Frank Hatchett was a legendary dance instructor and originator of VOP. VOP is not an abbreviation but, as he himself puts it: “VOP is a style”. It’s used to flavour the choreography and to communicate and translate emotions to the audience. The record produced by Don Alan Tipton is a wonderful complement of said VOP style. It features 11 tracks made for dancing that are produced and arranged in a moving and funky fashion.
New anthology on Afrosynth Records brings together six songs by South African disco star Kamazu, spanning his career from 1986 to 1997: two of his biggest hits, ‘Korobela’ and ‘Indaba Kabani’, two more obscure songs from his catalogue, ‘Victim’ and ‘Why’, and two tracks from his kwaito comeback, ‘Mjukeit’ and ‘Atikatareni’.
Bristol-based dancefloor futurists Innate return with a third multi-artist EP – shot through with melody, warmth and soul. A quartet of timeless-sounding tracks full of stargazing sounds, undulating acid lines, far-sighted electronics and crackling beats. Tracks by Perseus Traxx, Ewan Jansen, Reedale Rise and label co-founder Owain K.
The Lisiere Collectif trio returns on their own label with LSR No. 04 EP, a collection of three original tracks, genuine worked for different moments of a clubnight.
Worst Records heat back with a greatest hits compilation. Tracks from the like of A Strange Wedding, Beesmunt Soundsystem, Black Seed, Itako, Gil.Barte and others.
System 108 introduces its second vinyl record from resident Kovyazin D. The Belgian New Beat spirit, mystical Acid House and EBM, fat and metal basslines, punchy rhythms and jack percussions – all this perfectly reflects the content of the record and conveys the atmosphere of the second dance floor by System 108 events. Adding to this combination a remix from Cardopusher we get a guaranteed dancefloor killer release.
The next strike on Zement will be by Alonzo who released on Kraftjerkz and W.T. Records. No discription needed. Six 808 bass music tracks straight from the bottom.
Groovin Recordings break the ice in 2020 with the reissue of these Gino Soccio italo-disco classics.
Adrian Marth, based in Barcelona, comes through with his new debut EP Marthians World by Italo Moderni own imprint. His italo is infused in electro tracks that are bound with their vibrancy to make any listener dance, with a killer bassline and super spacial synths. Including remixes by the great Baldo, Antoni Maiovvi and Mufti.
Portland’s Etbonz is once again making waves through his brand of cybernetic machine funk, this time on Dark Leader. The A side consists of Etbonz’s deliciously dark and epic electro disco take on the theme from 1984’s The Terminator. “The Future Is Not Set” transports you through time and space on a mission to save the future of humankind. Side B kicks off with “Magic By Human Minds” a robotic workout with a heavy psychedelic, broken beat feel. The final track “Melt FM” finds its footing as industrial techno then takes a quick detour into the realm of electro and finally morphing into dreamy ethereal house. The perfect track for changing up the vibe.
Arizona-based Jason McCracken makes his debut on brokntoys after a string of lauded EPs culminating in 2019’s Heavy Hitter. On ‘Paranoid Android’, the producer delivers 4 of his trademark bass-driven electro tracks, relentless machine music for the peak time hours.
The expression of two years’ field recording on the Greek islands of Kalymnos and Lesbos — deep inside a network of caves, and in the teeth of torrential winter storms — with added strings, grand piano, live drumming and orchestral percussion, in its confluence of ‘modern classical, metallic drone, dark ambient, and fuzz’. Guided by Steve Reich, Mika Vainio and Henri Bergson, haunted and spurred by the refugee crisis.
Forest Drive West delivers the ‘Parallel Space’ EP via Copenhagen’s Echocord, backed with a remix from Conforce.
The Spanish label Oraculo Records presents Aleatory Chaos Third Chapter, a various artist including four cord wave / synth pop tracks coming from Xymox, Vacant Stares, Oby Wolf and Abu Nein.
Cardopusher lands on Mechatronica’s White series with a violent mesh of EBM, electro, industrial, techno and unearthly ambience, impaled with sonic truths and programmed for mass feeding. A menacing antidote to these deceitful times.
From underground Russia comes LVRIN’s second release on Pinkman Broken Dreams. 6 jams for the freaks – stripped to the bone, with minimum fuss and maximum attitude.
The Hamburg based producer L.F.T. turns to Eye For An Eye to release his awaited EP “Zerstore Eine Stadt”. A well crafted piece divided in 5 different moments that portrait the mind state of L.F.T. living in an industrial city with mechanical and optimized routines. Sharing the A side is the punchy and muscular “Alles Was Du Hasst “and “Atomic Enigma”, the last an introspective and misterious slow tempo ebm-ish piece. “Zersto?re Eine Stadt” featuring vocals from Rosaceae is an emotive piece expressed through distortion pedals, revealing the poetic side of rage and trauma. “I Don’t Like Your Party” plays around a playfully sinister melody and charmingly offbeat vocals that give this track a unique groove. “Dead Rat Under The Table” cools the whole EP down, ending it as intense and mesmerazing as it started.
Emotional welcomes Kris Baha with ‘Barely Alive’, his first 12″ for Especial. Remixes start with Timothy J Fairplay who laces his trademark echoplexxed wash for a cold wave mover. Next, prodigy Job Sifre builds on his acclaimed debuts with a remodel that goes straight to ‘that’ basement, mixing his love of electro, new wave and industrial. To close, the legend of Das Ding creates a re-alternate remix, fusing his unique fuzz with Baha’s ode for a brittle finale.
The next 12 incher on Wrong Era is made by Marching Machines, a Belgian duo made of Dimitri Andreas and Spacid. Their love for electronic machine manipulation and their musical history that spans over 2 decades, built an excellent foundation for this brand new project. “Lonesome” is a slow burning dark electro track with howling and gloomy synths that flow into acidic tendencies. “Desolat” continues on the emotional path of the previous track, embracing solitude on a broken rhythm, ending up in arpeggiating classic and cosmic italo track. In succession of that, there’s “Driven” which moves up to dancefloor dynamics by using harder and raw sounds, combined with an analogue pulsewave sound generator and building into a release of energy with wavy synths and smashing snares. The final track is a remix of “Lonesome” by one of Wrong Era’s label bosses Fabrizio Mamarella. While the original idea is still intact, the remix is a definite bigger and faster version, implying a stark contrast that still remains powerful, perfectly made for the dancefloor.
US Born, Marseille based house producer and DJ, Grant returns to Lobster Theremin, with ‘Fantasy Blues’, a 9 track album brimming with warm, melodic, deep house cuts. Opener, Ephemeral Chase signals a cosmic journey, driven with four to the floor motive. Mind Space is spaced out, modern deep-house at it’s best. On the flip, Zarenzeit joins Grant on Amaranthine Profundity, while Finite Elements chugs into an ethereal, vocal cut. Blurred Harmony picks up the pace, note a welcome homage to London town. Previous collaborator, Dan Piu features on stripped-back roller, Boundless. Joining forces on Invisible Skills, Brooklyn based composer Emil Abramyan injects otherworldly influences to the album, followed by Melancholic wiggler, Lucent Eyes. The Road In Front Of Me rounds out the release on soulful, classic tip, with velvet vocals courtesy of Jenifa Mayanja.
