Hitchhickers Choice EP
~ Minilogue

Following big releases in 2006 from Blackstrobe, Mlle Caro and Silversurfer, Crosstown Rebels celebrate their 30th release with their premier collaboration with the intriguing Swedish outfit, Minilogue.

Sebastian Mullaert and Marcus Henriksson came from opposing backgrounds. Sebastian was trained as a classical musician playing the organ, piano and the violin among other instruments. He even became involved in teaching them until his coming of age at 18 when he formed a band and began experimenting with the sounds in a more contemporary way.

Marcus lived on a diet of Kraftwerk and the Human League until realising his true calling in the techno parties of the 90s. Through promoting parties he moved onto become one of the bigger DJs in Sweden where they met and decided to combine Sebastian’s musical knowledge and musician’s perspective with Marcus´ DJ skills and experience from the scene. They got together in 1996 and after 10 successful years in the music business under successful guises such as Son Kite, Marcus & Sebastian are now Minilogue - a musical animal concept without the boundaries of genres.

With three fresh and solid tracks on this release - each firmly at the melodic end of techno - you catch a true sense of the duo’s vision, touching on influences from the simplistic early 90s sound of electronica. ‘Hitchhiker’s Choice’ builds with warped and wondrous sounds and textures to create true depth while ‘City Boy’ is made for peak-time dancefloors, a purely industrial sounding gem filled with apocalyptic climaxes. ‘Small Town Beauty’ is a laid-back, innovative track reminiscent of the sounds of Squarepusher and Two Lone Swordsman. These are definately tracks you will be hearing a great deal of, offering reminders of the fundamental beauty and intricacy of real techno.

Minilogue’s music is playful, ambitious, simple and melancholic. With previous releases on Traum, Baroque and Audiobahn, the move to Crosstown Rebels fits their atmospheric and underground sound perfectly. The pair are rather mysterious, rarely posing for photos and both bearing an animal side to themselves. Often referred to as way ahead of their time, this release looks set to carve out some well-deserved success for the eccentric Scandinavians.