“A live DJ set celebrating the inauguration of James Olsom II as club treasurer, performed at the Hawktree Golfclub, Bismarck North Dakota in the summer of 2012. Over 2,5 hours of intense pure raw rockin house in all its forms, with no attempts to smooth out the moments of pure unhinged madness that drove the bar insane and gave more than a few old hoochies feelings they never thought they would have again. Hey Gopher, just gimme me a paira dancing shoes, a paira ladies and a paira medics!”
This tasty sampler featuring two Music Box inspired edit tracks is a prequel to some very nice things ahead. First up is Derrick May’s edit of Let No Man Put Us Under. An edit that he did in the late 80s, which was directly inspired by his trips to the Muzic Box, where he would hear Ron Hardy play the song. One which marks the direct influence that Chicago had on Detroit dance music. On the flip we find a track from another child of the Box, Gene Hunt. ‘Sound Drome’ is an amazing building drum track that totals over 13 minutes. This version takes direct influence from the Muzic Box and Ron Hardy with the acapella intro that Ron used to play as well. The real insanity starts 8 minutes into the track when the tempo is pitched down (and then back up). The kind of madness that only Ron would create on the dance floor.
Lux Rec brings on the 11th release. Four finely crafted musical pieces to dance to and for your own private cinematic experience. Join Murphy Jax on a trip of post apocalyptic nightmares with unknown enemies and dangers lurking behind the ruins of a doomed society.
HotMix Records whit the eighth release, featuring a track by Merwyn Sanders of Virgo Four. The EP includes remixes by Nicholas, Max Essa and K&M.
The Astrodynamics EP further demonstrates the shared intuition for rhythm and texture that Chicago duo Hakim Murphy and Ike Release have jointly showcased as Innerspace Halflife. Arising on the white label Episodes series, you can’t help but feel impressed from the lead track “Metropolitan” which stealthily expands into a deep groove of analogue patterns and spacious, horizon wide waves of luxuriant synths whose hypnotic powers can’t fully woo your attention away from the excellent procession of rasping drum sounds that drive proceedings forward. Flip over and the tables are turned, with the swampy textures of “Hidden Mist” looking to intoxicate from the off, raw percussion poised tautly fighting for prominence amid the growing presence of other worldly, cosmic melodies. “Cold Fusion” presents a darker, more scattered sounding side to the Innerspace Halflife palette, with nervous jazz influenced keys darting in between the crawlspace between the loose, crunchy drums.
Scenery is the new record label of Stu Robinson, and arrives with a stated focus on promoting talent from the UK’s north west. The debut release from the unheralded Bantam Lions is notable for pairing both original productions with remixes from John Heckle. Liverpool’s finest exponent of rough hewn analogue jack turns in a notably bewitching blend of exotic melodies and rugged drum programming for the remix of “Control Tower Observations”.
Use of Weapons 5 lands noisily in your back yard with five house marauders hotter than Salma Hayek eating a hot apple pie. Five different artists bring the bacon: label heads Deep Space Orchestra remixing themselves, ex-Cosmic Boogie overlord Asok, Perseus Traxx, Other Worlds and Wet Play executive board member Ruf Dug.
The second release on Diamonds And Pearls in 2012. Two of the most singular and distinct forces in house and techno today, XDB and Kassem Mosse, team up for a special sonic treat. So get yourself ready for two extended journeys into techno, house and beyond. XDB’s “Ekatem” is a driving, rough and ready house track with a beautifully bubbling square bassline and dirty synth work. On the flip XDB is joined by Kassem Mosse for an exploration into the outer reaches of house music. “Omrish” is a gritty-yet-atmospheric jam, full of shimmering chords and floating synth melodies which are punctuated by double kicks and crisp cymbals.
The second full-length self-titled album by Ren Schofield’s Container project, “Container” is spare, minimal, Noise-influenced outsider Techno with a rigid focus. The opening track establishes the tonal palette of the record, with bit-crushed rhythms set against a deceptively simple drum pattern. A careening, looped oscillation appears midway through the track and steadily gains momentum and position in the mix. Schofield is adept at making these jarring juxtapositions feel organic and coherent. Standout track “Acclimator” teems with insectoid chatter and whips up fascinating polyrhythms by way of its creative and judicious use of delay. Some may write off Noise-Techno as trendy and topical (and perhaps much of it is), but Schofield’s efforts are well worth a listen.
Dro Carey offers his second release under the dilapidated tech-house moniker Tuff Sherm with this forthcoming 12” on The Trilogy Tapes. Admittedly, the sonics of Tuff Sherm aren’t far from works under DC – the grooves are less broken, the rhythms more hypnotic, but the textures are very much in line with Dro Carey’s dusked, dystopian palette. ‘Pharmacy’ bounces with swirling, nauseated effects, piling hollow percussion atop a thick soundscape heavy-laden with impending grooves. The brief ‘Hydlide’ does a great job of launching into a distorted, earthy loop, before smothering it under a filter to allow for looped melancholic stab to take over. As the initial loop rises to the fore, sandpaper samples rise with it – cavorting with the minimal melody like a maniacal tour guide purposely misleading his group through an abandoned factory. ‘Leg Man’ recalls the playful darkside of Dro Carey’s material, with a thick sub anchoring the track as wickedly off-balance samples peek through the compression, enhancing the swung rhythm of the tune.
Le Jardin des Chemins Bifurquants is the first full length album of Chicago based electronic music artist, producer and DJ Jamal R. Moss.Gritty futuristic meltdown of House, Free Jazz, New Age and Noise. For this record, Jamal worked with the concept of plants having a religion, and the question of what their way of worship would look like. This resulted in a dark deep-space overture with raw synth stabs, extreme pitch-shifted textures and hypnotic tribal rhythms—somewhat reminiscent of Sun Ra’s interstellar electric keyboard explorations. Le Jardin des Chemins Bifurquants is an unclassifiable tour de force that is oozing with profound cosmic meaning. For those not lucky enough to lay their hands on the genuinely rare full length album of Chicago artist, producer and DJ Jamal R. Moss, here is another chance to obtain this rare artifact.
Killekill is at catalogue number 10 and is an occasion to make something special. They had collected tracks from their regular label artists plus some guests. The compilation features dark and epic experimental tracks by Lakker, Dadub and Bill Youngman, electro stompers by DJ Stingray, Radioactive Man and The Almost People, techno and acid beasts by Furfriend, J.T.C., Cassegrain & Tin Man, Snuff Crew and Neil Landstrumm plus a breakbeat rave superhit by Affie Yusuf.
The first release of the new Dutch label Pinkman contains four great tracks from Drvg Cvltvre, formerly known as RA-X. His music is slow, doomy, with broken disco and house elements, focusing on on hypnotic repetition and percussion. The first track is the cult hit “Offender Status”, deeply doomed disco that will hypnotize the dance floor as soon as you put that needle on. Next is the slow melodramatic track “Quasimodo Predicted All Of this”. On the flip you’ll find “Lingettes Humides”, a typical westcoast-ish electro disco track with a theme that will be stuck in your head forever. The final track “Dakar” takes you on a voyage through the Mediterranean Sea, raw submarine house with a middle east theme.
Another 6 track release by Luke Eargoggle on Abstract Forms. Expect mind altering scientific electro tracks again in his typical signature style. Superb electro EP with strong Kraftwerk influence and Detroit style melodies.
German producer Vertical67 debuts on Lunar Disko Records, with a 10″ consisting of 3 deep & dreamy tracks. The uplifting ‘In Space’ covers the A-side with bright and protruding soundscapes, glistening like stars in a far away galaxy. The B-side opens up with ‘Craic Memories’, portraying a house groove throughout, yet still retaining an electro mood amongst some delicate and twinkling melodies. Finishing up the EP is the affectionate ‘Mutuality’, displaying adept drum programming alongside a lush female voice which rises sporadically above dreamy melancholic sounds and a soft brooding vox.
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The Hipodrome Of Music 