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Hands Productions

v/a * Forms Of Hands 2014 (cd 2014)

Like every year Hands Productions organises their Forms Of Hands festival. Like many a year, I buy one of the 1000 copies of the festival compilation during the Wave Gotik Treffen. Like every year, the compilation contains the Hands-type of music: “rhythmic noise”. Well actually, much of the music is not that hard or noisy. Most of it, as usual, is good though. Hands seems to operate mostly on the harder side of IDM these days, but they do well. They find new and interesting projects and with a remaining high standard, buying a compilation like this is by far no leap in the dark. I said it before. The style of music is not one that I listen to very often, but every once in a while, so it is good that there is this ‘standard’ yearly buy at the Hands stand in the Agra hall in Leipzig during the Whitsun weekend!
Link: Hands Productions

v/a * Forms Of Hands 13 (cd 2013)

Just like two years ago I got me a copy of the latest “Forms Of Hands” when in Leipzig. Hands appears to become more and more a label balancing between the good old “rhythmic noise” and techno music. Quite like Ant-Zen perhaps. “Forms Of Hands 13” is largely still what I can call “rhythmical industrial”, but much of this music has left the sharp edges and became somewhat technoish. Then again, the music is quite energetic like we are used to of this style and the variation between the more seriously loud tracks and the more IDM-type of tracks make the “Forms Of Hands” series a nice series.
Just like two years ago there are the relatively famous projects such as Winterkälte and Ah Cama-Sotz, allmost classic projects such as Orphx and Geistform and projects that are new to me such as Kaibun and Phasenmensch.
However I like the music live, I do not play it much at home, but these Hands compilations are a reason to buy something in the style.
Link: Hands Productions

v/a * 2010 Hands (2cd 2010)

However I like the musical style that seems to be mostly called “rhythmic noise” nowadays, there are a few problems with it. The larger part of the material in this style does not keep my attention. It is not energetic enough, too repetative or simply too unimaginable. Even the ‘bigger’ and ‘better’ projects in my ears only have a couple of great tracks and a lot of alright ones. Therefor I do not really follow the style or play it very often. Oftentimes when I want to play something extreme but danceable I pick some sort of extreme techno album. Then again, these Hands compilations are a good way to get a sense of what is going on in the style. 30 Tracks, 10 projects, there ought to be something good among that! The first cd contains tracks that mostly perhaps sound somewhat industrial, but especially quite technoish. In fact, I would describe more than a few tracks on this cd as IDM (a bit harder and a bit more industrial than much of that style though), sometimes as drum’n’bass, perhaps here and there a track as breakcore, but overall relatively soft technoish tracks. The first cd contains one or two more ‘typical’ tracks, but the people who enjoy the harder style will be more pleased by cd 2, especially the opening project Greyhound. Pounding industrial beats, nicely minimalistic, but energetic, indeed, the more interesting tracks are to be found on this cd. Since almost all projects do not have but one style, the first cd contains some harder tracks and the second some softer as well. I think this compilation gives a nice overview of a style that seems to grow closer and closer to the harder styles of techno. There might have been added a few really loud tracks if you ask me, but I guess the way it is, “2010 Hands” is a descent compilation to play in the car.
Link: Hands Productions

16Pad Noise Terrorist * Utopia (cd 2010)

The project’s name suggests a pretty loud industrial sound, but I must say that the sound of 16Pad is closer to IDM than to danceable industrial terror. Ok, the technoish music is harder than much of the music from the techno scene, but “noise terrorist”? Nah. Not that the music is very bad or extremely boring, by the way. I think this album may appeal to people who like, for example, the harder kind of drum’n’bass, but I just hoped for a bit more of sonic terrorism.
Links: 16Pad Noise Terrorist, Hands Productions

Ah Cama Sotz * Terra Infernalis (cd 1999 hands)

In a “smartpack” comes this cd of the Belgian Ah Cama-Sotz. “The darkest ambient, the loudest beats” said the list where I ordered this from. Okay, there’s dark ambient and there’s industrial, but neither are as extreme as I expected. The industrial is even quite danceble. Not that I don’t like this, but it’s nothing really special to me.
Hands * PO Box 1701 * 90707 Furth * Germany

Winterkälte * Drum ‘n’ Noise (cd 1999 hands productions)

Here we have one of the leading projects in the danceble industrial style. Winterkälte is a lot harder than most other projects in this vein that I know and I mean A LOT HARDER! The title of this cd is a little fallacious, because you shouldn’t expect to hear a heavy version of drum ‘n’ bass, but the title does fit the content well. From the first second on you’ll be blown away by extremely heavy industrial techno. And while it’s danceble, it’s still some of the most violent music that I’ve heard. As a matter of fact, this is what I always searched for in the so called “rhythmical and danceble industrial” musical style. It’s always said to be so hard, but it never really is. Now here’s a cd that fullfilled it’s promises. This is the kind of music to try out your speakers, make your walls vibrate and your neighbours angry. Agressive dance-music in a way I always wanted it. Not that I’ll listen to this really much, but once in a while this is really funny.