Volume One in the new Synth Funk series on Abstract Forms set to revolve around retro-synth funk and electro; and who better to kick-off the proceedings than DMX Krew. Four tracks that deliver “exactly what it says on the tin” – as in warm, funky, synth-driven electronic grooves. Also features a Luke Eargoggle remix.
Gunnar Haslam returns to dancefloor pastures with this follow-up for the esteemed NYC Mister Saturday Night imprint. Opener “Poshlost” is trippy and melancholic, with dusty, dub techno-influenced chords ricocheting around a delay-laden sound-space, underpinned by a simple-but-effective rhythm. “Margareten” ups the intensity, with ragged acid lines and a relentless techno groove providing contrast to the deepness of his chords. Finally, “Replacement” sits somewhere between the two tracks, with rolling techno chords, fuzzy textures, gently building melodies and fizzing percussion creating a rush-inducing mood.
Future Reactions warmly welcome Boo Williams to their stable with his Spiritually Runnin EP featuring the eponymous title track and Last Chance, two cuts of beauteous, textured, soul-warming house music that are proper deep too.
9300 Records returns with the first EP by Shin, a relatively unknown, Belgian producer duo. They gave birth to three solid tracks with low kicks and raw bass chords, synths that are highly 90’s trance influenced and some acid vibes on the B-Side. The cherry on top is a remix of ‘Mistress’ by none other than Legowelt.
Doge’s arch enemy Cate has infiltrated Doge HQ and has secretly pressed up his own dark, twisted, melancholic form of house music. Purring pads, breaded drum patterns and pitter-patter percussion lines that could break Doge’s rule of the meme world.
Composer, improviser, and Buchla Music Easel master Charles Cohen returns to Morphine with a suite of new material. In keeping with the timbre spectrum of his semi-modular system, Brother I Prove You Wrong is built around pointillist analog tones—Cohen’s cosmic “beeps and boops”—that swarm and scatter in mesmeric patterns across four sides. Moving through surrealistic textural overlays and industrial miasma, the album’s nine tracks reveal a more introspective and personal side of the artist, following from a retrospective LP trilogy released via Morphine in 2013. Those assembled works, dating back to the late ’70s, quickly became essential listening and brought Cohen—at the time largely unknown outside Philadelphia’s experimental circuit—to critical renown.
Brooklyn-based experimentalist Jahiliyya Fields presents his second album on L.I.E.S. On Chance Life, Jahiliyya Fields changes track a little with the 11 tracks a tad closer to the dancefloor. While there are still out-there moments (including a bizarre spoken word cut), for the most part the album pairs his throbbing synthesizers and crusty electronics with dense techno grooves, psychedelic tribal rhythms and humid box jams.
Vester Koza returns with a new project – PRISN. The titles of the tracks are in reference to/or adaptations of permissions/commands used by the apple and google android operating systems. Smoked out ambient techno.
The Munich born sound architect, Cio D’or, comes with the her second release for Talrae. “OFF” describes a biotope in which two different poles gently collide. Rooms of reverb meet orchestral sounds meet acoustic clicks, in a process of an ongoing motion, where there is no beginning and no end. The flip side highlights “AND ON” and shows white horses amongst waves of sounds. This track could be an electronic soundtrack to a day at an isolated beach in the Indian ocean.
Given the quality of his eccentric, left-of-center productions, it’s rather surprising that this 12″ is Madteo’s first release since 2013. Predictably he’s in fine form for this Latency debut, dropping a trio of tracks that largely eschew dancefloor thrills in favour of crackly textures, woozy chords, experimental electronics and minimal-goes-leftfield rhythms. A-side “Irreconcilable Differences” sets the tone, layering fuzzy guitar touches and hushed melodies over a quietly pulsing rhythm track. “Hoodshedding” is crackly, hypnotic and out-there, sounding not unlike early Nicholas Jaar with a Madteo twist. Arguably best of all, though, is EP closer “Discomfort Zone”, which manages to be both dreamy and wholly unsettling in it’s’ pursuit of smacked-out IDM thrills.
DMX Krew treat us to a wild concoction of tracks for the fourth installment of the now firing on all cylinders, Super Rhythm Trax label. The music here veers between grimy basement Acid trax, UK Bleep inspired future warehouse anthems and even an ultra cheeky ragga style rendition of Lil Louis’ classic ”Original Video Clash”.
Acid, no wave and experimental house producer Drvg Cvltvre with a four track EP on Pinkman Records. Up first, ‘My Houz’ is a swampy house track with heavy drums, whirring machines and white noise textures all adding up to an intense affair that sounds like little else. Then comes ‘Tyranny of the Gods’, a slow tempo but high impact track that builds and builds on a nerve lead synth line as frazzled bass props things up from below. Darkand weird, occult and rave, its another unique proposition. On the flip, ‘Sleepdealer’ is an unbalanced house track with taught, tight bass and is shot through with laser like synths. Serene and spaced out, it makes way for closer ‘Crack Spirit Guide’ which is a noisy, intense and brooding fusion of crisp percussion, big walls of synth and chattering drums that really have you on edge.
33-10-3402, also known as Serbian-born artist/producer Nenad Markovic, returns to the ESP Institute for the fourth and final release in his opium den and whorehouse inspired Mecanica series. ‘Slow Port’ is a cacophonous track, skillfully composed of an erratic barrage of percussive klinks and klanks as you might find in an automotive factory—pistons, gears, quips, cranks, but despite its industrial instrumentation, Nenad manages to extract a beautifully seductive quality from this beast. On Side B we’re faced with the slightly more musical ‘Plutonium Certainly’, an exercise in distortion which is punctuated by repetitive androgynous chanting, and finally we culminate and release simultaneously with ‘Elika’, an overtly ethereal blur somewhere between hope and melancholy.
Tv Out with some jacked up cuts defined with overdriven drum loops & rugged synth lines. Topped with a Greg Beato remix.
Patrice Scott presents his first full length artist album: Euphonium, The Album. Encapsulating the essence of the Sistrum sound, Euphonium, The Album sees Patrice offering up 9 tracks cut from the same cloth as his previous work for the label – sublime and evolved with depth and authenticity as only he can convey. Without a doubt, it is the modern sound of deepest Detroit.
Clone Store Only Series 006 features a release by Sean Dixon, with two original tracks and a Gerd remix. Only available for purchase in-store, not for ordering online. Support your local record dealer and ask him to get it for you!
Always showcasing different sonic tapestries, Aybee’s debut on Burek holds true to this theme. Under “The Bazile Republic” moniker Aybee presents the “Strange Visitors EP”. “The Bazile Republic” brings to bear the story of a strange island, a celestial visitor, and mysterious doctor. The story is set to be played out over several releases , and sees its 1st installment via Burek. The tracks entitled “Strange Visitors”, “Motion Of Attraction”, and “The Sacred Smoke” comprise a fusion of dance-floor rhythms that drive, and lift.
Summerish vibes on this new Local Talk by veteran AtJazz. Especially the Balearic flipside/remix has a bit of the Sueno Latino groove.
