Dark Vektor – Back [SD002]

DARK VEKTOR/DJ OVERDOSE/AGNES PE - Back

Second release of Sigourney Discs, a 12” vinyl focused on electro music. Dark Vektor, a veteran of Terrassa’s scene, presents Back, a work of the raw electro that defines him: robotic voices, evolving basslines and infectious melodies. Side B opens with a remix by Agnès Pe reinventing BACK, and electro, from her own evasive genre, deconstructing the original theme into a collage of vocals and unpredictable rhythms with raving shades. The Dutch producer DJ Overdose signs the last BACK remix. As usual, a personal view on electro, revolving the original theme by sampling it with forcefulness. A blunt rhythm, heavy bassline and again, vicious melodies visiting the origins of the genre.

listen

Dark Vektor – Back [SD002]

SC-164 – Generator EP [MA16]

SC 164 - Generator EP

The first Modal Analysis release for 2021 comes from the New York City producer, Greg Schappert, who has been releasing his music under different aliases over the years. Here, with his SC-164 moniker, contributes a five track EP of industrial flavored electro, perfectly rolling along with the Athenian label’s catalogue. The Generator EP brings together different broken beat compositions, with emphasis on diverse textures and its genius programming.

listen

SC-164 – Generator EP [MA16]

Jacob Stoy – Das Unendliche Konstrukt [UVMC04]

STOY, Jacob - Das Unendliche Konstrukt

Snow white cassette in a special neon green snap box with printed foil inlay. The album is a relic of three sessions that were created next to or in bed. A small case equipped with a looper, an EQ, a chorus and a delay is the basis. Each track is unique due to the different sound devices used, whether it is a synthesizer, microphone or tablet. Searching for the mood of the moment, even if the next moment can be completely different, if not even should. A field recorder is an infinite tool for capturing these moments. Also, these songs are indeed infinite. In the sense of a spiral-shaped interplay of musical influences, states of the moment, errors and coincidences, almost like the magnetic tape of a MC. Fortunately, the acoustic proof of this creative process is now available on an appropriate sound carrier. Expect swirling excursions into brightly illuminated Ambient territories, Lo-fi beat adventures in the outskirts of hidden rave countries and inverted Hip-Hop-experiments from the parking lots of long forgotten shopping centers. ”Das unendliche Konstrukt” translates into ”The Infinite Construct”. And that is what this tape here truly is. Constructs are facts that are intellectually claimed but not directly tangible. The same can be said about the music that Jacob Stoy made in 2020 instead of writing Corona diaries. This is music that must be felt. But if you try to grasp it only with your mental powers, it will slip through your fingers.

listen

Jacob Stoy – Das Unendliche Konstrukt [UVMC04]

Piero Umiliani – L’uomo elettronico [FLIES50]

UMILIANI, Piero - L'uomo Elettronico: Cosmic Electronic Environments from an Italian Synth Music Maestro 1972-1983

Four Flies Records continues to explore the vast archives of synthesizer-loving cult Italian composer Piero Umiliani. This fine compilation focuses on the more cosmic and intergalactic side of his electronic work, drawing together a mixture of classic cuts, overlooked gems and previously unreleased material recorded between 1972 and ’83. There’s plenty of highlights to be found amongst the 16 tracks on show, with our picks including the echoing melodic motifs, spacey flourishes and chugging low-end of ‘Soundmaker Blues’, the deep space creepiness of ‘Fruitori’, the intergalactic minimalism of ‘Batticuori’, the Cold War-era spookiness of ‘Apocalisse Atomica’, and the gently funky ‘Eliogabulous’.

listen

Piero Umiliani – L’uomo elettronico [FLIES50]

VA – Wamono A to Z Vol. II: Japanese Funk 1970-1977 [180GWALP02]

DJ YOSHIZAWA DYNAMITE JP/CHINTAM/VARIOUS - Wamono A To Z Vol II: Japanese Funk 1970-1977

Wamono A to Z Vol. II: Japanese Funk 1970-1977, selected by DJ Yoshizawa Dynamite & Chintam. Following the highly acclaimed Volume I, dig further into the Wamono sound – the cream of the Japanese jazz, funk, soul, rare groove and disco music developed throughout the years since the end of the sixties in Japan. Fully licensed Nippon Columbia and Victor Japan masters available for the first time outside of Japan, featuring rarities from Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media, Hiroshi Sato, Bread & Butter, Hatsumi Shibata, Fujio Tokita and more.

listen

VA – Wamono A to Z Vol. II: Japanese Funk 1970-1977 [180GWALP02]

Teaspoon & The Waves – Teaspoon & The Waves [MRBLP225]

TEASPOON & THE WAVES - Teaspoon & The Waves (reissue)

Official replica re-issue of a South African jazz-funk rarity from Teaspoon & The Waves. Released in 1977 on Soul Jazz Pop, a subsidiary label of Mavuthela Music Company / Gallo, Teaspoon & The Waves’ self-titled album is an absolute masterpiece. Best known for the song ‘Oh Yeh Soweto’, which is an astonishing adaptation of Lamont Dozier’s anthem ‘Going Back to My Roots’, this track has become a contemporary underground club classic in recent times and has been featured in sets from a cross-section of DJs.  ‘Saturday Express’ is a jazz-funk/disco stomper which will soon be lighting up dancefloors again. ‘Wind and Fire’ is true afro-jazz-funk excellence, with great spacey synths and reggae-inspired guitar grooves riding throughout. The opener, ‘Friday Night’, also has a slightly reggae-tinged tropical groove, whilst ‘Got Me Tight’ finishes off the session with a feel-good jazz-funk workout that features cool, quirky, Patrick Adams-esque synths.

vinyl / CD

Teaspoon & The Waves – Teaspoon & The Waves [MRBLP225]

Juju – Live At 131 Prince Street [STRUT250LP]

JUJU - Live At 131 Prince Street

Strut continue their in-depth archive reissues from the Black Fire label with a definitive edition of JuJu’s ‘Live At 131 Prince Street’, recorded in 1973 at Ornette Coleman’s gallery in New York. After forming in San Francisco while working on the Marvin X theatre piece ‘The Resurrection of the Dead’, JuJu began to hone their uncompromising fusion of Afro-Latin rhythms with free and spiritual jazz before signing to Strata-East for the ‘A Message From Mozambique’ album in 1972.

vinyl / CD

Juju – Live At 131 Prince Street [STRUT250LP]

L.F.T. – Träume von Gabriel [MTRONW008]

LFT - Traume Von Gabriel

Following his Red Pyramid EP, L.F.T. returns to Mechatronica with fearless visions, Nils Fock on vocals and a cold-blooded Dollkraut remix on the flip.

listen

L.F.T. – Träume von Gabriel [MTRONW008]

Caron – Shattered [SHIP067]

CARON - Shattered

Caron debuts on Shipwrec with a four tracker of sheer quality. Off-kilter percussion introduces the breathy pads and grandeur of “Ancestry,” a piece of dreamy chords and acid undertones. The haunting “Common Sense” follows. Drums stagger next spectral vocals in this chilling electro piece. A similar stalking note continues on the flip with the 303 soaked “Lost.” A steady kick offers a bedrock from which looming keys, bitter squawk and dancefloor paranoia take hold. Hopeful shades arrive with the brilliance of “Ruins.” From industrial percussion and metallic rinses, a deep and intricate finale forms to bring “Shattered” to a terrific close.

listen

Caron – Shattered [SHIP067]

Kenny Larkin – Azimuth (Expanded Edition) [ART2021-1]

LARKIN, Kenny - Azimuth (Expanded Edition)

A staggering collection Detroit techno-soul music, beamed directly into your consciousness from 1994. Kenny Larkin is one of a handful of artists from the city whose original and unique sonic output has helped shape and advance techno as an art form and as a serious musical movement across the world and it’s galaxies beyond, a formidable DJ and producer whose music continues to push the envelope today. ‘Azimuth’ gives us what would be Larkin’s first full length offering, and across 11 tracks of blistering hi-tech machine funk, ambient, soul drenched rhythms and futurist club music he deftly crafted a classic. Originally released on Warp Records, ‘Azimuth’ is a record that effortlessly sounds like it came to earth yesterday while being 25 years old, a true Detroit classic that still makes waves across the planet today.

listen

Kenny Larkin – Azimuth (Expanded Edition) [ART2021-1]

Robert Hood – Underestimated EP [MPM36]

HOOD, Robert - Underestimated EP (reissue)

To open M-Plant’s 2021 schedule, Robert Hood announces the return of the Perpetual Masters series. The ‘Underestimated EP’ still sounds as fierce as it did when it was originally released in 1998, delivering Hood’s personal style of minimal, stripped back Techno with crisp beats, powerful build-ups and flawless grooves; nothing is superfluous.

listen

Robert Hood – Underestimated EP [MPM36]

Unknown Artist – TOPP 016 [TOPP016]

MUSIC FOR THE OTHER PEOPLE PLACE - TOPP 016

After closing the first part of Fundamental Records’ experiment called Music for The Other People Place, the second part begins. Music for The Other People Place. Experiment 2. A special and highly limited electro / electronics project (tributed to James Stinson), produced by different artists that will remain anonymous, if they choose to…

listen

Unknown Artist – TOPP 016 [TOPP016]

Uf0 – Arp Better Than Line [AS003]

UF0 - Arp Better Than Line

The third output from the Altered States label, the Furthur Electronix off shoot label, is an expansive double pack of electro psychedelia by Uf0 aka Sergio Garcia from Spain. Over the four sides, the somewhat-elusive Ibizan artist takes you on a journey through mind-bending oscillations, crisp drum programming and creeping euphoria. It flickers seamlessly between retro braindance and cinematic futurism; between rave cuts and gently simmering ambience (‘Yeh Premoh’); or between lightning-fast propulsion and sedate wandering. Uf0 excels on each individual track and with the album format as a whole, providing all the ingredients for a captivating and transportive listen from back to front.

listen

Uf0 – Arp Better Than Line [AS003]

VA – A Call Too Close

A Call Too Close is a digital compilation released by brokntoys to raise funds for Tottenham food banks. Music from Aldrich, Alex Jann, Barking, Constructive nature, Das Muster, Dez Williams, Eduardo, Isolated Material, Jauzas the Shining, Marco Bernardi, Poperttelli, Rings Around Saturn, Rugon, Sam Lowry, The Jaffa Kid, Timothy J. Fairplay and XY0815. All profit from the release will be donated in equal parts to the Selby Food Hub and Tottenham Food Bank.

VA – A Call Too Close

VA – Zwaartekracht 4 [ZK004]

TRAIN TO DOOM DE DOOM/POSITRON/HOT LEDGE/ROAD TO TROUBLE - Zwaartekracht 4

For the 4th edition in ZwaarteKracht’s acclaimed series, Arsonist Recorder invites 3 dedicated fellow producers with some serious firepower to share their sounds on the label:  Parand, originally from Iran, via London now living in Berlin, Dark Prophet from Belgium and Serge Geyzel, from Berlin.

listen

VA – Zwaartekracht 4 [ZK004]

VA – Adrian Marth Edits Vol​.​1 [FREE DOWNLOAD]

Adrian Marth, the head of Italo Moderni, presents a collection of 6 italo edits ready for download as pay-as-you-want release on his own bandcamp page. Adrian has been crafting his own deeply personal style mixing italo and Electro. His music brings together sounds of the classic start of the Italo disco, space disco and cosmic disco of the 80s, electronic sounds with analog synthesizers and nuances with chill wave detunes.

VA – Adrian Marth Edits Vol​.​1 [FREE DOWNLOAD]

Ars Mundi – El Genio De Los Pies Rojos [THANKYOU010]

ARS MUNDI - El Genio De Los Pies Rojos (reissue)

Completely unorthodox production techniques employed by one of Spain’s maestros from the 80’s, Thank You brings back one of Julian Ruiz’s craziest productions that come with a potential threat to any well tuned HiFi system (careful at 1:26 on A side). A remarkable dubby/italo rhythm section sets the foundation for a dreamy melody that won’t be forgotten so easily. Inspired in Indian mythology, “El Genio De Los Pies Rojos” is a masterpiece that will take any tasteful dancefloor to serious heights. Includes 2 other shorter titles from the album originally released in 1986.

listen

Ars Mundi – El Genio De Los Pies Rojos [THANKYOU010]