Piska Power, a German producer who somehow brings that sound beyond that end. His four-track Thermal Cycler EP feels like techno reduced to its constituent forms, not so much kick drums, snares and basslines as wild sprays of sparks, churning currents and short circuits.

 

 

The title track sputters and coughs along, its texture so intense, midrange-y and unstable that it’s like the aural equivalent of touching a raw wire and getting a shock. The music feels almost dangerously energetic—“Thermal Cycler“ seems to run off the rails several times, triggering new sounds and shedding others, with a number of pseudo-breakdowns to keep dance floors riveted. „Pica Pica“ is even zanier, with aqueous sound design. Big, exaggerated basslines and melodic leads surface like bubbles from a noxious muck, all kept in time by a sturdy kick drum that lets the midrange do its thing.

The other two cuts feature electro-style robotic vocals that add a touch of humour (or maybe menace, depending on your state of mind). „Taxon“ has the texture and vibe of electroclash gone mad, with vocals towards the end that sound they’re being choked out of the frequencies. Closer „Vokoka“ is slightly more intelligible, pairing its unnerving voice with a tonnes-heavy, broken beat kick drum that has a wandering mind of its own. Though the sound palette is relatively reduced, every track here feels unpredictable, nearly explosive, taking the basic elements of techno and making them sound goofy, larger-than-life and occasionally awe-inspiring, sometimes all at once.“

 

 

RESIDENT ADVISOR

 

„A cluster bomb of frantic arpeggios, dazzling synth stabs and playfully solemn new wavey vocals by way of contrapuntal device, the track unreels at full tilt, like a blazing dream of Moroder-esque bizarro, packed to the brim with the most ravishing keyboard glitter and strass. Killer stuff.“

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„Irma Infekt, Piska Power goes straight for the rusty jugular. The pieces are spiked with intriguing narratives, promising some refined indulgement. Minimalistic and improvised as they appear, they imply a level of detail far more elevated than the one offered by the mere blind emotion of dancefloors. Splashes of aural ectoplasm corrode the nerves as a dangerous aphrodisiac, sharpening the focus and infusing dance moves with juicy bliss.

Tremens and Haben Sie zwei Augen are illegal implants reaching into symbiosis with your neural system, while Medusa and Irma’s infection titillate proto-body receptors with the smell of black leather, rubber and illicit sex. With such poison on headphones, it’s a delight confronting the vulgar colors of gentrified streets and replacing them with cyberpunk dystopia that was never meant to be.

Piska Power is rather modest – by his own words, he just jacks in the machines, lets it rip and then keeps the material which stirs him emotionally.“

FLUX WEBZINE

 

If you don’t know about Piska Power yet, here’s a little introduction to the German producer’s uniquely eccentric sound universe. Based out of Berlin, Stefan Junge isn’t your regular dance music producer – he’s an abseiler, a spelunker of electronics heeding the call of the wild.

Avid explorator of tortuously sculpted tech-y meanders and burnt-out circuit board scapes, Piska Power threads his way across intricate webs of proto-techno rhythms and distorted harmonics like one scouts uncharted caverns and grottos, continuously tracing back upriver, where electronic signals come into being and the drums beat a savage, unadulterated pulse out the dawn of time.

Showcasing the breadth of his skills through a dizzying maelstrom of feverish percussions, bouncy 303 arpeggios and enticing bird calls captured during various field-recording excursions, PP’s contribution encompasses his unparalleled vision with optimal results. „

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The 5th installation of Power Station, this time from the unused tunnels of Berlin’s U-Bahn. A first time artist release for us as himself and vice versa – metaphorically but not limited to reality.

German born, Stefan (wunder) Junge aka Piska Power is Med student by day and neurotic composer by night which is clearly examined and demonstrated with his 6 track ‘Landung’ ep.

Opening song ‘Riemen‘ (Belt) floats way above the cosmos, now? the future ? or is it before the beginning of anything? which metaphysically speaking, in the grand scheme of everything is nothing… Bursts and cosmic collision peripherate through-out the track for a final gas explosion, Earth? ‘Kette‘ gives us early signs of life, deep in the water – a 6 and half minute motorik Marimba jam, incubating at 80bpm. ‘Flöha‘ washes you ashore, a tiny speck of un-ware living matter exploring the land, the slow heartbeat pulsating you through and the strike of the Toms hark the call for evolution.

Flip over to B1 and you have ‘Umgehung‘, Stefan has fast tracked human evolution, the pulsating modular sequence slowly mutating all the while at its core remaining the same, a reference to the primal condition of the Homo-sapien. A dark turn, ARAS travels deep into the unsound (albeit temporary) human psyche, dealing with all the negative effects of this thing we call LIFE. ARAS also comes with a self help voice guide courtesy of Dr Junge (Nur Deutsch) and finally LANDUNG, closes up this journey of an EP, you have arrived!.“

POWER STATION

 

The noise in the industrial estate echoed loudly in the morning, the grey sky which hung above the compound was eerie and cast a menacing tone upon the day. The Aras factory had long since closed its doors but that didn’t stop the building from rattling and creaking beneath the strain of the wind like before. Walking through the concrete sprawl he wondered if there might ever be new life in this place or whether it was doomed to the tragic end as a ghost town.

Piska Power is the musical alias of Stefan Junge, a German producer operating out of Berlin under the cover of darkness. By day a medical student, at night a musical mogul. He delivers the fifth release on the Power Station label run by Kris Baha.

RANSOM NOTE

 

The mix he delivered is something hard to describe, super pitched down techno with a nagging, obsessing, somewhat of a industrial background sound into it.“

LODOWN MAGAZINE