Like a noisy hound in your neighborhood – keeping you awake.. awesome stuff on this fresh U.S. house label! Jackin beat tracks and psychedelic discofied mixers from Robert Crash. Beatin’, jackin’ and rockin’ the house.
house
Protect-U – Free USA [FT022]
“Free USA” is the first full-length album by Protect-U, the Washington, DC-based duo of Aaron Leitko and Future Times Records co-founder Mike Petillo. On their two Future Times EPs – Double Rainbow and World Music – Leitko and Petillo poured layers of ambient drift onto nearly-steady house foundations, creating long and propulsive zone-outs. On Free USA, Protect-U doesn’t depart from this sound as much as they launch further and further out with it, specifically in the rhythm section, which pivots and lurches into unexpected places throughout the LP. Melodically, automation and humanity combine with dizzying, psychedelic grace, making the sound design sparkle with cool precision. From the bright, super-soaked opening track ”Needs” to the boxed-in drum clunk and iced-out coda of ”Down the Tubes,” Free USA showcases Protect-U’s constantly mutating strand of electronic music.
Sir Leon Greg – Warehouse Classics #3 [WAR003]
Sir Leon Greg (another incarnation of Perseus Traxx) jams out then reinforces some edits of forgotten classics with a raw & personal analogue treatment for a devastating full effect on the dance floor, that is a far cry from the proliferation of over-produced squeaky-clean software edits. These are basic, raw ideas thrown down quickly and capturing the energy on 1/4” tape.
DJ Aakmael – The Rise EP [UNX007]
7th project from Dj Aakmael. ‘Rise’ is a blissful, relaxed string based track with playful keys thats perfect for any chill lounge or dance floor. ‘Jazz Piece’ is a sampled piece of art, where Aak cuts and chops a vintage groove for the 2014 crowd with that old NJ deep house feel. ‘Untitled 105’ is a dope club thumper that takes you back to that headknod feeling. ‘Untitled 101’ with its thumping beat and dramatic horns & strings concludes a well-packaged project.
D’LonelyAl / Jeremaier – We Can Have It All / Goldnugget [POMM002]
Tere comes pommes002 reviving the worst or the best 90ies club music had to offer. The A-Side belongs to Daniel Nentwig aka one half of The Working Elite, one third of the now defunct Extraproduktionen and Whitest Boy Alives Keyboard-Wizard. Hes wearing his brandnew D Lonely Al sweater and presents “We can have it all”, a well hung slice of sparkeling proto house. Next up is the debut release of Cologne based Skateboard Pro Jeremy Reinhard aka Jeremaier. “Goldnugget” is something like the alternative college radio version of Show Me Love by Robin S. The EP closes with a Lauer remix.
Larry Heard – Alien [ML9009]
One of Larry Heard’s most under-rated albums finally remastered and available as full vinyl release for the first time! Known for his classic early house releases Larry Heard’s productions always hinted at deepest outer space, but his 1996 Alien album was his first actual science-fiction record. It’s almost as polished as the most mainstream dance production, but just as sublime as any Detroit producer. Heard’s house roots often show themselves, while the chords and shimmering production make this an album almost on par with Heard’s mid-’80s peak. The project was a recording & sound-development experiment that was mostly constructed around a Korg O1/W workstation keyboard that was left at Larry’s studio to check out by Victor melodious myles Houston along with some of the staples of his studio, including the Roland d550 and Oberheim Matrix 1000. Mr Fingers magic touch can be heard all over the album, and this showcases the incredible musical talents of the man, who’s name by now cant be left out from any hall of fame when you’re talking music innovators from the last century.
Transformation – Sketch I [LIES-BLK005]
Deutsche trio killing it on a new LIES BLK. Sandro Stebnitz, Manito Rotschild, and Dieter Flegel met in the late-nineties in Oldenburg Germany while working on the loading dock of the Leifheit Housewares shipping division. Through their monotonous days of shrink wrapping ovens and loading palettes of stainless steel cookware onto tractor trailers, the trio would often relay tall tales to each other simply to pass the time. One such delusional fantasy was that the trio would one day ditch their warehouse jobs and start a band not unlike their mutual hero, Gary Numan. Their fantasy became somewhat of a reality when Dieter gained access to various pieces of musical equipment when his uncle Hans came upon a sudden and untimely death. Unphased by this tragic event, Dieter rallied up his small group and hit the garage, practicing and recording every evening in hopes of making it, just like Gary did. Here we have on record, the only document of their time in the makeshift studio, a 15 minute electronic jam simply titled “Sketch 1”.
Person of Interest – LIES 020.5 [LIES020.5]
Person of Interest, highly sought after and could be lurking in the shady corners under Brooklyn’s JMZ line. On his L.I.E.S. debut we get soupy remnants of what could be called garage house, pieces of high octane techno, and one slow burning grisled tooth number to close this three track EP out. A strong showing and undoubtedly one to keep your eyes on.
VA – Underground Sounds Volume 2 [PBR037]
Underground Sounds Volume 2 from PLan B Recordings, featuring four tracks by DJ Spider, Phil Moffa, Daikini9 and Hakim Murphy.
Motor City Drum Ensemble – Raw Cuts (Remixes) [MCDE1211]
Given the “contemporary classic” status of Danilo Plessow’s Raw Cuts series – arguably a string of 12″ singles that helped redefine deep house for a new generation – the announcement of a surprise remix 12″ is enough to make even the most level-headed DJs go weak at the knees. Pleasingly, said remixers more than live up to the hype. Marcellus Pittman’s version – smooth and deep, but with enough raw disco cut-ups and wonky Detroit swing to impress those who like it raw – is particularly good, though Mike Huckaby’s locked-in deep house groover is not far behind. There’s also a superb version from Recloose, whose crackly, shuffling beats, sweeping pads and soulful vocal samples recall his earliest productions for Planet E.
Conforce @ Six D.O.G.S. (Athens) 14.03.2014
Luger @ Hipodrome x Raw Tools, Bohemian Flow (Sibiu) 26.04.2014
General Ludd – Hitit / Kickout [CDR12006]
Tom ‘Dam Mantle’ Marshallsay and Rich ‘Golden Teacher’ McMaster’s debut under the General Ludd alias, The Fit of Passion EP on Mister Saturday Night, was a delightfully sweaty concoction – a riotous trip into percussive, off-kilter house territory laden with dense percussion, obscure funk samples and addictive rhythms. Here, they pop up on local Glaswegian label Clan Destine with an altogether murkier proposition – two tracks of fuzzy, horror-tinged, darkroom oddness. There’s a wayward, tipsy late night feel to the dense beats, nightmarish noises and curious samples on “Hitit”, while “Kickit” – complete with obligatory MC5 sample (as bitten by the KLF all those years ago) – layers throbbing sub-bass and spooky noises over a sparse but intense rhythm. Both tracks are neither house nor techno, but something altogether more intriguing.
Acid Square Dance – Jam Tracks [FRAGILWHITE003]
D’Marc Cantu – 1210a EP [OE005]
The explosive initiation of One Electronica’s “1210” series comes from Ann Harbours D’Marc Cantu. The series will consist of one twelve inch and one ten inch vinyl. The extensive palate of sounds available on this pack range from slower ambience influenced grooves, outright “jak”, industrial grit pursuing to intense, pace-ridden, electronic mayhem; as heard in “Microdots”.
VA – Maud Sarr EP [RB001]
Here comes the first release of the brand new label named Roze Balletten. The label’s first offering is a various artist EP with tracks from Creme’s Innershades, Belgium’s Raw Sketches and Hotflush producer Locked Groove. Innershades opens the label’s account with ‘Volksverheffing’, which is a classically inclined bit of house music with a prominent bassline that dances about with real elasticity. The kick drums are as weighty as Kerri Chandler’s and the singing synths bring some Detroit futurism to the table in classy fashion. Raw Sketches, who also works as Ekleltiker and Tunguska, goes for a much slower, deeper, more purposeful vibe on his track ‘Spilzucht’. It’s one that wanders mysteriously on lumpy drums as sinewy synths perform acrobatics in its midst and will tie you in knots by the time its finished unfolding and evolving. Last but not least, Locked Groove comes hard with his firm techno workout. Machines go wild at the heart of it all and the ticking percussion is angry and insistent: it’s somewhat freaked out and acid in the latter half, working both itself and listeners into a noir frenzy.
VA – London Housing Trust 005 [LHT005]
A nice mixed bag as ever, featuring label partner Prima’s first solo effort – grooves effortlessly and into darkest Africa , other half of LHT Alphonse brings the drama with – Acid Melody – youngest member Jamie Blanco makes a welcome return – with his trippy little Black Jack and finally newest recruit Asok crunches out this classic sounding piece of 4 to the floor goodness.
Jorge Velez – Sometimes Electric Sheep Dream of Me – Creme Podcast #23
Chris Moss Acid – Slam The Box [MATH074] (FREE DOWNLOAD)
Chris Moss Acid returns to Mathematics after a 6 year hiatus with a manic furry onslaught of squelch & tweaks to rupture the mind. Hard hitting acid tracks and good old fashion four to the floor rhythms.
Free download from Chris Moss Acid on soundcloud!
Continue reading “Chris Moss Acid – Slam The Box [MATH074] (FREE DOWNLOAD)”
D’Marc Cantu – Physical State EP [ANSATZ1002]
D’Marc Cantu has long been a standard bearer for hardware revivalism, having first released his drum machine-heavy blends of vintage jack and starlight rave revivalism on Creme Organization back in 2007. Here, he pops up on Ansatz with a superbly varied trip into warehouse-friendly territory. There are a couple of rush-inducing doses of strobelight-enhanced rave revivalism territory (the frankly nasty “Heater” and brilliantly wide-eyed “Surface Dweller”, which sounds like it’s been ripped from pirate radio sometime around 1992), a Larry Heard-ish foray into tactile analogue deep house (the brilliant “Grey”) and a thrillingly industrial-sounding fusion of jackin’ beats and clanking bleep melodies (“Box Sound Scape”).
The Hipodrome Of Music 