Detroit-Chicago collaboration. Deep basslines, filthy chords & swinging drums on both tracks off this onesider.
Patrice Scott / Ricardo Miranda – Body Grooves [RHYTHMNATION200]
Silent Servant – KHIDI Podcast nr. 36
VA – No Photos On The Dancefloor! Berlin Techno 1992-Today [ABPLP0061/ABPLP0062]
‘No Photos on the Dance Floor! Berlin Techno 1992–Today’, compiled by Heiko Hoffmann, follows a hugely successful photography and video art exhibition by the same name that was co-curated by Hoffmann and shown at C/O Berlin in late 2019. The exhibition included works by photographers and visual artists such as Wolfgang Tillmans, Romual Karmakar, Sven Marquardt and Camille Blake, that dealt with Berlin’s club culture since the fall of the wall. It was followed in 2020 by a book of the same name which collected together the most striking imagery from the exhibition alongside interviews and personal essays.
Continue reading “VA – No Photos On The Dancefloor! Berlin Techno 1992-Today [ABPLP0061/ABPLP0062]”Șerb – Transient Recs 2 [NDWAX008]
In 2015 we stumbled across an EP by a low-profile Romanian producer, which retrospectively was a pivotal event for the development of the label. This record was Serb’s ‘Transient Recs 1’, released via Listen2me from Bucharest. We were deeply touched by the harsh and progressive sound of the tunes, which at the same time were so musical.
After a remix for Fehlzuendung and his LP ‘A12 Proceedings’ in 2018, things are coming full circle in 2021 as Șerb returns to Night Defined Recordings with ‘Transient Recs 2’, a collection of tracks produced between 2015 and 2018.
VA – LYO Presents : Driving Blind (Vol. 2) [LYO-DIGI#002]
LYO is back and ready to take your breath away with the second volume of their compilation series «Driving Blind».
They follow up on their first exquisite offering with an even wider and larger selection of 23 tracks from captivating artists from all over the globe. Selected with care and love, it will bring you on an electronic journey pushing boundaries of style featuring only fresh new original music.
Boom Generation – 1991-1995 [PROXY01]
PROXY Records’ first transmission is a 2 x 12” compilation by Boom Generation, containing 8 sought-after tracks produced between 1991 and 1995. These cuts aged particularly well, embodying the groove of the 90s by connecting raw and euphoric vibes. Remastered from the original DAT tapes, these recordings are configured to last another 30 years.
Hi Tech Criminal – Duster EP [WRECKS034]
Originally released on Volume and Tension in 1994, the ‘Duster’ EP was one of only two releases Toby Warren completed under the Hi Tech Criminal moniker, it has since gone on to become a rare gem of a record that swaps hands for princely sums. Klasse Wrecks makes the re-issue of the original tracks and an exclusive-never-heard-before mix of the title track. The 4 tracker harks back to a period in time when creativity and originality was at an all time high in dance music. The tracks on the ‘Duster’ EP defy categorization, part bouncing House, part progressive and driving Techno…all good.
Wendel Sield – Code Of Conduct [OBIA002]
Acid angled EP from Amsterdam local, Wendel Sield. ‘Code of Conduct EP’ the second instalment from Obia Records takes the labels sound through a darker path. Sinful acid spirits are summoned to drive out the past period of solitary confinement in which we all linger. ‘Discharge’ the records main cut is built by a solid acid line and crispy clear drums that highlight the slow tempo. ‘Code of Conduct’ continues on a similar pattern but with adverse drum programming that shapes the feeling of inner conflict. ‘Ethic of Reciprocity’ completes the cycle of healing with a more rhythmic and uplifting vibe and warm pad. All tracks were made with an original Roland TB-303.
VC-118A – Spiritual Machines [146DSR]
VC-118A returns to Delsin to present his fourth album, Spiritual Machines. It marks an exciting shift in focus for Samuel van Dijk as his flagship project nears a decade skirting the deeper ends of techno and electro. Over the past two and half years, van Dijk forensically reviewed the key aspects of his production process as he dug down in search of the essence of the VC-118A sound. By creating his own complement of sample banks, software racks and devices, van Dijk was able to work with a hybridised analogue-digital system purely of his own making. Less in thrall to the strict rigours of techno and electro standards, Spiritual Machines’ 13 album tracks encompass more fluid shifts into abstract and downtempo, dub-inflected realms, without losing sight of the elements that have made VC-118A so compelling from the beginning. Burnished machine soul, aqueous atmospherics and immaculate drum programming abound, but in the mellow, enveloping sound world of Spiritual Machines you can hear van Dijk guiding his music into a broader form that sounds at once more assured and more inspired.
Shifted – Constant Blue Light [AVNLP006]
Shifted offers the latest distillation of his trademark sound. Guy Brewer’s fourth studio album and the first to arrive on his own Avian imprint, “Constant Blue Light”, explores new avenues in caustic minimalism. Eschewing the booming effervescence of his own more plosive dance floor material – Shifted takes a no less nuanced, but decidedly more introspective angle on this new LP. At the centre of Brewer’s practice as an artist, there has always been a sense of dedication to the refinement of a singular idea. In some ways “Constant Blue Light” represents a move closer to the apex of this approach. A continued exploration from a focused and diligent artist that provides yet another fully formed and beautifully articulated component to his own discography and that of the Avian label.
VA – and felt like… [KH037]
Compilation of all new productions from a wealth of international talent, put together by Knekelhuis.
Label Text “This is a story of friendship, about how it grows stronger through the years. But it’s just as much about fledgling togetherness and shared art in times of crisis. The result is an introspective document of contemporary music, in spirit of Eno and Hassell. A space where we embrace our differences and speak the language of collectivity together, where we reflect, adapt and value each artist’s contribution equally. To witness a multitude of cultural backgrounds that speak one like-minded language. Soothing and illuminating. And felt like…”
VA – PRSNT [MOMPRSNT]
The LP contains original compositions by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Pascal Comelade, Laurie Spiegel, Lyra Pramuk, Chassol, Nicolas Godin and Pierre Rousseau, Pedro Vian and Pierre Bastien, Visible Cloaks, Kelman Duran, Raul Refree, Lucrecia Dalt, Lafawndah. ‘PRSNT’ is a unique global artistic project combining the input of artists across the worlds of music, video and written word which acts as a statement on how we, as consumers, engage with music in the 21 st century. The concept was devised by Created By Us and the Barcelona-based label Modern Obscure Music. They read a study which identified that the overwhelming volume of instantly accessible information online is shortening attention spans and altering how audiences engage with music digitally. Their curiosity about the state of online consumption developed further on discovering that around a third of all listeners using digital platforms skip to the next track, within the first 30 seconds of playing. Each musician was given a fascinating challenge to create engaging compositions with real artistic merit, inside the confines of this shortened span. Akin to Brian Eno’s famous Windows 95 start-up music, the time constraints are crucial, and the compositions are deceptively complex and more substantial than expectations of their nano nature would suggest. ‘PRSNT’ acts as a critique of flighty feed culture, but is simultaneously constructive, providing something which is either proposed solution or “if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em” resignation. Every artist has interpreted the brief differently, resulting in an intriguing blueprint for the potential future of digital music. Could abbreviated micro compositions satisfy, inspire and nourish like their longer counterparts? They certainly take up much less of listeners’ busy lives, which are often spent tackling ever-increasing workloads.
Pye Corner Audio – Black Mill Tapes Volume 5: The Lost Tapes [LPS27]
In the beginning, there was just a box of tapes and “Fate’s Gentle Hand.” It was the autumn of 2010, and an anonymous figure known only as the Head Technician, an employee of Pye Corner Audio Transcription Services (“Magnetically aligning ferrous particles since 1970”), found himself at an auction in the village of Coldred, pop. 110. He was on the hunt for tobacco pipes when he chanced across a trio of boxes listed in the auction catalog, which described their contents only as “archived magnetic recordings.” The sole bidder, he won the lot, and upon receipt of his purchase took possession of an unspecified number of mouldering cassettes and ¼” reel-to-reel tapes. The collection contained no identifying information save for a single phrase scrawled on each box: “Black Mill Sessions.” And so, armed with razors, eyedroppers, and a bevy of solid-state circuitry, the Head Technician sat down at his machines and got to work. Now, Lapsus presents Black Mill Tapes Volume 5: The Lost Tapes. The musical landscape has changed considerably in the past decade, but what is remarkable about the Black Mills Tapes material is that it hasn’t aged a day; its retro-futurist transmissions sound just as mysteriously compelling as they did the first time around. While they purport to faithfully transcribe the sound of yesterday’s technology, they end up being something more: a record of what we wish the past sounded like—a rickety tape transfer of desire itself, spooled and boxed, just awaiting discovery.
Sun Ra – Lanquidity (Definitive Edition) [STRUT237]
Strut present the definitive edition of Sun Ra’s classic ‘Lanquidity’ album from 1978 with brand new 4LP box set and 2CD editions, featuring the widely distributed version of the album alongside alternative mixes by Bob Blank originally released in limited quantities for a 1978 Arkestra gig at Georgia Tech. Recorded overnight at Bob Bank’s Blank Tapes on 17th July 1978 after the Arkestra had appeared on Saturday Night Live, the album is unique in the Ra catalogue. “Most critics felt that it was more of a fusion-inspired record,” explains Michael Ray. “As the name suggests, the album is liquid and languid.” Bob Blank continues, “Musically, it was very ad hoc and freeform. There were horn charts but most tracks came out of improvised jams. Sun Ra just did his thing.” Comprising five effortlessly fluid pieces, the album eases in with Lanquidity. Danny Ray Thompson remembers, “This was one of Sun Ra’s on-the-spot compositions. It is almost like an Ancient Egyptian Stargazing Ceremony, mapping out the stars and the planets.” Where Pathways Meet is “Sun Ra’s funky version of an Egyptian march. Pharaoh is sending his troops off to fight and this is his pep-talk!” continues Thompson. “The music seems to take different pathways but still converges.” The loping groove of That’s How I Feel, features the reflective trumpet lines of Eddie Gale with solos by John Gilmore and Marshall Allen: “Marshall comes in with that snake charming oboe.” Says Thompson. The funky Twin Stars Of Thence weaves around Richard Williams celebrated elastic bassline while the haunting closer, There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of), is pure “space music.” The poet Mama Nzinga described it as ‘The essence of light. Spirit takes a ride inside the deep dark space of just being.”
soFa, Houschyar & Okay Temiz- Şelale [SC019]
Second Circle return with a special one-off album of music by Belgian producer soFa, German musician Houschyar and the legendary Turkish drummer and percussionist Okay Temiz. “Şelale” is the result of a string of sessions that began in Istanbul during 2018, when soFa spontaneously teamed up with friend Houschyar for a series of smoky jams in the young producer’s 5th floor apartment. They would meet again a few months later, with a plan to finish the EP, and whilst having lunch, the two decided to pay a spontaneous visit to Okay Temiz, with whom soFa had worked previously. In this latest collaboration, Okay Temiz weaves his percussive magic through six diverse psychedelic synthesizer and drum computer jams, alongside two exciting young producers.
The Popular People’s Front – Ammo 2 [PPFAMMO2]
Reliable as ever, The Popular People’s Front return with a fresh batch of club-ready ammunition from their secret stash.
Something a little more than an edit, but still flirting dangerously between acceptable sampling & straight up sonic shop-lifting. Four more certified floor-fillers from the vaults.
Unknown Artist – Light Touches 05 [LTR05]
Light Touches Records is devoted to shed a new light to hot rarities, unknown grooves as well as forgotten classics. The new 12” is a hot smoking one ready for the summer, that kicks off with “Things”, a dope sensuous groove paired with an enchanting and fierce voice. “Arigato” pushes the dance vibes in the jazz-funk territory with some killer groove and solos all the way thru. Closing the 12” is the stunning “Helpful”, a rich, uplifting philly instrumental of the best kind.
Kozmik Funk – Disco Darkness EP [NYC009]
Kozmik Funk delivers 4 slabs of Dark Space Disco on NYC Records. 3 original space excursions and 1 cover of the Klein + MBO Italo Classic, “Dirty Talk”.
Raw Ambassador – Die Zukunft [ISR003]
Idlestates welcome Frankfurt-based Raw Ambassador to the label for their first solo album release. The Italian producer has gone from strength to strength over the last 4 years building up an impressive collection of 12″ and cassette releases, this debut solo LP is no exception. Drawing inspiration from a variety of genres, spanning from 80s sci-fi-inspired body music merged with harsher industrial and punk elements. Ultimately, we are delighted to share with you eight no-nonsense tracks that are sure to intensify the dancefloor.
VA – FrachtØ1 EP [LUN08]
Heavyweight cargo, wrong shipping adress, delivered without demand. FRACHTØ1 is the very various artists EP on Lunatic, ticking all the boxes that lead through the past releases. Tracks that represent the numerous ways of todays saturated society’s struggle expecting a dark future‘s prophecy. Roberto Auser allows no introduction time with his dystopian “Neturality” system. CVBOX‘s air cargo sets a hard contrast with as lightly bleeping as confusing “Wingwalking”. Walk on with Credit 00 who shows who you really “Wanna B”, just before all dark matter fuse on the ipside of reality: Hayter’s voice is the oracle for the street: “Sooner Or Later” all pain ows together “In Den Hochofen Des Schmerzes” of the Iron Ore.
The Hipodrome Of Music 