Tevo Howard – What Is Sound? [PERMVAC099-1]

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Munich’s excellent Permanent Vacations nudge towards a century of releases with a typically warm EP of huggable electronic grooves from the unpredictable Tevo Howard. Epic opener “Pump & Bounce” is the stand out cut. Built around a heady, intoxicating fusion of melancholic chords, tactile synths, stargazing melodies and seemingly cheap electronic sounds, it rises and falls for an impressive nine minutes. “You Have A Way With Words” spits and jumps with fuzzy machine rhythms and low-slung synths, while the hypnotic rhythms and crystalline arpeggios of “What Is Sound” are stunning in their emotion-rich simplicity.

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Tevo Howard – What Is Sound? [PERMVAC099-1]

Theo Parrish – Dance Of The Medusa [SS049]

PARRISH, Theo - Dance Of The Medusa

Theo’s getting jazzier and more eccentric with age (if that’s possible). On this latest jaunt he seems to be re-tracing the steps of one his biggest influences, Sun Ra. “Dance Of The Medusa” is an experimental jazz number with the emphasis on experimental. Although somehow squeezing into a standard 4/4 time measure, the sounds and syncopation between the instruments is anything but normal, as Theo deploys piano attacks, torn strings and his usual MPC abuse to the track. “Bubbles” sees more experimentation, squelching artifacts ricocheting against detuned hats and hollow bass notes. The whole B side is given to “Ambalamps” which may well become an emotive, melancholic, future-ballad if we were to get invaded by aliens and be facing a huge world apocalypse. Reversed strings and minor key riffs and melodies are smudged and stirred into a dark, introspective blend which screams of desolation and hurt. Indeed a dark venture for our man Theo but then he always liked to keep us on our toes – and the track is, by no mistake, undeniably Theo.

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Theo Parrish – Dance Of The Medusa [SS049]

Vape / Vulcano – Muscle 002 [MUSCLE002]

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Vape is the new Italo-techno project of the Riviera band. Their first tracks range from the charming pop womanly appeal of “Antonello” to the pesticidal harshness of “Raid”, across the gross provincial anthem “Radioactivo”. Vulcano is the joint venture of Marco Shuttle and Perseus Traxx with the Vape manufacturers at the Brenta Studios. Their poisonous bits sprayed on this 12″ are the state of the art in pest control. These cats are really pushing things forwards here, the B-side especially is some out-there sonic manipulation. “Ugly Faders” reinforcing the feelings one might get if trapped in a malfunctioning space station. “Vulvano” continues the anti-gravity aesthetic and smudges the whole thing in a thick acid wash.

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Vape / Vulcano – Muscle 002 [MUSCLE002]

Mock & Toof – Walking The Streets (Remixes) [TINC008]

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‘Walking The Streets’ is the second single to be taken from Mock & Toof’s latest acclaimed album ‘Temporary Happiness’. This remix 12″ offers a return to the dancefloor sound that M&T started out with and features the vocals of album collaborator Ghostape. Dutch synth wizard Legowelt twists the track into a 90s breakbeat rave mover with a squelchy acid gurgle to move things along. Rephlex’s DMX Krew takes on the B-side, dropping killer analogue acid house vibes along the way.

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Mock & Toof – Walking The Streets (Remixes) [TINC008]

Fah – Fahzers Set To Earth [CPU00000001D]

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Holland’s FAH (aka Robin de Bekker) presents his album of braindance influenced electro Fahzers Set To Earth. Tight, punchy electrobass riddims, operating on the cusp of Rephlexian electro a la DMX Krew and Drexciyan aqua-funk, Fah cycles from the skating 808 patterns of ‘Not Enough Fahzers’ to the whirring syncopations and jazz chords of ‘Casting The Rod’ on the front, while paying tribute to James Stinson on the flipside’s woozy ‘Glowism’ and the skewed, angular hyperfunk programming of ‘Magnetic Freedom’.

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Fah – Fahzers Set To Earth [CPU00000001D]

Jodey Kendrick – Steel Erector [CAT206CD]

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Rephlex hooked up with Jodey Kendrick. One might say it’s very Drexciyan or Aphexy music, but that’s because it’s rooted in Rephlex’s favourite genres of New York Disco, Chicago House and Detroit Techno, though with a certain mystery something special added. Careful use of microtuning and analogue tweaking, combined with a very British pastoral quality, Jodey provides us with something pleasurable and original to listen to every time. This album is the accompaniment to Jodey Kendrick’s other recent album, Plus Ten. Jodey has worked long hours for the last eight and a half years as a steel fabricator on some of London’s largest buildings but this hasn’t stopped him from amassing a library of hundreds of tunes, a reflection of his passion and drive for music, hence the Steel Erector album.

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Jodey Kendrick – Steel Erector [CAT206CD]

The Ghost That Walks – Angry Angels EP [SAT043]

Having been dormant for over three years, New York label Satamile returns to continue spreading the gospel of proper electro music with a six-track EP from The Ghost That Walks. Drexciya enthusiasts will be all over this record; the rubbery melody of “The Angriest Angel” recalls the Detroit duo at their most playful but with a simmering undercurrent of tension that is very much the producer’s own signature style. Similarly great are the searing analogue synth buzz of “Seven Deadly Sons”, the tribal 303 stomp of “Urban Jungle” and the 808 rattle and Belgian rave tones of “Resident Evil”.

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The Ghost That Walks – Angry Angels EP [SAT043]

Versalife – Vantage Point [CWCS007]

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Versalife aka Boris Bunnik returns to the Clone West Coast Series for more under sea level electro-techno. After his debut 12inch series Night Time Activities, here a full length album inspired by the horizons and emptyness of his home lands in Friesland. Accompanied by beautiful artwork of fellow Frisian, and one of Hollands most talented painters, Robert Zandvliet (who happens to have his atelier around the corner of the Clone Hq). His amazing painting ”Winter by Jouswier” (spread among the front and backside of the digipack) symbolizes perfectly the rhythm of the open spaces in Friesland. Especialy in the whitened more abstract and cold winter landscape thats almost synonym for Versalife’s abstract ice cold electro techno.

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Versalife – Vantage Point [CWCS007]