Plague Pits is a collective from Bern, Switzerland. Inspired by the D.I.Y. electronic tape underground of yore, they play disco dirges for the Anthropocene – cold wave for a heating planet.
Plague Pits – Poetry From The Future [TNP2]
Author: hipodrome
Mike Ash – Robotik [OZONLTD002]
Mike Ash pops up on the revitalised Ozone Recordings with an EP rich in authentically sparse, sub-heavy bleep & bass cuts of the sort that were all the rage in Yorkshire back in the day. A-side ‘Robotik’ is, in effect, a loving tribute to Man Machine’s 1990 single ‘Man Machine’ (the bassline and electronic motifs are very similar), with slightly more jacking drums. ‘Bleep Off Again’ continues in a similar vein, with Ash adding sparse, alien bleep melodies and fuzzy electronic stabs to another beefy bassline and skittish TR-909 beats, while ‘Sub Roll’ is a pleasingly intergalactic affair full of Rob Gordon style bass, dreamy ‘LFO’ pads and sparkling lead lines.
Max Lessig – Ácido Me Salvó EP [LAXACID1]
Max Lessig, DJ and music creator based in Leipzig, on his new release for Skylax label refines his vision and sound accuracy with a 12 inch “Ácido Me Salvó” containing 5 demential titles. A mix of house, italo-disco and acid. It starts off with a bang with the brilliant heartbeat of “Alba Trentino”, a murderous track on any dancefloor. “Calling infinity” with its smoother tempo reminds us the class and elegance of the best Omar S. It is to better leave with house imbued with the trance of astral memories with always those little acid tips that explode your head. On the B side, the rascal does not stop revisiting you the most pumpy 90s house (think about Jark Prongo or Gat decor) with “The Limbo Project” a title that continues to grow along your skin. And to finish its demonstration, the fabulous “Dance Equation” which will delight fans of Krystal Klear and more generally those of the region of the Piedmont lakes. This is Modern italo-disco. This is a master stroke.
Game Plan – Club Negotiations [BIENV004]
Game Plan is the meeting of Gabriel Rei and Gene Tellem. A longstanding friendship unfolded through mutual love for dance music and experience. ‘Club Negotiations’ arrives on Bienvenue Recordings as their first official studio collaboration. Three melodic and hypnotic compositions to help find your focus from the ecstatic nature of the party to the daily hustle of modern life.
VA – Yellow Jackets Vol. 5 [YJ005]
Time for another chapter in the ever expanding Yellow Jackets series from Mother Tongue. On the A side we have Marcellus Pittman’s rework of the Belgian 1983 cult track ‘Death Disco’ by Arbeid Adelt! Not much to say about this one, it’s simply a nasty piece of industrial acid disco. On the flipside Chicago’s genius, Hieroglyphic Being , brings the listener to an astral ceremony with ‘An Astronomical Object’.
Linkwood – Stereo LP [AOTNLP061]
Linkwood returns to AOTN in 2022 with Stereo, the follow up and part two, to his killer and hyper focussed LP Mono, which turned heads in 2021. All recorded live at the AOTN studio, he’s kept the essence of the first LP which worked so well, but moved it on in a much deeper direction. Fusing many of his influences, Boogie, Detroit and early 80’s synth joints to name a few, stereo has its own identity and showcases Linkwoods ability to write and produce on the fly but maintain that warm, fuzzy and intricate sound we all love him for.
Maxine – Alien [THANKYOU017]
Going back to the vaults of the iconic X Energy Records label from Italy, Thank You presents yet another Balearic house masterpiece for your listening pleasure. Deep and sensual androgynous vocals, dreamy synth melodies, generously pulsating bass lines that blend with the playfulness of the rhythm – all boxes are checked. Surely a soundtrack that would have graced a daytime outdoor dance floor at Amnesia in the early 90s.
Rick Wade – Deeper Things EP [TYR011]
Rick Wade needs no introduction. The motor city’s own deep house legend has been releasing the best of deep since the mid-nineties on nearly every record label of note. TYR is proud to be one of those and bring you 4 tracks of this legendary output.
ESB – Constructed Grooves 3 [CG-03]
ESB is back with more of his Constructed Grooves. This third volume is another direct to dancefloor offering of stylish deep house. Opener ‘Stripe It’ is warm and dubbed out with wispy synths and nice muted chords. There is a little more swing and swagger to ’08 Track’ that taps into a classic dusty Detroit sound. The pace picks up with the hi-tech soul of ‘Pointsource’ and its sleek synth stabs and clacking hits. The fourth and final cut offers yet another house sound, this one with loopy melodic patterns and pixelated chords that dazzle and shine.
SW. – okALGORYTHM LP [AVE66-18]
The elusive SW. returns to Avenue 66 with okALGORYTHM. His third LP for the label is a semi-opaque wandering through the shadowy byways of memory, driven by tough-yet-supple production and his unmistakable, unerringly original voice. Inspired by all night electronic radio shows of the ‘90s, okALGORYTHM pulses with rich imagination and a sense of purposeful meandering. Speaking in cryptic fragments, the artist hints at elusive reminiscences “back then on the autobahn, to Berlin, with friends” while also noting that some recollections are “of things that didn’t happen that way.”
DJ Surgeles – Moonlight Serenade [TECH-UM313-001]
“Moonlight Serenade” was originally released on Axis Records. ear 3036, the Third Empire of Human spans hundreds of star systems, only accessible by a faster-than-light spaceship. No other intelligent beings have ever been encountered, not until a light sail probe enters a human system carrying a dead alien. The probe is traced to the Ursea, an isolated star system in a thick dust cloud, and an expedition is dispatched. After a search that lasted thousands of years, humans stand on the verge of first contact with an alien race. The mission’s objective: learn everything there is to know about the extraterrestrial intelligence.
Derek Carr – Elektro Statik EP (Part Two) [TRECS007]
Cyber – Digital Tsunami 197
Olivia – We Are Radar X Szum @ Sameheads 19.08.2022
MANASYt vs Sam Lowry – Bunker 4024 [B4024]
MANASYt vs Sam Lowry. A clash, mashup and/ or battle between two minds yet one and the same face. Hailing from the twilight zone, Bulgaria. The currently Xiamen, China, based Petar Tassev has joined the forces of his alter ego’s on this 9 tracker. A side 4 celestial and daring Electro tracks followed by the more eerie B side. An experimental, future horror movie-like sound.
Timothy J. Fairplay – Chariots In The Sky EP [666004]
Timothy J. Fairplay is a producer based in the UK with a back catalogue of releases under different aliases and as a member of various groups. His EP “Chariots In The Sky” was made with cult hardware synthesizers (Roland TR-808, SH-5, SH-09 and many more) and is the debut vinyl release on Archaic Future Sounds. Influenced by the Dark Wave side of Italo-Disco, John Carpenter’s soundtracks and electronic Krautrock, it features 4 Science Fiction themed tracks perfect for all sophisticated dancers, DJs and connoisseurs of pure analog sonic bliss.
Schwabe @ Dekmantel Selectors 2022
Feral – Crossroads [HYPNUS034]
Crossroads explores the mysterious terrains of contemporary deep minimal techno with the Feral’s distinct and inimitable tribal sound.
Serge @ RSO Berlin 23.09.2022
Marcel Dettmann – Fear Of Programming LP [DKMNTL095]
Nearly 10 years on since his last solo LP, Berlin techno icon Marcel Dettmann arrives on Dekmantel with an expansive album captured in a flash of inspiration. In many ways Fear Of Programming is a reflection on the artistic process – the critical hurdles one has to overcome, the constant strive for originality, the ability to capture inspiration in its pure moment of inception. Bar the closing title track (and we all know Marcel loves a surprise closing), these 13 tracks came together during a period in which our hirsute host was able to immerse himself in studio practice and set the intention to record an album’s worth of material every single day. From the resulting mass of work there were many options to choose from, and Fear Of Programming stood out as one of the most complete statements on Dettmann’s approach in the here and now.
The Hipodrome Of Music 