Denmarks dubtechno master Mikkel Metal delivering an excellent and hypnotic techno-threetracker that will prove its value in many dj’s recordbags.
001.Features
Matti Turunen – Elokuu Ep [MUHK001]
Muhk present their debut EP as a small label specializing in hardware made electronic music. The Elokuu EP produced by Finland’s Matti Turunen; one half of the Morphology electro duo, is Matti’s 2nd solo EP and within these 3 hypnotic techno/house/electro analogue jams, Matti shows us the beauty of producing electronic music the old skool way with glowing synths and clattering drum machines.
Sigha – Living With Ghosts [HFLP009]
Sigha a.k.a James Shaw confidently returns to Hotflush with his heavily anticipated debut LP, ‘Living WIth Ghosts’. For this offering he presents twelve impressive techno and ambient productions and fuses his love of classic UK techno with the contemporary sound that currently pulses through Berlin’s Berghain. Since his 2009 debut on the label, Sigha has organically shifted further and further into the straight 4/4 realm of techno, embracing the subterranean, darker soundscapes of his new production homebase, Berlin. However, hiding under all that bass, one can still hear the whisper of many long forgotten shoegaze numbers. Years of playing guitar in London bands defined Sigha’s musical start and gave him an ear for the emotive. He was able to merge both worlds after quite literally stumbling across techno by chance, igniting his love of electronic music.
Binny – Sub Space EP [ASGOR008]
Binny brings his own unique take on Detroit techno to the table. He transforms his energy into mind-boggling ol’skool floorwork detroit techno with some amazing synths and throbbing baselines. He is accompanied with a remix by Abstract Division.
Trevino – Tactical Manoeuvre EP [3024020]
The adoption of a new name and a new sound by Marcus Intalex has been one of this year’s success stories, with his rattling brand of warehouse appropriate techno under the Trevino moniker. Now he returns to Martyn’s 3024, the label where this new name was first established, with a full release in Tactical Manoeuvre EP which brandishes three tracks that showcase the different styles and sounds of the producer.
Exium / Reeko – Enemies of the Indestructible EP [POLEGROUP014]
Pole Group presents a back to back venture between Exium and Reeko. The A side is the duo’s territory. ‘DragN’ starts with a sharp beat that soon becomes infected by synthesized drones moving through the stereo and bell like sounds with hypnotic sequencing. This track means a departure from the classic Exium sound, where lower tempos and less aggressive sounds take control. The second track, ‘Zero Summing’, dives into broken rhythms and deeper atmospheres, with drones and white noise sweeps that fight all over the arrangement to create a claustrophobic feel.On the B side, Reeko provides ‘Electrical Phenomena’. Analogue drums start the affair till the 808 sub kick appears, moving to the lower frequencies. Clear and precise hats help moving the groove and high frequency sweeps, whilst resonant textures take over the arrangement from minute 2 onwards. ‘Emission of Electrons of a Surface’ closes the release. Dark and deep drums ascleverly programmed as ever, running on an infinite loop salted with bleeps and microtextures that lay under the ominous rhythm.
Milton Bradley – Voices Of The Unknown [BEAT08]
Milton Bradley with his eight release on Don Not Resist The Beat, completely alienated & dark sounding Techno.
DJ Deep – Kern Vol 1 [KERN001]
Kern is Tresor’s new mix series and focuses on “where old meets new, and house meets techno”. The first mix comes from Parisian legend DJ Deep, from which these three exclusive, never-heard-before tracks are taken.
Gari Romalis – The Last Man Standing EP [DSR004]
Gari Romalis is at the forefront on the techno scene in Detroit. Gari has been djing for over 30 years and is single handedly responsible for training and influencing some of Detroit’s most famous DJ’s and producers. He’s now back on Dockside Records, with a straight from the machines floor-devastating EP: two fat and insanely grooving Detroit house cuts on the first side and one 4/4 Detroit meets Basic Channel on the flip.
Pittsburgh Track Authority – Giza [ARGOT003]
The Pittsburgh Track Authority trio of Thomas Cox, Preslav Lefterov and Adam Ratana continue to flourish, here joining the Argot ranks. “Giza” and its B Side accompaniment demonstrate a charming flexibility to their collective production palette. “Giza” is a resplendent slice of 2-step, the swift rhythmic touches blessed by luminescent melodic patterns and rapid orchestral edits. Complementing this, the trio engage their love of electro with the squiggly subaqueous flex of “Crosstown Blvd”.
VA – Mellow Drama EP [RS006]
Roundabout Sounds’ ‘Mellow Drama EP’ features a pair of up & coming duo acts. Suburb from Hamburg and a pair of Greek artists known as Moshi Moshi. The remixers on this project are Tristen and the one and only Rick (TheGodson) Wilhite of 3 Chairs, Detroit.
Lucretio – Harvesting EP [MSP003]
Machines State Polymers is back with another ferocious mixture of techno-filtered, house power. Lucretio gives us his third release for the label and furthers his explorations into the relationship between machines and sounds. His improvisational and ultra-minimalistic approach to constructing techno, not to mention the strict reliance on analogue hardware, have created an inimitable flare and familiarity to his tracks. The A side kicks off with a pumping, bass-driven groove which subtly evolves to become a relentless house bomb; followed smoothly by the sharp, quick-firing sample technique for which Lucretio is so well known for, on the A2. Over on the flipside, a desolate female vocal is pushed forward by a murky, tape-hissed percussion which is rapidly engulfed into a frantic whirlpool of ghostly synths and crispy effects. Finally, “Your Name” switches things up and breaks down the more familiar 4/4 territories into a twisted, half-stepping monster, complete with Lucretio’s trademark drumming style – raw, sparse and crunchy.
The Parking Attendant – I’ve Heard It All Before [CR1260]
In a fit of tunnel vision Buckfast afficionado Marco Bernardi drives his hooptie off a cliff and slides underwater for a deep rolling mondo house trip that oozes sub bass and sneakiness in a weird paradox of uplift & despair, and doesn’t come up for air until Tevo Howard adds some sunday morning percussive tea-bag flavor to it. Meanwhile on the Ocean floor that absolutely venomous J.T.C. remix wipes out everything and anything it comes across.
Simoncino – International Smoke Signals [MATH066]
Simoncino returning to Mathematics, brings a solid release beginning with a spaced out soundscape & flows into “Dark Devotional Energies”, an eerie cut with killer drums like “The China Syndrome”. “Place Space This Galaxy” and “Easing The Cosmic Streets” take on the flip on this essential EP.
Roche – Auragan EP [MATH065]
Debut from Roche on the Mathematics label leads off with “Sans Quimico”, an amazing tune with elements of deep house and Detroit techno. “LFTL Eternal” starts the flip with an obscure bangin track with crisp hats and a bubbling bassline. The title cut ends the EP with a chilled out deep 5am feel.
Amir Alexander – Gutter Flex EP [ARGOT001]
A new label curated by Little White Earbuds’ Editor-In-Chief and Stolen Kisses label owner, Steve Mizek, delivers its first release from American producer, Amir Alexander. Its four tracks reveal a startling rich and complete aesthetic inspired by the history of American house while avoiding merely emulating its forefathers. Alexander’s commanding melodies are carried on hard-bitten beats and often guided by deeply resonant bass lines beftting of this trained bassist.
Call Super – No Episode [TOB029]
Call Super is an outlet for hallucinatory club music. Swaying from the lean and muscular edges of techno, to the fractured palette of electronica and rough electro his productions share a tendency towards the live and informal. Now Call Super emerges with two tracks that comprise No Episode EP on New York’s Throne of Blood. Both tracks are then responded to, the former by Madteo, the latter by John Heckle. “No Fun” is a grinding bass-heavy groover rooted by its warehouse techno stomp and embellished with trippy melodic flourishes. Queens-based bass producer Madteo takes the original and recasts it in his singularly buggedout, broken and lo-fi style. “No Fool” is a storming dancefloor sureshot awash in noise and menace. For his relick, UK house upstart John Heckle amplifies the original’s halucinogenic circularity into a swirling monster of warped arpeggios and flying cymbals.
Steve Poindexter – Computer Madness Re:Vision [THEMA032]
Thema presents the first up out of the 3 releases for the Re:Vision series, Steve Poindexter’s timeless classic “Computer Madness”. It’s hard to imagine that this was really created over 2 decades ago, and Thema made sure to find the right minds to revise this masterpiece. Function and Jerome Sydenham where chosen for this one.
Eraas – Eraas [FELTE002]
New Brooklyn label Felte will be opening for business with the debut LP from doom-mongers ERAAS. ERAAS, aka Robert Toher and Austin Stawiarz, emerged last year from the remains of Noughties post-rockers Apse. The pair’s aim is purportedly to explore more occult territory than their previous gig allowed them. Fittingly, their self-titled debut – recorded in a “rambling, atmospheric mansion” in Massachusetts – is a gloomy affair, setting murky harmonies over the sort of percussion death-rattle you’d expect from a Vatican Shadow record.
Suzanne Ciani – Seven Waves [015EGGSLP]
Suzanne Ciani is a composer, recording artist, and pioneer in the field of electronic music. She is best loved for her fifteen albums of original music that feature her performances in a broad array of expressions: solo piano, piano with orchestra, piano with jazz ensemble and pure electronic. No matter the medium, Ciani’s music communicates the special intimacy, passion, and sensitivity that have become her trademark and prompted fans to buy over a million of her albums. The Seven Waves is Suzanne’s first album. She started recording it in 1979, finished it in 1981, and released it in Japan in 1982 on Atlantic Recordings.
