Warm, balearic tinged deep house tracks from the italian house master Kekko Montefiori who became immortal with his 1990 Calypso Of House release. Here we have some tracks recently found on some unreleased tracks found on old tapes recorded in that same era by Kekko.
Jason Letkiewicz isn’t some fashionista. His efforts predate whatever you want to call the current wave of interest in club music. For his first release on Valcrond Video he offers two tracks as Steve Summers. “Always” builds up as a web of metallic syncopation pulsing with threat. A dangerous motif swerves in like pissed-off porpoises, slick with black grime after an oil spill. Vocals show up: they sound like somebody kidnapped a larynx and forced it to MC at the center of a badass board game. A disembodied voice box in the middle of a cardboard landscape. On “Resist” that same captive voice rings through a metal hockey mask, as the instrumental elements seem to narrate an assault in progress. We’re taping you down to the table, don’t bother to resist. On the B side a Torn Hawk remix takes “Always” to never-never land; the malice of the original track gets dressed up with puffy orange clouds (Cheetos). Traditions go in the toilet, return to the fundamental river, only to wash up in the reeds, fresh again . A melodic explosion hides at the center of the progression under hospital-grade gauze; C-4 strapped to the chest of a stuffed bunny suicide bomber.
P-Balans is activating again all its current accomplices in order to reinforce the heretic electronic scene of Bucharest. A first collaboration of Khidja, masters of psychedelic depths, and Delusion Men (comprised of Holy Fix and Utopus), the reliable founding persons of Future Nuggets. All together delivering a smash techno-punk EP uplifted by an enchanting slowburner remix signed by Borusiade.
Stu Robinson aka ASOK returns with a quick fire reply via Lobster Theremin sub-label Mörk. Applying a similar template of contradictory elements, cobbled into a melded, half-melted mass of aquatic techno, proto-rave and depth-charged deep house, Inner Circle is the transformation complete. A step into the unknown without a shadow of doubt.
Ave Berlin collective AWAY ready the 4th release in their catalogue. They present a split 2-tracker from label mainstay Move D and his pairing with Jonah Sharp under their collaborative guise of Reagenz. Natural in their progression, both tracks spark ardour as they steadily develop adding another fine addition to a blooming catalogue.
The first release in 2017, from In The Dark Again, is the seventh Various Artists EP on my label for dark and trippy sounds. This time Ka§par, Lectromagnetique, Vault and Synkronized bring the noise.
Green Village turns to DJ Spider for a new 12 inch. The NYC artist is now a respected member of the Big Apple’s contemporary house and techno wave, and it’s an absolute must for him to be represented on the city’s bubbling scene, especially when he’s up for firing off tunes like “Space Jungle” and Satsang”, two mean, club-minded house bangers with a prominent lower-end. “Divide & Conquer” turns things darker and more ominous thanks to its icy, minimal approach – a cold blend of stripped-back beats and circling bass tones – while “Urantia Of Nebadon” displaces the traditional house framework in favour of a dark, molecular selection of electronic sounds guided by a simple pattern of 4/4 beats.
The next COS_MOS release comes from Salomon Dunkan, a mysterious and unknown producer who serves up two tantalising tracks.’Android (Adamantium Mix)’ is a slow and percolating house track with a rugged acid line and sharp percussive knives cutting up the rubbery kick drums below. Swirling pads add a cosmic atmosphere and there whole hits slowly but surely builds to a raging and intense peak of bristling hits and gurgling synths. It’s controlled chaos and then ‘Tacchi A Spillo’ treads a more direct path. Again the high hats are bright and sharp, the mood is very sci-fi and the bass lines rumbled down low. Like a deep space odyssey this one travels far and wide and grows ever more physical and jacking as it goes on.
The ninth release on Midligh brings to light Exhausted Modern, the new alias from Layup, the co-founder of Endless Illusion.
New year, new start and a long overdue introduction of some female sensibilities into the Slow Motion stable. System Olympia hails from Calabria and was formerly part of London based Royalty. You know the drill by now, tear jerking synths, chest crushing bass and that indefinable slow-motion disco swagger that we have made all our own.
Black Bones’ debut release is really something. From the Daphni-esque full throttle Afro A Side, to a duo of lost classics on the flip, this one’s a keeper…
BANK Records 7 series continues with a two tracker by Steve Summers and Bookworms. Side A features a track from long time collaborators Jason Letkiewicz and Nicholas Dawson who have showcased their signature free form sound on Letkiewicz Confused House imprint. Side B is a solo cut by Bookworms. The menacing sound of this recording is reminiscent of Dawson’s work you may have heard on his Nord release, Compact Visual Nature. Classic tracks from two of BK’s finest.
Credit 00 delivers his debut album “Game Over”. After four EPs for Uncanny Valley the Leipzig based musician is now ready to let loose his electronic visions on full length. As everybody can confirm who saw him playing live or DJing, the head behind Uncanny Valley’s sub label Rat Life is a slave to the rhythm on a full-time basis. Obsessed with sound, he can’t stop pushing the buttons of his synthesizers and drum machines like someone torturing the controls of an Arcade machine. “Game Over” is an electronic love letter to the romantic fantasy worlds of classic video games and their bleepy and clonky sounds which used to be common also in repetitive electronic dance music.
Collecting tracks from the last six years, “Game Over” is also a passion project that channels all his influences. You can get a glimpse of the ingredients that make up his record collection. Whether it is Hip Hop,Techno, Electro Boogie, New Beat, Italo, Jungle, Reggae, House or Chill Out. Though, all those different sounds and styles do not tear this album apart. It’s a bit of a miracle that it feels so flawless for what happens between the appetizing “Level One” and the final track “The Last March”. Those beats on “Game Over” can be brutally effective like the fatalities in Mortal Kombat while the overlying sounds can be smooth like the lemmings’ animations in the eponymous Amiga game. Just listen to the title track. Or the instant hip shaker “Breakers Revenge” that comes with a little help from friends like Sara Stammburg on vocals and Max Rademann on Rhodes.
Without losing sight on the dance floor Credit 00 creates an electronic wonderland that delights dancers and connoisseurs at the same time. To top things off the wonderful artwork was created by Alexander Dorn a.k.a. Credit 00 himself.
“A long time ago, at a festival far, far away, the members of the legendary Borft trio Frak were just going to bed in their tent when something caught their attention. Now, this was well before Frak’s rise to international fame – in fact, this moment was Swedish music history in the making, because what they heard was someone playing a Frak tune. That someone turned out to be Kontra-Musik’s own Ulf Eriksson and once their paths had crossed, there was no turning back. Frak has since released five highly sought after records on Kontra-Musik and Kontra-Musik White Label. When it was time for a 10-year anniversary gathering in Ulf Eriksson’s private garden, Frak of course turned up together with other Kontra artists like TM404 and Rivet. For those present – we few, we happy few – this turned out to be one of the most magical summer nights in living memory. The Swedish word for porch is altan, and so, to honour this wonderful experience of the whole Kontra-Musik family coming together, Frak decided to name their brand new album Altan Gathering. Another great friend of Kontra, Henrik Jonsson aka Porn Sword Tobacco, made the album cover and we wouldn’t have it any other way. His aesthetic choice of tin foil is on point: Listening to Frak is a lot like biting into a fresh falafel wrap without first removing the aluminium foil holding the delicious mess together; it’s mouth-wateringly warm and moist but at the same time intensely harsh and tough to chew. This might seem like a far fetched analogy but if you’ve ever went partying in Kontra-Musik’s home town Malmo you’ll know the feeling. And if you’ve never been to Malmo, well do stop by someday. It seems, when the stars align, the gatherings here can be the stuff both legends and albums are made of.”
It’s astonishing to think that Frak’s Borft Records has now notched up three decades. The Swedish imprint remains as eccentric and essential as ever, as this label debut from inspired Norwegian oddball DJ Sotofett proves. By his standards, “Ol Pa Ibiza” and the stripped back “Ol Pa Klubb” are pretty straightforward, with the Sex Tags man laying ricocheting dub notes and percussion hits over a rock solid drum track and booming bassline. “Ol Pa SM-Art Bar” sees him channel the spirit of early British bleep techno and the darker end of Belgian new beat on a clandestine mid-tempo chugger, while “Drikkepause” is a quick-fire shot of ambience built around echoing bells. Finally, he heads for a dirty warehouse on the acid-laden, EBM informed sleaziness of “Nekta Ol Par City Club”.
Jamie Paton, one half of the duo Cage and Aviary has in interviews expressed his thoughts about if ‘Slouchy techno’ can be viewed as an own genre. The answer lies in this 7” – ‘Telefuture / Blind Summit’ – released on Hoga Nord Rekords, on which the label above is highly appropriate to sum up the sound. The tracks contain elements from your techno favorites dating three decades back, but the tempo and the production creates a slouchy (in the words most positive sense) feeling clearly influenced by the slow motion house of Cage and Aviary.
The history of dance music is littered with one-hit wonders. The mysterious Sahara-Ja, whose one and only 12″ appeared on Australian label Central Station back in 1989, is a perfect example. Since slipping out in limited quantities 18 years ago, the Egyptian Lover-does-’80s soul cut “I’m An Arabian Knight” has become something of an in-demand record amongst collectors. This timely reissue contains all four versions included on the original ’89 release, including a tasty instrumental and the must-heavy Funky Arabian Mix. This sublime version puts more emphasis on the producer’s killer electro rhythm, dreamy chords, and cascading, Persian style synthesizer melodies.
The Hipodrome Of Music 