DBN067
MARKO LAINE
“KAKTUS”

side A :
“Kaktus One”
“Kaktus Two”

side B :
“Kaktus Three”
“Kaktus Four”

Written & produced by Marko Laine at Mind Records studio in Turku, Finland.

Release date : early October, 2005

DBN067 welcomes the return of an artist from Drop Bass Network’s heyday. Marko Laine produced DBN032 as GOIO for the “Commands EP” (released August 1995). Richie Hawtin used the “Basic Needs” track from that EP on his “Mixmag live” cd. DBN032 went out of print, but has always been in demand because of that mix cd. For those who have been waiting, here he is again...

A lot of adjectives come to mind when describing a Drop Bass Network record and Marko hit all of the best ones on these four tracks with ambiguous titles.

A deep 140 bpm kick gets the A side going right from the start. Hypnotic blips and swirling whines build along with dark synth sounds to a big break. Harsh electronic noise then takes things to another level. The second track uses a similar kick, tempo, and blipping, but the overall sound is cleaned up...at first. Repetitive droning and something best described as a train horn add intensity.

The tempo drops to 135 bpm with the first track on the B side, but the kick is definitely harder. Analogue sounds grind away with psychotic high pitched chirps. Haunting synths try to soothe, but at the break sirens come in and keep any mellowing from taking place. On the last track were back at 140 bpm with a hard kick and heavy synths for a gritty, dark very DBNesque track.


Marko Laine has produced other releases for : Djax, Mind, and Hotshot.

DBN068
MARK VERBOS
“DAMNED FOR ALL TIME”

side A :
“I Know You Sympathise”
“All This For Acid”

side B :
“Why Are We The Prophets?”
“I Am The One Who Saw”

side C :
“Far From The Crowds”
“Garden Of Gethsemane”

side D :
“Sordid Kind Of Thing”
“We Know The Law”

Written & produced by Mark Verbos at the Simple Answer studio in Brooklyn.

Release date : early October, 2005

Another release and another return artist....Milwaukee native, Chicago to Berlin to Brooklyn transplant, Mark Verbos aka the Acid Machine. Mark’s knobs must have been turned up to 11 in the studio because we received so many great tracks we had no choice but to do a double pack of his white hot 303 magic.

A1 starts things out at a downtempo 115 bpm with wet acid taking on dry. A2 bumps up the pace to 120 bpm and bump it does with a deep 808 kick. The knobs on the 303 start to get some real twisting and turning here.

B1 begins the move into the hard acid direction with mind expanding 303s building over loads of percussion. B2 uses a big stomping kick with classic Midwest Hardcorps acid that works towards insanity. Both tracks are 140 bpm.

C1 has the acid bubbling below a pumping 148 bpm kick and distorted cymbals/hats for a real head trip. C2 takes the kick bigger and deeper with plenty of industrial noise...warehouse tested and approved.

D1 combines a hard driving 146 bpm kick with a couple of 303s grinding, plugging, and chugging right along. D2 closes things out with a pounding kick, mechanical sounds, and the biggest hard acid workout of the record.

Verbos has produced other releases for : Planet Rhythm, Djax-Up-Beats, 4X4, ReLoad, A.F.U., Wavescape, Minimalistix, Nitric, Hyperspace, Dosed, and many others. He’s worked on numerous remixes and other special appearances.

He also operates his own label : Simple Answer

DBN067 uses Drop Bass Network record jacket version 5.0
(click on front or back to get a better view)

DBN068 (2X12") uses plain black record jackets for an old school look.

label design