Perc joins Beatport Live on Friday, February 22

By Ross Jackson

On Friday, February 22, Beatport Live presents UK techno talent Perc. Having gained early recognition for his hit “Up” on Kompakt, Perc went on to catch the ears of Richie Hawtin, Luciano, Chris Liebing, Slam, John Digweed, Green Velvet, Erol Alkan, Steve Lawler, and many more. That critical and peer acclaim led to him being signed to bona fide techno powerhouses like Ovum, Drumcode, and CLR. As well, his own label, Perc Trax, has become a force in itself.

Moving Pictures

Chris Liebing shows off his live setup; "Producers must hate me."

By Ken Taylor

A couple of weeks back, Frankfurt-based DJ/producer and CLR Records head Chris Liebing stopped through San Francisco for a show at Vessel, but before he did, he offered up some insight into his live performance setup for DJ TechTools. In the video below, Liebing walks us through his complex rig, which features two laptops running Ableton Live, Traktor, and Maschine, two Allen and Heath K2 controllers, and plenty more choice gear and software.

My Favorite Machines

MOTOR

By Ken Taylor

Had Depeche Mode‘s Dave Gahan not fallen ill on the band’s 2009 tour, MOTOR‘s Man Made Machine album might be an altogether different beast. You see, it was on that tour that MOTOR were playing support act to DM’s headlining slot, and somewhere along the line when the tour came to a brief halt, MOTOR members Bryan Black and Oly Grasset found themselves in a Berlin hotel room with plenty of time on their hands to make a new record for Chris Liebing‘s CLRX sublabel.

Emptyset - Medium

By Ken Taylor

Artists who work primarily in the wild world of aural abstractions rarely make much of a splash in the four-on-the-floor techno sphere. But Emptyset is one such act that does manage to bridge that gap pretty keenly. Don’t believe us? Check out last year’s “Avichi” on Chris Liebing‘s CLR label, and you’ll soon be convinced of their prowess for building danceable beats as handily as they do moving, contemplative textures.

MOTOR’s Bryan Black on their new EP with Martin Gore

By Beatport News Editors

The thundering techno duo MOTOR is about to release its fourth album, but the engine has been definitively re-tuned. For one thing, the group is now signed to Chris Liebing’s CLR imprint; for another, the album, Man Made Machine, finds MOTOR re-tooling its pummeling mechanics according to a newfound sense of song form. The record even features cameos from Gary Numan, Billie Ray Martin, Nitzer Ebb‘s Douglas McCarthy, and Depeche Mode‘s Martin Gore.

The album’s eponymous first single, featuring Martin Gore is out today; check it out on Beatport here, along with remixes from Radio Slave, Chris Liebing, and Black Asteroid.

We caught up with MOTOR’s Bryan Black to talk about working with Gore, the evolution of the group’s sound, and how the project ended up on CLR instead of in Lady Gaga’s hands. Read on for the full interview.

Tommy Four Seven: G

By Dan Cole

Tommy Four Seven [a] has crafted a video as dark and suggestive as the music he writes. Famous for his deep and uncompromising style of techno, he cut his razor-sharp teeth in the UK; now he resides in Berlin, where he’s been putting out records on Speedy J’s Electric Deluxe [l] and Chris Liebing’s CLR [l] imprint.

“G,” lifted from his new album Primate, and co-produced with Chris Liebing [a] himself, is a shining example of Tommy Four Seven’s extraordinary approach. (Hint: turn it up loud.) For more on the man and his studio techniques, check out Resident Advisor’s new Machine Love feature, an in-depth look at his setup and methods.