Review: After initially reserving much of his music for his own Tartan label, Wallace has been on plenty of fine sojourns to other top labels of late including CWPT's from Palms Trax, Studio Barnhus and Rhythm Section. Now he makes his biggest statement yet with a double album on Mule Musiq that draws on everything in his arsenal. His deft melodic touch and innocent synth work defines the first couple of clean and airy cuts while his knack for an unusual rhythm defines the loopy and hypnotic 'Midnight On The Mountain,' 'By The River' is a gorgeous deep house cut with eastern melodies and 'Bubbles' is pure dreaming material for zoned out sessions. A fine work from the talented Wallace.
Holographic (Carl Craig Ride Or Die anthem) (7:18)
(Re)Evolution (Jon Dixon remix) (7:01)
Second Wave (Steve Rachmad remix) (6:12)
Universal Language (Claude Young remix) (5:35)
Immersion (Stephen Brown remix) (6:47)
Second Wave (John Beltran Pan Am remix) (7:44)
Second Wave (Stephen Lopkin remix) (6:52)
Metamorphosis (Shawn Rudiman remix) (6:17)
Review: Vince Watson released the DnA album in 2019, and now he's revisiting it for a bumper remix package from a frankly dizzying cadre of producers. First up is Carl Craig, who takes 'Ride Or Die' in predictably epic, soaring directions before Jon Dixon lays his ebullient, melodious touch over '(RE)volution'. Steve Rachmad whips up a tight and punchy strain of techno while re-versioning 'Second Wave', and Claude Young takes a delicate approach to 'Universal Language'. Stephen Brown creates a brooding, Detroit indebted mood on his mix of 'Immersion', John Beltran goes predictably far out with 'Second Wave' before Stephen Lopkin's own dreamy, sky-scraping take on the track. Shawn Rudiman completes this all-star cast with a supercharged, uplifting techno workout as he re-interprets 'Metamorphosis'. If you like classically-informed techno, you can't pass up this sterling package.
Review: Wave Arising is former Spiral Tribe man Sebastian Vaughan with vocalist Kynsie and they are a duo that likes to eplxore body, mind and soul "through intuitive listening of senses and inner energies by means of music , workshops and gatherings." This is their debut album and is an otherworldly mix of deep grooves and occult sonic landscapes. It has been made from various improvisations and avoids there use of sampling and as an album, this is one that feels very much alive. There are cinematic dub techno workouts, cascading synths and alien sound designs, menacing low ends and moments of majestic melodic beauty such as on 'Ronde Cinetique'. A brilliant debut.
Review: BertBert's boundary-free TOPO imprint returns with a fascinating body of work from one of his nearest and dearest influences; Windu. A collection honed from hundreds of sketches, grooves and soundscapes written over the last eight years, Juxtapose is a beguiling blend of ambient textures, gritty technoid grooves and thunderous showers of breaks. At points bubbling with aggy rave energy ('Deck 16'), at others entirely disarming and likely to knock you horizontal ('Ti Si Isceljenje'), Windu (which stands for wave is not defined) has a refreshing ability to completely negate DJ formula, arrangement and genre trappings. A debut dispatch built up over years before unleashed into the wild on vinyl, this is a truly unique album.
Review: A deeply mysterious label from Barcelona, Withhold specialise in impactful trance-breaks and IDM that tend towards the vanguard, prioritising "hidden artists" whose proclivites might not be so self-promoting. This self-effacing, anonymizing tendency in dance music is often indicative of good quality, especially when done for the right reasons. It's not really something you can work out rationally, in fact; you just have to go by your best senses. And we get a good vibe from Withhold, not least from this latest long-player of curious, gushy delights. We're not sure which artists (whether individual or many) lie behind each track, but perhaps this rejection of authorship encourages deeper listening: highlights include the cleverly tricksy 'Achanhuwlmx' and the quaintly-imaged 'Order Of 11'. This album is best received by the listener at its most emotive, most cascading moments.
Review: Wladimir Manshanden and Wladimir M is something of a Dutch techno legend for those who know. He is an Eevo Lute originator and now makes his latest mark on the venerated Delsin label with 2024. It's an evocative and widescreen work of techno poetry with deft rhythms and rich sound designs making for an otherworldly feel. Spoken words detail each piece next to lush ambient pads and widescreen synthscapes as supple and deep rhythms unfurl and evolved down low. It's an intriguing, personal work that draws you in close and keeps you there throughout
Review: Peak Oil welcomes UK duo Wrecked Lightship for 'Antiposition', a debut EP on the label from the pair of Laurie Osborne (once known as Appleblim) and Adam Winchester aka Dot Product. The pair refine their sound and bring a range of innovative rhythms here with elements of dub, d&b, tribal sounds and deft sound design across hard-to-define cuts. 'Hex' is a cosmic broken techno trip, 'Bizarre Servants' is a slower and heavier dub and 'Sunken Skies' is prickly and kinetic as it flirts with live sounding drum & bass tropes and 'Diminished Ark' as well as with wispy sine waves, refracted melodies and barely there rhythms.
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