Highways by Kero

Kero :: Highways EP (Detroit Underground)
cat# DU-181-1 / DU42
12”/digital

Igloomag review:

Detroit Underground label head Kero returns to his sonic roots with the first of the Detroit Map Series originally featured on the limited DUTT-181 Series functional record player designed by Neubau Berlin. As a kick-start, Kero reveals Highways—a 5-track extended player of (abstract) electronics that is cleverly pulled together with a downbeat flow and tracks aptly sub-titled as major freeway arteries of the Motor City.

"Davison" commutes through glitch bits, bobbles, and broken beats flickering back and forth as it eventually opens midway through the traffic jam and hopscotched potholes with a synthesized melodic stream.

Fisher displays its minimized techno flurry and rumbling low-end growl tempered by subtle blips'n bleeps and clinical precision.

Southfield busts apart with modular maneuvering and heavy percussion showcasing an opportunity for Kero to cruise in the passing lane as the piece gradually mutates into a crunchy experimental electro epic.

Lodge ebbs and flows with The Detroit Escalator Company-styled minimalism felt many miles away from its source.

Chrysler expands and contracts with its 7-minute acid-electronic sprawl—here we see Kero carefully downshift to allow an ambient undercurrent to traverse a moonlit sky in the late night hours creating perhaps the finest soundtrack to (minimal) Detroit-inspired techno of yesteryear with a thumping heartbeat. ~PDS

DU-181 Poster available here: https://neubauladen.com/product/dua0-181-print

DU-181 Slipmat here: https://detund.bandcamp.com/merch/dusm-181-slipmat

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DU-181 INFORMATICS:

Neubau’s design for Detroit Underground’s DU-181 Series is a reference to Stefan Gandl’s initial vinyl jacket design for the record label from 2004. The generic 12 inch cover is developed as an interpretation of a Detroit city map to topographically locate the label and put its audio releases on vinyl in context with its physical environment.

While the 2004 edition was dominated by the colour blue, the 2008 edition saw the blue replaced by black ink. The DU-181 design developed in 2018 presents a refined vector map soley in black and white ink working as a visual metaphor for reduction and the label’s contrasting audio visual output.

Gandl’s DU-181 cover design concept presents a daylyight version and a graphically inverted night version of Detroit’s map. The familiar A and B side is replaced by a D (Detroit) and U (Underground) side.

As with Neubau’s previous cover designs for Detroit Underground, the DU-181 design will be used as a generic jacket for a total of 12 releases. An index of 12 map typical patterns and symbols printed on the cover represent a visual
reference for each release.

The collaboration between Detroit Undergound’s label founder Kero and Neubau comes full circle when map index symbols such as Roads, Buidlings, Railways, Rivers, Swamps etc. also define the conceptual theme for each audio release.
DU-181 Highways is the first release of the new series including a total of five tracks with titles such as Fisher, Davison, Lodge, Southfield and Chrysler refering to actual main arteries of the Motor City.

デトロイト
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Detroit Underground (est. 1997) is a multidisciplinary arts collective. Functioning primarily as a record label dedicated to electronic based experimental music and video installation.

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