Triple 12″ retrospective compilation of Tzusing’s first three now out of print EPs on L.I.E.S. spanning 2014-2016. These were the precursor to his celebrated debut LP – they’ve now re-cut and pressed in the United States. Available in limited quantities featuring classics 4 Floors of Whores, 1976, and Face of Electric, among others. Modern “World Industrial” music for the clubs.
Greg Schappert returns to Subapical for another EP as SC-164. Best known for his Donor alias, his SC-164 project is making waves by skewing the boundaries of electro and veering into techno and industrial. For his 2nd release on Subapical the New York-based artist offers up 5 tracks of precise, gnarly electro that follows a trail through many curves and turns.
Delsin turns to this classic from 1992 EP by Random XS. Originally released by Saskia Sleger’s legendary Djax-Up Beats-label. This re-release features the original a-side – a hypnotic vocal acid anthem that has become an absolute classic of the genre – remastered and re-cut, meaning that the infamous gap in the original is no longer there. The b-side has two new remixes from Lost Trax and Delta Funktionen resulting in futuristic, electro tinged, twisted versions with crashing hits and famously busy basslines bringing real warehouse energy.
Tom Ruij aka Tracey’s palette of influences is wide and far-reaching, from the far-sighted futurism of Detroit and the deep space pulse of electro, to left-of-centre electronic experimentalism and the alien world of British and European IDM all of which are showcased on his Metamorphosis EP.
Jamie Paton makes music that could be described as ‘Leftfield techno’ or ‘Slowmotion house’. ‘Disk Memories’, his second release on Hoga Nord Rekords, is barren electronic music for the Brexit generation. Paton has established a dystopic electronic sound that aims straight at your frontal lobe, burns in your bones, and projects a lost Europe’s anxiety on the grey London skies. The music breathes of the cold 1980’s, a time of crisis in England’s history and a vibe to be recognize in today’s society: right-wing winds once again blows hard over the British Isles and Jamie Paton’s music catches the insecurity the wind carries with it.
It’s a Swedish house thing. Börft boss Jan Zwarre Svensson a.k.a Frak returns to his early project, Villa Åbo, for six deep and rude acid rub downs. Villa Åbo is more than a band name. It is a former bank buliding in Johannishus in South East Sweden which was where Börft Records was founded and where the boss Jan Zwarre Svensson grew up. It was where the original location of Studio Styrka was and where the first important years of recordings by FRAK and Alvars Orkester was done. It was a creative volcano, and also a social meeting point for likeminded, teenage weirdos into electronic music. Villa Abo is the foundation for a lot of stuff still resonating today. FRAK has been active for a long time now releasing tons of records, Alvars Orkester is asleep but about to be awaken, and Villa Abo is the output for his addiction to deeper electronic dance stuff.
Offen Music presents ‘W.O.W’, Marco Passarani’s first solo album in 14 years. Passarani is one of the most influential artists from the Italian underground. Active since the ‘90s he was responsible for bringing rave sounds from Detroit and the UK in and out of Italy. The album puts together influences from proto-house, dystopic electronica and classic Detroit Techno, as Passarani says “I was trying to bring order to my creativity, going through the pieces of the puzzle that I’ve been lost in. Before, I could concentrate on some areas of the puzzle, while now I can see the final picture when I look at all those pieces”. Masterclass business from the Roman machine wizard – another special one for Dusseldorf’s OFFEN.
Moving on from their time holed up in a leisure resort relic, the Dutch retrogressive, analogue synth machine obsessives and tape fanatics Betonkust & Palmbomen II have teamed up together once more for a new EP. An immediate follow up to their debut LP Center Parcs, the new EP pays fictional homage to a now deceased famous TV star, who instead on working on the screen, took up a new direction in making music. Once more replete with esoteric experimentalism, analogue jams, drums machines, synths, and a healthy dose of acid basslines, the production duo advance upon their aesthetic with a new extended EP of nostalgic, melancholic electro.
Contributing to the Directors Cut series are core label members, friends, and artists who have supported VOITAX over the years. Each contributor is selected for their unique sound and bold vision. This series is not bound to any genre. The label encourages contributors to step outside the ordinary – anything goes! The first edition will feature tracks from VOITAX veterans Swarm Intelligence and Rory St. John alongside new contributors, who need little introduction, Rave Or Die boss, Umwelt and Downwards affiliates, Talker.
New-ish Hamburg talent alert.! After releasing a track on the second RTTD compilation, L.F.T. returns with a full EP featuring his idiosyncratic synth-pop-electro-dirge.
French producer Maelstrom lands on Private Persons to christen their tenth release with some hard-hitting, gnarly electro workouts.
For their sixth release London based record label and clubnight Snap, Crackle & Pop return with another slice of the post punk and kraut influenced electro/techno sounds that are coming to define the label. The latest release comes from Niv Ast and it serves as a follow up to his appearance on this summers Relish compilation. The EP leads with an ice cold slab of post punk swagger in the form of Quebec / Makolet which gets the remix treatment from previous collaborators Khidja, the Romanian duo strip the percussion back for the dancefloor and tease out the track’s darker side with more than a hint of acidic malevolence. For the B-Side Disco Monroe offers a nostalgic slice of pitched down French Electro undoubtedly influence by the Djs recent residencies in Paris. Optimo Music’s Mr TC rounds off the EP with his unmistakably left field vision to give the track a dark tropical re-imagining.
After 10 years of deep hibernation, Southern Outpost’s sub-label, Datadisk, brings the first in a series of ‘System Updates’ (think Direct Beat style bonus beats). Southern Outpost label boss, The Sentinel has compiled 9 byte-sized electro tracks/tools programmed specifically for DJ’s who like to throw down. The updates were developed by 3 programmers, from opposite ends of the planet. The Sentinel (Southern Outpost/Datadisk), Sol37 (Southern Outpost) both Australian ex-pats now based in San Francisco and Drox (Analog Cabin) based in Sydney, Australia. The tracks are on average 2 mins long, which mean they get straight to the point and are ready to deploy at a moments notice. For the advanced DJ, utilizing 2 copies will offer the opportunity to extend and remix the updates 24,310 ways. The release was mastered at Dubplates & Mastering and pressed at R.A.N.D to ensure the release is at the highest sonic quality.
Following volumes 1 & 2, Cultivated Electronics label-head Sync 24 hails another world-class line up to the helm to bring ‘From The Dark’ to a strong close with Volume 3. Finnish duo Morphology kick things off with ‘Sentinel’; a gritty stepper with a sinister synth riff, followed by Alpha 606’s ‘Zombie King’ of wiggy arpeggios and off-kilter analogue delays. Flip for the B1 where Silicon Scally enters with a raspy and cutting, harmonious jam. B2, which is a collaboration between CE head-honcho Sync 24 and NYC based Joonam, Prada, is a 140bpm big-room monster, with a reverberated low end and quivering moans of spooky voices. On the next disc, is Miami-based Calderin with a sickening groove that draws you in and holds you where you are from start to finish. Following up is Brooklyn based techno stalwart Donor under his new SC-164 electro alias switching things up with earthy snare rattles and a tweaked-out, panicky synth lines. Nomadic (of UK electro label Touchin’ Bass) then rolls out an addictive chord progression above tight, snappy beats, while masked, Dutch duo Animistic Beliefs close out the series with winding, morish pads that draw from a sci fi sound-palate, showcasing a glimpse into their astounding live set-up.
Stilleben’s latest EP is a no-holds-barred, all-action affair that gathers together previously unheard cuts from a quintet of label associates. Boss man Luke Eargoggle is naturally involved, with his hook-up with Swedish veteran Ola Bergman – the angular analogue bass, Italo-disco influenced grooves and shimmering chords of “Macho Macho” – being amongst the EP’s many highlights. You’ll find more razor-sharp, mind-altering robo-bass propelling Das Muster’s brilliant opener “Sinnestauschung” towards the electro stratosphere, while IXRQ’s “Robotic Nature” brilliantly combines ghostly, crystalline synthesizer melodies with a suitably dirty, club-ready electro groove. The most intense and sweaty cut of the lot, though, is Suicider’s suitably dystopian and psychedelic closing cut “Trainwreck”.
Cestrian (aka Ali Renault) lands on Mechatronica for the Berlin label’s 10th release with a remarkably wide electro-driven EP, exploring different rims of the genre from the transporting melodic peripheries and weirder edges, to the raw core. Two hypnotizing journeys in ”Gradients” and ”Rake & Pikel” make up the A-side along with the frenzied styles of ”Cat Strain”. ”Speak & Spell” blasts open the flip with an anthemic groove and potent basslines, before ”The Weir” rounds off the EP in heavy and atmospheric fashion, concluding an essential electro record – for the mind and for the floor.
The French label Too Many Cars Records is back with some fresh house, breakbeat, italo, electro and acid stuff. As always, perfect for club use.
The Hipodrome Of Music 