Skugge & Stavöstrand

Johan Skugge & Mikael Stavöstrand, Minimal and Mitek sounds not only great together, it really belongs together – does not mean that the system of these Swedish Producers is limited to minimal, in deed they are far away from dogmatism and genre-fixes – they also like it hot and sweaty when producing their tracks.

This said we can fix that: Stavöstrand has managed within the last years to establish himself in the genre as an important key player – and the best: it happened in a very subtile and releases for labels like Force Inc and Mille Plateaux his own label imprint argument on this way.

Not only we onitor guys are fans now. This clear and magnifying vision of techno, spiced with electronica and arty-moments makes everybody fall in love with it. As a matter of the fact that Stavöstrand moved to Germany it happened that we ran into each other - and decided a special collaboration. Last spring saw the release of an amazing collaboration between Stavöstrand and his buddy Johan Skugge. The result: A 4-tracker, recorded in the new home town of Berlin. But not a usual one. Nice, dubby, minimal - very dry on the first impression, but really clubby in their deep clicks way. Tracks which reminded us on the old basic channel records. Not to miss: this special warm feeling significant melodies. Thanks of „Rheinsberger EP” we all danced with a laugh on our faces into the summer of 2004.

After this we had to send them to Sweden for a one month working camp in June last year. They hooked up at Johan’s “Castillo del Diablo”-studio for the recordings and then did the post-production at Mikael’s "country"-studio-Lind in the Swedish Archipelago. Among seagulls and butterflies. Can you imagine a more peaceful and inspiring landscape?

The result of their straight work: An album (and two EPs) even much more intense than the “Rheinsberger EP”. The tracks come with a huge variety. They are hectic, but still they find their balance to go straight enough to get your booty on the dance floor. You find the often dropped academic dance floor in these tunes, but in a never before experienced hedonistic way. Their compositions lacks all kinds of traditional structure, instead they use an ever going flow of small (and big) changes and developments which takes the songs to unexpected levels, and turns, and flips, and up and down and back again... very fluffy. Imagine a supergroup-set-up with Detroit legends like Anthony “shake” shakir and now-a-days-cut-and-twist-houser Herbert – and you get an impression how the new tracks of Stavöstrand and Skugge sound like.