradise Sold (PFR 037LP) alongside Langenberg was released in 2018 to critical acclaim. Never Ending Winding Roads is an entirely solo release however, with much of it produced during the months of enforced isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many of the track titles reflect Steve's headspace during this time, with themes of solitude, contemplation and reflection brought to the fore perhaps more than with any of his previous work. Steve's formative musical years were spent during Germany's techno and acid-house heyday, with his love for a perfect groove as apparent now as it was back then. His DJ skills and a keen, innovative ear led him not down the typical path of the early nineties trance and harder dance scene, but instead towards a fresher, hybrid sound --merging stripped deep house, tweaked out acid and more minimal forms of techno and electronic music: a strand of music he fiercely champions to this day. With 11 brand new tracks, Never Ending Winding Roads is a meticulously produced and deeply engaging electronic album; one that explores various shades of house, techno and broken beat with Steve's celebrated attention to detail and consummate originality. Album opener "Lucid Loops" perfectly sets the tone, immediately ensnaring you with a hypnotic, undulating synth line and a faintly menacing undertone thanks to hushed, discordant strings and unnerving vocal stabs. This atmosphere of quiet paranoia permeates many of the tracks on Never Ending Winding Roads, most explicitly in the sinewy groove and sketchy, panic-inducing synth line of "Locked Away In My Head". This album more than perhaps any other in his career sees Steve experimenting with broken-beats, to incredible effect. Tracks like "A Conscious Machine" and "Electro Harmonix" are melodic, emotionally-rich cuts: burst of radiant optimism that juxtapose beautifully with the album's darker moments. Elsewhere tracks like "Yellow Snake" find Steve exploring deep, dubby territory, while album closer "Upon Mountains" is a cosmic, arpeggiated masterpiece: an 8-bit computer game soundtrack reimagined as a poignant electro ballad. Includes download code.
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12"
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PFR 150EP
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Celebrating the 150th vinyl EP release, and as a prelude to 15 years of Poker Flat Recordings, Steve Bug returns to his own label to drop a sizzling three-track EP of powerful, seductive house music. "Pelican Glide" exhibits his trademark driving grooves and highly effective off-kilter synths. Fellow Berliners youANDme yield a remix of "Pelican Glide" which transforms the track into something spacey and cinematic, before subtly reintroducing Steve Bug's killer synth line. Also gracing this release is "Till It's Gone," built around a tough-as-nails house groove, and coupled with a breathy, alluring vocal from Delhia De France.
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