Amir Alexander Acid (AAACID) returns with his Jack Ingoff alias, a sub-alias of his Smiley Virus pseudonym to bring you an abstract acid dj tool EP. As per usual, the tracks on this label always feature odd time synth patterns against 4×4 beats creating poly-rhythmic effect that first stupefies and then invigorates the crowd as they realize that these are not the average acid tracks. Stripped raw bangers. Just 909 and a 303 pure and simple.
Acidicted strikes back – raw deep and moody – with a full length 2x12inch album. For the 10th release Adalberto picked the finest tools out of his box to kick acidicted_2.0 on a trip new from the past to the future of electric houze. against all odds Toolbox comes along with 8 fresh oldschool flavoured trax, showing a wide range of hardware based and tb-303/tr-909 driven stuff……ride on!
Epic, tense, and driving Russom goes for the throat crafting beautifully produced functional club tracks that teeter on the edge of the deepest psychedelic realm. With hints of many different electronic strains creeping into his productions, we get the full specturm and see this talented producer doing some of his best work in recent times, the hidden gem being the b-side’s closing track, The Telstar File.
Raw Tools returns with four powerful tracks from the vaults of talented Scottish producer Stephen Lopkin. Chicago flavored beats and acid driven grooves bolted onto Detroit rhythms and swirling pads of analog goodness.
Time to hit the vape and embark on the journey of your lifetime, or at least a most pleasant trip this week…or as long as your attention span can handle it. Rising Sun Systems – Oberheim Space, 11 tracks of ambient g-funk slow jams and psychedelic space muzak. Using special frequencies to alter your brain waves and make u a smarter and better human being. Written, produced and performed by Danny Wolfers on Roland Juno 106 KIWI, Oberheim Matrix 1000, Korg DW8000, Yamaha SY35, EMU EMAX II etc.etc.etc.
This double LP album arrives through Modern Love and features a handpicked selection of tracks from the Death Is Unity With God cassette box set Dominick Fernow aka Vatican Shadow issued on his own Hospital Productions label last year. 12 tracks featured here are a balanced blend of broken, ice-cold techno and finely calibrated drone pieces backed by subtle percussive patterns. There’s also plenty of his more raucous beat thrashing and even a few moments of nostalgia.
Dutch label Field is back with another album project, this time from American producer Christopher Ernst, aka L’estasi Dell’oro, who also records as Penalune and is co-founder of the Voodoo Down label. Before now, Ernst has proved himself to be adept at crafting deep and atmospheric, excellently ambient techno on a range of labels. Varying his tempos and textures, he does acid, raw stuff, tough beats and more industrial grooves. Across this new 8-track album, all this and more is explored in captivating fashion. This is an expressive and expansive modern techno album from L’estasi Dell’oro that is perfectly at home on the always interesting Field label.
Sequencias first release for 2015 comes from Chicagoan, Area. He has melded elements from bass music, industrial, electroacoustic, spoken-word and techno into 3 tracks that distill their influences into something greater than the sum of its parts. Opener “Circadian” is built on a two-chord refrain to a stepping rhythm amidst a dank warehouse atmosphere. Spoken-word interlude, “One Less Me,” is little more than a female voice processed and cleverly twisted over crisp electronic filigree. The EP closes with “XXeXX” (Crushkilled Version), which sounds like the remnants of the opening track after being drop-forged and scattered to the breeze—long peals of reverberating melodic feedback straining under a dense bank of static fog—breaking free every few measures to expand into the light, then crushed. “One Less Me” is the beginning of a new relationship that we look forward to see flourish in the future, and of course, to share it with you.
Dutch producer Mohlao is next up on Shipwrec offshoot Deep Sound Channel with a four track EP that showcases his specialist dub techno style. This four track EP kicks off with ‘Cladistic Mutation’, a sparse underwater soundtrack with only the gentlest suggestion of rhythm, lots of reverb and tiny little details that float by like micro-bacterial debris. ‘M2’ is a more beat driven dub track but is still way below the surface: the kicks are smooth and hunched over, the chords are smeared out in all directions and the atmosphere is lo-fi and grainy. On the flip, ‘Grain’ gets even more energetic, with firm techno kick drums setting a stern tempo as all sorts of aqueous details and spacious effects pepper the groove. ‘Neurowaves’ closes things down in blissfully dubbed out and horizontal fashion, with large sweeping pads, tweaked filters and evocative little details all placing you firmly under water.
And so the Token juggernaut continues, slaying all before it with some of the best club techno you are likely to find right now. Terra Incognita sees Spanish producer Tadeo debut on the label after a fine succession of 12″s in 2014 and at six tracks long Miguel Sar takes the chance to really explore his range. “Requiem” offers a foreboding beatless opener that is rife with tension, whilst “Deep Space” explores similar territory to the Something from the Sky series by Jeff Mills. From here Tadeo runs through various shades of dancefloor techno with the mind bending “Apollo 7” our pick!
New chapter in the Planet Rhythm Black series. Amazing 4 tracker featuring Samuli Kemppi, Yan Cook, Re:Axis and Von Grall.
Blue Hour’s fifth release ‘Introspective’ continues to explore faster tempos in classic dance-floor fashion. Bright atmosphere and emotive melodies compliment warm staccato drums over three tracks of effective techno.
Man of mystery, A Sagittariun, lands on HypeLTD. The EP’s centerpiece is “3-4-3”, coming here in two versions. The Original Mix combines the usual Sagittariun heady mix of driving breakbeat techno and warm synth modulations but in a more unsettling and distorted setting. Rolando, steps up on the first of the remixes of “3-4-3”, keeping it on the straight and narrow with an intense and to the point version. “Delta House” is quite a different proposition altogether. A low-slung and funky slice of New Beat, it’s part industrial funk, part Balearic pop, with it’s breathy female vox and wandering bassline really making this a stand out track from A Sagittariun. Loaded with melody, subtle acid and cute saxophone blasts, this track further opens up the breadth of style that A Sagittariun ascribes to.
Jon Beall finally follows up “La Caccia” with an even deeper and more diverse record. Great versatile release touching deeply rooted techno, bass, house and electronix. Another winner on WT Records.
Photonz, Portugese producer based in London Marco Rodriguez, makes his debut on Creme Organization. His first cut, ‘Gnosis Of Wolfers’ is a raw, knackered sounding house track with glassy melodic tension and slow-jack drums. It’s intense, multi-layered and nervy and keeps you engaged from start to finish. ‘Ceremonial Acid’ is then an airy, spacious affair with heavenly pads and gurgling synths and drums. Loose but atmospheric, it’s a fulsome track that really places you in the middle of Photonz’s sound world. ‘Sad Mania’ is another misty sounding cut with watery droplets, aqueous textures and ramshackle drums rattling below, before ‘Filterhatz’ is a slow and sludgy acid offering with sharp hi hats, filtered 303 lines and lots of wobble. Lastly, digital only track ‘Basik’ rounds out the EP in brooding fashion, with big retro synths, percolating drums and pinging percussion.
First solo EP by Interstellar Funk on Tape Records. Driving sinister tracks giving you an eerie sensation of spaciousness supported by subtle melodylines bubbling up and touching you right where it matters.
The next release on The Invariants contains three edits of tracks from the deep. The a side contains a Chicago leaning version of middle eastern esotherics and a more techno dub version of the same track. On the flip are black metal synths combined with 90s strings in a live jam recorded slightly in the red.
Prague’s Endless Illusion is stepping up with very first 12″ release, debut EP from French producer Ideomatic with remix by Kid Machine. Strongly influenced by giallo soundtracks with a heavy dose of dance ammunition.
Garofano Rosso is the latest project by Italian producer Giorgio Luceri. This new work eschews the house stylings of previous releases in favour of a more classic Cosmic approach. Echoes of Tangerine Dream’s Thief OST mixed with what could perhaps be the imaginary soundtrack to Miami Vice if it had infact been set in Rimini and starred Maurizio Merli as Sonny Crockett. These are not however just mere mood pieces, but take the sun, the sea and the body-count straight to the dancefloor.
A special one sided release from Francisco who channels the spirit of John Carpenter and the mysterious ‘Zio Tibia/Uncle Ankle’ (Italians will know who this is!) directly into the dancefloor for a high octane trip through space and time. This is the third release in Slow Motion’s acclaimed soundtrack series.
