Back catalogue: Electro

Review: 20/20 Vision present the debut release from Manchester based artists Armec. Following releases for Cultivated Electronics and Furthur Electronix, the Caged EP hits the ground running - with a record that spans heavy club-ready electro and futuristic soundscapes. Complete with a hefty remix from German acid connoisseurs Hardfloor.

'Caged' sucks us down the rabbit hole with dense textures fortified by an infectious groove, vast pads, and bubbling synth lines. The Hardfloor remix of 'Caged' submerges us into an acidic electro trip - fuelled by quirky melodic licks, a menacing low-end and body shaking drums.

On the flip side 'Curvature' is an out-and-out understated bomb. Propelled by a squelching, supercharged bassline which soars over Armec's signature textural landscape, it's reinforced by razor sharp hats and a heavy kick-drum. 'Replicants' is a side-winding, emotionally charged cut that feels truly fresh and forward-thinking. Deep, luscious pads are underpinned by a superbly engineered break-beat driven groove.

Review: When it comes to excitable club fodder rooted in club sounds of the late 80s and 90s, the Tone Dropout crew consistently delivers the goods. They're at it again on their 11th multi-artist extravaganza, which giddily sprints between acid-fired breakbeat house with glassy-eyed melodic motifs and spacey bleeps (Sween and Alphonse hook-up 'Downfall'), trancey early progressive house revivalism ('Odyssey T3D' by XOTR), intergalactic electro-bleep fusion (the punchy, Kraftwerk-on-pills excellence of Samuel Padden's 'Teslas Still Alive') and classy bleep and breaks nostalgia (Kostas G's pleasingly sub-heavy, funk break-driven 'Spectrum').