KHIDJA レコード& CD

Review: The sixth helping from Duca Bianco is a big disco offering that kicks off with a first track from Casinoboy in a decade. His 'On My Mind' is a corrugated jam with knotted bass and deadpan 80s vocals then some a secret unknown weapon that layers angular, slapping drums with rave sirens and a dark disco beat. Contemporary disco legend Rune Lindbaek then comes good with a sci-fi trip and gauzy synth lines of 'Ratsastic Empress.' Last of all, Khidja rounds out on 'Chuncho', a smooth groove with far-sighted pads that get you in the zone. Pressed on nice heavy 140g wax, this is another tidy 12" from Duca Bianco.

Review: Forgotten Corner's first release which arrived last May, showcased the chugging, slo-mo styles of Nick Mackrory and Phil Banks, whose "Jaipur Palace" combined Indian melodies with an EBM-inspired throb. The label's second outing, the Star Wars-referencing Tatooine Moons, comes from again from Mackrory and Banks with the assistance of Khidja, and could almost be a more sedate take on Timothy J Fairplay's World Unknown belter "Cleopatra Loves The Acid", with a considerably more Balearic feel. Cassini Division's remix is even more sandblasted, taking things into even more arid and psychedelically-charged territory.

Review: P-Balans is a new imprint in the Future Nuggets emerging constellation. A tehnodelia ramification within the Bucharest electronic scene that will host rising names like Khidja and Borusiade while introducing new characters like The Holy Fix (Camil Dumitrescu, co-member of Delusion Men) and Utopus (Ion D, producer of Steaua de Mare, Raze de Soare, Anahore?ii among others) already featured on "Sounds on the Unheard from Romania vol. 2". Keeping the same strategies of fusion and diffusion as Future Nuggets, P-Balans will explore the space traversal to techno, entering and exiting the dark halls of the club through multiple doors.

Review: Stuart Leath flexes his contacts book with an all-star cast of producers and respected scalpel artists called on to rework cuts from the recent Never Seen The Dunes EP by Khidja. Any 12" featuring the collective talents of Discodromo, In Flagranti, Red Axes and Selvy on mixing desk duties should get you excited and this crew bring the disco heat. "Never Seen The Dunes" is given the Discodromo treatment, adding pulsating bass, driving arpeggio, all while allowing the bump of the original to keeping pushing things on. This is followed by In Flagranti's inspired 'Autobahn' retake of the deeper vibes of "Aura" which is apparently a huge favourite of the label. A matured cruiser that keeps the swing, it all leads to those strings and Eastern flavours gliding over for the perfect finale. Things head darker on the reverse, with Tel Aviv's shinning stars Red Axes, manning the controls for the scatter bounce of "Indecis" for the stand out remix. Twisted vocals, brooding FX and reversed guitar all atop a mesmeric kick, things just keeps going higher and higher. Finally "The Quiet Before The Red Stop" is tweaked by Selvy of The Very Polish Cut Outs and Transatlantyk fame, adding some club bump to Khidja's Balearic original.

Review: Khidja are back on Malka Tuti and this combo cannot and will not dissappoint. After their successful debut on John Talabot's Hivern-Discs, Khidja continue their current direction of leftfield-club music exploration, this time in the form of Microb, a track that is a wolrd of its own, fusioning heavy industrial vibes with their own take of "worldly music" to create this peak time dancefloor bonanza. On the flip side Salon Des Amateurs Tolouse Low Trax delievers two takes on the original track, stripped down and turned upside down, adding those Massive vocals. These takes are hypnotic as they are groovey and they complete a unique package for the modern dance floor explorers... Zuruck zu Sprecher eins

Review: REPRESS ALERT: So Bahnsteig is arrived! Paenz?r style from the flanken. Next is Eastern bruder, Romania youth, Khidja. Vibrations with wunderbar music on [Emotional] Especial and Forgotten Corners, they give us Balearic, Neu Wave and Kraut explosionens. 4 edits is a taste of their opening. Infinita will make you bop in aisles. Stehen nur noch. Twist, schrie. Then geist, is Droll's House. Britisch indie for dunkel fun. Schleife de schleife. Utsici is the jam. Go. Woop. Verschossen for finale. The heimkehr. Can you tanz? Was Auch Immer.

Review: REPRESS ALERT: For its 3rd release, Malka Tuti is welcoming Khidja to the ever expanding family. The Romanian Duo appears to be in great form after their successful releases on Emotional Especial and Love on the Rocks. With their unique approach to production that combines recording alot of friends playing live instruments (Saz, Guitars, Violins, Persian Poetry just to name a few) and with references to obscure Fusion Jazz as well as to early Industrial and techno music, a very fertile and creative ground was made. Out of it Came Racheta El Fadaa, a unique slow hypnotic tune with some Arabic and Andalusian touches, that keeps on evolving, Drums of Taksim, a timeless tune, with the mesmerizing speech in the beginning followed by heavy bass and uncontrollable string grooves, and Monkey Tiger, a pure Industrial mid-tempo power track for all the chuggers out there to go mental to with its heavy baseline, screaming violins and dance floor scorching synth lines. On the remix to Drums of Taksim we find a collab between Turkish maestros Baris K & Mehmet Aslan, that strips the original down, pitches it up, and give the ep a bit of a mid-tempo house touch and a final seal of approval.

Review: Brought to wider attention on a fine (Emotional) Especial record last year, Romanian duo Khidja return here with a equally interesting record for Love On The Rocks. Paramida's label dressed to impress in its first year of business thanks to records from Mass Pagliara, Ess O Ess, and Telephones and Khidja make worthy additions with Looki. The original version is as transcendental as anything Khidja have previously put their name to and it's complemented well by a trio of superb remixes from Lauer, Fantastic Man, and Africaine 808. Of this triplet, it's Phillip Lauer who shines the brightest on a remix that positively drips with emotion.

Review: Jennifer Cardini's Correspondant has firmly established itself as an 'it' label within the current indie dance scene with its eclectic grooves that span punk funk, industrial/EBM throwbacks and even a bit of melodic tech house for good measure. For its fifth compilation, the Cologne based label serves up some current scene favourites in the form of Romanian duo Khidja and their groovy and tripped out slow burner "Gelatine" and Jakarta's finest Jonathan Kusuma: who is in top form as always on the lo-slung baleraic number "Motor Melodies". On the flip, German duo Marvin & Guy take you on a cosmic styled trip on "Juba Dance" while Kempes: the new brainchild of Danny Passarella and Tom Wegg-Prosser channel their best impressions of greats such as Giorgio Moroder or Bobby Orlando on "Sentimental Idiot".