X-Kalay hit up the land down under once again, this time bringing some pensive, intergalactic electro and house flavours from Sydney native E Davd. The self-styled Cosmic Healer turns in an EP of similar flavor to his first effort; ice cold pads, hypnotic 303 basslines and liberal use of that 707 rim shot combine to create a record shot through with reflection and melancholy.
Two Berlin underdogs and a Detroit ravemaster. ADSX aka Andre Fischer might sound new to many but has been an active part of the underground electronic movement for the last 30 years. Benji DF aka Hanoben is no newbie to the scene either and might have soundtracked your night if you were to be found at clubs like Tresor or Snax in the late 90s. Together they recorded an ode to aural sex, its acid counterpart, and a genius sketch of a club banger. When label honcho Capablanca heard the latter had little doubts about commissioning an extended mix to Motor City’s Special Forces Gen. Sharif Laffrey delivers an unstoppable 12 minute dancefloor annihilator.
The second volume of machine funk features the world famous Luke Eargoggle as well as the A.I. being, KROM3, Philadelphia’s Speaking Parts, and New York’s Heidi Sabertooth. Classic electro/techno tracks. Speaking Parts sounds like an industrial version of mid-80s LA electro. Sabertooth brings the funk with a detailed track which evolves as it plays.
Lisière Collectif returns on their own label with LSR No. 02 EP, a collection of tracks following 3 different ideas and a rework from finish duo called Morpohology.
French duo Too Many Cars are launching their own label Too Many Cars Records in order to release the finest House, Italo, Breakbeat and Acid music. Side A is all about House and Breakbeat stuff while Side B shows off Italo’s huge comeback in modern DJ culture.
Articulat is the new artist name of Ovidiu Stanciu, a Romanian dj/producer living in Rotterdam. Under the moniker Manikin, he worked on several concept albums with titles like Popular Mechanics, Taxim and Grandma’s Attic Revival over the last couple of years. The A-side includes three thriving and pounding slow-beat bangers, while the B-side shows a Articulat’s more versatile style. Expect experimental electronic songs inspired by themes like Steampunk and Romanian folklore, very precisely engineered to experience storytelling in the most physical way.
The undisputed one man army returns to Bordello A Parigi with an adventurous tour through the history of his beloved sports club. Palermo Disco Squad is Innershades aka the Belgian artist Thomas Blanckaert.
Arcane electronic duo Violence, from Quebec, Canada, show their dark side on the four track 10-inch Le Flux de la Nature. Their underground spirit of new wave, French vocals, opaque and sometimes disturbing electronics reflect the complex rhythm of nature and intense human relationships.
Dj Nephil returns for the 5th installment on his Gravitational Waves imprint. 6 uncompromising cuts of eerie synth lines, vocal samples and growling basslines form this EP with unblinking confidence. Gravitational Waves continues to shine, as always don’t miss it.
Following 2017’s ‘Path of Ruin’, DJ Richard returns to Dial with his much-anticipated sophomore LP, ‘Dies Irae Xerox’. Undoubtedly one of the most distinctive and fully-formed electronic producers in recent memory, DJ Richard imprinted the sound of a bubbling US underground with his label, White Material, founded in 2012 alongside Young Male. Now firmly settled once more in his hometown of Providence, ‘Dies Iræ Xerox’ is a personal and uncompromising journey that finds the Rhode Island native in reflective form, journeying without compromise into both his creative influences and personal psyche.
Brokntoys welcomes French producer Raphael Vendramini aka Automat. Known for his electro output on labels such as SCSI-AV, this 5-track EP showcases excerpts of his unique dark and atmospheric sound and includes the haunting ‘Dark Days’ previously released digitally on Parisian label Milles Feuilles.
Separated from both its reputation and its sleeve art, the music of Muslimgauze explores the relationship of visual sensations – space, colour, depth, illusion – to the listening experience. The music on ‘Maroon’ is dub-like inspired techno music, laid back with voices appearing randomly in the mix. The thick drums and rich found sounds that densely populate the soundscapes on “Maroon” give materiality to the warm presence of the synth washes. The music is so layered and textured that it ceases to be aural and exists almost solely in the realm of sight and touch. Devoid of reference to any external reality, Muslimgauze’s Ambience gets remoulded by subjective experience and moved around in the memory. By shifting the quality of perception with the producer’s sleight of hand, Bryn Jones (the Mancunian behind Muslimgauze) makes explicit the interiority of the senses. Thus, the fact that our inner life determines our relationship to the world outside becomes the music’s unspoken subject. Divorcing Muslimgauze’s music from its image is like listening to Take That without seeing Robbie’s pelvis or Mark’s pouting. This is precisely why the music is so effective. Relocating music’s power within the listener instead of as an external force acting upon the listener forces reappraisal and reinterpretation. The muezzin’s wailing call to prayer and the shrieks of women mourning the dead conjure up images of a fierce ‘death-to-the-infidels’ fervour in the Western imagination, and are recast as holy prayers for the ultimate, womb-like peace that most Ambient music aims to express. The usually easy exoticism of sampled tablas and ouds instead hint at the dread on the road to the water coloured bliss of run-of-the-mill Ambient and force the listener to internalise difference and confront the received images of Islam that Muslimgauze detour by such strong powers of suggestion.
Örtmek comes back round, presenting another vinyl only pressing of three invaluable edits of vintage Turkish funk, rock and disco delicacies. Following the raw, percussive experiments of the first release. Opening track ‘Özil Dans’ rains down crashing cymbals and freak-out-worthy wah guitars, maintaining an irresistible and authentic groove that doesn’t falter for five minutes of Eurasian hypnosis. ‘Dokuz Sekiz’ weaves traditional string elements alongside bursts of wild chanting. Finally, ‘Mozart’in Davul’ stitches a frantic, dense rhythm from the fuzz and feedback of an unknown slab of Turkish psychedelia.
“Cold Turkey Time” from Ernie Hawks’ debut album gets a single treatment here arriving back to back with the 45 only track “Tracking Down”. The latter should make the b-boys move even if heard in the relaxing steams of a Turkish bath, where its breezy melodies eventually point at.
Liverpool based producer Mark Forshaw, aka Casio Royale and member of the Phantom Planet Outlaws, has built up a solid back catalogue of releases with the likes of Dixon Avenue Basement Jams, Computer Controlled, Mathematics, Unknown to the Unknown and more. He makes the transition from playing at I Love Acid’s parties to featuring on the label. Four more tracks of acid bassline music to jack to.
Distorted drums and eerie melodies on this split between Frak and Jack Pattern on Cosmic Pint Glass.
Andrew Red Hand from Romania’s spiritual capital of lasi stands up as an unwavering militant of the underground, a true Detroit spirit possessed as Romanian humanoid. From his early gigs throwing parties as one of the first generation DJs in lasi since 1997, ARH continues to break boundaries as part of the Romanian resistance scene and numerous time portals as they open around Europe. His blistering, mind-bending sets such as at Berlin’s Tresor and Griessmuehle see the DJ with the red hand fuse pure Detroit electro and techno with the sounds of techno-bass, raw Chicago acid house, classics and futuristic beats.
Coming from different regions in France, Violent Quand On Aime’s members have joined forces to canalize their energies into something truly essential. Far away from hype and expectation they have created their own peculiar world. Expect a certain electronic griminess with hints of 90’s hiphop, postpunk alienation and an affinity for Musique Concrète. The overall experience is similar to the excitement one feels when hearing something genuinely original. This mini-album is the follow-up to their very impressive 7” on Le Syndicat Des Scorpions.
Mick Wills makes magic again with his cuts and transforms two tracks of the past in two superb master pieces. From glorious Italo-disco to a hypnotic Industrial, one track by side on this new release on Aspecto Humano.
The Hipodrome Of Music 