Mike Tansella Jr. @ OUTSOUNDER, Sameheads (Berlin) 04.03.23
acid house
Delkom – Futur Ultra [SMR013]
Delkom’s only known previously released album. Originally released in 1990 by the wonder duo consisting of Saba Komossa and Gabi Delgado. The album is released as a continuous mix with each track delineated on the grooves. Imagine Berlin in 1990, the wall is about to come down, no social media, no CDJs, new drugs are being standardized and this is the soundtrack to your night out in this debaucherous capital, exploding with energies that anthropology PhD students still haven’t been able to fully describe. The entire record sounds like a dub mix that almost wasn’t allowed to be released by the record label, unorthodox in its methods, too experimental for most studios yet highly effective on the best of dancefloors. Sexually charged lyrics, driving percussive rawness over heftily synthesized bass lines, all boxes are checked for total club mayhem. Pioneers in their own right, clearly marking their territory in Berlin dancefloor culture from its early post reunification days. Powerfully tasteful and unique sounds from a golden age.
Innershades – Heritage Vol. 1 [ALT004]
Over the last years a rehabilitation of the New Beat genre has taken place. Short-lived it succumbed under its own immense popularity at the beginning of the nineties, watered down once producers with an eye for commercial success – and not quality control – joined in on its seemingly easy recipe. Below the surface a lot of highly original tracks remain to be enjoyed however: the sound, with its unique mix of amongst others Chicago acid house and Belgian EBM, reveals itself to be an essential node in electronic music’s Trans-Atlantic trajectory. Innershades has been a longtime enthusiast of the genre and made it a focal point of attention on ”Heritage Vol. 1”, the first part of a series that celebrates his inspirations and influences. Rather than making a selection of style exercises, he opts to subtly inject his tech and progressive productions with some of its tropes. It is a blend that comes naturally as menacing melodies and throbbing pulses are vital to his sound.
iNFO – Dripfeed [OZONLTD003]
Michael Robinson’s (aka iNFO) vinyl debut on Ozone Recordings takes you right back to those early 90’s Sheffield bleepy subscaping nights. 4 purist polished electronic cuts for the warehouse vibe connoisseur.
SJ Tequilla – GG Allien [MD008]
Originally hailing from Japan but currently living Berlin, SJ Tequilla is known far and wide for his Teknobuskers project, a hardware DIY dance party hosted with friends and held regularly in ‘Max-Koch-Passage’, Berlin. The energy from these dance parties can be felt and lived through his latest ep, ‘GG Allien’. SJT’s skillful use of mind melting background tape textures and moody pads provide the encapsulating canvas for otherworldly acid lines, driving hardware percussion and enlightening melodies. An EP primed to transcend the listener to a place of communal acidic dance appreciation.
Redray – Cosmic Knowledge [UH001]
100% analog sounds where any modern computer is unnecessary. Redray’s sound on Cosmic Knowledge is the result of endless jam sessions on his TR drum computers and various synths which results in six dancefloor orientated tracks strongly influenced by the 90s Detroit and Chicago scene.
Paranoid London – PLEDITS#5 [PLW006]
More edits from the Paranoid London archive. PLEDITS#5 offers three edits featuring a diverse array of samples, subterranean basslines, acid lines and heavy drum programming.
Hieroglyphic Being – A Memoir Of Life In The Lust [MFMCD011]
“A Memoir Of Life In The Lust” is a collection of tracks from Hieroglyphic Being aka Jamal Moss released in 2011 on Music From Mathematics.
Gilbert – Transit Of Venus [MOS032]
Bristol’s Gilbert turns in a very classy EP of deep and nostalgic IDM cuts – just how M>O>S like it.
Fear-E – Pigs Do Fly EP [SRTX038]
Super Rhythm Trax welcomes back Glasgow’s Fear-E for his second full EP on the label. 4 fresh tracks each designed to tear the club up.
K Lost Acid Dub – Lost Acid Dub Untitled A+B [KLAD03]
The K Lost Acid Dub series makes it come back with the third output with more reinterpretations/remixes of inspiring tracks from the past. This record challenges the trainspotters for a game of sample hunting. Of course, like the earlier ones, there is loads of acid.
Acid Jerks – Counter Balance EP [NG125]
Following their standout debut on Nu Groove ‘Remote Area’ enigmatic Berlin duo Acid Jerks return with another solid EP on the essential label. Continuing to demonstrate the two selectors’ breadth of influences and musical knowledge, the ‘Counter Balance EP’ showcases Acid Jerks ability to genre-bend. The A-Side traverses from the classic, piano house of the title track, to the tougher, industrial sounds of ‘Distant Power Plant’. On the flip the chugging, rolling sounds of ‘A Thousand Kisses’ opens, before the organ stabs and buttery synths of ‘Organ Grinder’ close out the EP, making for another unmissable release on a label deserving of its cult status.
DASCO – Powerful Woman EP [SNF076]
DASCO is responsible for our next Shall Not Fade release. Born in Tel Aviv, based in Berlin, she spreads her infectious energy wherever she goes. Powerful Woman captures this spirit perfectly, bursting with subaquatic syths, acid melodies and retro claps which bolster celebratory lyrics about womanhood and strength. If that weren’t enough, Johannes Volk and Chicago Skyway step up to remix duties, the former providing a punchy take on ‘Powerful Woman’, and the latter, a squelchy square-wave flip.
Dip Shim – Enter The Maragrillo LP [GTDLP6]
For his debut album Dip Shim digs deep into his past for his most personal release yet, drawing on his childhood in Spain for a genre-bending album of electronics, combining influences from house, techno, electro, downtempo, and ambient to create one of the year’s most essential releases. Dip Shim, who also runs the Bolero record store in Malmo, Sweden, pushes and tweaks those silver boxes to create music with one foot in the past but looking to the future, from the fluid acid house of Dalaplan Jam and Bubble Gate, uptempo electro jams like BDP Fast Life and Tusso Arcade Force, to meditative joints such as One For Regen and Impossible Connection. But although the album is eclectic, these 12 tracks are underpinned by Dip Shim’s unique hardware-led sound, proving he’s an artist with depth and longevity.
Hermit In A Rave Cave – Hermit In A Rave Cave EP1 [CJFD35]
Some sort of low slung house tracks with a twist from the unpredictable and unparalleled brain that roams the dunes of the Hague. Responsible for Dickie Smabers & The Moerwijk crew, Nacho Patrol, Gladio and a swath of other mysterious and inscrutable aliases. This one comes straight from his private rave cave. Hermit in a Rave Cave is Legowelt’s latest project and this is part 1.
Mike Ash – Robotik [OZONLTD002]
Mike Ash pops up on the revitalised Ozone Recordings with an EP rich in authentically sparse, sub-heavy bleep & bass cuts of the sort that were all the rage in Yorkshire back in the day. A-side ‘Robotik’ is, in effect, a loving tribute to Man Machine’s 1990 single ‘Man Machine’ (the bassline and electronic motifs are very similar), with slightly more jacking drums. ‘Bleep Off Again’ continues in a similar vein, with Ash adding sparse, alien bleep melodies and fuzzy electronic stabs to another beefy bassline and skittish TR-909 beats, while ‘Sub Roll’ is a pleasingly intergalactic affair full of Rob Gordon style bass, dreamy ‘LFO’ pads and sparkling lead lines.
Dan Piu – Constant Light EP [SKKB018]
The light is at the end of the tunnel. The light is shining bright because of love. The love is the answer to the darkness + the remedy for the experience which might bring unclearness and letting drown in the metaphorical swamp which every single human has felt during the journey they are on. The EP by the Switzerland based mastermind Dan Piu is dedicated to the love and to the love only. The tracks that were produced from the artist’s creative inflow are from the year 1995 to our present days and are telling the story of hope and compassion.
Ociya – Celestial Body Music Part 1 / Part 2 [ACIDTEST018.1/ACIDTEST018.2]
Johannes Auvinen (Tin Man) and Max Ravitz (Patricia), two devotees in the cult of the TB-303, return to Acid Test with the Celestial Body Music series, a follow up to their 2020 LP Powers Of Ten. Recorded in Ravitz’s studio in Asheville, NC, Celestial Body Music once again showcases the pair’s penchant for raw yet emotive dance music. With Auvinen’s signature TB-303 programming and Ravitz’s typical melancholic flair, the duo’s styles merge seamlessly over the course of 8 tracks that harken back to the heyday of American techno and house. Following on from Powers of Ten, the pair continue to fix their eyes firmly on the stars, as Celestial Body Music’s song titles conjure visions of listening to Dance Mania 12”s on the ISS. With a tonal palette that features the well-trodden sounds of classic analog hardware like the TR-808, TR-909, TB-303, and SH-101, Ociya demonstrate their ability to breathe new life into these old instruments through thoughtful programming, arrangement, and mixing. This is made all the more significant when considering every song was recorded live to 2-track with no editing over the course of a few days. Sweet and savory both, the new material strikes a perfect balance between emotive sensibility and dance floor appeal.
Takuya Matsumoto – 85 – 88 [CJFD34]
Takuya Matsumoto’s tribute to the heydaze with four beautifully crafted tracks. Touching all the bases of influence from the early years of House Music. This EP takes us all the way back…
Patricia – Less Than 7 [ACIDTEST017]
After appearing on Acid Test’s 10 Year Anniversary compilation Patricia, aka Max Ravitz, debuts an EP on the label with “Less Than 7”, a collection of tracks that sits squarely in the club-focused end of the label’s output.
The Hipodrome Of Music 