Luke Slater

Often associated with figures of comparable impact like Cristian Vogel along with past label associates the Black Dog, Luke Slater receives frequent recognition for establishing a British techno lineage grounded firmly in Detroit influences. Among the trio his output leans toward the most direct approach, even as he has issued material spanning hard-hitting, high-energy techno and expansive, rhythm-free ambient pieces, consistently extending the Sheffield sound’s robust, vigorous structure instead of echoing it verbatim. Recordings have appeared under numerous guises including Morganistic, Clementine, Planetary Assault Systems, and Luke Slater’s 7th Plain, frequently alongside Alan Sage.

Slater entered the industry during the closing years of the 1980s while employed at the Mi Price record store in Croydon, south of London, where he worked with Colin Dale and future partner Sage. He soon launched his own outlet, Jelly Jam Records, in Brighton, which served as the platform for issuing his earliest original productions across an array of aliases. The first of these arrived in 1989 with the white-label release “Momentary Vision” credited to Translucent. Issued during techno’s renewed focus on breakbeats, the track’s intense funk and minimal Detroit edge, comparable to the efforts of contemporaries B12 and Kirk Degiorgio, signaled an emerging historically informed path within U.K. techno. After a two-year pause following the success of “Momentary Vision,” a wave of Slater material surfaced in 1991, encompassing twelve-inch singles and albums on Jelly Jam itself as well as on Dutch imprint Djax-Up-Beats, Irdial, and especially Peacefrog; the latter included nearly a dozen releases under his own name in the X-Tront trilogy and further entries in the Planetary Funk series as Planetary Assault Systems. Several of his most recognized works to that point surfaced on the respected GPR label, some with Alan Sage, under the names Morganistic and Luke Slater’s 7th Plain, typically blending ambient or experimental textures with restrained rhythmic foundations.

Returning to Peacefrog in 1996 after GPR’s operational difficulties curtailed its output schedule, Slater delivered the Planetary Assault Systems full-length debut in 1997. A deal with NovaMute elevated him to major-label status, yielding Freek Funk that same year and Wireless two years later. The initial installment of the Fear and Loathing mix series appeared in 2001 on React. Alright on Top, released in 2002, took the form of an album of songs featuring vocals by Ricky Barrows and additional contributors throughout. The second volume of Fear and Loathing followed in late 2004. In 2006 he established the Mote-Evolver imprint, introducing the L.B. Dub Corp alias, reviving Planetary Assault Systems, and issuing material by artists such as Savas Pascalidis and Cari Lekebusch. He compiled the thirty-second entry in the Fabric DJ-mix series in early 2007. Subsequent releases centered largely on the Planetary Assault Systems project, with Temporary Suspension arriving in 2009 and The Messenger in 2011, both on Ostgut Ton. The same label later issued the debut full-length under L.B. Dub Corp, Unknown Origin, in 2013, followed by Planetary Assault Systems’ Arc Angel in 2016.