Lost Connection

Evolving from the Slabs of the Tabernacle parties in Glasgow (and it's accompanying mix series) Tabernacle Records is a relatively new label that deserves all the attention it gets. Committed to putting forward machine music by artists whose agenda is uncompromising and usually built around analogue experimentation, it is a label that bears a torch lit initially by Jeff Mills, Claude Young, Anthony Shakir and the other Detroit pathfinders. This is a marriage of innovation with an obstinate commitment to one’s own agenda. In six releases they have managed to put out John Heckle’s first track (and the more recent Extrovert/Introvert EP) and be the first non-Restoration affiliate to release the Analogue Cops. Their seventh release is another split that introduces the mysterious Lost Trax and The Connection Machine.

Each artist has three tracks. The Lost Trax begin with a crisp, stepping 808, pad drenched trip before throwing the listener into Pulp, a filthy bass-driven cut to rival anything from Reel by Real’s latest feted long player. Space is given to another dreamscape with closing track The Forest. TCM’s offerings are slower and a little broader in their references, although I’m not totally convinced at his use of melody. The standout out is Speel, the second track, which is a lovely reminder of certain emotive highlights from Carl Craig’s 69 catalogue. Whatever positive and negative comments can be made about the tracks Tabernacle choose to press, the unassuming spirit of the label is unquestionable, and in my book that lays a golden hue to whatever they choose to do.

Take a listen here.