Stephan Bodzin vs Marc Romboy - Luna

Stephane Bodzin vs Marc Romboy
Luna
SYSTEMATIC RECORDINGS

Stephen Bodzin and Marc Romboy need little introduction, anyone who has entered a club in the past five years would have heard the gritty, yet melodic strains of their tunes. You yourself may have been infected by their pulsating basslines and the wet thwack of their analogue snares, taken hostage by their uplifting, accessible melodies and moved by the warm, detailed quality of their production. Romboy and Bodzin’s tracks have alternately caressed and abused dance floors the world over. In the hands of DJs as diverse as say, Sasha or Joris Voorn, they have served as people moving, crowd pumping tools. Despite their popularity, many of the tracks on this collection have, until recently, only been available on vinyl. So, the release of the 3 CD boxset Luna will undoubtedly be welcome news to digital DJs worldwide. It consists of one mixed and two unmixed mixed discs.

Disc 1 consists of several unmixed tracks sourced from the duo’s album Six Monde and also contains works which have been released on both Bodzin’s Herzblut label, and on Romboy’s Systematic label. However, lacking in DJ friendly intros and outros, the tracks seem to be aimed squarely for the lounge room audience. They would, however, be the perfect backing track for a journey into the lost world of your own couch. While the digital release of this material is certainly welcome, dedicated fans might complain that the first disc essentially contains little new material. Highlights include the throbbing introduction Triton, a building avalanche of muscular, chugging basslines, glassy atmospheres and breathy melodies. This track epitomises why Bodzin and Romboy move dancefloors, and is one of the previously unreleased offerings in the collection. Also worthy of mention is kick-free Callisto, a more rolling and restrained number, whose melodies in their simplistic elegance build to a crescendo of barely checked emotion, as its filtered plucks build and decay. Atlas is the lovechild of the two. Blending the punch and grind of Triton with some of the restrained melody of Callisto and it also deserves a mention because it’s awesome example of Bodzin and Romboy’s love of analogue sounds, grooving along as it does on a bed of bouncy percussion.

Things get pretty twisted towards the end of the CD and from Phobos onwards, Romboy and Bodzin eschew rolling melodies in favour of fragmented, brooding chords and shattered percussion. Telesto particularly deserves a mention for its grinding builds and arrhythmic rushes, preparing the way for Puck, which dissolves completely into washes of white noise from around the halfway mark. Think the sounds made by suicidal robots, as they tear off their own heads and crush the circuits inside. If it seems strange to end an artist album on such a disturbing note, it’s probably because its purpose is to serve as an introduction to the second part of this trilogy.

The format of disc 2 is a conventional DJ mix and the mood picks right up where the first one left off. It includes originals and remixes of Romboy and Bodzin’s own work, some of which featured on the first disc. There’s no ambient intro here, just straight down to the groove with Minilogue’s rework of 2006’s Hydra. The track is faintly uneasy and builds well on the tension created at the conclusion of disc 1, but it definitely moves things in a housier direction, and is the perfect setup for the more restrained original mix of Hydra and for Stimming’s trademark shuffle in his remix of Hyperion, which follow. While this move dispels some of the tension, it also brings the mix right back to where they want it – dark, deep and brooding in parts, yet more house oriented, and certainly not as twisted, as the end of the first disc. However, the house is quickly set on fire again as Joris Voorn’s vocal-infused remix of Callisto flows into the Dominik Eulberg mix of the same track, hardening the groove in preparation for the head-wrenching insanity of Chris Liebing’s remix of Puck. This signals a change in direction, as the housier elements are abandoned in favour of a techier edge. Following this groove until the end, the mix keeps things flowing with the bouncier, deeper sounds of Martin Buttrich and with the harder sounds of Speedy J, before finally dissolving once again back into the melody of Minilogue’s remix of Hydra. It then fades out with a haunting spoken word sample about the afterlife, bringing things to an eerie close.

The selection of tracks on unmixed disc 3 are DJ-friendly than those featured on disc 1. It also includes several of the tracks used for the mix on disc 2. Minilogue’s stunning twenty six minute remix of Hydra deserves a mention for its constantly evolving texture, as does Joris Voorn’s euphoric remix of Callisto. Similarly, Moritz Von Oswald (of Basic Channel fame) delivers a stunning dub techno interpretation of Phobos, well worth a listen for fans of his work, or for fans of dub techno in general. These are but three of the gems to be found on the disc, and DJs will likely spend many an enraptured hour digging through the twenty four tracks available here.
Overall, this 3 disc set is a good representation of Bodzin and Romboy’s work and showcases how the two producers bounce ideas off each other. Some tracks exhibit Romboy’s restrained and bouncy tech house sound, while others lean more towards Bodzin’s trademark electro snarl. They consistently avoid the obvious in favour of making the listener think and perhaps it’s also the sophistication of their production, which prevents even the most emotive of their melodies from veering towards cheese. Bodzin’s classical training may be a key element here too and the album certainly exhibits an amazing range of rhythmic textures and clever harmonies throughout.

Romboy and Bodzin themselves remain as enigmatic ever. Some have claimed them for techno, others for electro. Romboy has always had a housier sound, with some of his recent work becoming markedly funky. Whereas Bodzin’s traditional realm has always been the chunky territory between electro and techno. This combination makes for interesting and diverse listening. Their tracks are gritty and raw, but not obnoxious; warm but also mechanical; melodic without becoming cheesy. There is something on this album for everyone: from the jaded techno fan, who might be impressed by the awesome production quality on display, to the hands in the air trance fan, who will be blissed out by the warm uplifting melodies. Although this collection doesn’t contain a lot of new material, there is, nevertheless, a great deal to like. It should have as much appeal for long time Bodzin/Romboy fans, as for new listeners and for lovers of electronic music.

Kit Phillips



Tracklist: Stephan Bodzin vs Marc Romboy - Luna
CD1:
01. Triton
02. Oberon
03. Callisto (Synthapella)
04. Luna (Album Edit)
05. Atlas (Album Edit)
06. Miranda
07. Ferdinand (Album Edit)
08. Hydra
09. Phobos (Synthapella)
10. Telesto
11. Puck

CD2: The Mix
01. Hydra (Minilogue Remix Part 1)
02. Hydra
03. Io
04. Hyperion (Stimming Remix)
05. Callisto / Callisto (Joris Voorn Remix) / Callisto (Dominik Eulberg Remix)
06. Puck (Chris Liebing Remix)
07. Phobos (Pan-Pot Remix) / Phobos (Synthapella)
08. Telesto (Martin Buttrich Remix)
09. Pandora
10. Mab (Speedy J Remix)
11. Triton
12. The Alchemist / The Alchemist (Robag's Kopakkmuuf-Rekksmo)
13. Hydra (Minilogue Remix Part 2)

CD3: Remixes (mp3 CD)
01. Phobos (Moritz Von Oswald Remix)
02. The Alchemist (Robag's Kopakkmuuf-Rekksmo)
03. Callisto (Joris Voorn Remix)
04. Oberon (Ribn Remix)
05. Telesto (Martin Buttrich Remix)
06. Atlas (Gorge Remix)
07. Ferdinand (Gregor Tresher Remix)
08. Luna (Mutant Clan Remix)
09. Hyperion (Stimming Remix)
10. Miranda (Oliver Huntemann Remix)
11. Callisto (Dominik Eulberg Remix)
12. Phobos (Pan-Pot Remix)
13. The Alchemist (Roman Flügel Remix)
14. Atlas (Gui Boratto Remix)
15. Pandora (Brendon Moeller Remix)
16. Luna (Oxia & Nicolas Masseyeff Remix)
17. Hydra (Minilogue Remix)
18. Ariel (Abe Duque Remix)
19. Mab (Speedy J Remix)
20. Puck (Chris Liebing Remix)
21. Phobos (Synthapella)
22. Callisto (Synthapella)
23. Hyperion (Synthapella)
24. Triton (Gaiser's Trial Tone Remix)