Artist: The Magnecian (aka Mr. Statik). Title: Medea. Label: Autochtone Records.
Release date: 21-07-2014
Tracklisting:
- A Nostalgia
- B1 Your Suffering Is Mine
- B2 Deleterious
Press release:
The collecting season leads us to our third episode and, as if Northern winds may threaten our summer, we request assistance from redoubtable Southern war men. The search has taken us to the Greek region of Thessaly where the mighty tribe of the Magnetes still exercises solid mythological power… From this realm, a line of their descents bring us stories of initiatory and adventurous journeys, full of passionate and unconsidered love, like the one present in the myth of Medea.
As in the story, where extreme joy is followed by pulse, tragedy, vengeance and betrayal, The Magnecian reveals his inner techno instinct just to guide our paths through thunderously dark places filled with grainy drum thrills and shadowy riddims splicing with wide synths washes and cyclic chants. An epic soundtrack.
Starting with ‘Nostalgia’, a perfectly stripped down dub that builds and expands along an eerie melody floating around the groove till, suddenly, interspersed with stomping percussions, the drive of the drum and the bass leads the way to eventually shake the emptiest ground…Turn the wax and you’ll be shadowed by ‘Your Suffering Is Mine’, a tool crafted to keep things just the way they should, with 909 high hats and percussion bursts waving like blades thrown by our martial autochtone; he exquisitely manages to combine layers of noisy stabs and unfamiliar horn sounds that unravel over the course of a bouncy bassline. Finally “Deleterious”, a state of the art broken B2 acid drop, with a roaring and rumbling bassline skillfully displayed with synths and ethereal voices. It establishes a primitive dialogue between sounds, giving a Bristolian feel to this cuttingedged closure.
Far from remaining Statik, we believe this new self revealed argonaut will threaten the most remote places in our eternally cherished Techno Land. Long Live to him!!!
Stathis Kalatzis Biography:
Mr. Statik, aka Stathis Kalatzis, born in 1978, is known to many from his hugely successful residency
at Athens’ place-to-be, ‘Six D.O.G.S’. Originally heavily influenced by the 90′s breakbeat and early
hardcore scene, Statik went on to gain international recognition in the contemporary techno scene,
a long standing contribution to the community that included numerous slots at many international
renowned festivals and releases on some of the world’s leading house and techno labels.
Growing up in Volos, Greece he then moved to Athens to study Political Science at Panteion
University where he gained a firm embrace of techno music which lead to the birth of Improvize; a
mobile party with fellow DJ Chevy aimed at bringing a fresh sound of techno and house music to the
local community.
2003 saw a sharp increase in Statik’s global appearances, one of which being at the prestigious
Red Bull Music Academy in Cape Town. In the beginning of 2005 he formed the Mud Max project
alongside his friend Motek (which saw releases out on Balkon and Ware). After the second half of
2006, Mr. Statik began his solo work signing his first EPs to Karloff, Stock5 and Octopus with a
variety of tracks that embraced his moodier and more atmospheric side to techno.
In 2007 Statik was sharing his time between his local residency at Fetisch and his growing
international bookings, which included appearances at Monegros Festival and Berlin’s legendary
Tresor night. The following year proceeded with releases on UK’s Immigrant Recordings as well as
Berlin’s Rotary Cocktail and Perplex labels.
As Statik’s international recognition grew, so did the quantity of releases seeing records drop on the
likes of Mo’s Ferry and BPitch’s sister label, Memo. In 2011 his debut EP, “Even Giants Have a Soft
Spot” was released on BPitch Control, finally solidifying his involvement with Ellen Allien’s long
running label.
Following the release came further touring for the Greek artist and a popular monthly residency at
Athens’ ‘Six D.O.G.S’. It was also a year of heavy studio work that embraced a wider range of
genres, along with numerous collaborations with many different artists. His comeback on Rotary
Cocktail recordings is the first of many projects to see the light in 2013, as well a long sleuth of
records and international appearances.
Listen: