Powerful EBM tinged Techno cuts by Betek who’s becoming one of the labels mainstay’s. Junior Flutuante is opening up the vaults of Bernardo’s harder and rougher work. After his succesor in 2018 with ‘Discipline’ ep we gladly welcome Bernardo back.
001.Features
Motor City Drum Ensemble – Dj Kicks EP [K7285EP]
Danilo was always incredibly young with things. He started producing at the age of eleven—“way too early” as he jokes—having his first release out just five years later: Inverse Cinematics’ “Slow Swing”, released on Pulver Records in 2002, and ended up finding its way into Ricardo Villalobos’ record bag as well as onto one of the first Fabric mix CDs. An album under the same name and a string of EPs followed. Dailo’s latest releases, the Motor City Drum Ensemble’s Raw Cuts series in 2010, had the house music world responding strongly to the charmingly fresh and dirty sounding tracks, all mixed down in spontaneous two-hour sessions. Danilo has also released on top labels ranging from 20:20 Vision to Rush Hour as well as his own MCDE and Four Roses imprints, produced for Ben Westbeech and Rainer Trüby and never ceased to amaze with his challenging remix work for artists like Caribou, Jazzanova, DJ Sprinkles and Zero 7. His understanding of how the parts of a track can work has never been more apparent than on his DJ-Kicks mix. In 10 years, playing 80+ gigs a year, including such temples as Berghain, Fabric London, Rex and MOS, he’s absorbed dance history through hard and disciplined work behind the decks. Look at the opening selections of his DJ-Kicks mix to get a glimpse of his amazing ability to fuse totally disparate sound aesthetics into a coherent whole. With the next months holding an extensive tour schedule for Danilo, dancers around the world will be able to experience his gift as a selector first hand. That is, before he gets back into the studio to start working on his first album as Motor City Drum Ensemble as well as a live act. All this will prove, just as his DJ-Kicks is doing now, that there is no such thing as stagnation in the ever-evolving cosmos of Danilo Plessow.
Snuff Crew – Love Songs for Smoke Machines [WOD011]
Le Chocolat Noir – Crna Ruža [SLK009]
Five cuts of obsessive electro/ebm from the cold heart of Croatia that will make you sweat. Unchaste vocals on brash basslines and slicing snares are melted with acid sounds and thumping beats. These tracks tie together a journey beginning in the 80s Yugoslavia, among rituals and lies, leading to the relation with sexuality and eroticism within the collective consciousness of mankind. How do you deal with your purely physical desires?
Mr TC & Lo Kindre – PHASE001 [PHASE01]
“It’s not easy to transform a jam into a proper tune that haunts forever. The two Glaswegian friends MR TC and Lo Kindre are in possession of that special skill that can transform spontaneous tuned-in music into something significant without losing the gut feeling along the way. As solo artists they have released on labels like Optimo Music, 12th Isle and Against Fascism Trax, and together released ‘The Storm EP’ in late 2018 on Vienna’s Neubau. Now they continue their collaborative work on PHASE001 – an EP that also marks the launch of their own label that listens to the same name. The start-up brings four analogue tracks that courageously link cold waving synth-shocks, neon-light nonchalance and haunted spoken words; deep hypnotic musical witchcraft that peels itself out of the history of dark electronic music with a pulsating and haunting atmosphere.” Words by ML
Abstraxion – Black Vulture [DA011D]
Dischi Autunno welcome Harold Boué to the fold for another full-strength cosmic expedition. Best known as Abstraxion – and, since last year, Lion’s Drums – Harold is the man behind the Biologic label and is renowned for his sprawling, hypnotising productions. As a deep as he is decorated, Abstraxion lives up to his name and rips you from the plugs of reality without safely disconnecting. Take this EP; the lead track ‘Black Vulture’ hurls you into a space on a Black Strobe rocket that tears through black holes like us mere humanoids drink black coffee while the breakbeat-driven ‘Deleuze Fight’ flips us 360 in the anti-gravity flow sending us spiralling into an ocean of lasers. For a heavier intergalactic trip head for ‘Remember Bourdieu’ where more and more turbulence kicks in on every bar, creating a driving hypnotic intensity that you’ll never forget. Finally we crash back into reality with the fittingly nihilistic ‘Nietzsche’s Future’; spiralling, cascading arpeggios with more than a mild touch of prang; it’s a poignant end to yet another unique trip from Jennifer Cardini & Noura & Labbani’s Dischi Autunno imprint and Abstraxion himself. And that’s before we even touch on the killer remix missions en route… Black Merlin cranks up the noir to mind-melting technoid levels on ‘Black Vulture’ while Interstellar Funk smelts ‘Deleuze Fight’ down to a deep dark acid swamp.
Upperground Orchestra – Euganea [DOSER033]
Rabih Beaini’s Upperground Orchestra (Beaini, Alvise Seggi, Tommaso Cappellato. Piero Bittolo Bon) back with their first studio material since 2008.
Eric Demarsan – Le Cercle Rouge [WRJ003LTD]
We Release Jazz presents the official reissue of the original soundtrack of Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1970 film noir classic Le Cercle Rouge composed by French soundtrack master Eric Demarsan. Eric Demarsan’s compositions for Le Cercle Rouge draw from the orchestral spirit of the Modern Jazz Quartet (as requested by Melville who loved John Lewis’ work), abstraction and minimalism to create a suspenseful and hypnotizing audio landscape which elegantly underlines the tense atmosphere of unavoidable fate that shrouds the movie and the doleful beauty of its characters. Simply put, it’s the finest combination of underworld existentialism, coldblooded chic, and crime jazz! Le Cercle Rouge boasts the participation of celebrated jazz players Guy Pedersen (bass), Daniel Humair (drums), Georges Arvanitas (piano), and Bernard Lubat (vibraphone). Starting as a collaborator of François de Roubaix and Michel Magne in the 60s, Eric Demarsan went on to become a mainstay of French cinema soundtracks, composing for directors such as Jean-Pierre Mocky, Costa-Gavras, and Patrice Leconte among others. He also recorded the cult album Pop Symphony (for Pierre Cardin in 1970) under the Jason Havelock pseudonym.
John Di Stefano – For The Moment [CC003]
Concentric Circles presents ”For the Moment”, which features tracks from some of Di Stefano’s early cassette releases, as well as a number of unheard explorations of Indian polyrhythms from the early 90s. Di Stefano’s prescient and unique work will appeal to fans of Cybe, Joel Graham, UnknownmiX, Zru Vogue, and provides a fascinating view of the 80s US electronic underground. American-born, Japan-based composer John Di Stefano self-released a number of cassettes as part of the 80s DIY underground on his own imprint Oktron Produktions, including Klang’s Drift, a collaboration with Joel Graham. Living in San Francisco, Di Stefano had access to multiple University electronic music studios, where he had an impressive array of synthesizers at his fingertips, including both Buchla and Serge modular systems. Combining his knowledge of modular synthesis with a background in percussion, his early releases were a uniquely human approach to electroacoustic music, with flourishes of post punk in the mix. Di Stefano developed an interest in world music, studying Indian music theory and tabla, and after an extended trip to Indonesia in the mid 80s, he was particularly drawn to Javanese gamelan music. Future recordings would forever be indebted to the sounds he heard during those travels.
Bejenec – Ruslan Tislenko EP [S108-001]
Moscow community System 108 representing new vinyl series, showcasing the sound of label residents. First to go is Kyiv-based producer Daniil Syenichkin aka Bejenec. The EP “Ruslan Tislenko” includes 4 tracks balancing on the verge of Uk Garage aesthetics and Detroit melodism .
Paolo Mosca – La Teoria Delle Stringhe Vol. 1 [SL022]
Slow Life’s latest signing is Paolo Mosca, owner of the record shop Microsolchi. On his debut as solo producer, the young Italian delivers an spacy EP with a consistent and classy sound palette, very much on the label’s signature sound.
Unovidual & M.NOMIZED – Saunetic Fraction [PMT001C]
Originally released in 1985, “Saunetic Fraction” finally gets a reissue. A collaboration of France’s M.NOMIZED (aka Michel Madrange of No Unauthorized) and Belgium’s UNOVIDUAL (aka Henk Wallays of Micrart Group / co-founder of the 3rio tape label with Magisch theater and Dirk Ivens of Absolute Body control) . The 18-track album is a diverse beast, but affirms itself among the grandees of Minimal Synth and Electropunk, whilst maintaining a unique twist. At times coming across as the French / Belgian version of Chris & Cosey, there are also elements of the early cut-up Dadaist experimental oddness of Cabaret Voltaire. A much sort after tape, that was originally released in a ludicrously small edition, on Unovidual’s own label.
Shakti – Verboden Dromen [STREP-028]
Before becoming Belgian new beat and techno titans, Praga Khan and Chris Inger were collaborators in a new wave influenced band called Shakti. “Verboden Dromen” gathers together the best of the outfit’s work recorded between 1987 and 1990, offering up tracks that join the dots between intoxicating synth-pop, moody new wave, hypnotic grooves and dark and sleazy dancefloor moments. All of the tracks have stood the test of time remarkably well, with highlights including the humid and exotic chug of “Kamasutra”, the hallucination-inducing tropical fever of “Demonic Forces” and “Shanah”, and the bustling, club-ready bounce of “The Awakening”, which sounds like the Thompson Twins after one too many tabs of acid.
5713 – Gewelddadige Realiteit [CHEMC006]
Amsterdam based artist 5713 creates a sound that is inspired by sci-fi and can be described as a mixture of Techno, EBM, Electro, Wave or whatever lies between those movements and genres. Gewelddadige Realiteit EP, translating to Aggressive or Violent Reality, feels like an appropriate name for this collection of slow motion compositions of vigorously overdriven Industrial sounds. Whether its abrasive hats like on A1 Geen God, classic EBM on A2 Digitale Programma 7 or pitched basslines on A3 Ongezellig, all three tracks offer up cleverly distinct heavy hitters for your tweaked out dance floors. The B side with B1 Nodig and B2 Wakker a Mattie? are consistent in that they share broken kick patterns to offer a healthy dose of distorted swing. 5713’s style across the entire EP demonstrates his technical sleight of hand with such dense frequencies. This record shows how impactful and functional these elements can be when used with good measure.
Mike Perras – Beginning Of Life [FFOR023]
Official license of the 1991 rare classic house produced by Mike Perras for Bassic records, now remastered and re-pressed by Flash Forward. “Beginning Of Life” is a pice of history of the deep house music and will continue to make old and new generations dance.
Datawave – Inceptive [CRISIS002]
The second release from Hungarian label Crisis is coming from Datawave. Includes also an Exhausted Modern remix.
Biochip – Synthase [CPU01001110]
Central Processing Unit welcomes Biochip with their debut release ‘Synthase’. Eight tracks of analog electro and acid techno, all recorded live. Very much of the Selected Ambient Works Vol. 1 ilk. Beautifully noisy, highly melodic and raw, with those emotional mid nineties IDM tendencies that very few successfully capture. Biochip are Melissa Speirs and Julian Kochanowski from Montreal, Canada. Listening to Synthase you can tell they are huge fans of vintage analogue synths, magnetic tape and drum machines; their sound has a reassuring warmth and human feel to it.
Datawave – Implant [VTX011]
VA – The Orbitants 2 [FU.ME010]
Get on board 5 new space alchemists for the next level of “The Orbitants”! The “Panic Side” (Side A) refers to a synthetic melody transition from the beatless Heinrich Dressel’s intro, to the mystical drama “Source Reality”, a utopistic abstract-composition by Galaxian, who serving his anarchic vision of electronic music. Falling into the wicked flash born from Foreign Sequence’s Oberheim. Entering to the “Black Side” (Sibe B), the virus infected the system: it’s the Lake Haze electro hit! Spooky pads triggering the edgy arpeggio, body of the track. Jensen Interceptor provides yet another one of his tipycal alien incursion with a cruel-core on a beat techno influenced.
Anthony Rother – PSI49NET 103 [PSI103]
Anthony Rother returns to his label PSI49NET with the first EP since 2003. The new four-tracker is another sonic exploration of a twisted electro techno sound that pursues the stripped-down energy of techno while maintaining electro’s eccentricity.
The Hipodrome Of Music 