Part 1 of this Eargasmic Acid House comp jumps off with Julio Bishop’s Latin influenced “Acid Drums”. The B-side sees Jamal Moss and Daryl Cura team up on the dirty deep “Confused Transportation” a stomping spaced out acid bit. Isoke follows & captures serene early morning vibes on “Albion Beach”.
The dirtiest record that has released Discos Nutabe. “Vistante’ is the new sound spectrum from ELO, an artist born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, and based in Bogotá, Colombia. ELO has decided to raise the sound bet of Nutabe and offer a release that brings acid and techno elements combined with housey nuances. This is a product of his new life perceptions since his arrival to Colombia. It’s an experiment for the dance floor, and his point of view of rude and disorganized house music.
R-Zone series hits release number 20 with another genre defying four track EP by no one knows who. As always, the music looks backwards to go forwards and frantically blends breakbeat, rave, acid, house, electro and techno into wild new forms. The Geometry of Shadows kicks off with a flurry of pinging kick drums, rushing synths and smeared chords that manage to be physical yet serene at the same time. Chrysalis is deep Detroit style house with gurgling basslines and warm future soul synths extending off into the cosmos. Ship of Tears then races through the galaxies as asteroids, shooting sci-fi synths and glassy melodies all fly by in enchanting fashion, Acid is buried deep within and the drum programming is busy and direct. The Parliament of Dreams closes things down with more haunting celestial pads and cold acid lines that are all backed by boom-bap breakbeats. It’s dance floor euphoria of the highest order once more.
Acid beast and young hardware wunderkid, Lou Karsh, packs four belters into X-Kalay’s latest EP.
Dublin’s Modern Magic welcomes Bari’s Armonics for the label’s third release. A trained pianist and resident DJ/curator of the We Talk event series in his home city, Armonics draws influence from electronic music across the past 40 years: Chicago & acid house, italo- & electro-disco, new wave, synth-pop and vaporwave. His ‘Italowave’ style is a fusion of these retro-futuristic and cosmic styles, forged through Armonic’s production processes which include cassette recordings, vintage synths & modern Korg/Roland gear. Accompanying the EP’s three original tracks is an anthemic, piano-led remix of ‘Red Eye’ by International Feel act Black Spuma, aka Phillip Lauer and Fabrizio Mammarella.
Six tracker of jacking acid house and warehouse rave music for dancing to. Four to the floor goodness from Planet Mu hardware don Chevron, Granary 12 (new Scottish duo featuring Steven Simpson of 10 Pills Mate fame), Heka Trax boss Nightwave, UK electro rave heavyweight Matt Whitehead, Balkan label owners Posthuman, and Han Do Jin – new moniker of Rag & Bone’s Warlock. No need for more blurb, just listen to the tracks.
Nice collection of adventurous electro and dreamy house tracks. The unlikelihood of being alive warrants expression. In the increasingly digital universe we are tangibly intertwined yet phenomenally disconnected. This creation of soundscapes defines dream-like iterations of a post-Internet reality and is uncanny in its ability to quintessentially emulate potential futuristic states of being. It induces the uniqueness and highly emotive aspects of undefined existences. It is raw and purposeful. Potatoheadz is a Melbourne-based, DIY label created by Nipuna, Leon Wan & Sam Sedgwick. It is dedicated to the dispersion of local and international music focused on innovative artistry. “Unknown Data Set” is their first record and third release featuring the music of various artists.
The jam starts with “Orange Sunshine” (doesn’t it always) Of course as usual it takes a while to kick in and by the time it does it’s obvious Helltown Acid Militia are back with their time warping spaceship. By the second track “Still Turning” the fog clears a little, but there are still echoes of a time past, what is it can’t quite put my finger on it… On the flip we are met with chunky 909 rhythms in “More Important”, because what’s more important than a 909 rhythm track For the final outing “Broadcast” (which may be the real hidden gem here) the tempo drops and there’s chord stabs, strings and talk of UFOs. Its at this point that you realise that the label on the record has a picture of Mitzi the cat, in a space suit, holding a white 303. This acid really is a trip.
One year after its first release, Nagual Drift is back on the radar, exploring a panel of emotions and a wide range of sounds and feelings. This Various Artists compilation features contrasting atmospheric shades of the dance floor. From acidic house tools to blooming ethereal soundscapes, bright and buoyant breakbeat to melancholic cuts from the left field of house to deep, dark and sorrowful techno. NDFT002 is a drifting, shifting landscape of collected emotional music from a pool of talented producers.
Four acid-filtered, metal disco killers from the enigmatic Michael Ferragosto, gear to keep that Chicago Muzique shit alive and well. Hear from the horse’s mouth: ‘Man…this is the pure shit… pure house experiments are the only motherfucking thing that sounds real these days on the floor – know what I mean’.
Enter the Dragon. Adding mystique to the techno are these pulsating, arpeggiated, snarling beasts from the Italian producer with an ominous-sounding remix by Heinrich Mueller aka Gerald Donald of Drexicya. Track titles refer to the journeys of the Sky Dragon (A1), Yellow Dragon (A2) and Dragon King (B1/B2) as they soar and serpentine majestically underwater and beyond the clouds.
The second release from Hamtramck, Michigan’s Portage Garage Sounds is an acid/ambient EP by Detroit’s Bill Spencer and Zachary Saginaw (also known as Shigeto), featuring narration by Walter Williams (also known as ZelooperZ).
Acid Jesus, the first of many collabs between Roman Flügel and Jörn Elling Wuttke. Situated in Germany’s then blistering techno scene and especially a mirror of Frankfurt at the time (and it´s holy label trinity of Playhouse, Klang and Ongaku), Flashbacks are also a feedback loop to what was happening in the UK and the USA. Flügel and Wuttke succeeded with their own and unique take on it, that owned as much to Underground Resistance and the Belleville Three as it did to Sven Väth and Andrew Weatherall. Including 3 (+1 more on MP3) unreleased tracks.
The 10th release from Polybius Trax is a collection of 6 tracks from Roger van Lunteren, Nikolay Sunak, Moralez and I-VIL.
After delivering the 8th Polybius Trax’s release under Myriadd’s alias, Craig Stainton strikes again. And this time he does it under the name of Mantra with 4 tracks of jackin’, acid house and acid techno. With this EP “The Seventh Seal” (PT009) and with its predecessor in the label “A New Day” (PT008), shows us of his mastery in the art of invoicing dance music under the different strands of acid.
Adalbert C. Kupietz (aka Adalberto, Fatjack, Crime Scene) is a rising name in the wonkier, more cerebral techno scene. The German is up on Acidicted, Adalbert’s own imprint which focusses on the all things 303, and this is only his third outing under the Hieroglyphica alias. “Biorhythm” is the perfect name for the sizzling banger residing on the A-side, a loose-cut techno killer with all sorts of electrifying acid sounds from the heart of the machines, while “Extinction” bounces more gently to and fro, offering mischievous basslines at the core of its rusty, analogue circuitry.
John Heckle’s first one for 030303 starts off deliciously with “Translate” being a moody and melodic and bouncer that caters to a twisted dance floor. “Terix”, the opener on the B-side is a beautiful reminder of Derrick May’s Detroit, Rhythm is Rhythm’s “Kao-Tic Harmony” in particular. The end of this record then, is like the end of most nights: with lots of melodies going on and a stomping rhythm “Hear Me” is by far the most mind bending track of this excellent 12″.
UK techno & house veteran Neville Watson makes his I Love Acid debut, after headlining at their tenth anniversary party in London earlier this year. Mark Forshaw with remix duties. These tracks have been getting caned across the UK, Europe and the USA this summer by a list of DJs far too long to mention. This is the real deal, proper acid for the dancefloor.
The Hipodrome Of Music 