SIMONCINO レコード& CD

Review: If you're yet to add a Creme or L.I.E.S. record to your collection this year let this Creme Organization Valley Of Shadows x LIES EP kills two bids with the one stone. Or you could just get it for Randomer's obliterating "Ugly Drummer". Legowelt throws down some spiralling Detroitisms in "Only In America" following the colourful club construction Innershades provides in "Acid Rehearsal", and to match the brutality of Randomer's A-side cut is Ron Morelli's "Signal Jam" retooled as a darkly bending slab of cathedral techno by Greg Beato. Simoncino provides more of his usual sequenced Chicago house prowess in "Earth & Nightfall" leaving Willie Burns to let loose on the keys in "He Is Crazy Enough" when closing out this radical compilation.

Review: On his two previous albums, 2012's The Dream of Amnesia and 2013's Open Your Eyes, Simoncino indulged his love of vintage deep house, variously doffing a cap to Larry Heard, Dream 2 Science, the Burrell Brothers and Lamont Booker. On Amazon Atlantis, he's flipped the script, utilizing his vast bank of classic synthesizers and drum machines to pay tribute to the sci-fi inspired sounds of 1980s Detroit techno. Of course, there are a few nods towards his deep house influences (most notably the Vincent Floyd hook-up "Memories Of Summer"), and a couple of curveballs - see the apache break and ambient house textures of "90's Theme" - but for the most part it's a delicious Motor City tribute. Perhaps the most stunning example of this is "Planet Paradise", a brilliant collaboration with Legowelt.

Review: Given that Simoncino has never hidden his admiration for early deep house producers - much of his material sounds like it was inspired by Larry Heard, the Burrell brothers and Lamont Booker - it's unsurprising to find that his latest EP pays tribute to legendary NYC deep house producer Bobby Konders. Stylistically, this isn't much of a shift; as usual, Dreams of Konders comes swaddled in dreamy pads, vintage synthesizers and the unmistakable pulse of original analogue drum machines. Simoncino explores a range of moods - from the deep space swirl of "Meggaton" and chugging pulse of "Pyramids", to the snuggly warmth of the title track - with the faintly foreboding "Space Is The Place" standing out.

Review: Renowned analogue fetishist Simone Vescovo makes a welcome return, popping up on the mighty Creme Organization with another EP of spine-tingling late night atmospherics. As with his recent LP for Mathematics, Open Your Eyes, Vescovo plays around with moods and tempos, delivering a pair of impeccable synthesizer soundscapes (the brilliant "Interval I" and "Interval II") and a trio of vintage house tracks. With its undulating melodies, clattering Chicago drums and melancholic chords, "Tape 1" sounds like Behaviour-era Pet Shop Boys produced by Larry Heard. There's more Heard influence on the gorgeous, heartbreaking "Tape II", while "Tape III", with its winding new age melodies and hissing cymbals, sounds like a long lost Burrell Brothers' Nu Groove-era masterpiece.