XXX – Westzaan Doelen [PIVXXX001]

XXX - Westzaan Doelen

Poverty is Violence returns with a killer 6 track EP from the mystery XXX, who delivers six cuts of Post Wave intentions. P.I.V. continue to search for the creative spaces where many fear to tread. Pushing sonic boundaries as far as possible in an effort to reject mediocrity and the status quo. From Why Did You Do That’s clanging drums to the rousing passages of Don’t Go After Her and the broken percussive tribalism of It’s your Uncle for Gods Sake.A This ep includes six guaranteed winners for your DJ life. Totally inimitable and looking to the future with a nod to the the past – a flawless recipe for satisfaction.

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XXX – Westzaan Doelen [PIVXXX001]

808Hz – Sound Control [LXRC35]

Rough sounds burning down slowly, clashing like uncontrolled bodies in a turmoil of deviated thoughts. Lux Rec releases the first EP from Lausanne born, Zurich based musician, 808Hz. The record consists of three original tracks and one rework by Savage Grounds.

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808Hz – Sound Control [LXRC35]

Machinegewehr & Ayden Vice – Work It [ME001]

This is Amsterdam based Musique Exotique’s launch release. Dutch artists Machinegewehr and Ayden Vice team up to bring that timeless retro Italo vibe with Moroder inspired bass arpeggiation, mysterious vocals and epic pads. On the B side, San Francisco based Dutch artist, Yobkiss, offers up a masterful remix taking the track into darker electro territory. His offering includes beautifully haunting Japanese vocals by the producer’s long time collaborator Yuko Araki for exceptional exotiqueness.

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Machinegewehr & Ayden Vice – Work It [ME001]

Noamm – Psychoanalysis EP [SHIP062]

Noamm is the electronic equivalent of a honed switchblade. With surgical precision the Bass Agenda alumnus incises keys, cuts chords, pierces percussion and razors through rhythms. It is this slicing sound that the Greek artist brings to his debut 12″ for Shipwrec. Seven tracks of machined melodies and frigid fire make up Psychoanalysis. The EP is brimming with calculated fury and clinical rage. From the coursing cruelty of “Ruhestimmung” and the menacing “Dance Macabre” to the future world coldness of “Das Schwarze Korps”, Noamm is direct and straight to the point with his hard hitting style and no-nonsense approach. Few respites are to be found on this 12″, “Into The Abyss Of Changing Subconsious” being the only refuge from the arctic winds and audio blasts that scour this record. Frosted ferocity from start to finish from this exciting musician.

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Noamm – Psychoanalysis EP [SHIP062]

VA – Bias Jams 3 Munich Edition [IT038]

EL MORR, Kareem/DARIO Z/KONRAD WEHRMEISTER/MARCO/STENNY - Bias Jams: 3 Munich Edition

In 2012, the Zenker brothers introduced a new series on their Ilian Tape imprint: The Bias Tapes. We are now into the third edition come 2018 and it’s a great one. Like the name may suggest, The Munich Edition features some heroes of the local scene such as Kareem El Morr: who delivers the dark side electro bass of “Eros 404”, likewise label boss Dario Z. (ft. Maurice P.) goes down the same toute on “CEJ”. Elsewhere, dubby and cyclical warehouse techno in the vein of G-Man can be heard on Konrad Wehrmeister’s “CWS” and usual suspects Marco & Stenny hammer the message home in typically bold fashion with the emotive “Imcon”.

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VA – Bias Jams 3 Munich Edition [IT038]

Marcellus Pittman – Something Like (A Dream) [UNI1006]

Motor City veteran Marcellus Pittman has been in fine form since returning from a four-year hiatus in early 2018. This EP – his third of the year – is, of course, really rather good. Opener “Something Like (A Dream)” is particularly good, offering a perfect balance between the rolling, head-nodding, pitched-down lusciousness of Beatdown and the spacey, delay-laden warmth of more peak-time focused Detroit deep house. If you’re looking for something a little less smooth, check the low-slung, off-kilter, cyber-acid rawness of “Jamie 326 Tsot”. While rather good, it feels a little out of place next to the fluttering, stripped-back deep house tunefulness of “Breath Beat”, whose echoing chords are especially alluring.

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Marcellus Pittman – Something Like (A Dream) [UNI1006]

Doppelate – It’s Nice Here [XK013]

London based Doppelate is next up on X-kalay offering some Detroit house inspired club jams. From the languid sleaze of the sawtooth bassline on “I Can’t Get You Out of my Head” to the pin point congas and rainforest vocal shots on “Johnny Longneck”; the A side is a functional and groovy affair, stripped back to the essentials in typical Doppelate fashion. The B side takes a slightly more playful approach – Pila Pala Kisses utilizing looped pianos and some tongue in cheek percussion work before turning out a beautifully mesmerizing melody. “Club Canyon” closes things out in more understated tones; crisp hats skip over the lazy staccato bass whilst the dreamy pads induce an all too welcome state of haze.

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Doppelate – It’s Nice Here [XK013]

Patricia – Free Lunch [NONA019]

PATRICIA - Free Lunch

For his new release on Nona Records Brooklyner Max Ravitz changes the formula again and delivers five spirited acid electro tracks .Continuing to tool and retool his modular synth rack, on ‘Free Lunch’ Ravitz produces energetic electro tracks that show a shift from the familiar hazy murkiness to a more present sound and almost song-like writing that introduces some more layered melodies, acid grooves and luscious pointillism.

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Patricia – Free Lunch [NONA019]

It – Era Vulgaris EP [USR009]

IT - Era Vulgaris EP

Undersound Recordings presents a new release by It. Ivan Iusco, the artist behind the It moniker, has been running Minus Habens Records since 1987. Its Disturbance sublabel has been responsible for releasing forward thinking techno and experimental releases from a range of well known artist such as Marco Repetto, Aphex Twin, Speedy J and Atom Heart among others. Here we present three tracks that have previously been released on his Era Vulgaris CD album in 1996. The EP ranges from techno to more abstract broken beats on the flip side, displaying the versatility of It as a producer and encompassing the sound of the first years of Disturbance.

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It – Era Vulgaris EP [USR009]

Heinrich Mueller – False Vacuum [WEME313.20]

This is the first time any of Heinrich Mueller’s highly sought after remodels/reworks have been compiled together. Many have been previously available only on limited releases and have patiently been awaiting discovery by a wider audience. These 9 specially selected examples embrace all facets of his approach. First up is the ultra smooth and minimal ‘Fadin’ Away’ by The Hacker from 2000, probably one of his most sublime and timeless creations. Then jump forward to 2011 when he serves up an infectious and sparse slice of robot funk for Albert van Abbe’s ‘NCS_0009121010’. By the time of Alek Stark’s ‘Halo 6’ (2014) he’s still got the dance-floor on his mind, but it’s located on an alien or perhaps underwater world in some dimension parallel to our own. In 2009 he works for the first time with fellow Drexciyan traveller DJ Stingray and delivers the hard edged but still quite delicate ‘Drone FX’. Jump to 2005 and he conjures the playfully disjointed ‘P.O.M. (Time Dilation Mix 2)’ for Duplex. In 2000, when he had a close relationship to the label, International DeeJay Gigolo, who were releasing Dopplereffekt and the first fruits of Der Zyklus, they commissioned him to make a series of groundbreaking mixes. On one of which he got to mesh his own futuristic vision with that of Stanley Kubrick on ‘Dave’ by Station Rose. The other closes this collection and is another of his most accessible works, with the best bassline, ‘What Use’ by the legendary ’70s San Francisco band, Tuxedomoon. In 2011 he also produced a darkly atmospheric and relentlessly mechanical interpretation of DJ Stingray’s ‘The Sadist’. In 2003, another of his best production efforts, again aimed off-squarely at yet another form of mutant dance floor, came out of a total revamp of an untitled track by The Advent. Fittingly this was originally included on Recreations, an album where artists were invited to do what Heinrich Mueller does best.

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Heinrich Mueller – False Vacuum [WEME313.20]