A dervish bewt from Stefan Schwander’s Harmonious Thelonious for TTT, Apakapa catches the Düsseldorf-based explorer meeting the moroccan flute of Ghazi Barakat for one of the project’s jazziest, moodily hypnotic episodes.
Author: hipodrome
Videogram – Test Subject 011
Swedish producer Magnus Sellergren set out to expand his musical vision with “Test Subject 011”; a four-track EP that sees him injecting both Italo and Space Disco to the trademark Videogram sound.
Drawing inspiration from the Netflix hit series “Stranger Things”, the EP blends driving John Carpenter-esque rhythms with softer melodies, pulsating riffs with dance-friendly drum beats, and outlandish synth and sample-driven soundscapes with soothing, melancholic string arrangements – creating an exciting horror synth EP that’s simultaneously intense and lush.
VA – Da’asa: The Haunting Sounds Of Yemenite Israeli Funk 1973-1984 [FTNLP003]
Fortuna Records deliver a stellar compilation of real-life magic created by immigrants from Yemen, in Tel Aviv, from the mid seventies to the early eighties. Ranging from extremely rare to previously unreleased, these tracks are a result of a unique scene which blended funk, soul, jazz & disco with traditional Yemenite rhythms & sounds. It cannot get more obscure than this.
Juju & Jordash – Sis-Boom-Bah [DKMNTL052]
Prolific and always inventive live pair and studio wizards Juju & Jordash are back with another fantastic album on their home label, Dekmantel. Called “Sis-boom-bah!” it features nine tracks that once again showcase their musical maturity and free thinking. The pair say it is an album “steeped in traditionalism” and to us it sounds spiritual, musical and beautifully thought provoking.
Itadi K. Bonney – Inye [HC052]
Afro funk and Political Soul from Togo. Recorded in the beginning of the 80’s and self-produced by Itadi in 1983 , this obscure album contained deep soul and controversial rare grooves backed by the 5 band members called the “Afro Funk Band de Lomé”. Itadi’s music is unique, in his second album, he kept the same recipe: a mixture of soul, reggae, hi-life and Funk, with heavy lyrics which sounds like slogans and caused him big trouble after its release. He was obliged to escape the country to USA. A real definition of a revolutionary musician.
Jo Tongo – African Funk Experimentals: 1968-1982 & 2017 [ASVN048]
Africa Seven is on fire recently, and this new compilation of rare and untapped material from Cameroon’s Joseph Ekambi Tongo Mpondo has to be the pick of the lot. The talented multi-instrumentalist was famously studying medicine in Paris throughout he 60s, but it’s clear that down the music path was the only sensible option for this man. African Funk Experimentals brings together some of his most obscure material from the years 1968-1982…and some new gear from 2017! Aside from the absolutely killer artwork featuring on the sleeve, this is a ten-track masterpiece, reaching all corners of the afrobeat heritage, while still retaining something very personal and symbolic of Cameroon’s often underrated influence on African funk and boogie.
Funkadelic vs Moodymann – Cosmic Slop / Let’s Make It Last [SEWT706]
The first sampler from the new Funkadelic album “Reworked By Detroiters”, includes two reworks by Moodymann.
Conforce – Autonomous [124DSR]
Dutch producer and live act Conforce is back with ‘Autonomous’, a fifth artist album and the latest in his long relationship with Delsin Records. Conforce is Boris Bunnik, a producer who explores the deepest realms of dub, house, techno and electro under many different names. His Conforce alias is where his most club orientated material comes from and this new nine track album finds the Transcendent label boss producing dark syntheses inspired by his hometown and harbour city, Rotterdam, and its automated industries. A masterfully conceptual album that really paints a vivid picture of a harbour as heard from deep down in the depths.
Radius – Obsolete Machines [ECHOSPACEDETROITRDSLP1]
This marks the first vinyl release from Echospace [Detroit] this year. An unreleased classic from the vaults emerges with beautiful reshapes by CV313 (recorded and reshaped from 2007-2016). This is where the sound of CV313 was realized, culled from cassette tapes recorded live (1995-2000).
Deepchord – Campfire EP [SOMA497]
Deepchord is back on Soma and drops the first single from forthcoming album, Auratones due in October. As is expected from the Detroit based sound designer, the Campfire EP is everything we have come to know and admire about his productions, from the spaced out, ambient sound fields to classic Dub Techno.
VA – Planet Rhythm Presents Tar Hallow [PRRUKLTDTAR]
Planet Rhythm teams up with Rotterdam techno operation TH Tar Hallow and releases a collection of tracks by artists that have frequently appeared on the cult label. Deep down westcoast electronics by respected artists such as Klankman, Charlton, labelboss Thanos Hana and Rhyw. Klankman opens up this 4-track VA with the ominous ”Can Not Use that Command On Overlapping Selections”. Berlin based Rotterdammer ”Charlon” follows up with the heavy arps and outgoing drums of ”Profiler”. Thanos Hana opens up the B side with the tough techno cut ”The Injury Pattern” and berlin based ”Rhyw” closes down the varied slice of vinyl with the moving ”MKFBTB”.
Shlomo – Hardwave [ARTS031]
Shlomo is back with a masterfull work, after his stellar debut with ‘The Repture’ w. that Emmanuel remix, This time he is showing his evolution in sound and the sonic spectrum in the details. Usefull cuts that will give always something more to your sets. He is stepping up again his own game, This is Hardwave.
Jeff Mills – Lost In Space [AX075]
The five-track EP will be the first material from Mills’s latest electronic-classical project, Lost In Space, which is a collaboration with Orchestre National Du Capitole De Toulouse. Following the 12-inch, Mills will release a Lost In Space album at some point in 2018 and perform live alongside the orchestra on April 5th and 7th in Toulouse. “Lost In Space” is an exotic music excursion into the unknown – discovering the sectors of Outer Space and encountering unexpected occurrences which is to be the objective, narrative and attraction. Like the architecture and habitation structure of a jungle, life exist and persist everywhere, but only by the degree of our 5 basic human senses.
Planetary Assault Systems – Deep Heet Vol. 4 [MOTE050]
This new set of four highly concentrated cuts shows how effective Planetary Assault Systems can be at fueling the imagination by fusing together rhythmic and incidental elements into a unified, animated meshwork, without even a prominent melody to help out. Deep Heet Vol. 4 also showcases Slaters aptitude for choosing just the right moments to deviate from a steady groove.
Industrialyzer – Analog Planet [SW121]
Ricardo Rodrigues hasn’t been active as Industrialyzer for some years, but if there was ever an occasion to revisit the uncompromising techno alias, a release on Damon Wild’s legendary Synewave label must surely be it. The Portuguese artist goes in on “Analog Planet” with fearsome intent, serving up that Robert Hood-flavoured mechanized, weaponised loop goodness that gets the business end of the night shaking the way it should. “Multiple Walls” is a funkier affair with a playful organ line, but then it’s back to the darkside with the devilish “Orbit X”, rounding out an EP of no-nonsense techno like momma used to make.
Mick Wills @ Kran (Bucharest) 14.10.2017
Artefakt – The Radiant City [DSC013]
Artefakt come from the deepest branch of techno. The partnership of Robin Koek (Cyspe) and Nick Lapien (Metropolis, Rhine) have explored subterranean caverns, dense forests and unknown lands on labels like Prologue, Field and Delsin and their latest three track expedition on DSC continues that journey into the beyond. “Raid” is a near nine minute odyssey, a trip into shimmering cymbals, acid growls, placid lakes and ritualistic rhythms. The flip finds a breaking in the dense foliage: “The Radiant City”, a sanctuary of soaring strings, soothing pads and entrancing harmonies. “Lichtspiel” writes a different tale. Muted tones are ruffled by an industrial edge, the hand of man and the rise of the machine blended with a natural and organic warmth.
Lost Trax – The Saturnian System / The Sequel [DSR-X11]
The Delsin re-issue arm turns its attention to Lost Trax. This EP features four cuts taken from two different EPs, The Saturnian System and Lost Trax 2 from 2006 and 2010 respectively. Saturnian System opens the EP with some acid laced electro slickness. Fluttering snares and spacey synths carry it away into the cosmos, then The Sequel gets much busier. Scurrying lines dart about in manic but funky fashion, with serene pads off setting the high energy drums. Self Destruct Sequence then drops into an urgent, slippery electronic groove riddled with squelchy sounds and rubbery bass all perfectly orchestrated. Last of all, Birth is a nimble electronic house cut with plaintive synths and kinetic drums that wiggle and wriggling through the night sky. This is an EP stuffed with timeless sounds and is another essential reissue from Delsin.
Jaime Read – Relief Sevensixty [MC014]
Jaime Read is something of an unsung UK legend. ‘Relief Sevensixty’ is a collection of Read’s rarer tracks that have appeared in a roundabout way, on a legendary Chicago label in a tale that has by now been widely documented. Across 4 tracks this EP shows what a dynamic producer Read is, the music contained within has a depth and maturity and of course it’s some funky as, futuristic, space Techno that sounds like it’s just escaped the warp drive and landed here on earth and implanted itself in our eardrums.
The Hipodrome Of Music 