Blue Hour レコード& CD

Review: There is a great backstory to this new one on Blue Hour: when Stockholm producer, DJ and promoter Maya Lourenco aka Parallax Deep was digging for music in the local Snickers Record store, she found two classic goa and psy trance tracks that particularly interested her. As such she snapped them up, took them home and began to work on her own distinctive edits of them, rearranging sections, cutting up bits and adding extra details while never getting too far away from the essence of the originals. Her edits of those two originals - 'Gobi Desert' by 100th Monkey & Tristan from 1995 - and 2000's 'Bunker' by Four Carry Nuts - are pressed up here and both sound brilliant.

Review: After a series of 12" releases of original material, Blue Hour calls on some contemporaries to lay down the truth with Answer Code Request, Marcelus, and Steffi on board to remix. Up first, ACR tears into "Axis Motive", stripping everything back to a big kick drum fuelled by subtle breaks, and a gorgeous storm of pads - proper chimerical. Singular boss Marcelus rewires "Reference 97", and unlike his usually menacing approach, this tune is deep, visceral and full of soul; Berlin house Dj and producer Steffi adds some class and love to "Moments". A wonderful touch, and an altogether full-bodied EP.

Review: Luke Standing aka Blue Hour is clearly a producer with a personal agenda. One which he's adamant about fulfilling. To give you some context, Blue Hour has self-released a dozen EPs since his debut in 2013, and he's showing no signs of stopping, if this new 3-tracker is anything to go by. Keeping in line with his characteristically jagged and angular techno approach, "Beyond The Void" is a hypnotic techno bullet with a cascade of raining synths, followed by the gentler, more melodic approach of the sublime "Shimmer" (Dreamscape)". "Radiance/Limelight", on the B-side, opens the doors to the warehouse rave, or festival, by laying down a rolling groove that is bound to leave its dancers in a state of utter trance. Solid techno works, direct from the source.

Review: From his time spent as Furesshu and Esoteric, Luke Standing has been careful to keep things low key and focus on getting his own brand of stout techno out where it counts. Operating from Berlin, his Blue Hour alias has really hit its stride of late, with this third installment on the self-titled label drawing upon mechanical thrust and spiritual melodics to create the kind of soulful body music that truly makes a difference in the heat of a tense night spent dancing. "Reference 97" needs little more than a pummeling beat and a two note pad to make a memorable track, while "Don't Speak" gets into a more house-orientated mentality even if the sparse and spooky mood still feels decidedly techno. "Moments" actually nods back to Standing's roots in more broken rhythmic fare, which should go down well with the crossover selectors celebrating the grey area between techno and dubstep.

Review: UK based producer Luke Standing has really hit his stride since ceasing his Furesshu alias and donning his mysterious Blue Hour guise. This one's really suited to the most hedonistic techno clubs. There's all you need to destroy dancefloors on "Taranis", which is a furious peak time techno weapon featuring a jackhammer rhythm and menacing mentasms that will absolutely knock your socks off! If you think there's going to be any downtime here, you're sorely mistaken because on the flip we've got "Miramar" an equally fierce sonic weapon using futuristic and adrenalised aesthetics at its disposal. These are battle anthems for a violent intergalactic space battle. Handle at your own risk!

Review: Luke Standing's latest release features more of the same 90s-themed techno, but with a twist. Introspective sounds like he has refined and streamlined his influences. This is evident from the outset; "Introspective 1" is a stab-heavy affair, led by a rolling, high-tempo rhythm and nagging hats. It sounds like a cleaner, more functional take on vintage Dave Angel and Darren Price. The big changes happen on "2" and "3"; on both tracks, the grooves are more pulsing and linear, but the glacial chords and sensuous, soaring strings show that Blue Hour is set to keep an eye on the past as well as the present.

Review: Blue Hour is very close to a quarter of a century of releases but just ahead of that notable milestone the label daunter and eponymous techno project step up with two bangers on a nice limited 12". 'Dimensions' is a brilliantly unbalanced techno workout with distant church bells bringing some unusual chaos to the high-speed drums and prickly percussion. It's a great one that will cut any floor loose. 'Sun Dogz' on the flip gets even quicker and fires lasers out like bullets. High octane stuff that is pure fire for the club.

Review: After extending his reach and releasing music from new artists, Blue Hour returns to the label with his highly anticipated latest solo EP 'Devotion'. The record is, as described by the artist 'a personal homage to my early influences in dance music, frequently visited venues or events and shared experiences with close friends'. Written throughout the summer of 2019 while isolated in nature, Blue Hour identifies a common theme and sound palette to translate these ideas across 4 tracks that explore Leftfield, Techno/Trance, Hardcore, and Ambient with UK club culture at its core.

Review: DJ Ali from Melbourne is up next on Berlin-based Blue Hour Music with the Regeneration EP, a collection of high-energy tribal techno tracks reminiscent of the late 90s. The EP opens with the bruising 'Interceptor', followed by the pummelling peak time track 'Paradox Cell' which maintains the tension. Over on the flip, 'Nightwatch' is more of a heads down affair that's optimised for losing yourself to under the strobe lights, and the title track goes out all guns blazing with its mesmerising tones underpinned by the most furious of rhythms.

Review: French artist Mathys Lenne aka The Scan turns to his most classic aliases for this fresh outing on the Blue Hour label. It's an EP packed with dancefloor heat - high grade tools that seduce an audience and are more than handy for long form DJs. 'Callgroove' is a loopy one with unresolved synth motifs and chattery claps all barrelling along over a hefty groove. 'Osaka' picks up the pace further with a compelling churn sweeping you off your feet while 'Stripped' is laced up with suspensory pads and dubby bottom ends. 'Unfolding' is a real slammer with rusty snares peeling off the hurried drum funk.