Breakbeat

Review: REPRESS ALERT: Groovepressure is back by popular demand after a 13 year hiatus and kicking things off with re-releases and new productions from the original Groovepressure artists. Taking influence from original UK techouse and techbreaks, Detroit techno, Chicago House, electro, deep house and 90's electronica, Groovepressure is about keeping these influences fresh whilst looking towards the future. Releases will include new music plus re-masters and remixes of sought-after Groove Pressure classics. Groovepressure came from the underground and had support from legends like Laurent Garnier and Andrew Weatherall with recent support from the newer school including Onur Ozer and Raresh. A² (aka Andy Panayi and Alec Stone) are London bred artists who originally appeared on Groovepressure in 2001. Their tracks will form the first comeback release on Groovepressure. "No Mistake" and "Rebirth" are both re-mastered Groovepressure classics in their own unique tech-breaks style whilst "A² Groove" and "Real Thing" are new releases taken from the vaults and keeping the same vibe.

Review: Following up great ones by Marco Lazovic, AFAMoo and ASOK, Sweden's DJ Different steps up to the Lobster family's main label with an EP that's best described as traversing the 'Orion Nebula to the very edges of the Oort Cloud'. From the evocative sci-fi ambient of "Fast Forward To The Outer Rim" and the zeitgeist of early '90s rave/hardcore on "Angels" and similarly on the pitched-down junglisms of "Real" featuring the unmistakable vocals of a certain well known pop diva. It all ends smoothly with the soulful and emotive deep house of "Memories Of The Old World" that is the soundtrack to a perfect comedown.

Review: Lately, interest has been growing in the turn-of-the-'90s work of Stefan van Elsen, a Belgian producer arguably best known for his ambient-leaning work with brother Dimitri as Trans4m. Now Stroom has decided to reissue two more dancefloor-leaning cuts from the van Elsen production line. On side A you'll find "Dilemma", a solo cut Stefan produced as Sound Mercenary that layers glassy-eyed, life-affirming synth riffs and Inner City style stabs over a breakbeat-tinged, bass-heavy Belgian techno groove. Over on side B you'll find another 1991 gem: the van Elsen brothers' response to bleep-heavy British bleep and hardcore, "Switch (Techno Mix)". Built around booming sub-bass, Kraftwerk bleeps, dreamy pads and electro-fired breakbeats, the track remains a timeless dancefloor workout.