Review: Portuguese legend and 30-year scene veteran A Paul is no stranger to Planet Rhythm - in fact he has already dropped an EP on the vital label this year. But now he's back with more on this Shadow Light six tracker. The opener is fast and dubby, stripped back and seductive for body and mind. 'Magnatizm' fizzes with more electricity and alien energy and 'Nocturnal' brings manic, anxiety-inducing loops. There is glitch and pent-up tension in 'Magnolia' while 'Dramatism' and 'Naperon' close out with more streamlined and tunnelling techno depths.
Review: New week, new Planet Rhythm, same old tech class. Aero is no stranger to this label and hail from Northside Dublin, where they Baldoyle native has been cooking up his take on techno - it's always driven by punchy rhythms but with plenty of synth craft making it much more than mere DJ tool fodder. 'Buried In Noise' has urgent and anxious melodies lighting up the drums while 'Velvet Kiss' is a deeper, more late-night prowler. 'State Of Burn' then bangs with steel-plated loops and 'Scarred' layers up synths that feel like they're going to fall over themselves with a hypnotic and time-keeping drum thud. 'The 242' closes with astral anxiety and a never-ending sense of rush.
Review: Ross Alexander debuts on Yore and brings with him a more tech-leaning sound that you might expect of this traditionally techno-centric outlet. It still calls on plenty of Motor City signifiers, however, such as warm synth soul, machine grooves and a dusty depth. 'Soul Roots' has all that and a cosmic melodic air, 'Cycles' gets more twisted with a pressurised baseline and drums full of rebound while 'All I Need' sets off on freewheeling, psychedelic pads and serene grooves that carry you away in a reverie before 'Reflections' shuts down with twinning cosmic pads and gurgling low ends. A classy and escapist EP of futuristic bliss.
Review: Turkish producer Alec Attari harbours a passion for minimal wave, EBM, and underground Italo disco, condensing each into a striking end result with 1982. The record is said to have kept in mind the early foments of electronic music, where vanguard technologies helped heroes such as Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles bear the best in earliest house and techno. The standout track is an exceptional remix by Italian legend Alexander Robotnick, whose version channels the spirit of his classic 'Problemes d'Amour' with a mysterious, hypnotic reversal. His remix of 'Visage' on Side A comes followed by 'Time Machine', a powerful nod to EBM and techno reminiscent of The Hacker, not long before the original 'Visage' follows, oozing a serpentine elegance. '1982' ends things on a buccal-licking, mucous acid finale.
Review: The Positive Reaction label is looking to build bridges between North Africa and the rest of the world with the music that it puts out. It has roots in both Tunisia and Berlin and has a healthy respect for 90s electronic takes on electro, breakbeat, techno and trance, which all shine through this new six-track VA. OA gets underway with hard-nosed techno, H0ney serves up lashings of peak time energy and BENKHLIFA drills down into the darkness with a blistering baseline and white-knuckle techno intensity. Elsewhere, MZA's 'Thelea' brings more low-end dirt and DEV's 'Love Affairs' brings lush euphoria.
Review: Turin-born and raised artist Andrea has explored plenty of different genres across his wonderfully experimental sounds, but mostly they are couched in techno with hints of 90s breakbeat and IDM. "Living Room is his third album and finds him tapping into an introspective sound with reflective melodies and a cosmic sense of travel. Right from the off, you're cast adrift in a world of shimmering melody and plucked strings, cascading arps and widescreen synthscapes and it is there you stay for the whole absorbing duration, though sometimes lithe rhythms bring more propulsion. A magnificently accomplished and detailed work.
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