SWOB returns and introduces a new artist to the fold. Several years after a 12” for the Unrelatable imprint, Marco Passarani opens a new chapter with F.F.O.M., a work of extra-terrestrial tales that feel grounded, where the hard, dirty work of the people continues on a different planet. The scenery changes, but the story stays the same: broken dreams on arid ground. Passarani blends experimentation with an unshakable sense of groove, weaving a more abstract narrative without losing the dancefloor pulse. While distinct from his Studiomaster output, the project shares the same DNA, fusing digital and analog textures until the boundaries dissolve.
Beat machine freak duo Bill Converse and Patricia (Max Ravitz) present 380/750, a new EP on Acid Test that blends the two producers’ singular styles to form an emotive “introspection on the dance floor” experience across 4 tracks. Recorded at Ravitz’s Brooklyn studio over the course of two days, 380/750 features raw, no-multitrack, no-edit live recordings that showcase the duo’s intuition for expressive rhythm tracks. Considering Converse’s roots in the 90’s Michigan rave scene, and Ravitz’s Chicago upbringing, the midwestern strains really shine through. With rhythm-composer mutations, acid dripping over atmospheric synth textures, and the ever-present jack throughout, 380/750 offers a deep sound to get lost in that feels both new and classic at the same time.
Om Unit and TM404 have both been researching production and compositional elements in the crosshairs of dub and acid for the last few years – Om Unit most notably with his Acid Dub Studies 1 & 2, and TM404 with his Acidub album in particular.
Detroit’s Marcellus Pittman returns to Acid Test following his Unknown Species track featured on the ’10 Years of Acid Test’ compilation. H|e’s back with his debut EP for the label. Juddering mechanical beats, layered percussion and gurgling 303 basslines are on the menu, from one of Detroit’s finest.
The elusive SW. returns to Avenue 66 with okALGORYTHM. His third LP for the label is a semi-opaque wandering through the shadowy byways of memory, driven by tough-yet-supple production and his unmistakable, unerringly original voice. Inspired by all night electronic radio shows of the ‘90s, okALGORYTHM pulses with rich imagination and a sense of purposeful meandering. Speaking in cryptic fragments, the artist hints at elusive reminiscences “back then on the autobahn, to Berlin, with friends” while also noting that some recollections are “of things that didn’t happen that way.”
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.
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.
Ten years ago, Acid Test began with a simple concept – each track the label released would make use of the Roland TB-303. Like a producer purposefully paring down their studio setup, or the continuous imperative within underground electronic music to reduce, this concept engendered creativity with the introduction of what seemed to be an aesthetic limit. However, the decade that followed, which now culminates in the triple-LP compilation Ten Years Of Acid Test, proves acid is limitless. That the Berlin-via-LA label would expand upon the classical conception of acid house and techno is no surprise considering the cast of characters that have come in fold over the past decade. Ten Years Of Acid Test gathers key material from the label’s extended family of acid acolytes. There’s that Vienna-via-LA maestro of sad, elegant acid Tin Man (Johannes Auvinen), whose “Afters Acid” is both a highlight within his prolific catalogue and a distillation of his symphonic approach to the 303. Detroit giants Erika and Marcellus Pittman, both of whom have released remixes on Acid Test, present their respective and singular Bass Line visions. Erika, the Interdimensional Transmissions lynchpin, crafts a dark, delicate take on broken techno on “Violet Fungus” while Pittman continues his cubist house explorations on “Unknown Species,” both tracks straying from typical acid lines in favor of the intricate textures achievable on the 303. This variation in approach applies to tempo as well. Irish-based master Lerosa, as well as Delsin affiliate VC-118A, delve into downtempo atmospherics. Meanwhile, Japanese deep techno virtuoso Wata Igarashi, SUED co-founder SW. (a regular on Acid Test’s leftfield sub-label Avenue 66) and Patricia (one-half of Acid Test act Ociya) use acid as a creative jumping-off point for complex melodic concepts. Wata layers an orchestra of synth-bliss drone overtop a squelchy bassline on “Ephemeral.” SW.’s “ChaIAnJAzzz” cycles through an array of dusted chords eventually landing in skewed, fuzzy rave nostalgia, anthemic chords held aloft by a wicked UK-flavour bass line. Patricia’s “Higher Still” explores dreamy, IDM-flavoured acid, cinematic synthlines counterbalanced by propulsive, squelching acid. Acid Test devotees will be thrilled at the return of various luminaries from the catalogue, including Achterbahn D’Amour, Skudge, AAAA, John Tejada and Donato Dozzy, whose memorable remix of Tin Man’s “Nonneo” from Acid Test 01 served as a kind of proof of concept for the label. There’s new blood too. San Francisco up-and-comer Sepehr makes his label debut with the excellent “Persian Acid Prince,” as does Andreas Tilliander’s beloved hardware techno project, TM404. Ten Years Of Acid Test is a valuable portrait of a group of artists linked by a dedication to innovation within acid, in line with the genre’s storied roots. Over ten years, Acid Test has gracefully made a case for the 303’s past, present and future, the story of acid continuing to unfurl in unpredictable, addictive patterns.
Leopoldo Rosa AKA Lerosa has been fighting against lazy categorization for years, offering up tracks that go way beyond the deep house sound he cultivated in the early years of his career. Those who still think he makes records like that should definitely check “Bucket Of Eggs”, his long-awaited second album, because it’s far more thrillingly wayward, off-kilter and alien-sounding than anything he’s released before. It’s rooted in house music – and twisted acid house, in particular – but also doffs a cap towards Rephlex style mutant electronica, turn-of-the-90s Bleep and Bass (the superbly weighty and spacey “Sheffield”), skewed electro (“Subterfuge”) and even deep space electronica (killer closing cut “Don’t Worry”). In a word: essential.
Acid Test continues their journey with the return of Achterbahn D’Amour. On their first proper release in three years, Jool & Iron Curtis patiently craft an intricate sound world – with the opening track, major-key pads hearken towards a bright future, hi-hats rustle like leaves and on “Dehaveland,” percussive elements fall into beautiful, random unison like factory machines staging an after hours dance. Samuel Van Dijk’s vaunted VC-118A project steps up for a remix, turning in a taut techno version that unfurls smoke pillars of ghostly ambience. The duo wraps up the four-tracker with an unexpected dreamy electro turn, “Don’t Talk To Me.” Throughout Acid Test 13, they remain in lockstep with the label’s ethos – to bend, hammer and flatten acid lines into new, imaginative shapes.
The Trickfinger project was recorded 10 years ago with no intention of being released at the time, made purely for discovery and learning experience. ‘In my opinion, making music with no intention of releasing it is the best thing a musician can do for his own development in this day and age. The Trickfinger LP was made in that mindset, and it was the beginning of a new musical life for me. When I hear it, it sounds like I am opening up doorways to new worlds, and I never have had that feeling listening to music I made for the purpose of releasing it and selling it.’
Recondite aka Lorenz Brunner is back, this time partaking in some wild experiments with acid, on behalf of California’s Acid Test imprint. Beginning with the ultra-deep and reductionist “Compel” which is reminiscent of early Plastikman, he then launches into the funky R&B tempo of “Pass Up” and the sombre and emotional tones of “Undulate” which gets the first four to the floor beat going. Life & Death label mates Tale Of Us join Brunner on the stunningly soulful “Sequenze” while “Subdue” presents his darkest side on the album. Later on “Ley” gets a peak time level stomp on, in fine acidic style. While Brunner has most definitely found his stride, leading to current mass appeal, he certainly proves he still has underground credentials on this fine effort.
Veteran Italian producer Donato Dozzy and California’s Tin Man are old pals, with the latter having first remixed the former way back in 2011. Here, the two join forces for a voyage into acid-flecked late night science for Absurd’s ever excellent Acid Test series. “Test 7” sets the tone, delivering a hypnotic, heads-down journey into deep, stripped-back acid house. While it’s the EP’s most obviously floor-friendly moment, there’s something far more thrilling about the bubbling, beatless electronics of “Test 2” and “Test 3”. The latter, doused in minimal techno atmospherics, is intensely beautiful in its warm, melodic simplicity.
Tin Man returns to Acid Test with the club ready track ”Mystified Acid”. the 12” also includes two remixes from his ”Neo Neo Acid” album: ”Finger Paint” remixed by RVDS and Joey Anderson’s remix of ”Futurist Acid”.
The launch of Avenue 66, a new imprint from the ACID TEST camp. A dark acid laced house cut with vocals by Ebony Ugo backed with a remix by Ukrainian producer Vakula, who provides a dreamy lush remix and ”Auset”, a monster head trip made for dancefloors and headphones alike.
Acid Test’s first release of 2013 features two acid tracks from the French professor Pepe Bradock (his first release outside of his own Atavisme imprint in 10 years). Lifting Weights / Mujeres Nerviosas Recorded in LA, assembled in Paris.
Achterbahn D’Amour is delivering the latest 12 inch in the Acid Test series from L.A.’s Absurd Recordings. “Cardbox” is a laid back, stripped down and tripped out groove with a spacey dubbed out remix from Chicago’s Innespace Halflife on the B-side along with the bonus cut “Harmonia”.
Tin Man presents an ambitious but club ready album of 303 centric dance tracks. 8 cuts that ably followup his breakout single ”Nonneo” from 2011 which launched the popular ”Acid Test” series on Absurd Recordings.
Acid Test’s first double pack is a mini album of deep melancholic acid tracks from the Berlin producer Recondite. Includes a remix from Tin Man as well as a remix from Scuba.
The Hipodrome Of Music 