- 12inch
- Recommended
- Back In
Dar Embarks
Let's Start Our Own Thing
Acid Camp Records
- Cat No: ACR011
- updated:2024-11-25
From the label of Los Angeles party 〈Acid Camp〉, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, comes Dar Embarks, a project by Dan Jugle (also active in Juzer with Beau Wanzer) and Kenneth Zawacki of Circling Vultures, who has released on 〈L.I.E.S.〉 and others. A unique sonic world drawn in raw machine sound.
Dar Embarks, the hardware-based collaboration of Chicagoans Dan Jugle and Ken Zawacki, share four precious recordings of bouncing, highly-acidic machine funk and industrial ambiance. This is a posthumous release for Dan Jugle, who departed in 2018.
Dan was a multi-instrumentalist and a pillar of Chicago's techno scene who left an indelible mark on it with his distinctive sound. His infatuation with electronic music began in the mid-90s when he found his way to Midwest raves as soon as he was old enough to drive to them. He began working with analog gear to create his own expression of the music he heard there. Jugle, Zawacki, and Mike Broers started experimenting with a thrifted Roland TR-707, figuring out the controls through trial and error. They performed together as Ghost Arcade in the early 2000s.
Years later, Jugle and Zawacki reunited creatively, forming Dar Embarks and building the foundation for their project. Jugle gained a reputation for crafting washed-out, saturated club tracks as Juzer, a project formed with Beau Wanzer. Dar Embarks' debut EP Fleer (released on CLEAR USA) and Juzer's Horseplay (on Anthony Parasole's label The Corner) were both released in 2014, both elevated by Dan Jugle's live-action knob-twisting and button-pushing composition inspired by sci-fi and comic books. Despite his early passing, Jugle's legacy lives on through his work and his passion for Midwest techno that his friends and fans still remember and carry.
Lovingly wrapped up and presented to Acid Camp by Ken, these heaters are finally set free to move asses and minds.
Artwork by Jeremiah Chiu
Layout by Danielle Davis
Mastered by Tim Xavier at Manmade Mastering
Distributed by wordandsound
Dan was a multi-instrumentalist and a pillar of Chicago's techno scene who left an indelible mark on it with his distinctive sound. His infatuation with electronic music began in the mid-90s when he found his way to Midwest raves as soon as he was old enough to drive to them. He began working with analog gear to create his own expression of the music he heard there. Jugle, Zawacki, and Mike Broers started experimenting with a thrifted Roland TR-707, figuring out the controls through trial and error. They performed together as Ghost Arcade in the early 2000s.
Years later, Jugle and Zawacki reunited creatively, forming Dar Embarks and building the foundation for their project. Jugle gained a reputation for crafting washed-out, saturated club tracks as Juzer, a project formed with Beau Wanzer. Dar Embarks' debut EP Fleer (released on CLEAR USA) and Juzer's Horseplay (on Anthony Parasole's label The Corner) were both released in 2014, both elevated by Dan Jugle's live-action knob-twisting and button-pushing composition inspired by sci-fi and comic books. Despite his early passing, Jugle's legacy lives on through his work and his passion for Midwest techno that his friends and fans still remember and carry.
Lovingly wrapped up and presented to Acid Camp by Ken, these heaters are finally set free to move asses and minds.
Artwork by Jeremiah Chiu
Layout by Danielle Davis
Mastered by Tim Xavier at Manmade Mastering
Distributed by wordandsound
From the label of the Los Angeles party ACID CAMP, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and has featured the likes of SUWA SINGO and MAGIC TOUCH, comes Chicago's DAR EMBARKS, one of the label's key artists alongside SIMIC and NATHAN H. The artwork feels like computer graphics, evoking outer space and microscopic worlds, digital and mythical mystery alike. Four tracks of raw hardware machine beats, chopped vocals, ghetto Chicago, acid and industrial atmospheres. Full of experimental spirit and psychedelic playfulness — highly recommended. (Original Japanese text by Saito)