Stewart Walker ‎– Live Extracts

Stewart Walker is one of the more intersting North American techno fellows operating at the moment. I was first turned onto him via Stabilies, and was fascinated with how he created so much depth with such sharp sounds. This recording is a series of live recordings sequenced together into one continuous mix. It's a very dancable (or drivable, or listenable) record and it's principle strength lies in it's sound choices, and how they are put together. It makes me think of the well organized grooves of Jorg Berger and his ilk, but Walker, although working in the well establish confines of minimal type techno, still comes off sounding very fresh.

Given that there is much material in this style that is reasonably forgettable, it is always worth mentioning the artists who stand away from the pack. This release, Walker, and his great output on Persona are all such material. This is one of those nice kinds of albums where if it starts to repeat again from the beginning, you could just go on listening to the whole album again and it doesn't get boring at all.

Stewart Walker's "Live Extracts" showcases the tracks Walker played throughout much of 2003 - at least it's similar to the performance he gave in Detroit at St. Andrew's Hall the weekend of Movement/DEMF, and some other live recordings I've heard from the same time frame. So, if you heard him in 2003, this will likely sound familiar, if not identical.

Unsurprisingly, this album is a collection of white-hot techno tracks. I don't think there's a weak point in the entire production. There are, however, definite strong points. In my opinion, tracks 2-6 really roll. Especially 'Cover Band Fantasy', which is structured really well from start to finish and features one of the catchiest basslines I've heard. The segue from 'Cover Band Fantasy' into 'Post-hole Digger' is pretty damn smooth, too.

If you've liked Walker's other productions, you'll like this one as well. He's definitely producing a unique, respectable and listenable sound, and this album is the next best thing to catching him live.

I wish more producers would release album versions of the stuff they play in their live PAs (like this and Sutekh's "Incest Live" album).

From Germany and the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, to Dublin, NYC and his studio south of Boston, Stewart Walker is global in every sense of the phrase. With past releases on Tresor, Force, Tektite, High Pass, m-nus, to name a few), he is one of the finest Techno producers in the world and continues to make incomparable music release after release. In addition to studio wizardry, Mr. Walked has spent a great deal of time working on and developing his live show, into a tour de force of style and power…capable of captivating and rocking any dancefloor.

This collection released on Walker’s own, Persona label, was (as the title suggests) culled from live performances and captured as it was presented. No prearranged tracks dropped from laptop, Stewart did this entire album in one go, with every variation coming as a reaction to his crowd: their feedback and energy driving the direction of each arrangement. The music itself is as stirring, funky and soulful as any electronic music you are likely to encounter and if you close your eyes tight enough, you can almost visualize being on the dancefloor at the Liquid Room in Tokyo, getting down to the genius that is Stewart Walker.