Mannequin are pleased to present a crown jewel from the early 80s Italian Minimal Synth scene. The Monuments came into being in January 1981 in Turin when Mauro Tavella (keyboards, programming) and Andrea Costa (keyboards, voice) pooled their artistic experiences. From the outset they produced exclusively synthesised music, following the natural evolution in electronic music from the early days with monophonic synthesisers to the latest virtual sounds generated with the aid of computers.
Widely regarded for their efforts to promote the minimal synth scene in home town Rome, the Mannequin label have always proved themselves capable of looking much farther afield with equally good results. Mannequin return to the States here, but swap coasts landing in NYC to present this excellent release from Brooklyn troupe Dust. Described by the label as “a contemporary ouroboros of acid house, combat techno, and late italo”, Dust are a Bushwick-based music collective whose numbers include avant garde Korean noise goddess Green Jellyfish, psych musician/model Angela Chambers, dungeon wizard/tech genius audio engineer Michael Sherburn and DIY nightlife entrepreneur /DJ John Barclay. So far so Brooklyn you might say, but there’s evidently something special about Dust on the basis of all four tracks on the Onset of Decimation 12?, with final track “I’m Melting” particularly memorable; it feels like the work of Legowelt and Xosar shaken free of any tape dust by the sheer force of the reverberating acid lines that propel matters forward.
Simian Mobile disco are back with more of the world s only techno tasting menu, serving up a a brand new platter for your delectation: Tong Zi Dan are the Chinese delicacy usually translated as virgin boy eggs. Like the tea stained eggs you ll find in your ramen, these are eggs cracked part way through the boiling process, to let the flavours of the liquid seep through.
Samuli Kemppi played live twice at Suicide Circus, and since his energetic sound really fit well with our club, we started talking to each other about a release on our Dark Series imprint. Samuli Kemppi now is ready to rock your boat with three tracks on our label, which define a very particular sound of their own.
Iori comes back with his second vinyl release for Prologue and has fulfilled the mission with a masterpiece of pure Techno. Three deep, energetic, driving tracks and a typically hypnotic baselines based on Iori´s unique style.
Sound, rhythm and quality of underground techno without any hint of commerce! Music made with soul deserves respect. Listening, immersing into the thought and the world created by a musician thus unraveling his message in the sound.
The Blue Album is Spanish producer Juan Rico’s new album. He is the mind behind Reeko and Architectural, two projects that on this occasion melt into one offering a wide perspective of the nuances of his sounds. Here you can find all the aspects of techno sound, from ambient landscapes, to dubby and liquid textures or pulsating abstract techno exercises. “Blue” starts the trip with dubbed echoes, floating textures and fat spaced out chords: the best way to switch on the ignition and prepare for the upcoming sonic voyage.
Gaetano Vinci a.k.a. Hooved has been one of the most dependable producers on AMAM over the years, and more recently, his sound has mutated in some unexpected directions. Thats why its high time to give our knob- twiddling satyr his own special catalog code from now on, and here we present amamhvd001, or for those of you who prefer titles instead of strings of letters and numbers, the Timeless EP, his first 12inch of the year. The near-15-minute TMLSS 1 begins with a 2-step beat, and as it unfolds, the beats only get more broken, causing a sense of auditory psychosis while somehow remaining calm, cool and collected
TM404 is a project where Andreas Tilliander embarks on a conceptual journey through classic Roland machinery. On the A-side of the Svans EP you can clearly hear the connection to Richie and his Plastikman project. The track 303/303/303/606/606 is heavy, slow grooving techno that brings the listener back to the dark emptiness of the Plastikman Consumed era. On the b-side the TM404 project is allowed elevated to new levels. With a Yamaha SY-1 and a Yamaha TG33 entering the machine park, TM404 for the first time, breaks his Roland oath and opens up the project to a future of new possibilities.
On “Colonial Patterns”, Brian Leeds (Huerco S) treats his Kansas City region as a universe worthy of its own electronic music. To that end, Leeds deconstructs Midwestern techno and house tropes. The pieces are corrugated, rough, and decompositional. Working cheaply, Leeds conscientiously uses low-end software, synths and cassettes so as to subvert the gloss of so much urban dance music, giving tracks an impressionistic, emotive feel.
New EP on Emphasis Recordings. Track “Incite” from ”Thoughts From Chicago Vol. Three” 7” (Eargasmic) gets a rearrange by Steven Tang, and a Dubbyman remix. A mid tempo goover called ”Slight” rounds out the EP.
Kel is the solo alias of Skudge’s Elias Landberg, and on Irritant he inaugurates the Tanstaafl imprint’s Planets sub-label, supposedly intended to showcase “the music that orbits the core members of Tanstaafl”. With label co-head October having previously released on Skudge Records, Landberg’s appearance on the label makes total sense. Those who are familiar with Skudge’s work will know what to expect, but in Landberg’s hands alone their analogue hardware seems to take on a more urgent, exploratory quality; the title track’s synths bristle and chime against a rolling drum beat, while “MKS” sees languid textures pushed forward by a panicked rhythm. “Traces” is the most Skudge-like thing here with its unmistakeable dub chords, but it’s not something that causes the release to suffer as a result.
With his debut album prepped for November release, A Sagittariun drops a taster of things to come, in the form of the ‘Across The Celestial Sphere’ EP. ‘Clusters’ rolls out another dusty breakbeat in perhaps his most dancefloor-centric offering yet. ‘Fire Sign’ is a warm and jazzy slice of techno, whilst ‘The DNA Of Life’ is a moody, industrial electro joint…
Having launched Off Minor Recordings with some of his own refined solo material under the Cry Baby J moniker, Jordan Czamanski adopts a more archival tone for the label’s second release, digging into the unreleased early nineties works of Move D. Recorded at his KM20 Studio in hometown Heidelberg (hence the name) The KM20 Tapes feel all too appropriate for contemporary analysis, drawing on a smudged and improvised approach to analogue electronics. The rugged drawn out acid of “Ovi Riese” in particular bangs the box in a degraded manner that is most pleasing. Excitingly, this is the first of an irregular series of archival material from Moufang on Off Minor with Czamanski apparently sitting on a tonne of tracks.
Studio Barnhaus presetns the debut release from young Stockholm based producer and selector Baba Stiltz with 3 versions of his raw house tune Our Girls.
Dutch house producer De Sluwe Vos drops a heavy house hitter on the new Soulfood Records, including a Montel remix. De Sluwe Vos offers a nice contemporary version of classic peak time tracks rooted in the 90’s club house and (uk) garage tradition. Fresh, sexy and ballsy house music that will maintain its essential and funky edge ten years from now. Soulfood the new home of house in pure, raw and uplifting form.
Two House Limited is a Vinyl & digital label based in Copenhagen Denmark Focussing on House music. The debut release is a compilation of four tracks by Colman Buckley, Nick Beringer, Cram and Rikki Humphrey.
Skylax presents a new sublabel Skylax Records Extra Series #1. The first release presents the wonderful work from house maestro Jason Grove with some of the most timeless artists from both Chicago & Detroit, featuring vocals & productions of the great Merwyn Sanders (formerly known as Virgo 4) & legendary undeground resistance member Niki Marks.
CTEPEO ’57 (STEREO ’57) are a newly formed duo. They’ ve been around for a while and you might know them under different aliases. Their obsession with 1950s culture brought them together and they own a massive collection of Marlon Brando memorabilia. The 1950s were a decade of mystery and hoaxes, the cold war, the space race and the establishment of NASA. CTEPEO ’57 insists the cold war isn’t over and claim Russian astronauts landed on Mars in the late 90s to discover something truly amazing… It all seems far-fetched but who cares, when they make music like this.
Growing up in the deep south of Germany with multi ethnic friends and big interest in many different music genres of the world, Borrowed Identity built his wide knowledge in music. This variety in his musical taste is also the reason why he is working under different aliases producing a big variety of sound from ambient to house to experimental music and everything inbetween. Borrowed Identity debut EP on Quintessentials is another great example for his multistyle approach to music. You’ll find elements of house, disco, techno, ambient and more – always with an imminent love for music.
