Further exploring the far reaches of dancefloor music, Innervisions welcomes back Frankey & Sandrino with their entrancing Mercury EP.
house
Stephen Lopkin – Submission EP [7SR032]
Glasgow’s Stephen Lopkin delivers big here as the latest home recruit for Seventh Sign Recordings.
Photonz – Nuit [DE257]
Photonz is the alias of Marco Rodrigues a DJ, producer and driving force of Lisbon’s underground scene. For little over a decade now, he’s been crafting his own deeply personal style of Portuguese house and techno. As a DJ, Photonz grew a reputation for deep crates and intensely euphoric sets and in 2017, together with Violet (co-founder at his Radio Quantica) and Lisbon’s own Rabbit Hole collective, he started the now infamous Mina parties – a monthly, sex-positive, queer and intersectional-feminist techno party aimed at using the dissociative potential of intense raving to create a temporary space of suspension away from patriarchal expectations. ‘Nuit’ is Photonz’s debut album and a simultaneous reference the Egyptian Goddess of the Stars or Night. Marco was really swept away by the concept of ‘freedom of form under the night sky’, the accepting embrace of Nuit. Ancestral, but also socially advanced and utopian; a deification of the night time. These ideas manifest themselves as eleven songs spread across two LPs that wax and wane like the moon. Photonz channels early techno, Drexciyan rhythms, balearic & atmospheric house; layering sounds, creating moments.
Pickled People – Pickled People [MC033]
Mint Condition is a record label focused on excavating the outer fringes of classic House and Techno. This 12″ is a rare diamond, another set of smooth and acidic jams from London 90’s potent tech-house underground, a rich and rewarding scene. Pickled People is the dynamic duo of Terry Francis & Jiten Acharya.
Trackstars – Untitled [LIES138]
Jupiter 6 – The Tracking System [ACOLOUR017]
A Colourful Storm launches a series of 12″ singles focusing on lesser spotted dancefloor gems: the first, two classics from the golden era of bleeps’n’bass techno with nods to Sheffield but apparently originating closer to Miami.
R. Campana & D. Reggi – Sequence Unity [ACOLOUR018]
A Colourful Storm compiles three tracks from the vaults of R. Campana & D. Reggi, two producers active in the early 2000’s who released EP’s on First Cut and, more notably, Groovepressure (home to Stopouts, A² and Robin Ball). Three-track EP revived from a period of European underground club music where breaks, electro and tech-house merged into unexpected new forms.
The New Dance Affair – The New Dance Affair [TNDA001]
Fresh new dance affair cuts from a hot town of northern Germany. Powerful beats, enigmatic passages and wicked catchy melodies.
Earth Trax – Feel My Bicep Mixtape #127
Timothy J. Fairplay – Les Yeux Orange #141
VA – EYA006 [EYA006]
EYA Records is back with their first double 12″. Music provided by Belgian producer Innershades, Uruguayans finest Two Phase U, Berlin based Otis and Arma resident Zots. An eclectic selections of tracks that reflect the label vision.
Serge – EPM Podcast 121
D’Marc Cantu – La Frontera [TKG013]
Tuskegee Music is back with more essential music, this time from venerated American producer D’Marc Cantu. He’s serving up raw-edged, uncompromising sounds as usual. Opener ‘Beat The Move’ is an urgent, high tech piece of slick and supple acid house with 303 undulations, dark vocal loops and the sort of hammering drums that get the club locked right in. The sublime ‘In The Forest’ is a tripped out bit of restless electro with skittish hits and rueful pads that gets right to your heart. Last of all is the militant, marching ‘A Narrow Connection’ which closes things out with crisp kicks and scintillating sheet metal drums that straighten your back and get you stomping.
Crystal Maze / R-A-G – Dr. Claw / Larry Venom [COSMOS007]
For COS_MOS’s next trick they serve up a special 12” that features a brand new single from M>O>S super group R-A-G, also known as Ma Spaventi, Aroy Dee and G-String. It comes backed with a re-release of one of the key tracks of the previously released Crystal Maze album on aDepth Audio. A fierce and full 45rpm re-cut of ‘Dr Claw’ that has been a secret weapon of Aroy Dee for many years. It’s a raw cosmic adventure, with warm solar winds blowing over prickly drums. Twisted bass and knotted pads wrap round the groove as a detuned lead synth heads into a Legowelt-ish future. ‘Larry Venom’, stirs things up with a deconstructed, off kilter mix of beeps and drones with marching drums adding to the feeling that this is a robot party in meltdown.
Modex – A Disturbance In The Field [ITDR005]
Into The Deep brings Modex for this 2019 space excursion. The Berlin based rising talent’s sound signature can’t leave anyone indifferent. Fasten your seat belt and enjoy this fast-paced interstellar ride where melodies, drone acid lines & percussive drum patterns create a deep, powerful yet emotive sound for the late night dancefloor hours.
Sevda @ Boiler Room X Mzesumzira X KHIDI 13.09.2019
VA – Djax-Re-Up Vol. 2 [DKMNTL063-2]
The second edition of Dekmantel’s foray into the era-defining, trans-Atlantic, cult techno label that is Djax-Up-Beats, comes another re-issue of classic 90s cuts. Founded in Eindhoven at the turn of the 90s, Djax-Up-Beats quickly earned an international reputation for being a key source of Chicago house, acid techno, and floor-filling, heavy-hitting, straight up underground 12”s. It’s a sound that spawned the sonic aesthetics of today, and can be heard in the left field techno productions of the likes of Bjarki, Salon des Amateurs and other erstwhile analog junkies.” The second re-issue EPs, offer a more introspective look at the label’s earlier releases.
Jeremiah R – Tales from the Dark Reef [DW002]
Long before the electro revival sent producers scurrying into the studio to create their own Drexciya-inspired jams, Jeremiah R was ploughing his own intergalactic furrow for labels including Tabernacle, BAKK and Voodoo Gold. As this fine mini-album shows, he remains one of the most consistent electro producers in the business. The genius of “Tales From The Dark Reef” lies in the long-serving producer’s ability to craft shimmering, sci-fi focused electronic music that takes the aesthetic appeal of the best electro records – the intergalactic aural textures, sci-fi intent, skittish rhythms and futuristic synthesizer sounds – and applies them to a variety of Detroit and Chicago-influenced grooves and soundscapes.
Passarani – Ignition [NRTL001]
Roman producer, DJ and label head Marco Passarani’s rich catalogue of releases fuse techno, boogie, electronica and funk into evocative soundscapes. Here, on “6489 Golevka,” a murmuring bass rises under sparkling synth stabs, while on “Mesosiderite,” an acid bassline provides a gentle undercurrent to a deluge of iridescent synth washes. On “Exit Velocity,” an energetic beat propels nostalgic crescendos of melody; while “Roche Limit” is an agitated jack track that tumbles together sampled vocals and a dystopic circus melody.
Benedek / Noble – World Gruuv / Profesora [SE1012]
Having previously blessed us with ”Ocean Side” two years back, Benedek and Tom Noble return to Superior Elevation with two more Balearic gems. One for the night time, one for sunrise; ”World Gruuv” hits the boogie spot with spiralling keys wandering freely up and down a tight shimmering synth-bass led groove. Meanwhile ”Profesora” on the B brings us back into reality softly with its addictive percussive hook, aquatic backing and totally tropical taste. Imagine Art Of Noise on Claremont 56 and you’re on the right route.
The Hipodrome Of Music 