Member Since: 09/01/2007
Band Website: bmore-electro.com | moreorless.cc
Band Members:
Influences: Kraftwerk, SLG, Tying Tiffany, Wighnomy Brothers, Robag Wruhme, Mantronix, Joey Beltram, Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, Adam Beyer, Vladislav Delay, Speedy J, Kooky Scientist, Woody McBride, 808 State, A Guy Called Gerald, Green Velvet, Ultradyne, Aux 88, Dopplereffekt, Jesper Dahlbeck, Vector Lovers, Luomo, Audion
Sounds Like: Album Review By Michael Byrne (Baltimore City Paper) Someone should make a bumper sticker: baltimore needs more techno. We've got indie rock, club music, hip-hop, punk, metal, and whatever you choose to call the molten Crayola 64-pack of Wham City, but how about a little science fiction? Recent Baltimore-by-way-of-Michigan transplants Craig Sopo and Patrick Brander, together known as Bmore Electro, are working on it. Last summer, they started their monthly Depot dance party More or Less--named for a local message board of the same name--and this month finds them inaugurating their first release as a label, Sopo's Shell Tones EP, two tracks and two remixes of the sort of to-the-bone minimal you might find lurking in the catalogs of the Minus or Spectral labels.The uptempo, jacking "Shell Tone," which crosses the line into more straight-up tech-house, is the star here. The beat pattern is simple enough through the first couple of minutes, but at about the two-minute mark things start to really clap, hiss, and generally get congested and urgent, and then the synth rises out of the mix and takes the track off autopilot for a nice midsong break. The roofied blabber vocal that creeps around things is a nice, weird touch. Josh Dahlburg's remix is fine enough--he adds a wealth of busy high-end percussion, and what of the low he does leave in gets a dub treatment. The more abstract "Prospect Street" is less dance, more listening--moody, atmospheric, and a whole lot going on in the mix--but Brian Kage turns it into a chugging, near-angry monster with his remix. The atmosphere of the original becomes a dense, dark thrum, and at the four-minute mark (it's nearly eight minutes total) the bass hits the floor in distorted, filling-rattling pounds. Needless to say, in the past couple of years' talent rush on Baltimore, we're glad techno didn't get left behind.----------------------------------From xlr8r.comProducers and Midwest transplants Craig Sopo and lovehate bring some Detroit techno and Chicago house to the B-more music scene with Below the Line. Just released via their More or Less imprint, the digital EP from Sopo himself is packed with stabbing synth lines, chopped-up vocals, and a couple remixes by Josh Dahlberg and Beretta Music manager Brian Kage that are apparently great for both drives on the Interstate and raves in the middle of the day. “Shell Tone,†is the EP’s lead track, and is fit for the darkest hours on the dancefloor.
Record Label: More or Less Records (bmore-electro)
Type of Label: Indie