Amazon Club opens the new Rotterdam based ‘Voodoo Gold’ imprint with a 7 track mini album. Operating from the depths of the South-American jungle, Amazon Club brings us a collection of tropical, 70s disco-influenced house tracks combined with some dreamy, cinematic soundscapes. Let the upbeat vibes and rich instrumentation of these tracks carry you away on a journey to the rainforest and the hazy shores of the Amazon river.
Veteran Lyonnais producer, Umwelt, has a new album to launch the LP focused sub-label of Killekill – Boidae. “Days Of Dissent” is a polished 8-tracker loaded with bold electro stabs, acid riffs, epic, subtle melodies, drama and funk. “It is emotional, it tells a story, it is easily recognizable and it is not interchangeable”. The talented producer is one of a kind as he produces without computers in a single take, without any edits or mixing and cut to dubplates directly in his home which he uses to play out during his sets, conjuring up a insanely vast backlog of productions. Umwelt predominantly releases on his own imprints, however recently made appearances on legendary electro label Shipwrec and Helena Hauff’s Return to Disorder imprint.
UK wave funk veteran DMX Krew returns to Abstract Forms with his latest double album project. Escape-MCP features 13 tracks of synth drenched electro and elastic techno grooves drawing inspiration from a 1983 computer game where the player is trapped inside a computer by a rogue processor. Fortunately DMX Krew isn’t trapped inside a computer and is still with us making killer grooves.
Alpha 606 is Hialeah born, Miami dwelling Armando Martinez, who offers an intoxicating concoction in the form of his unique take on electro. Taking the genre’s classic sci-fi synthetic aesthetics and coding them with his own Cuban musical heritage, there’s a real funk and spirit in Armando’s machines. The carnivalian drum frenzy of “Afriba”, the tipped humanized elements of “Shake”, the hypnotic house headnods of “Black Mermaid” the roomy reverberations and lean make-up of “Whale Memory” and plenty more comprise a unique melting pot that references all points past and future.
Exium returns home, Nheoma, with their third album “Reduction Required”, based on the construction of tracks with very few elements without losing their intensity and characteristic sound.
After two big EP’s, DJ/producer powerhouses Steffi and Martyn team up once again for their debut LP on 3024! Punchy, straight forward house and techno with a broken twist and beautiful layers of melodies and sound, dedicated to those who feel.
Subtle music, radically strange and unafraid of the deep, but with a killer understanding of rhythm. Lush drum-machine nocturnes, gnarly electronica and glorious flowerings of zoned-out dubspace: an evolutionary music, continuously engaged with experimentation both in the studio and the club.
How does one appropriate oneself? In the case of Guy Alexander Brewer, the situation is complicated by his various current projects in techno, noise and experimental electronics overlaying a once-hidden past in drum’n’bass. ‘Appropriation Stories’ tackles the matter head-on at length, the endpoint of the mounting inward focus already evident in his work as Shifted. For years shunning his previous work in Commix, more recently Brewer has learned to look back, even making sideways stabs into breakbeat territory with his Covered in Sand alias. The process grows more intricate and subtle on his new album for the Hospital Productions imprint helmed by Dominick Fernow (aka Prurient, Vatican Shadow, et al.). Here rigorous processing and studio treatments transform classic breaks into deeply hidden components that add new layers of character to his highly-developed techno sound.
The seventh Idealistmusic installment and debut album by the Swiss artist. Deep dusty dub techno tracks by the Idealist.
Thanks to some inspired detective work by Art Yard Records, an intimate trio performance by Sun Ra in Rome in 1977, ‘In Some Far Place’, is receiving its first release. Recorded from the sound desk and mastered from original reels, the album features Sun Ra on piano and Moog, drummer Luqman Ali and occasional Arkestra vocalist Thomas Thaddeus in fine form, exploring Ra staples and revisiting some of the traditional jazz pieces from his early Chicago days. Tracks include the reflective ‘Trying To Put The Blame On Me,’ ‘Spontaneous Simplicity’ and the first Sun Ra version of ‘I Cover The Waterfront’ to ever be officially released. New sleeve notes come courtesy of the Arkestra’s Knoel Scott with cover design by Lewis Heriz.
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In 1979 Sorry produced his third LP for the Paris based Sonafric group. Long out of print Africa Seven is pleased to be re-issuing the LP with the authorization of the newly reformed Sonafric group. The re-issue benefits from extensive restoration and re-mastering to a spectral analysis level, bringing and polishing long lost and distorted sounds. The six track masterpiece opens with ”Mayel”. It blends Afro-space grooves, cowbell and swirling organ with psych guitar and punchy horns. ”Kanaga 78” was named after his band of the time. Sounding as fresh (if not more so) in 2016 as it did in 1979 the hypnotic bass, expansive drums, twisting organ and snakelike fuzz-guitar all combine to create a masterpiece of African psychedelia. ”Bayadjourou” closes off Side A of the LP with its pulsating, incessant organ hook-line and driving tom drums while adding in layers of Malian vocal from a female chorus and Sorry himself. Side B opens up with ”Tjamantie Kolo” which is powered by driving conga and drums layered with traditional vocals and distorted picked electric guitar lines. ”N’Nebakaidi” focuses on the song writing skill and delivery of Sorry who delivers a masterful vocal over grooves which somehow manage to sound melancholy but somehow also forlornly uplifting at the same time. The LP closes with ”Nani Nani” which is a brass driven wall of African sound.
The third release of Male Records features “The Order” a studio and live group that shares with “The True Underground Sound Of Rome” the same city and sound. A powerful mix of electronic detroit sounds together with melodic and balearic ambient atmospheres. Still comes as collector’s Album edition of 475 copies only containing the original songs from the rare “The Order EP” from 92 plus two unreleased strong songs: “Quasar” and “Way Back” recorded in the same year and performed only live during the big house event “Night Of Male 92” back in the days. This LP features also Stefano Di Carlo for additional percussions on Long Waves and Leo Young on the mix.
Berlin’s Nat Fowler renders his meticulous Novoline project to Not Waving’s Ecstatic with an inimitable marriage of automated electronic process and live improvisation on his 2nd album, Movements, continuing a lifelong quest for esoteric knowledge and a love of archaic computer hardware. Modelled with mis-used software, run on two separate Atari ST’s using only era-consistent hardware Yamaha FM synthesis via MIDI, pitch tuned to a pure 3:2 ratio Pythagorean scale centred on 432hz, Movements is the compelling, awkward result of obtuse production techniques and painstaking trial and error; basically experimentation at the service of discovering a sound he is genuinely warranted to call his own.
When the duo Skudge started out in late 2009 with their first release on Alphahouse, followed by a string of underground hits on their own label Skudge Records, little did they know that they would be in the forefront of the Stockholm sound of the dawning 2010’s. The complex rhythm textures combined by a echoing audial lightness that still runs unparalleled, paired with sub intense quick basslines and swirling percussion has been the trademark. This updated take on the techno and house crossover of today got appreciated and caught the attention of a full spectrum of artists. With a tight release schedule, 2010 alone saw 6 releases from the Skudge hub. Culminating in 2011 with the release of ‘Phantom’, the full length album release on the home imprint, followed by the sub labels that releases other artists as well. Five years from that era, Skudge has reshaped into the solo work from one of the original artists. This change of production and artistry launches into the crates with the release of the limited full length ‘Balancing Point’ LP. During this time, the sound has shifted into new territory, where the entire A-side acts as the beginning of this grooving whirlpool of a record: quick and immense. The UK influences that was formed in the 90’s, gets picked up and infused through the B-side, ending off in a almost orchestral piece. The delicate subtleness of the second 12′ showcases a familiar coming-of-light type of style that we so much appreciate, firmly ending the long player and leave us sure of the future.
The Argentinian based NGLY had seemingly appeared out of thin air landing on the Brooklyn based L.I.E.S. label in 2014 with an untitled four track white label ep. On this ep, the unsuspecting track “Speechless Tape” ended up becoming a cult hit with select djs in the scene (I-F, Mick Wills, Intergalactic Gary…) eventually leading to it being voted as Intergalactic FM’s #1 track of the year in 2014. On the heels of his successful debut Rudolfo could have stayed the path and produced an easily digestable follow up dance record or two, instead he chose to take his time and reflect. Sitting back in the studio tweaking his live act, recording endlessly, transforming and refining his sound. In the end we get his debut eight track lp, Cities of Illusion, a record that walks a fine line between many of the original strains of the electronic realm. The elements are all there to be picked apart, to be used, to be abused, thrown against the wall smashed to bits…played in the club or on the late night mix shows, it’s magic you heard in the past and crave in the present. To say the music on the lp is one thing or another is an injustice…it pays reverence while at the same time turns a corner; held together by a loose yet cohesive thread. It is a full presentation that is unafraid to challenge or confuse, with no concern for genre imposed limitations.
Beau Wanzer returns with another LP of archival material plucked from the mutant mounds of shitty coughs and smelly feet. Wanzer digs deep and delivers twelve tracks in his inimitable style, with some dating as far back as 1999. The brutal electronic punk productions like ‘Something Stinks’ are balanced with moldy movements such as ‘Staring at at Fish’. This LP takes a more vocal heavy and menacing approach, but it’s not without moments of respite. Undoubtedly another oozing outing from the Chicago deviant.
Dominick Fernow presents another dark and confronting opus entitled Media In The Service Of Terror. Read between the lines of the titles then listen and learn via these harsh textural abrasions on offer. The sombre and brutalist opener “Ziad Jarrah Studied Mathematics” sets the scene well, the tunnelling slo-mo techno of “Take Vows” is great and follows the same path as Vactrol Park or L’estasi Dell’oro have in recent times. “Interrogation Mosaic” shows Fernow still has the knack for some chilling imaginary soundtracks while “More Of The Same (Tunisia)” has the classic outsider techno sound that Fernow has honed on previous efforts like Remember Your Black Day or Ghosts Of Chechnya.
After 5 years of Exploration, it’s time for the first album on the label. Johannes Volk proudly presents Mutual Codes, a conceptual album which contains 12 tracks between detroit infected techno and experimental classical compositions. Colourful synth adventures which take you on a journey to far away galaxies and beyond.
Hypnotising drone techno from the other world. Entangled In Vines is an intricate collection of tracks that span across the entire techno realm, from slow-burning hypnotics to high-tech warehouse blasters. “Enter” is the perfect example of this man’s style, a largely beatless tune that still drags plenty of movement across the groove, and “Getting Closer” quickly ups the tempo with a fine layer of bass and kicks. “Escape” transports us across a deep techno wormhole, and “Wrapped” delivers Acronym’s inimitable swarm of hollow tones in the same vein as artists like Donato Dozzy.
The Hipodrome Of Music 