Despite only a few releases, the Electronic deep house sound of Vibraphone Records and the production team behind it had a major impact on the international 1990’s dance scene. Produced by The True Underground Sound of Rome team all the tracks included in this re-released are characterized by a heavenly atmosphere and a cinematic sound. This 12″ Vinyl EP contains the analog re-mastered & new recording version of the original 4 tracks first released in 1992 .
Sound Signature’s latest missive comes from Byron The Aquarius, a former Onra collaborator best known for his dusty trips into MPC beat-making territory. Here, the Atlanta-based producer successfully turns his hand to dusty, soul-flecked deep house, peppering the bumpin’ groove of “Aquarian Voyage” with a toasty bassline and twinkling Rhodes motifs. It’s the kind of hazy, jazz-flecked deep house that Sound Signature has always done better than almost anyone else. Flipside “Run Sa”, featuring the fluid and intoxicating playing of drummer Dmitri Walker, is even better, with warm chords draping themselves over snappy snares, hissing cymbals and killer fills.
LDRX2 features the machine driven sounds of Slowburn’s Dave Hargadon & Phil Long. Four tracks showcasing their individual talents, as well as their always on-point Slowburn productions.
Special limited cassette of I.B.M. aka Hieroglyphic Being’s ”Eat My Fuck” which was originally released on vinyl in 2014 & is out of print. Limited to 100 numbered copies worldwide. Includes 2 stickers. A demented sonic painting of rhythmic cubism & synth expressions.
For its sixth release, Points Records invited Jamal Moss who drops an awesome B-side here. Great underground acid track featuring a twisted Hieroglyphic Being rework.
The Lost Trax project has allegedly been a platform for any number of artists to produce under the cloak of anonymity, all identity shorn so the focus remains on the music. After a clutch of 12″s for Tabernacle at the turn of the decade, Lost Trax was reactivated last year with a contribution to a Shipwrec 12″ and now migrates to Rotterdam’s finest, Frustrated Funk. On the opening title track, “Life Out Of Balance,” Lost Trax display a nervous fidgety energy and a looseness in execution that will sound quite thrilling on the dancefloor, whilst “It’s You” is a muddy yet heavenly cut. Closer “Out From Under” finds crystalline electro rhythms caked in thick tape hiss too.
The Russian duo, Simple Symmetry, delivers the second EP on Holland’s XXX label, unveiling a trio of new cuts. They begin with the curious but entertaining Italo disco-deep house fusion of “Chemical Wedding Of Christian Rosenkreutz” before moving into deeper, more tactile territory with the Steve Hillage guitars, dreamy chords and chugging grooves of “Best Ice Cream In Guwahati”. The latter is remixed by Public Possession’s Marvin & Guy, who emphasize the track’s sleazier elements. Arguably best of all, though, is “Whip Me In The Saloon”, which sounds like a cracking tribute to mid-80s Chicago house with added piano solos.
The 7th release on Love On The Rocks, comes from the Mexican duo Zombies in Miami with a three track EP titled ‘Snake Language’. The title track is a raw an haunting drum heavy number. On the flip comes ‘Calo’ with its twisting riffs that wind and turn alongside percussive interludes. ‘Yamo’ changes the pace but is no less impressive with climactic flutes and a driving bass line. ‘El Fuego’ completes the release as a digital exclusive. With this EP, the Zombies in Miami are literally on fire!
Red Laser is back with a blinder. A set of hardcore Manctalo uniting Manchester & Paris. Kid Machine returns to the label with a sci-fi chugger done in his unique deep style. Tommy Walker 3 turns on the lasers and tears down the rave. Alan Dente from the infamous Les Yeux Orange crew rips classic vocals for some classic sunrise sound tracking. Red Laser stalwart Starion closes the EP on a reflective Italo-noir note.
Super secret Bergen/Stavanger/Oslo/Haugesund/Berlin based collab label GLUEUNTZ is back with another release, after the very successful Q&A 12″ two years ago.
The second Visonia album out now on Last Known Trajectory. Stunning cold-wave influenced techno and electronics, ‘Opal’s Sunflowers’ continues the new-wave/cold wave theme combined with inimitable romanticism. Coupling emotive elegance with eighties synth-pop influences and the result is quite simply splendid.
Incredible, idiosyncratic and obscure early 80s French futurist DIY project led by Jean-Luc Aime (Univers Zero) this feature-length album of elusive recordings marks the bone fide axis point where Zeuhl-Skool meets synth pop, dark ambient and early electro culled from rare vinyl and disparate cassette co-op releases for this first ever LP release.
The Frozen Autumn is an Italian darkwave band, formed in May 1993 in Turin, Italy. Originally the solo project of singer, keyboardist and synth programmer Diego Merletto, guitarist Claudio Brosio joined on during early studio sessions and live performances. Together they recorded and released two albums, “Pale Awakening” in 1995 and “Fragments of Memories” in 1997. In 1998, Claudio left the band and Diego recruited Arianna (aka Froxeanne) who sings, programs and composes. After 18 months of work, The Frozen Autumn’s third album, “Emotional Screening Device”, was released in April 2002. “Time Is Just A Memory” is a 6-track overview of songs from The Frozen Autumn’s first three albums. Characterized by a blend of melancholic vocals, atmospheric gothic-wave and 1980s-style electropop, the duo call their style ”frozen wave”. The Frozen Autumn have stated that labelmates Clan of Xymox have been their main source of inspiration over the years. Other influences include Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, The Sisters of Mercy, Xmal Deutschland, David Sylvian and Depeche Mode. These six tracks stand out for their rich melodies, from the guitar-laden early tracks “Dusk Is Like A Dagger”, “Wait For Nothing”, “There’s No Time To Recall”, and “This Time,” to the electronic sheen on later songs “Is Everything Real?” and “Silence Is Talking”.
Wolfsheim are a synthpop duo from Hamburg, Germany consisting of Markus Reinhardt (music) and Peter Heppner (lyrics and vocals). The band was founded in 1987 by Markus Reinhardt and Pompejo Ricciardi and was named after Meyer Wolfsheim, a fictional character from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel ‘The Great Gatsby’. Ricciardi soon left the band and was replaced by Peter Heppner, a childhood friend of Reinhardt’s. Together they produced their first demo tape, ‘Ken Manage’, in 1988. After making a second demo tape, ‘Any But Pretty’, in 1989, Wolfsheim applied at various labels until they caught the attention of independent record label Strange Ways Records. They are best known for their debut breakthrough single, ”The Sparrows and the Nightingales”, the first single to be released on Strange Ways in 1991. The band’s musical style takes cues from the 1980s New Romantics, new wave, synthpop, and darkwave. The track’s sombre synths were produced by Carlos Peron of Yello. Reinhardt says the lyric was inspired by ‘The Great Gatsby’, ‘in the ‘onomatopoeic tension’ between predator and security.’ Over six minutes, the narrator describes being lost, unsure of where his life is heading, using highly metaphorical language. On the flip is a brand new remix by German producer Ancient Methods, a pseudonym of Michael ‘Trias’ Wollenhaupt, who provides a driving, EBM-leaning, amphetamine-laced club ready cut.
Berghain young gun Max Kobosil gives us his debut album. We Grow They Decline is surprisingly more restrained than you’d expect from Kobosil given his reputation as a DJ and of course those pretty fierce EPs he released previously on MDR and Unterton. Most tracks on here are slower, deeper and reflective takes on the techno sound and show a sense of maturity in this emerging talent’s studio prowess. Kobosil delves even deeper into Ambient and Industrial soundscapes. Drawing influences from Musique Concrète via Electronic Body Music towards present-day Techno, the tracks combine gritty textures with melodic hints and contrasting bleak off-beat rhythms with Drone passages.
Detroit techno veteran Terrence Dixon marks another chapter of his long standing career signing for Italian imprint Out Electronic Recordings as Population One. Terrence Dixon is going to kick off the new year with two techno, retro-feeling original tracks capturing his typical production take. ‘Temporary Insanity’ rolls out the hard-driving, stomping old school side of the artist, featuring sharp melodic sound scapes and incisive percussive elements. Fat claps and bright hats animate the mood involving listeners through a simple, incisive rhythmic power combined with a bass static arpeggio sequence and pointed bleep textures together. ‘Multiple Choice’ differs from the previous cut by featuring a spacey atmospheric, heady synth lines and patterns, taking your mind to a more mysterious, introspective dimension with enchanting pads plus a energetic kick, bass and drum intersection.
FBK aka Kevin Kennedy is a hardworking man, be it battling computers and machines when producing music or when going out there and getting job done. In either case, one things is certain – theres no messin’ around. He’s also one half of ‘The Fallen’ a duo performing live, showcasing their love for banging darker industrial/wave inspired techno. His pal James Johnson aka Plural, artist with release on legendary Metroplex label last year, provided great remix on this latest EP by Kevin under his FBK moniker for Barba Records. All three original tracks are long building, big room, grooving stompers with a lot of emotions that would fit in various sets pretty much at any time. To keep things entirely ‘D’ footed, the legend, the man of weird, beautiful, unique and reduced techno world – Terrence Dixon rounds things up with his hypnotic re-interpretation of title track.
