Morphology are Finnish electro duo Matti Turunen and Michael Diekmann. Making a welcome return to CPU, a label where their Detroit influenced electro and stark dystopian melodies are very much at home.
Veronica Vasicka – BIS Radio Show #817
VA – So Low [VF170]
Optimo’s prolific DJ/producer/label boss JD Twitch aka Keith McIvor has curated a compilation of early ‘80s synth, industrial and cold wave classics and undiscovered gems in collaboration with The Vinyl Factory, titled So Low. The 16-track collection had its genesis in McIvor’s irregular club night of the same name in his hometown of Glasgow. “So Low is an occasional night at The Poetry Club in Glasgow where I play some of the music I played when I first started DJing back in 1987,” McIvor explains. “At that time the audience I played to mostly loathed what I was playing and rarely danced but then shortly after, when House music arrived I found a different audience who actually liked to dance. In response to my wife’s deep love of this music and requests from some friends who were too young to hear it in a club at the time, or indeed were not even born when most of this music was made, I was persuaded to revisit a lot of records I still loved but rarely played out, and So Low was born. It has an extremely enthusiastic audience, a joyous atmosphere and is the antithesis of what a club in Scotland playing this music nearly 30 years ago would have been like.”
H ø R D - Focus On Light [GDLP004]
Here at Giallo HQ we first noticed H ø R D whilst searching for tracks for the fictitious Wild In Blue Ost, and his music has gone on to be some of the best we’ve ever heard, so much so that we jumped at the chance to release the debut album by this incredible artist. Eight Reverb-Soaked Urban-Gothic Melancholic songs, between synth-shoegaze and violent EBM, Focus On Light is a beautiful heartbreaking LP that will resonate strongly with fans of Pornography-era The Cure, Joy Division and classic Nine Inch Nails.
Geneva Jacuzzi – Technophelia [MR053]
Medical Records releases the first full length LP in 5 years by LA’s Geneva Jacuzzi. To say Jacuzzi is a multifaceted artist would be an understatement. She is well known for her uncompromisingly obtuse synth-driven pop and one-of-a-kind performance art that is comprised of one time only spectacles and installations. Her works have been presented in famous art institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, MOCA and numerous other venues across the globe. She has developed a very focused cult following in the art and music scenes. She was originally well known for her multitude of self-released home recordings but also released a full length Lamaze in 2010 on the Vinyl International to much acclaim. Not to mention her track The Sleep Room featured on The Minimal Wave Tapes Vol 2. Technophelia is the culmination of a hybrid of DIY and professional studio recordings (with the help of esteemed producer Chris Coady) that resulted in this exquisite album. Features the soon-to-be-hits I’m A TV and Cannibal Babies. Lovers of unique and left-field wave such as Gina X, Ronny, and the like will be transfixed by the raw, oozing newness of it all.
VA – Amateur Collecteur Vol.1 [AMAV001]
Five track vinyl compilation on Amateur with different tracks from Duyster, Fairmont, Gisberto, Sigward and Mattheis.
Eduardo de la Calle – Klassiker Elektronische [UNCAGE002]
As the dust settles on Eduardo de la Calle’s most successful year to date the Spanish super-producer propels into the new year with another broad, rich statement of musical intent: this time on UNCAGE. Eduardo delivered a wonderful EP and he’s done so with three beautiful original compositions ranging from cosmic techno to velvet jazz and subdued, poignant house.
Hiroshi Watanabe – Multiverse EP [MS096]
For its 30th anniversary Transmat is releasing 3 new artists. First in line is Japanese artist Hiroshi Watanabe, whose Multiverse EP is picking up the classic Motorcity sound, while simultaneously sounding very current and fresh.
DJ Skull – The Drum [CHIWAX010LTD]
Chiwax presents DJ Skull and his new release “The Drum”. Ron Maney shows again his brilliant definition of Techno & House. Quality deep house to jacking techno tracks by the Chicago veteran.
Seelow – TFE XX4 [TFEXX4]
Fuelled on late ‘90s Detroit, Berlin and Brummie techno vibes, Seelow aka Shen aka René Pawlowitz turns up the infectious, latinate 909s and stealthy chord build of TFExx4A recalling his earliest aces on the Stronghold or Opulence 12”s, and likewise with the deeper, percolated bounce of TFxx04B for fans of Female, Regis, Claude Young.
Robin Kampschoer – IO [LET002]
Hypnotic, deep and painstakingly produced stuff that makes maximum impact with minimum components. Serene and blissful techno rollers that will take any dance floor to a the next level produced by dutchy Robin Kampschoer. His first release for the young Amsterdam based LET label/Party Crew comes with a remix from none other than Detroit’s Luke Hess.
Alessandro Adriani – Digital Tsunami 094
SneakerDJ aka Dunkeltier – Phormix Podcast # 38
Conforce – Soundwall Podcast #295
Surgeon – From Farthest Known Objects [DTRLP003]
The seventh Surgeon album. Anthony Child claims that the inspiration for his seventh artist album came from using hardware to receive transmissions from far-flung galaxies. He then hooked up with astrophysicist Dr Andrew Read – a former collaborator – to work out the bewildering track titles. That’s the concept. The reality is that From Farthest Known Objects is a dense, grainy work. It feels like Child has deconstructed or in some more extreme situations has hacked away at tropes like minimalism, clicks and cuts and dub step to reveal an inner, hidden world. On the first few tracks, this alternate reality resounds to a sluggish pace, amid the crackle and groan of cleaved percussion and tortured subs, but it gradually comes round to stepping, broken beat techno and lunging rhythms. That these also descend into pulverising walls of white noise and nausea-inducing frequency shifts at times also serve as a reminder that Child has tuned into something other or inner-worldly.
Mike Dehnert – Echo 8 [CBS020]
Mike Dehnert is back with his 4th release on the Clone Basement Series. Ice cold grooving techno cuts. Machine grooves sounding so cold and so damn sexy at the same time.
Beat Movement – Anubi EP [LB015]
Acid, hypnotic and industrial are the three components that close the circle of Anubis EP, an EP that combines the elegance at the old school groove above 130 bpm. Arnaud Le Texier remix is a mix of refined pad, dark and deep sound.
Binny – Shlaguance EP [CLFT010]
Electronic Body Techno with a touch of cosmic-retroesque Axis atmosphere by Liverpudlian Binny. “Rotate” not only features all the usual hallmarks of the early Purposemaker sound, such as overdriven kick, clattering/rusty high-hats and grinding SH-101 basslines: it even features improvised snare rolls that you’d hear The Wizard himself playing live! “Spirit” matches the icon’s new found love of the 303, but no doubt Binny’s own take on the sound, that’s a given. On the flip “TG-33” sounds like another segment from Live At The Liquid Room complete with DX7 organ stabs and more epic 909 drum rolls. Some pretty epic stuff on here that stands out from the rest of the current tributes.
Ninos Du Brasil – Para Araras [HOS448]
Italian pair Nico Vascellari and Nicolo Fortuni have only put out a limited amount of output under their Ninos Du Brasil moniker. The A-side’s A Magia Do Rei displays of rolling techno variant kinked with polyrhythmic shuffles, darkside synth strokes and swooping subs, superbly rounded off by Neel’s mastering work. Turn over, and Algo Ou Alguém Entre As Árvores hits a rather different groove accentuating their tribal influences in a roiling, humid swamp of churning bass, scissoring syncopation and layered voices sounding like an extended offcut from the Cannibal Holocaust OST.
The Hipodrome Of Music 