Chicago’s Marcus Mixx return to Unknown to the Unknown. The salaciously named Rub It Don’t Go Fast is a welcome return, and the producer’s unhinged urges remain wonderfully undimmed as the title track attests. It’s dark acid house with redlining bass, a monstrous kick drum and a clear sense of perverse humour. “Rub it in French…” On the flip, Mixx lays down two swerving takes on breakbeat house flex out “Do U Luv 2 Dance”.
Music For Dreams continues to roll out the Balearic goodies with this superb new mini album from Golden Ivy. Golden Ivy aka Ivar Lantz is a Malm based composer, producer and founder (along with Prins Emanuel and Gucci Jehova) of esteemed Swedish record label Fasaan.
French duo Unouzbeck & Venturi make their vinyl debut with a pair of psychedelic disco groovers for the Östra Discos imprint.
Synthesizer enthusiast Bezier drops a surprise 12″ for the affiliated Honey Soundsystem. As usual, her has his sights set on mining the past for inspiration. “Mina (Everyone)” begins in typical fashion – all spacey synthesizers and twinkling melodies – before morphing into a relentless chunk of dirty, Italo-and-EBM inspired house. The pleasingly sunny “Serengeti Drive” is more of a stripped-back Italo-disco bubbler (admittedly with dream-wave flourishes), while “Mysteries of the Deep” offers an intergalactic romp through cold-wave pastures with only cheap old synths and drum machines for company.
Next on Delsin’s deep and house leaning series of releases is Artefakt with a new three track affair entitled The Fifth Planet EP. The Dutch duo are experts at conjuring up atmospheric grooves that seduce your soul. Opener ‘Transit’ is a thick, heavy and heady track with rubbery kicks tunnelling deep. Above it, smeared, sombre synths gets stretched and skewed into trippy forms and the whole thing has you as a slave to the groove. ‘From Our Minds To Yours’ is quicker and more overkill, but is again rooted in rolling rubbery kicks. Hypnotic once again, the synths here are lighter, more airy and more uplifting and induce trance like states of mind. Lastly, ‘The Fifth Planet’ steps it up another gear, with celestial melodic patterns, heavy synth daubs and spine tingling pads all expanding around a ticking techno groove. This is expertly crafted, serene and supple stuff that will sound perfect in the dead of night on some intimate and spaced out dancefloor.
Upon.You’s rough ‘n’ raw underground white-label UYX Series delivers the Leo Dance EP by French DJ producer Farid Boudinar aka F.E.X. who was responsible for the first UYX Series release in 2013. “Leo Dance” features hard-hitting snare-rolls; fast-paced drums; brooding, big-room basslines; and deep yet uplifting synths. The minimal tech-house of “Overdeus” builds into a beautiful sequential arrangement of climax after climax after climax. “Puretec” enters darker, sci-fi influenced realms with undulating strings and a perfect synth sequence that pays homage to the masters of Detroit techno – perfect for basements immersed in fog and strobe lights.
This is the inaugural release from the Berlin based Sandhu. The ‘Undefined Revolution’ vinyl series will solely feature compositions created with hardware, recorded live and unedited. Volume 1 comprises the first four of these very organically produced tracks. Ranging from experimental electronica through to a tougher Techno palette, the EP’s A-side starts with the fluid ‘Girtab’ with its laid-back break and sci-fi edge, before ‘Lesath’ heads into deeper realms with ominous sounding synthwork and an infectious groove. The B-side shows the tougher Techno face of Sandhu. ‘Shaula’ is a perfect DJ tool with heaps of energy for those restless dancefloors, while ‘Sargas’ completes the quartet with its choppy beats and latin-tinged rhythms.
For the 13th release on Chaval Records, Victor Santana presents ‘Live’, a new 4-track EP to coincide with the release of his Live video.
The mysterious Hodini takes the wheel on this, the third outing on Money $ex. Another triumphant tapestry of sample sources, reinvented and ramped up into an effortlessly effective extended player, taking dusty MPC sample sessions through a variety of moods from head-nod bumpers to wayward House numbers – Swing set to stun all the way and another top quality outing on this label Collaborating with the very best of Germany’s new school.
”Back in 2009, DJ Harvey came knockin’ at PBRC HQ to deliver a special project he had in mind. Having a long and healthy relationship with the dudes at Pacific Beach, Harv essentially produced a couple of edits that could’ve well been next in line on his revered Black Cock label. Eventually released in 2010, the 12” cuts caused a stir as some will recall. Doc Severinsen is an accomplished American jazz/pop trumpet player, and as a band leader gained considerable notoriety on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Like most musicians in the 70’s, Doc took his shot at the disco and funk sounds of the time, gathered stellar musicians, and released impeccably sounding works. Two of these cuts, ‘Be With You’ and ‘Shine On Me’ are featured on this release. Harvey’s unfailing magic touch has yielded two DJ-friendly edits with a lot of punch and galactic energy, yet with a velvet undertone. Staying true to the mission, the label took great care throughout the production process in order to preserve the quality of the original recordings. Proprietary equipment was created to transfer the original cuts from the source. The mastering was conducted at Bernie Grundman in Hollywood, CA, known for its work on the greatest albums of all time, such as Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ and Steely Dan’s ‘Aja’. The 2015 edition is noticeably different on the exterior. The cover art, having been designed by Harvey back in 2009 for the original release, commands attention. At the time, however, the prevailing design had been already put into play leaving these amazing creative elements put aside for a later time – and so here we are.”
Dropping ahead of the release of Tim Deluxe’s new studio LP The Radicle, ‘Love Is’ is the next single taken from the album, presented here in its original form as well as an additional dub version. A jazz-fueled, bluesy masterpiece with a heart wrenching vocal , sublime live instrumentation and incredible production values.
There’s something decidedly mysterious and otherworldly about this fourth release on Giegling’s Forum sub-label. As usual, they’re not giving much away, and to make matters worse the artist at the controls – the previously unheard of Sa Pa – is a debutant. Happily, the music – a mix of crackly, fizzing, minimal-influenced experimental techno, ambient and weirder, dub-flecked explorations – speaks for itself. Fuubutsushi is an impressively atmospheric and off-kilter affair, with Sa Pa paying much attention to the tiniest of details (see the intricate sound collage that forms the rhythm track on the bleak “Tagularius”). If this is indeed Sa Pa’s first outing (and there’s a suspicon it’s an alter-ego, given the quality of the production), it’s rather impressive. A poet’s reminder of a specific season.
Parisian artist Nautil is a music student specialising in acoustics, signal processing, and informatics. His debut single, Canopée, utilises analog synths, sampling and personal recordings to emphasize the geometrics of nature and music. On the A-side the lead track, Canopée, is a cavernous, pulsing, low-frequency techno colossus destined to hypnotise dark warehouse spaces. On the reverse Galdae is a propulsive tecnoid tweaker while Mue is designed for head rolling after hours with mesmeric synth drones suspended over a brain melting sub-bass pulse.
The new Slow Life has landed and the Berlin collective is setting the bar high with this one. Four expertly produced, inventive & atmospheric cuts – two originals, two remixes – that will take you to the cosmos & back before you even realise you’ve been taken on a trip. S. Moreira and Refracted are on absolutely deadly form here.
Skewed soundscapes permeate fragments of gritty beats and swirling rhythms on this 12 minute epic from Swedish artist Dungeon Acid. Label boss Par Grindvik reaffirms his talent for both A&R and production, delivering 2 frenetically charged reinterpretations on the flip.
Steffi revisits her Power Of Anonymity album with three completely new versions of ”JBW25” by Further Reductions and Answer Code Request. Brooklyn-based duo Further Reductions left a big impression on Steffi with their 2014 Woodwork LP on Cititrax. Now Shawn O’Sullivan and Katie Rose turned ”JBW25” upside down and inside out. The original version’s hypnotic synth bleeps are still there, but rhythm-wise Further Reductions live up to their name: Their version is a stone-cold and arhythmic interpretation of ”JBW25” with additional vocals, pushed to the absolute fringes of dancefloor compatibility. Berghain resident Answer Code Request contributes two versions to this release: While his ”Vision” adds a tough drum beat, percussion and a stronger focus on the Ambient textures of the original, his ”Revision” is more break-heavy, melodic and dreamy while setting a darker tone and mood overall. With the original version and its Techno and Electro drive this 12” comes full circle a good fit for record bags travelling to various party settings and moods.
The DJ Trio and Live-Act (Jesse Scherwitz, Julius Richter and Magnus von Welck ) finished their third EP on Aroma Pitch Recordings. With this one the boys have reached a new level of production and maturity. Three tracks full of twists and turns making this a perfect kickstart for a timeless summer. Beautiful & moody deep techno the oldskool way.
After over a decade of music on pedigree labels like Spectral, Nation, M>O>S, and Creme Organization 2AM/FM offer their debut LP on Bopside. Based in Ann Arbor and raised in the Detroit area, D’Marc Cantu and Tadd Mullinix are charged by a lifetime of midwestern soundwaves and the reinforcement of contemporaneous area innovators like Carlos Souffront and Traxx. Again, they join forces but with this monumental excursion into the ether of their very own techno/house universe. Sounds herein are cast from debonair techno funk, rumbling house grooves, italo acid, galactic swing – offering a diverse array that’s perfect for the album experience.
‘This Is How It Started’ focuses heavily on the early days of the Chicago sound, especially in the formative years at Ron Hardy’s Music Box. Part 5 with a selection of old and new proto house inspired tracks. Including the killer Peaches and Prunes!
The Hipodrome Of Music 