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Hey everyone, it’s Kono, and I couldn’t be more excited to share this exclusive track talk with the incredibly talented Manuel Tur. As he gears up to release his new album ‘Intertextural’ on 180g vinyl, we sat down to dive into ten tracks that have been milestones in his journey. Each of these tracks not only marks a significant point in his career but also showcases his evolution as an artist. From his early days as a 16-year-old with a cracked version of Fruity Loops to his latest ambient and trip-hop creations, Manuel’s story is a testament to his passion and dedication to his craft. Let’s embark on this sonic journey together.
Where it all started: My first ever release as a 16-year-old, naïvely produced after school using a cracked version of Fruity Loops 3.0 (now FL Studio) and samples cut from low-resolution disco mp3s I had downloaded from the SoulSeek network. Released on the London-based Mada Music label after I sent them a demo CD through the post, this was my entry ticket to the world of music.
Years later, “Acorado” was the record that introduced me to a wider audience and finally made me give up university for music (which had always been the plan anyway).
It was my first of many releases on Freerange Records and hit a nerve with
DJs across genre at a time when house music was making a comeback in the clubs.
A breakthrough release for me and my studio partner at the time, Dplay. Our second release with Zurich’s Drumpoet Community, “Deviate” seemed to resonate with DJs across genres and ended up being the second best-selling deep house track on Beatport that year, earning us the respective awards from the platform.
To this day, it’s probably the track of mine that I’ve heard played the most in clubs by other DJs.
Taken from my debut album “0201” on Freerange, this is one of the lesser-known tracks, however it already showed my fondness for slower tempos and trippy elements as on “Intertextural”. I had just made the switch to Ableton Live and this was the first record I made entirely in the relatively new DAW.
“About To Fall” was originally released on Mild Pitch, a label I had founded with Dplay and Langenberg as a platform for our vast musical output at the time.
It was later included in my third album for Freerange, “Es Cub” as well. The track has always been one of my personal favourites because it combined some of my favourite elements in club music: a dense, almost dreamlike atmosphere; suspense and a heavy bass.
The opening track to my second album “Swans Reflecting Elephants”, “Back To Me” is a sweet exercise de style in combining a dozen samples from all different kinds of sources and creating something new with it. This was released still without Spotify or Apple Music in mind, yet later proved to be one of my most streamed tracks to this day.
If I remember correctly, this simple beat track was originally an outtake from a remix that was never released and that I had accidentally recorded back from my console. I sent it to Gerd Janson, an old friend of Dplay’s and regular guest at our “Slow Club” nights in Essen. He quickly came back to me with the idea of including the track in a DJ tool sampler with beats from I:Cube, Âme, Radio Slave and others. The track proved successful enough to be followed by an entire beat album I recorded for Running Back years later in 2021.
By 2019, I had taken a hiatus of four years of not releasing any new original music under my own name. What better label to make a comeback on than Freerange, where the “Organic Reach EP” was released. This B-side track is probably my favourite from the record, again creating a rich atmosphere with swirling layers of sound. Technically, by that time I had made a switch to Presonus Studio One.
For “Dreamharmonicon” I teamed up with Yuu Udagawa, a Tokyo-based artist I had come across through a pair of broken monitor speakers at my studio. I was unsatisfied with the German company’s service department and wanted to check out their Instagram page for comments if this was a common problem with customers. On their most recent story however, they shared some of Yuu’s music that she happened to have recorded on speakers of the same brand and I instantly loved her vibe. For this track, composed on a Moog Subharmonicon, I felt like whispered Japanese lyrics would make a perfect fit and luckily Yuu was happy to provide them.
In the midst of the pandemic, my city’s cultural council was generous enough to provide me with some money from their Covid relief fund to press up some unreleased tracks on vinyl and without having planned so, a new label was born: Spaced Repetitions. This is the lead track from the second and so far most successful release on the label. Like “About To Fall” it is based around a steady beat and floating synth layers, here provided by the Roland Super JX. Instead of a prominent vocal cut, I used a crackly horn sample that is quirky enough to be instantly recognizable. One of the few tracks of mine that I like to play in DJ sets.
Thank you so much to Manuel Tur for sharing these pivotal tracks and insights into his musical journey. Don’t miss out on his latest release, ‘Intertextural,’ now available on 180g vinyl. Dive into the rich, cinematic soundscapes and experience the evolution of an artist who continues to push the boundaries of electronic music. Grab your copy today and immerse yourself in Manuel Tur’s world.
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DJ | MUSIC CURATOR & SELECTOR | PODCAST MAKER | BLOGGER Professional online interpreneur. Coffee practitioner. Electronic music culture maven. Total music guru. Infuriatingly humble problem solver. Food & sports fanatic.
Hello, music lovers and rhythm enthusiasts! Welcome to another captivating episode of Dirty Disco, your dedicated podcast for the finest electronic tunes, hosted by Kono Vidovic. In episode 551, we […]
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