Review: A new collaboration of Philoxenia Records founders Luigi Di Venere and Neu Verboten, Affekt Unit is informed by an aim to "spark new feelings on the dancefloor". The three track Discorgy EP celebrates their musical obsessions - Italo house, Frankfurt EBM-house and trance - with the result proving an electrifying crossover of these classic genres together with surprising new sounds. 'Oct-Opus' boasts a serious electro component, fused with progressive trance, UK bass, techno, transcendental rave and even a climactic outbreak of rave-era breaks. The title track 'Discorgy' draws from Euro dance and EBM, experimenting with a polyrhythmic bass line and bringing the kind of 'stadium house' that The KLF were always aiming for. Closing track 'Dreams Of Wrestlers' is cosmic house at its sweetest and beefiest, spruced here and there with Italo stabs and pianos, drum machine fills and some lovely subtle filtering. Not so much a case of something for everyone than everything from everyone, you might even say.
Review: Apoena is the alias of Henrique Casanova, a DJ and producer from Brazil who heads up Allnite Music which presents his latest effort titled Oceanos Extintos. The mesmerising dub tech house of opener 'Eu Lembro' calls to mind classic Thibideau brothers, leading in to the frozen borders of the title track which will engulf you in its cavernous sound. Over on the flip, the steely and pummelling 'Trabalho Bracal' is by far the fiercest cut on offer, and the collaboration with Zenta Skai 'Fosseis' takes a u-turn on this trippy and contemplative electro jam.
Review: Hungarian-born, Dublin-based Phil Robertson has some pedigree but Arbilla is a new name he's operating under, and indeed there seems to be a slightly more musical, less relentless angle to his once defiantly minimal sound to go with the new moniker too. He provides three of the four tracks here, from the chunky and dramatic 'Stranger Things' and the breezy, spacious 'Fragrance' to the EP's glorious title track, with its Plaid-like syncopation and spiralling melodies. Mysterious techno 'supergroup' from Detroit, Scan 7 remix 'Virtual Reality' and they whip it into thunderclapping Underground Resistance shape. Greatness in evidence whichever way you turn.
Review: Los Angeleno AshTreJinkins is up next for London/Tokyo joint venture NCS, who as some of you may know by now: only release in very limited runs: so get in quick! Named after the famed American soft drink that tastes like mouthwash, the Root Beer EP features four servings of lo-fi house which will certainly fit in with the status quo currently set by the likes of Lobster Theremin, E-Beamz et al. The tough and driving vintage techno of "Dead Or Wounded" kicks off the EP in good from, while "Frozen" with its hypnotic chord progression and jagged rhythm patterns create a unique groove that really gets off the grid. Finally, the tribal house tool "Adware Nigga" calls to mind Canadian Hayden Andre Brown's seminal jams from the early '90s, but backed by some L.I.E.S. style analogue techno grunt.
Review: Aubrey has always brought a detailed sense of sound design to his heavy techno. The Berlin-based artist does that again here on a first EP on his own Solid Groveos since 2016. Two tracks delve into his archives to come up with some rare and obscure jams from the 90s. One is 'Lose Yourself' - a bright and cosmic take on techno that prime-era Derrick May would be proud of then the other, 'Breaking Out', offers golden US-style house with nice frayed synths and smoky depths. Two new cuts are 'Chase Mind' - a cavernous and dubby, with whimsical pads and unrelenting bass locking you in a trance, then 'Mr Muscle', a twisted acid techno closer that completes a varied and vital EP.
Review: Well Curated is a series of releases and parties that - in its own words - "reflects the ethnomusicology of the last 50 years of music" - and aims to reach into all genres, merging classic styles and breaking down barriers. Steve Spacek occupies the A-side with the breezy broken beat and soul-in-space of 'Alone In Da Sun', while Lukid's 'Hair Of The Dog' is a more intense counterpart, with wobbling sub-bass and swirling, surging atmospherics hovering above.
Review: Casino Classix is one of several aliases for legendary minimal man Baby Ford. Here it is also the name of a four-track EP that finds the long time UK underground operative working alongside fellow British techno luminary Mark Broom on a quartet of devastating cuts. 'Ringer' opens up with some dark and nimble baselines darting about beneath a dense layer of percussion and FX. 'Hoppa' is then a more precise and minimalist cut with wonky bass snaking down low beneath the icy hi-hats and jumbled toms. There is a warm dub depth to 'Hot Pot' to kick off the flip and 'Beach Club' shuts down with a restless mix of synth daubs and deft percussion over an ice cold groove.
Review: Posthuman's Balkan Vinyl imprint is back with a third installment in the Kanlab series. Chevron is at the buttons and on a clear mission to destroy the dance floor with fresh acid explosions. This latest limited 7" starts with 'Manctronix', a manic mix of brutal breakbeats, fizzing acid madness and eerie vocals that are chopped up and well deployed throughout the mix. There is even more of a prickly and unruly texture to 'Unity' which spits out all manner of sounds on a constant basis, never letting you lock in and instead staying firmly on the seat of your pants.
Review: There's only one word for this 1996 release from Donnell Knox aka D-Knox - blistering. Originally released on Jay Denham's Black Nation Records in 1996, it's become a highly sought after 12" and now appears having been remastered by Tim Xavier and reissued on Knox's own Sonic Mind label.
It's not hard to see why it was so in demand. 'Total Concentration' starts with drum machines set to stun and the mixing desk pushed to the edge of distortion. 'Deep Meditation' is smoother but still has the speed and crunch of its companion on the A-side. 'Mind Calming' has an almost industrial thump to it, minimal and brutal in all the right ways. It hurts, but it hurts good.
DJ Ali from Melbourne is up next on Berlin-based Blue Hour Music with the Regeneration EP, a collection of high-energy tribal techno tracks reminiscent of the late 90s. The EP opens with the bruising 'Interceptor', followed by the pummelling peak time track 'Paradox Cell' which maintains the tension. Over on the flip, 'Nightwatch' is more of a heads down affair that's optimised for losing yourself to under the strobe lights, and the title track goes out all guns blazing with its mesmerising tones underpinned by the most furious of rhythms.
Review: Further is the brand new label from DJ Bone, who has started it in place of Subject Detroit which after 25 years he recently decided to put to sleep. This second EP lands on the same day as the first but is a new four-track solo outing from the now Amsterdam-based techno innovator himself. 'My Replicant Self' has synths slashing across the face of a sleek techno rhythm with sombre chords draped over the top. 'The Divine Call' ups the ante with spoken word menace and 'My Tribe' then layers up percussion and surging synth warmth. 'Remembering The Future' is a brilliantly quick and urgent track with slapping hits and bouncing drum funk.
Review: Veteran of the New York City underground DJ Spider returns after a couple of years on London's Spinning Plates with more of his idiosyncratic takes on techno with the new four-tracker Enter The Void. On the first side you'll be entranced by the brooding locomotive chug of 'Hyperspace Wardance' which is treated to a swirling and textured rework by the ever reliable Phil Moffa next - a proper back room dub that goes deep. Over on the flip there's the industrial edged sci-fi menace of 'Space Aggressor Squadron' and followed by the atmospheric slow burner 'Incineration Of Years & Truth'.
Review: As part of Oscar Mulero's Unknown Landscapes mix CD his label Pole Group has done the right thing and released the first of several various artist samplers. This first body of music is opened by the rusty pings of DVS1's "Strobe", while up and coming Spanish techno producer, Kwartz, earns his Pole Group stripes with a deep and blipping "Hate". Long-time label cohort Reeko provides the elongated mind trip that is "Enlightenment Process", and the last spot is of course reserved for industrial demigod Adam X who doesn't falter with the voltage charged "Meridien Arc".
Review: Label boss El Prevost makes a welcome return to No Speakers after something of a break. Thankfully the quality levels remain high here as he kicks off with 'Catastrophizing', a brilliantly bass-heavy cut with broken beats to make you sweat. On the flip, 'Landing' has a more inward sense of reflection with its fizzing synths and deep space atmospheres making an indelible mark. Last of all, the magic of Detroit looms large with a superb remix by Motor City mainstay Kyle Hall. His version of 'Landing' brings some jazzy melodic vibes and one of his trademark deep house and bumping grooves. Another essential 12" from No Speakers.
Review: Reade White has many aliases to his name, including Caustic Everything and Fiction Life, but the Fate 258 moniker is the one that has grabbed our attention the most thanks to the excellent Why 2K? EP that came out in 1999 on Path - still a digger's favourite and a gorgeous piece of techno. He's back out of the blue on Path with the dark and molecular sonics of "Path To Hell" on the A-side, followed by the slower and more hypnotic "Path To Heaven", and the wonky sways of electro in "Heaven Or Hell"; both the B-side tunes are the ones for the corner dwellers. Sick; please do not sleep on this.
Review: Last year's superb Pura Lempuyang album has been pulled apart and served up on a couple of separate 12"s and this is the second one. It comes on limited turquoise vinyl and offers four cuts of stylish deep dub and techno. Fletcher's 'It's A Virtue' goes first with taught, twanging bass and grubby basslines then Mike Schommer's 'Kingmaker' offers liquid dub funk with watery pads and hissing static. Nicolas Barnes picks it up a little with a darker but still warm dub techno roller in 'Sonic Dial' and Redrop's 'Genesis' is the more driving of the lot but again exists right on the ocean floor.
Review: Belarusian producer Four Walls is back - this time around he finds himself on the new Ultraworld Records imprint from DJ Craft. This one kicks off with the lush prog house and silky synth arps of 'Mind Charger' which soon takes you to the stars. 'Metamorphosis' is a more raw-edged and acid-laced techno stomper for peak time action and 'Summer Nights' is a bubbling, elastic tapestry of new age overtones, thudding kicks, and trance-tinged pads. A remix by Toronto-based Pletnev adds another dimension to this club-ready EP.
Review: Having been dormant for over three years, New York label Satamile returns to continue spreading the gospel of proper electro music with a six-track EP from The Ghost That Walks. Drexciya enthusiasts will be all over this record; the rubbery melody of "The Angriest Angel" recalls the Detroit duo at their most playful but with a simmering undercurrent of tension that is very much the producer's own signature style. Similarly great are the searing analogue synth buzz of "Seven Deadly Sons", the tribal 303 stomp of "Urban Jungle" and the 808 rattle and Belgian rave tones of "Resident Evil". Those who were lost without the label's presence should rest easy - Angry Angels is easily among their extensive catalogue's best releases.
B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged, but otherwise in excellent condition
Dark & Light (5:36)
ROR2 - Spice (5:19)
The Gateway (5:37)
Splinter (4:59)
Forgotten Moments (4:10)
Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged, but otherwise in excellent condition***
Scott Hallam has been an acid devotee since the early days, and he's largely put out his music on his own Axia label. While most of that is digital-only, now Cartulis have picked up on the considerable talents of this hardware lifer and presented five of his finest works on wax. The vibe veers tremendously, touching on dark and sinewy dungeon acid, boxy electro workouts, strangely psychedelic hardcore and plenty more besides. Hallam's style feels betrothed to the outboard approach - it's all synths and drum machines to these ears, and its immediacy is a big part of the charm. That, and the playful personality he works into those wigged out acid lines and pinging FX.
Review: Scott Hallam has been an acid devotee since the early days, and he's largely put out his music on his own Axia label. While most of that is digital-only, now Cartulis have picked up on the considerable talents of this hardware lifer and presented five of his finest works on wax. The vibe veers tremendously, touching on dark and sinewy dungeon acid, boxy electro workouts, strangely psychedelic hardcore and plenty more besides. Hallam's style feels betrothed to the outboard approach - it's all synths and drum machines to these ears, and its immediacy is a big part of the charm. That, and the playful personality he works into those wigged out acid lines and pinging FX.
Review: Prolific L.I.E.S. cohort Gunnar Haslam inaugurates the Kavalanic Languages label with some of his sinewy, head-twisting hardware techno machinations, showing us just how to make militant techno as thrilling as possible and leaving ample room for experimental weirdness as well. Opening track "Sostanze" is a taut and wiry beast that will lay waste to mild-mannered crowds, clubs and DJs, while "Atayalic" ramps up the industrial influences for a scary-in-a-good-way romp through evilest techno. "Ururu" is less malevolent but no less kinetically charged, firing off a wealth of pinging percussive synth tones that sound rather modular in nature. Beatless experiment "Ialysas" is no slouch either, pinging out unsettling tones of a discordant nature and creating something quite compelling in the process.
Review: A new label out of Mexico, Short Attention Records launches its second release with a five track offering of proper melodic house & techno from Hector Ram with the word 'quality' stamped large upon them. 'Midnight Sounds' starts things off with the grand rhythmically-building 'Midnight Sounds', almost New Order-esque at times. 'For Our Small Parties' follows, old skool again in flavour, blending subtly employed breaks and a sturdy house framework, then 'Dear Dancefloor', probably the gentlest and most fragile effort here, opens side two. 'On The Road' boasts a more electro feel and Orbital-esque synths, and is deemed worthy of a second airing via a nicely throbbing remix from Detroit's Generation Next closing proceedings.
Review: Emergent Italian producer Herva has been responsible for some truly unique music committed to wax in recent times - see last year's album for Delsin as well as his hook up with Massprod on the mighty Kontra-Musik. His run of fine releases continues here with How To Mind Your Own, a six track EP for Dublin's All City operation which doesn't so much as defy easy genre categorisation, it laughs in the face of such futile gestures. Some may call it deep house but really Herva has crafted some mutant brands of the genre where individual tracks contain more ideas and rhythmic deviations than you are likely to hear in whole 12"s from many other artists. Totally crazy and totally refreshing.
Review: Hidden Sequence have appeared on legendary dub techno label Mosaic in fine form of late and now they land on the Lempuyang imprint with four more serene fusions. Their Theories of Time EP opens up with the swaggering dub rhythms and bottomless depths of 'Distortion', a cut as heady as they come. 'Travelling,' as the title suggests, has a deeper rolling groove and more movement to it as it snakes through underwater dub caverns. Flip it over for more widescreen and serene explorations of the ocean floor with 'Shift' and mysterious leads of 'Delay' which is a fourth and final frictionless dub dream.
Review: Released just days after their Reflections tour, I Jordan and Sherelle link with club institution Fabric and their new label Fabric Originals. Both artists currently working on inspiring stratospheric levels, their energy is captured here across the two unique tracks. I Jordan rinse us up and down the highways and byways of the UK with their high impact 'M1 / M3' while Sherelle goes full-on techno with 'Getoutofmymind'. Intoxicating stuff!
Review: Here's some fresh techno from Intercepts, a new project dropping three slabs of hi-def, immersive club material from three different un-named artists for adventurous souls. 'Track 1' moves at a slower tempo and deals in fractured rhythms, all the better to carry the huge swathes of atmospheric sound design. 'Track 2' rolls with a deceptive discoid funk which contrasts neatly with the looped up Berlin techno-friendly elements. 'Track 3' takes things even further out into experimental - but still rhythmical - territory, marking Intercepts out as a label with a strong sense of adventure and their own distinctive way of merging influences into something which may well tickle your ear drums.
Review: The mysterious Jase inaugurates new label Off The Map with some quirked-up and glitched-out microhouse on the Out There EP. On side A, you can properly get weird at the afterhours with the cheeky blip, blurp, bleep of 'You Wanna Get Real', while over on the flip you've got another reductive jam reminiscent of mid-noughties mnml on 'Whispers' - all atonal sounds and clipped rhythm programming to keep the paranoid dancefloor vibes going well into Monday morning. Tip!
Review: Jay Tripwire has popped up a lot recently, which is always going to be good news for fans of those freaky late-night tech sounds that he is so well known and loved for. He kicks off Serenity's fifth release here alongside Jehr on 'Magic Man', a deep cut underlapping drum funk and lots of whirring machine sounds. Parisian space techno talent Cyberduck then takes care of both tunes on the flip - firstly 'Arzach', a deep and dynamic cut that hurriedly scans a vast cosmic world with silvery drums and lush melodies. Then 'Cerclon' gets a little more edgy, with dark and nagging baselines moving up through the mix as the crisp, well-swung tech drums power along.
Review: Jeigo dropped a thrilling debut album Cerulean back at the end of 2022, worked in a tune with Elkka for her DJ-Kicks mix and also dropped a mix for Bicep not long ago. Now he follows all that up with a firing four-track EP on Tread Records that again collides different club sounds, great samples and hooky melodies. 'Hatchet's Cave' is hands-in-the-air house euphoria with blistering drums and warped pads, then 'Move X' is a gritty tech bouncer and 'Compulsions' is a bubbly one with crisp hits. Nervous Horizons label boss Anunaku remixes the title track into a bass-heavy banger too.
Review: Keppel was last on this label with a contribution to a various artist collection but now steps up with a full solo EP of his own. His unique take on techno is exhibited from the off on 'Stanley Knife' with its scurrying synths, drunken synth loops and drums that go nowhere fast but still draw you in. '194' is awash with kinetic synth sequences and distant dub chords that bring colour and 'Life Takes Rise' rides on another inventive and alluring rhythm pattern while the warming synth work gets you lost in thought. Closer 'Diesel', meanwhile, is tough, frosty, and more techno-leaning.
Review: Well Street continue to offer up some of the most inventive gear on techno's multi-faceted outer limits, this time welcoming South London's Kincaid to the table. There's certainly a vaguely defined style around the label now, and Kincaid fits right in with a dexterous line in rhythmic programming and hi-def sound design, but like all the other artists he's got plenty of individual personality as well. 'OOO' quivers and surges with a braindance demeanour, while 'Nothing Is' deals in a swampy, dislocated kind of soundsystem music. This is dense, brilliantly rendered club music for those who require the freshest of the fresh ideas.
Review: LDS takes no prisoners on this blistering new techno workout for Exos' Planet X & X/OZ labels. Opener 'Karplusfunk' is a 100-mile-an-hour assault with caustic hit hats over clipped, kinetic drums. Manic synth lines ride up and down and the energy levels are off the chart. 'Mvoper FM' is slightly paired back but is still warp-speed icy techno to take dance floors on a white knuckle ride through the cosmos. The Exos remix of 'LD5' has snares that sound like sheet metal blowing in the wind while solar clouds peel off the groove. The flip side offers two more cuts of head-melting techno experimentalism.
Review: Lurka ended the year on a high with a kick-ass new EP on his own new label Make Your Own Meaning. He is now set to start 2023 in an equally strong fashion with four more futuristic bass fusions. 'Wire' is a minimal stepper with bursts of bass and flitting percussive lines. 'Molten Drum' is another twitchy mix of malfunctioning computer sounds, refracted vocals and fizzing synths that keep you on edge then 'Machine' picks ups the pace with jumpy rhythms and militant snare work. 'Zone (Packet)' rounds out with a double-speed workout and juke patterns that head out on a cosmic journey.
Review: Make Your Own Meaning continues to convey its unique techno message with a new statement of intent from label head Lurka. The artist has been busy of late and continues to be on a roll with another fascinating four tracker that genuinely serves up some original sounds and rhythms. 'Trip' gets things underway with organic percussive patterns stacked up over drilling bass to make for a prickly groove. 'Airlock' is similar but darker and heavier and 'Sick Flips' keeps the nimble feel going with dancing perc, rigid synths and scratchy sound effects all coalescing over broken drum patterns. Last of all is another dense, busy and multi-layered melange of tiny percussive sounds, synths and clipped rhythms that will make any floor move.
Review: Lurka is back on his own label Damage which is a place for harder-edged sounds and here includes remixes from Ossia. The one original, 'Red', is a thrilling rhythmic workout with a skeletal kick drum pattern that is broken and loopy, and deft percussion layered in over the top next to wet synths and undulating bass. Ossia's first rework spins it out into a more distorted and manic cut fizzing with static electricity while the second is slightly more paired back but no less menacing. This one has been mastered at Scape in Berlin and is mad limited to just 100 copies so do not wait around.
Review: M Parent's penchant for texture is laid bare on this searing and arresting new EP for Zement. It opens with 'Gravel Pit' which sounds like an audio diary from a car-wrecking plant. Twisted metal, fizzing battery acid, and crushed glass all feature over a distorted baseline and broken rhythm. Those same scuzzy sounds define the rest of the EP from the acid-laced 'Ideal Future' to the coruscated funk of 'Acid Thirst' via the caustic intensity of closer Climb These Walls'. An impressively unique offering that very much has its own singularly sound palette.
Review: Release Sustain, a London-based underground label, is pleased to introduce a new EP by Moody Waters, the label's founder. "Beneath the Moon" is a four-track EP that offers a refreshing blend of deep techno and house sounds. With steady beats and intriguing vibes, "Beneath the Moon" is a versatile addition to any DJ's collection. This EP explores an underground sound that combines the essence of house and techno, making it an enjoyable listen for those interested in electronic music in 2023. Don't miss the chance to check out this latest offering from Moody Waters and and awesome remix from Fred P. Grab your copy of "Beneath the Moon" and discover why fans are appreciating this new release from Release Sustain.
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