Welcome Rismu, a new project of M.A.D.A. (Marseille/France) debuting on Affin! Opener MST combines tricky chords with massive beats, working perfect as a bridge in the mix. The Plant Worker (also known from Blank Code & Limited) remix emphases the technoid elements of the original. S3 going its way with floating chord arrangements, nice delayed percussive lines and pounding beats while the reshaped version from The Plant Worker another time focuses more on his stoic beats
Strong release with trippy acid injected tracks to more psychotic trippy techno. Juho Kahilainen – the man who actually inspired label owner Max_M to conceive the Grey Series sublabel – returns with a new EP of experimental excursions that delve into the darkest realms of dance music. Max_M and his Grey Series continue to grant freedom to artists deviating from cliches and formulas. Juho’s “Dyson Sphere” encompasses that exact desire.
Detroit Techno Archive II is by Alex W and Denizo with a solid 6 tracks Ep. Techno tracks that are rooted in Transmats Share in Classic Detroit Techno.
Tief present a very special split EP from Marco Bernadi and Johannes Volk. Synth-led techno bombs rooted in the early Detroit tradidtion.
Deeper techno tracks by the macchines of Milano. Le Macchine are a Milanese trio formed of Cristian Croce, Luca Saponaro, and Nicola Mazzetti.
Phonica announce the arrival of their celebratory compilation marking ten years of the shop. A triple LP pack, where some of their favourite artists produced a track for an eclectic yet cohesive compilation, which will hopefully go some way towards sonically unfolding the ‘Ten Years of Phonica’. The triple LP features tracks from: I:Cube, Trevor Jackson, Raudive, Discodromo, Joe Claussell, John Morales, Henrik Schwarz, Massimiliano Pagliara, Iori remixed by Steve Moore, Juju & Jordash, Legowelt & In Flagranti.
2014 brings back Giorgio Luceri for his 3rd outing on the Mathematics imprint. “Falena” on Side A is a subtle house track for those early sets. Track 2 is more on the techno tip with heavy synth stabs & drum programming. Flip it & we bring up the tempo with both “Vernice” & “A Love Supremacy”.
Swiftly following on from the Future Times debut of Aquarian Foundation pair House of Doors and Kinetix Electronix comes the arrival of Hashman Deejay, another soldier from the Vancouver crew known as Mood Hut. The superbly named Hashman Deejay is allegedly the third member of the Aquarian Foundation, though anyone familiar with Mood Hut will know this gang prefer to work on a need to know basis. Regardless Tangerine represents a fine 12″ debut for the Hashman and almost seems executed with Future Times in mind given the hazy new age textures that greet the opening bars of the title track. The track does however find its groove once the bassline aligns with the rugged yet subtle drum arrangements and the momentum builds as it progresses – sort of like a Terekke production given an adrenalin jab. B Side track “Orbis Tertius” is a more codeine addled production set to a star gazing angle throughout the opening minutes before opening out into a wonderfully uplifting arrangement that’s blessed with a grubby backbone.
Continuing the feeling that a new Legowelt record is seemingly announced or released on a weekly basis, the Dutch producer adds another label to his faintly daunting discography by inaugurating the Spanish label Riverette. Aside from a sparse website and hollow Soundcloud account, little is known about this low-key Madrid label, but it’s easy to focus on the music here as the Blue Tearz 12″ offers a snapshot of Legowelt’s production diversity. The title track grips all available space on the A Side and offers a perfect display of Wolfers’ talent for wrenching melodic beauty out of his equipment, whilst “I Shadow Wolf III” – which must be a reference to his recently unveiled Shadow wulf CyBeRpUnK E-ZiNe – is reminiscent of Psyche-era Carl Craig. “Source Of Menace” meanwhile is vintage Legowelt.
Following suit where his 2xlp left off Gunnar Haslam presents a new ep for L.I.E.S. Once again we see Haslam find a nice balance between combining samples and hardware in his productions creating moving and atmospheric tracks, which range from slow stripped down soundtrack style cuts to more developed far out techno.
Exiting Morphology aka Matti Turunen, Michael Diekmann album with 8 stunning tracks in their signature style.
New release by Arcanoid one Tabernacle Records, presenting his exploratory take on techno and electro.
Next for Brokntoys is prolific producer of the underground UK Electro scene, Scape One. Kurt Baggaley has released on many electro labels over the years including SCSI-AV, Drivecom, Electrix and Cultivated Electronics. For this EP Scape One serves up 4 tracks of deep and murky electro and techno for the early morning and afterhours.
Next on the “The Crystal Issue” series is EXS a side project from Robert Witschakowski better known as The Exaltics. Authentic Soul Techno flows on this one sided clear blue vinyl edition. German Techno rooted in Detroit for those who know.
Medical Records presents it’s second contemporary artist release with Roladex. Using an arsenal of analog instruments, Roladex nostalgically borrows ideas from music of the past to carefully craft a unique brand of futuristic-mechanized pop, with an emphasis on songwriting and layered production. Weaving sparse, sequenced arpeggios into fuzzy bass and bubbly melodies to create a bed of sound where they layout a somehow bright melancholia. Part minimal synth-wave, part dream pop. The opening track “Anthem For The Micro-Age” sets the tone with dreamy atmospheric synth textures and interwoven male and female vocals. “Love Surgery” is chock full of pop hooks and synth leads interspersed with angular guitar accents. “Empty Streets” has an almost minimal John Bender bedroom aesthetic. Fans of early Wire (esp 154), Drinking Electricity, Fad Gadget and even noisy 90s shoegaze are sure to enjoy. Presented on high-quality 180gram heavyweight electric blue transparent vinyl and features a bonus LP insert with lyrics.
Krautrock and EBM inspired post-industrial techno. Next-level electronic music made by one of The Hague’s most original producers. Must have for fans of Unit Moebius Anonymous and Shitcluster.
While JD Twitch & JG Wilkes aka Optimo are undoubtedly men-for-all-seasons musically, as anyone who’s seen them in action behind the decks will attest, they’re often at their best when creating a mood, delving deep into their bulging record collections to showcase sludgy curiosities, dark electronics and intoxicating oddities. Pleasingly, it’s this side of their multiple personalities that’s explored on Dark Was The Night, their sixth commercially available mix CD. Predictably, it’s a doozy, effortlessly joining the dots between the moody deep acid house of QX-1’s “I Won’t Hurt You”, the pulsating industrial rhythms of Carter Tutti, the icy melodies and snowy rhythms of Recondite’s “Cleric”, and the paranoid dubstep of Kode 9 and Space Ape.
