The next release on Cultivated Electronics Ltd shines a light on some of the fresh talent emerging from within the Electro scene across this double-vinyl 12″. Eight tracks from Imogen, Armec, Sergey Timoshov, Obzerv, Cyphon, Khalilian, Fazak and Lindsay Green.
ARA-U & Radioactive Man turn a bad situation into a great collection of tracks with their latest collaborative release The Houghton Blues EP. When cult Norfolk gathering Houghton Festival was cancelled in 2019 because of high winds, this pair had just bought some booze and were already on their way. After a moment’s sadness, they decided to turn bad news into good and head to the studio to work on some tracks. Across two sides of vinyl on ARA-U’s NO STATIC / AUTOMATIC label, the accomplished electro innovators once again serve up pure analogue vibes and raw machine funk.
Arketip Disc’s first various compilation EP. Including tracks by Fergus Sweetland & Casual Treatment, Makuto, Albert Chiovenda and ORBE. Diverse, trippy, obscure, raw Techno weapons. Put the needle on the A side, and you’ll find yourself on a stark raving mad journey, Fergus Sweetland & Casual Treatment deliver their avant-garde and futuristic vision of Techno. The journey goes on with hypnotizing and futuristic rave reminiscences by Makuto. Flip the record and discover Albert Chiovenda’s distorted kicks and sub harmonics frequencies. ORBE completes the soundtrack with his personal, deep, spaced out Techno sound.
Delsin’s Inertia series are back. The floor focussed offshoot welcomes German DJ and producer Lennart Wiehe. Bringing groovy roughness and warm yet forceful driving techno finished with some kickdrum heavy beat pounders, it’s an effective pack of dancefloor goodness.
Since debuting as Dawl nine years ago, Tone Dropout co-founder Darren Woollard has become one of the most trusted producers of revivalist ’90s fare, with a trademark sound that mixes and matches elements from various vintage styles of techno and electro. That attractive, mind-altering personal sound is much in evidence on this EP for Unknown To The Unknown, which wholeheartedly pays tribute to the turn-of-the-’90s Yorkshire bleep & bass sound. Those versed in the style’s history will notice a few knowing winks to various underground classics – the title track sounds like an unreleased track from Richard H Kirk and Rob Gordon’s short-lived XON project, for example – while the important ingredients (deep sub bass, alien bleeps, unfussy house-tempo techno drums and crunchy hardcore breaks) are all present and correct.
Legwork is back with a new single fromcosmic crusader Brother Nebula. The A-side consists of a tape-crushed lysergic stormer, on which the Brother helps us to be mindful, and a couple of useful DJ tools from the same session. The B-side starts with a broken affair with pensive chords floating around bleeps and sounds of the universe, and finishes with a dubbed-out version of the previously-released and extremely well-received S.I.S. featuring San Francisco stalwart Solar.
Kicking off the first Partisan release of 2022, Oslo based producer A:G dives deep with his ‘Human In Progress’ EP. Full of warm infectious energy, acid and rave mood, gripping emotion, amalgamated with some serious synth seduction; A:G’s unique production style shines, transcending you to a new state of mind.
‘Other Dimensions LP’, Terrence Dixon’s latest work and the new adventure in 30D’s ExoPlanets sublabel, comes for the very first time released in full length format, split in two sides, showing Terrence’s two faces. As everyone knows, words can not describe the music of this Detroit visionary, but we’ll try. Futuristic, avant-garde-esque, mesmerizing, trippy and minimalistic / reduced techno funk as expected in A side, but highly emotional and evocative, as only he can do. On the flip side, Terrence redefines and takes to another level the concept of dark, experimental, abstract, atmospheric, alienated and dystopian music, a true musical trip (perhaps a nightmare) to dive into. An extremely personal and intimate album.
The fifth release on Space Drum Meditation comes with seven club-focused remixes of the previous record. Turning the once psycedelic SDM004 into a straighter, heavy percussion driven record with subliminal techno spirit. Featuring remixes by Mateo Hurtado, Talismann, Marco Shuttle, Anthony Linell, Konduku and Discknocked.
Sneaker hands in two ten-minute trips containing the darkest secrets of dance music. The Flow is the sound of tomorrow. The Flow is the sound of the 90s. But elevated to the next level. The Flow is the sound of our heroes. The Flow is the sound of NY and Boccaccio wrought into Deep Beat. Ain’t nuthin but a 909, an Emulator and a Studer. Cream of the crop. Plus the immersive soul of Yvonne drawing from half a century of light, heat, strobe and sweat. And the vision of a continental producer, whose perspective is timeless, deep, and loving.
First friendship, then unconditional love for the music and dancefloor. These are the secrets between the new label OCV, collaborative project between London’s OPIA Records and Cuneo’s Club Vision and Sasha Nevolin heralds the start of OCV with this sophisticated EP of trancey house gear.
Electro Spanish label Mars Frequency Records celebrates 10 years of life with a limited edition vinyl with new tracks from previously released artists: Mike Ash (United Kingdom), Robert Cosmic (Spain), Downrocks (Spain), Enigmatic Astronaut (Spain) and Fleck Esc (Japan).
Orson Bramley calls for the return of old friend Mesak to his label for his 3rd release. This time Mesak teams up with Daniel Savio and they deliver a 4 track EP featuring melodic Drexciyan sounding electro.
Oorsprongpark debuts on Italo Moderni with 5 powerful original tracks on Cassette and Digital with a mystical electro/new beat bass like missiles slamming every dance floor. Oorsprongpark based in Utrecht, Netherlands has produced the first piece in an alluring work of soft pads, gentle percussion and playful melodies all focused in a Electro trip where you can hear an electro Old School, industrial synths and galactic arpeggiators.
“I drive without emotion. I calculate each curve. I know that I will soon be the hero in the Grand Prix.” With Albert One’s lyrics ringing in their ears, steeling their nerves, a new generation of high-octane fuelled drivers fix their headphones and helmets. Formula One, the partnership of DJ Rocca and Aimes, rev their synth engines with the glinting ‘Digits’ and Racing 3000 is underway. The duo has some welcome surprises on-board, the spirited vocals of Fred Ventura for ‘Into My Life’ and the emotion-injected words of Hard Ton for ‘Step By Step’. Exhaust pipes flare and we’re cruising into the chicane of the title piece. Daring synthwork and lush notes are propelled forward by clean percussion as cheering faces flash by. An extended pit-stop is called. ‘Cocktail Time’. Caribbean cool and Latin rhythms are the tone set. Glasses clink and the barroom baritone gives voice to a world of electronic disco lounge. The tempo changes as darkness falls and Francesca Bono sings us a late-night love lament streaked in neon hope. No time for regret. Back behind the wheel and arpeggios rumble as ‘Turbo Slam’ glides from the city and back to the track. The chequered flag is in sight. Formula Uno are set for ‘Home’ as they shift into vocoders for a bright and free finish.
Chiwax welcomes Stefano Curti aka basiC realitieS to the family, a great artist who’s delivering timeless music since the early 90s.
Classy Detroit leaning four track electro EP by Derek Carr on his own label Trident Recordings. Derek’s brand of Detroit-influenced electronic futurism has always oozed class, with the Irish producer prioritizing mood, melody and ear-pleasing synth sounds above all else. It’s this blend – both club-ready and perfect for home listening – that makes his releases worth checking. Electro Statik (Part One) is the first in a series of vinyl excursions that as usual blur the boundaries between styles. He begins with the immersive chords, jumpy lead lines and smooth house beats of ‘In Transit’, before diving headlong into deep electro-meets-IDM waters on the impeccable ‘Mimas’. Turn to side B for the skittish, far-sighted and picturesque electro-not-electro number ‘A Star Dies’, as well as the warming, pitched-down electronic melancholia of ‘Dione’.
The Hipodrome Of Music 