Phantasy 100: PH41 – PH50



PH41

Cowboy Rhythmbox 'We Got The Box' was their debut release on Phantasy, out on 10th November 2014 on 12" vinyl and copies are sold out.

Erol Alkan: "I've known both Richard X and Nathan Gregory Wilkins since around 2000, and I'm a big fan of both. Richard's 7"s as Girls On Top were big records at Trash and at clubs elsewhere. Meanwhile, Nathan is rightfully recognised as one of the finest Djs in our orbit.

Six years on from it's release in 2014, 'Rattle' is still an incredible dance record, it manages to be as functional as it is dysfunctional; a quality I love in music. 'We Got The Box' is very different, yet the same. Does any of this make sense? Probably not. I suppose this juxtaposition is key to their records, and since PH41, we've released 4 further singles, each one as brilliant and confused - in the best possible way - in equal measures. Stay tuned."

The music video for their debut video on Phantasy, 'We Got The Box', was directed by Lewis Kyle White. Nathan Gregory Wilkins said when speaking to FACT about the music video that it was "A video piece in celebration of repetition, based on a dream I had where I was trapped in a box, in an video arcade, in the early 1980s. It’s a long story.”





PH42 + PH43
PH42 and PH43 comprised more scene-spanning remixes culled from Daniel Avery’s debut LP, building towards Drone Logic’s compilation ‘New Energy (Collected Remixes’).

PH42 saw the kingpin of transcendent German techno, Rødhåd, deliver a deep and rolling take on Drone Logic’s title track, armed with a sweeping breakdown that still causes madness. Occasional Avery production partner Volte-Face revisited ‘Platform Zero’ and Silent Servant added a foggy, atmospheric touch to ‘Spring 27’.

Ø [Phase] christened PH43 with a subtle, liquid techno do-over of Naive Response, in contrast with the acid-tinged, industrial stomp of Conforce’s ‘Simulrec’ remix. Finally, reliably unpredictable London producer Powell reduced ‘Water Jump’ to mechanical squelch not without a hint of menace.

Both were released on special remix 12"s and have sold out.




PH44
Erol Alkan: "Fabric was the place where I played my first Dj set outside of the alternative scene. My break came in 2000, when David Holmes missed his flight back to London and I was called at the eleventh hour to fill in. That night, Bugged Out offered me a residency, and I credit that moment as one of the most important in my life.

Almost 15 years later, I was asked to contribute to Fabric's brilliant mix series, and part of the agreement is that you include an exclusive track of your own. Somewhere in the middle of the mix lay 'Sub Conscious'. FabricLive 77 is my personal favourite of all my electronic mixes, the second half lay the blueprint of what I feel I try to achieve still today, so the experience of producing it was pretty important.

As the track was exclusive to the mix, in 2014 we issued a 12" with remixes from Tin Man and a brand new signing to the label at the time, Kamera who you may know better as James Welsh. I love both of these mixes, and I still play the Tin Man mix out to this day, it's one of the best remixes I've ever had back."

The remixes were pressed onto 12" vinyl and released on 19th January 2015. Copies are sold out. Discover more here about Erol Alkan's new release of 'Sub Conscious' with Manfredas remixes.




PH45

PH45 was another debut on Phantasy from Kamera. Although you may know him better under his own name, James Welsh, ‘Arc’ was an EP that marked the beginning of an important and consistent journey between Welsh and Phantasy. Inspired by the nineties heyday of Warp Records and bands such as Old Man Gloom and Sumac, ‘Arc’ was a heady brew that cracked open a bold new corner for the label.

Owing as much to the “boundary pushing experimentation of the likes of Autechre or Sabres of Paradise as it does to any open minded, contemporary dance floor”, ‘Arc’ features four tracks that traverse different shades of electronic darkness. The monumental acid drama of ‘Prince Valium’ perfectly tees up the complex, voluminous IDM-influenced ‘Cold Land’. Slowing the tempo but not the atmosphere, ‘SR’ is a militant, rhythmic assault that builds and the some, before ‘Arcsecond’ dramatically kisses off the arrival of Kamera in a dense fog of guitar feedback atop a curren of underlying, menacing electronics.

The video for 'Cold Land' was Phantasy's first 360º music video, directed and animated by Dan W Jacob.

Reuben Wu did the photograph that appears on the sleeve artwork for the 'Arc' EP, released 11th May 2015. We have the last few copies of the 12" on our web store here






PH46

Ghost Culture’s shimmering outsider electro-pop continued it’s remix saga with a sage contribution from Running Back boss and ‘DJ’s DJ’/nicest man in Frankfurt, Gerd Janson, working in collaboration with occasional production partner and warehouse techno connoisseur, Shan.

Not content with one interpretation of ‘Mouth’, the German duo kept the thrills coming with a club mix, an instrumental, an ‘808 Culture dub’ and a slick acid version. Upon release, Resident Advisor commented on the “parping rave whistles”, and five years on, they’re just as sweet to savour on the floor.

The remix 12" was released on vinyl in 2015, and copies have long sold out.




PH47

PH47 saw one of Phantasy’s favourite producers, Matthew Dear, once again don his Audion persona in order to turn in a thoroughly psychedelic techno rinse-out of Ghost Culture’s ‘Lucky’. Originally a haunting and memorable vision of baroque electronic-pop, the magical-realist nuance of 'Lucky' was wonderfully transferred to film in the track’s bewitching video, courtesy of John Christian Ferner Apalnes.

Layered, acidic and frankly, outright wonky, Audion balanced out this madness with a so fresh, so clean dub that nonetheless can’t resist Ghost Culture’s earnest vocal touch or the beautiful chords resting at it’s centre.

The remix 12" featured Audion's remix and dub, as well as the original version, and it was released 11th September 2015.






PH48

Riding on a wave of DJ support from the diverse likes of Carl Craig, Seth Troxler, Roman Flugel and Lena Willikens, the second EP from Cowboy Rhythmbox on Phantasy hit even harder than their much-loved debut. ‘Fantasma’ takes its cue from early sample fetishists Yello, a compelling, sensual and rather muscular piece of industrial house music underpinned with a series of mesmerising, cavernous breakdowns.

Described at the time as “the sound of a ride on the world's biggest ghost train”, it was matched on the flip by equally offbeat and percussive treats, delivered in a style that the Cowboys had already well established as their own.

Later that year, PH48RMX was served courtesy of West Country rave kingpin Kowton, who transformed Fantasma into a memorable, sub-heavy roller, “the sound of Bristol meeting Blackpool Pier.”

'Fantasma' was released 31st August 2015 and copies of the EP and the remix 12" are long sold out.




PH49

As the follow-up to the 'Arc' EP, ‘Ventoux’ once again sees James Welsh adopt his Kamera alias for four diverse tracks that further established his unique take on contemporary electronica.
 
Inspired by a series of gruelling cycling training sessions taking place across the French mountain Ventoux, also known as ‘The Beast of Provence’. This menacing slice of nature makes itself obvious on the intense, organ-tripping ‘Consignia’, before a more heartening turn is taken on ‘Ventoux’ itself, a direct and atmospheric Tour De France of its own.
 
'MF15' then knocks the gears up for a tenacious techno workout, sprung out on bursts of squealing oscillations and evolving into a hard-earned acid bath. 'Voodoo Canape' rounds off the EP with another of Kamera/Welsh’s spectral explorations of delicate drone.
 
The photograph that appears on the cover of the artwork was captured by Reuben Wu. A limited run of prints of the back artwork were designed by Martyn Woolley, based around French signage and advertisements of the 1920s, and all proceeds were donated to charity.
 
We have a handful of copies of the 'Ventoux' EP vinyl left on our web store here



PH49RMX1

Kamera's ‘Ventoux’ EP was then passed over to a sonically diverse school of producers for further remix adjustments. Californian techno mastermind Truncate did his minimalist, enigmatic thing to ‘Consignia’ whereas the elusive Yaleesa Hall nearly bursts the monitors on their wonderfully muddy take on the same track.




PH49RMX2

PH49RMX2 passed the baton over to two well-established linchpins of the UK scene in the form of George FitzGerald and Throwing Snow, who each contributed singular and dramatic takes from their respective sonic worlds of Kamera's 'Ventoux' and 'Consignia'.

There's a few copies of the remix 12" left on our webstore here




PH50

Daniel Avery: "It was an honour to be asked to make Phantasy's 50th single release. It had been two years since 'Drone Logic' and touring had taken over my life so it was nice to put pen to paper again. WIth both tracks I wanted to capture the techno sound that was filling my soul every weekend on the road. Sensation was intended as a shoegaze club record - I wanted it to feel like a wall of sound engulfing the room. The first versions were not working so I went back in with Erol Alkan. Try this, he said, pushing the fader for the drone up about 500%. That did it. Both this and Clear remain two of my favourite things I've done and they eventually shaped the direction of my next album."
PH50 was released on 12" vinyl on 4th December 2015 and physical copies have long sold out. 'Sensation' and 'Clear' later featured on his second album 'Song For Alpha'.




PH50RMX
 
Later, complimenting Avery’s return to record were two remixes from the most distinctive voices in contemporary techno. Sonic provocateur Rrose took the already soaring 'Sensation' into eerier territory still, building a cathedral of sound that ultimately crumbles into a jet of noise; easily one of the finest sonic assaults in Phantasy’s history. Denser and more rhythmic, a remix from Abdulla Rashim zones out in a different, more psychedelic direction. As Resident Advisor observed at the time, “these two standout remixes have no trouble holding their own".
 
The remix 12" was later released in 2016 and has been sold out for a while.

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