Macro Germany Vinilo y CD

Review: Just when you'd thought the days of beat banging the locked grooves of Jeff Mills for hours had been consigned to techno history, the vinyl trickery seems to be enjoying something of a resurgence of late. Berlin type Stefan Goldmann takes it to the extreme on his latest opus, The Grand Hemiola, which offers up a bewildering 144 locked grooves across a variety of polyrhythms. Needless to say it's all a bit too high concept for us to attempt an explanation but the possibilities seem very interesting. Goldmann deems to include six traditional album cuts as well which tend to congregate around the more abstract corners of the techno spectrum.

Review: Macro founders Stefan Goldmann and Finn Johansen have taken an interesting approach to this first label compilation, a celebration of the imprint's first five years. Between them, they've decided on an agreed tracklist, before proceeding to mix the same tracks - straight from the vinyl releases -in their own inimitable styles. So, the first disc boasts Johansen's take, an experimental, slightly meandering trawl through atmospheric techno, heady electronica and warped tech-house. On the second disc, Goldmann re-orders the same cuts, providing a solid dancefloor pulse and club-friendly take that uses the more downtempo moments as a blissful conclusion. Interesting stuff, all told.

Review: KiNK's technical prowess has long been a known trait of the Bulgarian producer's music, and here on Marco he gets to stretch-out his intellectual, avant garde-self more than what he's ever done for other labels like Burek, Ovum, Boe or liebe*detail. After a long career which, release-wise, dates back to 2005, he's delivered for the most-part straight up house and techno. But here, after all these years, his debut LP sees KiNK twist his synths and contort his grooves to sound, well, very Macro. Take the confused bleeps and brash drums of "Summa Technologiae" and "Kakavida" or the interdimesional electronics and Hare Krishna chinqs of "Povreda" for example. But for some real dancefloor toughness it's tracks like "Sintezator" and "Source OF Uncertainty" that do the trick, while for something a little more disco look out for the album's penultimate track "Tel". Go KiNK!

Review: Oliver Ho has been making standout house and techno for over ten years now. As he continues to develop his sound under his Raudive moniker, he drops the experimental and unique yet wonderfully intriguing "Paper" EP on Macro.


Throughout those years, we have seen a variety of styles from Ho. We saw the deep and dark tribal sound of his Universal album and then dark and abstract sound of his Veil album. His funkier house sound also seeped through under his Birdland project. But it is as Raudive that he blend all these style and ideas into one place. Last year’s "Cone" EP under the moniker was a huge success for Macro, who quickly established him as an important player within their family. Now he returns to the imprint to deliver one of their most club orientated, yet distinctively forward thinking EPs, "Paper."



After the percussive, eerie intro of the title track, a subterranean rolling bassline opens up as he takes the tribal sound of his releases and morphs it into a slower, deeper minimal sound that fuses the funk of house and the electronics of techno. Haunting strings scratch over the top, building this strange atmosphere that is then intensified by the injection of power into the beat. It is a truly unique track that bends a sound of its own into a bona fide club tune. "Brittle" takes hypnotism to the next level. Its relentless, repetitious and manic vexation patterns blow you away amid pounding beats and short blasts of vocal loops. "Sienna" winds things down with an experimental vibe that is totally devoid of a beat. Melodic strings play out above the warmth of grainy crackles in this masterpiece.



Macro have built their reputation on providing more than just club music. With a release as different and as cutting-edge as "Paper," it’s no wonder that Raudive has become one of the most important artists for their label.

Review: Oliver Ho seems to be mellowing with age. Once a purveyor of blistering techno, he's now focusing his creative energy on the warm electronica, snappy beats and wide-eyed melodies of his Raudive alias. This second full-length under that pseudonym (the first, Chamber Music, appeared in 2010) is arguably his strongest collection to date. It effortlessly flits between tumbling, bleep heavy wonk-tronica, fuzzy electro, bleary-eyed leftfield deep house (see the alien funk of "African Wig") and well-rounded efforts at downtempo experimentalism. Notably, it also includes a number of tracks peppered with discordant punk-funk sax, which offers Ho opportunities to show off his knowledge of the New York post-punk scene. "Ruins" and, in particular, "Furniture", sound like Konk brought kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

Review: Oliver Ho has been on fine form as Raudive since he relaunched the project gracing Running Back, Get The Curse, History Clock and more with some machine made music blessed with human idiosyncrasies. his Ruins 12" marks the welcome return of Raudive to Stefan Goldmann's Macro imprint following the 2010 LP Chamber and the two tracks sit steadfastly within the boundaries of his new creative direction. There's something a bit DAF to the title track, with Ho's own manipulated vocals seeping through the cracks of his juddering rhythms formed from cascading elements and the nascent proto techno vibes continue on the mutant machine funk of "Visitor".