Lone Romantic レコード& CD

Review: Following a run of well-received collaborations and contributions to split EPs, RLGN has finally been handed a full solo debut. The producer has grasped the opportunity with both hands and delivered a quintet of cuts that sound like guaranteed peak-time winners in the making. For proof, check opener 'Olonkho', a hybrid electro/breaks workout full of buzzing electronics, urgent drums, dark bass and layered vocal samples (Mongolian throat singers and female choristers both appear), and the dark new beat revivalism of 'Betrunkener Hund'. RLGN returns to distorted electro pastures on the warped, acid-flecked 'Mahaut', where Indian vocal samples catch the ear, while 'Thriller' is a lo-fi techno slammer and 'Rain In Kyoto' cannily combines spacey melodies and surging Euro-techno grooves.

Review: Maceo Plex is best known for his Ellum Audio label but he also heads up Lone Romantic which explores a more heady and underground electro sound. And that's what we get here from Third Culture on his U Move EP. The title track opens with booming analogue kicks hitting hard beneath twisted talk box vocals and tripped-out melodies. 'Follow Me' then has fleshy bass darting about beneath fizzing synth work up top that will electrify any dance floor. Offering a third and final different look is 'I See You' which has an aloof of vocal amidst plenty of machine-made electro tension.