Soft Rocks finish their very productive year in the studio with 2 raw analog DJ friendly house cuts… “March Of The Dark And Light Brigade” is a rough acidic cut that builds, drops and builds again whilst “Tutsis Dance” is a slice of funky craziness with an old school house bass line that gets deep half way through and peaks with some sublime strings.
Time for the next release of the Mojuba-labelboss Don Williams to continue his Detroit-series on a.r.t.less after Sven Weisemanns Shove EP. The main title > Vector Dance< takes a different way to approach things than its predecessors on the Black and Red EP! Witness the funk and groove that brought us the city from the D combined with a scifi-feel which embodies the vision of techno for many of us! The second track is a soulful ride into deep glimmering field of hi-tech emotions!
Hot on the heels of his well-received Horror Disco album Bottin delivers the strongest track and a solid remix package. UK based Nu-disco pioneers Faze Action deliver their second mix for Bearfunk and it’s a belter. The vocal becomes secondary as they go straight for the dancefloor jugular. Percussion, groove and rolling electric bass drive this floor-led outing.
$tinkworx, a.k.a. JT Stewart, grew up in rural upstate New York in the Albany area. Being the son of an infamous record collector; Mike Stewart (to this day operating one of the highest regarded rare record shops in the world), music was constantly heard in the Stewart home. JT decided he wanted to try to make some electronic music. Luckily he received a vintage analog synthesizer (a Roland JX8P) as a gift from his parents. He acquired a cheap drum machine and more pieces of equipment and started making songs. He sent them to his favorite labels, and received overwhelmingly responses from Morgan Geist (Metro Area) at his Environ label, and from Russ Gabriel (Ferox). But having only cheap recording equipment and little money, it would be a while before any $tinkworx material being released.
Fostered by the hungry eclecticism of The I-F’s legendary Cybernetic Broadcasting System and the music communities that have gathered in its wake, Bas roR has been DJing around Rotterdam for some time (in clubs and on the radio) and has already notched a memorable EP with Kubra’s “Control Issues,” a collaboration with DJ Tim for Arne Weinberg’s AW Recordings. Like much of the Kubra record, Bas roR’s solo debut recalls the deep and the weird of 90’s techno. The brushed percussion, bright melodic squiggles and brooding chord patterns of the title track, for example, are pure zero-gravity, practically describing a slow drift through a meteor shower.
Three tracks on Playhouse with two mighty remixes from Mike Huckaby & Luke Solomon. ‘Slightly’ gets the Huckaby treatment, with classic bass lines and classic and classy Detroit house. The flip sees ‘The Lords Of Sanity’ getting worked by Luke Solomon. Nice to hear LoSoul always gets something special in his tracks that make them stand out of the pack.
For the fourth release on Maxi Discs our Italian friends Ajello jump on board and deliver a red hot slice of feel good House music. Hot July reminds you just how important the piano driven Italian sound was in the development of House. Fusing disco elements with Italo influences, Ajello producers Luca Roccatagliati and Fabrizio Tavernelli have produced a dancefloor bomb that has been ripping up dancefloors worldwide. This is just irresistable dance music! On remix duties, label owner Pete Herbert strips the track down further, chunks it up with a killer bassline and adds a more UK House feel to it, which brings to mind seminal 90s house tracks like ‘Symphonic Tonic’. It’s a 100% dance floor groove. And finally, producer of the moment Marius drops a mighty version that blends his love of Euro and Italo sounds perfectly with a heavy NY House influence.
Great EP from Glasgow’s on-form Arne Weinberg for Shawn Rudiman’s Technoir Audio imprint. Weinberg deploys his trademark blend of synthesized Detroit emotions with sci-fi harmonics and shuffling rhythms for techno feet.
A taster from the Nick Chacona´s forthcoming album we represent a strictly limited vinyl sampler from the first singles “Be Like Olive” in a fearsome Levon Vincent rework and “Fear” featuring the altogether lovely Ms Kathy Diamond in a Beg To Differ Remix from Roy Dank (of Wurst fame) and Nick himself.
The third Komisch release is by The Parallel, making his vinyl debut. ”Abyss gives us spacey textures melting into billowing chord sequences, underpinned by spiky claps and intricately woven pitch bent percussion. ”Mind Reverse” is focused on the floor with its stomping beats and metallic, robotic synths. On the flip, ”Nanotech” starts off in dreamy mode before a hammering drum and a fluid acid line lead it to a crashing snare-led climax. Finally, ”The Parallel” ends the EP in mellow mode with a snaking, sensuous bass and raw drums fused with soft, resonating melodies.
After the critical and commercial success of ART8, the resurgence of the legendary ART label continues apace with the first release in a newly formed Dance Division Series. Signifying a shift towards more peak-time club material, the DD series kicks off with the Swarm EP. Consisting of three tracks from label-owner Kirk Degiorgio. Swarm, A Way Of Life and Distant Realm cover the full-range of classic club-techno sonics, with a modern production edge that guarantees an extra punch on the dancefloor.
Omar-S’ cousin Big Strick brings the heat on this latest killer from the man’s FXHE imprint. The hawk-eyed house heads out there may recognise his name from an age old FXHE mix but apart from that we’ve got few clues on this dude. We can tell you that this is some stripped club gear of the highest order, serving up seven tracks of pure Detroit house, from the abstracted stride of ‘Boss Nigga!’ to the club-primed ‘Buckle-Up!’, or the deeply political rhetoric of ‘Walk Down Linwood’, also included in instrumental form for deeper cats – all you Omar s, Theo and deep Warehouse heads need to get investigating without delay.
Baaz comes back home at Sthlmaudio Recordings for a rich and surprise full new EP called Woodland Drive. The 12 inches start right off with Sink, a very Baaz styled house track which is dance appealing and yet refined and subtle. A raw bassy groove monster track. The next one might surprise the Baaz fans out there, yes it’s a Hip-Hop track featuring the soul vocals of Katrina Marie. We figured out that it might be fresh to provide some other point of view in the repeating herself dance scene. The B side strikes hard on the House side again, It s Gone is one of those pure shining and rolling tracks. Once to you uplift it you’d just let it go. A bass heavy subtle and groovy house cut, Baaz trademark?! Essential. And again the B2 and closing track is an lush and low key hip-hop science out of Baaz most retired places.
Tevo Howard is the new unsung hero of Chicago house music! After his debut 12” for Hour House Is Your Rush “Move”, Tevo now delivers a six track double pack. All six tracks are warm, emotional, raw, hypnotic, long and deep tracks and take us back to the original vibe of Chicago house music. Though his tracks are heavily inspired on the early days, his productions sound very crisp and ‘today’.
After a initial release on Alphahouse, Skudge has been working hard on their new material – a direction into a more atmospheric and more focused sound. The emphasis on this release lies not so much on “what works”, but on the small details and things that gets people going. Skudge is the new label of Elias Landberg. The first release has a limited edition of 300 copies.
Inspired by a post-nuclear structure, Zooloft are building up a solid fortress to avoid natural catastrophes. While Obtane is constructing a solid and deep basement of storm-proof pulsations and dry rhythms, Giorgio Gigli is finishing up the work adding ultra-moody and mind blowing atmospheres to make your new home a perfect heaven.
Title: For All Days, My Blood, My Brothers
Matrix: FPRCD006
Artist: Scott Ferguson
Label: Ferrispark Records
W&P 2009 Scott Ferguson
C&P 2009 Ferrispark Records
Tracklist:
01. That Special Thing [Marvin Belton Dedication Mix]*
02. Besus Dub [Jeremy Beasley Dedication Mix]
03. Blood Breath [Andrew Schultz Dedication Mix]
04. Digital Dance Music [Keith Kemp Dedication Mix]
05. Mega Grease [Nicodemus Ford Dedication Mix]
06. My Whiteboy Producer [Alphonso Cox Dedication Mix]
07. In The Dales [Chris Mracna Dedication Mix]
08. My Blood, My Brother [Steve Ferguson Dedication Mix]
09. Paul’s Blues [Paul Navajas Dedication Mix]**
10. A Tattooed, Rock N Roll, Jew [Peter Brandwein Dedication Mix]
11. Todos [German Encarnacion Dedication Mix]***
12. Walking Back & Forth [Robert Crossman Dedication Mix]
13. Zo Electro [Louis ‘Alonzo’ Gross Dedication Mix]
Inc. Abe Duque & Pacou remixes! Tresor Records welcomes one of today’s most up-and-coming producer and act: Remute. Crackin’ Skulls is recorded exclusively for Tresor. Crackin’ Skulls goes from clanking to warm, from hypnotic to housy – elements from all electronic areas combined for the new dancefloor. Abe Duque reduced the sounds in his typical Abe Duque manner: slick & sexy acid-house bunny, cowbells for everyone and a peak time arrangement with insane hands-in-the-air breaks. Pacou also contributed his very unique interpretation to this 12”: Berliner Hüftschwung (Berlin “hip swing”) meets Detroit “coolness”, and the ultimate oldschool 909 drum impact with grinding & rolling house-percussions. A perfect tool for the late night!
