After a couple of releases for the label, including many notable remixes, Jamie Paton returns to the warm glow of Especial for a collective vinyl only EP of 4 ‘unreleased’ remixes for the likes of Sexy Merlin, Guy Schalom, Gatos Negros and Blancmange.
5th Birthday comp featuring a host of artistst who’ve graced the label over the perioid.. Exclusives from Tolouse Lowtrax, Geena, Iueke, Domenique Dumont, . Inoue Shirabe, Raphael Top-Secret and more… Gatefold Sleeve. The music on this compilation covers a wide spectrum of moods and atmospheres, from the dark and raw excursions from Tolouse Low Trax or Iueke to the lush instrumental crafted by Nico Motte and Syracuses Antoine Kogut; however as the listener gets deeper into the compilation, the whole of the tunes, sitting side by side on the records, start to make sense as they all seem to point towards the same direction. If one should try isolating a common trait from all these songs, one might come to the conclusion that it lies in the way they all speak directly to the listeners emotional receptors, unvarnished and without abusing of producers tricks.
Adballons (made-up word from ‘advertising balloon’) was a duo formed in Tokyo and active only between 1986-88. Equipped with some gear (Casio CZ-5000, Teisco S-110F, Roland MC-202, Roland TR-909, Korg KPR-77) they released just one 7′ in 1987 and played some shows in local clubs before disappear and become part of the obscure and inscrutable Japanese underground scene.
Though he may still be tweaking the space laser to perfect album ‘Numero Twomero’, Terje has still found the time to tease us with a sneak preview of what’s to come in the form of this body moving, brain grooving cover version of a Norse synth spectacular from the dystopian dance floors of ’82. Inspired by his Dansbar diversions, Todd took to the studio for a little multitrack mania, replaying every part of this doomy dancer with all the Olsen sparkle you could ever wish for. Luring Det Gylne Triangel back into the booth for the first time in 25 years, Terje topped off the pops with a newly recorded vocal from the original lyricist, closing the temporal loop and opening the door to dance floor nirvana.
New York native Shawn O’Sullivan returns to Avian as 400PPM with debut LP, ‘Fit for Purpose’. As an artist, O’Sullivan has long since explored the juncture between hard-hitting, functional dance floor material and more lofty, conceptual work. From a purely structural standpoint, the artist’s return to Avian bears all the hallmarks of previous output under the alias, utilising the same palette found on early EP’s for Guy Brewer’s label. Stripped back and driven, the music marries caustic drum-machine polyrhythms with warping, pitch bent leads and characteristically atmospheric use of reverb. It’s a decidedly dance floor offering, but the music comes refracted through O’Sullivan’s own lens, with plenty of elegant references to a career spent exploring much of the Techno genre’s periphery, from Noise to New Wave. Crushed vox bubble up from beneath wrought-iron percussion and the artist takes time to step away from high energy 4×4 workouts to explore more complex rhythmic structures and harsh, low tempo grooves. While O’Sullivan’s music as 400PPM might eschew the colour and vibrance of some of the unabashed hedonists that made up the Club Kids scene – who reinvented the DIY spirit of punk rock and incorporated Sci-Fi and the circus, there is on the one hand an undeniable sense of both the rising hysteria that comes with the pervasive and unbridled drug use for which the group were as infamous as their outfits and rejection of then societal norms, and on the other, a further anxiety regarding the notion of machine-made music in a contemporary society swiftly approaching a new and daunting technological age.
Roog Unit is the new production duo fusing together the talents of Luke Slater and Ø [Phase] a.k.a. Ashley Burchett, the music being the result of many months of discourse and growing connection. The full dose of “Mesh” shows two producers clearly at their most focused and precise. Like their best work to date, it will get fans’ active imaginations churning – and leave them wondering what this collaboration has in store for the near future.
From Chicago Noleian Reusse (Africans With Mainframes) serves 3 tracks of alien jacking weirdness. The package is completed with a remix by labelboss Paul du Lac aka Paul West.
The return of Rome based ACEW label with 2 tracks involved in minimalist, electro with an IDM touch. Vocals from Carl Finlow.
One of the founding fathers of Chicago house, himself a grandson to a DJ and frequently alongside other greats such as Ron Hardy on the decks, Gene Hunt summons a 3-tracker for the Midnight Shift label. True house and techno direct from the source and in his own words, a rather ‘jungly’ take of it due to the tracks’ chaotic percussion.
Identified Patient debuts on Pinkman with a brimming 12” with claustrophobia and paranoia. Acrid acid lines have been boiled down and smeared across cranking percussion. Sired in a soup of static, a blackened groove stalks the entire EP. Dusty beats are rinsed in smelting liquor, a smouldering EBM undercurrent surfacing as the noose tightens to a close.
Alessandro Adriani weaves a nightmarish scenario as the Mannequin man returns to Pinkman’s Broken Dreams with four hardened works. Beats are shaven into rigid points as EBM echoes are speared with contemporary contempt. Throughout the quartet are moments of exotic abstraction, psychological stresses and visceral disorders. Music for sleepless nights and addled minds.
Even though they’ve only played together on three occasions since 2013, The Mulholland Free Clinic has already been praised as one of the ultimate collaborations when it comes to underground and improvised electronic live music. Move D, Jonah Sharp, and Juju & Jordash build this so-called super-supergroup by combining their individual and mutual projects rEAGENZ and Magic Mountain High. Using an armada of analog hardware, The Mulholland Free Clinic’s self-titled debut album is the product of a live set recorded at Berlin’s emerging party series AWAY at ://about blank in August 2016. Their three-hour long, totally improvised jam session was edited down to a little over 80 minutes with seven tracks internalizing the motto that you won’t benefit from diverse perspectives if you aren’t open to utilizing differences. Like a well-coordinated ensemble, The Mulholland Free Clinic develops a common language by acknowledging their multi-variant range of influences and dynamics while constantly shifting, rearranging, and finally communicating ideas without being beholden to any genre. Whether it’s the rich and beat-less ambiance or the synth-dominated excursions, the cosmic futurism or the overall melodic playfulness: the quartet knows its crafts, mastering the off-the-cuff approach to illuminate all corners on and off the dance floor.
Of Paradise welcome Baltra into the inner circle for number three; a 2XLP reissue of his “No Regrets” album. Originally released in February 2016 as a limited edition cassette on the artists own 96 And Forever label, this is the first time any of these tracks have been made available on vinyl. “No Regrets” captures the deep, raw emotion of the big city, taking the preconceived ideas of underground electronic music and lovingly twisting them into something new.
Patrice Scott returns to home base with a fresh trio of sonic delicacies for the Sistrum faithful. Bringing his signature depth of sound yet infusing a sense of funk, Patrice lays it out proper, as always.
Two of the Canadian Riveria’s most prolific artists come together for this special edition split record on Heart to Heart. Elka (ESB) and D Tiffany (Dj Zozi) team up to elevate your minds with Detroit schooled house and sprawling dubby experiments, a colourful melange on offer for the heads. Ready to take you to the ‘zone’ whatever the place or ‘vibe’.
A beautiful melancolic four tracker house record from the Japanese producer. Includes a DJ Dog and Jayda G remix.
Paradygm Shift is the first Robert Hood album to be released since 2012. A staggering record of techno dynamite sees the Detroit legend excelling at what he does best. Paradygm Shift is return to the distinguished style that defined Robert Hood’s music in the early 90s. It is the older, and more mature brother to Hood’s classic Minimal Nation, highlighting his more evolved, technical craftsmanship, It is an album of crisp, smooth and delicately orchestrated techno that is quintessentially minimal in focus, and grandiose in sound, juxtaposed with electronic funk, wrapped up in blisteringly urgent, and honest, pulsating techno.
The Aula Magna team presents the label’s tenth release, Rom by Seph, featuring Cosmin TRG as remixer. A modern and energetic EP that showcases the artist’s unique techno sound: deep, robust & daring. Lead track Rom kicks off the record in breakbeat manner, an epic cut that twists its sounds progressively through distorted percussive and melodic riffs. This is followed by Cosmin TRG’s tribal take on the title track, a mind-dazzling and hypnotic reinterpretation. Two techno highlights from Seph’s latest live sets thrust the B side even further into the dance floor. Inner warps its solid rhythmic core through swirling dub noise mayhem and P+1 ends the record with a steady synth chord that evolves throughout the track on top of a powerful, stripped down beat.
The Hipodrome Of Music 