Lopasura レコード& CD

Review: The in your face bassline of Mark Forshaw's "Trouble With My Sines" gets this third release by the Lopasura label off to a burly, teeth-gritting start. It's like the Emptyset having a disgruntled go at deep house. Panzerkreuz Records' The Acid Mercenaries provide the first of two acid tracks on this various artist EP, and their a woozy, lo-fi "In The Smoke" is dark and long burning, while Benedikt Frey, who provided the label's previous release, delivers a clubby 303 workout with drums and percussion like John Heckle. It's the kicks, the booming, cabbalistic kicks of Drvg Cvltvre's "Hierarchy Of Heritage" though, that really make this EP a delightfully monolithic DJ's weapon.

Review: Slowly emergent artist Benedikt Frey has scored releases for labels such as Live At Robert Johnson and Mule Electronic, so that should give you a feel for the kind of grade his deep house productions operate at. Making his second appearance on his own Love Pain Sunshine & Rain imprint, he fuses ranging techno textures with a measured rhythm section, not least on the Morphosis-tinted "Seven Corridors" with its thrilling vistas of melodic grind. "Geranos" is a more aqueous affair, letting vast watercolours of pad bleed into each other while the beat drives things forward. "Adriadnes Thread" is the most laid back of the bunch, letting swathes of synth intone a soothing lullaby of Sunday-minded sonic matter.

Review: The mysterious Lopasura imprint claims to be from Fergus Falls, Minnesota; we'll take their word for it for the time being. They're back with another release by Frankfurt hero Benedikt Frey who serves up the Out Of The Fog EP. Following up the rusty hardware house jams of the Ghosts EP for Creme Organisation and the cosmic/industrial textures of The Lobbyist for ESP Institute. This EP features some pretty functional and restrained techno, like on the mental title track! "Wolves" is equally hypnotic and cyclical with its grinding arpeggiations drawing you down into the void. On the flip "Lights" is definitely the most uplifting track with its rich layers of lush pads and glistening melodics made for some proper transcendental therapy on the dancefloor.