Lena Willikens is the kind of artist who’s only capable of following one path – her own. In many ways, she’s the archetypal selector, an unpredictable DJ who often eschews all notions of genre in favor of what she describes as “different temperatures, different time zones, different moods and a healthy portion of chaos.” Although her methods have certainly proven effective on the dancefloor, Willikens also refuses to be bound by its traditional limitations.
XOR Gate is the brainchild of Heinrich Mueller, one half of Drexciya and Dopplereffekt. In linguistic or electronic logic, the XOR Gate designates a device, digital or grammatical, which outputs a value only when two di ering inputs are fed into it. This can be summed up with the formula ‘one or the other but not neither, nor both.’ A conic section is a shape created as a plane intersects a cone. This can result in di erent figures such as a circle, an ellipse, a parabola or a hyperbola. Conic Sections is here composed of eight themes, or shapes, over which waveform and synthesis entirely merge with human emotions. The line is blurred. These eight themes are intertwined, forming one long musical string. The line is forever blurred.
Zeta Reticula a.k.a. UMEK drops a dose of razor sharp electro, built in collaboration with mysterious co-producer Helga Neuer. Having released records under the electro-driven moniker for the past 18 years, Zeta Reticula continues to develop his unique soundscapes of harmonic electro bliss, cinematic chords and powerful, dynamic bass. From the A-side’s anthemic title track and moodier journey of Luminsferatu, to the trippy realms of Mimic To Appear and Cromat, I Am Mensch truly encapsulates the sound of Zeta Reticula, and carefully blends inspiration from past, present and future electro domains.
Kenneth Scott finally making his debut on Vakant. Remixes by The Exaltics, co-owner of acclaimed electro imprint Solar One Music, and Evigt Mörker of Northern Electronics fame.
Chinaski on Bordello. Beats parry and pound with the intensity of an EBM hammer, yet, strolling through those meaty kick drums stride shimmering melodies that sport elements of new beat, italo and techno. The rakish grooves of ‘Surfin’ Dead’ occupies the A-Side. Bold rhythms fly in the face of burbling bass and cascading chords as Chinaski takes control. A body pumping work out follows. ‘Unschuld Der Sinne’ throws beat shaped fists from the needle drop as a brawl breaks out. Born in the smoke machines of Belgium, this bruiser balances its rough edged rhythms with beaming bars. There’s to be no relenting as the closer screams like a nitro-fuelled missle. ‘Ab In Die Ewigkeit’ soars is a muscle-bound sky rocket set to keep any floor rumbling to the break of dawn.
The partnership from The Netherlands and Italy, Auke Riemersma (aka Aux Tha Masterfader), Erio Simonini and Gilberto Caleffi (aka Disco Doubles) together form Light Cycles, a trio raised on sci-fi sound tracks and smouldering synth anthems. These influences are omnipresent in the group’s debut 12”: Flowing. Addictively catchy hooks and clean beats are central to the Light Cycles’ sound with their dazzling melodies glimmering across the 12”. Elements of disco are folded into these spirited compositions as this forward-looking triumvirate marry past inspirations with a hope-filled future.
Minimalist, swinging, fast paced DJ tool Techno exclusives from DVS1’s ‘Fabric Mix’.
Tresor Records announces a new commission, bringing together two of its most time-honored contributors. Berlin’s Thomas Fehlmann and Detroit’s Terrence Dixon came together in Detroit to produce this expressive album. An avant-premiere live performance of this album was presented at Tresor’s annual Detroit showcase in May 2017. Composed of six titles and exploring a wide range of rhythms and emotions, “We Take It From Here” is a celebration of resilience, patience, creativity and devotion.
‘Caibu’ is Paul Rose’s first album as SCB. The album builds on material from the ‘Below The Line’, ‘Old Media New Society’, and ‘Engineered Morality’ EPs which explored a fictional narrative in which a hypothetical timeline is corrupted by a climate-related disaster. The title of the album itself refers to an imagined surgical procedure where cognitive ability is augmented through transplant from one brain to another. As such, ‘Caibu’ invites the listener to forge their own ideas on the development of society in the context of crisis.
The Harlem based producer Bas van Vuurde a.k.a. Colophon is back with a release on Deeptrax. The Heritage EP is a hommage to analog machine soul techno, as he calls it himself. Deeptrax is presenting future sounds in fresh modern cuts with a stunning electro-ish remix by VC-118A.
Spacetravel and ninth super strike from Melliflow. an electronic music label based in Berlin. founded and curated by Vera & Alexandra. Spacetravel is the new soundscape project of Luca Cara.
Despite of his young age, Saile from Berlin found his trademark sound already, delivering 3 timeless house cuts for eternity- backed by with a bumping remix by one of Smallville’s mainstays Christopher Rau.
In 2017, D’Marc Cantu released the critically-acclaimed “The Lodge” LP on Altered Moods, which was the first chapter in a two-part story. The second part is now incoming, in the form of a remix EP of one of the most popular cuts on the album, “S. E. G.” The new record contains both the original track and three remixes created by Larry Heard, Malcolm Moore and Chicago Skyway.
From Conrad Schnitzler in the 1960s to the pioneers of Detroit techno in the 1980s, experimental sonic artists were often inspired by the metallic noises of industrial factories. Schnitzler wanted to recreate the sounds he heard in his apprenticeship as a locksmith with musical instruments, and the sons and daughters of the midwestern automobile-industry generation programmed the motown soul into Japanese electronic music equipment. With his new piece The Metal Beat EP, Credit 00 wants to get in line with this tradition of transforming factory sounds into music. Each of the three tracks reflects on the role of the human being in an industrial environment. The never-ending movement of the machine becomes the rhythm, while the melody embodies our forlorn voices in the vastness of the factory site. The blues played by machines–modern work songs for a post-industrial society.
Neubau brings up some experimental bits & pieces by Gil.Barte from Lyon, operator of the newly founded Kump label.
Streng Geheim EP is Alexander Arpeggio’s first ever solo 12″. Coming out on Vienna’s admirable Neubau label, the EP is druggy, trippy and strangely alluring, featuring impressive use of psychedelic electronics and exotic, Middle Eastern melodies. Check, for example, the foreboding chords, gently pulsing drum machine beats and distortion-drenched Middle Eastern motifs of “Streng Geheim”, which is also given a weirder and even more hallucinogenic flavour on the acid-flecked Geier Aus Stahl Remix. Bonus cut “Du Hast Kein Gesicht”, an unusual but superb combination of muscular EBM grooves, whistling melodies and glassy-eyed house riffs, is also well worth a listen.
