About Me
Out now - Desert Shift EP (11th Hour Recordings ehr005)
Feedback / Reviews:
‘Desertification is the pick for me with the heavy groove on the bass line and floor energy. Chester shows what he is made of on this EP by presenting solid and well composed pieces that fit together almost as a mini album. These tracks are like cinema because they are so descriptive of emotion and rich in imagery. They communicate an adventure in a way that is almost visual. Some serious soul-searching went on here. This EP is exactly why I am on the fence about VJs, with music as complete as this no other stimulation is needed. Full Support!’
- Dan Curtin (Metamorphic / Tuning Spork)
'Really nice tracks! My favourite: Desertification !!! Really hot track !!!' - Fabrice Lig (FCom / Third Ear / Kanzelramt / Raygun)
‘Quality stuff from 11th Hour as always!’ - Claude Young (7th City / Frictional)
‘Already played!’ – Dave Clarke (White Noise)
‘I really like it! I like every track!’ - Convextion (Matrix / Downlow)
‘Hunter is totally awesome, love it!! …totally blinding, fantastic ep. full support!’ – Vince Watson (Transmat / Headspace)
'Consider it charted' - Octave One / RNG (430 West / Tresor)
‘This is dope… Desertification is the one !’ – DJ 3000 (UR / Motech, Detroit)
‘Dope E.P. Sounds like what the 'blueprint' for techno should sound like. I'm really diggin' the 'Desertification' track, perfect blend of funk, house and techno. Right up my alley.’ – DJ S2 / Satiago Salazar (UR / Ican, Detroit)
‘Desert Shift is HOT!’ – Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir (Frictional, Detroit)
‘Super dope tracks! really love desertification and subsaharan especially...high quality techno record, one of maybe 3 or 4 i've heard this year..’ - $tinkworx / JT (Downlow / New Religion)
‘That record is the bomb!!!! really nice tracks....... ’ – Oliver Kapp (Raygun / Indulge)
'After a two-year break, 11th Hour returns with a diverse EP by label boss Matt Chester. ‘Desertification’ is an unpredictable mixture of walking bass, angular rhythms and infectious synths, ‘Sub Saharan’ marks a return to the electro funk jams of Cameo – replete with bump’n’grind guitar riffs – and ‘Dune Decay’ and ‘Hunter’ are multi-layered, atmospheric takes on Detroit techno. - Richard Brophy (DJ Magazine)'
'...Subsaharan is a deep space of blueprint techno straight from beyond...AMAZING!' - DJ Dan Cortez / Confidential (UR / Tresor Berlin)
‘Sweet Release! Sounds good’ - Andy Vaz (Background)
Discography:
Shawn Rudiman - Deal With It EP (ehr001 - 2003)
Matt Chester - Into The Fall EP (ehr002 - 2004)
Arne Weinberg - Confessions Of A Believer EP (ehr003 - 2004)
Matt Chester - Lives Unlooked For EP (ehr004 - 2005)
Matt Chester - Desert Shift EP (ehr005 - 2007)
Further 11th Hour releases to be announced shortly.
Press:
ehr004 matt chester - lives unlooked for
Like so many other producers, Matt Chester was and still is influenced by deep Detroit techno - he cites UR’s ‘Final Frontier’ as the record that flicked the switch for him – but unlike many of his peers, he succeeds in replicating the delicate balance of otherworldness and soul that make original Motor City productions so influential. ‘Icebound’, which is built on minimal beats and fragile chords and melodies, is a good example. The hissing percussion and warm, fluid basslines make ‘Silk Road’ and ‘Alley Grind’ clubbier propositions, but these also exude a warmth that’s becoming an increasingly rare commodity in techno.
DJ Magazine (UK) 4/5
ehr003 arne weinberg - confessions of a believer
Arne Weinberg is part of a small global coterie of producers who have kept the Detroit flame burning, and Believer is a shimmering paean to the Motor
City sound. There are intricate metallic beats and majestic chord sequences
on Antiochia, the bleepy wide screen Fighting The Demon and the seductive
melodies of The World Keeps on Spinning. Apart from the piano house keys and
glitch beats of Codex interlude, it's text book stuff, but the production is
so polished and sleek and the execution so precise that it would be like
slagging someone off for buying the latest Ferrari model....
DJ Magazine (UK) 5/5 - Techno single of the month Jan 05
4 tracks and 2 interludes from the man who invents one melodic detroit track
after another in germany like no one else (Shed not to be forgotten), that
go to the heart, to the soul, I don't know where else. In fact you
definitely will find everything that is a Weinberg trademark; the tracks are
moody optimistically melancholic, they bleep, fall, land, sail and are
non-broken in the last little snare rolls and sounds. Maybe a little bit
more easy for the dancefloor than his last EPs but not less tricky and deep.
Magic as usual.
De:Bug (Germany) 5/5
It isn't very difficult to guess in what Arne Weinberg believes, as his
previous releases on Keynote or Technoir Audio were already marked with a
nearly spiritual connection to the melancholic principles of Detroit techno.
This Mini-LP for the UK label 11th hour doesn't change this fact: Perfect
Motorcity-Hymns like the sensorial strings Ode "Antiochia" or the tricky
broken, playful "Fighting the demon" breathe the everlasting spirit of
technosoul, that trademarked the early productions of Carl Craig, Kirk
Degiorgio or Stefan Robbers. Stability of values in its beautifullest
shaping.
Groove (Germany)
ehr002 matt chester - into the fall
One of the founders of the 11th Hour collective, Matt Chester, puts out his debut EP. Listening to the crisp and polished production on ‘Fall’, it’s clear that he waited until his work had reached a high standard before releasing any material. Taking inspiration from Detroit techno and electro, ‘Blank Horizon’ works trippy acidic bleeps and blips over a cinematic soundtrack, ‘Tastes Like More’ and ‘Latent Living’ juxtapose symphonic strings and spacey pads with jacking beats, while ‘Defeat Me’ is a hypnotic Motor City night ride. If this is only Chester’s debut, imagine what he’ll be capable of when he has more experience.
DJ Magazine (UK) 4/5
One of the most beautiful Detroit EPs of the year comes from Matt Chester, who moves so happy through sounds that it reminds us of times when techno with only a few sequences created melodies that raise you so much, you can't do anything else but give into your soul and believe in nothing else anymore. Each of the tracks, no matter if calm and deep or direct and straight kicking, proves that the Red Planet and UR legends still live like the pre-booty Chicago times and that this groove still easily means more than every minimal or discoid waiting for progress through the past.
De:Bug (Germany) 5/5
ehr001 shawn rudiman - deal with it
Electronic music website 11th Hour launch their label with a soulful techno release by Shawn Rudiman. Hailing from Pittsburgh but influenced by Detroit, the US producer starts off in deep mode with the tight handclaps and soaring progression of ‘Bluesky’ before switching to dense, ‘Stardancer’ inspired techno on ‘That’s What I’m Talkin’ About’ While Rudiman’s techno tracks are well produced and structured, the highlights on this EP come from his more adventurous forays. The brooding tones of ‘Sexy Girl’ is as sensuous as electro gets, while ‘Welcome to the Junkyard’ sees Shawn blur the boundaries with a live electro-techno funk jam.
DJ Magazine (UK) 3.5/5
The vastly underrated Shawn Rudiman kicks things off for this promising new label, with four tracks that really flex his versatility. His talent for rhythmic variance is as impressive as his ear for a warm, enveloping melody, and, as is evident here, the two come together very nicely indeed.
7 Magazine (UK) 4/5
And again another new label that easily floats into our hearts and onto the dancefloor giving you the feeling it always existed. Shawn Rudiman is not only promising but also on this record from the first track so happily deep & Detroity and slammingly housey like never before - and floats above it all with "Bluesky". Deeper and more funky, more complex, with nearly broken beats, "Sexy Girl" rocks on so you can't stay at home. "That's what I'm talking about" tops many of the hits of Tejada in terms of glittering straight rockin killer techno, and the sneaky whirling melodies make this one of this winter's monster tracks. And as a finish Rudiman is allowed to rock with "Welcome to the Junkyard", obscure oldschoolfunk in straight electro tempo and broken beats. What more else do you want? One of the best label debuts of the year.
De:Bug (Germany) 5/5
