After a pandemic induced gap since the last release, Artificial Horizon makes our first foray into the digital realm with tracks from Sophie Du Palais, Mavridis, Petros Spatharos, Kafkactrl, AIR LQD, Future Relics and Roberto Auser. As a temporary antidote to this ever more cryptic world, the ‘Wrongful Convictions’ V/A brings together artists from all corners of Europe who share an affinity for the spectral side of the sonic plains.
Second part of The Slaves Of Darkness, mix of styles from DJ W.E.B., FRNK, Gee M, Sorog, Phase O’Matic and Odic Force.
Leipzig’s Interviews returns to Bitterfeld for his second EP of power electro, techno and EBM plus another new wave anthem on the B2.
In their first appearance collabing on the label, Jeroen Search & Gotshell delivering a 5 tracker EP of classic, raw, and purist non-stop 909 madness techno jams on BAO76.
Trauma Collective returns with four cuts of decidedly hypnotic and abstract techno from ever-prolific ASC. Rounding out the last decade with a string of stand-out releases on his own imprint, Auxiliary, the San Diego producer brings his cerebral sonic aesthetic to the fledgling Madrid label. “Loop Research” showcases a singular artist unbound by tempo and at the top of their game.
the 2nd segment from our new series focusing on rare vinyl from the basement/vaults, cd and music material from the headquarters and recording studio of Nation focuses on Dj Rush.
Surgeon is back in the Zenker Brothers Operating Room slicing up four deep and moody techno cuts with the surgical precision he is known for.
James Pennington is the Detroit techno talent who records as the Suburban Knight and has done since the middle of the eighties. He’s got plenty of mini-classics to his name such as ‘The Groove’ and ‘Art of Stalking’ and now he is back with what amounts to his first solo record in over a decade having previously worked with Inner City and Underground Resistance. Here he offers scintillatingly soulful techno on ‘Inner City’, which comes with a deeper and more quickened 207737 edit. Reverse the record and you’ll find ‘Species’, an intergalactic techno trip on bumping beats. ‘Intel Bombs’ (feat Ray 7) closes out with intense drum work and turbocharged stabs.
From the same minds behind the 808 Box and Electric Eclectics projects released on Fundamental Records, the time is now for Electro Transmissions, the new project from Electro Records. ET 001 is a various artists release, what they call the Abduction Krew, with tracks by Electro Nation, Zeta Reticula, Mas 2008, Sound Synthesis and T/Error.
‘Dreams of empty spaces’ is the second release from Electro Label Suborder. With that new EP, French based producer NGA doesn’t bother about flourish and goes straight to the point. Expect nothing but 3 dancefloor killers. Every track is a pure piece of Minimalistic Electro which will perfectly fit in every high skilled DJ set. Whatever the side you choose to play, you can count on that mix of metallic basslines, 808 drums and hypnotizing keyboards, to activate clubbers body mechanics.
Atlanta artist 30303 debuts on Vault Wax with five cosmic, space-influenced live acid jams. The far-out journey begins with ethereal, spaced-out breaks and trips into darker, grittier techno turns.
Another exploratory and bulletproof data delivery by Das Ding, returning for his second record in the Mechatronica White series following ”I Am Not A Robot” from last year – this time assisted by Heap’s radiant interpretation on the flip.
Kris Baha returns to his imprint Power Station since ‘Mind Your Head’ in 2016 with 4 mutant industrial cuts ready for a dancefloor of 1.‘Behave’ begins with a hypnotic sequence guiding the listener through the piece as sonic sirens screech from the cavernous dystopian wastelands of 2020.
Legowelt has been a key figure in the Dutch electronic music scene since the early nineties, steadily releasing timeless music that merges the pioneering sounds of Detroit and Chicago with idiosyncratic sci-fi fascinations. “Unconditional Contours” captures Legowelt’s stint at the Swiss Museum for Electronic Music Instruments (SMEM), after he was invited to be the first artist in residence at the institution’s “Playroom” project. Legowelt visited SMEM in Fribourg, Switzerland, in early 2019 to explore the collection and record music. Possessing an extensive collection of synthesizers himself, he used hand-picked synthesizers from the museum’s archive: the rare Farfisa Synthorchestra, the EVS-1 Evolution, the “shittiest rompler ever made”, amongst many others. The 10-track album “Unconditional Contours” is both a probe into the vast collection of SMEM, and a display of Legowelt’s well established compositional qualities. Leaving ample space for new sounds to unfold, Legowelt invokes gentle trips, brooding excursions, bleep heavy soundscapes, and reimagined elements of dance music classicism. SMEM and -OUS are launching the “smem+ous” series to document the “Playroom” residencies. A limited edition of this album was already sent out to early supporters of the “Playroom”. Founded in 2016 and based on a collection of more than 5000 synthesizers, organs, drum machines and effects that had been collected over a 35 year period by Klemens Niklaus Trenkle, SMEM offers residencies, studio sessions, talks and workshops.
“When I first saw this collection, I was truly flabbergasted. Endless rows of synthesisers – some so obscure I had not ever seen nor heard of them. This place will probably turn into the world’s most magical place for synths.” – Legowelt
KMRU is the moniker of Joseph Kamaru, a sound artist, and producer based in Nairobi. One of the leading exponents of the burgeoning experimental music scene in Nairobi and beyond he was listed by Resident Advisor as one of ’15 East African Artists You Need To Hear’ in 2018 and is a regular performer at the fabled Nyegenyege Festival having also presented live performances at CTM festival and Gamma Festival. Peel is KMRU’s first release for Editions Mego. exquisite mix of field recordings and electronics unravelling at a repetitive and leisurely pace to expose a rich tapestry of sound that has been revered for it’s ability to cross borders with the sheer undertow of emotional content. The subtle calming atmosphere within Peel belies the compositional prowess as layers of delicate sounds wrap around each other creating a hybrid new form ambient musics both captivating through it’s textural depth and kaleidoscopic patterns. The track titles lend themselves to the themes and mood set within: Why are you here, Well, Solace, Klang, Insubstantial and the title track. This is a deep heartfelt journey with a new strong voice being expressed through the means of organically presented electronic ambient sounds, one which reveals further layers on repeat listens.
Long-time Muslimgauze fans with keen eyes and/or photographic memories may immediately notice something about the newly unearthed Sadaams Children album; with some slight orthographic differences, it just about shares a name with a short track from the classic Narcotic (Staalplaat, 1997; the similarity and the difference is pretty much expected from someone who both liked to reuse names and didn’t care for consistency in spelling as Bryn Jones did). While none of the four lengthy tracks found on Sadaams Children actually sound like sparse, clean string sounds of Narcotic’s ”Saddams Children”, three of them never previously heard extended versions of tracks previously found on that release – well, one is both an extended and truncated version, but such are the idiosyncrasies and joys of the ever-complex Muslimgauze oeuvre.
Introducing C.P.I. an almost forgotten project from Capablanca & Marc Piñol granted a full album release via John Talabot’s Hivern Discs. Emerging in 2014 with a rare 7″ release, Alianza follows a brace of EPs spread across a four year peroid, with this album diving deep into the submersive ambient realms of analogue, machine made music. Full of tension, lo-fi industrialisms and atmospheres that play with themes of giallo italo (“Osera”), and winds of the new age in “Islaalsl”, find spiritual spoken word in both “Rasa” and “Epileg”, with the latter drifting unnoticed into a haunted cathedral of choirs. For lovers of ambient 4th world music, dub techno noise-floor, crackle and pop (“I/O”) and epic space western drone (“Sol”), C.P.I. have arrived.
The Hipodrome Of Music 