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In May 2013 at a nondescript Seattle space called 1927 Events, two-thirds of Magic Mountain High—Germany's David Moufang (aka Move D) and the Netherlands' Jordan Czamanski of Juju & Jordash—teamed up for a live performance that made everyone in the room feel privileged to have witnessed it. It was the kind of set during which you say to yourself, “I hope to hell somebody's recording this.” Thankfully, somebody was doing just that, and the 99-minute Live In Seattle is the sterling result. People throw around the word “deep” to describe electronic music with cavalier frequency, but in the case of Moufang and Czamanski (who also records as Jordan GCZ), that adjective barely encapsulates the kind of fathomless sound they create. Their work as Magic Mountain High—which includes Juju & Jordash's Gal Aner—combines the two artists' spring-loaded, psychedelic techno and libido-stoking house, exponentially multiplying their propulsive and disorienting qualities. Live In Seattle captures them working at the zenith of their improvisational powers for a rabid crowd—despite their European gear not functioning and having to use unfamiliar equipment, which is a testament to the pair's ability to create and adjust on the fly. The show begins with anticipatory cymbal taps and a beautifully morose melodica motif that wouldn't sound out of place in an Ennio Morricone soundtrack. A few minutes in, faint pulses enter earshot and a minute later the clap-enhanced beats and synth bass burst into the forefront to form a strutting midtempo rhythm with a subliminal drone swirling beneath it. Masters of dynamics, Moufang and Czamanski incrementally intensify and ingeniously arrange the elements, especially that underlying keyboard drone, until you're in a state of panic and ecstasy. Over the course of the set, the two producers flaunt their expertise for pacing. They avoid the obvious and subvert expectations throughout the performance, sporadically letting the beats drop out in order to luxuriate on a particularly alien organ oscillation (see especially the one near the beginning of the vinyl version of Live In Seattle's A-side), a sinister bass rumble, an ominously pulsating synth, an unsettling thumb piano motif, or a mind-warping 303 acid ripple, to name just a handful of examples. Of course, Moufang and Czamanski also keep things danceable for stretches of time and about 78 minutes in, they even shift out of their foundation of oddity and into heavenly techno mode with a gloriously ascendant melody (which you can hear on the B-side of the vinyl version). For their well-deserved encore, Moufang and Czamanski reprise the intro's mournful melodica reverie and then infiltrate it with a series of percolating and disorienting bleeps and a celestial drone worthy of New Age legend Laraaji. This stellar ambient coda reflects Moufang and Czamanski's exceptional, eccentric musicality. Techno is not known for its live albums, but regardless, Live In Seattle sets the standard for the format. With its abundant and sublime tunefulness, textural richness, and enchantingly enigmatic tangents, Live In Seattle takes you on a trip that's as long, strange, and stimulating as anything Miles Davis' electric bands of the '70s engineered.

#30 on the 2015 Bacon Top 31

December 02, 2015 by Royal Stuart

Live in Seattle by Moufang / Czamanski

Time was, I would listen to “techno” music all the time. Underworld, the Orb, Aphex Twin, Orbital, Chemical Bros. — this was the world I lived in. And I’d find myself at a club, every weekend, gyrating and flailing (I’m not sure I should call it “dancing”) to whatever the DJ was spinning. But that was the 90s, and things are quite a bit different for me now.

Musical tastes change, priorities shift, and the prospect of doing something akin to exercise past 11pm on any given night no longer brings the appeal it used to. But every so often I come across something that brings that drive, that desire to move, back. Enter Germany’s David Moufang (aka Move D) and the Netherlands’ Jordan Czamanski (aka Jordan GCZ, also of Juju & Jordash), collectively known as Moufang / Czamanski.1

Performed back in May 2013 but not released until October of this year, this set is the definition of background music. Put it on, and watch yourself become more effective at your behind-the-screen desk job. But be careful, because you may hit a point (probably around the 78-minute mark) where you find yourself bouncing in your seat, taken out of whatever it is you were typing, fully immersed in this digital landscape.

1. Add in a second Nederlander, Gal Aner, also of Juju & Jordash, and you get yet another group: Magic Mountain High. Check them all out.↩

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31. High by Royal Headache

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December 02, 2015 /Royal Stuart
2015, advented, the orb, underworld, aphex twin, orbital, the chemical brothers, move d, jordan gcz, juju & jordash, moufang / czamanski
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