The Spy debuts on Mechatronica with a dark, cosmic and hypnotising collection of tracks. On Snakeskin, the Dutch DJ and producer dips into electro, wave, techno, industrial and UK bass to mold an album that distinctly showcases his variety of styles and musical output, from gloomy slo-rollers to futuristic floor anthems and beyond.
Scorching EP from Dead Channel alum and acid master, TLXCO. Stripped down, but dense and tense, this 4-tracker is filled with huge delayed 303s, booming gained-out drums, and desolate atmospherics. Literally translated as ‘Every Day Towards Death’, this bleak acid masterpiece brings you one step closer.
Zement welcome back Ole Mic Odd and Alonzo for another punch of high impact tunes aimed squarely at the floor. There is plenty of cosmic urgency to the electro-tech of ‘B-A-D’ and all its withering sci-fi aesthetics. ‘Automate Your Mind’ bristles eve more with brilliantly tight drums and hits and mystic pads up above. ‘Body Rocking’ gets busy with pixelated melodic arps and vocoder vocals with punchy kicks and ‘Smoke Break’ is a more mindful and slower jam for thoughtful reflection.
Itako hails from Strasbourg , France. His music creation speciality is blending an array of consciousness-expanding sounds over slower electro and technoid beats. His debut album “Broken Material” on SonicGroove splashes acid, dashes Body music basslines , and sprinkles Belgian New Beat over a ten song album creating a perfect concoction of sci fiction cyber psychodelia that will you drive you into unexplored dimensions.
Chris Mitchell is back on Dead Channel, delivering 7 tracks of mutated psych-apocalyptic acid, icy minimal wave, and blown out machined rhythms. Dense hammered percussion, kicking you straight in the sternum, sends you reeling into the abyss. Dire, unsettling vocals dowsed in gritty, unrelenting squelched out 303 madness. Spectral atmospherics blanket bit-crushed drums in a disconcerting fog. With ‘Rip Run Ride Die’, Mitchell melds a black sea of contorted electronics into a twisted, utterly unique vision that pulls you under..
Squirrels on Film with a new 12″ vinyl record, featuring 4 cuts for the floor by Mummy Lord (Justin Aulis Long & Grey People), Religius Order, Steve Summers and a collaboration between C.L.A.W.S., Bill Converse & Tyrel Williams. Black hand stamped vinyl with Red Jacket.
After a long lockdown and moving to Berlin, Lost Control 2097 label is back with a new release. Salford’s very own ‘The Fly Insect’ (a lot will know him as Johnny Abstract in the Bohemian Grove era) has amassed a large silo container worth of radioactive mutant funk that he’s been holding onto for a long while, literally 100 years. Lost Control have been lucky enough to open the taps on this Fly tanker and this EP/mini album is just a slippery snippet of the the sub-aquatic machine-musik. There is 6 tracks of dripping 90s…….the 2090s; ranging from cybernetik techno to ambient electro and back straight at it with heavy robotics.
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.
U-TRAX presents the debut album of Dutch producer w1b0, who sadly passed away in August.
Wibo Lammerts’ sudden death on August 15th shocked the worldwide electro community, and also left the record label, that had been working on the debut album with the artist known as w1b0 for the past two years, dumbfounded and in grief. Wibo had jokingly always called his upcoming debut album ‘his legacy’, which now sadly has become a painful truth. With the support of Wibo’s family, U-TRAX is now doing the only thing that doesn’t feel totally wrong: proceed as planned, and release ‘When Humans Ruled The Earth’. W1b0 made quite a name for himself with heavy electro tracks that he released on labels like Bass Agenda, Hilltown Disco and Discos Antónicos. Standing at 202 meters, and combined with a cheerful character, most people remember him as the gentle giant of electro. For this album, Wibo wanted to steer away from the dark and heavy electro he mostly made until then. The idea of having a platform to create delicate electronic music in different styles, and make it a showcase of his versatility, was very appealing to him.
Launched in late 2017, The Melting Point concept sees label founder Bloody Mary invite a selection of her favourite and most respected producers to offer up an exclusive cut that represents their own take on the acid sound. Dame-Music now presents Volume 4 of the V/A acid series, as she welcomes four new guests including Fear-E, dyLAB, Freddy Fresh and UMWELT to share the record with her this December, to mark the imprint’s 46th release.
J. Mono twists our sense of time again, coming up with the third installment of his ‘Redate’ series: an elegant selection of uncut tracks, roaming in the fields of electro, acid, IDM and EBM. Redate III in its digital format presents tracks that were written and recorded between 2014 and 2015. As the cassette version, it includes not only Redate III (as side A), but a collection of J. Mono’s various other tracks created between 2017 and 2021, that appeared beforehand on various compilation albums (as side B). In other words, with this fresh new tape you’re all set with 8 years of J. Mono experience.
Distrito 91 presents the first installment of its Various Artists compilation series; ‘Our Own Algorithm’ VOL.1. Four tracks from Sound Synthesis, Dark Vektor, TR 9009 and UHF.
Eight years after Cuthead’s “Give’n’Take”, it’s Sneaker’s turn to put together four of his favorite tracks for Uncanny Valley’s compilation series. Besides L.B. BaD’s wonderful “Late In The Evening (Music’s Seeping Thru)” you’ll get three absolute bangers on top. The Optimistic Misanthropes are Mystic Bill, VeXaTioN and Sneaker himself. One of the most influential Chicago House DJs, true to the underground for over three decades now, and once part of the Trax Records roster… Mystic Bill. VeXaTioN already got to know him back in the days but is currently hailing from Mexico City. His track was born in Los Angeles and remixed by Sneaker in Berlin. Also, Left Unknown’s “Maedchen” got the jacking Midas touch from Sneaker, a touch you’ve come to recognize. Behind the one-off project is Saxonian Gnista aka DJ Detox and somebody who wants to remain incognito. Jacob Korn however is well-known since the early days of Uncanny Valley and is above all Sneaker’s best buddy at TailOut Studio, Dresden.
The second release of Flight Mode has landed with four artists from four different countries. On the A-side, Dawl delivers ‘Microbe’, a sleek acid slow burning that truly stalks the listener, before Kiddmisha ups the speed and the eerie moodiness with ‘Anxiety’. Acid Charlie’s ‘Por La Paz’ has the most old school favour of the quartet – even before sirens hit – underpinned by a thunderous drum machine. Then the mysterious producer SPAC closes the single with more cunningly employed acid shenanigans.
The Hipodrome Of Music 