Vertical67 aka Thomas Pahl joins eudemonia with his EP ‘The Early Hours’. During the past years the versatile producer and co-owner of Vortex Tracks has released a great amount of records on well-respected labels like 100% Silk, Lunar Disko Records and Mechatronica. On this record he again shows his talent to produce versatile and masterly crafted tracks which can be played either in the early hours of a clubnight or during an extended home listening session.
Dalmata Daniel presents the new album by Dutch West Coast mid-veteran Roberto Auser. Auser (born Derk Reneman) has been into cinematic (or b-videomatic) electro for more than a decade now, with releases on Viewlexx, Pinkman, Gooiland Electro/Enfant Terrible and more, ranging from atmospheric and hypnotic to tight and grim, but always loaded with a vision of a storyteller. In a Dutch way, for sure. Though “Second Sun” is, again, an audiovisual trip, that’s not the primary concept here – it’s probably the purest album-like experience of Robert Auser so far, presenting most of his characteristics and sounds, and also new elements, still, all are coherent and organic parts of Reneman’s projective language of electronics.
TPPM and AtB aka Mr fLooDs are turning on the research machine taking the listener on a extraordinary tripped out ecstatic journey through timespace where spirits of Liaisons Dangereuses Radio and the legendary Boccaccio are summoned with inspiration in order to find a New Beat Soul for the 21st Century. What was born and initially exploded in 1987, went supernova (in Belgium) in 1988, declared dead in 1989, was slow and initially all about atmosphere with industrial strength beats – the main form of rhythmic propulsion being the pounding kick and heavy snare. The sound was mainly instrumental and when there was lyrical content, it often became more about slogans and giving commands. On „Decadent Skies“ An Anomaly bring back the atmosphere, beats, the essence off the beaten commercial track, and combine it with the knowledge of tomorrow.
Inspired from Romanian cultural heritage, be it film, dance or musical instruments, Folclor Abstract is a glance back to the roots in search of a meaningful future. The first track is inspired from the soundtrack composed by Cornelia Tăutu for the Romanian historical adventure film “Buzduganul cu trei peceți” (1977). The film presents a politicized version of the events that led in 1600 to the unification of the three Romanian countries, in the aftermath of a victorious battle against the Ottoman invasion (Călugăreni, 1595). Dance your way through as the story unfolds. Dans cu balans is the result of a personal fascination for the cimbalom, an instrument of high versatility, frequently used in the Romanian fiddle music. In contrast to orchestral performances, which adhere to the composer’s notes to reproduce a work faithfully, fiddling is also open to improvisation and tends to produce rhythms that focus on dancing, with associated quick note changes. Searching for inspiration within Romanian folklore, I found Ivan Braga who was on his own pursuit of cultural heritage, experimenting with a variety of traditional instruments and rhythms from different regions of the country. Doba lu’ Braga is Ivan’s modern take on Romanian drum patterns performed on a traditional Moldavian drum (dobă) with an uplifting twist and arrangement for the dancefloor experience. Reverie is an expression of the creator’s state of mind. Lost in thought, stolen by imagination, haunted by memories, liberated by dreams
Cardinal & Nun returns to L.I.E.S. now with his debut LP, 8 songs of full on rotten stripped back, fuzzed out, synth punk mayhem. Straight to the head beautifully thrashing anthems, Cardinal & Nun goes in with catchy basslines, dissonant guitar chop ups, and vocals that creep from the shadows throughout the affair. Don’t gas out though, there are some somber cuts on the b-side’s ”Whats Goin On Tonite?”, ”Pandemonium” and ”Day After Day”. A true gem in the French scene, now get in the pit and slamjack.
MOM017 is here. It is the first non-electronic release on Modern Obscure Music and it
comes from Catalan Pop-Rock band Univers. The EP contains two unreleased tracks from
their former LP session and three strong electronic remixes on the B Side. The first comes from the Portugese native based in The Hague, Lake Haze, the second comes from MOM label boss Pedro Vian and the final remix is by the mysterious M.T. Formula.
There’s a mystical place in the heart of Rotterdam, oddly tucked in between the corporate buildings. Bright light boards and red velvet carpets, it’s a small cinema that still breaths its old-school grandeur. That’s where the Cinerama Adventures project was born, lead by its staff supervisor DJ Overdose. The result are two tracks that go from modern flavored freestyle to sleazy darkroom experiments, both accompanied by the instrumental versions.
The Moscow’s dancefloor burners are back with the new single “Tanzare ”. Offering again their usual modular sonic artillery and their lovely blend of electro, dark techno and body music with 2 new tracks that are insured/guaranteed floor-fillers.
E-MAN was the first project of Norwegian musician Geir Jenssen (electronics, well-known from being in Bel Canto and especially Biosphere) with guest vocalists Ragnar “Spiss” Larsen and Frank Jensen, and Per Martinsen on additional electronics. They only released one cassette on Likvider in 1984 (LIKV 4025) with tracks recorded in 1983/84.
Berlin studio nut CV Vision washes ashore, surfing on sine waves with his second offering of 2021 and the fifth Patience release, “Elemente”. Following on from his recently released debut LP Tropical (South Of North), CV Vision takes his library chops, psych rock skills and analogue artillery and spreads them over two quarter hour sides, to brain melting effect. “Elemente” soars from cosmic to kosmiche. A dizzying homage to the natural world, the two pieces pay tribute to those animals that glide (Gleiten) and those that float (Treiben). The A side Gleiten tears off on a gnarly, loping odyssey, embarking from the sand to faraway lands, stopping in at Beppe Loda’s Typhoon, Conny Plank’s studio, Bob Chance’s garage via the Transfer Station Blue. The B side Treiben is a more sublime animal, steadily cruising at 20,000 leagues, traversing a mostly calm sea of bubbling arpeggiated synthesis before beaching somewhere on the Med in the late 70s. CV Vision is Dennis Schulze, a DIY boffin originally from Bayreuth who enjoys tinkering with electronics and cold water plunges. He has several more projects on the way in 2021. Patience is an outlet for exploring further beyond the break than usual. Inspired by the music perpetually on rotation at HQ – with E2-E4 representing the format’s high tide mark – each release will be one artist’s deep dive down one inspirational wormhole spread across two sides of vinyl, or two side-long sojourns making full use of a round 12” piece of plastic.
Russian no wave / synth duo The Bleak Engineers seem a neat fit with the first 12″ release from Rotation Mecanique. It’s the new statement of the band, whose members are worth of attention: the grey eminence of the Russian electronic scene Alexander Moralez (Brokntoys/Gigolo/MSQ) and the horror and surf rock goddess Svetlana Zombierella (Messer Chups). The main track, “Unconscious”, is accompanied by 5 more new musical revelations: the fresh compositions, which will be the new hits and the mysterious instrumentals in their trademark gloomy electronic no wave sound. The isolation is not the reason to be silent. Hearing the bleak, sometimes hopeless and sometimes hopeful vertigo of synths, vintage drum machines, floating bass lines, frank and mild vocals without any rush and without any attachment to time and place. And that is the incomplete list of adjectives related to this release.
Swaying & icy electronic dub compilation straight from Delodio Studio Sessions. Programmed and produced by F.M. Cut and compiled by Fa_Fane.
Hieroglyphic Being going back 2 his roots taking a break from the 4/4 beat.
Gesloten Cirkel with some raw, partly New Beat leaning, acidic Techno / Electro EP for Bad Manners.
Cosmic Traveler, a four-track affair, marks Matiske’s debut appearance on Sheffield’s Central Processing Unit. Given the long wait, it’s great just to see Blackploid back among the fray once again. But for the project’s CPU curtain-raiser to be an EP of such high-quality techno jams? Now that really is spoiling us. Cosmic Traveler’s title nods towards the sort of stargazing aesthetics one finds in classic Detroit techno. However, while there are undoubtedly ties to the Motor City in this music, the record ultimately steers less towards spacious atmospherics and more towards the taut, lean machine-funk of seminal practitioners like Dopplereffekt.
Medical Records return to Italy to present the newest full-length album by Filippo Diana (alter ego of Joe Drive). Where as Joe Drive’s output is in the vein of techno, electro and house, Filippo Diana veers more in the direction of mutated library/soundtrack nu-disco. Consisting of eight tracks, join us on a journey as equally suited for progressive dance floors or the soundtrack to the deep recesses of the mind.
Les Yeux Orange launched a new serie of edits called the NameYourPrice Edits.
As the name says it all, these edits are free download. Some edits are from quite obvious tracks, others from complete obscure sources. This package includes 6 edits from Aaron Maple, Curses, Franz Scala, Hysteric, Leonxleon and Nathan Joy.
Duca un rotolo. Les star tape edit. Equipaggi.Casinoboy returns after a decade in hiding. Young Sex. Slow Sex. Mr Sexy. Then the grande secret. The Unknown. Nuova. Acid. Jack. Geile. Bang. Hehe, Hoho. He is Rune. A legend. Mumble-grumble. Lindbaek knows the score. Disco, disco, disco. Cut, edit, splice, dice. Pumper. Finale Campioni. Chuncho. Khidja edit v dub v techno. Who wins?
Duca Bianco steps up, welcoming some reel 2 reel stars of 45 for the reprise of various hombres. Italo is our party, Franz Scala (Slow Motion / Bahnsteig 23) representing O Sweeeeeet Carillon. Madness of Hysteric (Public Possesion / Bordello A Parigi) and his epic funk groove Pleides. Perfecto BEATFoOT & DJ DOLLPIN are who, what, where. Osdorp Discoteca is la nouvelle vague with tape axes to sharpen. Finale from heavyweight Cherrystones (Emotional Response / Touch Sensitive) returning to show who is wonky critical King.
The Hipodrome Of Music 