Radio Slave returns with another standout House cut ‘Wild Life’ on Rekids, turning in two exceptional Disco and Dub mixes.
Radio Slave – Wild Life [REKIDS222]
Jayson Wynters – Keep It Deep Podcast 027
Nakibembe Embaire Group – Nakibembe Embaire Group [NNT045]
In Nakibembe, a small village in Uganda’s Busoga kingdom (one of the country’s four remaining constitutional monarchies), locals have long reserved a communal area for musical performances and social events. In the middle of this space lies a deep pit that serves a single purpose: to amplify the embaire, an immense xylophone made up of between 15 and 25 wooden keys that stretches across the trench. Log xylophones are common throughout East Africa, but the way the music is played by the Basoga – an Eastern Bantu ethnic group – is specific and unique, with its own tuning, dances and supplemental instrumentation. Up to eight players can surround the embaire and play simultaneously, overlaying hypnotic polyrhythms while additional members of the ensemble add vocals or play shakers and drums. Nakibembe Xylophone Group are one of the last remaining groups that perform with the embaire, and as anyone who’s caught their live performances will know, they create a complex and layered wall of sound that’s completely transfixing wherever it’s presented. The band are a regular fixture at Nyege Nyege festival, and in 2020 appeared in Berlin at the legendary Berghain nightclub alongside Jakarta-based vanguards Gabber Modus Operandi and Harsya Wahono. On the group’s debut album, they present five tracks as an ensemble and three tracks in collaboration with Indonesian trio. Heard together the music demonstrates not only the remarkable sound of Nakibembe’s own kinetic interaction, but sonic ripples that correlate with more distant forms, from Indonesia’s metallophone-led gamelan music to the heady digital processes of the sound art sphere.
Nu Genea – Bar Mediterraneo [NG005LP]
Four years after Nuova Napoli, Nu Genea are back with Bar Mediterraneo, a new album and journey, which projects the sounds of the Neapolitan duo formed by Massimo Di Lena and Lucio Aquilina even further. Nu Genea’s Bar Mediterraneo is an idea of a shared place where people meet and fuse together; a space that leaves its doors open to travellers and their lives, always exposed to the whims of fate. Some of this can be experienced through the multitude of sounds that come together in the tracks, layers of different acoustic instruments, voices and synthesizers merging in a unique musical blend. Opening up to the voices of many different people, separated by languages but united by the sea and the music, Nu Genea’s hometown, Napoli, becomes a true place of encounter.
DYL @ Echo (Black Rhino Radio) 05.05.2023
The Black Dog – The Grey Album [DUSTV113]
The Black Dog exploring the old ways… ”We pushed further by adopting old practices, working with one synth per person and limiting the use of our computers. We only stopped short of putting everything on beer crates. It seems like madness these days, but there is raw creativity within these confines.”
Baz Reznik – Acid Recovery [NYH324]
Long time producer and DJ, Baz Reznik is back at New York Haunted with some heavy acid stompers. Baz has been around since the beginning of the Bunker days and has been down with the true underground from day one. Running his own DYFR records and dropping magic on Syncom Data, Bunker Records and of course New York Haunted, you know what to expect here: Tough west coast acid for the masses. Whipping you into shape with that 6 in the morning illegal squat party vibe. Hardware booming in the red, compressors malfunctioning and all that good stuff. Check out this blistering EP that will not disappoint the true heads.
Henry Hektik – Motion P. Music [NSHR001]
Natural Sciences Recs and Harsh Reality Music team up for the first reissue of Henry Hektik’s Motion P. Music. A figure who collaborated with M. Finnkreig and active in the 80’s German underground and tape trading circuit, he disappeared off the grid, leaving few documents of his music behind, with the handful of remaining tapes swallowed by mould or fried in electrical accidents. What is left is true unhinged tracks from the edge, with six cuts of jacking proto-house (Haiwasa, T.B.A), night-stalker surveillance wave jams (Hong Kong Wedding Night), Black ops narco paranoia (Private Apocalypse) and static knuckle-dragging workouts (Here Comes Escape).
De-Bons-en-Pierre – Card Short of a Full Deck [DE301]
Dark Entries’ resident scuzzmasters De-Bons-en-Pierre return with the “Card Short of a Full Deck” EP, featuring six tracks of their signature sludge. In 2016, Beau Wanzer and Maoupa Mazzocchetti fused forces in order to infect the world with their mutant analog strain, a noxious hybrid of 80’s DIY cassette electronics and 90’s Birmingham techno. Card Short of a Full Deck follows 2017’s Crepes EP and 2019’s EP No. 1 and EP No. 2, all released via Dark Entries. Their latest salvo features six tracks composed for a live performance in 2019. While a damaged sense of whimsy has pervaded their previous work, Card Short sees the duo ramping up the absurdity to obscene levels. Skittering rhythms dance over ghoulish basslines and haunting, rave-evocative chords on cuts “Le Râle du Mâle Alpha” and “Puddle Points”. Elsewhere, like on “Card Short of a Full Deck” and “Accidental Surgeries”, contorted vocals battle careening synths amidst post-apocalyptic waste.
Robotron – Transformation EP [SKYNETT.2]
This is Robotron – a cyborg designed for cybersonic purposes. He has been hit by an electro-static blast and suffers a technosis trauma. As a result, his programming is disrupted – causing him to transform into LO-FI algo-rhythms. The Transformation has just begun by adopting ballistic identities and relearning AI-abilities – to continue his advanced exist-dance of termination. All 4 trax are pressed on 45 RPM to be transformed into a serious SLOW-FI nightmare via 33 RPM.
Jauzas The Shining / Cycloplex – Split Machine EP [GO007]
Gladio Operations inaugurates 2023 with its seventh release titled “Split Machine”, a new series of shared EPs, where in this first episode the producers Jauzas The Shining and Cycloplex go halves on the EP. The French producer returns to Gladio with three cuts which possess his peculiar and characteristic rugged sound. The EP launches with “Business Machines” and “Isla De Encanto”, two powerful cuts with aggressive and noticeable basslines filled-up with dark textures. Jauzas gifts us a last cut titled “Equation”, a nod to the EBM sound, where he preserves the same darkness as in the previous cuts. On side B we encounter the Spanish producer Francisco Aguado, who has recently released his first work under the “Cultivated Electronics” label under his new electro alias, Cycloplex. With two cuts titled “Intercepted” and “Acid Machine”, Cycloplex reveals his particular minimalist vision of electro sound in an abstract journey of excellent monotonous rhythms.
E.R.P. aka Convextion – Rotating Assembly [OM:NIA03]
Convextion steps up under his “Event Related Potential” alias and delivers 4 special cuts for om:nia that push his sound into new realms.
Kenny Hooper – Detroit Orbiter Vol.3 [ELY112]
Detroit-native Kenny Hooper steps up for his debut release on Elypsia Records with not one but three 12 inches full of prime Motor City techno and electro escapism. Titled ,,Detroit Orbiter Volume 1 – 3″, each EP features four tracks, showcasing Hooper’s brilliant personal take on classic Detroit sounds. The twelve tracks of the ,,Detroit Orbiter” trilogy signal the arrival of yet another Motor City talent ready to rake the world and dance floors by storm with his chunky and funkafied sonic fictions.
Böhm – Connected EP [MOS033]
Utrecht based producer Böhm is back with his second batch of heat on MOS Recordings. He delivers a brilliant take on the deeper side of house music, smoothly blending the iconic MOS strings with drifting bass lines and a spark of idm bleep techno.
Andrew Red Hand – Nostalgia EP [CHIWAX022LTD]
Andrew Red Hand is back on Chiwax with his 3rd release. Nostalgia EP is a very personal and intimate release for Andrew.
Byron The Aquarius – EP1 [CJFD38]
Classic jacking tracks by Byron the Aquarius on Clone Jack for Daze. A 6 track EP that will make you dance till your numb. A big booming sound system in a dark room filled with big artificial clouds from the smoke machine, rattling drum machine with pulsating basslines, the hypnotizing lights from the strobe and you’ve entered the Land Of Confusion! That’s all we need to have a good time. Byron hits exactly that sweet spot with his take on the classic stripped down jack tracks.
XDB vs. Kryptic Universe – Lockertmatik 014 [LOCKERTMATIK014]
Great deep techno on this collaborative split release between XDB and Kryptic Universe! They’re bringing 2 of their favorite cuts onto the table. C.O.N. and Cloud Riders do dive deep and relentlessly into dub techno territory.
Stojche – Granada [SYNCRO39]
Macedonian-in-Berlin Stojche continues his faithful exploration of deeper strains of techno with this entry for esteemed French label Synchrophone. It’s the first time the Tangible Assets artist has appeared on the label, and he does so with the statement drop of just one original tune, the frankly epic ‘Granada’. Laying down a swirling dream of synth strings and fluttering Rhodes, the core of the track is a soothing balm driven by bouncy, strident 909 kicks, but the real magic comes from the switch up as the pads give way to fast-paced, classically informed techno rush right up there with the best of Detroit. Meanwhile, the B-side is handed over to Gerard Hanson aka Convextion, who delivers a version which submerges the broad sweeping pads and focuses on building the forwards momentum.
Derek Carr – Allez EP [TRECS008]
Derek Carr has been pretty untouchable in the last couple of years. His work in the fields of deep house and deep techno has been consistently innovative and captivating. He takes care of the eighth EP on the Trident label now with more of his serene sound designs and dynamic grooves. ‘Allez’ heads off into the cosmos with balmy pads and smooth drums then acid lashes about the mix of ‘I Want You’ which rides a nice tight, clipped, locked-in drum line. Things get more loose and star gazing on ‘Revival’ while ‘Typhoon’ closes with playful synth patterns tumbling down over invitingly warm deep house drums.
Millsart – Inner Eye [AX111]
Axis Expressionist Series is a collection of vinyl and limited digital releases, curated by Millsart, an alias of Jeff Mills, of his most eclectic and transcendent compositions that derive from his Every Dog Has Its Day project as well as new unreleased works. “Inner Eye” and “That Voodoo You Do” were originally released in digital as “Every Dog Has Its Day vol.12” (2020). “Nocturnal Moves” was originally released in digital as “Every Dog Has Its Day vol.9” (2020).
The Hipodrome Of Music 