house
Xosar – Hunt You [VV015]
Xosar’s new release for Valcrond Video marks the onset of a darker, more dungeons & dragons oriented point of view. The four tracks feature both propulsive, doom-laden beats and expansive drum-free dream spaces. These sounds, appropriate for perved-out DJs and depressed teens alike, trace a narrative of pursuit, captivity, and erotic exsanguination. Held in a stone tower, a prisoner’s fluids are harvested for carnal application, before he is finally allowed to drain and find release in euphoric fields: bare dead trees, empty veins.
45 ACP – Dog In The Night 07 [DIN007]
45 ACP who has seen prior releases on the Odd Frequencies label presents a dense five tracker that is equal parts dj fodder as well as dips into the low tempo trip tracks. This one crosses all lines taking you to bizzaro world and back to the club again.
In Sync – The Bedroom Tape Cuts EP [3EEP201407]
In 2011, Julia Thompson (DJ Black B1tch) gave me a TDK SA90 tape of a spontaneous live jam by Insync recorded in her flat in Forest Hill, South London in March 1991. She had found it in a drawer when clearing out stuff. She gave it to me to listen to simply thinking I might be interested in hearing it. Of course I was, particularly because the date on the tape immediately told me that the session was recorded more than a year before the release of Insync’s debut, the seminal Storm on Irdial Discs. In fact Storm was recorded before this session but not released for more than a year after it. The A side of the cassette is a live jam comprising a bass-line/repeating melody and one other four-note motif. Other than that, Lee Purkis rinses a Yamaha SH101, SPX90, Roland 909 drum machine and some delays, to create a 43 minute journey that passes through beautiful elegiac ambient passages to crashing drums that had me nodding my head to the point that I had to force myself to sit still because of the shooting pains in my neck. Insync was accompanied by Paul Chivers aka Ramjack. Ramjack was playing an Ensoniq Mirage containing samples of himself playing various percussion instruments. I listened a few times to see if there were four 7+ minute sections that could be released as an ep. I thought there were, and here they are. Lee Purkis gave his permission for Third Ear to release the cuts, and the whole jam (available as 3eep201409). Next I contacted Stefan Betke at Scape Mastering to ask if he would listen to the tape to assess whether he could create a master that would sound good enough on a big sound system. Together we decided that he could. The sound quality of these cuts is a testament to Lee Perkis’ sound engineering and to Stefan Betke’s mastering. Judge for yourself. Guy McCreery.
Intergalactic Gary – Digital Tsunami 050
Geena – On The Top Of A Deep Hearted Fern [ANT012]
Antinote house Maestro Geena returns triumphantly with a 4 track ep that weaves the deepest melodies with the strongest rhythms. ‘Niagara galleries’ is pure deepness with it’s mesmeric panpipe lead while ‘Lunar substance’ proves that the parisian producer is also a master of the esoteric & ambient. ‘Gotta wear shades’ is filled with the dark memories of lost basement parties and ‘gamma sector’ is a fine example of the best of Acide maison.
S Olbricht – A Place Called Ballacid [LTWHT003]
The increasingly impressive Lobster Theremin label seems to be developing close ties to Hungary’s emerging electronic music scene. Having previously released a superb EP from Budapest-based Imre Kiss, they’ve now turned to one of the country’s more established names, S. Olbricht (an alias of producer Martin Mikolai). There’s much to admire on this intoxicating four-tracker, from the alien electonics and hustling drums of leftfield techno opener “Fi”, to the crackling, off-kilter rhythms and ghostly chords of “RPSTS”. Elsewhere, Mikolai demonstrates his deep house nous on the warming “IIX1”, and fuses twinkling melodies, creepy chords and a throbbing low-end groove on the similarly impressive “Veuns”.
Vester Koza @ The Hydra (London) 22.08.2014
Tin Man – Ode [ATCD004]
California-raised Johannes Auvinen made his name blending hypnotic techno with the distinctive electronics of acid house. His most recent album, 2012’s Neo Neo Acid, moved further towards the sounds of Phuture. Ode, his seventh full-length, sits somewhere in between, delivering a sequence of deep, hypnotic grooves that utilise acid lines not to create energy, but as melodic hooks. With the addition of his own half-whispered vocals on a number of cuts, the result is an atmospheric set that feels like the soundtrack to a hazy after party. For the most part, it’s very impressive, and has a genuinely weary, late night mood that’s strangely attractive.
Fishermen – SELF#01 [SELF001]
Can you feel it? Time moving faster and faster. ”The next thing” is always more appealing than what you’re holding in your hands right now. But is it better? Well, perhaps. Perhaps not. At this pace, can you really tell? So. Just like Magritte’s pipe wasn’t a pipe, this is not a record. This is an invitation. An embracement. You see, this round disc may be white, but it is not empty. It is filled with our creativity. Our time. And now we would like you to fill this plain, white sleeve with your creativity and your time. We want you to share this with us. To be a part of this release. To be apart of our SELF. This music spoke to you in some way, and now we want you to speak to us. The language is up to you – do whatever you feel like! Some of you will paint, some of you will print, some of you will do things we couldn’t even think of. All of you will be a part of the movement. A movement against the one-sidedness of the producer-consumer relationship. A movement against the hurried Zeitgeist. A movement against the grain. We are the Swedish Electronic Liberation Front. We don’t have customers. We don’t have followers. We only have members. And you’re invited to join us.
June – The Human Target [JUNE005]
June presents The Human Target EP. Industrial house & electro tracks on the A and the B side.
EDMX – Wicked Drummer [SKRUV001]
The Wicked Drummer EP sees EDMX turn in four floor-targeted weapons spanning U.K Garage, 2-Step, Acid, House and Breaks rife with his signature nifty synth work, multifarious rhythm-structures and taught, effective bass tones.
Romansoff – Rage Machine EP [MRI002]
Cuthead – Total Sellout [UVLP002]
Cuthead got known to the wider public via his releases on Uncanny Valley but his roots reach way back before the label’s start. There was a time when Cuthead and his brothers from another mother threw wild parties at abandoned industrial locations or in the woods around Dresden. The crew, which was known as Kunst:stoff Breakz, also established a label where Cuthead released two albums and one EP as free downloads between 2006 and 2010. Over the years the calls for vinyl versions of those early joints were getting louder and so Uncanny Valley decided to give the best tracks from that era a new life on physical sound carriers and start the ”Total Sellout”. Through refinement and rearrangement 51 tracks were boiled down to a selection of 18 and ended up as an album full of catchy bass lines, heavy beats and sampling excesses. Among the tracks are party starters like the strings-infiltrated ”Scissorhands”, ”The Poncho” or the ever devastating ”Iron Lung” which still kicks like Dubstep has never faded. Since Cuthead has always been heavily influenced by Rap music, there are of course lots of great Hip Hop beats on ”Total Sellout”. Either in the form of funky sample studies like ”Painquilizer” and ”VibraSkit” or in true fashion with Raps by crew member Alibi on ”Hidden Track”. Also included on the album are ”Rock My Soul” and ”All Night Long”, some early examples of Cuthead’s knack for well tempered and super catchy House tracks, while the double-bass driven ”Rythmus ’78” shows another jazzy side of him. Once again, the artwork was conceived and designed by Till Hohmann who already did a brilliant job on last year’s ”Everlasting Sunday”.
Harry Bennett – Body Rmxs [CCC014]
Owdy, sexy, voyeuristic: this is Harry Bennett’s world of sizzling Neo-chicago House music. Including reworks by Till Von Sein, DJ Nature, Sonns and our favorite Traxx.
Annanan – Lyser [FP006]
The sixth release on Jurg Haller’s excellent Forbidden Planet sees the Berlin-based newcomer Annanan at the helm. Lead track “124” booms and bristles in all the right places, with an intoxicating dub techno pulse at its core which resonates brightly with sonic intensity as the A side run out groove draws ever closer. On the B side, “ACIDz x2” fluctuates superbly between grizzled acid and saturated deepness, whilst the appropriately named “Satin” reins in the madness for a supple, widescreen journey into techno loaded with atmosphere.
Intergalactic Gary @ Spazio Social Club (Malmö) 06.09.2014
Steve Murphy – What Did You Just Give Me? [BASEMENTFLOOR003]
The Italian Stallion comes through with 4 killer cuts designed to destroy your ear holes. All jams made straight to tape, no fluffy ish.
D’Marc Cantu – Some Kind Of Strange [SEQ011]
Cantu’s electro-heavy sound is fleshed out here and while still lean enough for dance floors, it makes bolder moves into atmospheric and melodic territory. The A side, “Some Kind Of Strange…,” begins with long synth strains before one of his signature overdriven drum workouts immediately punches through the lush spectral melody. Cantu runs through the patterns on his 808, weaving a sort of broken beat track that cruises through acidic space time. On the flipside you’re treated to the electro/freestyle jam, “A Space Age Function.” There aren’t many surprises here nor is there any need for them: just pure and grimy electro joy…right down to the pitched down vocal sample and octave-hopping bassline. “September,” the beatless coda, is an echo from a childhood spent in dark cinemas with the sounds of Carpenter and Howarth. Tinkling FM bells dot the layers of rich ethereal pads and you can practically hear the clattering of the projector somewhere behind you in the dark.
Roche – Depths [IH009]
Roche comes to ICEE HOT with quite an impressive resume, and this two track outing is the latest chapter in what’s quickly becoming an excellent body of his work.
The Hipodrome Of Music 