Juju & Jordash again on downbeat, 8 records after, celebrating the 10th release. This is the recording of the live act performance at a Downbeat night on December, 2015. Slow jams with tropical vibes progressing leisurely in both sides.
Jeremiah R. – The Outer Rings [KONDI016]
Copenhagen purveyor of melodic electro soul Kondi Records finally resurfaces after almost a decade with a new batch of tracks from man of the moment, Jeremiah R. Sleek nighttime electro in a deep but spacious melancholic vein of The Other People Place and Drexciya’s mellow aquatic dives. Includes an extended version of ‘The Outer Rings’, which appeared back in 2011 on the ultra limited ‘the 5th dimension’ album.
Alden Tyrell – Upfront 075
NHK yx Koyxen – Doom Steppy Reverb [DIAG034]
Japanese experimenter Kouhei Matsunaga has been quietly building an exceptional discography as NHK yx Koyxen and the numerous variances. With prior NHK yx Koyxen output on PAN, Skam and Raster Noton, Matsunaga’s growing alliance with Powell’s Diagonal label makes perfect sense. A fresh NHK yx Koyxen LP that expands on his fuzzy, texture-laden, leftfield techno blueprint. So, while there’s plenty of industrial-influenced darkness, claustrophobic tape hiss, and redlined rhythms, the Japanese artist also includes quietly beautiful textures and hazy, looped melodies. This is most evident on the foreboding, late night swing of “Y”, where the application of dub delays helps emphasize the skewed, doom-laden mood.
VA – Volume 1 [PB001]
P-Balans is a new imprint in the Future Nuggets emerging constellation. A tehnodelia ramification within the Bucharest electronic scene that will host rising names like Khidja and Borusiade while introducing new characters like The Holy Fix (Camil Dumitrescu, co-member of Delusion Men) and Utopus (Ion D, producer of Steaua de Mare, Raze de Soare, Anahore?ii among others) already featured on “Sounds on the Unheard from Romania vol. 2”. Keeping the same strategies of fusion and diffusion as Future Nuggets, P-Balans will explore the space traversal to techno, entering and exiting the dark halls of the club through multiple doors.
John T. Gast – Overseer [APRON025]
“Overseer” finds the illusive John T. Gast align with FunkinEven’s Apron label for a sharp, club-ready one-sided 12″. Gast’s appearance on Apron sees him fully engaging in techno forms on his own terms. Wasting little time to kick in, “Overseer” sees a coldly delivered spoken word vocal uttered amidst a cacophony of drum machine hits and synth-shaped drama.
Francisco – EPM Podcast #83
Unknown Artist – I’m Afraid It’s Not Fresh #2: Two Heads Are Better Than One [TABRC002]
Tabernacle Records just launched a new cassette series called I’m Afraid It’s Not Fresh. Part 2 includes 2 italo tracks in cocoa brown cassette, clear case with full colour printed manila J-card inserts.
Plus Instruments – Love Is Enough [EES024]
Joining the dots after last years reissue of Plus Instruments early 80s post-punk music on the Bodies EP on Emotional Rescue, Especial now looks at their return to recent music production, taking the song “Love Is Enough” from the recent Trancesonics album and giving it the all encompassing label remix treatment. We get four reinterpretations by Richard Sen, Khidja, Luke Solomon and Jamie Paton.
Lost Scripts – S.O.P. / A.F.K. [HVNED004]
The Hivern edit series is back with its 4th instalment, this time with two joints by Lost Scripts, the duo of John Talabot and Marc Pional. On the A side, S.O.P. revamps the theme of a popular TV series with krautish rhythms and woozy percussive details to transform it into kosmische monster ready for the club. On the flip, A.F.K. is an uplifting afro-house number that pairs ritualistic percussion and African chants with curly synths to create a journey that starts in the savannah and ends in outer space. A proven dancefloor wrecker.
Playgroup – Previously Unreleased EP 2 [YWP002]
The Previously Unreleased series of Playgroup 12″s from Trevor Jackson returns with a second edition. Echoing the diverse nature of the classic Playgroup album, there is plenty of stylistic swerves in the three tracks that feature here. Up top, “Doin’ It Right” is a low-slung slab of disco chug with a most devious arpeggio conducting proceedings. On the B-side, “Flyte Mode” is a short proto house piece that would work well as an opening track on a DJ mix whilst “Live At The Funhouse” is a fizzing electro DJ tool.
Legowelt Interview
Mick Wills @ 2 Years Phormix Anniversary, Six D.O.G.S. (Athens) 05.02.2016
Folkvett – Tröskelvärk [PATER003]
Pater Noster introduce the debut LP from Swedish synth wizard Christian Åkerström. Produced under the alias Folkvett, ‘Tröskelvärk’ is a collection of ten infectious, hypnotic and cinematic frost-covered Nordic synth jams. Analogue and uncompromising melodic minimal synth, this is music for the ice-cold punks.
Ron Berry – Where Dark Forced Meet [VOD145.RB]
Born in Manchester, UK 1947 Ron Berry became interested in electronics as a child in the mid fifties making radios and other electronic projects. His first musical instrument was a home-made electric guitar made out of scrap wood with pickups fashioned from magnets and coils found in old headphones. He played in his first band at school 1962 and then in various groups as lead guitarist in and around Manchester during the Beatles led Mersey beat era. The “Where Dark Forced Meet” album was first released in 1982 on cassette by Flowmotion label.
Clay Rendering – We Are Aware [HOS463]
Clay Rendering, the tortured pop project of former Wolf Eyes member Mike Connelly and his wife Tara, pledge three diverse but unmistakably gothic sacrifices to Hospital Productions. Soused in the spirits of black metal, coldwave pop and shoegaze, their new cuts reflect a black indigo spectrum of tastes with an inflamed desire for proper song structures and the kind of hooks that hearken back to teenaged thrills and what allured them to music in the first place -and it makes for perhaps their most realised set of tracks yet. With Dominick Fernow as producer and effectively acting in a 3rd band member role, they triangulate a sound that’s nostalgic for the gothic undertones of ‘80s and ‘90s darkness, getting into gear with the hearse-cruising coldwave pop rocket We Are Aware, and casting a long, northern-pointing shadow of BM toil and shoegaze anguish in Never Pass Away.
Abdulla Rashim Interview
VA – Tales From The Dark Side EP Volume II [KW020]
This is the second episode of our Various Artists serie. The Fallen (a collaboration between Plural (James Johnson) and FBK (Kevin Kennedy)) opens the E.P. with Interference, a fast paced killer hypnotic dance floor friendly dub track: they create a sound that is unique, fluid and extremely danceable. Philippe Petit follows with Exposed, a stripped down, bleepy bass-heavy rhythmic piece of techno. Julixo brings us Own Structure, an aggressive jackin techno track leading to a warm synth line that will leave nobody indifferent. Terrence Dixon closes the E.P. with Odd Numbers, a track that only him can do. Sub bass melodic techno reduced to the max.
JP Enfant – Our Future Is Under Construction EP [LET003]
Deep advanced techno by JP Enfant! Three seductive sultry tracks and as cherry on top a brilliant remix from Mojuba’s Don Williams full of tension and playful grooves.
John Barera – I Can See For Miles EP [ENVLP12005]
ENVLP sets its 2016 return with John Barera, the Brooklyn artist that steadly drove its sounds through space and stars with blissful sonorities and elegant productions. John delivers a four track EP that brings a personal interpretation of the Detroit sound elevated by John’s unique skills and strong personality. Starting with the celestial ‘Mission Mode’, we go through the masterful ‘Pattern Theory’ and the catching ‘I Can See For Miles’ until we reach the different notes of’Cloud Nine’: so many change of the directions that show the extreme versatility and talent of John Barera.
The Hipodrome Of Music 