VA – Dutch Wave: A History Of Minimal Synth & Cold Wave In The Netherlands [OS036]
First chapter on Onderstroom digging into the history of Dutch minimal synth & wave. Comes in a gatefold sleeve with metallic finishing and pressed on 180gr. vinyl. Who needs a big, expensive recording studio with all those fancy high-tech machines that only make your weary head spin when you can do it all by yourself at home in your (teenage) bedroom? Way back in the early eighties all you really needed was an idea, quite a bit of guts and some rudimentary equipment. You could basically do whatever you wanted. The means were limited, yet the sky was unbounded. It was the time of the cold war nuclear threat, social unrest and mass unemployment but at the same time it was an era of infinite possibilities. The future was just around the corner. A lot of music that was being produced sounded just like that: a brave new world of sound and rhythm. Music was simply put on cheap cassettes, easily duplicated and swiftly distributed in limited quantities into the big world outside.
Pasiphae – Siphax EP [AD003]
To kick-start Artificial Dance’s 2018 release programme, the label has once again delved deep into the darkest corners of the Dutch electronic underground. The result is a debut solo EP from another future hero, Hague-based Pasiphae. Born in Greece, Pasiphae took up DJing and music production when she moved to the Netherlands five years ago. The Siphax EP is her first solo outing. Packed with mutant alien funk (the superb title track), horror-fired dancefloor dystopia (throbbing opener Tachynons’) and skewed electronic soundscapes ( Vertical Rotation’, which sounds like it could have been taken from the soundtrack of an early ’80s art-house movie), the six tracks offer a neat summary of Pasiphae’s unique musical world. Check out, in particular, the two-part murkiness and late night hum of ‘Quelque Chose De Mauvais’ and ‘Quelque Chose De Mal’, which are creepy and clandestine in equal measure. If that’s not enough to set the pulse racing, turn your attention to EP closer Hedera’, a beat-less but rhythmic romp through muggy, psychedelic pastures.
Dollkraut – Holy Ghost People [DA005EP]
After releasing Dollkraut’s second album one year ago, Dischi Autunno presents now these three superlative remixes. Subversive Berlin duo OTTO take the lead with a warm, Arabic twist on the album opener ‘Bonnie Says’ by lifting the groove with a little organ-squeezing spring while maintain its faraway haze and mystique. Accurately hyped Romanian-also-in-Berlin Borusiade follows with an overwhelming floor-ready update on ‘Have I Told You’. Already a familiar face with the label, she weaves a chasm-like new-wave narrative that sucks you deep into the mix and galvanises the pundit attention she’s getting right now. Finally Mannequin Records founder Alessandro Adriani joins the party with a tunnelling twist on the somnambulant aesthetic of ‘Valium’. Flipping the dreams for a much darker 3am reality, it will leave your dancefloor pining for more.
Acid Vatican – Psychoterrorpriest [A+WXXVIII]
Acid Vatican is the new project of Antoni Maiovvi and Gianni Vercetti. The EP includes 2 original tracks and a remix by SΛRIN.
Alexander Kowalski – Cycles [MORDLP003]
Triple pack by the long running Alexander Kowalski, containing 13 tracks on Mord Records.
VA – IMF10 part 2 [IMF10.2]
A project 18 months in the making, Marcel Fengler presents a IMF10, a three part compilation series detailing the past, present and future of his label Index Marcel Fengler. Part 2 focuses on the warmer and more soulful side of IMF and features an outstanding array of artists making their debut for the label, all of which have a strong personal meaning to Fengler.
VA – Sounds From The Emotional Underground [EE0004]
Emotions Electric with the first Various EP for the label. Strong quality selection of deep soulful Detroit influenced techno tracks from some of the finest underground producers.
Redshape – The Gate / Voyager [PRESENT016]
Redshape stars in another deep tripping, sci-fi odyssey on his imprint for Present 16. Opening ‘The Gate’ reveals a slow but surely building burner that is classic Redshape, ripping the space-time continuum fabric apart at it’s spoken word climax narrating of solar winds, cosmic ray particles and the speed of light. Heed the track’s unmistakable call and take flight on an interplanetary elevator with parched, bone-dry percussion, twisting lines with propulsive bass and growls that rumble underneath, enveloping you in an air cabin of Jedi-level sound design prowess. The ride truly begins next with ‘Voyager’. It’s all aboard a throbbing deep low end countered by floating, melancholic sustained chords with twinkling bleeps and fading bloops that light up like the star-studded Milky Way. Frantic hi hats and modulated percussion work keep riders on the edge of their seat through this fantasy space-age joyride at warp speed.
Eduardo De La Calle – The Everlasting Amrit [7V050]
Eduardo De La Calle with a showcase of electronic music. Four tracks with four different styles of electronica: deep and marvelous keys in ‘Wondrous Punia’, a mastely detroit house lesson in ‘Knockout Sakshi’, the minimal techno monster in ‘Great Manojar’, and the psichodelic electronic cult song ‘Georgeous Shiama’.
Alexis Le-Fan – Bah 045 [BAH045]
Harmonious Thelonious – Background Noise [KM051]
Harmonious Thelonious returns to the Kontra-Musik family with an absolute gem of a record. This is everything we want dance music to be: characterful, playful and impossibly funky. Harmonious Thelonious is a master of crafting organic sounding rhythms but arranging them in a manner that reminds one of a 1970’s car factory. Primal pulses running through modern assembly lines, gears and pistons covered in green lianas. The result is a perfect symbiosis between living tissue and mechanical parts – dance music for primitive cyborgs.
OTTO – Stimmungen EP [ORGA01]
The conjectural wedding band OTTO is expanding its organ soundtrack madness. With its third record, it delivers sonic solutions for all sorts of moods, ranging from dark and stormy to smooth and suave. “Rhythmus” stands out with abstract, repetitive vocals in German, ready to land in a club somewhere near you. This project is supported by Orgaton, the society for the promotion of organ music.
DanyB – Jupiter Dance 0002 [JP-DB-0002]
DanyB returns with the next intergalactic installment of Jupiter Dance. Spring-boarding from the Jupiter Dance radio show, which takes a regular tour through the lesser known avenues of Synth Pop, Space Disco & Italo. Here we have another three worked up renditions of awesome international obscurities Yugoslavian synth pop a’la League Unlimited Orchestra from the early 80’s shares a side with some wigged out Italian synth-pop Prog-Rock. While the A reworks and overdubs a Japanese locomotive synth shinkansen for strobe-lit commutes.
RA.627 Traxx
D’Marc Cantu / Black Meteoric Star – Split Concept [KODE02]
A split release on Nation’s sublabel, Kode. Two exclusive tracks from Black Meteoric Star and D’Marc Cantu. D’Marc Cantu’s RDDS is an abstract production where Hip Hop Meets electronix. A rare, unique document of class and sickness. Black Meteoric Star closes the release with an homage to a legendary NYC neo film… recorded live at the Capriccio x Nation EE9 party on 25 March 2016.
Chino – Kolaps [SHTUM016]
Chino from Krakow is one of Poland’s most distinctive players when it comes to providing a good amount of darkness into your nightlife experiences. With the Radar crew he’s hosting some of the wildest nights of Underground Dance music in Poland. When producing he has a knack for ice cold rhythms and sharp synth lines. His ever-changing, gear-heavy live sets have earned him a reputation as a tour de force in electronic beat music. Chino delivers an impressive five-tracker for shtum out of Dresden, a city he maintains a well-established connection to. From the hard hitting rhythms of “Kolaps” to the gloomy sound excursions of “Plattenbau”, you’ll feel in every note that this music comes straight from the heart. These are tracks that are interwoven by everything that surrounds Chino, whether it’s friends, drum machines or FM synths, architecture or just the mighty Tatra mountains. Dance the pain away.
K100 Signal – Following / Implosion [EVR026]
Two dark, adventurous and intense mid tempo mind benders by the mysterious producer K100 Signal…The signal was lost along ago. A “slowtard” rhythm surfaced. as you get deeper into alignment you discover the deconstructed beats from another decay. K100 Signal is an elusive project produced in the pitch black code of indulgence…
Legowelt Live @ Boiler Room BUDx Santiago 02.05.2018
Transformation / Beau Wanzer – Kozmik / Orbit [KODE05]
A split release on Nation’s sublabel, Kode. Two exclusive tracks from Transformation & Beau Wanzer. Transformation’s 2nd document of their time in the makeshift studio for another 15 minute psychedelic slo-trip continuing steps in creativity, gaining access to various pieces of musical equipment, hitting the garage, practicing and recording in hopes of making it, entitled “Sketch 4”. Over the past year Beau Wanzer’s output has been fueled by deformed synths, grim vocals, and hard hitting drums more suited for dungeon dance floors than heady home listenings. For his next release he offers an icy subdued drum machine workout. ‘Oklahoma 3’ was recorded in the winter of 2009 while visiting his parent’s house over the holidays. A combination of Roland drum machines, sampled jazz tones, and ambient atmospheres the track sets a tone for a bleak winter in the countryside.
The Hipodrome Of Music 