The Edinburgh band Athens Of The North are back as East Coast Love Affair and their soulful and emotive deep disco version “Don’t Be Afraid”, a version of a super rare Disco 45″ by Sky’s The Limit, followed by a low slung and minimalistic afro house workout titled “Taken For Granted” on the flip.
Szymek Lawik and Maritn Lefteri’s regular party and NTS show, Feel the Drive, turns record label with a debut release that takes you through the gears. Spending their lives digging up the very best Italo, New Beat and EBM delights, a record label was the next logical move for Szymek Lawik and Martin Lefteri. The perfect distillation of their combined tastes and determination to search the globe for new music, the four-track debut EP features big hitters from Franz Scala (Bahnsteig 23, Tusk Wax, Cocktail d’Amore), Anatolian Weapons (Beats in Space, Dark Entries), Furor Exotica (Bordello a Parigi, Sprechen) and the label bosses themselves under their Ondata guise (Red Laser, Night Noise Music).
Moustache Records welcomes to the family the oldskool electro legend Martin Matiske with his Electronic disco-ish 12 inch EP release “Robotic Theatre”. This is a future vision of a theatre run by robots and is the era in which machines entertain mankind. Operas are written and played in a mechanical way. The pieces of “Robotic Theatre” deal with different terms of stage work. Track A1 is called “Acting Faces” and Refers to the rehearsing of the role, as well as the interaction of the actors on stage. The well-being of the actor does not often match what is played. He has to play even If it’s painful. B2 is the track called “Machinery” Human beings are machines that build machines today. The advantage is perfection and time saving. Robots as actors are reliable and precise. B1 listen to the name “Transistor Dances”its Like The Hungarian Dances by Johannes Brahms you just need a dance to express happiness and remind your culture. Dances bring people together. A robotic dance should not be missing in a play. The last track of the EP is the tune “Practise” a story about a robot the has to practise to achieve perfection and it is fun.” Don’tplay this underwater order now gone is gone.
Artifact is again hot off the vinyl presses with a private edition, curated by stalwart editor Bottin. First off, “Manifesto Balearico” does exactly what it says: providing a blueprint of the Balearic Beat genre: thick layers of dreamy keyboards over a lavish mid-tempo groove, topped by a sparse macho voiceover and chanting sirens. With “Palmy Days” we leave the Mediterranean Sea for the ocean and the French West Indies: it’s not so much Latin music, but rather sophisticated tropical new wave. On the B side we cross the U.S. of A. for some naughty Californian Hi-NRG treat, better served straight into your ear channel: “Got Headphones?”. Finally we head back to Bottin’s homeland and explore an Italian city well after dark. “Ok Goodnight!” Buonanotte, amiche care.
PT004 sees a Belgium via Morocco friendship and studio collaboration Mameen 3 take the reigns for Planet Trips fourth physical release. A group made up of much loved and respected DJ, digger and curator of the always on point Elsewhere comps soFa, connecting with innovative producer Reda Senhaji aka Cheb Runner, whose refreshing approach tips the no boundaries no borders sound only few can uniquely pull off. The Incunabula EP spotlights 4 club focused jams from the groups recent heavy output, channelling influences from their diverse tastes and effortlessly marrying hypnotic percussion, Middle Eastern rhythms and machine funk psychedelia into their very own style no style.
On PH28RMX, Jordan refreshes the energy of ‘Virtual Lover’ by Nadia Ksaiba with two additions to his already beloved series of Nocturne edits. With an analogue touch, Jordan deftly shifts the casual call of the original into a lean slice of brooding freestyle electro, transforming Ksaiba’s charming vocals into a robotic paen, yearning across a futuristic grid of deeply satisfying bass. ‘Jordan’s Nocturne Dub’ achieves a similar effect driven by a frenetic, chopped-up vocal amid cybernetic flourishes.
Emerging like the blind dead from ancient tombs hidden amongst the seemingly lost ruins, connected by ley-lines and mystical signet rings comes twenty-three undead club-hits from across the globe from Giallo Disco alumni past, present and future. Electro meets Dark-Ambient via Low-Motion Techno and styles in-between, Giallo Disco is proud to present a digital only V/A for your late night summer walks or woodland rituals and remember… always aim for the head…
Libertine Records welcomes David Carretta for the next LIbertine 15. The electroclash pioneer delivers five sick cuts between Italo, EBM and Electro.
Mukatsuku presents the second volume of killer Ghanaian Highlife / Afrofunk monsters, this time focusing on two artists legendary in the genre. First up first time on a 45 from 1980 is ”What Is Life” from the Ebo Taylor & Uhuru Yenzu album ”Conflict Nkru!”. Amazing brass, flute and afrocentric rhythms lay the path for the track once heard never forgotten. On the flip first time ever on a 45 Pat Thomas who features on volume 1 of the series comes correct with possibly the best version (and there are a few ) of ”Gyae Su”. With its jangly African guitar licks and infectious chorus lines the feel good factor is set to maximum.
The relationship between Calypso and Vilnius is quite strong. This is why this time they invited local talent Plot Pilot to share a release with label boss Thomass Jackson. The A side is Jackson’s time to deliver his two edits. First one is a bongo driven, afro robotic vocals, breakish trance extravaganza. While the second one goes straight for the chin with it’s vocals who command you to work work work! The Lithuanian boys, Plot Pilot, deliver a cosmic bomb full of psychedelic guitars and bleepy noises on their first one and for the second one the pay tribute with a to the Lithuanian seaside where every summer the famous Ant Bangos festival takes place.
A treasure trove of edit wonders from none other than the Turkish master and esteemed digger’s digger, Jonny Rock, released on the ever-dependable Orange Tree Edits. Four cuts, taking you on whistle-stop tour around the inner workings of Rock’s mind, from electro to new wave, with a slice of Serbian soft rock in there for good measure.
CYRK deliver a three track energy trip of electro infused Italo house on DRED Records. The duo conjure up a collection modern melodies built upon the roots of machine-made-disco. Each track is a weapon for the summer dance floor and the EP is chaperoned with a remix from the nuclear power house known as Italo Brutalo.
‘Knight Fever’ by Italo Brutalo is the second release on Bungalo Disco. The four songs are a mixture between childhood dreams driving K.i.t.t. and a time travel from the 80s to the 20s and back – each track on its very own way.
AKSK is the collaborative effort of Adda Kaleh and Suzanne Kraft. Recorded over the course of almost seven years and despite local separation or virtual realities, it sums up the magic that already inhered in their debut song „Breaking“ for Gerd Janson’s „Musik for Autobahns“ compilation on Rush Hour. An eight track LP of crystalline chansons and pastels pop that features the skills of The Coober Pedy University Band aka CPUB (Tornado Wallace and William Paxton) on dub duties to complete the magical musical mysteries of AKSK.
Siegmar Fricke has made a name for himself in the tape culture since 1981 – with a mixture of Musique-Concrète and Post-Industrial. As a former label owner of “Bestattungsinstitut” he released numerous works that went beyond EBM, Electro, Techno and Ambient. In the heyday of the netlabels he focused mainly on his own productions, which he then made available as free downloads. Since 2002 Siegmar has been active with clinical sound experiments under the pseudonym “Pharmakustik”. In 2005 he started his collaboration with Maurizio Bianchi from Milan, who has dedicated himself to “industrial decomposition” since 1979. For his Time Compression EP on Infoline, Siegmar Fricke has unearthed compositions from the period 1992-1994 and curated them anew. A phase in which he listened to the radio day and night and connected his sampler to the stereo to record material around the clock. He listened to many radio shows from England or Holland, which often broadcasted techno, trance and acid. At that time those sounds were new territory for him. He recorded inspiring sequences at first go, edited them and then let them flow into his own productions. The result was “future-pop collages mixed with sequencer-controlled trance and sampled voices”, to put it in the words of Siegmar Fricke.
The psychedelia of Purple Desert Rain God is playful and innovative in a way that brings early Pink Floyd to mind, where classic blues elements were mixed with tape loops and tremolo/feedback guitars. But more than 50 years has passed since Barret’s trip through universe was caught on tape and the comparison stops there: Purple Desert Rain God is a new take on acid rock. Purple Desert Rain God is nature music and transcendental dance music and they overlap between genuine psychedelia and electronic music with filter sweeps on guitars and drums. Sudden bursts of drum fills brakes the monotonous groove and amplifies the feeling of lost control and the band often balances on what is considered a beat that is on time. However, they keep momentum and hammers the pulse on your eardrums, into your mind.
The Hipodrome Of Music 