Everyone’s favourite French Minimal Wavers In Aeternam Vale return for an outing on Jealous God.
001.Features
Faugust – Devotions (1984 – 2006) [MIRA009]
Spellbinding new side project from Sigha. Following his latest Avian release, James Shaw now unveils his Faugust project with a 10” title on the Avian sublabel Mira. Emotive and highly personal, Devotions (1984 – 2006) shows a side of Shaw’s sound that has been largely buried since 2004, combining his experience as a guitarist with many of the sonic approaches that characterise his best known music today. Over the course of four tracks it layers pulsating bass and synth lines with melodic flourishes and a pop sensibility not seen in his other work.
1977 – Norman EP [1977001]
The french producer 1977 delivers with his first EP a bold and subtle blending of ambient textures, deep pads and raw rhythms perfectly mixed with some minimal sequences.
VA – Rock The Box Vol.1 [HS004]
Those with a passion for ’80s electrofunk, boogie, synth jams, machine soul and proto-house should already be aware of Inskwel and Benny Badge’s Hot Shot label. The imprint specializes in delivering fresh music inspired by those sounds. Here, the Australian duo gathers together a superb selection of contemporary revivalist sounds from like-minded souls. Highlights are naturally plentiful, from the rubbery bass and vintage synths of First Touch’s “Sure Feels Good To Me” and Jupiter Gang’s bodypoppin’ electro workout “America”, to the deep proto-house of Paradise Box’s “Slave 2 Knowledge” and Inkswel’s acid-tinged midtempo deep house rework of High Accord’s “You Are (My Number One Priority)”.
The Black Madonna – Stay [DINER002]
The Black Madonna tries a different approach on this debut for the recently launched Night Owl Diner label. You could certainly describe both tracks as “Balearic”, and there’s a real air of wide-eyed positivity about the tumbling melodies, swirling synth-strings and mid-80s pop production of head-nodding deep house cut “Stay”. It’s pretty darn tasty, all told. Almost as good is “Requiem”, which appears to be built around a loop lifted from Cherrelle and Alexander O’Neal’s “Saturday Love” (with, of course, additional synths and tuneful electronics).
Mind Fair – C.E.R.E.M.O.N.Y [CHANNEL037]
The first part of another Golf channel double header from the insanely prolific and scarily on form combination of Dean Meredith & Ben Shenton. A side ‘C.E.R.E.M.O.N.Y’ has been dubbed ‘the barnyard stomp’ by split secs’ / sonns’ Travis Kirschbaum (aka TK Disco) – 11 minutes of bluesy peyote riot that features Derek Holt of 70’s black country legends The Climax Blues Band. B side ‘Hiding from my Shadow’ is ripe with the funk too, but takes us away from the fertile stench of the psychedelic session in the barn and instead channels Minneapolis via Stafford as P-funk squiggles give way to Mr. Meredith’s trademark chugging bass.
RFM – Natural Flavor [JOLLYJAMS016]
Funky Family – Funky Is On [EXIT0003]
Classic Italian Disco including Leo Mas & Fabrice Instrumental Dub and a Dj Rocca Vocal Edit.
Asss – Taxi Helms [HAR003]
Manuel Gonzales – Filth EP [WB015]
Wicked Bass label presents a new release by newly emergent Detroit talent Manuel Gonzales, aka MGUN. Opener ‘Mono Port’ is a sludgy, dirty track with scuzzy ambiance, grainy white noise and plenty of grit obscuring buried deep kick drums and raw synth patterns. Second track ‘Frosted Lakes’ is a just as knackered sounding bit of whacked out techno. Broken kick drums trudge below spiralling synths, static interference and the general imperfect buzz and hum of analogue gear and it builds into a loopy banger that will blow minds as well as speakers. Last is ‘Chip Implemented’, another dystopian bit of depraved sounding techno with groaning synths, hurried drums and plenty of stormy winds blowing across its face. This is hugely textured, darkly cerebral music that manages to be minimal in design yet maximal in impact from start to finish.
Brooks Mosher – Don’t Say Goodbye [DOLLY019]
Warmer than warm club/techno groovers by the man Brooks Mosher, delivering his third release on Dolly. 4 very strong cuts with exactly that dreamy & sensual feeling which might be the main reason why we like to dance & sweat in the dark so much… body to body with the eyes closed, far away from everyday trouble.
Stephen Lopkin – The Haggis Trap [MOSDEEP020]
Next up to join the MOS Deep cannon is Stephen Lopkin, who serves up four new cuts on his The Haggis Trap EP. Lopkin is still something of an emerging talent having only started releasing in the last couple of years. The Glasgow based producer operates in the worlds of house and techno with a unique futuristic perspective. Combining elements of all the techno greats from Juan Atkins to Derrick May, this is an EP that surely announces the arrival proper of a very real new talent.
Pagan Sector – Hermopolis Magna [KH001]
Hermopolis Magna is the first born of Amsterdam based Knekelhuis. Under the moniker Pagan Sector, two mysterious grandmasters (Danny Wolfers aka Legowelt and Cliff Lothar)of electronic music collaborated, resulting in this depraved love child.
Antoni Maiovvi – Psychoplasmics EP [COTF004]
Antoni Maiovvi joins the Crimes Of The Future family in a perfect match of Italo horror running out of the disco, leaving behind the gentle thud of dark techno in a dark Roman Alleyway. Junior Fairplay’s inaguaral remix takes us out of the darkness to a happy ending in sunnier climbs on a beach somehere in Portofino.
Helena Hauff meets Andreas Gehm – Helena Hauff meets Andreas Gehm [SOM031]
Two generations of German acid royalty face off on this Solar One release. Golden Pudel resident Helena Hauff teams up with the mighty Andreas Gehm for a split acid record par excellance.
R.B. – Dog In The Night 05 [DIN005]
Roughneck psycho-house from R.B. on his first outing for Dog in the Night. Three moody ultra saturated wild-ass tracks made for the adventurous club dj. Jack is in the eye of the beholder, can you dig it?
Dan White – Death Flutes [FP005]
Forbidden Planet goes from strength to strength with this 4 tracker by Dan White. Excellent house and techno workouts on a deeper tip.
Rick Wilhite – Vibes 2 [RHM010CD]
As a DJ and promoter Rick Wilhite has been holding it down for over twenty years. His ‘Vibes New & Rare music’ record store has been a main source for soulful electronic music in Detroit until its closure a few years back. The ‘Vibes New & Rare music’ compilation only features material that Rick Wilhite truly believes to represent the artists. After releasing Volume 1 in 2010, Wilhite now delivers the sequel, featuring pioneers and new talents alike from New York, Chicago and Detroit.
Ed & Jen – Love It Or Leave It [EDJ005]
It’s been three years since husband-and-wife team Jus’ Ed and Jenifa Mayanja released their collaborative debut album, Let’s Groove. Since then, both have been busy with solo projects, delivering a large volume of releases in their distinctive warm, melodious and loose deep house style. Love It Or Leave It, then, is something of a rare treat for those who dig their wholeheartedly positive and spontaneous take on deep house. It’s perhaps a little breezier than either producer’s solo work, with less immersive pads (though they are present, particularly on the chiming “Love Bubbles Change”). It’s still deep, though, with cascading melodies, picturesque chords and occasional soul-flecked vocals riding a range of deep, sinewy house grooves.
DJ QU – Raw 7 [SMR014]
DJ Qu – aka New York-based producer Ramon Lisandro Quezada – has been doing his thing since the mid-2000s, delivering spacey deep house cuts. There’s more stargazing fare to be found on his latest EP on Strength Music. “Raw 7” has a real sci-fi feel, with alien synths melodies and outer-space stabs riding a powerful, cymbal-driven rhythm. “Untitled (High Life)” is a little more relaxed, with picturesque electronic melodies complimenting a dense, afro-influenced house groove. It’s floor-friendly enough, but positive enough for home listening, too. Finally, “Soma” is thrillingly deep, transporting listeners to the far reaches of the galaxy via endless chords and shuffling percussion.
