2011-03    Homesickness or Nostalgia review on textura.org

Microcosm is, without a doubt, the perfect label home for Sven Laux's first full-length Homesickness or Nostalgia. With its nine quirky tracks animated by jaunty rhythms and adorned with oddball samples and found sounds, the digital-only set possesses all of the earmarks of the New York-based imprint's style. Prior to the album, Laux issued several EPs and remixes, so it's not all that surprising to discover that the album's material is polished, even if the tracks' skeletal techno and house rhythms are relentlessly beseiged by a never-ending stream of sound fragments. read more

2011-02    Homesickness or Nostalgia review on boomkat.com

 You can always rely on Ezekiel Honig’s Microcosm imprint for some high-grade 4/4-based sounds. That said, the pulsing beats that form the backbone of many Microcosm releases are only part of the story, as these artists merely use techno as the starting point for their compositions. read more

2011-02    Homesickness or Nostalgia review on infernaltechno.com

 Homesickness or Nostalgia might be Berlin-based Sven Laux's first full-length album, but with steady releases on Archipel, Multi-Vitamins, spontanMusik, Tropic, and Leporelo labels, to name a few, Sven has already introduced listeners to his personal world of music. Upon first listening, it is clear to tell that he takes great influence from techno and house music from past and present. However, Sven's chiseled and refined sound remains refreshingly tight throughout the course of its productions. read more

2011-02-10    Homesickness or Nostalgia review on cyclicdefrost.com

 With a title straight out of the hauntological handbook one might have expected Sven Laux’s Homesickness or Nostalgia to be an exercise in Burial-esque crackle and sadness, but the nostalgia seems to point closer, back a mere ten years or so, to the height of glitchy microhouse. Since then CPUs have gotten bigger, enabling Laux to stuff his tracks with greater amounts of digital fizz and clamour, but these nine tracks remain lithe and limber, like the Perlon of yore. read more

2009-07/08    Beat Remix-Contest Hoy & Monk EP

 Sven Laux ist seit Jahren ein fester Bestandteil der Netaudio-Welt und begeistert mit einem kreativexperimentellen Minimal Techno, dessen Charme man sich kaum entziehen kann. Für den Remix-Wettbwerb der Beat stellt er das Titelstück seiner aktuellen EP „Hoy & Monk“ bereit. read more

2009-01    Beat Interview "Sich von der Maus entfernen"

 Die Frage nach seiner Lieblingsmusik haben wir Sven Laux zwar nicht gestellt, doch rotieren in seinem Player gerade Oasis und Coldplay einträchtig neben dem hypnotischen House von Pheek und den kühlen Knisterklängen von Vladislav Delay. read more

2007-10    Tokafi Release Review "The Stories of Kwiggle EP"

 Sven Laux is back with already his fifth EP this year: “The Stories of Kwiggle” is out on Meerestief, a label, radio show and magazine with some of the highest quality packaging-standards when it comes to their physical releases and the demand of going far beyond the superficial with everything they do in general. As such, Laux should feel perfectly at home here. Not sure whether Kwiggle is a reference to the relatively rare computer virus, but just like this digital worm slows down the system until it is working at full capacity while being barely able to move, Sven has silenced the pulse of his tracks to a gentle heartbeat and brought the subtle crispbread structures, which previously underpinned his music like an insect hum, to the fore. Everything is opaque and hazy and inside these many different parallel and aversely running streams, you can never be sure whether that tiny hiss was a cut, a pitched chord or a hihat. Dub is a major influence here, less in the sense of utter minimalism and techniques (the echo chamber stays closed for most of the time), but rather in the playful manner of using samples and opening structures for a couple of seconds (“On the Road” features a field recording of a church bell, for example). It is the small noises which really make the difference here and may possibly be more important than the spartan, but inviting bass lines and the hypnotic percussions. Whoever he is, we’d like to hear more stories of Kwiggle soon. www.tokafi.com

2007-08    Tokafi Release Review "Languish EP"

 Sven Laux has been a regular guest on these pages and he is bound to remain so for quite some time. Not so much because of his unfettered productivity (McDonalds keeps churning out the greasy stuff as well, after all), but mainly because few other contemporary producers have understood the principle of the EP as well as him. Laux approaches his releases from a sound-conceptual and structural perspective, filling in the music as he goes along. This ensures that all tracks are interrelated, mutually complementing each other and continually defining and deepening a particular mood. „Languish“ is the most recent addition to his discography and already his sixth publication this year (!). Again, Sven finds the hidden gap between abstraction and physicality, between soundscapes and chilled-out club-tracks. Sluggishly, even spartanically, the beats roll forward, developping on a microperceptional basis. Of course, there are plenty of snippeted cuts and clicks to be found, but the real movement happens within the extremely rationed, but ever-so-effective dub stabs and reverbed echoes. „Anguish“ and „Languish“ tend more towards the experimental and textural, while „Languid Air“ and „Spanglish“ are danceable in a bonedry, funky kind of way. Out of the blue and seemingly aimless, this gluey and sticky mystery quickly turns irresistible. If Sven Laux keeps going like this, he will be a regular guest at your record store as well soon. www.tokafi.com

2007-07    Tokafi Release Review "Coco EP"

 07.07.07 is not only a good day for weddings, it is also an excellent date for great new music, and for everyone, who wanted to hear more of Sven Laux after his darkly alluring “Boutique” contribution to Tropic’s first label sampler. Already back then, the trademarks of his style were clearly contoured: A knack for prominent atmospherics, a subtle integration of harmonies and the attachment of slight, but unsettling irregularities in his 4/4-propelled grooves. What has changed on his latest “Coco” EP, however, is the general mood: A freshly shimmering fruit on the cover and some decidedly laid-back, sun-drenched beats on the inside. Laux is obviously enjyoing the summer and his urge to share that sensation has resulted in five minimal and yet constantly evolving tracks. The title piece, for starters, is driven by the interaction between a simple rhythmic motive and microscopic particles, a warm pulse-bass and a catchy ragga-counterpoint. “Koco” starts with dreamy hawaii-vibes over a stuttering kickdrum and only gradually mutates into a deep soundscape with longing, sustained chords. It is clear that Sven Laux is genuinely trying to find his own voice, instead of coyly copying big blueprints – an admirable approach which works in many different ways and turns “Coco” into more than just a smooth set-opener. www.tokafi.com