The first album review of 2014 – yes, we are starting again, blogging on a more frequent basis now. Starting with the upcoming release of hfn29, the compilation called “dock1”, featuring a lot of new artists! Electronica, indiepop, film noir fans will definitely have to purchase at least a few tracks of this album. Enjoy!

Label. hfn music

Artist. Various Artists
Title. dock1
Format.
Cat.Number. hfn29
Release Date. 24.02.2014
Distribution.
Domain. http://hfn-music.com/releases/various-artists/coming-soon-hfn-presents-dock1

“Founded in 2009 and going into its 5th year of existence the Hamburg-based label hfn music has evolved into an established name within the field in between the Indie-and club scene.

Thirty releases strong the label has become a firm home for a string of artists and ever since has been keeping an eye out for amazing talent. The results are pretty clear: the great and ever busy Kasper Bjørke has released two excellent albums (‘Standing On Top Of Utopia’ & ‘Fool’ ) and a massive remix compilation via hfn music whilst outstanding acts like Darkness Falls, Human Woman and Reptile Youth all debuted with hfn to international acclaim.

Not to forget the allover success of the label’s initial release – Trentemøller’s legendary mix compilation ‘Harbour Boat Trips 01 – Copenhagen’ which still is referred to as all-time favourite from various sides of the musical spectrum. And it is Anders Trentemøller himself who runs the highly successful hfn music sister label In My Room as an exclusive outfit for his very own musical vision.

With this musical backing hfn music’s plans are set for 2014 and with the brand new seven track compilation ‘dock 1’ we are proud to introduce and serve not only selected and exclusive material for your listening pleasure but also our extended hfn music artist roster for the very first time.

Apart from Darkness Falls, Kasper Bjørke and Ebb who are recently working on new albums, we’re sending a warm welcome to our new signings and family members Faded Ranger, Fangs, Gry and Small Mountain, which are lined up for forthcoming releases and/or collaborations in the future.”

Track list:

01 Kasper Bjørke “Kalopsia”; 2014 | Produced by Kasper Bjørke
02 Fangs “Seagulls”; 2014 | Produced by Jordan Lieb | Vocals by Jordan Lieb
03 Darkness Falls “Moonlight”; 2014 | Produced by Josephine Philip, Ina Lindgreen | Vocals by Josephine Philip
04 Ebb “Turn Around”; 2014 | Produced by Ebb | Vocals by Ebb
05 Gry “Confusion”; 2014 | Produced by Francis Harris, Jordan Lieb | Vocals by Gry Bagøien
06 Small Mountain “Creatures feat. Lynes”; 2014 | Produced by Small Mountain | Vocals by Small Mountain
07 Faded Ranger “Pretty Colors (Instrumental)”; 2014 | Produced by Neville Attree and Nicholas Maurer

Selected Track by Track Review:
01 Kasper Bjørke “Kalopsia”

Kasper Bjørke is definitely one of my favourite artists. Unlike the sounds he produced for his album “Fool” this track seems to be a lot heavier. The track is described as a “flawless KrautDisco effort” and was produced exclusively for this compilation.

02 Fangs “Seagulls”

Sounds like a bit like country music, mixed with Fritz Kalkbrenner-style easiness – this track is something you will not hear easily these days. A gem between modern productions!
A little bit information on FANGS:
Fangs is the solo acoustic project of musician/producer Jordan Lieb. Conceived, written and recorded in his bedroom in 2006, this collection of seven songs captures a raw, personal tale of this musician’s mind. Fangs’ lyrics are often dark and otherworldly, telling stories of love, wonder, dreams and death. Fangs is a little world of magic, woven by erie and longing vocals, delicate harmonies and earthy hand percussion. Created in a little over a week, this album is a gem from the heart and mind of this songwriter.
Jordan Lieb, born in Chicago and living in New York, is a life long musician, producer and songwriter. Some of his other projects – spanning into electronic music and beyond – are Black Light Smoke, Tiger Fingers, John Hughes Daydream and Glory Club. Jordan is also a prolific studio engineer, helping to create the sound for the New York label Scissor & Tread, as well as many bands and musicians, both local and abroad.
A Chicago native now living in New York, Jordan Lieb has been creating sound his entire life. With a variety that verges on personality disorder- from his electro duet Tiger Fingers (HFN Records) to his psych-acoustic solo act, Fangs- Jordan’s work is constantly expanding into new territories.
As an engineer and producer, he has shaped records for many artists such as Jason Poranski, of Beirut, and JD Samson & MEN. He is also an Emmy Award winning composer for his work in television and film.
In 2010 Jordan invented Black Light Smoke, helping inspire the inception of the label Scissor and Thread. He’s had phenomenal success producing and touring his live act, melding analog house, post-punk and 80’s ballad anthems- a sound both new and nostalgic. His first two EPs, Switch Back and Lovework, found an immediate home with vinyl DJs, being charted by the likes of Andrew Weatherall and DJ T.
For my friend Alessio Mereu from amam, he collaborated on the track “Hypochondriac” (remix). Looking forward to more to come!

03 Darkness Falls “Moonlight”

This track by the Danish duo Darkness Falls could work as soundtrack for a summer holiday video. One track to add on the summer 2014 playlist!

04 Ebb “Turn Around”
Reminding me of Swiss/American musicians Lapcat in a way, Ebb is definitely an artist to watch in 2014 if you like indietronic music.


WHO IS EBB?!
Sweden’s Ebb is a songwriter and musician from the heart who turned his head into the production of electronic music.
Starting from scratch with his acoustic guitar as a weapon of choice when it comes to sketches, layouts and melodies before each song is steadily processed into its final, more electronic form Ebb’s productions can be seen as an amalgamation of two worlds, bringing out the best of both within in each and every song.
Having been musically compared to the likes of Four Tet, Sigur Rós, Múm and The Broadway Project his work as a songwriter, producer and musician has led to collaborations with and remixes for artists all over the place whilst his own music has been reworked by the likes of Jori Hulkkonen and Andreas Tilliander. These remixes to scored high positions in playlists of clubs and radio in the UK and even resulted in a musical feature in the BBC show ”Long Way Down” starring Ewan McGregor.
Furthermore Ebb has been playing live in Sweden and the UK including well-received performances at BBC Radio 2 and Radio 4 as well as branching out into the world of writing and performing music for dance performances
His debut album “Loona” was awarded Sweden’s most prestigious independent music award – the Manifest prize – for BEST ELECTRONIC ALBUM in February 2007. “Loona” will be re-issued via hfn music in 2014 with two additional, previously unreleased songs that were written at the same time as the other songs on the album.
The timeless music on “Loona” is a sweet introduction to Ebb’s musical spheres which will be even expanding with his sophomore longplay affair that’s currently in the making although not scheduled for a specific date yet

05 Gry “Confusion”

Another artists hfn introduced to me via this nice compilation: GRY.
Born in 1975’s Denmark but raised in Mozambique until the age of 10, Gry started to write her own songs when returning to Denmark and Norway – a reaction to her new surrounding as a kid who had never seen the western world before.
Exploring a musical range in between acapella, electronic and pop she quickly developed a distinct style of her own that’s way beyond pure singing but includes looped vocals and experimentalism, field recordings and complex melodies as well as rhythmical patterns.
Following idiosyncratic logical paths her multi-languaged vocals deal with the universal themes of love, life and death, capturing crowds with her outstanding voice embodying exceptional originality and beauty whilst re-creating all of her songs from scratch when being onstage – breathing the smell of avant-garde whenever performing in front of an audience.
Musicwise Gry has been teaming up with the sound experimentalist Jacob Kirkegaard with whom she founded the sound art group Æter (Ether) in the early 90s. Together they released the longplay piece “Luftantenner” that was built from sound recordings captured all over Europe.
Together with the legendary Einstürzende Neubauten-drummer FM Einheit she formed the band GRY in 1996 which toured Europe and the US to great success and released the albums “Touch Of E” and “Public Recordings” as well as the radio play “Frost”. Throughout the studio recording process GRY was joined by highly respected artists such as Pan Sonic, Funkstörung and Casper Brötzmann for features.
Besides that Gry realized an opera named “Idea” for Resonance FM / London and released the album “Love” with her band offshoot The Loverz as well as her solo CD “Anima” in 2009 on her own label Present Records which she set up after moving to Berlin.
Furthermore Gry branched out to the art of film, studying at the academy of Media Arts Cologne graduating with the sound art film “Wiiiu Whit Grrr” featuring her singing and talking with animals.
Currently Gry is working with B’klyn-based musician and producer Francis Harris who featured her voice prominently on his latest album “Leland”. These days they’re outlining schmes for Gry’s new solo album that is roughly set for release via Scissor And Thread in 2014.

06 Small Mountain “Creatures feat. Lynes”

Okay, this track is mesmerizing, because it is a freaking crazy composition of vocals on the melody lines! One artist to watch.
Small Mountain is an Amsterdam based producer who creates surreal stories in the form of music. Most of his creations are Electronica focused whereas some of them suddenly make a turn and become the complete opposite. When this happens, you can expect a weird dream experience driven by his music. What sets him apart from others is his feeling, understanding and devotion for music and film.
Besides creating and performing, Small Mountain likes doing business. He founded 2 companies, Orphism and the Small Mountain Agency. Both companies are focused on placing extraordinary music into films, commercials, games, apps and many more.

07 Faded Ranger “Pretty Colors (Instrumental)”

Wrapping up this nice compilation are Nick and Neville from Faded Ranger. This track will be released as vocal version as well, really looking forward to this one.