Heavy Techno/ Electronix from the Syncrophone camp.
001.Features
30Drop – From Beyond The Unknown [TOKEN87]
30drop debuts on Token with a six-track journey that evokes an excommunicative sense of splendor from the outer reaches of worlds beyond. Beginning with Surrender an immediacy pulsates from the outset and dances towards the playful exuberance of The Informant — calibrating the gears for what frequencies are to be heard in the interim. Space Beacons delights with elegant pads and wry rhythmic evocations, while Mathematical Language bursts with energies that have been long dormant since the days of Jeff Mills’ The Purpose Maker. In that same vein, Visitors From The Stars is an entropic message from above, seeking out a communicative line that’s emotive and conductive — leading towards the last track of this journey. Sagan’s Implication is an adroit homage to the legendary astrophysicist; leaning into melodics that are both marvelous and mysterious all at once — similar to finding the answers that lie above us. All in all, a journey that begins by looking past what’s diegetic and looking for answers past the narrative presented.
Estrato Aurora – Ursus Dolinensis [BLIQ018]
Estrato Aurora makes his first appearance on Bliq with some advanced deep techno immersions that match the profile of the label perfectly. ”Ursus Dolinensis” takes a slow ride into submission, placing all the emphasis on the low end and using subtle background frequencies to shape out the atmosphere. ”Lunanosorex” takes a particularly tripped out approach to electro, while ”Glyphodon” adds a little industrial bite into the machine funk framework without losing that steely atmosphere that makes the whole EP so appealing. Leonid’s remix of ”Ursus Dolnensis” is the perfect complementary addition to the EP – the Dolly and Sistrum artist adds his own rugged deep techno machinations to the track to deadly, understated effect.
Code 6 – Untitled EP [DRIVE005]
Midnight Drive presenta a long out of print and highly sought after NYC ambient techno classic – Code 6’s ‘Untitled’ EP from 1993. In the early 1990’s, Code 6 was a side project by Joey Beltram. This 4 track EP is a departure from the style Joey was most associated with during this time period, favouring a more ambient, breakbeat driven and esoteric aesthetic. Contained within is 4 wide-screen snapshots of sci-fi drenched emotion, a raw, melodic tour de force that leaves the listener wanting more. ‘Untitled EP’ is a truly original set of short but effective techno-vignettes that still captivate today in 2018.
Jamal Moss – R-Spirits Will Not Be Broken EP [TKG012]
Tuskegee Music welcomes a standout dance music innovator with a new EP from Chicago great Jamal Moss.
VA – GMI Jam Venice [GFTDCVLTR002]
Gifted Culture collective is ready to unleash the second jam session of the announced trilogy. GMI Jam Venice comes from the filth and the mug of the abandoned ex-industrial area in the outskirts of Venice. There, Autre and Two Thou invade Hawaiian Chips’ top-notch studio, where all together ride 70’s synthesizer rarities and try to domesticate the monstrous Yamaha CS 80. This jam, inspired by the post-industrial Venetian scenario, dives between the dreams of archetypal electronic music and reminiscences of psychedelic progressive bands, giving birth to two long journeys ready to gently carry the dance floor into the outer space.
Dean Grenier – Immortal [OMD018]
Diving into FM Synthesis, Dean Grenier brings his sophomore release to Omnidisc. Delivering a 3 track EP intended for mental gymnastics at 3 different periods of the night.
Warren Raww – Raps To Get In [ANTA001]
Warren Raww from Australia return on the newly born Andarta label. They raise the bar with five stunning underground dance tracks. A strong combination of clever drum programming and musicality.
VA – Danzas Electricas Vol. II [MMLP2002]
The ‘metallic’ compilation Danzas Electricas is back for a second volume. Curated by Sacha Mambo, it presents only artists from nowadays and takes distance from the edits to push original and weird electronic music of close artists friends from Dresden, Copenhagen, Berlin, Prague, Lyon and Hamburg. Some of them are already relatives of Macadam Mambo : Konsistent, Wosto, Heninspace, Eva Geist or Sacha himself and it introduces new acts : Ekstern (Nixxon & Spacelex), Service, Houschyard or Sauerstofff to present a good mixture of Kraut, Punk, Industrial tracks, which never fall into dark.
Raw – Fragments EP [DE-221]
Raw formed during the summer of 1990 in Athens, Greece when keyboardist Giannis Papaioannou and percussionist Makis Faros started composing music for imaginary waiting rooms. They combined the traditional cut-up technique of tape-loops, the industrial timbres of musique concrète with the harmonics of world music, all filtered through digital sampling and computer programming. Their first recordings generated an 8 track demo, which was freely distributed among friends and the local underground press. After 6 months of work and several sessions with guest musicians on acoustic and electric instruments, Raw self-released their first album ‘Land’ in December 1991 on Elfish Records. In 1992 they recruited the band’s sound engineer, Coti K., as a third member, both on stage and studio sessions. ‘City’ was their second album fully inspired by the mechanisms of their home town. Presenting a different electronic face of Raw, manipulating rhythms with analogue synthesizers and harsh sampling to evoke the atmosphere of Athens. ‘City’ was released on CD only by Elfish Records in 1994. ‘Fragments’ is a collection of 4 songs from ‘City’ presented on vinyl for the first time plus bonus track recorded during the “City’ sessions previously released on a compilation in 1992.
Synths Versus Me – Memories of a Dream EP [OR50]
The main motivation behind the creation of Oraculo Records label was to release directly the material produced by the label managers Nico Cabanas and Vanessa Asbert under Synths Versus Me alias so to celebrate the reference OR50 they present an EP with a selection of unreleased material on vinyl, including their very acclaimed and awaited version of “Goodbye Horses”.
This record is available as gift / free digital download at Oraculo Records bandcamp.
VA – Air Texture Volume VI [AIR006]
The Air Texture Series asks two Producers/ Performers to select a double CD worth of unreleased music. The only guidance is the music should not be main floor bangers, other than that we get out of the way, allowing them autonomy over their selection. This time Steffi and Martyn were asked to step up. Exciting, since as residents at Berghain/Panorama Bar – two of the most important dancefloors in the world… how would two such respected artists approach our experimental ethos.
Ø & Panasonic – Sähkö – The Movie Soundtrack EP [SÄHKÖ029]
The sound recordings for Jimi Tenor’s “Sähkö: The Movie” got lost in mid 90s. It was only last spring Warp Records returned all the demo tapes Jimi sent them in 90s. Happily the Sähkö soundtrack parts were on those tapes too. This is a compilation of soundtracks (both solo, as Ø, and alongside Ilpo Vaisanen and Sami Salo as Pan Sonic) made for Mika Vainio’s memorial in Oslo in September 2018. All the tracks are from the actual movie scenes.
Shielding – Innerlig [KIMOCHI34]
Shielding’s Innerlig is viscous, densely detailed, trippy music. Dripping with texture, these are supple tunes that generously expand to fill whatever space they’re in, loops stretching towards the lilac virtual horizon. Constantly mutating rhythms, heavily atmospheric grooves.
Sounds & Sequences – Construct [SS07]
Two excellent deep dubby spaced out techno tracks on the seventh release from the Sounds & Sequences series.
Lucky Brown & The S.G.’s – Mesquite Suite [TRLP9074]
Lucky Brown delivers another album for Tramp Records. Since he joined the Tramp family in 2007, Lucky has developed his own trademark production and sound whose depth and honesty form a basis from which his work will ever remain timeless. On “Mesquite Suite” he is forging new paths by soaking up musical styles from all over the world to infuse with his own totally unique way of producing. It has been Lucky Brown’s aim to paint for the world a picture of the vernacular jazz that America’s neighborhoods once crafted as their own homegrown cultural heritage. Lucky Brown’s music is a rejection of the elitism, classism and status of the music industrial complex and is an antitoxin to it’s resultant homogeneity. He wants with his heart and his art to transmit an everyday people’s sound, made by everyday people, dedicated to the upliftment of all people.
Skymark – Mukatsuku Presents Skymark [MUKAT059]
Mukatsuku kicks off the incoming autumn period with two delicious slabs of dreamy jazzual bliss from Spanish artist and multi- talented musician Marc Friedli aka Skymark. Both tracks are presented here in a single form for the first time.
Les Choc Stars / Teknokrat’s – Nakombe Nga / What Did He Say [RHRSS25]
Heat in two flavors! Check out the Zaïrian electronic dance floor banger ‘Nakombe Nga’ by Les Choc Stars. Comes with the dope, unheard Belgium new beat version on the flip… Co-curated with renowned record fiend John Gomez.
Mildlife – Phase II [RREP02]
With the release of their debut imminent, Mildlife took retreat at Research Records HQ in Melbourne, staying overnight after recording each morning and afternoon. It resulted in the evolution of the title track, newly imagined and re-contextualised at increased tempo with swathes of improvisation throughout. The studio recording was the culmination of the song’s growth in a live setting, evolving on club stages and at festivals throughout 2017.
VA – Alternative Funk: Volume 2 [PLA024]
The 2nd collection of songs selected from the Alternative Funk series released Vox Man and VP 231 Records. Originally appearing in 1985 across 1 vinyl and 2 cassette albums these cult collections have long been in collectors (and bootleggers) sights and finally see the first official reissue. The series covers the weird, wonderful, esoteric, exotic and quirky sound and puts them in a reset context that immediately gives clarity of the original’s curation. This volume opens with some DIY electro stealers, first with Dee Nasty’s Orientic Groove, where the early French hip-hop pioneer lays down a battle commence of beats, slapped bass and YMO keys, before the second offering from Scoop! and their rap attack, juxtapositions the past series and leads to label heads Vox Populi! & Man and their continued look at the rudiments of cut up manipulation and scratch techniques. The avant rappears with 3M’s percussive marker and legendary Amus Tietchens’ is ever challenging, before Melsjest’s post-punk meets the Weirmar possibly steals the side as Vox Pop spoken outro joins those (micro)dots. The cult of Randall Kennedy returns with another garage-fuzz gem. His stories for wackos’n’weirdos end all too soon and are followed by Liquid Liquid’s Dennis Young, diving deep with Intuition, before Stanalis returns with another winner. Bene Gesserit is a killer and welcome addition, before Kosa return with more industrial clippings and volume 2 heads to the door with Capital Funk’s electro-punk bomb – possibly the series champion – while the slap bass-scratch of California’s Psyclones leads to a music hall end in the homage to mum’s favourite, Chukk. What these Volumes again highlight is how the DIY aesthetic of so many independent labels was supplemented and spread via collections of friends, contemporaries and often, literally pen pals, to mail in their offerings that are then picked for wider ears. While some of these artists have become known, just as many are who and whats, but they sit side-by-side as warranted and often killing the scene of what Axel and co sought to be…the Alternative Funk.
The Hipodrome Of Music 