Modularz presents a new release by Japanese producer Hattori Hanzō. Hattori delivers a great body of work focused on Extremely functional tracks with lots of driving rhythms, space influenced hypnotic grooves with the right amount of tension and drama.
Peter Van Hoesen presents the third release on his Center 91 imprint. Chapter for the Agnostic features three cuts which have been tried and tested in various venues since late 2019 by PVH himself. Tune in for fresh contemporary techno, PVH style.
Four years after their almighty collaboration on “Project STS-31 (Hubble Telescope Series Vol.3)”, Solar One Music’s cofounder Robert Witschakowski and half of Dopplereffekt duo Gerald Donald return with another cosmic album of their instantly recognizable trademark. Featuring ten detailed and luminous cuts of beautifully crafted emotional music, with deep narrative over tough machine groove, the opus takes you on a moody trip across craggy soundscapes made of abrasive tones, crossing the red line between tight-strapped melodic waves, subaquatic underground electro, and intricate structures. Expect nothing but stripped down layers mixed with chunky synthetic bass lines and stellar melodies over pounding 808 drums on this future classic tinted with nostalgia. Built as a journey through unknown territories, much anticipating “Dimensional Shifting” oscillates between moments of bravery on the dancefloor and moody sequences, keeping intact the aesthetic signature of the Jena-based electro emissary and the legend from Detroit.
If you can feel a chill in the air it must mean there’s more arcane sorcery being cooked up in the Blind Allies labs. This Latvian label are surely providing some of the strongest strains of pitch-black underground electro from lesser known operators in the machine funk catacombs. On this new various artists 12″, White Mane Horse and Deputy Bender fire off sleek and sinister rhythms while UHU has a little tongue in cheek fun behind the veil of icy whispered vocals and nervy bleeps on “No Body Knows Electro”. Theory Of Noise sound taut and robotic, Olloy keeps things plush but noirish, Rnbws fires off a high-definition sound and Theory Of Noise returns for the simply brilliant “Mission”.
A re-issued classic from the veterans of the genre, welcomed back via the Direct Beat Classics (DBC) label.
2020 marks the tenth of collaboration for Red Axes, the Tel Aviv-based duo of Dori Sadovnik and Niv Arzi. Informed by post-punk, new wave, and a plethora of club sounds old and new, they have cleaved a singular path with their hefty discography. To celebrate their anniversary, they reunite with Dark Entries for an eponymous 11 track LP brimming with jagged guitars, spacy arpeggios, and hypnotic vocals. ‘Red Axes’ is their first effort written and conceived of as an album-length listening experience. This work flows effortlessly through a variety of stylistic detours, highlighting their ears as both keen listeners and skilled DJs. Opener ‘They Game’ is a grooving number that unifies the psychedelia of cosmic disco with the early 90s ‘baggy’ sound. The energy mounts further with “Shelera”, a guitar-driven acidic banger, and “Sticks and Stones”, a certifiable club hit fueled by sassy vocals courtesy of Adi Bronicki. Launching Side B is “Break the Limit”, an EBM-laced number that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Razormaid compilation. The following tracks wax moodier, with “Brotherhood (Of the Misunderstanding)” touching on darkwave territory. “Udibaby” and “Arpman” close out the album with their respectively dense and sparse takes on kosmische lysergia.
Elena Colombi’s Osàre! Editions presents its third vinyl release: Blood in the Grass, an EP of electro tinged new wave from Hamburg-based producer Johannes Haas, aka L.F.T. (Love, Fist, Tears), the title of which takes inspiration from a 1966 tapestry work by the late Swedish-Norwegian textile artist Hannah Ryggen (1894-1970). Prompted by Colombi and Haas meeting on the dancefloor of Golden Pudel, the eight tracks run the gamut of darkwave and punk sounds, with Haas utilising Korg MS20 and Roland SH101 synthesisers to meld mutant acid with slamming synth lines, ear-worm melodies and opaque lyrics that are left open to interpretation. The new wave aesthetic he draws inspiration from is most evident on tracks Die Geldsmachine, No Covenent and the glistening Chloe-Rose, and with its howling guitar riffs and driving energy geared for late nights, Manon is a rough and ready punk anthem and a tribute to Haas’ “gang” of favourite people in Hamburg.
”AngstLust is a project of Kris Baha and Niklas Wandt merging their influences of early electronics into one hell of a sonic ride.”
Mazen and Vish (together Dar Disku) have teamed up with label collaborator Moving Still for a Hi-NRG version of ‘Sidi Mansour ‘ originally recorded by Algerian Disco superstar Cheba Yamina. On the flip side Moving Still gives us a bass-heavy edit of Syrian Wedding Performer Sarya Al Sawas – ‘Bas Asma3 Mini’. The last track of the three is the first Dar Disku edit. Sampling Indonesian Group Orkes Kelana Ria originally released in 1961 and featuring Arabic vocals by Munif.
Diamonds In the Night is back with its second volume featuring Lerosa from Ireland, Vyvyan from the UK, Eliott Litrowski from Denmark / France and Iamnotarobot from Spain.
Das Komplex joins up with the King Of Kong imprint to release four soul-infused tracks entitled ‘Reverse Hallucination’
Ben Bondy blesses Special Guest DJ’s Experiences Ltd with a near-fathomless solo debut of sensual, low key electronics and intimate nocturnes. ’Sibling’ sees Bondy return to a seductively gauzy midground sound that over the course of 15 tracks lulls and lists with a minimalist patience, allowing forms to emerge and evaporate in constantly shifty transitions and weathered plays of light according to an immersive eco-logic. Those liminal traces of sound and influence are almost imperceptible, pulling you into a protective amniotic sound-world thats evocative and comforting.
Debut by Ireen Amnes. “In The Land of Silence” is the first full length album by experimental artist Ireen Amnes. The founder of the London based collective Under My Feet debuts on Sonic Groove with an immaterial journey contemplating suffering, liberation, the importance of affection and unity. This ambient album reveals a hidden connection between these human emotions. From anger and rejection, to love and unity, the sounds explored by the artist represent a recent journey within. Recollections of distant memories are expressed with nostalgic sounds; by contrast, darker tracks are symbolic of those moments when it is more dif ficult to accept reality for what it is. Ireen expresses in this album that there wouldn’t be any joy without suffering.
Soviet Space Research Institute (SSRI) is a musical scheme led by Vladimiros Peilivanidis under the moniker Heinz Kammler. Similar to other HK by-products such as ITPDWIP (Instant Teleportation Process Detected While In Progress), SSRI is influenced by early Soviet and Western electronix of the likes of Detroit, Bristol, Munich, and St. Petersburg. ARPA Spatial Industries is a fictional exotic tech R&D firm operating from 2036. The SSR Institute is exploring the cosmic endeavours of ARPA S.I. as presented through a series of public commercials.
This various artist and Bandcamp only EP is dedicated to Black Lives Matter. All proceeds from this project will be donated to Black Lives Matter.
Sprouting from a rich humus of Latin and African polyrhythms, Ghost Horse creates a fusion of free jazz, hip hop, blues & loop music. The result is fascinating but quietly menacing, pulsing & breathing with the visceral force of nature reclaiming abandoned structures.
Manos Brujas is a project by Julian Vasquez, a Colombian artist who draws his inspiration from the lost tribes and shamanism. With his first album Sangre de Oro on our Pinkman Digi Lab series, Manos tells about a legend of a magic totem hidden far in the jungle and a tribe man’s quest to find it, driven by his desire to gain shamanic power. Replete with ritual-like drum beats, rumbling melodies and echoes of animal chatter, the sonic narrative of the album follows the tribe man’s journey, dragging the listener from the remote depths of the jungle to the psychedelic realms of dreams and rituals, until the man realises that the real power was within him. The album is a cinematic and intricate trip made to alters minds.
Mohammad Reza Mortazavi (Tombak) & Burnt Friedman (electronics, synth.) release their second EP “YEK 2”. Equipped with one drum only and laser-pattern–electronics, Mortazavi and Friedman produce delicate, yet archaic, trance–inducing, transnational dance music with… hints of dust and grain… They move hands and faders according to odd cyclical rhythms with incredible accuracy. The extreme dynamic range and rhythmic congruency of drum and electronics merge both, Mortazavi`s and Friedman’s repertoire entirely.
Smooth acid injected edgy house cuts on this new Klasse Wrecks. For the last 3 years SJ Tequilla (Naota Matsuda) and Aaty Matoba have been a regular but hidden fixture in Berlin’s underground music scene. You may have caught them at their regular spot in a dark tunnel next to the sprawling Ostkreuz station in Kreuzberg, lucky to sneak a quick listen before the cops came in and shut things down yet again. Armed only with an electrical generator, a 606, 303 and various dub echo delay units the pair have slowly been refining their Teknobusker project into quite a special thing. Proving that creativity blooms best when using a limited set of tools, the SJ Teknobuskers music is gritty and dark but also retains an important sense of humour. WRECKS029 was recorded between the years 2018-2019 and does a deft job in capturing a flavour of the rhythms, tones and squelches that echoed down the tunnels during Berlin’s endless summers.
After a year away, I Love Acid returns and label bosses Posthuman deliver three tracks of slow, lush acid awash with Juno pads and clattering 707 beats.
The Hipodrome Of Music 