Berlin based Philipp Otterbach debuts on Offen with a seven tracks album, “Correct Me If I Am Incorrectly You”. Post-music phantasmagoria for the world in which the past became more unpredictable than the future. Deconstructed entertainment for hopeless romantics and testament to Otterbach’s unique artistic language.
The Athenian producer Aggelos Baltas alias Anatolian Weapons captures on the album “Earth” the feeling of an optimistic future that grows on the soil of the sweet bitterness of the present and the past. Under his pseudonym Anatolian Weapons, Baltas combines polyrhythmic percussion and wailing tones of Greek folk music with a thrilling and open Krautrock attitude. The album “Earth “takes us on a mystical journey through the northern Greek highlands, backed by Baltas’ unique machine-assisted folk, infused with psychedelic drones and exuding an aura that is neither then nor now, neither there nor here. Instead, it exists in a small pocket of its own cosmos. A crossroads of dimensions. A mystical offering to nature and the divinities. The album reconstructs a sonic narrative of ancient traditions, enhanced with psychedelic and space-rock elements. In the reverb cycle, one hears a certain agrarian reinterpretation of the world, filled with harvest rituals and celestial incantations.
Weith returns to Brokntoys with “Intimate Entropy”, a new exclusive album comprising sixteen tracks. The result of two years of composing and research, “Intimate Entropy” traverses a wide sonic landscape, ranging from drone pieces to tension-filled meandering journeys. Dense and rich in details, Weith presents an introspective, melancholic, and immersive listening experience.
Colombian producer Faunes Efe known under his moniker Filmmaker, is one of the most productive and vital producers in the EBM, Industrial, Synth-wave and Electro community. He has quickly build a cult following amongst those with an affinity for dystopian electronics drenched in seductive darkness. Filmmaker keeps running engines with “Machinations”, a mini-album containing 7 cuts that blast a mechanical blend of Electroclash and Minimal Synth. This ride of prominent square waves, robotic beats and detuned atmospheres is born from mainly two instruments: a Syntakt & a processed guitar.
Tom Carruthers back in full form on L.I.E.S. with a massive 18 track tripple LP set. This has everything you could possibly want on it, going in heavy with the 88-92′ vibes all the Bleeps, Detroit strings, shuffling 909s, and Chicago 727s one can possibly want. Every track is a winner, full dancefloor fodder you’ll swear are lost classics unearthed from the grave. Carruthers has consistently proved he has mastered the formula to create perfect old school tracks that will have you jackin on the floor all nite long. This collection is what dance music is about and explores the full range of formative styles in all their intricacies from top to bottom. Undoubtedly his most comprehensive and definitive work to date.
XY0815 wraps up his magnum opus with an additional collection of eight tracks. The second volume of ‘Gates Need Inputs’ blends crafty, melodic electronica with intricate rhythms.
“My Brutal Life” delves into the profound aspects of our artistic endeavors encompassing brutalism, the environment, and humanity. Throughout our ongoing creative journey, we consistently gravitate towards these themes, documenting and exploring the human experience within these environments. Our unwavering fixation on Symmetry, Synchronisation, and Repetition are the driving force in our artistic expression. Moreover, we strive to peel away superficial layers to expose the underlying emotional strata of the human aspect, unearthing the often overlooked beauty within the ordinary. Although frequently disregarded, the human aspect resonates with echoes from the past, enlightening and guiding our artistic process. Even the failures encountered serve as poignant reminders of the delicate structures we construct. My Brutal Life constitutes a pivotal component within an enduring exhibition, meticulously crafted to delve into the aesthetic and human facets of brutalism.
On his fifth album as VC-118A, Samuel van Dijk is using his evolved electro practice to explore the notion of change – a universal constant which keeps us barreling towards unknown futures. 2021’s Spiritual Machines found van Dijk edging his sound into downtempo and experimental pastures. On the follow-up, Waves of Change, crooked machine rhythms and richly developed tones and textures spool from his trusted bank of outboard tools, while a subtle drop in tempo widens the space for the atmospheric sound design to weave its magic. Balancing the disciplines of machine-powered sequencing and hand-shaped sound to render his ideas in sonic form, the continued evolution of VC-118A results in another mesmerizing record steeped in craft and loaded with intention.
New album from Theo Parrish & Maurissa Rose arrives on his own Sound Signature label. Hard to define, rule breaking and game-changing producer Theo Parrish is back with another of his challenging and superlative albums. This one is a collaboration with Maurissa Rose that true sooth the soul. It’s full of his usual deadly grooves, shamanistic percussive layers and jazz energies with plenty of his famous luscious, meditative loops. Add in the smooth vocals of Rose – which come in the form of a soulful stream of consciousness – and you have yet another unique album from this true maverick of the form.
‘The Moon Dance’ Mark’s the come back of one of Chi Towns most innovative and iconic figures to Apnea Records. Jamal Moss (Hieroglyphic Being) sound’s were first released on Apnea in 2007. Now, in 2023, he’s back with this double 12” album flooded with synth jazz and cosmic acid explorations in his signature and irreverent style.
Laurène Exposito releases her 3rd album on Knekelhuis. Honolulu / Saigon is a collage of unreleased material, and previously on cassette released work. Some songs go even back to the era of Sabine and ties in wonderfully with Laurène’s previous work. She’s been performing some of these tracks back in the days.
Khidja’s new album ‘Transmissions’ on Malka Tuti is divided into two separate releases. Part 1 was released at the beginning of the summer and now at the beginning of autumn Part 2 is out. The album was written and produced by the Romanian duo, Andrei Rusu and Florentin Tudor, over the last several years, showcasing the diversity in the Khidja’s production; from shuffle to slow mow, to ‘chugging’ to new age 4th world.
Olivia returns with her debut album to Budapest’s finest Dalmata Daniel. The unique-sounding Krakow-based producer with ‘Sen’ gives us a glimpse into her enigmatic and obscure world, where the boundaries between reality and the abyss blur. Embrace the darkness as pulsating beats collide with haunting melodies, propelling you through an enigmatic underworld. This new full length album is another testament to Olivia’s unrivaled artistry and her ability to traverse the boundaries, how she uses it, turn it upside down and mutated electro, techno, industrial and EBM genres in her own way.
E.L.I. debuts on the Pinkman Broken Dreams series. Prepare to be entranced by the mesmerizing hardware jams that reverberate through your consciousness. As the shadows lengthen and the night embraces you, immerse yourself in ‘Built to Thrill,’ where darkness and euphoria collide in a symphony of madness.
Minimal Wave presents the first vinyl reissue of French legends Martin Dupont’s seminal album from 1987, ‘Hot Paradox’. Martin Dupont was originally founded by Alain Seghir in Marseille in 1980. He enlisted numerous collaborators throughout the years, including Beverley Jane Crew, Brigitte Balian, and Catherine Loy. Martin Dupont was immensely talented with a rare dynamic between its varying members that was likely inspired by a combination of their magnetic personalities, creative vision, and the home studio where they recorded. Their music was colorful, enthusiastic, delicate, melancholy, and mysterious. A mixture of hot and cold, light and dark. They created electronic music that incorporated guitars, clarinets, and saxophones and is described by many as New Wave yet truly transcended genres. The ‘Hot Paradox’ album hasn’t been available on vinyl since 1987. It is one of Martin Dupont’s most exquisite albums, illustrating the band’s mastery of synthesizer work, drum programming, and vocal duets. The album is vibrant and emotive, simultaneously somber and bright, theatrical and danceable. It is an essential album in the French cold wave, new wave, and minimal synth scenes, and in recent years, has finally received the recognition it deserves beyond any musical categorization.
Cititrax present a new album by Cosmetics, a Vancouver-based synth wave duo formed by Nic Emm and Aja Emma in 2008. Cosmetics reappeared in 2022 after having been relatively quiet since its very memorable releases on Captured Tracks in 2010. In 2023, the band returns with a phenomenal full-length LP entitled ‘Baby’. Their music is sultry, minimalist, and atmospheric, backed by lush analog synths and sparse drum machines. Aja’s seductive vocals cut through the perfectly crafted dark synthpop forming a filmlike narrative that draws us in. The ‘Baby’ LP will have you listening on repeat and the single featuring alternate versions of two songs from the album will bring you from your bedroom listening to the dance floor. Cosmetics continue the lineage of Minimal Wave into the present day.
Plague Pits is a collective from Bern, Switzerland. Inspired by the DIY electronic tape underground of yore, they play disco dirges for the Anthropocene – cold wave for a heating planet. After a string of DIY releases on their bandcamp page, on Transnecropolitan and Young And Cold Records, the band released their first full length album “Creatures“ on DIY label Transnecropolitan, from Bern. “Creatures” was conceived and recorded over a span of six months in early 2022 and contains eight songs that are just as inspired by the clattering electro-industrial rhythms of the mid-eighties as by early electronic post-punk and its krautrock forbears. The record lyrically centers around all manners of exploitation – of human beings, other living creatures, and our planets resources.
Schicksal is the alias of Rudi Huybrechts from Belgium. Heavily inspired by Front 242 first album “Geography”, DAF’s elektronische körpermusik “Alles Ist Gut” and of course Kraftwerk’s “Man Machine” and “Computer World”, Rudi bought his first Roland SH-101 synthesizer and started in 1982 with Schicksal to experiment with synths and drum computers. He spent lot of hours programming and composing on his bedroom and recording everything on a tape recorder. A selection of these old tracks are included on this album. You can definitely feel the vibe of this period and the place where the songs were created: the old industrial town of Hoboken, the culmination of the cold war and the aim of a young musician to combine melody and harmony into minimal electronic music.
Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids are back with their first major new studio album in over 3 years, an epic, sprawling new work exploring the future, the past and the urgent reality of the present, ‘Afro Futuristic Dreams’. Recorded between San Francisco and London and brought together by the genius of Malcolm Catto at his analogue Quatermass Studio, the new recording represents another bold step in Ackamoor’s ever-evolving journey in jazz, adding full, intricate scores including string sections and choral elements to the Pyramids’ trademark spiritual Afro-jazz sound. Driven by the core Pyramids members Ackamoor (sax, keytar, organ), Margaux Simmons (flute), Sandra Poindexter (violin) and Bobby Cobb (guitar), tracks range from hard-hitting commentaries about police brutality (‘Police Dem’) to celebrations of the ancestors and departed loved ones (‘Requiem For The Ancestors’, ‘Re-Memory’) and hazy cosmic journeys, including the album’s title track and the sparkling, experimental closer, ‘Nice It Up’.
Tony Price returns to Telephone Explosion Records with the new “Hit Piece” LP. The album is his first full-length since his 2022 release, “IBM CONTRA,” on L.I.E.S. Records, and the follow-up to the “Bail Bonds” EP on his Maximum Exposure imprint in May 2023. There are no lofty intentions or concepts here; this is music about action and movement. Eschewing the narrative-driven structures of his previous albums, Tony shifts his focus to the groove, reducing dance music to its rawest textures and core principles. With this project, he unites jackin’ house rhythms, early hiphop bombast, and the hydraulic drive of Motor City funk with a punk rock immediacy and abrasiveness that recalls pre-robot Daft Punk, Todd Terry, Dance Mania, and his L.I.E.S. label mate Delroy Edwards.
The Hipodrome Of Music 