Joey Anderson – After Forever [DKMNTL017]

Dutch label Dekmantel release the debut full-length album from New Jersey producer, DJ and Inimeg Records boss Joey Anderson. Entitled After Forever, the album is the natural next step for a producer who has turned out plenty of deep and intriguing techno EPs for labels like Latency, Deconstruct Music and Syncrophone over the last couple of years. Having been championed by the connoisseur likes of Levon Vincent and DJ Qu before the rest of the world cottoned on, Andersons style has proved to be truly idiosyncratic, where near bottomless techno grooves get run through with haunted piano lines, shadowy synth work or elegant drones. There are barely ever any claps or snares, instead just plenty of deeply hypnotic kicks and plenty of noir tension. “Every track on the album has its own take on my personality, my mentality musically and my vision of off-dancefloor music,” says Joey. “I find it very difficult to create something for people just to like. I’d rather pay attention to making them get close to the album and uncover the ideas within it. Being my first LP, it’s dedicated to my two daughters, Akatriel and Auset.”

listen

Joey Anderson – After Forever [DKMNTL017]

Alexander Robotnick – Vintage Robotnicks [MR032]

Exclusive Record Store Day 2014. Special hand-picked selection of early singles as well as previously unreleased on vinyl tracks by Alexander Robotnick (aka Maurizio Dami). The first single on the record is “I Wanna Believe” which was released under the moniker Gina & The Flexix in 1985 on the legendary Fuzz Dance label (an Italo Disco sublabel of Materiali Sonori). It is a rare 12″ single featuring a dance-floor stomping beat, melodic synth leads and female vocals. The other single on the compilation is the 7″ version of “C’est La Vie” which was released in 1987. Most of the LP is comprised of tracks recorded from 1982-1984 which have only been released on CD in 2003 on the “Rare Robotnicks” compilation (except one track from 2005’s “Krypta 1982” and one other track culled from “Robotnick Archives”). The exclusive to vinyl tracks were hand-selected and display a diverse and ever-changing sound palette yet maintaining the unique and unmistakable Alexander Robotnick style which we have all loved through the years.

listen

Alexander Robotnick – Vintage Robotnicks [MR032]

Generation Next / Big Strick – Like Father, Like Son (Album) [7DAYS1010]

After a successful year for both Big Strick and Generation Next, they come with the CD album titled ‘Like Father Like Son’. Four months after they collaborated on the ‘Like Father Like Son’ EP , this 10-track masterpiece shows off skills from two eras of dance music on one platform with an array of styles and versatility. Big Strick’s latest full-length offering on his own 7 Days Entertainment label is a family affair, mixing tracks from the veteran Detroit producer with similarly deep and woozy jams from his 16 year-old son Tre Strickland, aka Generation Next. The father-and-son team’s approach to house – wringing atmospheric soul from bubbling rhythms, warm chords and blazed melodies – is surprisingly similar, as shown by the two deep, jazz-flecked collaborations showcased here. Elsewhere, both impress with their individual contributions, with Strickland Junior’s slap bass-infused deep head-nodder “Flynn’s” and sweet, winding “Mo Money” standing out.

listen

Generation Next / Big Strick – Like Father, Like Son (Album) [7DAYS1010]

Tripeo – Antipintiros [TRILP001]

Since adopting the Tripeo alias back in late 2012, Dutch techno producer Darko Esser has been in inspired form with the project showcasing his more direct approach to the medium across a succession of 12″ releases. First announced earlier this year, this debut Tripeo album Anipintiros allows Esser the chance to explore the project in more extensive fashion, and listening to the album demonstrates the Dutchman clearly enjoyed the process. Consisting of eight tracks of purist techno executed with both software and hardware, Anipintiros bristles with dancefloor intent at times sounding alien (“Anipintiros #3” & “Anipintiros #5”), others stripped back and hypnotic (“Anipintiros #4”). It’s hard to pick out highlights, but the busted, bleep laden “Anipintiros #6” and the subsequent acid bathtub that is “#7” have been causing the Juno office turntable some damage.

listen

Tripeo – Antipintiros [TRILP001]

Fabio Frizzi – Paura Nella Citta Dei Morti Viventi [SEM85003]

FRIZZI, Fabio - Paura Nella Citta Dei Morti Viventi/City Of The Living Dead (Soundtrrack)

It’s a scarce limited edition of the Italian soundtrack ”Paura Nella Citt Dei Morti Viventi” produced by Fabio Frizzi in 1980. The high quality vinyl record features sought after unreleased tracks which are missing on the earlier pressing on Beat Records and includes a beautiful poster.

listen

Fabio Frizzi – Paura Nella Citta Dei Morti Viventi [SEM85003]

Architectural – Secret Chapter [ARCH006]

Architectural returns with a very special album: Atmospheric, darkness, emotional, deep and organic. A musical piece with a soundtrack essence that transport to the darker and disturbing forests. The CD edition has a second CD with a previous tracks compilation released on Architectural recs.

listen

Architectural – Secret Chapter [ARCH006]

Edit Select – Phlox [PRGLP006]

Scottish producer Tony Scott graces Prologue for the first time with a debut album under the Edit Select guise – now as established a name as his old Percy X work was. The Munich label is cultivating quite the reputation for techno album projects, with excellent longplayers from Mike Parker, Echologist, Dino Sabatini and of course Voices From The Lake in recent times and we can add Phlox to that pile. The Scotsman’s collection of mesmerising and sometimes big-room techno productions is a perfect match for the Prologue aesthetic, pitched perfectly between moments of emotional ambience and “hypnotic monsters for the dance floor”. Look out for a new rendition of “Bauer”, which appeared on the Berghain 03 Mix CD and the Dino Sabatini collaboration “Survivors Of The Pulse”.

listen

Edit Select – Phlox [PRGLP006]

Lewis Fautzi – The Gare Album [SOMALP107]

Soma welcome the debut album from the ever-growing roster of youthful talent as Lewis Fautzi drops The Gare Album, named in homage to The Gare Club, Porto, where Lewis made his discovery of Techno. A bold 4 track single debut gave rise to the album process midway through 2013 and under the careful supervision of Soma, Lewis has provided a definitive peak in his sound cultivated on the back of years of studio work. A collection of deep, dark and twisted techno awaits.A definite maturity in production shines through on this fantastic LP from Fautzi as he creates a cold and calculating output, clearly focused on the future. The Gare Album has allowed Fautzi to express himself fully through electronic music, a task that he has taken to whole-heartedly.The Gare Album will be released on limited double LP.

listen

Lewis Fautzi – The Gare Album [SOMALP107]

Francesco Clemente & Heinrich Dressel – Il Faro [MR026]

CLEMENTE, Francesco/HEINRICH DRESSEL - Il Faro

Francesco Clemente and Heinrich Dressel cross the sea of sounds where everything is permitted. The outcome is an album that’s rich in fascinations, and divided in two parts: in the first one the Canadian composer plays some suspended and gentle sounds, while in the second one Dressel brings the listener to an eternal struggle between darkness and light, comfort and despair.

listen

Francesco Clemente & Heinrich Dressel – Il Faro [MR026]

The Midnight Episode – The Midnight Episode [OMLP008]

Over the course of its intermittent output, Gunnar Wendel’s Ominira label has cultivated a reputation as a platform for intriguing cross format output that sits in the fuzzy nether regions between house and techno, complementing the Leipzig-based producer’s own work as Kassem Mosse. Typically for the label, Ominira’s first full length album release comes right out of left field with a long player from The Midnight Episode. With just a handful of prior releases to their name, there’s definitely an element of mystery and intrigue to the project from Nicola Cunningham and Karl ‘Kaneda’ Skagius, with the self titled eleven track set fully living up to its billing as a “selection of dark and glittering late night tunes drawing on the legacy of British horror”. Fans of Demdike Stare’s Tryptych series will definitely enjoy this.

listen

The Midnight Episode – The Midnight Episode [OMLP008]

Anom Vitruv – Nihil [TABR025]

Anom Vitruv continues to go against the tide with his second Mini LP on Tabernacle Records. It’s been almost two years since anonymous producer Anom Vitruv first appeared on Tabernacle, with a self-titled debut 12″ that effortlessly joined the dots between a myriad of crusty, hardware-heavy house and techno styles. This second outing for the label – like the first, a kind of mini-album of untitled tracks – continues in a similar vein, variously exploring bleep-heavy dream techno (“Track 1”), distorted experimental textures (“Track 6”), intoxicating Arabic techno (“Track 5”), spooky but melodic futurism (“Track 4”) and distorted post-electro (the standout “Track 3”, which sees cascading, 8-bit melodies riding a hissing wave of fuzzy drum machine percussion).

listen

Anom Vitruv – Nihil [TABR025]

Stellar OM Source – Heartlands Suite [ZORN012]

Christelle Gualdi’s second vinyl release as Stellar Om Source from 2011. The LP compiles little masterpieces from the same time period when her acclaimed “Trilogy Tapes” collection was released. With influences ranging from new age to experimental electronic music Christelle creates a wonderful and carefully layered album.

listen

Stellar OM Source – Heartlands Suite [ZORN012]

Jorge Velez – Territories [LIES046]

Jorge Velez returns to L.I.E.S. with his first effort since 2012’s Hassan LP. Through this six track LP we see the ultra versatile Velez weave seamlessly through numerous strains of electronics. From menacing drones to EBM influenced floor tracks to Sakamoto-esque melodic experiments, he creates an atmosphere equally suitable for home listening or adventurous club play. All of this very much reminding us of the days when Mute, Factory, Cherry Red, or Fetish Records were at their best.

listen

Jorge Velez – Territories [LIES046]

Arrrgh – Gilga 2 [HHG002/6]

This is the second release and second album for the Gilga series which seems to be proliferating on Felix K’s Hidden Hawaii label. The first LP came from Legowelt, last year’s uber-rare and slept-on Gilga 1, and for all we know Gilga 2 could come from the Dutchman too if we base our findings on the Danny Wolfers-esque track names. Synths and musicality play a big role right across Gilga 2 with dubsteppy drums and other elements effecting tracks like “Reversed Shell” and “These Are My Thoughts”, while there’s a Livity Sound-feel to “Purple Jude”. For something a littler deeper and rhythmic check out “Maschine Series” and “Slow Depression”, while “Harmony Korine (Happy Jungle mix)” ends the LP on a trippy note. Gilga 2 is intriguing machine-made music to say the least.

listen

Arrrgh – Gilga 2 [HHG002/6]

HTRK – Psychic 9​-​5 Club [GI204]

Psychic 9-5 Club marks the beginning of a new chapter for HTRK. It’s an album that looks back on a time of sadness and struggle, and within that struggle they find hope and humour and love. It’s Jonnine Standish and Nigel Yang’s first album recorded entirely as a duo. Though the record is instantly recognizable as HTRK—Standish’s vocal delivery remains central to the band’s sound, while the productions are typically lean and dubby—they’ve found ample room for exploration within this framework. Of all the themes that run through Psychic 9-5 Club, love is the most central. The word is laced throughout the album in lyrics and titles—love as a distraction, loving yourself, loving others. Standish’s lyrics explore the complexities of sexuality and the body’s reaction to personal loss, though there’s room for wry humour—a constant through much of the best experimental Australian music of the past few decades.

listen

HTRK – Psychic 9​-​5 Club [GI204]

Efdemin – Decay [DIALLP030]

Dial regular Efdemin returns with a third album of a respected career, with the autumnal theme of Decay inspired by the German producer’s three-month artist residency in Kyoto, Japan. Sollmann immersed himself in the local culture while in Kyoto, attending ceremonies with monks at temples and visiting local instrument makers. This results in a ten track set that canvasses the sort of poignant, introverted house music that’s characterized much of Phillip Sollmann’s work as Efdemin to date. There are however a few stylistic surprises along the way – the stripped back, jacking “Transducer” or the fusion of jazzy licks and noisy bursts of percussion that makes up the title track – but overall you’d be hard pushed to think of a better label to house Decay than Dial.

listen

 

Efdemin – Decay [DIALLP030]

Mike Dehnert – Lichtbedingt [104DSR]

Three years after his last full-length album on Delsin, tireless techno producer Mike Dehnert is back with another one. The 104th release on Delsin, entitled Lichtbedingt, counts 12 tracks and is yet another subtle evolution away from the chord driven, functional sound he has championed before now. The album starts off with a suitably sombre intro that features cold, slowly shifting synths. They set an uneasy and moody tone before ‘Construction’ settles into a fat, swaggering. From there you get lost in broken, ruptured, malfunctioning bits of hardware that spit out random hi hats, bleeps and gurgles and then eventually get spat out the other side into a cantering bit of dubwise techno with paranoid vocal snippets. Moving along, the album throws plenty of diverse influences into the mix: ‘Movement’ is freaky and dynamic, skipping and pumping, ducking and diving through all sorts of occult synth sounds and shadowy vocal loops then ‘Single Action’ is like a sledge hammer groove run through with harmonic elements that glint and glisten like diamonds in the rough. Classic sounding Dehnert tracks like ‘ReRe’ remind us where this producer has come from, whilst the breezy house swagger of ‘Emlo’ show us where he might be headed. Key to this album and Dehnert’s output as a whole is, besides the killer grooves, the production: crisp and clean, full blooded and always outstanding, it makes his tracks leap out of the speakers and into minds, bodies and souls without relying on the usual tropes or same old cheap tricks.

listen

Mike Dehnert – Lichtbedingt [104DSR]

Tobias – A Series Of Shocks [OSTGUTLP016]

Second solo album from accomplished Berlin based producer Tobias Freund. Continuing his exploration into ‘non-standard’ electronic music, and expanding on the rich sound palette charted in his first LP, ‘Leaning Over Backwards’, this new chapter presents 10 versatile tracks taking us ever further into the purist, evolving sonic world of Tobias. ‘A Series of Shocks is Tobias’ is an impressive return to longtime home Ostgut Ton. Beginning with the beatless melodic pulse of the Steve Reich-influenced “Entire”, Freund works his way through a range of clandestine techno compositions, touching on claustrophobic acid and intense late night thump (“Testcard”, “Ya Po”), scratchy Chicago jack (“Instant”), deeper moods (“The Scheme of Things”) and, most thrillingly, early ’90s influenced intelligent techno. It’s in these moments – “If” and tactile ambient breaks of “Cursor Item Only” – that A Series of Shocks really flies.

listen

 

Tobias – A Series Of Shocks [OSTGUTLP016]

Seven Davis JR. – The Lost Tapes Vol. 1 [IZWID002]

The Lost Tapes Vol. 1 draws together material spanning some twelve years of unreleased four and eight track recordings from Houston-born Seven Davis Jnr. “once lost in storage via a lengthy hiatus due to drug addiction and depression”. Plucked by Kutmah to appear on the Worldwide Family Vol 2 issued on Brownswood last year, Davis Jnr. has subsequently self released material via bandcamp, dropped a killer house focused 12? on Jay Simon’s Must Have Records and has a record with Funkineven on the way . Brandishing a rough and rugged mastery of drums and a truly soulful vocal, Seven Davis Jnr has the capacity to cover a broad range of styles (a cover version of Prince’s “Controversy” that can be found online is a notable highlight). This much is more than evident on the newly issued collection of works for IZWID, with the bugged out mutant soul of “Sorry” being a stand out track.

listen

Seven Davis JR. – The Lost Tapes Vol. 1 [IZWID002]