Lone Romantic レコード& CD

Review: Following six years spent tickling the fancy of quality electro lovers the world over, Mikey Melas AKA Jensen Interceptor has finally got round to recording a debut album. It's a pretty hot collection of cuts, with the Sydney producer joining the dots between ranging, angular peak-time slammers ("Ultramax", "Drip Freq"), bustling and bass-heavy workouts ("Haze"), bleeping space symphonies (the Sinewave-esque "Dimensional Thought"), Drexciya-style missives ("Ufology", "Shadow Network") and more crystalline, melodious affairs ("Mother"). Some of his scene pals swing by to lend a hand, too, with The Hacker and Assembler Code collaborations standing out.

Review: Six years have passed since Maceo gave the world his debut album Life Index. In that time he's solidified his status as one of techno's most untouchable soul men who's unapologetically ungoverned by tempos or boxes or any type of formula. He's also become a father, which is what this (and last year's "Journey To Solar") are all about. Rich in sentiment, hope and fear, each cut reveals a deeper layer of Maceo: the star-gazing optimism of "Kepler's Journey", the Bristolesque industrial dub soul of "Indigo", the careful countering of vulnerable emotion and roboticism on "Was Away My Tears", the list goes on. This is Maceo at his most heartfelt and arresting.

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.