Zeta Reticula returns for his third EP on Mechatronica with a dystopian blend of cold machine funk and ominous electro rollers.
Zeta Reticula – C.L.O.N.E [MTRON025]
Author: hipodrome
Suddi Raval – Kanlab 01 [KL01]
Balkan Vinyl is kicking off a new run of 7″ vinyl releases – the “Kanlab series” – focused on celebrating underground artists from the label roster, is Suddi Raval. He makes his Balkan debut here with two deep-space hardware electro jams.
Sound Synthesis – Motor Space Maps [INFILTRATE12]
The Maltese machine funk specialist himself Keith Farrugia is back once more with yet more of his impeccable electro business as Sound Synthesis. This time the prolific producer is shoring up on Burnski’s Infiltrate label with four cool and deadly cuts.
DJ Overdose – Deal Breaker EP [LIES181]
DJ Overdose delivers again for L.I.E.S. Miami Bass party rockin floor shakers, and high speed, blade sharpened, trunk popping electro madness ran through his trusty sp-1200, programmed impeccably and ready for the club.
Skatebård @ Lente Kabinet Festival 2022
Gino Ritmo & Ricci Verace – Night Shift – Part I [010CAF]
CAF? presents Gino Ritmo & Ricci Verace’s debut album: Night Shift (Part I). 808Hz’s Italo-sided project meets Ricci’s terrestrial and thirsty global wanderings to deliver a haze driven dance music, ranging from melo-synth-rides to harsher EBM-techno-strikes. Dark but warm at heart under the twilight.
Koto – Chinese Revenge [MAXI107512]
This legendary Italo Disco song was first released exactly 40 years ago. On this occasion, ZYX releases a strictly limited edition colored vinyl with an exclusive remix by Flemming Dalum.
Ofra – Digital Tsunami 192
Genetic Factor – In Deadly Wet Dreams [AD016]
Artificial Dance announces the full archival compilation of work by Richard Zeilstra A.K.A. Genetic Factor. Recorded in different parts of the world, at different times – we hope this will give the world a glimmer of the mind of Genetic Factor. A mind that has been behind a variety of very influential operations during the years; including a string of radio programmes (Radionome & Spleen a.o.), working at Boudisque and running Barcelona’s first compact disc store. The songs featured are not an attempt of making a coherent ‘album’ but much more trials of interpretation of his world into ‘music’. His strong believe in non-musicianship makes it more thrilling than conventional musics, yet these recordings are not result of amateurism – they form a consistent reality of what excites him. Take a dive in the realm of the Genetic Factor…
A Split Second – Flesh [DR013]
Official 2022 Reissue. A Split Second’s cult coldwave EP Flesh was dropped back in 1986 on Antler Records. The band of Marc Heyndrickx, and Peter Bonne (aka Chrismar Chayell) only formed a year earlier but his debut single made a huge impact and has become a real classic of the EBM and wave world ever since. Numerous albums followed well into the 90s but rarely did the pair ever top this – the jerking rhythms, ravey electronics and retro-future chords all resonating as much with audiences now as they did back then.
Minimal Compact – Statik Dancin [FTN010]
Fortuna Records presents a post-punk shuffler from 1981, by Tel-Aviv-Brussels band Minimal Compact. The 12” includes an unreleased instrumental version plus a spaced-out extended dub mix by the living legend, Mad Professor.
Midori Takada – You Who Are Leaving To Nirvana [WRWTFWW061]
WRWTFWW Records and MEG Museum (Geneva) announce a new full length album by celebrated Japanese percussionist Midori Takada (Through The Looking Glass), in collaboration with Buddhist monks belonging to the Samgha group of the Shingon school of Koya-san, led by Reverend Syuukoh Ikawa. “You Who are Leaving to Nirvana” is a majestic work combining a suite of six Buddhist liturgical chants and a musical creation by Midori Takada. After supervising the recording of the Buddhist chants, Midori Takada added her own compositions, with subtle layers of percussion and the melodies of her beloved marimba, giving full life to the sacred texts.
Tasos Stamou – Balkan Express [AKULP1038]
Contrarily to the rest of Tasos Stamou’s experimental discography, the musician’s latest album “Balkan Express” has a more obscure electro-folk approach. It consists of seven pieces, all recorded with seven different vintage electric keyboards from Stamou’s own collection, blended with oriental acoustic solos. Since Stamou grew up in the Balkans in the ‘80s, he wanted to pay homage to the essence of the sound of the era that unintentionally shaped a whole culture. It was when these inexpensive, available-to-all electronic keyboards with synth sounds and drum machines replaced traditional Balkan folk music ensembles. The acoustic instruments solos and melodies of the album were influenced by local traditions and the heritage of the Ottoman music. “Balkan Express” is meant to be a time capsule taking the listener to the folk-wave retro-Balkan subculture.
Levon Vincent – Silent Cities [NS46]
Levon Vincent returns with his fourth full-length studio album “Silent Cities” a striking departure from his previous records. This, his first release experimenting with the cassette format, Silent Cities is a kind of mixtape through more private moods and personal pitches (literally given Levon’s non-standard tunings). While Levon has always produced dance floor jams with the intention of raising people’s heart rates, Silent Cities began with 72 bpm: his average resting heart rate, and the concept of tuning the music he was making to his own body rather than increasing anything. This brought the tempos down to 72 bpm or even half of that, at 36bpm. Programming the record during the empty cityscape of Berlin lockdowns, this is the first time Levon’s created an album for the home stereo or for headphone listening whilst navigating through a city. A mixtape specialist in his youth; he was always wanted to play with the cassette format. The results are sure to delight any listener, with the ever-present ambient, krautrock, shoegaze, hip-hop and electro influences coming to the foreground on this work.
Versalife – Night Time Activities LP [CWCS006LP]
The original Versalife tryptich on Clone West Coast Series. “Night Time Activities” is taking us down deep into the night. Versalife is creating a setting with sounds radiating the midnight atmosphere that reflects the twin peak-esque life on a almost deserted windy Dutch coastal island where the clouds rush through the dark night time skies projecting all variations of grey and black on the mystifying dunes. Futuristic electro techno tracks with emotive synth work created with exploratory imagination. Dark, sinister and intense!
Barking – S/T [BT66]
After first touching base with brokntoys on the compilation “A Call Too Close”, released in the Spring of 2021, Gareth Psaltis returns to the London based label with his project Barking, this time with a 7 tracks self-titled EP merging dubbed-out electro and menacing downtempo.
Ireen Amnes @ HÖR (Berlin) 07.07.2022
Tony Price – IBM Contra LP [LIES177]
Prolific and often nomadic label boss, producer, and studio engineer, Tony Price (Maximum Exposure) has been making a name for himself over these last years, as he’s lurked in the shadows while moving from city to city around the world, leaving a unique and wide-spanning musical mark in his wake. On his 14 track IBM-CONTRA LP, Price conjures up a wild melange of free jazz and high speed electro funk next that sits next to dusty ambient, street tough house, and even Bill Conti-esque dark alley rainy street jams featuring saxophone work from Alex Zhang Hungtai and Colin Fisher. The album is unmistakably Tony at his best, as he weaves in and out of these genres making them make sense next to each other. Whether it’s providing a shady saxophone driven backdrop for the next inevitable worldwide bio-warfare crisis or tapping into the roots of stripped down classic electro and house for the floor, this is the artist at peak creativity flexing his skills.
Sarmiento – El Absurdo [DISI001]
For its first release, Colombian label Disidencia Records welcomes Sarmiento with his EP “El Absurdo”. Four tracks that navigate through the realms of electro, techno, EBM and breaks. 100% synthesiser sounds blending powerful beats with brief Spanish lyrics that question some of the reality of South-American society and its politics. This and all future Disidencia releases contain not only music but also a dedicated visual piece by different street-artists and muralists.
The Paradox – Live At Montreux Jazz Festival LP [AX108]
Techno legend Jeff Mills and keyboard wizard Jean-Phi Dary embark on a live musical trip, documenting their most recent performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland – and encapsulating their mission to fuse techno and jazz. In the past Jeff has spoken of the need to “take a few steps back and try and assess what has been done, and what might need to be approached to be able to go forward.” Jeff’s reassessment manifests as jazz-hno, film music-hno, conceptechno… anything to happily build of the mad range of influences he’s drawn on over the years. Paradox: Live at Montreux is the result. Jeff Mills – electronics; Jean-Phi Dary – piano, Fender Rhodes, synthesizer; Zaf Zapha – electric/upright bass.
The Hipodrome Of Music 