Emanating from Japan, and discovered by Eric Duncan (of RUB ‘N TUG fame). These Re-edit masterclasses would never have gotten outside of their native market. Luckily a helping hand from one of NYC’s most hyped party throwers has guaranteed a wider audience.! This release has another glorious duo of obscure but super high quality dancefloor friendly edits.
Prins Thomas, Mark E, Bulgari and Ultra City all feature on Epic Disco Vol 2, the long overdue return to the twelve inch game from the Rollerboys imprint. Label supremos Ultra City aka Elias & Yourhighness open proceedings in excellent fashion with the resplendent “Delta” a richly rewarding exercise in effervescent Chicago house based around instantly uplifting piano tones and loose cascading Roland 707 patterns – instant dancefloor uplift guaranteed on this one. Merc boss Mark E follows with the deeper sounds of “Walk With Me” utilising a familiar vocal refrain amidst a musical arrangement that pairs subtle elements such as heart warming chords with the more intense synths. Flip over and Prins Thomas introduces a lesson in the art of infinite build via the primal, stripped down 303 jam “Stockholm Express” which has us rather excited for his forthcoming new album. Rollerboys regular Bulgari eases down the tempo to finish with a echo laden electro boogie future classic in the shape of “I Was On”.
Warehouse Classics Vol.1 holds 4 killer tracks going from obscure disco to new wave, first popularized at the Music Box and rarely heard anywhere else. Sir Leon Greg (another incarnation of Perseus Traxx) jams out then reinforces some edits of forgotten classics with a raw & personal analogue treatment for a devastating full effect on the dance floor, that is a far cry from the proliferation of over-produced squeaky-clean software edits. These are basic, raw ideas thrown down quickly and capturing the energy on 1/4” tape before moving on to the next set of sounds. Musically, it’s as delightfully funky and uncomplicated as you’d expect, a mesh of disco tracks and heavy, effect laden, machine-funk.
Dark Entires is honored to reissue the long out of print debut album “Elevator to Eden” by Lives of Angels. Lives of Angels was the brainchild of Gerald O’Connell from London, England. In 1974 he worked at CBS studios mastering recordings from tape to disc. By 1977 he joined his first band Mystery Plane, led by school mate Mark Harvey and later joined by his soon-to-be wife Catherine. Gerald branched off in 1980 forming Lives of Angels as an outlet for his own compositions. He recorded, produced and played all of the instruments on “Elevator to Eden” between 1981 and 1983, using a primitive set up of drum machines, one keyboard, guitar and a tape echo. Influenced by the Krautrock sounds of Neu! and Amon Duul II as well as US psychedelic rock, Lives of Angles crafted their own unique post-punk sound. “Elevator to Eden” was originally released in 1983 on cassette by Color Tape Records, the label started by Gary Ramon of Modern Art. Then in 1986 Fire Records remixed and re-released the album on vinyl but the band was not happy with the mixes. This reissue features the original 4-track cassette mixes of “Elevator To Eden” on vinyl for the first time ever. The LP includes 9 songs featured on the original Color Tapes release. All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley directly from the original master tapes.
A true italo/new-wave holy grail by the mythological Italian duo Ein-St-Ein. First published on vinyl on the hard to find Columbus Compilation LP from 1985 and now finally on 12” wax. Varsavia tells a poetic story about Warsaw in it’s cold days. With the beautiful melancholic vocals of Emanuele Barison and the wonderful dark and heroic synths composition by Paolo Piuzzi this track takes you on a sentimental fairy tale. Comes with a ‘tape version’ and the track ‘Wasraw’ taken from the rare Elettricidintorni cassette compilation. On top a bonus track by Sinners, the prog-rock group formed by the members of Ein-St-Ein in the early 80’s; previously only available on 7”.
Lunar Disko Records presents its first LP from Dutch artist VC-118A. ‘International Airlines’ is based on a retro-futuristic concept of aircrafts, drawing inspiration from this idea throughout to create an ethereal sculpture of sounds. VC-118A aka Samuel van Dijk guides the listener through a network of light and emotions via seven intense and atmospheric electro/techno tracks that will leave you floating deep within inner space. Constructed in the north of Holland, ‘International Airlines’ explores the artists concept of aircrafts through emotive soundscapes, brooding over an array of analytic drum programming. Each track levitates the listener to another atmosphere – never attached to geographical locations or time. Gravitating from beginning to end, ‘International Airlines’ displays the artists focus on his subject – an air flight through different colours of sound.
Dutchman Boris Bunnik already crafts deeper house and techno than most. Forever keen to experiment and push the boundaries, though, the man best known as Conforce has recently started a new moniker, Silent Harbour. To explain the roots of the project it’s best to go right inside the mind of Bunnik, where he himself has been lost recently, exploring notions of isolation, deep-sea submersion, aquatic environments and all the abstract ambiance such places entail. Silent Harbour is about exploring the deep unknown, about slowing tempos without losing focus on details, about sound tracking the everyday movie that plays out at the bottom of the deepest darkest oceans of which we know so little. Listening the ten tracks that make up the debut album on Echocord and the concept shines through immediately: right from the opening sound you’re lowered below the sea’s surface as all sorts of little sonic plankton float by. Sunrays occasionally beam down from above; sometimes you’re in warm water, other times it’s colder, but always is there a gentle lull back and forth like the most soothing deep-sea swell. Somehow Bunik even manages to soundtrack what seem like underwater wrecks… rusting metal, tinkling glass and swarms of predatory fish looking for a feed. There are even sections which speak of danger and peril, as if a storm is brewing miles above or as if a shark is on his way… on the other hand, though, there are also passages alive with a Spring-like optimism, where coral grows, aquatic plants flower and new ocean life is born. So evocative is this album you’ll hardly notice that it has very few beats, instead you’re mind is busy painting the pictures to go with the sounds.
The concept of Coughy was to be an exact opposite of clinging to one particular sound or a tedious rehearsal of prior established songs. Improvisation, spontaneity, obscure cultural influences and a complete and reciprocal trust were to be the principles of this project, and a strong live visual input provided by the visual artist Color Nurse (Irina Stanciulescu). The result, often unpredictable even to the protagonists, associates freely drones and rhythms, noise and harmony, digital and analog, atmospheric and psychedelic, pop and experiment.
Split EP by DJ F aka Ideograma and Sowing Paranoia on Area 51. Atmospheric electro-techno 4-tracker filled with deep chords and outer-space rhythms.
Electronique.it Records with “The Expression Of Emotions In Man And Animals Ep”, the second part of a trilogy on vinyl dedicated to Charles Darwin studies. In this chapter it is presented the relation between listening to various genres of electronic music and the emotional expressions arising from that. This release includes three traks by Plant 43, Valmass and Yard.
As one of the younger breed of Detroit talents, Jason Fine is still just starting to get a foothold, despite having a good few years of releases behind him. His Kontra Musik relationship has proven to be the most fruitful, and this remix package capitalizes on that with two top shelf commissions. A Made Up Sound brings his unmistakable broken house swing to bear, with warming subs and thick swathes of pad and melody twisted to Dave Huismann’s crafty designs. Heinrich Muller brings the Drexciyan vibes in abundance with his punchy electro stance that remains peerless after all these years.
The Hague Electronix veteran Vincent Koreman, Bunker veteran and Angelmaker label owner, presents his new project Drvg Cvltvre with the first release on Viewlexx. Koreman describes the project as an outlet for slow, doomy disco and experimental house, yet the superbly titled opening track “Bring Me Your Labradoodle” long with “Hermes Russia” and “Heart Beat” has more in common with the deranged techno of Gesloten Cirkel. Amidst all this, the vaguely unsettling “Monkey Man” sounds like Chicago Shags remixing Analord.
After numerous successful excursions for cult underground techno imprints such as Last Known Trajectory, Solar One Music, Bunker & Panzerkreuz, The Exaltics resurface this time around on another cool imprint, namely Abstract Forms, delivering a stealthy blow of three typically wonderful works, from the menacing tension of ‘Cold Lights’, to the cool acid-techno which is ‘With the Lights Out’, to the restrained electro shuffle of ‘The Last Resort’. Stunning. Flip over this split-release for three quirky cuts from UK counterpart, Koova, who has also featured on AC Records. Cool electro and a solid release to the AF catalogue.
Solar One Music is proud to present the second chapter of ”The Exaltics meets..” Series. After Gosub, this time the finnish Duo Morphology is in the game. Both artists deliver deep, moody electronic music with great melodies and beats. Perfect for your next trip to Mars with the ”Curiosity”.
To mark its 11th release Cultivated Electronics launches a new V/A compilation series featuring exclusive material from some of the hottest names in Electro from across the Globe right now. The first instalment of World Electronix aims to showcase the darker dance floor side of the genre. The series kicks off with Parisian resident Carl A Finlow AKA Silicon Scally who turns in a signature style machine tech roller reminiscent of his early SCSI-AV works. The duty then shifts to Spain’s number one electro export Boris Divider with a clinical, tight, Rother-esque groove. On the flip we see London based CE label head Sync 24 join forces with Australia’s Abstract Forms label owner Deixis. Rounding off the EP are Finnish duo Morphology, who alter the proceedings with a freaky 4/4 electro piece.
The Hipodrome Of Music 