Here is the reissue of the most sought-after track by French New Beat band French Theory. Originally released in 2008, this tribute to Boccacio (the revered temple of New Beat and EBM, located in Belgium) struck at the heart of the movement’s soul. It quickly gained cult status for its gloomy atmosphere, heavy industrial beats and catchy melodies that propelled the classic New Beat sound into the 21st century.
A sublime techno reissue from the vaults of one of London’s leading electronic labels of the last 25 years, remastered and re-presented for 2022. Originally released in 1994 on Mr.C’s cult UK house and techno label Plink-Plonk and composed and performed by Laggy Panteli and Zeno Messis (aka Megalon) in their London studio, ‘Pandora’s Box’ is a truly unique record. Sleek, futuristic, fathoms deep and wholly original, the music contained on these 2 discs sounds as modern and as vital as it did on it’s arrival all of those years ago. Exploring a deeper vein of electronic music, Megalon craft their own sonic landscapes that are undoubtedly inspired by all forms of cerebral electronic music. Ambient, Detroit techno, electro, European electronics and of course the duo’s experiences in London’s early acid house and rave scene all filter through their lens to bring something brand new to the table. The arrangement, sound design and mix on the album is outstanding, lending a totally visionary and modern feel to the tracks that continues to echo today.
José Cabrera is back with A Harmless Deed. Madrid’s finest lines up five absolutely slammin’ Chicago-house weapons at the end of the year.
Atonism has apparently been production electronic music for 12 years, but somehow this is a first ever official release. It lands on the Key Vinyl label and suggests the artist has a love of proper techno. Opener ‘Stampede’ piles on the pressure with its hurried drums and slinky synths all racing ahead in hypnotic linear fashion. ‘Still’ is a mind melter where drums, bass and synths all interweave freely and manically, then ‘Waiting For You’ mangles fragments of melody into a tight arrangement next to slapping hits and drums and oversized and frazzled hi hats. ‘Kobalt’ is a peak time, strobe lit bit of techno funk.
Swedish duo KSEL is made up of Kim Stockblom and Elias Landberg (Skudge). This is their debut offering on the Key Vinyl label and it is couched in Jeff Mills style Detroit techno minimalism. Opener ‘Kontrast’ is all chattery claps, hurried drum loops and subtly evolving synth melodies, ‘Dash’ is edgy and keeps you in suspense, while ‘Reformed’ gets even more manic with its pinging drums and silvery hi hats overlaid with restless and warped synths lines. ‘Codex’ closes out with searching sonar blips and supple drums designed to take you deep down a rabbit hole.
This is the first release of a new mysterious label Wildacre. Straight from the eastern outskirts of the Netherlands with 3 tracks pure effective deep, dubby house & techno groovers.
Jean-Louis Huhta is best known these days as Dungeon Acid, but the Trinidadian-Swedish techno maverick has a long and varied musical past that touches on punk, industrial and funk as much as contemporary club music. The latest release on Organic Analogue digs back into the archives of his prolific 90s period to offer up kinked machine jams that spit and snarl with non-conformist noise, shining a light on a somewhat overlooked talent with his own idiosyncratic take on the techno tradition. The tracks that make up “Wormhole Of Time” comprise both unreleased cuts and some long out-of-print jams from the ‘90s, spanning many of Huhta’s aliases he adopted at the time.
A stylish return from Blumoog Music with 4 tracks of pure Detroit style techno. Psychedelic sounds demonstrate, again, the great mentality of these two artists, loyal to old school underground techno. Terrence Dixon presents two minimalist tracks which will capture attention from everybody on the dancefloor; M.R.E.U.X insists with his unique style, distinguished by dizzying rhythms and pure energy.
Way back in the 1990s, Mark Hand, Neil Iceton & Jez Nicholl channeled their love of sci-fi-fired Motor City techno into a string of inspired releases under the alias Cubic Space Collective. After reuniting for a memorable machine jam at Freerotation festival in 2016, Hand & Iceton headed back into the studio for a one-off session and recorded ‘Holiday in Beta Centauri’, a musical love letter to Mad Mike and the rest of Detroit’s most militant futurist techno crew.
Second Phase (aka Joey Beltram and Mundo Muzique) are 2 legendary producers whose output shaped an entire generation of ravers, DJs and producers minds. ‘Mentasm / Mind To Mind’ is one such influential release, literally creating new styles, new directions and impacting on dance music for decades to come. Unique programming and fresh sounds made their records stand out head and shoulders above everyone else’s output. This is a quintessential techno record, a glimpse of innovation from back in the day. 1991 techno classics – repressed and reissued for 2021.
Italo Moderni presents the final release of the year, a compilation featuring of 17 tracks from their 2021catalogue. Tracks signed by Adrian Marth, Antoni Maiovvi, Daniel Monaco, DJ Wedding, Flemming Dalum, Franz Scala, Jensen Intercepter, Marcello Giordani, Sophie du Palais and more.
After a long tradition of Italian Dance Wave compilations on Slow Motion, the time has come to let our darker (and most electronic) side shine. A new compilation, the first one on our international sister label Wrong Era: Sailor of Wrong Era, named after the infamous Berlin boat parties that became a true happening in Summer 2021. Eighteen tracks split into two volumes comprising the very own Wrong Era style, crafted by renowned veteran artists and upcoming international talents from all around the globe.
Straight from the immense shelves of the Full Time Production warehouse, here’s a new must-have gem for the Italo disco lovers. Eponymous album ”Kano ” is remastered for vinyl for the first time since 1980 and is given an incredible new life through this remastered version pressed on limited edition hand-numbered vinyl that is deep in grooves and inspiration. The first successful pioneer and ambassadors of the newly-minted ”italo disco”, Stefano Pulga and Luciano Ninzatti formed the core of Kano forging a consistent and memorable sound maintened throughout. This is the sound of an army of buzzing, mini-computers and thickly-slapped bass guitars igniting neon squares across dancefloors worldwide. As such, it sort of straddles the line between italo disco and synth funk. Each of the six songs provides 6 to 7 minutes of danceable delights with lengthy instrumental stretches perfect for nightclubs. With vocals that are a mix of natural, falsetto and robotic, this is an album for boys, girls and androids alike.
Gudu Records presents ‘Jack’s Jive’, a long overdue re-release of a legendary lost South African record from 1987. Out of print for years and never available digitally, ‘Jack’s Jive’ is the stuff of legend: a bold, bright synthesizer-led cut that has been demanding Discogs prices upwards of £150 and both referenced and ripped off by contemporary artists since. Re-mastered for 2021 and cut to vinyl for the first time in decades, it’s backed with two remixes by DMX Krew.
This time Best Record Italy presents an Italo masterpiece from 1983 produced by the duo : Francesco Paolini (Pasta DJ) and Alessandro Novaga that became a massive dancefloor classic in Chicago House with the likes of the “Hot Mix 5” on cult radio station WMBX and regularly played by the legendary Ron Hardy at the infamous Muzic Box. It was very influential at it’s time on the early Chicago house and acid movement.
Belgian Thomas Blanckaert aka Innershades debuts in Cartulis with a 5 tracker representing his best shades of Techno/Electro.
Fontela Games launches its very first boardgame Mascara. Presented on a vinyl gatefold 7 inch sleeve, Mascara is a mystery game for 2 players. The game soundtrack comes courtesy of Timothy J Fairplay and contains 2 exclusive tracks. The prolific British producer presents 2 deft synth workouts recorded in a seedy studio in Tottenham.
Better Sound 08 by Trascend∆nce aka Riccardo Buccirossi. He is co-founder of Imprints Records and the owner of Metropolita, Amazing Stories, and Elma Rivaga.
Chicago Bee 007 sees the First EP from A-Eno-Acid in over 3 years. 4 dirty and danceable Chicago acid house tracks.
The Hipodrome Of Music 