Afrodeutsche – RR001 EP [RR001]

River Rapid is the new label from Eclair Fifi. Known for her tastemaking dj sets steeped in upcoming exclusives and unknown rarities as well as her essential monthly radio show on NTS it seemed only right that she should start her own imprint. The first release features 4 brand new tracks by Afrodeutsche AKA Henrietta Smith-Rolla . These raw hardware driven tracks evoke classic Rephlex in the same breath as Underground Resistance. Respectful to the originators whilst keeping an eye firmly on the future.

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Afrodeutsche – RR001 EP [RR001]

The Abstract Eye – What’s Real Anymore [DX-3]

Although he is known to have an incredibly wide range of stylistic approaches, he is probably best known for the music he makes for the dance floor. His classic releases Cool Warm Divine (Valentine Connexion) and GB Presents: The Abstract Eye (Eglo) have solidified a unique analog electronic sound of his own as The Abstract Eye that he further explores and expands on in these six pieces. This record displays a diverse range of emotions, textures, rhythms and colors, sounding like it could have been made any time, past, present or future. While simultaneously staying open to the ever-changing world of music and also observing the current record industry in which many factors besides the quality of the music itself seem to take precedence, The Abstract Eye asks the question, what’s real anymore? For him, it comes down to the feelings this music evokes. That is as real as it gets.

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The Abstract Eye – What’s Real Anymore [DX-3]

Versalife – Machine Life [VIS314]

Versalife aka Boris Bunnik is one of the most respected producers in electro. He now presents his debut release for 20/20 Vision as the label continues it’s path into the world of pure electronic music. ‘Machine Life’ immediately stood out as one of those rare killer club cuts that works it’s way into a wide range of DJ boxes, simple but massively effective. ‘M05’ returns to more classic sounding Versalife electro with complex layers of synths, strings and analogue squelch all held together by a solid bass hook. On the flip side Bunnik shows off his pedigree in producing Detroit influenced string laden beautiful music with the EP rounded off by ‘Axion’, a heavier trip to the dark side.

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Versalife – Machine Life [VIS314]

Avina Vishnu – Transforma [WEME313.19]

Advanced soundscapes from Avina Vishnu which is a project by Heinrich Mueller aka Gerald Donald and Aina. Their release Transforma is a conceptual project that is focusing on a unification between the natural world and the artificial space of electronic music. It attempts to immerse the listener within a three dimensional sound environment that is exploring the natural physics of music and yet create a contrast between these two worlds.

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Avina Vishnu – Transforma [WEME313.19]

E.R.P. / Duplex – FR-DPX [FR-DPX]

Texan bandpass thrills and some harbour city sorrow on this split Frustrated Funk / DPX twelve. Frustrated Funk’s latest missive boasts cuts from two of electro’s most reliable artists: Convextion man Gerard Hanson (under the deep electro E.R.P. guise) and Rotterdam scene stalwarts Duplex. Hanson handles the A-side, delivering a punchy, club-ready electro workout rich in intergalactic electronics, Egyptian Lover style synth flourishes and restless drum machine cowbells. Interestingly, it’s a far bolder and retro-futurist affair than we’ve come to expect from the dreamy and emotion-rich E.R.P. project. Ironically, Duplex’s atmospheric and spacey “Molecular (Ovatow Reclock)” is undeniably deep and sumptuous, matching Hanson’s most melodious and evocative moments.

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E.R.P. / Duplex – FR-DPX [FR-DPX]

E.R.P. – Afterimage [FFLP001]

Convextion man Gerard Hanson may have been releasing spacey and atmospheric electro E.Ps as E.R.P. since 1996, but “Afterimage” is still the project’s first full-length outing. It is, of course, superb. Few can make this kind of deep, emotive and melodious electro quite as well as Hanson, and “Afterimage” arguably includes some of his finest material in this style. Highlights include the bustling rhythms, lilting chords and bubbly electronics of “Overcast”, the deep, slow and poignant bliss of “Wishing Still”, the deep space dancefloor shuffle of “Remembrance”, the crystalline melodies and hard-hitting drums of “Noetic” and the ultra-dreamy rhythmic ambient closing cut “Forlorn”. It is, though, all utterly beguiling.

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E.R.P. – Afterimage [FFLP001]

Elecktroids – Elektroworld [C#CC035LP]

Clone Classic Cuts reissue of the illustrious ‘Elecktroids’ one and only album from 1995. “Based in Flint, Michigan, USA the four young sons of an electrician welded together their debut album. This album, titled Elektroworld, is a personal tribute to the well known pioneers of the electro-disco-beat; Kraftwerk.”

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Elecktroids – Elektroworld [C#CC035LP]

VEF 317 – VEF Radio [YUY-PT-RM]

VEF 317 - VEF Radio

This is the story about a love affair with once modern technologies. It’s told by Soviet drummachines and Sci-Fi synthlines arranged in playful minimalism and mixed with Detroit futuristics. A Leipzig label collaboration between YUYAY, PossblThings and R.A.N.D. presents this multifaceted music by Kirill Junolainen.

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VEF 317 – VEF Radio [YUY-PT-RM]

Carl Finlow – Boolean EP [CKNOWEP12]

Carl Finlow’s Beckoned EP was the first EP on Craigie Knowes back in 2016, since then he’s seen a string of releases under various guises on some of the world’s most prolific electro labels. The Boolean EP is stacked with 5 UK electro tracks that embody a lifetime dedication the genre, untouchable technicality and superior sound design. This record is a trip through clouds of stellar dust with the power to rumble any dancefloor exposed to its radiation.

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Carl Finlow – Boolean EP [CKNOWEP12]

Djedjotronic – Cruising [CPU01000010]

DJEDJOTRONIC - Cruising

Djedjotronic Aka Jérémy Cottereau drops an icy 4 track Electro cut for CPU. There’s a clear Drexciyan influence here with plenty of dystopian drama but things are disrupted with the likes of ‘Tunnel’ serving up raw 4/4.

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Djedjotronic – Cruising [CPU01000010]

Ectomorph – Subsonic Vibrations [IT001]

The debut record from Ectomorph that launched it all — the project, and the label Interdimensional Transmissions in 1995. This is the first time it has been repressed in over a decade, and it’s using the original masters complete with 3 lock grooves cut by Ron Murphy.

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Ectomorph – Subsonic Vibrations [IT001]

Ectomorph – Stalker [IT-42]

Ectomorph occupy a unique and strange place within Detroit Techno history. Founded in 1994, they released their first 12″ singles in 1995 as an attempt to make Detroit music for Detroit itself, rather than exclusively for export. The mystique of their early singles led to mythic status and a strong underground cult following, which they have continued to develop through releases on their own Interdimensional Transmissions label. Their live shows are legendary for their ability to fluidly incorporate improvisational techniques into synthesized music (and for the sheer amount of hardware that they bring to the stage). The Ectomorph show is all analog, no computers or samplers or even drum machines: all sounds come from the modulars and the mountains of Moogs. Ectomorph (now officially comprised of BMG & Erika) reconvened in 2016 to write new music, which led to a series of live shows where the new material was tested via performance and allowed to evolve in form. To capture the energy of these performances, the new material was recorded in the studio totally live, multitracked for further engineering, but with no editing whatsoever. The entire album was recorded live in one or two takes in the Interdimensional Laboratories in Detroit. This is the sound of the idea that is Ectomorph, presented in its natural and organic format, live and improvisational.

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Ectomorph – Stalker [IT-42]

Dopplereffekt – Athanatos [LSR022]

Detroit electro legends Dopplereffekt return to Leisure System for their fourth release on the Berlin based imprint. Athanatos is named after the angel of the planet Mercury in ancient Greek mythology, but that isn’t so much the theme. Here the duo again explore subjects related to genetic conditions and chromosomal influences that define mortality across the EP’s five tracks. After the brooding sonic landscapes of the title track , it’s classic Mitchell & Nhan all the way on the majestic electronic funk of “Hayflick Limit” while devilishly enchanting slow burners like “Telomere” or “Mitosisin” lock you in with their hypnotic grasp. Raster-Noton founders Carsten Nicolai (who did the artwork) and Olaf Bender are said to have collaborated with the pair on this release.

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Dopplereffekt – Athanatos [LSR022]

Heinrich Mueller – False Vacuum [WEME313.20]

This is the first time any of Heinrich Mueller’s highly sought after remodels/reworks have been compiled together. Many have been previously available only on limited releases and have patiently been awaiting discovery by a wider audience. These 9 specially selected examples embrace all facets of his approach. First up is the ultra smooth and minimal ‘Fadin’ Away’ by The Hacker from 2000, probably one of his most sublime and timeless creations. Then jump forward to 2011 when he serves up an infectious and sparse slice of robot funk for Albert van Abbe’s ‘NCS_0009121010’. By the time of Alek Stark’s ‘Halo 6’ (2014) he’s still got the dance-floor on his mind, but it’s located on an alien or perhaps underwater world in some dimension parallel to our own. In 2009 he works for the first time with fellow Drexciyan traveller DJ Stingray and delivers the hard edged but still quite delicate ‘Drone FX’. Jump to 2005 and he conjures the playfully disjointed ‘P.O.M. (Time Dilation Mix 2)’ for Duplex. In 2000, when he had a close relationship to the label, International DeeJay Gigolo, who were releasing Dopplereffekt and the first fruits of Der Zyklus, they commissioned him to make a series of groundbreaking mixes. On one of which he got to mesh his own futuristic vision with that of Stanley Kubrick on ‘Dave’ by Station Rose. The other closes this collection and is another of his most accessible works, with the best bassline, ‘What Use’ by the legendary ’70s San Francisco band, Tuxedomoon. In 2011 he also produced a darkly atmospheric and relentlessly mechanical interpretation of DJ Stingray’s ‘The Sadist’. In 2003, another of his best production efforts, again aimed off-squarely at yet another form of mutant dance floor, came out of a total revamp of an untitled track by The Advent. Fittingly this was originally included on Recreations, an album where artists were invited to do what Heinrich Mueller does best.

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Heinrich Mueller – False Vacuum [WEME313.20]