Cultivated Electronics presents the first in new series of collaboration EP’s which see’s CE label head Sync 24 joining forces with other artists. The first instalment is with the the dark Electro purveyor The Exaltics. Together they serve up 4 moody yet diverse Electro tracks synonymous with the style you would expect from both of these producers.
Sunil Sharpe and DefeKt unwrap more electrified madness with a second release as Tinfoil. More Sunil Sharpe techno than DefeKt electro comes through on this EP with “Foil 9” battering down the hatchet for a synth heavy, hi intensity hit of colourful industrial beats. Snares are added to the mix in “Foil 8” create a syncopated concoction of R&S rave mechanics mixed with detuned Drexciyan similarities. “Foil 10” sounds like something you’d image Oscar Mulero playing in Tresor while “Foil 5” is stripped back and sinister.
Accurately describing the sound of Dollkraut, aka producer Pascal Pinkert, has always been tricky. Over the years, his sporadic 12″ singles have variously touched on analogue disco, krautrock, deep house, Italo, nu-jazz and beatbox electro. This belated debut album – released some five years after his debut 12″ dropped – continues this theme. It flits between styles at will – bold African rhythms, post-punk, soundtrack schtick, Serge Gainsbourg style sleaze, odd guitar-laden lo-fi rock sketches – whilst retaining a unique dustiness and aural sensibility. It’s a fine set, all told, and in the circumstances holds together remarkably well.
Dresden don Dunkeltier (aka Sneaker aka Gino ‘Der Hammer’ Galan) is next up on the Macadam Mambo flex, dipping into his personal armoury of EBM, industrial and post punk favourites for a premium set of edits. If you dug his Rat Life edits this year or got blown away by a Traxx session then you will definitely levitate towards the sounds here as Dunkeltier tweaks Kozmonaut, Absolute Body Control and EM. Do check the mind altering Phase Adjustment of “Tanzmusik” from cult Belgian crew Absolute Body Control which is exactly the sort of fizzing power electronics that will provide a welcome deviation into absolute beat down territory for the more adventurous selectors.
Early electronics fetisjist Dollkraut continues delivering heat for the freaks. Three unique cuts that go from vocoder electro with live percussion to african inspired synthesizer disco.
A taster of what we have been waiting for a long time; four tracks from Motorcycle Boy’s upcoming album – Squalo. Mutant house and dischord disco sit alongside girl freindly drum workouts and emo disco. Its disco, but not as we know it.
Following the release of the Visonia collaboration with the mighty Dopplereffekt that delivered ‘Die Reisen’ earlier this year, Visonia returns with the anticipated debut album release entitled, ‘Impossible Romance’. Commencing with ‘Juana de Arco’, which edges finely the fragile border between expectant angst and hopeful optimism, this opening piece pretty much sets the tone for the album. Undulating between the highs and lows of human emotion which beautifully encompasses Visonia’s own conception of art to hold hands and contribute to humanity; to give beauty, wisdom, or to simply open the listener’s mind in order to reflect and ask questions of one’s own self, one’s own existence; what we have here is at times a poetic soundscape of emotions, feelings, fears and positive expression. The album, in its double vinyl format includes the previously available collaboration with Dopplereffekt, namely ‘Die Reisen’, alongside an equally striking collab with New Wave/Synth Pop artist, Mad Moizel in the form of ‘Beat Frequencies’ and late addition to the album – the sleek, driving vision of ‘Between Lies and Real Looks’.
Collaboration project between Jauzas the Shining & Victoria Lukas featuring Ekman and Orgue Electronique. Lukas, drawing upon personal sensations, melds diary-like lyrics into dreamlike ambiance and textures, beautifully fusing with the infectious electro-pop grooves of Jauzas the Shining. Songs encapsulating lost love and longings for sensation, emotional stimulation and experiencing feelings through those of another are conveyed via vocal pieces, ‘Cold Sweat’ and ‘Coral Eyes’. Ekman contributes a driving, acidic groove version of ‘Cold Sweat’ more apt for the dancefloor, while Orgue Electronique pushes the electronic pop vibes into house territory.
Royal Athlete is a new venture from Berlin’s Hot Pony party, a well-loved excuse to play camp Italo, boogie and ’80s electro from former Bristol residents Vexkiddy and Antoni Maiovvi. Both offer up tracks on this debut 12″, with Vexkiddy’s bouncy synth funk throw-down “Robotic Understanding” – all squidgy melodies and darting rhythms – just edging out Maovvi’s italo-revivalism in the highlight stakes. Elsewhere, UK Italo royalty Bill Ambrose and Marika Gauchi join forces as The Dreamers’ for the deliciously camp “He’s My Man”, before Berlin newcomer Dimitri SoEmotional delivers “Unconditionally”, a chunk of deep modern boogie.
Brilliant analogue space synth music on this small label from Spain. Including nicely crafted and designed covers. Wont be available for a long time to come.
Spanish label Fundamental come through with a ltd edition of their highly prized DMX Krew LP. Ed Upton’s been on prolific form this year for sure, with 100 Tears his fourth DMX Krew long player of 2014 following outings on Shipwrec, Mystic & Quantum and Luke Eargoggle’s Stilleben Records. The twelve tracks here really demonstrate that Upton is a grand master of electro whatever the tempo, and are apparently the result of him working with just a few synths and a drum machine as opposed to his full studio whilst in the midst of moving house. For most people this would be a stressful process, for Ed Upton the situation has resulted in a sublime, masterful album.
Finnish electro pioneers Mr Velcro Fastener return after a very long absence with this long-awaited and much-anticipated EP on Cyber Dance Records. Full of the same funked-out, quirky and fresh futuristic sounds that brought them instant recognition in the 90s electro underground the ‘TKU’ EP sounds like the innovative duo never went away, effortlessly picking up where they left off. ‘Brinkkala’ opens proceedings with their classic signature brand of Detroit-meets-Finland robotic funk jamming, while the next track ‘Bridge Over Nothing’ delivers harder and punchier rhythms deftly topped with layers of spaced-out chords and shimmering noises – and a relentless bassline that builds and progresses the grooves to alien dimensions of sheer electro brilliance. The sonic assault continues on Side B with ‘Ologrammed’, a pulsating monster of a track that pushes the Velcro Fastener sound into ethereal realms. The EP closes with ‘Johnny’s Wood’, a funked-up, jazzed-out and upbeat adventure over-brimming with robotic positivity and electronic optimism.
The latest output from Alek Stark and featuring remixes by Heinrich Meuller. These tracks are simple experiments using the TR808 triggers with the Dot Com Modular, SH101, Oberheim Xpander, Roland System 100/101, Jupiter 6 Europa, Pro One and other vintage synths. All tracks recorded at real time. This EP include two versions of the main track Titan’s Cycle composed by Heinrich Mueller aka Gerald Donald, Arpanet, Dopplereffekt…
The somewhat mysterious Jeremiah R. is steadily earning a reputation for putting out quality electro. Having first surfaced on London label Organic Analogue, Jeremiah R now boosts his profile further with a seven-track mini-album on the supreme Tabernacle operation which shines further light on his Drexciyan inspirations. It’s not all deranged synths and brittle snares shots though, with tracks “Far Sight” and “Twin Paradox” suiting the Tabernacle mould of jacking, Chicago-themed house music.
Skanfrom is Roger Semsroth, best known for his purist minimal techno project Sleeparchive. Skanfrom first appeared in the late-90s, releasing limited edition 7”s on his own A.D.S.R. label, part of a small movement of DIY labels influenced by the melodic, experimental electronica output of labels like Rephlex, Skam, and Warp. Skanfrom found a likeminded home in Suction Records, who were releasing records by Solvent and Lowfish with many of the same musical references. In 2002, Skanfrom released his debut album on Suction Records, ‘Hand Picked Fragments.’ A lot has changed since 2002, but in Skanfrom world, 2014 is very much the same. ‘Postcards’ is full of the same pure and melodic electro(pop) that made Skanfrom so special from the start.
Surfacing earlier this year with two 12″s on Planet E, the anonymous Korrupt Data now deliver a debut album for Carl Craig’s label. Korrupt Data’s music straddles the divide between Kraftwerk and Model 500 without the crazy frenetics of Drexciyan electro. Said to be made with ‘old kit’ this 11-track album is spread across two discs and it’s very much geared for the dancefloor and sounding distinctly Detroit. Highlights include the vocoder electro space pop of “Inter Arrival”, the glitchy tones and rigid beats of “Photons, Protons, Microns, Mutrons” and the emotional techno acid of “Memory Loss”.
