Stroboscopic Artefacts founder Lucy, aka producer Luca Mortellaro, continues to celebrate 10 years of the label with a new remix EP.
Lucy Reworks sees the producer putting his own spin on tracks that represent “significant and deeply personal moments” in the history of the label, including Donato Dozzy’s ‘Sotto Ma Sotto’, Lucy and Ben Klock’s ‘War Lullaby’, ‘Link’ from Xhin and Caterina Barbieri’s ‘Virgo Rebellion’, which first appeared on the excellent Flowers From The Ashes compilation.
The EP follows X – Ten Years Of Artefacts, an anniversary compilation featuring original tracks from label affiliates Rrose, Chevel, Alessandro Adriani, L.B. Dub Corp (Luke Slater), Efdemin, Lotus Eater and Lucy himself.
Lucy Reworks arrives on January 24 – check out the cover art below. Lucy is currently on a tour of Stroboscopic Artefacts club showcases that continues until February, 2020. Find those dates below.
Tracklist:
A1. Donato Dozzy – ‘Sotto Ma Sotto (Lucy Remix)’
A2. Caterina Barbieri – ‘Virgo Rebellion (Lucy Remix)’
B1. Lucy & Klock – ‘War Lullaby (Lucy Remix)’
B2. Xhin – ‘Link (Lucy Remix)’
With the ‘Lucy Reworks’ EP, label head Lucy, nom de techno of Luca Mortellaro, revisits four pivotal tracks from his label’s peerless catalogue. In their original form, these tracks from Donato Dozzy, Caterina Barbieri, Lucy & Klock and Xhin each represent significant and deeply personal moments for Mortellaro in Stroboscopic Artefacts’ history. And like the recent ‘Ten Years Of Artefacts’ album and the currently ongoing tour, this EP is a chance for Mortellaro to look back fondly at the label’s past while closely considering its present and its future.
The release of Donato Dozzy’s “Sotto Ma Sotto” in 2014 was in retrospect the moment at which Mortellaro’s curatorial vision broadened to include artists from outside of the immediate early collective of Lucy, Xhin, Dadub, et al. As an icon of Italian electronic music, Dozzy was perhaps an ideal figure to fulfill such a role. His hedonistic yet sharp-eyed “Sotto Ma Sotto” is recast by Mortellaro as a twilit techno roller, as the orginal’s fevered tempo is reduced to a sinister creep.
In remixing Caterina Barbieri, another beloved Italian artist, Mortellaro highlights the breaking of the barrier between experimental and club music that Stroboscopic Artefacts has always sought. His remix of “Virgo Rebellion”, which was released last year on the ‘Flowers From The Ashes’ compilation of contemporary Italian electronic music, retains the adventurous spirit of Barbieri’s gorgeous synth-driven original but frames it in a dramatic new dance floor context.
The choice of “War Lullaby” is both a reflection on Mortellaro’s friendship and creative partnership with Ben Klock, and the closing of a chapter: the period in which the label’s focus moved past what had come to be perceived by the outside world as the sound of Berlin techno. The original might be considered a Stroboscopic Artefacts anthem, a track of such scale a remix could be risky. But Lucy responds to the project by matching the intensity of the original while subtly redirecting its synthetic expressions.
It would have been almost inconceivable to create a project such as this and not include Xhin. The visionary Singaporean was the first artist signed to the label, and Mortellaro doesn’t pass up the chance to journey back to 2009 and the label’s second release, the EP that gained it an international audience. You can sense the energy he draws from Xhin’s original, as he weaves a deadly synth line through the original’s laser-focussed groove.
Over the years, it’s been vital for Mortellaro to maintain a more backgrounded presence with Stroboscopic Artefacts, allowing the music and artists to develop without his involvement appearing too closely in the frame. This EP, however, is a chance for him to boldly toast some of the label’s standout music, as Stroboscopic Artefacts marks ten years of challenging contemporary techno’s conventions.
Stroboscopic Artefacts tour dates:
Nov 29 @ Stereo, Montreal (Alessandro Adriani, Lucy)
Dec 06 @ Warehouse, Chicago (Denise Rabe, Lucy)
Dec 07 @ Analog, New York (Alessandro Adriani, Denise Rabe, Lady Starlight, Lucy)
Dec 19 @ Funkhaus / Monom, Berlin (Denise Rabe, Eomac, Lucy, Rrose, Shifted, Silent Servant)
Jan 03, 2020 @ 6 D.O.G.S., Athens (Adriana Lopez, Lucy)
Jan 18, 2020 @ De School, Amsterdam (Lotus Eater, Lucy, Rrose)
Jan 24, 2020 @ Kablys, Vilnius (Chevel, Lucy, Rrose)
Jan 25, 2020 @ Case à Chocs, Neuchatel (Alessandro Adriani, Denise Rabe, Lucy)
Feb 13, 2020 @ Lux, Lisbon (Lotus Eater, Lucy, Rrose)
Feb 22, 2020 @ Cabaret Aléatoire, Marseille (Efdemin, Lucy, Serena Butler)
Feb 23, 2020 @ Le Sucre, Lyon (Denise Rabe, Lucy, Luke Slater)
Feb 29, 2020 @ Tanzhaus West, Frankfurt (Alessandro Adriani, Lucy)