The Amber Unit are brand-new – yet at the same time they have been around. Just like in that Chemical Brothers song: My body is young but my mind is very old. Victor Hofstetter, Stevie Fiedler, Yves Neuhaus and Emanuel Speiser have made music under the Whysome flag before and have been „in the business“, as we pretentious twats like to enthuse for more than ten years.
This of course can hardly be heard in their music. Their album „While you started a Revolution – We started Love“ sounds as fresh as a baby’s burp – but much sweeter. It is Indie Pop Rock at its best, and we really mean this, when we say it. The Amber Unit will melt your heart and suck you in with their love – no need for a revolution when you have these boys in your ears.
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We Loyal was founded in mid-2008 and are still at the beginning of their time. But already they are picking up astonishing speed and receive love and respect wherever they go. After performing frequently the trio began to shape their music by recording the EP “Obstacles” at different locations: studios, living rooms and band spaces in Liverpool and Basel.
Produced by David Berger (Balloons et al., Liverpool) and Manuel Bürkli (Mañana, Basel) all songs are influenced by various settings and places of origin, playfully combining analog synthesizers with striving beats and dark vocals. Bands such as TV on the Radio, Joy Division and Foals leave their traces in this fabulous play of light and shadow.
After opening the JKF (Youth Culture Festival) in Basel, being on tour in Germany with Mañana and winning the “Sprungbrett09” contest in 2009 they continue to amaze with the release of their EP “Obstacles”, which includes remixes by Gorton versus Berger (Liverpool), Dirty Cat (Munich), We Love Machines (Bern), Zaber Riders (Basel), laFayette (Basel) and a 7” Vinyl of “Distant Heart”.
“As we got in touch with the DIY scene in Liverpool we started to realize that interesting music starts in your head, through your commitment, experimenting in a critical way and your decision to go your way”, says Sandro Simon. And with these words We Loyal take their fate into their own hands, from recording and mixing to artwork and merchandise.
We Loyal are Ben Kuster (Bass, Synths, Vocals), Sandro Simon (Vocals, Guitar, Synths) and Fabian Trümpy (Drums, Synths, Vocals).
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Few Debut records promise a great future. With all due modesty, laFayette’s „Sputnik“ is such a record. Apparently effortlessly, the duo Dormann/Hauswirth transcends genre boundaries and upends the traditions that rule Electronica terrain. Five tracks that will surprise their listeners over and over again. Five tracks to impress the mind, the soul and the body.
Since their launch in 2009 the two Basel boys Jascha Dormann and Simon Hauswirth have found their place in the Swiss Electronica scene. Suprisingly, the two sound designers’ formula for success is pretty simple: create dance music with an attitude, mix it with a dash of soulfulness and two or three pinches of passion.
Each of their shows – whether at the Basel Bscene Festival or at the Lethargy in Zurich – wins them a growing fanbase. Rightfully so – laFayette have developed an unusual originality for such a „young“ act.
Musically, laFayette boldly go into the deep end of a pool filled with Electronica, Hip Hop and Techno music. They worked as remixers for We Loyal and laid their hands on the fellow PlusPlusers hymn “Distant Heart”. 2010 will see the first EP release by laFayette, and we cannot wait for it!
laFayette are Simon Hauswirth (Drums, Turntables, Electrics) and Jascha Dormann (Guitar, Electrics).
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„Früener“. Back in the day. The name of Octanone‘s debut EP stands for a feeling we all can relate to. This longing for the past, a feel-good rememberance of days past. And yet, „Früener“ is – despite all the references to Pop history of the last thirty years – deeply rooted in the here and now. „Be here now“ is not an imperative, but an offer.
Octanone makes it easy to accept this offer. Fluffy, but deep synthie melodies and witty as well as thoughtful lyrics make his debut danceable and pathos-laden at the same time.
But his first six tracks, published on PlusPlus Records, make you listen up for another reason. Octanone marries two things which at first glance don‘t go well together: Dance music and Swiss German lyrics. If you want to compare Lucien Montandon, the one man act known as Octanone, to anybody, why not take Falco?
Just like the legend from Vienna liberated the Austrian tongue from the musical Ghetto and introduced it into Pop music, Octanone steals Swiss German from Swiss Rap and „Mundart“ Rock to give it a thorough dancing lesson. „Früener“ proves: Mission accomplished!
