Heroes by Hug

With 70+ releases, 40+ remixes and 75+ compilation appearances and still counting in under 4 years, prolific would be an understatement to one of today's youngest and most invigorating producers in dance music today - JOHN DAHLBÄCK. He's covered the vast spectrum of the electronic music community in record time; from his first recording for the prestigious Chicago based DEEP4LIFE imprint, being a major force behind STEVE BUG's House label DESSOUS, his own 10 releases on his renown imprint PICKADOLL, the timeless contributions to MORRIS AUDIO, his collaborations with his equally fruitful cousin JESPER DAHLBÄCK as HUGG & PEPP remixing SLAMM for SOMA, ERIC PRYDZ for MINISTRY OF SOUND and 12”s on their own DAHLBÄCK label PLUS their massive single as DAHLBÄCK & DAHLBÄCK for TURBO and that breakthrough remix for THE KNIFE…and we've barely scratched the surface as his credits run longer than the end-list of Lord Of The Rings. We're running out of paper and patience so let's go into why we're here… It's only natural when one of 90's Techno's most copious musicians and KOMPAKT co-owner WOLFGANG VOIGT struck a personal affinity to JOHN DAHLBÄCK when he reached out to KOMPAKT under his new techno alias HUG. At that point, a new imprint (aptly titled K2) was being developed in attempts to bring a trueist form of minimal techno back to the KOMPAKT fold - DAHLBÄCK had found a versatile method to create playful, melodic but tremendously functional minimal techno for what would become his first EP “THE ANGRY GHOST” for K2 (and the 2nd release for the imprint). Now with 4 singles under his belt for the imprint as HUG, DAHLBÄCK's releases have helped build the identity (and successes) of K2 so therefore it's fitting that he be the first musician to deliver the first full length commemorating an artist from the imprint. “HEROES” is not a collection of these 12” singles (though the album features 2 favorites “RAIDO” and “BIRDS” previously released on K2) but a tremendously adherent album that reflects the full-sounding nature of his HUG project in a heterogeneous fashion - analog meets digital in the most fundamental of ways.
Das Funktionalismus sexy sein kann bewies uns JOHN DAHLBÄCK besonders als HUG immer wieder. Seine vier auf K2 erschienen Maxis überaschten in all ihrer “Allzeit-bereit-haften Unfehlbarkeit “ immer wieder durch diese, scheinbar unerschöpfliche Quelle an Originalität, Sound und Varianten Reichtum. In ihren glanzvollsten Momenten werden manche HUG Tracks zu floor-füllenden Tanzbomben. Hits! John Dahlbäck schafft es, einer durchaus als “overexposed“ zu bezeichnenden Spielart von Minimaltechno, maximale Individualität und Unverwechselbarkeit zu geben. Und dabei scheinen Ihm die Ideen einfach nicht auszugehen. Die Diskografie des gerade mal 21 jährigen liest sich jetzt schon wie das Telefonbuch von Stockholm. Nun liegt sein erstes Album als HUG für KOMPAKT vor und es erfüllt alle Erwartungen. Auf der Doppel-Vinyl Version befinden sich acht nagelneue, auf Hochglanz polierte Schmuckstücke des für ihn so typischen “Dahlbäck-Techno“ die keine Wünsche offen lassen. Und für alle Autofahrer und Nicht-DJ's gibts die CD, die neben den acht neuen Stücken auch vier ausgesuchte Tracks, der auf K2 erschienen Maxis enthält. The spice must flow. So schön kann Techno sein.

Tracklist

1.	Raido	5:38

2.	Tiny Stars	5:44

3.	Fluteorgie	6:04

4.	Tactic Without Practice	6:24

5.	Sub	6:08

6.	The Platform	6:04

7.	Room Of Rum	5:57

8.	Heroes	6:37

9.	My Dinsosaur	5:25

10.	Birds	5:55

11.	Tons Of None	5:43

12.	Ask For It	6:00

Credits

released January 29, 2007

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