For the second release, Expansion Unit returns with another three tracker of bass-heavy electro robotics, lush techno variations and beautifully tweaked Pro One madness.
001.Features
Rutherford – Singularis [BT006]
The second release of the year for Brokntoys finds the label returning to Sweden’s Ronnie ‘Rutherford’ Johansson. ‘Singularis’ represents one of the rare occasions the Gothenburg-based artist has released outside of Luke Eargoggle’s Stilleben label, and features some proper icy electro productions as well as more abstract fare.
DMX Krew – Abstract Forms Synth Funk Vol. 2 – Dogg Fungk [SYFUNK002]
DMX Krew continues to shine on Abstract Forms new Synth Funk offshoot. Like the first EP ‘Electro Worm’, ‘Dogg Fungk’ features more old school flavours and for Volume 2 Ed gets busy with some killer synth-driven Jazz and Funk grooves.
Calimex Mental Implant Corp. – El Saber Del Arpavor [NW003]
Danny Wolfers comes again with a new project, Calimex Mental Implant Corp., on his label Nightwind Records. 13 summer cruising tracks very much in the style of Legowelts PPU release from last year. Gold plated cassette in faux plastic luxurious case.
Eduardo de la Calle – The Intellinet Prophecy [BAD006]
Eduardo De La Calle is back with his debut album and it comes through the young Badance label. The Intellinet Prophecy is a techno album with audible influences of jazz and the supremely scientific, where tracks like “Call From Beyond” or “Faith Necessary” go way beyond the dancefloor and land somewhere in outer space, a place on which genres don’t seem to exist and the passage of time is swamped in beats and melodies.
Leonardo Martelli – Menti Singole [ATN021]
Antinote introduce Leonardo Martelli who’s Menti Singole 12″ again proves what a vital and interesting label the Paris concern has become under the tutelage of Quentin Vandewalle. Leonardo Martelli is a relative newcomer from Foligno in Italy, with just one prior cassette behind him, which appeared on Drvg Cvltvre’s New York Haunted label. There is a distinct electro flavour hovering over Martelli’s Antinote debut. Of course there is still plenty of room for the kind of leftfield meandering that Antinote has made its name on, but with a more forthright club purpose beating at its heart.
Internet Spy Machine – Semiotics [MYST005]
Jackson Lee & Ben Jenkins return to their roots. Equally influenced by Detroit warehouse parties & metaphysics of Middle-American industrial decay to advance Basic Channel/Deepchord blueprint, morphing dub sound into baroque acid dreamscape.
Abayomi – You Sleep, They Live! [ABAYOMI001]
Jesse Abayomi is a DJ/producer who uprooted his London residence and settled down in Berlin to be an integral part of the avant-garde of the electronic music scene. Abayomi’s sound is significantly influenced by deep, raw Detroit Techno, dirty Chicago House music all with a twist of edgy UK bass heavy flavour to boot. With one foot in Techno’s past and one foot firmly stepping into the future, his passion for music goes far beyond conventional ideas of what music can do – listening to his hypnotic sets and productions, he elevates crowds to unimaginable places.
30drop – Superconductivity [30D003]
With 30drop comes again exoplanets new stuff. The project named after his own label brand presents four cuts ranging from cosmic quantum nervous compulsion to introspection. Harmonious combination of complex percussive rhythms gives way to the already identifiable sonic universe of 30drop that turns into an effective formula at any club aimed at the forefront of the electronic dance music. Sacred geometry and style, concept and form, all to the service of the fundamental search. The roots are deep and horizon is vast. “Superconductivity EP” extends the scope of 30drop positioning on the edge of the sideral dance floor.
Orbe – Music Of The Sphere [ORB003]
A NASA satellite has confirmed the ancestral tradition of the -music of the spheres-, that celestial bodies emit harmonic sounds. Although the music of the spheres has led first to the notion of universal harmony and then symmetry, it has now been discovered that the Sun s atmosphere actually emits ultrasonic sounds and interprets a score formed by waves that are about 300 times more severe than tones that can be captured the human ear. This time, ORBE represents these sounds.
Tadeo – Circles Inside Circles [BELIEF005]
Tadeo does it with style and grace on the new Belief System release. Deep trippy techno tracks.
Matrixxman – Homesick [GI245LP]
Matrixxman uses his debut album to evoke visions of a not-too-distant-future with music made both for the dancefloor and the early morning zone-outs that follow. These are the real world applications of Homesick, though Duff comes to it all from an entirely different mindset. “We will have the technological capability to fully map out a human brain in its entirety within 30 years,” he starts. “The implications of such a possibility are deep and far reaching. We will be crossing a rubicon towards a new phase in human consciousness. I am one person that is prepared to take that step.” Once you emerge on the other side of Homesick, it seems possible that Matrixxman already has.
Andreas Gehm / Elec Pt1 – Yes Or No [HAPSKL007]
Cologne based acid maverick Andreas Gehm dons his Elec Pt1 guise for his debut 12″ on Bristol’s Happy Skull. The A-Side see’s the German producer take us deep in to jak-beat territory with ‘Yes or No’, a riotous fusion of scatter bomb 707’s, hard hitting claps and undulating acid lines. ‘Summer Time in Coloniae’ lightens the mood slightly, a misty eyed homage to his hometown complete with melancholic synths and yearning melodies. Rounding off the 12″ is ‘Going By’, possibly the most adventurous cut of the three. A dense pulp of saturated drum machine noise, destined for only the wildest of dance floors.
WC0016 / Abono – Untitled EP [AIAN001]
The first release on Allisandnot label is a split EP between WC0016 & Abono. Gritty, lo-fi acid techno.
Khotin – For U To Feel [HTH004]
After making his debut with a delightfully dusty scalpel job on Canada’s Common Edit imprint, Khotin spent 2014 showcasing home-made blends of new age deep house and intoxicating “intelligent techno” on 1080p and Normals Welcome. Here, he pops up on Heart To Heart with more melodious, dreamy, retro-futurist fare. There’s naturally much to admire throughout, from the relentless drum machine handclaps, swirling pads and crystalline hits of “AT03”, to the intergalactic textures, thumping kick-drums and spacey electronics of “XP Waste”. Best of all, though, is “For U To Feel”, whose bubbling electronics and picture postcard melodies are brilliantly offset by a clattering drum machine groove.
STL – Simply Positive [SMALLVILLE043]
Stephan ‘STL’ Laubner’s new release on Smallville Records features two deep house tracks.Opener “Heaven’s Vape” (we chuckled, at least) peppering a rubbery, low-end groove with tuneful synthesizers and glistening electronics. There’s a similar love-of-life demonstrated on flipside “Joy Operator”, with winding synth motifs, lazy synth-strings and tumbling electronics draped over a notably bullish, forthright groove. Both tracks are typical of Smallville’s output, but rather less obtuse than Laubner’s usual fare.
XDB – Mitos & Enpii [DNP017]
Two Raw, atmospheric house and techno tracks by the mastermind XDB completed with two absolutely outstanding remixes from his friends of the Even Drones crew.
Orson Wells – Midnight Mystique [SM001]
Two deep electro flavoured 808 rhythm pieces on side A, plus a mystic morphing journey exploring the borderline between house and techno on the flip.
Tambien – Ondule [KITJEN002]
The second Kitjen 12″ released come from Tambien. The trio’s particular take on house – left-of-centre, but deliciously warm and inviting – comes to the fore on “Ondule”. The track is hard to pin down, with dreamy Balearic electronics and rich organ chords rising and falling over a twisting, skittish drum machine rhythm. Kornel Kovacs delivers the flipside remix, utilizing the Munich outfit’s wonderful chords and melodies whilst attaching his own throbbing, Italo-influenced deep house groove.
Most Significant Beat – Geometric State Compilation [FRV018]
What did the pioneers of Industrial and Synth Wave do when the age of Techno dawned in the early nineties? The simple answer is, some made Techno. Well that’s what Maurizio Martinucci (aka TeZ adn now part of Clock DVA) and Esplendor Geometrico’s Saverio Evangelista did back in the day as Most Significant Beat. This project has lain dormant for more than twenty years but has been dusted down, given a stiff drink and set to wax by Frigio Records. All tracks were recorded in between 1996 – 2000 and were released on CD for Geometrik Records years back except the first track “Geometric State” which is unreleased. Rediscovered prototypes from the founding fathers of electronic music.
