Review: This bumper 12" covers plenty of thrilling techno ground in a variety of different ways. Raffaele Attanasio goes for the jugular from the off with steely, tightly packed drums and synth surges that electrify the groove. Markantonio brings layers of wailing diva emotion to his 90s-sounding drum funk and Mattia Trani offers the unrelenting warehouse density of 'Dogtown'. Elsewhere there are more lithe and funky cuts from ZIPPO and a synth-washed roller from MUTE8. All of these are high-impact sounds for the peak time.
Review: Massively motivational big-room techno truncators here from Germany's Terminal M. Towering over the rave with an august majesty, we kick off with Kaspar's Rocky-sampling 'Sunshine & Rainbows', which overloads the dance with extra-layered sixteenth progressions and infra-textured stabs. Then come Mark Reeve's 'Move Up' and Drunken Kong's 'The Final Night', equal parts devilishly energizing - Belze-bubblers - before a thoroughgoing sendoff from Zafer Atabey with 'Align', which has a paradoxically calming feel, post-drop. Four select cuts from an expanded 10-track compilation, the aptly named 'Bangers Vol. 9' is sure to pulverise you to mash.
Review: Chris Liberator's experimental techno label Maximum/Minimum forms part of the Stay Up Forever Collective umbrella, which has been going for a heck of a long time (since 1995-ish), charting untouched terrains of teratological UK hardcore techno. An offshoot imprint dedicated to the "creative corruptions" of the Stay Up Forever crew, Liberator and co. would originally release these ones without catalogue numbers, that is until the market beseeched them to behave more conventionally. Now, well past their 65th V/A release, comes their latest, a decapitatory pummeller fronted by Sonico's 'Did You Say Acid?' and Zyco Seon's 'Citric Frequencies'.
Review: ukuoka-based band MuchaMuchaM, known for their breakthrough debut album Qantikala, returns with a collaborative EP featuring Malaysian singer-songwriter Zee Avi. After performing together at The Creators' Co-Write stage in 2023, the two artists have crafted a unique sound that blends their distinct Asian influences. The EP features the modern acoustic track 'Day By Day', a cover of 'Sad and Unfulfilled' and the Asian dance number 'Oyasumi na Sayang', sung in Malay. The EP's cover artwork, inspired by Borneo, was designed by Fukuoka-based illustrator TOYAMEG, further enhancing its cross-cultural appeal.
Review: Pi Electronics bring four classy artists together on this new 12". It marks the start of the Limitation series and opens with the deft, moody broken beat techno and unsettling synth ambience of Sam KDC's 'Dominion.' Interviews then ups the intensity with the frosty and rusty loops of 'Crawler' which lurches back and forth with real menace, and Zevla's 'Yours Is Mine' then keeps the pressure on with more tight drum loops, lashing of synth static, corrugated low ends and general dystopian vibes. Slave To Society's 'Biosphere' is the brutalist broken techno banger to close down with.
Review: Nicolai Toma is back on Subject To Restrictions Discs with some more arresting excellence. 'Phase Binder feat. Zorimira' delivers a blend of organic synth waves and acid textures that showcases Toma's evolution/ The three tracks are built on fine beats ranging from downtempo grooves to acid-infused anthems and pop-tinged house hits. Zorimira enhances the sounds with her unique vocals and lyrics, which though reminiscent of samples, are in fact originals. Adding to the collection, Swedish producer Vesto Comodo offers a remix to enrich the EP with his distinct touch.
Zarenzeit - "Soo Smooth" (feat Roger Versey) (6:11)
Melchior Sultana - "Nothing Like It Seems" (5:56)
Jan Kincl - "Sugar" (7:06)
Barce - "Stigma" (6:19)
Review: The young but already well-formed Deep Inspiration Show label continues its dedication to quality deep house with a new EP that comes as part of their international artist series. Zarenzeit from Zurich and Roger Versey from Arkansas open with 'So Smooth', a blend of rich keys, soulful loops and dynamic vocals over a sensual bassline. Melchior Sultana hails from sunny Malta and follows with 'Nothing Like It Seems' which features silky chords and a shuffling rhythm ideal for late-night sets. On the B-side, Jan Kincl from Zagreb delivers 'Sugar,' a fusion of house and cinematic disco with organic drums while Spain's Barce closes with 'Stigma,' a melodic union of deep house and techno.
Review: MCMLXV might be on your radar for its quality output in the realms of dub techno. This time out though it veers more towards club tackle and is less heavy on the dub via the work of label head JS Zeiter. 'Outline' stars in a deep, pensive groove with glistening hi-hats cutting up the smooth bass. 'Taken' is another mid-tempo plodder that comes alive with nice heady synth curlicues that add some scale. 'Navigate' keeps these serene vibes flowing with more deft and wispy pads colouring the rooted beats and 'Resistance' shuts down with more swaggering bass.
Review: Two years on from delivering a notably dark, fuzzy and drum-heavy debut on Public Possession (the genuinely brilliant 'Percussion Heaven', which more than lived up to its title), Zellmani is back on the Munich-based imprint with a similarly inspired four-track EP. Check first opener 'Yongheng Forever', a left-of-centre house cut in which weird electronic noises, atmospheric field recordings, saucer-eyed chords and cute melodies ride a charred bassline and unfussy tech-house beats, before admiring the quirky, breakbeat-driven deepness of Piotr collaboration 'Nuevo Portamento'. Over on side B, Gojiano hook-up 'Smutt' is a spacey, thickset slab of late 90s tech-house revivalism with added pots-and-pans percussion, while 'Eternal Loop of Emotions' is another jazz-flecked, breakbeat-driven slab of star-gazing wonder.
Review: XXX is back with a steamy 16th EP and it features two original tracks by Anastasia Zems & Radial Gaze on the A-side, with remixes from Chinaski & S.I.R.S. on the B-side. The originals are characterised by dark industrial vibes, sharp kicks, and throbbing yet playful basslines that will persuade any dance floor to get throwing shapes. On the flip side, Chinaski's remix takes an unexpected turn as a trance-like trip that climbs higher and faster with each beat. S.I.R.S. offers a contrasting disco remix with an irresistibly groovy bassline, and just as irresistible is the playful artwork by Gees Voorhees that perfectly captures the eclectic nature of this EP.
Review: It's the label heads themselves, Zenker Brothers, who step up for Ilan Tape's 65th EP. As ever they lead from the front with four fierce cuts of inventive, fresh and rhythmic techno that is masterfully arranged and hugely complex but never at the expense of dance floor clout. The opener 'Two Paths' is a physical and prickly blend of tightly programmed kicks and scraping percussion with howling synth winds. 'Power Supply' then rides on a funky drum line with aqueous pads, 'Workhorse' is a big room banger with panel-beaten lops and synths riding over the top and 'Hold On' shuts down with surges of warm, futuristic chords and glitchy filters.
Review: Dario Zenker is back on his own brilliant Ilian Tape with four of the exotic sort of tunes that define its output. They are functional and muscular but never lacking in character with 'Wuando' kicking off with sparkling arps over hurried, punchy and dusty house kicks sweeping you up. 'Simple Days' is a broken beat loop with prickly percussive patterns and filtered synths dropped in throughout to bring the energy. There is more warehouse darkness and late night menace to the tense rhythm and frosty texture of 'Vitalizer' while 'The Edit' shuts down with percussive perfection.
Review: Marco Zenker is back on his own mighty - and it always has to be referred to as mighty - Ilian Tape label out of Munich. As you would expect from the man who has defined this label so well, he brings heavy but soulful drum patterns to '909D' with its fizzing hi-hats and restless energy sure to sweep you up. 'RC24' then has skittish snares skating over a broken beat while smeared chords infuse it with warmth and 'Mango Tango' then gets prickly with clicky beats and bass. 'Process Dub' shuts down with more sheet metal sounds wrapping and wafting between tight drums and backed by a nice diffuse synth glow.
Zero Days - "Neurotypical" (feat Casey Hardison) (6:04)
Zero Dayz - "War On Drugs" (feat Casey Hardison) (5:12)
Acerbic - "Acid On My Mind" (6:21)
Acerbic - "The Acid Saga" (5:58)
Review: Eddie Santini and Matthieu-F are have poured years of dedication into Resilient Recordings. Now their second addition to the catalogue appears as a split side shared between Zero Days and Acerbic, two newcomers to the scene, but freshly cut and spruced by their patrons nonetheless. 'War On Drugs' with Casey Hardison hears an expansive likening of the USA's war on drugs to a "war on mental states", suggesting an illiberal attitude which sows a repressive, anti-revelrous hell. Hardcore techno reaches its apotheosis on 'Neurotypical Consciousness', meanwhile, whose stuttering sixteenths and mega-compressed mix brings a decisive ploughing forth.
Review: Z.I.P.P.O's return to Setaoc Mass's Berlin-based SK11 imprint hears the Italian producer break out from biostasis, stretching his/its tendrils out across four world-devouring tracks. 'Eleven' trades formula for feeling, its pseudopodial tempos binding to high-suction mechanics. Mournful synth phrases grate against a heavyweight pulse, as 'Hypernova' submerges into swung drum programming and murky mellifluous atmospheres. Flip it over and 'Kaus' introduces tribal momentum and swelling chords that slowly tilt the record into trance-adjacent territory; closer 'Replication' tightens the screws, bringing the most propulsive moment of the set with its warped detailing and hard-edged groove.
Review: Z.I.P.P.O is an Italian born producer now based in Berlin but who brings plenty of Motor City influences to this EP on Mistress Recordings. It is one that holds emotion high up the list of things to get right while colliding both nostalgic and futuristic designs. 'We Need One Another' is an ice-cold and minimal opener and 'Last Hope' is steeped in melancholy thanks to wispy, lingering pads. 'We Need One Another' then comes in three forms with crisp as you like snares and kinetic kicks making for a busy rhythm.
Review: Returning some 25 years after its original release on the beloved IDM label deFocus, these three refreshed takes on the skittering melodic gem of the genre are something to behold. The original 'Arrest' shines with jittery beats and intricate melodic patterns, embodying and example of the best of early 2000s. Nuron's remix keeps the track's kinetic energy but envelops it in lush textures, creating a perfect balance of rhythmic complexity and ambient depth. Voyance's remix pivots toward organic instrumentation, introducing drum sounds that ground the track while maintaining its melodic evolution, a satisfying balance between the original and a fresh, dynamic new feel. Mike Golding's ambient techno rework is a standout, blending his vintage touch with the original's core elements, a sublime, paradisiacal soundscape that recalls great memories of this golden era of challenging new melodic music. A project that succeeds on so many levels, artistically and creatively.
Review: Iowa's Zuul hand modulates the proverbial Pressure Control with a five-track slab of tightly wound menace, shifting gears from his earlier appearances on Exarde and White Scar. As head of Laik, Ollie Burgess has previously shown a taste for precise, brooding rhythms; but here, he leans rawer, drawing on EBM, new beat and the wave-inflected electronics of the late 80s, invoking spirits of early Frankfurt and Ghent while keeping an eye firmly on the functional demands of contemporary sets. There's a nitty tension running through each cut, making them as suited to murky warm-ups as to teeth-gritting peak hours.
Review: Label affiliates Mytron and Zongamin make a combined return to the ever-on-point Canadian stable Multi Kulti, delivering an extended selection of typically off-kilter, genre-bending sonic mastery. In what appears to be a match made in the leftfield heavens, the duo join forces to explore dance-ish music's outer reaches, blending tribal motifs with 8-bit sampling and all manner of wonkiness. From the blissful bells of Conjunction With Reality to the bass-heavy throb of GHX, there is unsurprisingly plenty to savour here. Opening cut '08932168' blends enchanting lead melodies with rolling polyrhythms and dubbed-out effects before the equatorial percussion of 'Calliope Omniglot' makes way for the wiggy atmospherics of the collection's title track. Highly recommended.
Review: When It Falls is a timely but classic album from Zero 7, whose music by the point of 2001 had been firmly planted chiefly among the go-to repertoire for chillout music, before the chillout room itself was ousted from the average club. Sporting such popular singles as 'Home' and 'Warm Sounds', the record also features now-stellar artists Sia Furler and Sophie Barker, pre-empting their latter-day fame with an emphasis on talent alone. The overall sound is slinky and cadenced, daring to incorporate uniques from bossa nova and lounge in what would have otherwise been an incongruous soundworld of breakbeat, trip-hop and electro; this is achieved through as much acoustic instrumentation and as many tactile recordings as possible.
Shawn Lee - "Happiness" (Ashley Beedle West Coast mix) (4:38)
Sylvia Striplin - "You Can't Turn Me Away" (5:24)
Don Blackman - "Holding You, Loving You"
Leroy Hutson - "Cool Out"
Zero 7 - "Truth & Rights"
The Stylistics - "People Make The World Go Round"
Review: Zero 7's LateNightTales debut, Another Late Night, was first released in 2002, shortly after the electronica duo had been nominated for a Mercury Prize in light of their debut record Simple Things. The inevitable vaunting of their music reached its peak when one well-known pundit described their music as "the Sistine Chapels of music in a sea of affordable accommodation." Unlike their expertly crafted originals in the vein of trip-hop, downtempo and acid jazz, their LateNightTales album is of course a selectors' DJ compilation, which to this day incites its invitees (usually musicians as well as DJs) to select and remix tunes only as though they were sleepwalking through the dream fantasies made up by their own musical influences. Here, Zero 7 share various musical traumata, manifest and latent interpretations of songs, by the likes of The Cinematic Orchestra, Quasimoto, Jim O'Rourke, Serge Gainsbourg, Don Blackman, The Stylistics, Joy Zipper, Slum Village and Da Lata, all of which, as we can patently hear, fed into their relatively unpeggable, interwoven chillout sound.
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