The fourth LAQ is proudly made by Attic’s owner Fabrizio Lapiana. His melodic techno taste is employed into each track moving from hypnotic hard strings of the ”Cold In Summer” to the sour and acidic groove of ”Acid Smiles” (both on the first side). In the b-side Fabrizio goes into more hypnotic and obsessive sound. A sort of progressive-techno vibes served to people who never-stop dancing.
Non Series will reach its fifth anniversary and to celebrate the Spanish label will be releasing a compilation series. Tadeo successfully opens the third and closing part of the compilation with a very strong cut, followed by Eduardo De La Calle’s sophisticated sound, the mesmerising groove of the UK producer Mark Broom and at last, the haunting jams from Aiken.
Population One delivers a stripped down auditory urban narrative full of the city’s industrial internal conversations. Haunting, compelling and raw; looming in the darkness.
‘Elocution’, the third Figure EP from portuguese producer Lewis Fautzi, again displays a high degree of versatility but still comes cleary cut for the club. Employing a rich yet spacious sound design, Fautzi creates cinematic scapes that are at once both brimming with the hums of colossal interstellar machinery yet at the same time leave enough room for a range of carefully sculpted elements to do their work. Whether it be the twisted acid arpeggio on opener Shizophrenia, the imposing drones underscoring the mighty Mirror or the propulsive percussion of centerpiece 37B. Testament to Fautzi’s talent of engaging arrangement, never do the tracks here feel hurried nor do they become stagnant – but rather given just the right time to ripe into their full captivating potential.
Decoder Recordings is back with its second release. Swedish DJ and producer Mattias Fridell delivers strong driving techno on the EP called The Tasker. It contains four tracks, and the title track immediately discloses what’s the deal with this EP: quality loop based techno with Fridell’s signature clearly present. Current World Ecclesiarchy is the second track and on the same level as The Tasker, while 33 Endocytosis is a bit more funky. A pounding remix of that last track is delivered by The Binary Mind.
Debut of the infamous Belgian club imprint Fuse comes by Psyk! Non conformistic techno from the Non Records boss.
The Kill Zone EP by Jeff Mills. Taken from the recent Free Fall Galaxy album. The 12″ contains two previously unreleased tracks.
Ben Sims’ Symbolism imprint returns with Spanish newcomer JLG’s four track ‘Convolution’ EP. Characterised by intricate and interwoven melodic rhythms, some at the forefront and some almost there, JLG’s debut for the label is an infectious and consummate affair.
Eduardo makes his return to Nonplus with the Sensitive Compartmented Information EP. Eduardo is one of techno’s most dedicated underground legends and continues on a path unaffected by fads or fashions. Following on from his Sequoia Symposium in April last year again we have a 4 tracker exploring the deep realms of techno.
With Arc Angel, Planetary Assault Systems departs to new musical frontiers by focussing on melody, but staying rooted in the purist values of techno that Slater shaped over his decades- and generations-spanning career. Techno album of the highest order.
Birth Of Frequency is back on Pole Group. Two original tracks of scientific and complex techno, plus two remixes by Oscar Mulero and Zadig. “The Spelling” is a multi-layered sequenced anthem made of countless synth sounds, a punchy kick and an hypnotic arrangement, for those heady moments on the dance floor. Paris techno founder Zadig remakes “The Spelling”. He adds hypnotising, devastating drum machines and makes the synth line grow and disappear wisely. “Gate” returns to medium tempos, fattens the sound and goes for a deeper discourse. A construction tool for clubby action. Oscar Mulero remakes “Gate” by twisting it completely, adding random step sequences and harmonies, giving the kick a secondary role, and focusing on the essence of the groove.
Donato Dozzy and Neel’s Spazio Disponibile keeps up the pressure here with a fine fourth EP of 2016, this time from Mike Parker. The label – which also has a party of the same name in Rome attached to it – deals in heady techno, so the Geophone label owner and New York artist Parker is a perfect fit with his always deep offerings.
Strong limited, blue colored and handnumbered run. A&S aka Dimi Angelis and Jeroen Search are back on their own imprint. High quality organic spaced out techno at its best.
Hyperbolic Paths is simultaneously deep and bleepy, accented by hi-hats in syncopation. The tom-heavy Suborbital Trajectories carries a serious groove, layered with lively melodic elements and an occasional unexpected statement cymbal crash. A haunting and hypnotic number, Inclination swells and increases in intensity, rolling on after its breakdown with a playful kick-clap interaction. Eccentricity is a spacious, dubby closing track with reverb-soaked ornamental splashes.
‘Temporary Insanity Remixes’ is a 12” featuring the redefinitions of the two original productions of Detroit veteran Terrence Dixon, turned upside down by three of the most groundbreaking electronic music artists as Voiski, Pangaea and Cosmin TRG, appearing alongside label head Simone Gatto. OUT022 operates as a modern take of old school sounds, an hybrid union of all melodic techno sub forms – these remixes keep the mental locked groove material of Dixon’s tracks, adding emotionally irradiating patterns and each producer’s typical paths.
Rawax is proud to present Ron Maney aka DJ Skull on his own Chiwax series called The DJ Skull Saga. This platform will present Ron’s classic releases from the past and his present works. The series is starting with the 1993 classic “Stomping Grounds” which came originally out on the dutch Djax Up label.
Orbis with a slipt EP. On A-side Binny is ramping it up, once again. “Resistance” & “Infinite Ratio” has a brilliant hypnotic tension to it. Simply Binny, UK tension building up and excellent for playing 3 decks. Excellent DJ tools. On the B-side, the veteran Lee Holman takes it to the raw side of analogue techno with two no-nonsense raw material, the way Lee likes to build up his tracks. Straight forward. No compromises. Plain old good techno.
The Hipodrome Of Music 