Cocktail D'Amore Germany レコード& CD

Review: Kris Baha is fast becoming one of the most essential operators in the deviant disco underbelly of Berlin's scene, despite having landed in the city relatively recently. Baha's credentials with labels like Power Station and parties in Melbourne are all that you need to know, and now this release on the ever mighty Cocktail d'Amore seals the deal. Baha has never sounded more confident, pinging deviant synths around nasty drum bite and channeling the gods of industrial darkness to make some rugged body music for the darker kind of dancefloor. The experimental, non-party tracks are just as wild, dealing in all manner of uncompromising noise to further Baha's journey to the upper realms of sonic mud slingers.

Review: Jules Etienne has been skirting around labels such as Apersonal Music for a few years, but here makes a strong statement with a new record for CockTail D'Amore. "Triangle Des Bermudas" is a swinging yet cosmically inclined jam powered by warm synth arpeggios, which regular collaborator Massimiliano Pagliara then nudges up into crafty deep house territory. "Cuban Omlette" is a delicate affair that interweaves pattering percussion and nagging synth lines to make a particularly heady brew before "John's Job" finishes the record off with a richly layered drum track that should have DJs across the board getting tricky in the mix.

Review: BACK IN STOCK! The name Forever Sound should be familiar to anyone that keeps an eye on the Horn Wax label, with the Berlin-based artist making a quite wondrous debut on the Tusk Wax offshoot last year in the shape of "Glow Worm". One of those melodic techno tracks that immediately fill you with a sense of warmth and cause goosebumps, the suitably named track was a favourite of Silent Servant - check his mix live at Honey Soundsystem to hear it deployed with devastating effect. We're quite happy to see Forever Sound return here, with a two track 12" for the Cocktail D'Amour label that expands on the sound explored on that Horn Wax bow. Both "Geist" and "The Grid" are effortlessly simplistic in their execution, with the emphasis on letting melodies and basslines pool together in cascading fashion - the results are endlessly charming.

Review: The fledgling Cocktail D'Amoure imprint maintains their status quo in our affections with its second release which sees Heatsick at the helm. Whilst this is the debut twelve inch from the East Anglian recently transposed to Berlin, he has plenty of DIY form having released some under the shade CDrs for that most esteemed of imprints Not Not Fun, amongst others. His is a talent worth paying attention to, as the classiness of "Dream Tennis" will inform your senses. Central to the track is a kaleidoscopic treatment of a vintage Casiotone keyboard, its rusted rhythms oscillating outwards with true intent over equally strained Chicago house drum patterns. Seemingly endless in its progression, "Dream Tennis" is a track worthy of NNF offshoot 100 Silk and a magnificent coup by Cocktail d'Amour overseers Discodromo and DJ Boris. Equally fine is their choice of remixers with the hallowed phrase Prins Thomas Diskomiks adorned across the B Side reason enough for inquisitive minds to seek out - however it's the remix from Comeme's Diegors that almost matches the delight of the original, bringing to the fore a hitherto undisclosed sonic restraint that embellishes proceedings with an otherworldly, Mr Fingers vibe.

Review: Discodromo's ever-essential Cocktail D'Amore label launches into action once more with the ear candy of Komodo in tow. "Magic Hour" manages to work classic piano house tropes into a suitably cosmic headspace that's loaded with reverb and all things trippy, but it's relatively grounded compared to the exotic meditation that The Backwoods manage to conjure up on their "Oriental Dub" of the track. "Lizard Dance" channels early trance vibes to great effect in a celebration of early 90s rave mysticism and then "Sand Dunes" offers up a bubbling, friendly twist on acid house. Using familiar tropes but still maintaining originality, from start to finish this is a classically rooted record with something to say.

Review: From the label: Jakarta based Jonathan Kusuma delivers a new EP on Cocktail d'Amore Music. After his European debut on Cosmo Vitelli's I'm A Cliche, followed by a successful EP on Berlin's imprint Love On The Rocks, the Indonesian artist keeps carrying the vessel of the Far East sound. The title track Black Magic is a fat disco-tribal inspired groove that builds fast, eventually climaxing with a cloud of acid synths and mystical vocals. Japanese duo Mascaras, Chida and Cos/Mes' 5ive, straighten up the groove giving a 4/4 beats restyling. The result is a Proto-Techno, Trance influenced soundscape, for foggy late-night dancefloors. Urban Sorcery is an Italo inspired maze of proto-acid synthesizers, sounding like an enchanted concrete-covered forest. 90's house inspired Redvox is an experiment of cosmic influences. As the vocal becomes part of the groove, the long pads fuel this spaceship pushing it to the borders of time and space.

Review: To regard Lord of the Isles as merely a producer of contemporary disco would be doing him a great disservice, as those who indulged in the smattering of sold out releases on Unthank, Ene, Adult Contemporary and Tusk Wax would attest. Arising on Cocktail D'Amour for the Berlin label's fourth release, his variety of production is in abundance across these four tracks. Piano laden ambience fills the strains of the opening track "I Remember", its pensive tonalities offering a moment of delicate calm before proceedings veer into the horizon setting balearic house of "Let Me Feel This Way." A real highlight here, it's the way endless streams of sonic texture arrive and are cast off that ensures your mind is constantly captivated as the thick drums drive things forward. The tempo is pushed further forwards, as is the stylistic envelope, on the subsequent "Don't Reach" which is rightfully compared to Carl Craig by the label, though again it's the ever spiralling sonic elements that hypnotise. "Searching" ends this release in new territory, veering into the kind of emotion laden electronic music that might feature on a Kompakt Pop Ambient compilation.

Review: Since contributing to the CockTail d’Amore 5 years Compilation, Andrew Cole aka Luv*Jam has been invited few times to rock the monthly party with his deeply blissful and futuristic sounds. This is his first 12” for the Berlin imprint.
The title track takes over the A side. Nip To Space is an abstract hypnotic slice of techno. Every frequency of the 4/4 groove is stretched to the max, and it’s built to enhance the dance floor with masterful soundscaping. On the flip Forest of Nip is a raw tune, made by unexpected elements disappearing and re-appearing vibrantly, climaxing in a maze of fluffy acid synths.
With Flip To The Flop the alchemist of sound design explores breakbeat of the finest UK tradition that evolves unexpectedly in a cosmically distorted afterhours delight. LUV*JAM’s psychedelic perspective of sound is at its best in this EP, coupled with his unique mastery of frequency manipulation.

Review: This promising Israeli talent delivers two slow burning tracks oozing with eastern influence and informed by the modern sounds of dance. Part of the 84% Creativity crew, Naduve presents his second release with Cocktail d'Amore in the form of a two track EP which revels in it's dark and seductive energy. "No Good News" builds over it's 7-minute run layering mystic vocal synths and coupling them with splashing hats and tight shakers to give just enough beat driven energy to keep a crowd to attention. The flying guitars and staccato synths of "A Trip In Tel Aviv" slither over half beat percussive structures to give this track a sinister feel ideal for late, late, late nights. Wunderkind Man Power drops a tab on "A Trip..." giving it a fresh take perfect for psychedelically inclined moments.

Review: Israeli-born Berlin based producer and DJ Omer debuts his first release on Cocktail d'Amore with two offerings of celestial house. The title cut blends the sounds of the east with an immediately seductive atmosphere of bright melodies leaving the listener plenty of room to be transfixed through it's entirety. "Dust" dives deeper to reveal a more melancholic mood built on a symphony of lush pads and swirling metallic percussion. On remix duties are the wonderfully quirky Estonian duo Ajukaja & Andrevski who deliver an oddball re-imagining which sends the original into outer space as it gently builds to sparkling fervor only heard on the outskirts of galaxies. Rounding out the release is Man Power with an acid tinged burner which explodes into en excitement of live percussion and pads leaving any dance floor in complete ecstasy.

Review: Having already dazzled with her initial appearances on ESP Institute and Born Free, Japanese artist Moko Shibata continues to flourish as a producer with this utterly essential EP on Cocktail D'Amore. As with her previous releases, the mood is one of flamboyance and inventive melodies throughout, not least on the mutant disco celebration of "Heart". There is still some tougher fare to enjoy as well, with "Hole" proving to be particularly grubby, but overall there is a distinct sense that Shibata was reaching for a more disco influenced sound on this record, but it's far from your average slice of re-edited nonsense.

Review: Pushing Movies is a collaborative project from Jeffrey Sire and Dimitri SoEmotional that celebrates the vintage tones of Italo disco, synth pop and all things slick and 80s. "Thinking About You" does indeed sound like it could have been made 30 years ago - from the slap bass to the reverse drum fills, plastic FM synth lines and overall aspirational tone, it's the consummate extended 12" mix track. Lauer takes the original and smacks it up sharp with some tougher drums and a greater sense of urgency, and then Fort Romeau takes a subtle approach that keeps much of the original spirit of the track intact while honing the edges for maximum club play and using some cosmic synth flourishes to devastating effect.

Review: limited repress!

Review: Studio Luce drops some serious disco heat with the Defender X EP which receives remixes from Toby Tobias and Tuff City Kids. Studio Luce's original enjoys a slowly swagger of bass and kick-clap combo's with Italo synths as its centrepiece. Toby Tobias does away with Italo musicality and reworks the drums for a stripped version of the original while the Tuff City Kids tailor their version of the dance floor, adding bigger claps equalling the synth action of the original. The "Drums Mix" pulls back most of the melodies, leaving space for the occasional disco squiggle, delay and pop.

Review: Discodromo's CockTail D'Amore label continues to turn out the goods after an especially productive year, rounding things off by reaching out to The Violet Hour for a 12" that should worm its way into a wide variety of party scenarios. "One Morning In The Future" is an emotive slice of synth-led electro that will surely shine through for those who want a romantic start to the night, while "Ultraviolet" sports a throbbing bassline that could easily see its disco tones edged into a more house-oriented set. "Prisoner Of Love" is more lean in terms of arrangement, but the dubby FX processing lends it a psychedelic quality that will go down a treat in the early hours of the dance.

Review: Yourhighness has been throwing his weight around labels such as Born Free and Rett I Fletta, and now he comes to Cocktail D'Amore with a mischievous slant on acidic house and techno that keeps the lysergic pressure up while never reaching into excess. "Stratofortress" is a formidable beast of a track though, and Samo DJ has plenty of gutsy material to work with in laying down his snappy, electro-inflected vesion of the original. Rrose then takes the track into his dynamic, heavily textured techno dungeon where the weighty and light-footed intermingle in a brilliant mess. Gonno's version is no slouch either, opting for a grubbier acid version for the jackers to get nasty to.