Melliflow Germany レコード& CD

Review: The first pressing of Andrea La Pietra's fourth annual EP sold out in record time, so Melliflow has moved quickly to provide us with a repress. Listening back six weeks after it first appeared in stores, it's easy to see why it has become a must-have EP. Throughout, La Pietra cannily sidesteps conventions, mixing and matching elements of deep house, tech-house, two-step, broken beat, jazz-funk and electro, opting for colourful synthesizer motifs, off-kilter funk-fuelled beats, weighty analogue bass and electronic sounds capable of both soothing the senses and putting smiles on weary faces. Such is the high quality threshold that picking out highlights is hard, though we're particularly enjoying the bouncy, early Orbital influenced "In Full Effect", the warm and sunny "She Glanced Up" and the bustling "Deflection".

Review: Vera and Alexandra's Melliflow imprint now presents the mysterious Probabilistic who follows up great releases by AK41, And.rea and Spacetravel: a roll call like that should give you an indication of what's to come and you'd be right if you thought reductionist mini-funk fantasies of the brazenly analogue kind. On the A side we have the bumpin' blips and bleeps of "Gravity Wave" which calls to mind the early bare bones groove of DBX or Pantytec back in the day. On the flip is something more modern in the form of "Elektratetra" an rolling and ethereal number which will hypnotise you into submission with with its lush subtlety.

Review: Luca Cara's Spacetravel project continues to grow in style and panache, almost surpassing his early LP for Germany's legendary Perlon imprint. The Italian producer is back on Vera & Alexandra's Melliflow label, out of Germany, landing on our shelves with his second studio LP to date, the wonderful Ziusudra. Right from the get-go, it's clear that Cara's ideas are clear, and that his vision of dance music is shaped by the outer fringes of space, often crafting tunes that sound as if they were borne out of alien spaceships. Nonetheless, the best part of these tracks are still shaped by a strong sense for the dancefloor, swaying their beats to the bounce of fat basslines, metallic analogue beats, and a strange sort of tropical futurism. Minimal gear at its best.

Review: Berlin producer Luca Cara is Spacetravel and inaugurates Vera and Alexandra's new imprint Melliflow. It's undeniable that Cara references the reductionist analogue funk of classic Perlon or Accelerate on this great release which follows up his brilliant debut for Binh's Time passages last year. On the A side, the funky and bumpin' groove of "Strange Experience" sounds oddly reminiscent of Derrick Carter's Sound Patrol project, while "Ambient Microphones" gets more abstract and minimal: oddly mechanical field recordings face off with blips, bleeps and off kilter drum programming: this one's interesting. On the flip "Magic Trick" is a right deep house party starter which you could imagine Daniel Bell playing on a Sunday afternoon to sleep deprived hedonists.

Review: Uruguayan producer Fernando 'Z@p' Zapico has been active since the tail end of the noughties, releasing his own brand of sticky tech-house and stripped back techno via labels including Immigrant, Traut Muzik and Une Label. His latest four-track salvo - a Melliflow label debut - is pleasingly varied. So while opener "Atomos", is a pleasingly hazy, late night tech-house shuffler, the cut that follows, "Diamante", draws inspiration from vintage Dutch electro and woozy electronica. This trend continues on the flip, where the Detroit and Chicago influenced futurism of "D-04" is followed by the melodious, IDM inspired electro dreaminess of "Dauphine".