Acid Waxa レコード& CD

Review: Those cheeky herberts at Acid Waxa have invited Ayu Acid to have a right laff paying homage to the finest of 90s game shows through the medium of hi NRG video game acid. The Crystal Maze is a fine muse indeed, with each zone and the Crystal dome itself represented here. "Aztek Zone" is a sprightly, uptempo beast, while "Medieval Zone" ramps up the parping MIDI brass and canned harpsichord to deadly effect. "Crystal Dome Acid" is an appropriately boss-level jacker, while "Future Zone" slows things down and toughens up in remarkable fashion. "Industrial Zone" nudges a little swing into the mix and lets the 303 glide all over the shop.

Review: Hold on to your gum boots and pack the squelch-proofs, Roy Of The Ravers is back with more of his peerless machine gurgles from the acid dimension. 'Melchester Acid (Part 3)' picks up midway through what sounds like a particularly gnarly jam where a grotty thump and slow sweeping filter work is finely balanced by a seductively spooky atmosphere. If 'Part 2' that follows is from the same jam it doesn't show, as this beast takes a more malevolent route into the heart of acid darkness. The big news on this release though is a much-needed vinyl pressing of 'Emotinium', the track that broke Roy to the wider populace back in 2015 thanks to its keen, AFX-approved sense of braindance romanticism.

Review: All hail the return of our goal-scoring squelch lord, Roy Of The Ravers. Kicking the grass up back where he belongs on Acid Waxa, the modern acid hero sounds as crucial as ever on this cheeky EP. "MDM Anal" is a sludgy cut revolving around a bloated bass arp and really simple kick-clap beat. "Don't Get Caught" ramps up the 303 action for some smart acid jack with a little extra spring in its step. "Acid Royale" is more of an epic saga for those who like a sense of narrative with their jack, in this case coming on like a late-'80s role-playing book. Rolling the dice and turning to the B2, we're confronted with the simultaneously gorgeous and unhinged "Go Skiing", which sounds like it could stack it on a mogul at any moment.

Review: Take care out there, Roy Of The Ravers is back with another round of boisterous hardware hack-outs on Acid Waxa. You can tell he means business on opening track "Supremacy Royale", a fast and mean-tempered slice of bleepy techno with brains to match its brawn. "Ambergris 9" is a more playful jam with wonderfully dated melodic lines lifted from the pantheon of BBC library music, and then "Time 2 Jack" spins off into strange, abrasive realms of experimental acid. The epic "En Trance 10" wheels its way through more than 15 minutes on the B-side, employing trancey bassline strategies to keep your brain locked on course for the full trip.

Review: Nottingham's Roy of The Ravers might just have cooked up his best slice of vinyl yet here. Fenix Break once again draws on an old school melange of breakbeats and old school rave sounds and add up to dance floor destroying sounds that are seriously fresh. We're told the tracks were made using an old Akai sampler with some floppy discs and the "mega rare" Cwejman S2 and Synton Fenix 19 synths, which lend these tracks their weird and wonderful sounds. 'Distance S2 (part One)' is wonky techno, the title track is acid laced breaks, 'Funk Monkey' is as kinetic as you will have heard, its drums and hits daring about them over a hefts marching kick. Great work.

Review: Six years have now passed since cuts from Roy of the Ravers' brilliant '2 Late 4 Love' cassette made their debut on vinyl, via a highly limited EP that's now fiendishly hard to find. This '2023 Edition' of the in-demand EP offers two tracks from that 12" - pleasingly lo-fi acid jack-track '2 Late For Love (Part 1)' and the fuzzy, machine-driven deep house-goes-acid minimalism of 'Emotium' - plus a pair of favourites featured on the cassette version but not the previous vinyl release (the brain-melting acid electro jam 'Cwejman Acid (Part 2)' and the hissing, distorted TB-303 and TR-909 weight of 'Melchester Acid (Part 1)'. Throw in a bonus cut recorded in the same period ('Track 5') and you have an indispensable reissue.

Review: Acid Waxa take a break from carrying Roy's mind-warping rave gear to bring you the deep donking, hardstyle hype-up of 'The Kingdom Of Scotland' by Romeo Taylor. You may have already heard the track bouncing around the odd mix or two for those with a penchant for full-fat hard dance with a wry comedic edge. On one hand it's a patriotic pelter, on the other it's a neo-rave laff which will comfortably lodge itself in your brain, more than ably backed up by some more wayward ravey gags and headsy gear (watch out for the simmering, heads-down wave-splashed techno of 'Keep Him On The Line'. Roy Of The Ravers is on hand to deliver a more direct remix of 'The Kingdom Of Scotland' on the B side which blows the original out into a wigged out, spooked up acid gurgler. oot!

Review: Acid Waxa drew plenty of positive heat for carrying Roy Of The Ravers amongst many other respected braindancers, but now Hot Chip drummer Sarah Jones is getting the remix treatment on the label for her Pillow Person project, with some wild results. It's great to see Bogdan Raczynski back in action and bringing some gently wonked, emotional acid meanderings to "On Your Way", while Lechuga Zafiro makes an art out of aping footwork, and more specifically "Footcrab" while making it sound like someone just stubbed their toe and got stuck in a loop. IYDES however turns "In My Game" into a deconstructed but utterly bloated pop beast, and then Oliver Coates whips "Go Ahead" into a woozy, highly strung daze with billowing synths underneath Jones' vocal.

Review: Arvid Whetman has plenty going for him at the moment. As Sexazoid he's dropping all kinds of off-kilter machine beats on excellent labels like Born Free, while as Your Planet Is Next he builds on appearances on Junk Yard Connections, Waving Hands, Opal Tapes, Studio Barnhus and Klasse to deliver this chirpy four-tracker to Acid Waxa. From the twee vocals to the playful synths and straight up drums, this is club music crafted for an immediate hit. Whetman makes this approach work magnificently though, liberally applying his musical personality to lo-fi deep house and roughshod acid, with "Heartbreaker" being a firm favourite thanks to its fulsome 303 bassline and hooky vocal mantras.