Hailing from Cologne, Germany, two humanoids known about town as Ancient Astronauts, have just dropped their latest album entitled Into Bass and Time. This release is only numero dos (2009’s We Are To Answer) for the boys from space but is for sure not their first rodeo. “We were throwing these big parties in our hometown together and didn’t want to get trapped by a label. So we started our own called Switchstance Recordings,” whispers Kabanjak as not to startle the bear.
Switchstance has garnered quite the name of it’s own around the club scene for the labels penchant, “to combine early musical influences such as Funk, Jazz, Latin, 90´s Hip Hop and Reggae with the most progressive techniques of electronic music production in order to create a new dynamic sound that pays respect to the diverse cultures it comes from.” I must say that I am impressed at the ease with which this DJ duo (Kabanjak and Dogu) can meld the raw sensibilities of turntablism with the rough housing qualities usually brought in with Drum & Bass. This album is an eclectic space ship road trip mix for sure. Often dropping rock nods to Iggy Pop, rolling up a tight Rasta beat akin to Peter Tosh, and I believe I hear a bit of old skool block party aesthetic reminiscent Public Enemy.
