L. Slater
Real Name:
Luke Slater
Profile:
One of Britain’s true electronic music and techno pioneers, with a career that has spanned 20 years and counting, Luke Slater is a national treasure.
Born in Reading and raised in Horley, Luke’s early sound dalliances with his dad's ancient reel to reel tape machine and his drumming stints led to work in local record shops including self set up infamous Jelly Jam in Brighton. By 1988 Slater was fully immersed in the embryonic acid house scene DJing at London's seminal Troll at sound shaft Heaven.
Luke soon began releasing original tracks under various monikers and his single debut came in 1989 in the form of “Momentary Vision”. After releases on DJax as Clementine, on GPR as 7th Plain and Morganistic (with Alan Sage) and especially on Peacefrog with nearly a dozen of releases as The X-Tront and as Planetary Assault Systems, Slater's trajectory through the early to mid nineties electronic music scene was at very least staggeringly prolific and a lot of the times utterly majestic. Especially his Planetary Assault Systems alias that Slater uses for his harder edged techno output became a sound that had gone into the heads and hearts of the dance scene and as a result became a milestone in UK techno history.
After releasing 4 full length PAS albums on Peacefrog, he ascended to the majors in 1997 with the release of a modest milestone of latter-day techno album on NovaMute that resulted in 1997's Freek Funk and the album Wireless followed two years later. His first volume of the mix series Fear and Loathing appeared in 2001 on the React label. Alright on Top from 2002 was an "album of songs" with vocals from Ricky Barrows and others featured on every track. The second volume of Fear and Loathing appeared in late 2004. Similarly his international DJ career and live performances had become far-reaching with headline gigs at full speed all over the world.
Equally revered as taste maker and remix artist, Luke has released a mix for the Fabric DJ-mix series and has reinvented innumerable tracks in remixes from artists like Depeche Mode and Ken Ishii to more recent remixes for the likes of Radial and Soul Designer.
Maintaining multiple musical personalities, different in style yet bound together by a distinct quality, his work has often combined ambient and experimental textural elements with direct, minimalist rhythmic structures.
In 2006 Luke set up his label Mote-Evolver, releasing limited 12" records for discerning collectors and digital downloads through the Mote-Evolver and N.E.W.S. websites. Running his own label gives him the chance to release music of artists who often peak in his personal charts topping the releases with his own remixes.
Regular appearances at legendary clubs such as Berghain of Berlin, Fabric of London and Nitsa of Barcelona and varied clubs and festivals all over the world he delivers energetic sets to sold out crowds which retain his star status today as a live performer and of course a DJ.
2009 promises to contribute an essential chapter to Luke’s already compelling tale. With momentum gathered from recent contributions to Berghain’s Ostgut Tontrager label, Luke’s eagerly anticipated Planetary Assault Systems album “Temporary Suspension” is assured to make a bold impression on the electronic musical landscape.
Born in Reading and raised in Horley, Luke’s early sound dalliances with his dad's ancient reel to reel tape machine and his drumming stints led to work in local record shops including self set up infamous Jelly Jam in Brighton. By 1988 Slater was fully immersed in the embryonic acid house scene DJing at London's seminal Troll at sound shaft Heaven.
Luke soon began releasing original tracks under various monikers and his single debut came in 1989 in the form of “Momentary Vision”. After releases on DJax as Clementine, on GPR as 7th Plain and Morganistic (with Alan Sage) and especially on Peacefrog with nearly a dozen of releases as The X-Tront and as Planetary Assault Systems, Slater's trajectory through the early to mid nineties electronic music scene was at very least staggeringly prolific and a lot of the times utterly majestic. Especially his Planetary Assault Systems alias that Slater uses for his harder edged techno output became a sound that had gone into the heads and hearts of the dance scene and as a result became a milestone in UK techno history.
After releasing 4 full length PAS albums on Peacefrog, he ascended to the majors in 1997 with the release of a modest milestone of latter-day techno album on NovaMute that resulted in 1997's Freek Funk and the album Wireless followed two years later. His first volume of the mix series Fear and Loathing appeared in 2001 on the React label. Alright on Top from 2002 was an "album of songs" with vocals from Ricky Barrows and others featured on every track. The second volume of Fear and Loathing appeared in late 2004. Similarly his international DJ career and live performances had become far-reaching with headline gigs at full speed all over the world.
Equally revered as taste maker and remix artist, Luke has released a mix for the Fabric DJ-mix series and has reinvented innumerable tracks in remixes from artists like Depeche Mode and Ken Ishii to more recent remixes for the likes of Radial and Soul Designer.
Maintaining multiple musical personalities, different in style yet bound together by a distinct quality, his work has often combined ambient and experimental textural elements with direct, minimalist rhythmic structures.
In 2006 Luke set up his label Mote-Evolver, releasing limited 12" records for discerning collectors and digital downloads through the Mote-Evolver and N.E.W.S. websites. Running his own label gives him the chance to release music of artists who often peak in his personal charts topping the releases with his own remixes.
Regular appearances at legendary clubs such as Berghain of Berlin, Fabric of London and Nitsa of Barcelona and varied clubs and festivals all over the world he delivers energetic sets to sold out crowds which retain his star status today as a live performer and of course a DJ.
2009 promises to contribute an essential chapter to Luke’s already compelling tale. With momentum gathered from recent contributions to Berghain’s Ostgut Tontrager label, Luke’s eagerly anticipated Planetary Assault Systems album “Temporary Suspension” is assured to make a bold impression on the electronic musical landscape.
Sites:
Aliases:
4 Slots For Bill, 7th Plain, The, Clementine, Deputy Dawg, Earnest Honest, Krispy Krouton, L.B. Dub Corp, Lloyd Owes Me A Packet, Morganistic, Offset, Planetary Assault Systems, Translucent
In Groups:
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Discography
| Production: | ||||
| 39 Flavours Of Tech Funk (2xCD) | Stomp | React | 1998 | |
| Appears On: | ||||
| Heamaglobien (12", EP) | Jelly Jam Records | 1992 | ||
| Set Me Free (CD, Maxi) | ZYX Music | 1994 | ||
| DJ-Kicks (CD, Comp, Mixed) | In From The Night, Bre... | Studio !K7 | 1995 | |
| Just A Dream (Maxi) ◄ (2 versions) | ZYX Music | 1995 | ||
| Shades Amaze Concept EP. (CD, Maxi) | General Production Recordings (GPR) | 1995 | ||
| Techno Nations 4 (2xLP, Comp) | Marbles | Kickin Records | 1995 | |
| Hard Techno (CD, Comp, Mixed) | Tracker | Javelin Ltd | 1996 | |
| 39 Flavours Of Tech Funk (2xCD) | Stomp | React | 1998 | |
| Evolution / Body Freefall EP (12", EP) | Body Freefall | UFO (2) | 2004 | |
| History Of Dance - 9 - The Techno Edition (5xCD, Comp) | All Exhale, Love | Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Netherlands), Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Netherlands) | 2006 | |
| Tracks Appear On: | ||||
| 39 Flavours Of Tech Funk (2xCD) | Stomp | React | 1998 | |
| History Of Dance - 9 - The Techno Edition (5xCD, Comp) | All Exhale, Love | Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Netherlands), Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Netherlands) | 2006 | |
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Reviews & Discussion
Luke Slater is my favorite of UK techno DJs/producers because of his rich, full sound, which is evident in both his mixing and producing. His ability to chop up, blend, and scratch through intricate beats & melodies puts him in a class of his own. His work is varied yet has a cohesive quality and a unique sound. His long-awaited first mix CD release, "Fear & Loathing" showed his techno side on one disc and his electro side on the other disc, and was recorded on three decks in one sitting. He can produce anything from hard techno (such as anything produced using his alias Planetary Assault Systems), to driving electro ("Wireless"), to electro synthpop ("Alright on Top").
Luke Slater was born in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England. Turned on to music via early experiments with sounds and noises on his father's old reel-to-reel, rather than by any affinity to a particular musical subculture, Slater set about defining his vision during 1989 on the fledgling label Jelly Jam, an offshoot of the Brighton record shop of the same name where he was working at the time.
A batch of Detroit-influenced tracks were spat out at an alarming rate, and a contract with D-Jax Records soon followed that saw Slater adopting the guise of Clementine. However, it was not until his link-up with Peacefrog Records in 1993, and another change of name to Planetary Assault Systems, that Slater's name became widely known and praised.
He became heralded as the UK torchbearer for the Detroit techno sound, managing to capture the essence of that city's musical qualities, whether recording pounding, abrasive sounds as Planetary Assault Systems for Peacefrog, or alluding instead to classical textures as the 7th Plain for GPR.
However, Slater's furious output during 1993/4 soon started to take its toll: 'I began to realise you can't do everything, I was beginning to lose focus on what I originally intended to do in the first place.'
Taking time out from a hectic studio and DJing schedule, Slater returned in 1997, with Freek Funk, recorded in his home studio in Crawley, Sussex. The album adds a more ethereal side to Slater's dancefloor-friendly sound, stretching ambient textures over a thin rhythmic framework. With Freek Funk, Slater achieved what so many aspire to - a highly accomplished and highly variable album, unique and accessible, that pushed musical boundaries more than most. The follow-up Wireless experimented with electro and breakbeats to great effect.
Since the late '80s, Luke Slater has helped define the U.K. techno sound. Along with frequent collaborator Alan Sage, Slater created music that brought the Detroit sounds overseas, then built on that foundation producing records ranging from hard-core techno to beatless ambient.
Slater's debut came with the 1989 release of "Momentary Vision," under the pseudonym Translucent. Since then he has recorded under the guise of Morganistic, Clementine, Planetary Assault Systems, Luke Slater's 7th Plane and even, from time to time, Luke Slater.
A batch of Detroit-influenced tracks were spat out at an alarming rate, and a contract with D-Jax Records soon followed that saw Slater adopting the guise of Clementine. However, it was not until his link-up with Peacefrog Records in 1993, and another change of name to Planetary Assault Systems, that Slater's name became widely known and praised.
He became heralded as the UK torchbearer for the Detroit techno sound, managing to capture the essence of that city's musical qualities, whether recording pounding, abrasive sounds as Planetary Assault Systems for Peacefrog, or alluding instead to classical textures as the 7th Plain for GPR.
However, Slater's furious output during 1993/4 soon started to take its toll: 'I began to realise you can't do everything, I was beginning to lose focus on what I originally intended to do in the first place.'
Taking time out from a hectic studio and DJing schedule, Slater returned in 1997, with Freek Funk, recorded in his home studio in Crawley, Sussex. The album adds a more ethereal side to Slater's dancefloor-friendly sound, stretching ambient textures over a thin rhythmic framework. With Freek Funk, Slater achieved what so many aspire to - a highly accomplished and highly variable album, unique and accessible, that pushed musical boundaries more than most. The follow-up Wireless experimented with electro and breakbeats to great effect.
Since the late '80s, Luke Slater has helped define the U.K. techno sound. Along with frequent collaborator Alan Sage, Slater created music that brought the Detroit sounds overseas, then built on that foundation producing records ranging from hard-core techno to beatless ambient.
Slater's debut came with the 1989 release of "Momentary Vision," under the pseudonym Translucent. Since then he has recorded under the guise of Morganistic, Clementine, Planetary Assault Systems, Luke Slater's 7th Plane and even, from time to time, Luke Slater.