20 Albums from 2019

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Yesterday we presented the preferences of our readers from last year, now this is a list of 20 albums from 2019 that made an impression on us.


We have three pure electro albums from E.R.P., Jeremiah R. and Plant43 and the new electro-synthy album of veteran David Carretta, his first solo album for ten years. On the darker side of the synth palette we have two EBM/synth-pop albums from Boy Harsher and Years Of Denial, the debut album of Kris Baha, the third album of Greek producer June, a new one from Jason Letkiewicz aka Steve Summers under his new moniker Opposing Currents and two more industrial albums from Autumns and Colombian Filmmaker.
On the other had we have two acid gems from DimDJ and Paranoid London, the first ever Gladio album, the second album from Mannequin boss Alessandro Adriani and an experimental/ambient album from veteran Function on Tresor.
So, here it is compiled in chronological order.
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20 Albums from 2019

2019 Top 3 – Readers List

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2019 is coming to the end so it’s that time of the year when we look back and see what caught our attention the most. As the tradition is on our side, we look first at the preferences of our readers and this is a top 3 of the most appreciated albums, compilations, mixes and other stuff.

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2019 Top 3 – Readers List

Jorge Velez – The Saturn Star [UTTER4]

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Utter presents ‘The Saturn Star’, a score to an imaginary film by music producer and visual artist Jorge Velez. Inspired by The Third Ear Band, late-period Coil, Carlos Peron’s lurid soundtracks and European folk music, Velez’s score accompanies the evocative tale of a 16th-century physician-alchemist hunted down by The Inquisition in western Europe. Velez purposefully limited the amount of equipment he used to create a cohesive sonic environment, this time restricting himself to a Korg MonoPoly and Prophet 6. The music flowed quickly, with the entire project recorded and mixed within two weeks. The resulting work veers from moments of unsettling intensity to blissful beauty, underpinned by a lingering sense of mystery and paranoia.

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Jorge Velez – The Saturn Star [UTTER4]

Healing Force Project – Sideral Escape [AMEN008]

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Since nearly a decade now, Italian born artist Antonio Marini is going through a sonic adventure known as Healing Force Project. Discreetly building up his musical blueprint, he slowly reached a cult status as a visionary who is blending electronic music with free-jazz in an atypical, anarchic, spontaneous and original way. On ‘Sideral Escape’ the artist shows himself in his different facets ranging from ambient to jazz to techno.

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Healing Force Project – Sideral Escape [AMEN008]

His Master’s Voice – Transition [DSR-E10]

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Mysterious German producer His Master’s Voice makes his debut on Delsin Records. With three mind bending originals and an absorbing Vril rework on board his entry on the Delsin e-series is a deeply immersive beat trip into another dimension. The roughed edged ambiance of ‘Fire Red’ opens the dance in soothing yet engaging fashion with superbly spacious soundscapes pulling you in and slowly involving into a foggy kick drum extravaganza. ‘Eve’ then offers a deep and propulsive electro groove with glitchy atmospheres. Lead track ‘Transition’ hits hard, an intergalactic trip on turbulent stuttering drums and whipping synths. To finalize an immersive EP, close friend Vril jumps in for a rework of ‘Eve’ where he smoothly connects the dots between his typical dark bass lines and blistering dub chords.

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His Master’s Voice – Transition [DSR-E10]

June – Silver Demon [MNQ134]

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Greek artist June makes his debut on Mannequin Records with the ‘Silver Demon’ LP. The album explores a futuristic dystopian world where transcendence and oppression coexist, where claustrophobia and infinite openness coincide. A world of contrasts that is the product of the artist‘s active imagination and conscious effort to confront the subconscious. The album was recorded using original techniques from the golden era of electronic music (late 70s to mid 80s) with an arsenal of vintage analog synthesizers, drum machines and effect processors (originating) from the same time period. While the aesthetics of the classic precursors emerge through the minimal, deep, dark architecture of June’s music, Silver Demon prevails with the artist’s characteristic originality.

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June – Silver Demon [MNQ134]

VA – Nothing Matters When We Are Dancing Vol 10: Cosmic Hole [CDA010Y/COSMICHOLE]

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Discodromo present a three-vinyl compilation to celebrate the tenth birthday of their Berlin party CockTail d’Amore. The compilation features the sound that best envisions the party and its evolution throughout its first decade. This vinyl features the sound of the Cosmic Hole, a room dedicated to downtempo psychedelia. CPI, the name behind Marc Pinol and Hugo Capablanca’s collaborative project, launches this record with a hypnotic acid ballad named Mount Anal: for a late night slow-mo dance experience. Synth-noir melodies are brought by two label aficionados, Juan Ramos and Kris Baha, while Honeysoundsystem’s Bezier journeys to a One Thousand and One Nights soundscape with his Starpoint.

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VA – Nothing Matters When We Are Dancing Vol 10: Cosmic Hole [CDA010Y/COSMICHOLE]

DJ Mad A & Dr. Stevie The Ambient Guru – The Mad Vibe EP [SC1202]

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DJ Mad A (Adam Embleton) & Dr. Stevie The Ambient Guru (Stevie Hewitt) originally met when Adam picked up the Saturday shift at ‘Record Mart’, a record store run by Stevie back in the late 80’s. They quickly bonded over shared tastes and enthusiasm for the growing dance club culture in England.

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DJ Mad A & Dr. Stevie The Ambient Guru – The Mad Vibe EP [SC1202]

Remora – Easy Rider [KJ045]

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Brooklyn-based, Yugoslavian-born Maroje T is back as Remora with a new release on Kraftjerkz. His latest Remora release is a cohesive, synth-driven exploration, drawing influence from 80’s New Wave, Belgian New Beat, synth-pop, Italo disco and electro. Its aim is not to emulate; its nostalgia is grown-up and contemporary, filled with arpeggiated synths and metallic punctuation. There’s a play between light and dark here; the opening tracks take us on an easy, synth-pop voyage, as if through a neon dawn. Half-way through the EP, the mood shifts towards dystopic visions, with tracks like “Bitter Night” and “Green Sea” bringing to mind videogame-boss nostalgia and darker electro sentiments. The EP closes with the final, visceral “You Travel by Plane Often,” meant to be experienced with the body. The EP is primed to become a classic; it goes down easy but stays with you for a while, before wanting to be ingested again and again.

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Remora – Easy Rider [KJ045]

Joris Biesmans – Big Mouth EP [17STEPS027]

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Joris Biesmans debuts on 17 Steps with his Big Mouth, an EP crafted in his trademark style – propulsive, analogue driven house and techno, rich in melody and colour. ‘After All These Years’ and the title track ‘Big Mouth’ are anthemic, brimming with extrovert synths and acid lines. On ‘DrumatiXL’ Biesmans channels vintage, celestial electro through his hardware. It’s a slick, sci-fi inspired three track selection primed for the Berlin dancefloors he calls home.

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Joris Biesmans – Big Mouth EP [17STEPS027]

VA – War to the Future [GO002]

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The record label Gladio Operations launches its second release. ‘War to The Future’ gives its name to the first series of various artists from the label, which includes four electro cuts, exclusively orientated for the dance floor. The EP opens with a producer from Barcelona Univac who gifts us with Station Cero, a powerful, devastating track resonating with industrial sounds. The second track titled Poison, bears the signature of the Ukrainian artist Lectromagnetique, a track loaded with excellent dark and enigmatic sounds. The owners of the Gladio Operations label, UHF, open side B with Unexplained Situation, a vertiginous journey wrapped in rich and deep psychedelic textures. The Serbian producer Alavux closes the EP with Sunset, a fantastic track with an aggressive bass line and significant and repetitive sequences.

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VA – War to the Future [GO002]

DJ Overdose – Hang In There [CRTSX002]

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Curtis Electronix delivers the second release. 4 originals from one of the most remarkable and reliable artists in the game, Rotterdam dungeon master DJ Overdose. The A side drops two club ready electro tracks molded with his unique cyberfunk style, punchy analog drums, heavy dystopian basslines and gently spaced out melodies. On the flip side things turn into a murky slow tempo affair. Industrial solid drums and distorted sonic grounds will turn your captivating journey into a dark machine odyssey.

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DJ Overdose – Hang In There [CRTSX002]

Secret State – Arctic EP [BBR019]

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Frosty… 4 ice cold trax from Toby Smith AKA Tobias Schmidt on the “Arctic E.P.” Jacking Detroit Techno meets footwork on these 150 BPM plus hitters. Let these tracks tell you everything you need to know about the myth that is the… Secret State.

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Secret State – Arctic EP [BBR019]

VA – Nothing Matters When We Are Dancing Vol 10: Garden [CDA010Y/GARDEN]

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Discodromo present a three-vinyl compilation to celebrate the tenth birthday of their Berlin party CockTail d’Amore. The compilation features the sound that best envisions the party and its evolution throughout its first decade. This installment features the sound of the Garden and its kaleidoscopic surges. Tornado Wallace’s contribution is a fetishized Italo-High-Energy adventure. On the same side the breaks of Greenvision’s Sleeping Bag In New York conjure a clubber’s hallucinations on a Sunday afternoon. Bell Towers and Bon Voyage nostalgically cover the flip side. The former with synth pop inspired ode to the this special dance-floor and the latter with a classic cosmic emotional composition.

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VA – Nothing Matters When We Are Dancing Vol 10: Garden [CDA010Y/GARDEN]