Next up for the brand new DKMNTL UFO series is Rohan Walder aka Randomer. The Londoner graces our new platform with his signature sound that blurs the lines between big boned.
001.Features
Dircsen – Encounter [ENDILL008]
A German cooperation. The still quite undiscovered Dircsen has delivered three diverse tracks, ready for all occasions. Credit 00, rolling stone of the east German underground club scene has taken the record to another level with his more experimental rave-ish tape-echoed remix work.
Cute Heels – Third Skin EP [DE123]
Cute Heels is the solo project of Victor Lenis, a contemporary artist living in Barcelona, Spain. He grew up in Bogotá, Columbia during the 1990s, surrounded by the radial punk scene. “Third Skin” is a 4-track EP that connects the dots between Detroit techno, early Chicago house and Belgium electronic body music. Inspired by equal parts Liaisons Dangereuses, Drexciya and Black Devil Disco Club. On the A-side are two fresh compositions recorded in 2015. “Third Skin” kicks things in a metallic EBM funk with a pounding bottom end. “Lipstick Information” takes the listener on a dark, psychedelic and twisted journey through thrillingly intense arpeggiations. On the flip we present two remixes. The first is from Steffi and the second remix comes from Michel Amato aka The Hacker.
Hekkla – Sunset Strip EP [02AM]
02AM is an 4 track EP by the young producer Hekkla from Eindhoven. The first track is ‘Sunset Strip’, a slowly build house track that moves like the last waves of heat at the end of a hot summers day, walking home feeling satisfied, all ready for the night. ‘Saturday Morning Sentimentality’ is a hard to pinpoint track that sounds like the bastard son of a trio between the melancholic side of Cyndi Lauper, Alphaville and the echoes of a cheesy saturday morning cartoon theme song from the late 80’s. On the other side ‘Memories of Tau Ceti’ feels like tumbling into space with only the memories left of a good time on an alien world, accelerating faster and faster but still enjoying it, even though you know that the vacuum of space will eventually kill you. Finishing with the hardest track ‘No Math’, because, boys and girls, it’s no math.
Mister Ho & Heap – Feeling Hopeful [ESP045]
Mister Ho & Heap close their eyes and float downstream. This is their second offering for the ESP Institute. On side A, Feeling Hopeful is a straight-ahead burner comprised of minimal thuds, bumps, honks, blips, bleeps and bloops—a harmonious arrangement of percussive elements and soaring synth chords that feels both slow and fast paced, sunset and sunrise hour, island back roads and traffic in metropolis. On side B, Gis Gis explores a similar notion of contrast, setting a the scene with a driving mechanical hi-hat that never dips below the selection of luscious melodies—a cha-cha bassline, breezy chords and a slippery lead hook that collectively invite us all for poolside Pin?a Coladas at the Ho & Heap villa. These two songs were conceived in the year of the monkey.
VA – Village Elders 001 [GV005]
Green Village presents Village Elders 001, a compilation EP featuring new material from artists who have already flown the flag for GV. The A-side is held down by the Plan B duo of DJ Spider and Dakini9, purveyors of the Metro Area’s dirtiest and deepest house sounds. Spider gets toxic a second time, following his 2013 Instruction drop with ‘Toxic Trace 2’, a thickly layered deep house cut whose seedy percussion underbelly contrasts vividly with the more traditional deep house pads that accompany it. Dakini9’s ‘Lost Paradise’ is dark and mysterious like its title, the hats, trumpets, and vocals emerging in tangled webs of dub effects, a strong follow-up to her dope EP for the label. Disaroen, a duo from Toronto, half of which previously appeared on GV, turns in the most barren of the four tracks, ‘Serious Doorman’, heads-down techno that crackles to life halfway in and an auspicious debut for a promising new group. Last is Nicuri, a rising star whose ‘Ripples of Time’ closes the EP in his signature searching, melodic style.
DJ QU – Conjur [SMR016]
DJ Qu returns with his sophomore album ‘Conjure’ out on Strength Music Recordings. Five years on from the release of his debut album, Gymnastics, Ramon Lisandro Quezada finally serves up a follow-up. ‘Conjure’ is a fine set that neatly showcases the varied sides of the prolific deep house producer’s output. So, we get Iberican tribal drums fused with hazy trumpet solos (“Feed Off Of”), dreamy ambience (“Candlelit”), groovy downtempo beats (the hip-hop influenced “Supafly”), sumptuous and sensual dancefloor deepness (“Lotus (In Memory Of)”), and dark, intense, occasionally dubbed-out late night business (“Whistle Song”, “Visitation”, the stripped-back hip-house of “Toc”). There’s little in the way of filler or fluff, and plenty of playable, club-ready material.
Stephan Lopkin – The Strategic Steam Reserve [TC005]
Next up on Titanic City is Stephen Lopkin, serving up five new cuts on The Strategic Reserve EP. Stephen makes his mark with a release firmly influenced by his passion for Detroit and Chicago’s House and Techno scenes. It’s a release layered with strings, soaring pads and an abundance of hats and snares.. everything we love at Titanic City. There’s a rough and raw DIY feel to this music that makes it jump out of the speakers and arrest your attention, as is always the case with Titanic City.
Decius – Rupture Boutique EP [MAMSW013]
London trio Decius are back with the “Rupture Boutique EP”. Three tracks of sleazy/acid/sex music.
Perseus Traxx – Take Your Chance [BAR008]
Killer old school analogue hardware jacking acid tracks by Perseus Traxx. Expect those raw bunker/acid planet vibes on this new Barba release.
Rudolf C – Synaesthesia [XK003]
From the jagged electro tinged ‘Seattle City Light’, through the drifting hazy levels of ‘Blacked’ and ‘Pisces’ to the kicked back paradise of ‘Untitled Monday’, Rudolf C serves up a masterclass in blissed out backyard house.
Din A Testbild – Programm 1&2 [MNQ090/MNQ091]
Early pioneers of the German New Wave music scene, Din A Testbild were formed in 1978 by Mark Eins and Gudrun Gut (former member of Einstürzende Neubauten, Mania D. and Malaria!). Din A Testbild played a significant role in defining the avant-garde music of Berlin. Legendary is their partecipation at the “Festival Genialer Dilletanten” in 1981. “Programm 1” and ‘Programm 2’ were mixed and produced by Klaus Schulze on his own record label Innovative Communication in 1980. This first vinyl repress celebrates the 35th anniversary of this classic electronic album.
Dmx Krew – The New Age Travellers [EKS009]
This record can easily be classified as Library. Listening to these tracks moves your senses back and forth through time, from 80’s sci-fi back to Raymond Scott’s early 50’s experiments. The perfect soundtrack for bedrooms, late night dinners and greenhouses Ed Dmx contributes to a tradition in musical history, a richly vivid trail in which composers influence each other’s harmonies and ways of writing tunes, like an endless ping-pong game between minds and individuals but at the same time between continents and places throughout the world. Unlike many of Ed Dmx’ electro- oriented productions, ‘TheNew Age Travellers’ shows a more intimate side of his work. A story told through short synthesized conversations and electric piano improvisations is reminding us to cry, dream, remember, feel, live … and love.
Space Art – Nous Savons Tout [DE124]
Space Art was the French electronic duo of Dominique Perrier (keyboards, vocoder) and Roger Rizzitelli (drums, percussion). Between 1977 and 1981, they released three albums of comsic synth pop, in which they laid much groundwork for French electronic music to follow. Space Art’s third single “Nous Savons Tout” was released in 1978 on IF Records. Their sound was similar to Jarre’s early analog albums, but with the addition of real drums. Dominique plays an ARP Odyssey, Clavinet, Eminent, and Minimoog, maximizing their warm textures. Roger plays the drums in an intricate fashion, influenced subtly by jazz fusion. “Nous Savons Tout” features an early prototype of the Vocoder, which the band used to create the chorus. On the flip is the slower ”Melodie Moderne”, an electronic take on classical rock songs of the 1970s. Both tracks were recorded at Studio Ferber Paris in June 1978. Like Richard Pinhas/Heldon and Yellow Magic Orchestra, Space Art created their own brand of dark space disco, paving the way for bands like Air and Mellow.
Xao Seffcheque – Kess 02 [KESS002]
“On KESS02 we go straight to the core of the Kess Kill sound and aesthetic with this contemporary of Liaisons Dangereuses and D.A.F. Xao produced some extremely singular music in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which makes for a very proud first reissue for Kess Kill. This is music so unparalleled that making comparisons is completely redundant. Think jacked up post-punk with manic rhythmic tendencies and you’re halfway there.”
Jeff Mills – Free Fall Galaxy [AX048]
A dark space in time absorbs whatever is on its way; without a sign of sensitivity nor compassion and on behalf of its own continuity, the Free Fall Galaxy is a threat to all which it surrounds. Beyond our ability as humans to distinguish or analyse galaxies, the Free Fall Galaxy does not retain any kind of order in its nature. Devouring and moving in unexpected orbits, all that is known is that it endlessly consumes without becoming larger in mass nor in size. Other than that, everything is yet to be discovered. We must conjecture that this Galaxy holds many keys to unsolved speculations regarding space, time and our own existence.
Huerco S – For Those Of You Who Have Never (& Also Those Who Have) [PRB018]
Proibito presents “For Those Of You Who Have Never (And Also Those Who Have)”, an album by Huerco S. Nine of the densest ambient and meditative music pieces since the dawn of music!! Sounds both extremely of this time, and of no time whatsoever. Monolithic and stark but extremely warm, intensely personal, and for every one in every which way.
Roger 23 – Extended Play [ITX008]
Roger Reuter has only one previous album to his name, the woozy, edge-of-reason ambience of 2015’s Mensch 001. Extended Play is its’ follow up, and sees the experienced German producer appear on Ilian Tape for the first time. Rooted in his usual brand of unsettling, otherworldly ambience, the six tracks variously draw influence from early IDM, drone, dub techno, industrial and experimental film soundtracks. Despite these nods to familiar experimental styles, it’s an album that can easily be listened to in a variety of situations, and never drags. It’s strongest moments, such as the mournful ambient throb of “State IIX Interlude II”, are particularly beguiling.
Orbe / Kristina – Analog Theories [ASR018]
The new Analog Solutions 018 presents a various artists, by Kristina and ORBE, that combine an EP with a personal character, full of floating arrangements and inherently techno flavor, but sophisticatedly Dub. It seems that the label Analog Solutions will take refuge next references on collaborations lauching a series of various artists so better to be alert.
Jeff Mills – The Domino Effect EP [AX071]
The first installment of 12inch EP from Jeff Mills’ new solo LP, Free Fall Galaxy, the ninth chapter of his ”science-fiction story” Sleeper Wakes, and first since 2014’s Emerging Crystal Universe.
The Hipodrome Of Music 