Rush Hour-affiliate and Amsterdam local Relmer is back with what may well be his best work so far. ‘H2O’ expertly displays the vibrant energy he’s known for around these parts with two Amazon-inspired deephouse groovers, a melancholic walk through the jungle, a Detroit-infused progressive anthem and a hypnotic midtempo floorwarmer.
Back in 2020, hip-hop, breaks and electro stalwart Freddy Fresh decided to turn his hand to vintage-sounding house and techno, self-releasing a set of tracks called The Harvest online. Rawax were impressed, with the popular label deciding to put the pick of the cuts out on vinyl. Title track ‘The Harvest’ sets the tone, with the veteran producer wrapping a house-tempo, post-electro groove in sustained organ chords, spacey synths and bubbly electronic melodies. ‘House-Spanner’ sees him doff a cap to The Middle of Nowhere-era Orbital (seriously, it’s very reminiscent of the Hartnoll brothers’ late ’90s output), while ‘Misunderstood’ is a woozy, delay-laden chunk of early morning U.S deep house. Elsewhere, the deep house dreaminess continues on the interestingly swung ‘Twain’, and clonking, TB-303 speckled ‘Horlywagon’.
“Volume Three” of the compilation on Slow Motion’s international sister label Wrong Era: “Sailor of Wrong Era”, named after the infamous Berlin boat parties that became a true happening in Summer 2021, is finally here. Ten tracks comprising the very own Wrong Era style, crafted by renowned veteran artists and upcoming international talents from all around the globe.
Following the release of Barbie Bertisch’s debut album Prelude in June 2022, Love Injection announce Prelude Remixes, kicking off with a two-track 12” single featuring remixes by Gene Tellem and Tama Sumo & Lakuti, followed by a full digital release including also remixes by Dazzle Drums ft. Eric Kupper, Gavilán Rayna Russom, Olive T and UMFANG.
EDO8 aka Mr. Portamento, part of Doubledutch and half of the Cosmic Force (who had their debut on Clone Records in 1998!). EDO8 comes back with solo work on the Clone West Coats Series. After years of relative silence the dutch electro master hits back hard with this funked up 6 tracker of pure machine funk. Techno, House and Electro rooted in the classics…. the undoubtable influences of early Detroit techno, Kraftwerk and 80’s electro are present and stirred to a unique blend which results in EDO8’s signature sound carefully developed and crafted over the last 25 years.
By the late 1980’s Ton Lebbink was a well respected figure in Amsterdam’s alternative scene: he was the drummer for the Amsterdam post punk group Mecano, a true punk poet and worked as a bouncer at Amsterdam’s main music venue Paradiso. He released two solo albums, both in his unique narcotic style: laying absurd Dutch wordplay over stripped down frigid instrumentals. When house music took the world by storm in the early 90s, Lebbink hopped on the bandwagon – trading in his cult status as one of the main faces of the 1980s underground, for a life spent toiling to produce sampledelic house music in comparative anonymity. “Wat Doe Je Met Me?” is one of many fruits of Lebbink’s labour during this renaissance period: only three tracks appear on the EP, but all make up an unusual early house sound tempered by Gregorian chant, cut-up vocal, subdued synth plucks and an overall hazy sound.
Royal Athlete Records returns to the great racetrack of the record industry with the latest instalment of their Various Artists series. Four dancefloor winners for any competition and worthy of only true contenders bags. Kicking off with the nine minute epic live-drums-meets-juno-funk of ‘Hustle Never Ends’ by Galaxians followed by UK legend Paul Withey with the oh so smooth 80s-esque groove of ‘Confessions’. Side B opens with the retro Jam & Lewis style slammer ‘I Believe In Boogie’ by Germany’s First Touch and rounding off the release is the amazing new-wave freestyle anthem ‘Tell Me’ by California’s Sky Tony.
L.I.E.S. Records boss, Ron Morelli, makes a rare appearance on his own label with a new limited edition “promo only” 12 inch. While some may be familiar with his gnarled techno releases on such labels as Hospital Productions and BITE, this new release reaches back to the early days of his L.I.E.S. Records works, where artists such as Steve Summers, Delroy Edwards, Traxx, and Svengalisghost banded together digging into the raw core of original Chicago and New York dance music, using these early sounds for inspiration and turning them upside down.
DJ Steve’s third EP for Klasse Wrecks delves deeper into the sonic universe of the Sheffield producer’s arsenal, a slow but deliberate progression can be traced from the previous EPs. Whereas ‘Secret Touch’ and ‘Mainline’ ploughed a path made more by the lighthearted genres of UK Hardcore and Yorkshire Bleep, ‘Reality’ sinks lower into heady vibrations of psychedelia and heavy acid hallucinations. The producer again shows off his musical flair and control of his machine kingdom, every sound perfectly placed on the sound canvas. Classic 303 lines writhe under 101 basslines whilst 808 hihats shuffle over recognisable breakbeats, proving some things never go out of style.
2XLP celebrating Malka Tuti’s 7 years of Existence. The Sheva (Seven in Hebrew) compilation represents a large chunk of the sonic spectrum that is the Malka Tuti multiverse to date. From tribal to punk and from house to leftfield bits. All tracks on the compilation were meticulously chosen throughout the past few years and slowly stitched together to comprise what is now SHEVA.
Khidja continue to develop their tripped out vision with their first full EP for Hivern since 2019’s ‘Impossible Holiday’. In ‘Something In The Water’ the Romanian duo presents three new tracks that drift between genres and moods through open minded studio experimentation. “The Future Has Disappeared” and “Back To Vid” rely on contrasting sound palettes and a smart use of the stereo field to build up tension while ‘Science of Ghosts’ is an expansive number of galactic electro-funk. The 12″ features a stripped out mystical remix by Azu Tiwaline while the digital release includes two extra oddball dancefloor cuts.
DMX Krew has been turning out electronic music from his analog-laden studio since 1994. He has built a discography nothing short of prolific. He mixes tech savvy with a firm understanding of club music and a penchant for catchy and clever hooks and the Powerplay EP, released on Innershades’ Altered Circuits imprint, forms a great display of this.
Böhm delivers pure dance floor action on Dolly with this solid 3 tracker. “Solar Cycle” is serious UK rave, deep bleep and slamming breakbeat dance floor madness.
Karlos Moran returns to his own Moran Music Group label (helmed by the people at Klasse Wrecks no less) for his 5th release. Showcasing the producers flair for classic US Deep House tropes and a deft talent when it comes to singing and playing instruments live, MMG005 is collection of 4 tracks of wonderful and positive vibes. Trainspotters might notice something familiar and newcomers might discover a new favourite artist, step into the house of Moran and enjoy.
In the wake of Portable’s acclaimed album My Sentient Shadow comes a trio of remixes which expand on his unique slant on techno and synth-pop. Finding three artists who reflect his own experimental tendencies within dance music, Alan Abraham’s original productions head into unexpected new places while retaining the physical, club-ready energy he manages to instill in his own creations.
The Hipodrome Of Music 