José Cabrera is back with A Harmless Deed. Madrid’s finest lines up five absolutely slammin’ Chicago-house weapons at the end of the year.
José Cabrera – Madrid No Para [AHD12]
house
Riff – Jack’s Jive [GUDU009]
Gudu Records presents ‘Jack’s Jive’, a long overdue re-release of a legendary lost South African record from 1987. Out of print for years and never available digitally, ‘Jack’s Jive’ is the stuff of legend: a bold, bright synthesizer-led cut that has been demanding Discogs prices upwards of £150 and both referenced and ripped off by contemporary artists since. Re-mastered for 2021 and cut to vinyl for the first time in decades, it’s backed with two remixes by DMX Krew.
Steve Moore – Gone World [PGHTRXLP06]
Trascend∆nce – Under The Sphinx Eyes [BS08]
Better Sound 08 by Trascend∆nce aka Riccardo Buccirossi. He is co-founder of Imprints Records and the owner of Metropolita, Amazing Stories, and Elma Rivaga.
Fabrizio Mammarella B2B Franz Scala @ HÖR (Berlin) 07.12.2021
Disco Mortale & Sauvage World – Destroy Inc EP [PARA045]
Touchdown in Paradiso, continuing their iconic sound for the first time on 12 inches. Disco Mortale (aka Daniel Monaco) and Sauvage World team up for a world of Italo, EBM & New Beat. Pulsating arpeggios, vintage drums and a killer dark energy backed up with remixes from Curses and Freudenthal, welcome to Destroy Inc.
Acid Jerks – Remote Area [NG120]
The new era of Nu Groove continues to release exquisite house music with its latest package from Acid Jerks. An anonymous project from two of Berlin’s hottest selectors, this four-track EP demonstrates a breadth and depth of house knowledge, as Acid Jerks take the listener on a cosmic trip. The deep grooves of ‘Chocolate Factory’ kick off the package, followed by the more melodic and emotive ‘Remote Area’ with lush strings and keys. ‘Square One’ has a raw, synth-heavy sound that verges on the ominous, before the tough low end and analogue muscle of ‘The Tribute’ gives added grit to the package.
IntaReality – IntaZonez Vol. 3 [FU03]
London’s Frequencies Unknown return with ‘IntaZonez Vol. 3 3’, produced once again from label operators IntaReality giving another 4 tracker that channels their recent transmissions for 2021.
Robert Bergman – Digital Tsunami 188
Jayson Wynters – Filtered Xploits [EON004]
The EON label’s fourth vinyl release features an original from Birmingham producer Jayson Wynters with Chicago innovator Hieroglyphic Being on the remix. Wynters invites us ever deeper into his nebulous deep techno world with a superb new single ‘Filtered Xploits.’ It’s a punchy but dynamic cut with lush ambient pads smeared across a cosmic sky while chattery percussion and lithe synth power onwards. It has a futuristic soul that recalls early Detroit techno and might be his best work yet. Jamal Moss is on reworks and in his hands, ‘Filtered Xploits’ becomes a brilliantly raw and textured track with layer upon layer of fractured melody and gurgling acid. The prickly, jacked up drums will make an impact on any floor, and as the chords shine through the mix they bring a sense of hope and optimism.
A Guy Called Gerald / Trevor Miller – Trip City [5051142008961]
In the summer of 1989, when Trevor Miller’s ”Trip City” was first released with a five-track cassette EP by A Guy Called Gerald, there had been no other British novel like it. This was the down and dirty side of London nightclubs, dance music and the kind of hallucinogenic drug sub-culture that hadn’t really been explored since Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Maybe this is why Trip City is still known as “the acid house novel” and an underground literary landmark. For 2021, Trip City is back and the original soundtrack by A Guy Called Gerald is also being reissued and all five tracks are available on vinyl for the first time.
Disgo – Trick Or Track [DISCOTOGO001]
Disgo is a new project from Frank Timm AKA Soundstream and his the first release on his new Disco To Go label. Supreme overlord Disco House decree.
Residentes Balearicos – Break the Cookies [4056813305616]
Residentes Balearicos is a musical project founded and carried by Luca Averna and Ale Doretto, both Italian residents in Ibiza since many years. When they met in Ibiza, they decided to try to make something together, and it was easy to see that these two different approaches to Music were complementing perfectly in the studio. As wide and vague the term Balearic can be sometimes, their vision is to create the different soundtracks whether for a restaurant, a beach or for the dance floor. “Break the Cookies” is def for the dance floor. On remix duty are Munich’s Permanent Vacation mastermind Benjamin Fröhlich and Sirsounds own SIRS.
VA – Futureboogie Compilation 10² [FBRLP002]
Futureboogie Recordings is calling time after ten years with a 20-track compilation that sums up the sound of the lovingly curated Bristol label. From throbbing arps and noirish guitar twangs to errant analogue blips and ceaseless, rolling grooves, it’s a different sound to what you might have heard five years back on the Summer Riot IV compilation, and certainly a long way from the early days. Consider Futureboogie 10² an ode to evolution as much as a toast to all the great tracks and the family of artists that have passed through the wide-reaching Futureboogie sphere since before the label was even a sparkle in the disco ball.
Lerosa – Kiss Me Again EP [WLTD002]
Lerosa adds to his esteemed discography with an EP composed entirely during the summer of 2020. Several of his musical influences – I.M.S., Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, James Stinson – can be heard across these four diverse tracks, as he jumps nimbly from italo to dub to house to electro. As always with Lerosa, though, the sound that emerges is distinctively his own, the result of daily cat-assisted studio time at his home in Dublin. Lerosa has a flexibility in his sound which can reach from immersive techno pastures (as on his album for Acid Test) via exquisite deep house on to true-school electro and Italo.
VA – 10 Years Of Acid Test [ATLP-014]
Ten years ago, Acid Test began with a simple concept – each track the label released would make use of the Roland TB-303. Like a producer purposefully paring down their studio setup, or the continuous imperative within underground electronic music to reduce, this concept engendered creativity with the introduction of what seemed to be an aesthetic limit. However, the decade that followed, which now culminates in the triple-LP compilation Ten Years Of Acid Test, proves acid is limitless. That the Berlin-via-LA label would expand upon the classical conception of acid house and techno is no surprise considering the cast of characters that have come in fold over the past decade. Ten Years Of Acid Test gathers key material from the label’s extended family of acid acolytes. There’s that Vienna-via-LA maestro of sad, elegant acid Tin Man (Johannes Auvinen), whose “Afters Acid” is both a highlight within his prolific catalogue and a distillation of his symphonic approach to the 303. Detroit giants Erika and Marcellus Pittman, both of whom have released remixes on Acid Test, present their respective and singular Bass Line visions. Erika, the Interdimensional Transmissions lynchpin, crafts a dark, delicate take on broken techno on “Violet Fungus” while Pittman continues his cubist house explorations on “Unknown Species,” both tracks straying from typical acid lines in favor of the intricate textures achievable on the 303. This variation in approach applies to tempo as well. Irish-based master Lerosa, as well as Delsin affiliate VC-118A, delve into downtempo atmospherics. Meanwhile, Japanese deep techno virtuoso Wata Igarashi, SUED co-founder SW. (a regular on Acid Test’s leftfield sub-label Avenue 66) and Patricia (one-half of Acid Test act Ociya) use acid as a creative jumping-off point for complex melodic concepts. Wata layers an orchestra of synth-bliss drone overtop a squelchy bassline on “Ephemeral.” SW.’s “ChaIAnJAzzz” cycles through an array of dusted chords eventually landing in skewed, fuzzy rave nostalgia, anthemic chords held aloft by a wicked UK-flavour bass line. Patricia’s “Higher Still” explores dreamy, IDM-flavoured acid, cinematic synthlines counterbalanced by propulsive, squelching acid. Acid Test devotees will be thrilled at the return of various luminaries from the catalogue, including Achterbahn D’Amour, Skudge, AAAA, John Tejada and Donato Dozzy, whose memorable remix of Tin Man’s “Nonneo” from Acid Test 01 served as a kind of proof of concept for the label. There’s new blood too. San Francisco up-and-comer Sepehr makes his label debut with the excellent “Persian Acid Prince,” as does Andreas Tilliander’s beloved hardware techno project, TM404. Ten Years Of Acid Test is a valuable portrait of a group of artists linked by a dedication to innovation within acid, in line with the genre’s storied roots. Over ten years, Acid Test has gracefully made a case for the 303’s past, present and future, the story of acid continuing to unfurl in unpredictable, addictive patterns.
808 State – In Yer Face (Bicep Remixes) [FMB007WHITE]
Bicep continue to bolster their Feel My Bicep imprint with another reimagined classic. With this – the seventh addition to the catalogue, the Irish duo pay homage to another equally seminal recording as they rework ‘In Yer Face’ by 808 State.
Andrés – Back In The Open [MG-064]
Moods & Grooves welcomes the return of one of Detroit’s best multi-talented producers, Andrés. “Back In The Open” chops up a classic hit along with a few unknowns that will keep the floors moving throughout the night.
Vitamine @ Electric Special (Booha Stage) 2021
Amajika – Got My Magic Working [LCT007]
Heavy South African cut, unearthed by Dene from La Casa Tropical. The origins of Amajika is a tale of two worlds colliding at the perfect moment and begin in KwaMushu Township outside Durban. Here would be where a young Tu Nokwe would set up a school to help teach other aspiring youngsters like herself in music, dance and acting. This would become known as the Amajika Youth and Children’s Art Project and would be run from the Nokwe home, a common hangout for artists at the time. Some boast 2000+ pupils going through this program while others claim it wasn’t more than a backyard dance group, but for the lucky group of kids that were members in the mid 80s it would be their chance at stardom. Fast forward 30 years from the original release to a smokey club where ESA hears Got My Magic Working played by Rush Hours Store’s own Bonnefooi. Instantly he inquires about the track from his homeland and feels it a perfect addition the repertoire of the Afro Synth band he is quietly cooking up. Here you have compiled the two title tracks from original Amajika singles along with the instrumental version by ESA’s Afro Synth Band.
The Hipodrome Of Music 