After his highly acclaimed debut for the Balans label Stefan Vincent has been getting attention and plays from luminaries such as Jeff Mills, Laurent Garnier and ART owner Kirk Degiorgio. ART have wasted no time in securing Stefan’s next release – a storming 3 tracker ranging from deep, modern acidic techno of Cynosure to the wide Mills-esque soundscapes of Paranal One and Two.
Blistering uptempo techno tracks for the floor from this previously unknown artist. Sure to resonate with the freaks and drug heads.
XDB returns on Dolly with the ‘Ganivon’ EP, the follow-up of his excellent ‘Recago’ ep from 2011. XDB is once again delivering the goods, with 3 top-notch contemporary techno tracks filled with his trademark hypnotic melodies, lush strings and solid groovin beats. Favourite is ‘Tonik’ with its classic Detroit-feel and special atmosphere. Berlin/Berghain based Answer Code Request is doing the remix job for ‘Ganivon’, resulting in an effective techno bomb which perfectly combines industrial techno elements with the Dolly feel. ‘Recago’ might have been hard to surpass, but XDB might just have done it.
Stephen Brown is an institution when it comes to cutting-edge Detroit Techno made in Europe. He has always been on top of the game since almost two decades and knows how to convince with his trademark hi-tech soul. His new release called Illuminace EP marks the return of Mojuba sublabel a.r.t.less and brings two killer tunes from the vaults of the Realtime label boss, while the a-side with SD1 aims clearly at the dancefloors of our beloved underground clubs, the b-side with Free & Easy comes along with a great portion of compelling emotions and funk.
Alexander Kowalski under his new alias D_FUNC., with two dark techno tracks on Suicide Circus Records.
Jacking techno tools by the boss! Quote Dj Deep: ‘Here are some tracks I have been working on recently. I hope you maybe will find some of them usefull!’ … we sure do! These will stay in dj-bags for a long time…
Selected pulls together material from mostly unfamiliar names like DeepJust AQuaBeaT, Bassik Grooove and Bobby O’Donnell, alongside a couple of established heads like Ryo Murakami, Aybee (as Orion 70) and Fred P himself, whose ”N.Y. (Selected Dub),” a reshape of an old jazz tune, rounds out the compilation. ”In the early days it was difficult to afford more than one or two records—I would buy compilations because the value was greater and I was exposed to artist that I might not have known about otherwise,” he says. ”When I think of compilations I think of Mix The Vibe, Soul Of Science, Trust The DJ and of course DJ-Kicks. I learned a great deal from these series over the years and developed my own ideas based on what I love to hear—thus Selected was born.” Released Soul People Music’s new sub-label, Boards.
Cultured Greek outlet Echovolt serves up its second EP of the year and this one comes from Amsterdam techno pair Crystal Maze aka G-String and Marco Antonio Spaventi. ‘Black Orchid EP’ contains two slow techno jams that go deep and long plus a shorter kind of otherworldly beat less sound design. There are times that the production places plenty of focus on melody and other moments that terrified synth sounds conjure an uneasy sense of terror that then turns into trippy, loopy techno rhythms. There’s plenty of warmth, atmosphere and invention in all three tunes here, and together they make the ideal combination for both club use and heady listening.
Rick Wade say “Four new dynamite tracks ready to clear up all this confusion on what deep really means. I call this release, Defining Deep.”
Headphoniq with the sixth This Is House Music EP. Solid and timeless house tracks on this Ron Trent compilation.
Anderson is doffing his curatorial cap with the latest release on his own Inimeg Recordings label entitled Exchange Place presents Alphabet Soul. Productions from Anderson bookend the record and in between DJ QU and Nicuri offer some strong representation for the esteemed Strength Music camp. Lead track “She Is Afraid” finds Anderson working once more with Ebony Ugo, whose treated vocals complement the bugged out house backing perfectly. “Alphabet Soul” from DJ QU could almost be a Pangaea production whilst “Navigation 8th Density” finds Nicuri combining taut techno rhythmics with an underlying cosmic sense of light. If you enjoyed Anderson’s late 2013 Dekmantel dalliance you will most certainly dig final track “Linguistic Command”.
It’s been ten years since outspoken Detroit house legend Omar-S launched his FXHE label, which is no mean feat for a DIY label. To celebrate the fact, he’s decided to put together the first in a series of mix CDs highlight the much-loved imprints vast discography. Entitled simply 1, the 74 minute vinyl only set takes an entertaining saunter through the label’s bulging back catalogue, showcasing a range of well-known cuts (“Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance” etc) and what the producer calls “some shit [fans] might have slept on”. Predictably, it makes for a sumptuous and suitably groovy blend, moving between bespoke soulful house (Omar-S’s much-loved “Sex”), deep Detroit futurism (Omar-S and O B Ignitt’s “Wayne County Hill Cops Part 2”), dreamy jack tracks (Jason Fine’s “Jack Yo Bodda”) and tactile tech-house (Fit and Gunnar Wendel’s “Enter the Fog”).
The fifth Headphoniq release in the This Is House Music series, featuring Boo Williams, Jordan Fields, Stephane Vera and Mr. Feeling.
Four years on from the previous instalment, DJ QU’s Strength Music returns with a third edition of their Semesters series, with contributions from Pixel Music, Nicuri and QU himself this time around. Leading the way is “M- Theory” from Pixel Music, a lesser spotted alias of Italian producer Massimiliano ‘Hazylujah’ Vianello which selfishly grips the entire A Side and quite rightly so as it’s a potent production filled with mind bending potential. Having recently flirted with Joey Anderson’s Inimeg operation, Nicuri returns to the Strength cause on the B Side offering the pensive deepness of “Thoughts Of You” whilst DJ QU signs off the 12″ with the bugged out beat down of “Undescribed (Believer)” which is what Parliament would be making if they were to surface in today’s sonic climate.
Creme Organization are getting busy right from the start of 2014, and here serve up an EP from Detroit insider Alex Israel. Israel has released on the label before and this new four track offering continues in his usual good form, exploring cerebral and atmospheric techno soundscapes with plenty of elan. A Man Of Qualities goes first and has a certain sense of menace luring at its sparse core. Sharp, coarse claps bring texture to the thick basslines and shiny synths and the whole thing gurgles invitingly. Next comes Mustard Greens, a slow and lazy affair awash with lush chords, ticking percussion and rasping rubbery bass notes. It’s pleasurable and immersive and on b-side ‘Angulas’ the tempo begins to pick up. Here more spangled synth lines wrap around echoing claps and well-defined percussion to make for a fragmented and uneven groove that rumbles along like a fully laden donkey. Closer Colugo is a more standard, gliding deep house affair with jazzy drums, stabbed chords and plenty of old school values reimagined in a modern framework. Once again here Alex Israel proves himself to be a high dexterous producer with a unique sense of groove.
