VA – Snow Robots Volume 4 [SUNCTION043]

December 19, 2017December 19, 2017 hipodromebeau wanzer, celldöd, ceramic hello, civil defence programme, compilation, digital poodle, electro, june, manie sans delire, morah, suction records, synth wave, technoLeave a comment

Formed in 1997, and inaugurated that year with a split 12” from newcomers and label founders, Solvent and Lowfish, this year Suction Records celebrates it’s 20th anniversary with the reintroduction of their famed Snow Robots series of compilations. While originally started as a North American answer to UK electronix labels like Rephlex, Skam and Warp Records, a sound that is still a staple of the current Suction Records catalog, Suction’s sound has also swerved into new territories, reflecting our love of dark ‘80s electronic music synthpop, EBM, and beyond…. Snow Robots Volume 4 features an international array of artists, from Suction Records mainstays like Digital Poodle, June, Celldöd, and Ceramic Hello (with their much sought after 1982 vocoder anthem), to label favourites appearing on Suction Records for the first time: Beau Wanzer, Morah, and one of Skanfrom/Sleeparchive’s lesser known aliases, Civil Defence Programme.

Blind Delon – Edouard Remixes EP [OR36]

December 19, 2017September 6, 2019 hipodromeblind delon, i hate models, kareem, mathis kolkoz, oraculo records, synth pop, synth wave, synths versus me, violet poisonLeave a comment

Blind Delon debuted back in 2016 with Edouard EP. After a sold out and a lot of love and great acceptance of specialized press the french duo presents 4 new remixes of the main track Edouard signed by Kareem, Synths Versus Me, I Hate Models and Violet Poison.

Marco Shuttle @ OHM (Berlin) 11.02.2017

December 18, 2017December 17, 2017 hipodromeeerie records, marco shuttle, minimal techno, ohm, techno, wake up! recordsLeave a comment

Damon Wild – Cosmic Path [INF024]

December 18, 2017December 17, 2017 hipodromealbum, damon wild, function, infrastructure new york, minimal technoLeave a comment

Damon Wild and David Sumner (aka Function’s) relationship dates back to 1991 at Lord Michael’s Future Shock, Limelight, New York City – when Damon was running Experimental Records via Northcott Productions. At the time, he first saw something in Dave and added him to Brand X, a record pool run by Moneypenny. But their bond is based around a period 5 years later when Dave had an apartment above Rogue Music at 251 West 30th Street in Midtown, Manhattan. It was during this time Damon developed him as a Synewave artist and released his first EP as Function in the Fall of 1996 – catalog number; SW-24. Falling in and out of contact over the years, across continents, the two have somehow remained on the same cosmic path. So it’s not a coincidence that now Damon has turned to Dave to release his first album in 13 years. This is where those paths cross again…21 years later, this Fall, Dave will release Cosmic Path on Infrastructure. The cosmic connection.

Population One – Hippnotic Culture Remixed [RHM026]

December 18, 2017December 17, 2017 hipodromedetroit techno, minimal techno, population one, rush hour, terrence dixonLeave a comment

Population One, also known as Terrence Dixon, offered a first remix of his mysterious, minimal Detroit track ‘Rush Hour’ for the celebration of the label’s 10th anniversary and now blesses us with new takes on five ‘Hippnotic Culture’ album tracks. Five dazzling remixes of Population One’s ‘Hippnotic Culture’ 2LP by the Detroit minimalist himself. Kicking off with a 20th Anniversary Mix of ‘Rush Hour’, the track that inspired our company name.

Jeroen Search – Endless Circles [FIGURE092]

December 18, 2017June 9, 2020 hipodromefigure, jeroen search, minimal technoLeave a comment

After solemnly closing out the SPC-series in 2016, Jeroen Search hands in his second EP of the year for Figure. Carrying his signature style, these tunes embody the live-recording feel he is known for, perfectly executed and arranged in clean-cut layers. Both tracks on the A-side feature big and beefy beats, their generous sub-range creating ample space for the juxtaposing elements to effectively slice through, whether it be the penetrating bleeps of ‘Deduced’ or the piercing rides on ‘Interval’. Things get bumpy on the flip when the rugged but undeniable groove of ‘Steady Pulse’ firmly stands its ground against repeated onslaughts of flailing percussion. The jolty rhythms and tinkling loops of ‘Endless Circles’ may seem like it being the odd one out, but unexpectedly merge into an intricate mesh of sounds, making for a most memorable closer to this jam-packed EP.

Dold – Shutdown [MT17]

December 18, 2017December 18, 2020 hipodromearsenik, dold, mindtrip, minimal techno, patrik erikssonLeave a comment

MindTrip introduce Dold, a young talent from the Swedish Techno scene. Known for his first releases on Float Records and his platform Arsenik, ‘Shutdown’ EP showcases a big range of his musical identity. Dold takes us into a hypnotic journey with his melodic interpretations, while he moves things faster on the darkest side of this EP, with his driven techno tracks fully inspired by 909 patterns and analog synth jams.

ASC – Eccentric Orbits [SSX010]

December 17, 2017April 29, 2026 hipodromeasc, auto sound city, drone, james clements, minimal techno, silent seasonLeave a comment

ASC are a perfect fit for Silent Season, favouring as they do greyscale melodic content and a cerebral approach to mutant techno. “Cerulean” is a fine opening gambit on this 12″, all crooked kick patterns and micro bleeps calling out into nothing, while “Dimension 1010” maintains the austere approach with a slow swell of melancholic ambience over a meditative rhythm. “Enchanted” is no less restrained, but there’s a subtle shard of light in the murmuring pad that lingers in the background. That’s well and truly dealt with on the bleak beatdown “Molniya”, which pings bleakest techno into a black hole of sound, which is of course a wonderful thing to behold.

Antenes – Shifting Zones [SSX09]

December 17, 2017December 15, 2017 hipodromeambient techno, antenes, drone, experimental, silent seasonLeave a comment

Silent Season tap up Antenes for a rare 12″, building on the sizable impact her last and only release on L.I.E.S. had back in 2015. Here we get three trips into dark, evocative techno territory as you would expect to find on Silent Season, leading in with the doom-laden march of “Dream Uncreates The Land”. “Take Me To The Birds (For A)” ditches the drums and heads straight into the most delicate and stirring of ambient pieces, while “Metra Train Chicago 1000x” makes use of field recordings and processed static to make for an even more immersive listening experience. This is a daring release that eschews the need for functionality to take the listener somewhere else entirely.

Docetism – Potential Natural Vegetation [SSX08]

December 17, 2017December 15, 2017 hipodromeambient, docetism, drone, maciej banasik, silent seasonLeave a comment

Maciej Banasik has been releasing plenty of music as MB as well as Docetism since 2012, but this release on Silent Season marks the first time the prolific artist’s music has been committed to wax. In true Silent Season style the mood is consistently haunting, leading in with the foggy pulse of “Dentario Enneaphyllidis – Fagetum I” before the second part of the piece heads off into pure swelling drone. “Querco – Pinetum I” is a different kind of droning techno that comes loaded with cinematic poise, but it makes for a natural partner to the A side. The second part of that piece drifts into calming field recordings of birds and shapeless synth swells of a truly majestic nature.

OWL – Blackstone [SSX07]

December 17, 2017December 15, 2017 hipodromeambient, drone, owl, silent seasonLeave a comment

OWL has previously been spotted on labels such as Anekoic, Circular Limited and Planet Rhythm, but he made quite an impression with the digital release of his Blackstone EP on Silent Season. Now the label have done the right thing and cut the release to vinyl, giving ambient belters such as “Fragment” the chance to sit beside none quieter gems like “Solar Wind” on wax. There are whispers of rhythm to be found tucked away in “Blowing The Light”, while “Innominate Horizon” imparts a little warmth with its tender chords, making this a record rich in variation as much as subtlety.

Winter In June – Eternal Lovers [SSX06]

December 17, 2017December 15, 2017 hipodromeambient techno, drone, experimental, silent season, winter in juneLeave a comment

The Silent Season 10 Year Anniversary collection celebrates a decade of deeper electronic music. The vinyl series features artists whose music continues to inspire the Silent Season journey. Having only made spotted appearances in the past, icy ambient techno artist Winter In June makes a fine first outing on vinyl with a press of his formerly digi-only EP Eternal Lovers. It’s prime Silent Season material, using massive slabs of reverb and a foreboding sense of space as his main weapons while rolling out bleak machine matter that sounds as though it were blown across the tundra. “About Life & Death” is particularly moving with its heart monitor bleeps and forlorn strings, while “The Party Is Elsewhere” is a telling trip into the coldest of coldwave.

VA – Displaced Soundtracks [LAD030]

December 16, 2017December 15, 2017 hipodromeambient techno, appleblim, artefakt, axel boman, black merlin, compilation, danny daze, deep techno, dj tennis, duncan gray, kink, life and death, redshape, simian mobile discoLeave a comment

Seven years into its celebrated journey, Life and Death assembles its third and most adventurous compilation to date – Displaced Soundtracks. For the first instalment in a new series, DJ Tennis has given free rein to some of his most trusted contemporaries, enabling many of today’s most respected dance music producers to display their hidden talents as composers. Gathering music from a long-aborted film, the collection stands as another bastion of Life and Death’s perpetual evolution. Duncan Gray embraces dissonance, Black Merlin, Appleblim and Artefakt go interstellar and Fango channels post-punk squat music. Hades Rocket showcases the expertly-sequenced synth work that has graced Simian Mobile Disco’s illustrious career, while Redshape revisits all the right sides of 80’s Wave and Library music. Danny Daze and synth-savant KINK embrace non-standard tempi with great success, while Axel Boman delivers sitar-laced gospelhouse without a bass drum. Elsewhere, your favourite producer’s favourite producer, Stimming, team’s up with pianist Lambert and the pair learn to fly. Inspired and challenging, Life and Death ventures into their eighth year confidently, constantly evolving without compromise.

Mohlao – Landforms [SSV012]

December 16, 2017December 15, 2017 hipodromealbum, ambient techno, drone, mohlao, samuel van dijk, silent seasonLeave a comment

Samuel van Dijk is an electronic music producer, sound designer and media artist from the Netherlands releasing deep electronic music as VC-118A, Mohlao, and Multicast Dynamics. Drawing inspiration from technology, nature, film, and fiction, his productions and live sets embody a dynamic musical framework. Since the Dutchman surfaced as Mohlao for labels like Meanwhile, Field and Other Heights at the turn of the decade, van Dijks music has found a firm position; the ethereal electro VC-118A project, deep ambient techno as Mohlao, and subterranean ambient as Multicast Dynamics.

Isorinne – Speechless Malison [NE47]

December 16, 2017December 15, 2017 hipodromealbum, ambient, isorinne, michael isorinne, northern electronicsLeave a comment

There is an intricate sorrow to Isorinne’s new album, ‘Speechless Malison.’ Though broadly melodic, it feels exhausted rather than restrained; though rippling with a pulse, the rhythmic passages are sparse, their measured source a great distance away. Building on last year’s cassette, ‘Echoic Memoir,’ ‘Speechless Malison’ takes greater and emotive strides, however brittle the path.

Traxx @ Masonic Temple Theatre (Detroit) 03.11.2017

December 15, 2017December 14, 2017 hipodromechicago, jakbeat, masonic temple theatre, minimal synth, nation records, traxxLeave a comment

Daniele Cosmo @ Katakombe Bergfest (Zürich) 25.10.2017

December 15, 2017December 14, 2017 hipodromedaniele cosmo, experimental, industrial, lux rec, minimal synth, post punkLeave a comment

VA – No Return Vol.1 [RTTD008]

December 15, 2017December 14, 2017 hipodromeantoni maiovvi, dmitry distant, electro, horror disco, neud photo, return to disorder, synth waveLeave a comment

Helena Hauff’s label is back, this time presenting a various artists 12″ that heralds the start of the No Return series. The release starts on a mystical bent with the Eastern-tinged death electro of “El Carmel”, sounding ripe for a Hague-friendly warm-up session. Neud Photo then take over with a dystopian trip through rich synth tones coloured in dark hues for the bleakest of robotic fantasies. Antoni Maiovvi fills the B-side with the slow grinding bombast of “The Dig”, bleeding out a noirish take on coldwave for the darkest hearts to swoon to.

Sam De La Rosa – Earth Wart [MNQ109]

December 15, 2017December 14, 2017 hipodromedark wave, electro, mannequin records, sam de la rosa, samuel kk, samuel kklovenhoof, synth waveLeave a comment

Sam de la Rosa, best known under the alias Samuel Kklovenhoof of the band Led Er Est and with Karen Sharkey of The Coombe, is back on Mannequin Records for a stunning 4-tracks electro-wave-experimental release. Texas born but strongly connected with the New York cold wave and disco scene from mid 2000, and the Wierd Records family, Sam’s music is a clever mix of post punk, electronic hybrids, experimental pop and catchy melodies.

Santiago Salazar – Aspirations For Young Xol [REKIDS111]

December 14, 2017December 13, 2017 hipodromealbum, detroit techno, rekids, santiago salazarLeave a comment

Legendary Los Hermanos member Santiago Salazar’s album ‘Aspirations For Young Xol’ is given a vinyl release courtesy of Rekids. A heartfelt dedication to his son Isaias, ‘Aspirations for Young Xol’ takes us through the life of a pillar in the electronic music community – Santiago Salazar. From his formative years spent in California to his connection with Detroit and the passing of a childhood friend, the long-player’s tracks signpost the musician’s significant experiences, both positive and negative. This meaningful body of work now gets a full release on wax.