Japan’s Katharsis Recordings turns to Sabatoj to offer up two deliciously deep techno cuts. ‘I.C.U.’ is a heavy, slow motion roller with a grinding bassline and an eco-system of deft cosmic designs peeling off the groove. ‘Missing Man’ is slightly more speedy but no less heavyweight with its wall-rattling bass and rising sense of tension. Mike Parker steps up to remix on the B-side and does so with wiry and futuristic electronics and Kannabi keeps it heads down and moody with his remix.
To continue the Dutch series, Orlando Voorn takes you on a journey with this very deep 3-track ep on the Partout label.
Another instant classic electro-techno banger from the mind of Erik Travis. Ever since his first release in 1987, Erik Travis has become well known for his individual style consisting of pared-down, up-tempo drum programming, short vocal samples, and synth stabs.
New quality electro-techno release on brokntoys with two Club Mayz tracks and a CJ Bolland remix.
The Collection Artaud is a record label based in Berlin and run by Yu Miyashita. After a year of drought, the label is back with a release from Romanian drum & bass experimentalist DYL.
The new LP by Krefeld-born, Berlin-based artist Philipp Otterbach entitled ‘The Dahlem Diaries’. Recorded in a little-visited corner of the German capital, ‘The Dahlem Diaries’ is a convergence of ideas, sketches and tracks, both old and new, most of which were produced between 2020-2022. Whilst eerie atmospheres, electronics and drums have played a pivotal role in Philipp’s earlier releases, his latest is a rather more introspective affair, in which the guitar takes a leading role. A role Otterbach uses to quietly bring light and hope to his music. Combined with a strong use of effects and field recordings, ‘The Dahlem Diaries’ feels somewhat like a scene or fragment from a story, in which the narrative remains undefined. It is a playful album that is something of a blurred underwater adventure, sounding as bright as it is hazy, even psychedelic at times, yet with an almost melancholic positivity.
Mini-album releases featuring a collection of 5 tracks from the Sound Metaphors catalogue masterfully remixed by Anatolian Weapons. Sound Metaphors gives their keys of the label’s catalogue vaults to Aggelos Baltas aka Anatolian Weapons and this is the result. 5 tracks previously released on the labels now submitted to the studio prowess of the Greek machine. Dubbed out, tripped out, slowed down, sped up, mind blown. Aggelos brings his distinctive flavor to the table and re-constructs some of our dacefloor oriented favorites from the early 90’s.
Sequencias unveil the label debut by Ali Berger with his EP “Continuation”. The EP is a beautiful mix of tracks that could please any dance floor at any moment, or easily take you on a journey through your headphones.
Close your eyes and merge into Benedikt Frey’s ‘Fastlane’. Imagine sitting in the driver’s seat of a an automobile, one with exceptional horsepower and torque, as you stare out the windshield at the red light, warping in fata-morgana a mile down the road. It’s a straight-away, a black top with two lanes, and against your better judgment you decide to floor the gas. No hesitation in your muscle, your ankle or the ball of your foot, which you now realize is some kind of universal pivot, the first point of contact fusing your body with the will of machine. In this moment you’re in awe that you, a human, an animal, grew from pond scum into something so advanced as to engineer this thing, a mechanical beast capable of overwhelming power and exhilaration. But you also feel a seductive dread, an outside force diverting you from caution toward a dangling carrot of curiosity, asking yourself, ‘How far can I take this thing?’ The dread, now a constant, is numbed, equalized by an adverse intoxicating gratification. You feel both sensations in real time, however, rather than take responsibility for yourself, friends, family and innocent bystanders, you cement your foot to the floor and lean your head back. Noise around you fades to mute. Smell the benzene-scented air, feel the wind on your face, the menacing vibration of the vessel you control beneath you and every grain of asphalt under its tires. This mile has now lasted an eternity and you’ve left your body for some objective view, as if watching climax of a film. Past the point of no return, you embrace abandon and lean into fate. The film becomes slow motion, a crawling pace so mesmerizing you convince yourself of an option to eject yourself from this madness, but as you finally let go of your last morsel of fear, you run the red light head-on into the nucleus of a fantastic glistening sculpture of torn metal, glass, oil, broken dreams and heartache. ‘Fastlane’ may be just drum machines and synthesizers if you’re timid, but listen harder and know the catastrophic reality of existence, a wreckage so gruesome we dare not rubberneck, but afterall it is our nature to stare.
Reflection | Reaction is a trilogy of EP’s written by Plant43 over the course of winter 2022/23, the first in the series marking the 10th release and third anniversary for the artist’s Plant43 Recordings label. Over the course of twelve tracks and over an hour of new music Emile Facey takes the listener on an emotional journey through the frosty depths of winter and into the warm sunlight of spring.
Ricardo Baez draws on many influences. Electro, house, synth-pop and italo are pillars of the Italian artist’s unique style. The Florence based musician arrives at the Bordello with ‘On and On’. Featuring Curses, the opener is a floor-filler. Known for his EBM-stained wave works, this vocal mix is a late night Summer romp. Crisp percussion and warm bass lines usher in addictive hooks and throaty vocals from Luca Venezia. The original version follows. Lyrics are stripped back allowing the upbeat synth play to take the limelight. Cascading notes announce the flip. “Sfida Notturna” is built on delicate drum patterns and arc of string before breaking to a heady dawn. “Dietro L’orizzonte” brings the curtain down. Toms and cinematic synthlines introduce rasping rhythms and vocoder samples. The piece is perfectly measured, fragile keys ascend next cymbal crashes and computer voice. Sumptuous sounds from the north of Italy.
2023 official repress of the EP originally released in 2015 by the Swiss/German production team “Jack Pattern”. Electronic music with italo-disco influences at the highest level.
Marking the 10-year anniversary of Chicago legend K’ Alexi Shelby’s grooved out, vocal laden house bumper ”The Dancer”, with a reissue that shines a light on four standout remixes from four true greats, Ron Trent, Ian Pooley, Glenn Underground and Grand High Priest.
Höga Nord Rekords celebrates a decade of deep diving into both local and global pools of underground music. During this 10 year long period, Höga Nord Rekords has proven that music both has high cultural relevance as well as supplying instant kicks. Common for the label mates are the slightly screwed approach to genre and sound, with creativity and surprising takes on song structures and tonality. The label has from day one searched for, and signed creative people making music that is not for everyone. Höga Nords reach has and never will be the mainstream and the well-known, rather going deep and wide underground, reaching those who need music to survive and not just as a fund to pass time.
“Marzipan” is Habibi Funk’s first full length contemporary release courtesy of Beirut’s multi-instrumental phenom Charif Megarbane, also known as the man behind prolific Cosmic Analog Ensemble. The LP is a journey into Charif’s styling, one he terms ”Lebrary”: a vision of Lebanon and Mediterranean expressed through the kaleidoscopic sonics of library music. Drawing from artists that encapsulates the HF sound, such as Ziad Rahbani, Ahmed Malek and Issam Hajali, Charif translates these influences into an LP that is equally at home in 2023. “Marzipan” is a sonic journey that seeks to capture the full scope of Charif Megarbane’s habitus in 17 tracks. Megarbane finds a sonic through-line in his surrounding soundscapes as he draws on the chaotic energy of the crowded Beirut metropolis (“Souk El Ahad”), the warm atmosphere of the Lebanese countryside (“Chez Mounir”), or the lushness of a Mediterranean beach resort (“Portemilio”). Reflecting the aural composition of his direct surroundings into kaleidoscopic instrumentation provides a unique insight into how one musical phenomenon transposes sight into sound.
Lazy Reflex Complex lands their second release with a split EP by Clone’s techno-ambassador Lenson and Sculpturism / Miller & Keane; two collaboration projects of Dave Miller that were produced back in 2003. Tranquilizer, originally released on the Schenk1 compilation (Onderwereld), has been remastered for vinyl and is exclusively available for the fitting format. Label head 543ff reworks Tranquilizer in an ominous and hypnotic fashion. Big room beats built to shake floors and move crowds
The next Reclaim Your City pays tribute to the Benelux techno connection as they welcome Dutch maestro Steve Rachmad under his Sterac alias and Token boss Kr!z to the fold. Each contributing a brace of the typically elegant hard-hitters they’ve become so widely reputed for, the pair has us swinging in balance between proper floor-destroying potency and mind-expanding otherworldliness. A homage to the uncluttered and beautifully escapistic vision they’ve advocated throughout their career and continue to push in their various endeavors, RYCL019 is a feast for the purists as much as a compellingly future-facing manifesto: classic in essence but vanguard in its quest.
The Hipodrome Of Music 