Acid techno experiments from the Italo disco master with Alessandro Adriani extended rework of Technologies.
house
Kiwi – You Want Her Too / Peeling Oranges [PP018]
Alex ‘Kiwi’ Warren’s passion for music has been a fire that has long burned within. He now joins Edinburgh’s Paradise Palms for the latest installment of their highly regarded 7” series. “You Want Her To” is a playful, low slung stomper featuring a slowed-down House beat, pads and a catchy oddball chant from Warren himself. “Peeling Oranges” ups the NRG and uses an Italo-strength arpeggiated bassline to great effect, resulting in a peak time electronic Disco smash.
VA – Various IV [030LP005]
The fourth various artists compilation album on Netherlands based 030303 Records. Splitradix has been given the honour to kick off with a wonderfully meandering acid epos, reminiscent of 808 State’s more obscure output, with a euphoric element entering about halfway. Zaphyd takes the energy level up a bit further with a strange dry beat driving the tune which is full of melodies trying to elbow each other to the side in the friendliest possible way… Side B opens with Star Flip by Holovr where a series of classic throbbing acid basslines are accompanied by an unsettling melody, not for the faint hearted! The Exaltics’ What If We Could is a haunting bubbly motherfucker of an acid track, not totally unlike Polygon Window’s Untitled, pure dark bliss… The C side then starts with a brilliantly bouncing contribution containing a beautiful melancholic theme by Piepiep, one of 030303’s co-founders. Argentina’s Nacho M Meyer is the mastermind behind Planeta, yet another dreamy cut full of Detroit-like melancholy. Zelfkant, the first contribution on the D side, is by Betonkust and feels like a classic Warp Artificial Intelligence armchair track with a touch of wave/electro. One of the best tracks on the comp then, is by Dirty Data, who delivers a track full of twisted breaks, hectic bleeps and eerie synths, mind blowing this one… Kramphaft is behind the final contribution to the compilation, again a sinister and dark one with haunting melodies spun out over unusual hard hitting electro breaks.
Sound Waves – I Wanna Feel The Music [SR1243]
Seminal NYC deep house sounds from the legendary Strictly Rhythm catalogue, this is some straight 1991 heat. ‘I Wanna Feel The Music’ / ‘Gotta Have You’ are 2 stone cold jams. Sound Waves is a crew made up of Andrew Richardson and Gijo Rosario, who crafted 2 slamming 12”s for Strictly in the very early 90’s. Both cuts ooze so much soul, and those unmistakable deep synth pads that wash over those tuff NYC drums with uplifting emotion. A true underground record that sounds like it could have easily dropped last week.
Camarade – Orwellian EP [DD-004]
Camarade release there first full EP on Duke’s Distribution. Dan Piu & Grant come together once more, but this time showcasing a completely fresh sound under a new moniker inspired by early IDM all while maintaining a clear grip on the dancefloor with deep atmospheric ambience and rhythms.
VA – Italian Dance Wave Otto [SLOMO043]
The eight chapter of the infamous Slow Motion Compilation series, “Italian Dance Wave Disco Otto”, has quite some hidden gems to be discovered. Beginning with a track from Marcello Giordani DJ (half of the duo Marvin & Guy), that expresses a perfect Italian melancholic sunset (as the title also states), energetic, strong, but always poetic. Always following that “beachy” vibes we find The Caribbean House, serving a track that could last a century, and we would never mind. Electro hints mixing with deep and balearic vibes: ears glued to the headphones. Moreover, we have again Slow Motion queen, System Olympia with a track that could make even nuns sweat on the dancefloor: beats and bass to die for. To close this chapter, you can pamper your ears with a angry balearic track from Gallo, not suited for the more weak hearts, that’s for sure.
VA – Italian Dance Wave Sette [SLOMO042]
Summer is coming sooner this year, and you can tell from the heat of the two latest releases from Slow Motion. The first of the two, “Italian Dance Wave Disco Sette”, is here to delight you: starting from a half Italo and half Asian influenced Altieri track, killing it with a dancefloor belter that will make you sweat the night away, raving sensations guaranteed. Lukebox (Fabrizio Mammarella and Umberto Saba from the duo Loudtone) will serve you a slightly more downtempo, modular, weirdo beast that will make your head bang without you even notice: banger. Back on your turntables, is also Robotalco who is providing some proto-house extravaganza and adding some charme to the dirty, chunky beats of the compilation. Last but not least, José Manuel, delivering a touch of biting deep house and electro tribal feels to close the gap, and make us scream “hell yes”.
Jex Opolis – Earth Boy [DKMNTL064]
Dekmantel welcomes the good time vibes of Canadian selector, and retrotastic, vibe-poppin’ producer Jex Opolis. Cult figure, obsessive Discog-er and Good Timin’ boss, the Brooklyn-based, Canadian has etched out a global reputation with his exotic taste of lo-fi, party productions, with this – his Dekmantel debut – not straying far from the formula Electro, disco-chic, doused in gooey pop, sultry silk, and retro synth-boogie.
Job Jobse – Dekmantel Podcast 231
Intrinsic – Firewalls [EMP019]
Steven Tang’s Emphasis returns with the reclusive Intrinsic on Firewalls. ”Firewalls” builds soulfully techno syncopated synths & rhythms while the deeply modulated ”Falling” is thick & smoky filled with delayed synth madness that coalesces with a brooding bass line. Includes ”Bonus Beats”.
VA – TRB01 [TRB01]
Tribe is a record label created by like-minded artists from Barcelona, with a bold purpose of generating and sharing their idea of timeless electronic music. The debut EP Tribe01 comprises four different yet catchy and charismatic tunes that meet at the same point – the dance floor.
Telephones – From The Vaults 1998-2018 Vol. 2 [EC02/TLF02]
Digging deeper into rescued attic-material, Telephones offers even more genre-wobbly, and inspired sounds, featuring bipolar detroit techno/bongo-disco, stuttering warehouse-atmospheres and a failed attempt at making Speed Garage (without ever really knowing what that was) – instead ending up somewhere, which can best be described as balearic techno with a dutch twist, hyperactive steroid-disco and degenerate house. Originally conceived and programmed by a juvenile Mr Telephones on ancient PC-software at the turn of the 90s/Y2K – 20 years later, salvaged, exported and meticulously overdubbed, re-recorded and edited to current high standards of Telephonic Communication.
VA – The Tuffest Of The Tuffest (2019 Edition) [WAFLP2]
London’s Warriors Dance label was a unique operation and a pioneering London label during the late 80’s acid house phenomena. Home to an assortment of DJs, MCs and soundmen, they went on to make their own original and indelible mark on the rave scene from the infamous ‘Addis Ababa’ studio on Harrow Road on the North-West side of the city. This is an updated and expanded 2019 version of the Warriors Dance compilation 89′ that boasts some unreleased DAT tape outtakes and cuts that have never seen the light of day – until now. This compilation is crammed full of the breakbeats, deep as the centre of the earth basslines, left-field influenced acid cuts and dubwise new-wave esque dance sounds..
Hieroglyphic Being – A Synthetic Love Life Vol. 1 [MATHPLUS015]
Hieroglyphic Being has materialized with the limited & stamped “A Synthetic Love Life Vol. 1” created a decade ago to cassette & sonically presented to higher plane listeners. Volume 1 of 9 for Mathematics Plus.
Drvg Cvltvre – The World Is On Fire But We Still Dance Like Twats – Part 2 [CLTD-011]
The New York Haunted label owner Drvg Cvltvre drops 3 new tracks on Concrete Records. Strong synths, acid bass lines and aggressive sounds are the elements that always characterized Drvg Cvltvre’s music, in this EP he shows another more sophisticated and personal side: pads and ambient suggestions coexist with the strong basslines and rhythms. A different approach that gives a more deep and mental oriented tone to the tracks. A lot of percussion add raw sound characterized this three tracks, a just balance between the raw house genre and the violent techno sound.
Koga – Hive Mind EP [OCP001]
OCP presents their debut release, coming from Koga, Frankfurt underground DJ and connoisseur of the M1 organ bass. The ‘Hive Mind’ EP contains four well executed tracks that are likely to disintegrate dance floors around the globe. Title track ‘Hive Mind’, featuring Simon Moncler, is a Brooklyn-style techno jam packed with hard hitting RZ-1 hats, while ‘Survivor (M&M’s techno will survive mix)’, featuring Maurice, freshly connects trancey elements with breaks and bleeps. The B side kicks off with ‘Fox Undercover’, a jam displaying developed knowledge of clunky baselines and pounding grooves, the 12″ rounds of with a bass-heavy remix of ‘Fox Undercover’ by DJ Slyngshot.
Tiger & Woods – A.O.D. [RBLP13]
What once started as an anonymous underground project with stamped white labels and a clever take on sampling, has since then unfolded to be one of the longest-running and most successful teams in current dance music. Nurtured by the sounds of the past and blessed with the techniques of today, the music of Tiger & Woods always kept evolving in and around the tropes of disco, house and boogie. Celebrating the 10th anniversary this year, Marco Passarani and Valerio Delphi managed to arrive at album number three. A.O.D. (adult oriented dance) is inspired by the faded buildings and images of discotheques on the Italian countryside, the romantic start and bittersweet endings of summer, beach life and the excitement of travelling through the landscape to get to aforementioned temples of dance and subsequently the morning after. Except for the 100% sample-free 1:00 am, everything on A.O.D. is based on a quiver of cleared samples from the Roman institution that is Claudio Donato and his Full Time and Goodymusic emporium. In Tiger & Woods hometown Rome, the often very electronic and futuristic sound of Italo Disco had a different twist. Much more boogie-based and influenced by the song-writing styles of New York City’s dance scene, it played in a league of its own. Tiger & Woods use these materials to take them apart, out of context and into contrasting areas. Molding something completely new, one gets fooled to recognize Sade songs that aren’t, pop music instrumentals and a reprise of memories that never existed. A ride through ones brain in a convertible with an Italian FM radio station playing in the background. Or to use less stiff poetry: a chill out album you can dance to or a dance album you can chill out to.
Khidja – In The Middle Of The Night [DFA2635]
Romanian production duo Khidja present their first EP for DFA. With four tracks of inner city insomnia, The Middle Of The Night soundtracks the realm between being half awake and asleep. With jagged and pulsating synths and dubbed out howling vocals, we are left disorientated in the underground tunnels that connect the clubs of Bucharest, London, and Berlin. Summoning the spirits of Kraftwerk and John Carpenter, they cast a spell on the dancefloor that is a perfect addition to the ever-evolving DFA roster.
Marco Bernardi – Plat + Form P.F. [BT33]
BT33 drags back Marco Bernardi for his 3rd solo EP on brokntoys. Plat + Form P.F. finds Marco run ragged through time, revisiting his sleeper-project Octogen’s lost 3rd album alongside his latest productions. Cruising the dystopia, the EP moves through unnerving melodies hung against stuttering rhythms. Handstamped and with screenprinted sleeve.
Innershades – Ocular Unity [MTRON012]
Innershades presents a heavy and vibrant trip through electro, techno and acid on Ocular Unity, the 12th release on Berlin’s Mechatronica. Following up on his ”Aalst To Charlois” rave weapon released on the label last year, the Belgian producer continues to push his signature sound in new directions, maintaining harmony and once again underlining his undeniable strength in producing hypnotizing electronic music for the floor.
The Hipodrome Of Music 