Beau Wanzer with three tough ones from the mutant side of Chi town.
001.Features
SΛRIN – Moral Cleansing [BITE010]
SARIN, the A/V industrial technoid electronics project of Emad Dabiri, releases his first ever full-length album ‘Moral Cleansing’ on BITE. Dabiri advances his sonic identity by leaps and bounds through his application of subtle pop and electro elements with a greater focus on groove and melody, syncopated basslines, FM synthesis, and his signature cut-up sampling. The album showcases SARIN’s core elements as one of the main influencers in the current EBM techno wave with his brutally minimal sequences and abrasive drum programming. ‘Moral Cleansing’ is the result of Dabiri’s obsessive channelling of historical/geopolitical events, referencing past horrors & conflicts while also hinting at those that may come. He pulls samples, themes, and inspirations from forgotten atrocities and some that even resonate personally with his childhood growing up in wartime Iran.
NonZero! – Matrix Equation [TB036]
Touchin Bass is backfilling missing catalog number TB036 with the multitalented guitarist and drummer, mathematician and multidisciplinary improviser Maria Gamboa Perez. Under the NonZero! moniker, Perez brings ‘Matrix Equation’ to the fore; a heavy 8 track EP with electro aesthetics from none other than Carl Finlow. Perez combines elements of rage, chaos, tension and anguish to form a visceral style. Her musical terrain and talent is shaped by dissonance and NO art. Splintered beats and a foreboding sense of tension give way to a more DJ friendly logic of instinctive introductions and codas of gradual builds and breakdowns as Finlow further reworks the results to great effect.
Maelstrom – Heat Wave EP [MTRON016]
Maelstrom links up with DeFeKT and Berlin syndicate Mechatronica, to deliver four bloodcurdling electro and techno cuts for the floor, forcefully designed to activate bodies and transport minds.
Filmmaker – Noir Times EP [HCR005]
The fifth vinyl release of Hypnotica Colectiva Records is signed by the Colombian artist Filmmaker. This sound alchemist immerses us in a maze of rhythms and low fi atmospheres that take us back to universes in 8 bits, hidden laboratories with gigantic synthesizers and old rhythm boxes where the electro synth has a main presence.
VA – Detriti Compilation n.3 [DR-013]
EBM, Electro, New Beat, Acid, Balearic Bea. A perfect compilation for the lovers of the old-school darkside of the dancefloor.
Intergalactic Gary – Signs of Disarray [MNSX018]
“Releases by Intergalactic Gary are few and far between. Besides a handful of collaborations such as The Parallax Corporation (with I-F) and with Pasiphae, the must-know DJ from Den Haag has largely been about his talent behind the decks. We are thus extremely honoured to have him break the mould with us for his first solo EP release in 15 years — ’Signs of Disarray’. Injecting a fresh spirit amidst today’s mass productions, the sounds will immediately capture vintage ears. The pacing well measured, the storytelling a precious capsule from a time past.”
E.R.P. – Exomoon [FFLP002]
After presenting last here the first E.R.P. album called “Afterimage”, Forgotten Future comes now with the second album from E.R.P aka Gerard Hanson. “Exomoon” inclused 8 deep Electro cuts from the man from Texas.
_codebox – x_y_z [FR052]
Lost Trax – Out of Mind [FR051]
VA – A Short Illness From Which He Never Recovered [BLACKEST077]
There’s no denying that Blackest Ever Black has released some stellar music over the last decade, so it’s rather fitting that the London imprint’s final release is arguably one of its strongest for some time. To say goodbye, label boss Kiran Sande has put together a superb collection of poignant explorations of ambient, electronica and lo-fi pop that includes a swathe of label debuts. A compilation of new and recent music, either previously unreleased or until now unavailable on vinyl, by Bridget Hayden, Carla dal Forno, Lightning In A Twilight Hour, Scythe, Jam Money, Ian Martin, Unchained, The Fulmars, Hypnotic Sleep and Brainman.
Gavilán Rayna Russom – The Envoy [ELP047]
Transdisciplinary NYC artist Gavilán Rayna Russom beautifully comes into her own with a distinguished solo debut album statement including the voice of Cosey Fanni Tutti and brass arrangements by downtown legend Peter Zummo. After decades exploring her sonic personality in various projects inspired by her deep immersion in NYC’s club and avant-garde scenes, Rayna uses ‘The Envoy’ as a vessel to firm up and convey her personal conclusions on intersections of gender and electronic music.
Ambros Seelos – Ambros Seelos [369.059]
Private Records is back with the archives of SONY Music and the library archive of Ambros Seelo. The German musician Ambros Seelos recorded this psychedelic Disco, Afro Funk and Jazz magic during the 1970’s and early 1980’s.
Armonics – Nuovi Orizzonti [SLOMO044]
Following his debut 12” “Human”, Armonics teleports back to the Slow Motion mothership with his debut mini-album: Nuovi Orizzonti. Dreamy, lo-fi fuzz emanates from cassette tape and vintage circuit boards to synthetic travel music that will jettison you into outer space. Strap in. Tune out.
Cosmonaut – Acid Thriller EP [VARME003]
VARME003 switching tempos a bit with three powerful and mysterious tracks from Uruguayan rising star Cosmonaut aka Federico Jorcin. Varme is an electronic music label based in Bucharest, founded and curated by Paul Popa.
Reedale Rise – Barbary Coast EP [ORN027]
Since 2015 Reedale Rise’s refined strand of electro and techno has quickly established him as one of the most inventive artists operating in the current crop of machine manipulators coming out of the UK underground. Liverpool-based producer Simon Keat has released a prolific body of work under the alias in a short space of time, notching up appearances on crucial labels such as Frustrated Funk, Hizou, Where We Met and many more besides. With a sound indebted to the early wave of UK techno artists like B12, the electro experimentation of Silicon Scally as well as Detroit forefathers such as Drexciya and Model 500, it’s not hard to see why Reedale Rise makes perfect sense on Ornate. Technically astounding and emotionally charged, across all three tracks ORN027 marries shimmering, hi-def synth lines with crisp rhythms spanning 2-step shuffle, broken beats and understated techno propulsion.
DJ Maaco & DJ Overdose / Grischer – When Cities Collide VII [RHR007]
Maaco from Detroit and Overdose from RotterHague had some time in the studio together and here’s what came out, somewhat old somewhat new somewhat slew. Grischer from Cologne takes all the girls home, and makes them program beats.
E.R.P. – FR014X [FR014X]
Under the E.R.P. alias, Gerard Hanson has been making some of the finest intergalactic electro known to humankind since the tail end of the 1990s. His catalogue is meaty and some of his older, out-of-press records are now frustratingly hard to find – hence this tidy double-pack from Frustrated Funk. It includes all three tracks from Hanson’s 2007 label debut, “Vox Automaton” – the body-popping brilliance of the title track, the Drexciya style underwater trip of “Nerve Play” and the deep electro lusciousness of “Parfume Persuasion” – as well as the trio of cuts originally released on the “Alsoran” from the same years. These are arguably even better, with the melodious, cinematic and futuristic title track, and wonderfully poignant “Irma” standing out.
Disco Morato / Gegen Mann – Abandoned Signatures [FLCS02]
Disco Morato and Gegen Mann are Moscow based DJs and sound producers. By playing their music they try to touch the darkest aspects of human emotion expressing an atmosphere of body-control. Apart from DJing they produce music and signed to UK-based NEIN Records. And as a collaboration, they founded imprint “Maxima Culpa Records” to develop their specific sound and vision of music. This release is also the result of their collaboration. There are 10 tracks created with total freedom to experiment with sound.
VA – The Belligerents Vol.2 [GRTW008]
The second installment in the Gravitational Waves series, The Belligerents Vol. 2 puts the label’s experimental and always forward-thinking sound on display. This time, label head Dj Nephil and his slew of machines take to Side A, alongside the mysterious System Disorder, and Swordsmith who delivers us a slice of raw, industrial action in the form of Autorobo. Hannibal III makes his return to the label, sharing Side B with some exciting names – Diana Berti – the alias of Violet Poison, and Anna Funk Damage. Gravitational Waves is back with a vengeance.
The Hipodrome Of Music 