Gated Recordings presents a digital EP of dancefloor electro from ROI, co-founder of Fanzine Records.
ROI – Ungated [GTD]
gated recordings
Astral Renegades – Influencer in Space [GTD028]
Somewhere between techno, early 90s Italian progressive, and goa trance, the debut EP by Astral Renegades is difficult to pigeonhole, but works wonders on a saucer-eyed dancefloor. The brainchild of a mysterious but established producer, Astral Renegades takes things in a whole new headspinning direction.
DimDJ – Electronic Friction [GTD025]
DimDJ makes a welcome return on Gated for a second EP of acid-inflected hardware tracks, showcasing a range of sounds, from mid-tempo arpeggiated opener ‘Next On Next’, followed by the faster Detroit electro-influenced ‘The Path’, and low-end bothering ‘Cashe’ on the A side. The B leads with the rather lovely ’10th Of May’, which in our book is basically a summer-soaked Balearic house track, followed by the experimental acid techno of ‘Crash’, before ‘Ampi 00 Pattern’ winds down the EP in pensive ambient style.
2024 Best Tracks part. 4 (of 10)
We start presenting our favorite tracks from 2024. More or less in a chronological order we present here the fourth set of tracks.
Perseus Traxx – In the Shadow of Birkby Fell [GTD026]
For his second outing on Gated, Perseus Traxx expands on tracks that debuted during a live set in 2021. The A-side kicks things off in typically deep bass-led style, with the acidic breaky Sheet 96, followed by the title track In the Shadow of Birkby Fell, which takes things a tad tougher. Flipping to the B, Ancestral Technologies kicks out the most up-tempo of the four tracks, while The Edge of Time closes the EP with a warped, lo-fi groover for the early hours that brings back a touch of the breaks.
Acidulant – Sonic Expansion [GTD024]
The talents of Malta’s Neil Hales are on full display for this EP. This four-tracker showcases the different sides of Acidulant sound, with the A side ripper FunKT10n kicking things off with a heads-down party starter filled with acid stabs, before giving way to QuantumX, which is deeper but no less dancefloor in its intent, with an insistent bubbling bassline and dreamy keys. The B side brings out Acidulant’s melodic side, with the EP’s title track Sonic Expansion including possibly the most infectious 303 earworm you’ll have heard for some time, while Terrformatika rounds things off with a spaced-out acid machine jam.
2023 Best Albums
Here are our favorite albums from 2023 compiled in chronological order.
Continue reading “2023 Best Albums”Dircsen – Helical Structures LP [GTDLP9]
Germany’s Dircsen has a solid track record of 303 infused releases across labels like We’re Going Deep and Soundtravels, but this is his first full-length vinyl outing. Across these two slabs of wax he slips and slides between electro, deep techno, jacking house, and psychedelic live workouts, but throughout the eight tracks the silver boxes work their indefinable magic.
2022 Best Albums
Dip Shim – Enter The Maragrillo LP [GTDLP6]
For his debut album Dip Shim digs deep into his past for his most personal release yet, drawing on his childhood in Spain for a genre-bending album of electronics, combining influences from house, techno, electro, downtempo, and ambient to create one of the year’s most essential releases. Dip Shim, who also runs the Bolero record store in Malmo, Sweden, pushes and tweaks those silver boxes to create music with one foot in the past but looking to the future, from the fluid acid house of Dalaplan Jam and Bubble Gate, uptempo electro jams like BDP Fast Life and Tusso Arcade Force, to meditative joints such as One For Regen and Impossible Connection. But although the album is eclectic, these 12 tracks are underpinned by Dip Shim’s unique hardware-led sound, proving he’s an artist with depth and longevity.
VA – Triangle’s Peak LP [GTDLP5]
Gated’s second compilation takes inspiration from the path less travelled, the earthen underbelly that binds disparate threads to its wonky centre. So while the music here is from artists all over the world, each track is grounded in a quirky, off-kilter sound, from the opener by UK hardware house don Perseus Traxx to the closer by Space Agent, the alias of a yet-to-be unveiled techno artist. In between we get Gated stalwarts Guavid, Lucita Octans, Acidulant, and Lloyd Stellar with their takes on the wonk, plus glassy-eyed electro from Austin, USA-based Terrestrial Access Network, unusually banging fare from man of the moment MOY, and broken techno from the criminally under-appreciated Stacie-Anne Churchman. There’s also the reissued and remastered sub-bass squelcher Beta Carotene by Modified Starch, which was originally released in 1998 on UK breaks label Slalom.
The Jaffa Kid – Second Frequencies EP [GTD019]
The Jaffa Kid goes deep with his second EP for Gated, appropriately titled “Second Frequencies”. Kicking off with the beatless but driving “Phased For Days”, the EP has a kind of relentless hypnotism to it, with “Trinian”‘s almost 7 minutes of spaced out electro. Flip to the B and the acid comes to the fore, with “War On Words” and its addictive 303 line pulsing over the Kid’s signature pads. “Tangential” throws in some breaks under gritty acid, and Not The Way rounds out the EP with a truly poignant melodic beatdown.
Lucita Octans – Roseoryx LP [GTDLP4]
Lucita Octans is a pseudonym for Melissa Speirs, half of the electro duo Biochip (CPU, WeMe). “Roseoryx” is the debut album from Lucita Octans and is influenced by the full spectrum of electronica, with a unique palette of genre-busting sounds bursting forth from a singular mind. It’s raw but melodic, intense but deep, and tough yet fun. As Melissa describes it “Lucita Octans is floating adrift somewhere. She is looking for the perfect world. Melodies kind of come to her by a somekind of phenomenon. She begs you not to take her too seriously. She was never here and neither are we.”
Marcela Dias Sindaco – Beijo Elétrico [GTD018]
Marcela Dias Sindaco’s music captures the essence of Gated as a label, sitting half way between so many genres: bass-heavy electro, funky breaks, squelchy synth-boogie… but driven by Marcela’s breathy Portuguese vocals, expressing the depths of her carioca soul. Marcela grew up in Rio de Janeiro, and as a classically trained pianist and cellist, music was in her blood, but it was her dad’s obsession with Krautrock that influenced her early music taste. Later, travelling around Europe as a model, she discovered the clubs of Berlin, Paris and Milan and incorporated what she heard into her own music, using a studio filled with analogue equipment. The result joins the dots between heads-down club stompers, electrofunk, Prince, and Brazilian samba.
DimDJ – Acid Tracks [GTD.016]
Greek genius DimDJ is no stranger to a live jam, pushing his machines to produce gritty dancefloor stompers since the heady days of 2004. He makes his Gated debut with an EP of uncompromising 303 workouts, once again driving those silver boxes to produce addictive, floor-focused DJ tools. But it’s not all heads-down squelch, with a final track squeezed onto the B-side that brings a surprisingly punk twist to an EP that’s also appropriately named… Acid Tracks.
Perseus Traxx – The Telesterion [GTD014]
Northern powerhouse Perseus Traxx is on spaced out form with this four-tracker celebrating ancient Greek mysticism. Basslines as deep as sunken treasure, acid that’s worthy of the psychedelic origins of its name, and synths that spin off into infinity make up an uncompromising, mesmerising EP.
Dip Shim – Bergsgatan Tapes [GTD012]
Originally recorded to cassette, these five acidic tracks from Spanish-born producer and record store owner Dip Shim are a paean to his neighbourhood in Malmö, Sweden. The breadth of styles across the EP is impressive, taking in uplifting techno, mid-tempo electro, banging acid, and ambient, all created with classic analogue machines, suffused throughout with that warm tape sound and sweet sweet 303.
Datawave / Sound Synthesis – Versus [GTD008]
It’s Belgium vs. Malta for the second split EP on Gated, with Datawave’s tough take on electro kicking off on the A side and Sound Synthesis’s cosmic machine music on the B. Hypnotic pure electro crafted through wiggly electronics and sharp percussion.
The Hipodrome Of Music 