Month: December 2019
Borusiade LIVE @ arkaoda (Berlin) 05.12.2019
Cardopusher – Lights Down Low 021
June – Silver Demon [MNQ134]
Greek artist June makes his debut on Mannequin Records with the ‘Silver Demon’ LP. The album explores a futuristic dystopian world where transcendence and oppression coexist, where claustrophobia and infinite openness coincide. A world of contrasts that is the product of the artist‘s active imagination and conscious effort to confront the subconscious. The album was recorded using original techniques from the golden era of electronic music (late 70s to mid 80s) with an arsenal of vintage analog synthesizers, drum machines and effect processors (originating) from the same time period. While the aesthetics of the classic precursors emerge through the minimal, deep, dark architecture of June’s music, Silver Demon prevails with the artist’s characteristic originality.
VA – Nothing Matters When We Are Dancing Vol 10: Cosmic Hole [CDA010Y/COSMICHOLE]
Discodromo present a three-vinyl compilation to celebrate the tenth birthday of their Berlin party CockTail d’Amore. The compilation features the sound that best envisions the party and its evolution throughout its first decade. This vinyl features the sound of the Cosmic Hole, a room dedicated to downtempo psychedelia. CPI, the name behind Marc Pinol and Hugo Capablanca’s collaborative project, launches this record with a hypnotic acid ballad named Mount Anal: for a late night slow-mo dance experience. Synth-noir melodies are brought by two label aficionados, Juan Ramos and Kris Baha, while Honeysoundsystem’s Bezier journeys to a One Thousand and One Nights soundscape with his Starpoint.
Traxx @ RS94109 (San Francisco) 25.10.2019
DJ Mad A & Dr. Stevie The Ambient Guru – The Mad Vibe EP [SC1202]
DJ Mad A (Adam Embleton) & Dr. Stevie The Ambient Guru (Stevie Hewitt) originally met when Adam picked up the Saturday shift at ‘Record Mart’, a record store run by Stevie back in the late 80’s. They quickly bonded over shared tastes and enthusiasm for the growing dance club culture in England.
Remora – Easy Rider [KJ045]
Brooklyn-based, Yugoslavian-born Maroje T is back as Remora with a new release on Kraftjerkz. His latest Remora release is a cohesive, synth-driven exploration, drawing influence from 80’s New Wave, Belgian New Beat, synth-pop, Italo disco and electro. Its aim is not to emulate; its nostalgia is grown-up and contemporary, filled with arpeggiated synths and metallic punctuation. There’s a play between light and dark here; the opening tracks take us on an easy, synth-pop voyage, as if through a neon dawn. Half-way through the EP, the mood shifts towards dystopic visions, with tracks like “Bitter Night” and “Green Sea” bringing to mind videogame-boss nostalgia and darker electro sentiments. The EP closes with the final, visceral “You Travel by Plane Often,” meant to be experienced with the body. The EP is primed to become a classic; it goes down easy but stays with you for a while, before wanting to be ingested again and again.
Joris Biesmans – Big Mouth EP [17STEPS027]
Joris Biesmans debuts on 17 Steps with his Big Mouth, an EP crafted in his trademark style – propulsive, analogue driven house and techno, rich in melody and colour. ‘After All These Years’ and the title track ‘Big Mouth’ are anthemic, brimming with extrovert synths and acid lines. On ‘DrumatiXL’ Biesmans channels vintage, celestial electro through his hardware. It’s a slick, sci-fi inspired three track selection primed for the Berlin dancefloors he calls home.
Khidja / Lena Willikens @ Guesthouse (Bucharest) 21.12.2019
VA – War to the Future [GO002]
The record label Gladio Operations launches its second release. ‘War to The Future’ gives its name to the first series of various artists from the label, which includes four electro cuts, exclusively orientated for the dance floor. The EP opens with a producer from Barcelona Univac who gifts us with Station Cero, a powerful, devastating track resonating with industrial sounds. The second track titled Poison, bears the signature of the Ukrainian artist Lectromagnetique, a track loaded with excellent dark and enigmatic sounds. The owners of the Gladio Operations label, UHF, open side B with Unexplained Situation, a vertiginous journey wrapped in rich and deep psychedelic textures. The Serbian producer Alavux closes the EP with Sunset, a fantastic track with an aggressive bass line and significant and repetitive sequences.
DJ Overdose – Hang In There [CRTSX002]
Curtis Electronix delivers the second release. 4 originals from one of the most remarkable and reliable artists in the game, Rotterdam dungeon master DJ Overdose. The A side drops two club ready electro tracks molded with his unique cyberfunk style, punchy analog drums, heavy dystopian basslines and gently spaced out melodies. On the flip side things turn into a murky slow tempo affair. Industrial solid drums and distorted sonic grounds will turn your captivating journey into a dark machine odyssey.
Secret State – Arctic EP [BBR019]
Frosty… 4 ice cold trax from Toby Smith AKA Tobias Schmidt on the “Arctic E.P.” Jacking Detroit Techno meets footwork on these 150 BPM plus hitters. Let these tracks tell you everything you need to know about the myth that is the… Secret State.
VA – Nothing Matters When We Are Dancing Vol 10: Garden [CDA010Y/GARDEN]
Discodromo present a three-vinyl compilation to celebrate the tenth birthday of their Berlin party CockTail d’Amore. The compilation features the sound that best envisions the party and its evolution throughout its first decade. This installment features the sound of the Garden and its kaleidoscopic surges. Tornado Wallace’s contribution is a fetishized Italo-High-Energy adventure. On the same side the breaks of Greenvision’s Sleeping Bag In New York conjure a clubber’s hallucinations on a Sunday afternoon. Bell Towers and Bon Voyage nostalgically cover the flip side. The former with synth pop inspired ode to the this special dance-floor and the latter with a classic cosmic emotional composition.
Unknown Artists – Power XIII [POWXIII]
Abel – Surfing in Kansas Vol. 1 [SIK001]
Inaugural release of this newly established edit label dedicated to reshaping discarded and forgotten grooves from days gone by. They start off quite the right way with three party starters by none other than Red Light Record’s Abel! Time for another cigarette.
VA – Ecdisis Vol 2 (Bartoszek Edits) [FRV032]
Frigio Records is consistently plumbing the depths to unearth exciting talent. Bartoszek has been corrupting and manipulating tracks to fit floors for years, editing and slicing past pieces to breath new life into them. The German artist has turned his hand, and scissors, to four tracks from a spread of musicians from far and wide for Frigio’s latest: Ecdisis Vol.2.
December – Encore [PBD21]
December returns to Pinkman Broken Dreams with 4 hybrids of arranged chaos where rugged rhythms and breaks wrestle with dystopian melodies and occult vocals. A complete meltdown which viciously takes you into a delirious state. The future is near…
Includes a free download for a Mick Wills cut!
Grauzone – Raum [WRWTFWW003]
First ever vinyl maxi-single release for “Raum”, Grauzone’s best-kept secret and underground mega-gem from 1980.
Mr. Flagio – Take A Chance [DR-002-7]
Originally released in 1983, “Take A Chance” is a classic Italo-Disco classic anthem, now officially reissued for the first time on 7 inch vinyl.
The Hipodrome Of Music 