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viewing 1 To 14 of 14 items
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12"
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CURLE 065EP
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Marc Houle needs little introduction, with previous releases on M¦nus, Innervisions and his own label Items & Things. Curle were humbled by the fact that he sent us a bunch of amazing tunes, and were very happy to release them as Medic EP. Banging, melodic, moody, it's all there, pitch-black.
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12"
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MINUS 035-3EP
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180-gram vinyl. Originally released on Richie Hawtin's Minus label in 2004, Marc Houle's full-length debut, Restore, helped to establish his penchant for the quirkier side of techno and his superlative production skills. This is the third EP in the Restored remix project, following MINUS 035-1EP and 035-2EP, and features remixes by Julian Jeweil, Justin James, Monoloc, and Cosmic Boys. "Restore was the beginning of it all for me... I am excited to present... modern interpretations of old tracks by some friends and colleagues who have kept the party going throughout the world." --Marc Houle
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12"
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MINUS 035-2EP
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Printed sleeve; pressed on 180-gram vinyl. Originally released on Richie Hawtin's Minus label in 2004, Marc Houle's full-length debut, Restore, helped to establish his penchant for the quirkier side of techno and his superlative production skills. This is the second EP in the Restored remix project, following MINUS 035-1EP, and features remixes by Joris Voorn, Danny Daze, Harvard Bass, and Popof. "Restore was the beginning of it all for me... I am excited to present... modern interpretations of old tracks by some friends and colleagues who have kept the party going throughout the world." --Marc Houle
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12"
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MINUS 035-1EP
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Pressed on 180-gram vinyl. Originally released on Richie Hawtin's Minus label in 2004, Marc Houle's full-length debut Restore helped to establish his penchant for the quirkier side of techno and his superlative production skills. This EP kicks off the Restored remix project, and features remixes by M.A.N.D.Y. and Monkey Safari; with Houle himself collaborating with vocalist Genevieve Marentette for an edit of "Demor." "Restore was the beginning of it all for me... I am excited to present... modern interpretations of old tracks by some friends and colleagues who have kept the party going throughout the world." --Marc Houle
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2LP
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ITEM 030LP
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CD
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ITEM 030CD
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Marc Houle is back with his latest full-length album entitled Cola Party on his own Items & Things imprint. The album contains nine tracks, with the main singles being "Cola Party" and "I Don't Wanna Know About You." "Cola Party" sets the scene with Houle's textbook pitched-down vocals weaving through tightly programmed drum patterns and heavy low frequencies. "I Don't Wanna Know About You" is a late-night jam whose pulsating lead synth and effortlessly catchy main vocal hook make it one of the more upbeat tracks of the album. Cola Party comes as a long-awaited follow up to Houle's well-received 2012 LP Undercover (ITEM 012CD/LP). As an album, it contains all the elements fans and followers have grown to love with every Marc Houle release; his signature take on techno and jacking, minimalistic funk shines through from start to finish. If anything, the album is a clear example that Houle is still at the top of his game after more than 10 years in the business.
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12"
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ITEM 029EP
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Marc Houle a four-track EP with two original cuts and two remixes: one from Magda, the other from label artist NYMA. True to Items & Things form, "Fusion Pop" acts as an amalgamation of warped sound -- haunting synth lines, jagged bass-lines, eerie vocals and bouncing leads feed the sonic landscape for the 115BPM title-track. On the flip, the acid-infused overtones of "Hello Friend" paint an equally eerie scene. As the distorted repetitions of the male vocal mantra drift off into the ether, steady hats hold the reverberating groove: part Carpenter soundtrack, part twisted after-party anthem.
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2LP
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ITEM 012LP
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Gatefold double LP version. Marc Houle has been famous for his releases on Richie Hawtin's M_nus label. Now the U.S. producer unleashes his brand-new album on his own imprint Items & Things (which is co-owned by Magda and Troy Pierce). Undercover is a double departure. His last album, Drift (MINUS 098CD/LP) was on M_nus, and his label, Items & Things, was a M_nus sub-label. He's now left the label, and Items & Things stands on its own two feet. With this new-found freedom, Marc's synth-driven techno sound continues to grow, evolve and surprise. Nowhere is this growth more evident than in the tracks that make up Undercover. Things kick off with "Hearing," which has a bassline that drives like a vintage Mercedes shifting gears on the Autobahn as it picks up speed. The synths, with their soft melody, let you know how smooth the suspension is while a metallic voice whispers in your ear from the back seat. "Undercover" is a case study in the deep and moody side of old school Chicago house. "Juno 6660" sounds like what could have happened if early Warp artists like LFO and Sweet Exorcist had grown up on NYC freestyle rather than Detroit techno. "Very Bad" is actually very good, so Marc must be referring to something else entirely. "Bink" sounds like it's from an old music box that's been wound up just a little too far, held steady only by 4/4 beat, acid house claps and bouncy bass. On "Am Am Am," Marc takes things in a bit of an industrial direction. Not the industrial of Nitzer Ebb and Einstürzende Neubauten, but rather, a construction site buried deep inside an unsettling dream. When "Mooder" drops, you wake up slowly and find yourself back on the dancefloor. The track's driving rhythm and pitter-pat toms keep things moving underneath the track's ever-dreamy pads. The album concludes with "Under The Neath," which succeeds in taking things even deeper while at the same time unearthing Marc's roots in the sound of Detroit techno. With influence and inspiration from such diverse sources, Undercover carves out a distinctive flow that is all his own.
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CD
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ITEM 012CD
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Marc Houle has been famous for his releases on Richie Hawtin's M_nus label. Now the U.S. producer unleashes his brand-new album on his own imprint Items & Things (which is co-owned by Magda and Troy Pierce). Undercover is a double departure. His last album, Drift (MINUS 098CD/LP) was on M_nus, and his label, Items & Things, was a M_nus sub-label. He's now left the label, and Items & Things stands on its own two feet. With this new-found freedom, Marc's synth-driven techno sound continues to grow, evolve and surprise. Nowhere is this growth more evident than in the tracks that make up Undercover. Things kick off with "Hearing," which has a bassline that drives like a vintage Mercedes shifting gears on the Autobahn as it picks up speed. The synths, with their soft melody, let you know how smooth the suspension is while a metallic voice whispers in your ear from the back seat. "Undercover" is a case study in the deep and moody side of old school Chicago house. "Juno 6660" sounds like what could have happened if early Warp artists like LFO and Sweet Exorcist had grown up on NYC freestyle rather than Detroit techno. "Very Bad" is actually very good, so Marc must be referring to something else entirely. "Bink" sounds like it's from an old music box that's been wound up just a little too far, held steady only by 4/4 beat, acid house claps and bouncy bass. On "Am Am Am," Marc takes things in a bit of an industrial direction. Not the industrial of Nitzer Ebb and Einstürzende Neubauten, but rather, a construction site buried deep inside an unsettling dream. When "Mooder" drops, you wake up slowly and find yourself back on the dancefloor. The track's driving rhythm and pitter-pat toms keep things moving underneath the track's ever-dreamy pads. The album concludes with "Under The Neath," which succeeds in taking things even deeper while at the same time unearthing Marc's roots in the sound of Detroit techno. With influence and inspiration from such diverse sources, Undercover carves out a distinctive flow that is all his own.
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12"
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ITEM 011EP
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Marc Houle explores the mysterious power of plunging basslines and moody synths. On remix duties, Miro Pajic sneaks in, charting a decidedly bleepier course while Bruno Pronsato delivers his signature romantic techno sound. Putting Abraham Lincoln on the cover of a minimal techno record could only be a Canadian's idea.
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2LP
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MINUS 098LP
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CD
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MINUS 098CD
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This is Marc Houle's first CD album for M_nus. Drift is an album of tracks inspired by the prolonged Berlin winter, and the depression, which it so often causes -- from the chill of the coldest nights felt on tracks such as "Inside" and "The Next," through to songs that encompass the frustrations of gray skies such as "Seeing In The Dark." Marc has created a season of emotions, and in doing so, put forth his own personal frustrations towards what is considered "techno" in its most basic form. Locking himself away during a winter season to fully embrace his own idealism has resulted in an album on which his rebellious nature and desire for a more experimental musical mentality has cast him further from the standard practice of the techno underworld. His grievances are at their most clear on the title track, which is an intense, and ultimately angry, techno belter produced as the winter season caused feelings less of "beauty" and more of suffocation. However, Drift is not without moments in which the sunlight peeks through the layers of heavy clouds. Tracks such as "Sweet" and "Hitcher Man" provide the audible interpretation of a person dreaming of warmer climates -- the not-so-forgotten idea of being elsewhere, with the experience of finally seeing the snow fade away and the clouds drift towards springtime skies. By the time the album reaches its finale, it's clear that Marc's winter blues have receded, as the few remaining patches of ice melt into puddles of past musical memories. A mainstay of the M_nus camp, Marc Houle has been known to push the boundaries with his output for the label, always adding tweaks and twists from analog synths, unexpected, obscure sounds, and an onslaught of vocals and playfulness. His take on electronic music is a personal sound that draws upon his early influences from industrial, retro and Detroit, along with a modern vision of path-finding techno. This latest venture for the label, although inspired by the coldest moments of the year, is undoubtedly hot as fire.
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2LP
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MINUS 064LP
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This is the third full-length release by Ontario-based Marc Houle, only released on vinyl. Sixty-Four represents an exciting phase in Marc Houle's production cycle with most of the year having been spent testing ideas for his album. As a result, these seven tracks were only ever meant to represent "works in progress", functioning primarily as DJ tools for Magda, Troy Pierce and Richie Hawtin . However, exactly because of their "inbetween" nature, their inherent quirkiness and route one approach, the crowds have really taken to them and other DJs have been desperate to get their hands on them. The resulting carefully selected tracks contain such a wealth of unique and twisted sounds as Houle attacks each idea with verve and tenacity, constantly varying the unconventional line up of machines at his disposal. In fact, there's a vast collection of equipment on display here -- early analogue synths, sequencers and drum machines, '80s digital synths, modern Buchla synths, samplers, vocals, acoustic drums, electronic trigger pads, bass guitar -- even a VST! The result is a plethora of sound, encapsulating different styles and multi-colored dimensions as each track revolves around a musical motif that's subsequently stretched, contorted and wrenched in every direction possible. Just check out the heavily treated raw bleeps and blips that usher in the huge, filtered bass loop on "Sands," the lush analogue landscape on the fantastically titled "Meatier Shower," and the tasty electro-funk groove of "Ketchup and Beans." It all works perfectly as Houle never loses sight of the basic orthodoxes needed to make a techno track kick.
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12"
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MINUS 050EP
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To mark the label's 50th release, Marc Houle gets back to the basics with two raw, stripped-down future classics. On "Techno Vocals" each sound commands its own space: rigid drum patterns, analog explosions, regimented snare rolls, laser-guided effects and delayed bleeps match a perfect, pitched-down vocal hook. "On It" revolves around a heavily filtered melodic bass riff and a choice selection of rough, old school samples and moody bass variations that give the track its distinctive flavor.
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viewing 1 To 14 of 14 items
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