Function aka Dave Sumner presents “Incubation”, his first solo album on Ostgut Ton. Over nine tracks we are guided through the varying moods and scenes of Function’s musical temperament. Be it through writhing layered club tracks, soaring string-led atmospheres, or melodic pieces founded on classic electronic traditions, ‘Incubation’ marks a new level of maturity for the Berlin-based producer.
Expert attention to detail across all visual and sonic elements is present and correct once again on this sick new release from the Avian nest, with the label opting for a cardboard sleeve this time. Label co-founder Shifted is at the helm, presenting the first of a two part Cold Light series; “Cold Light Sektor A” is all about the contrast between elements as the near incandescent lightness of those dubby chords battles with the growing weight of Shifted’s sludgy rhythmic arrangements. Complementing this, “Sektor B” opts to burrow down a plinking locked groove making it a perfect DJ tool.
Low-key German producer Yør returns to similarly low key Dutch imprint Purple Maze for his third full outing on the label in the form of the ‘Sublimation EP’. Across the four tracks Yør continues to explore the same frayed and decayed, abstract electronics as he has in the past. The opener and title track is an intense and moody, nerve jangling affair where huge searching synths pan in the background of grinding drums and dense percussive clatter before ‘Gravity’, with its heavyweight and churning drums, trudges on through sonic scuzz and lo-fi blizzards as a backlit melody keeps things from growing all too dark and abstract. The dystopian, tortured industrial funk of ‘Parallels’ with its slapping claps and decaying percussive lines are proof of that, where through chaos comes beautiful order. Closer ‘Trust’ holds its head a little higher, more spiralling synths and bleepy fax machines tones add a sense that the apocalypse is coming and machines will take over, but there’s enough organic beauty in the deeply hidden melodies to keep the track from being all too hostile.
Here’s a brand new stellar cooperation by Oscar Mulero & Christian Wünsch. The duo’s commitment is to depart from their trademark sound in search of a new transmission. They join software and hardware to create this four-piece EP that explores the deeper side of techno, heavily inspired by space and futurism, focusing on liquid textures, harmonic sequences and classic drum machine sounds, yet preserving the danceable feeling.
The first release on the new label Another Intelligence comes with four transmissions from an other word by Spaniard Tadeo. Four tracks of complete trip along the visions by visitors of another worlds with a different intelligence. Good for the high class dance floors and the best thinking minds. Dynamics, solids and differences. The techno of the future is in our living present. Just, obtain your own conclusions.
“Modify” is rawest bleep techno that revels in a dry beat, a repeating melodic phrase and an undulating vocal hook, devastating in its simplicity. “10th” however opts for a dub techno approach, letting a plush chord pulse in and out of the action while the beat remains a muted but driving kind of techno. “30” ends on a curiously tropical note, working an exotic flavour into the rolling construction through some crafty handling of hand claps, rounding off a sterling EP.
Two originals, Speedlight Speedmind and Dynamic Arrangements, complimented by a rework of ROD. The A-Sides minute soundscaping, Hood, Mills and Search-esque sounds, precise filtering and delicate accents throughout and the flipsides wicked Basic Channel-like stabs turn both originals into weapons. Classic techno done in an impeccable manner. ROD strips, shuffles and roughens Speedlight Speedmind up in his trademark get to the point fashion. Aimed at destroying any dancefloor RODs rework keeps the original close, but lets only its basic instincts deftly filter through at just the right moments. Bomb, its really that simple.
Killer release on Frozen Border again. Three track EP with advanced functional trippy techno tracks. Purified techno reductions from Joe Cocherell. A-side ‘Commerce Above All Else’ gritted hustle; layers of stripped-down percussion glint and sync with latinized sleight while gloomy pads and drones darken the view. Flipside, ‘Foundation’ is kinkier, running hypnotic bleeps and sticky EBM percussion to great effect next to the pumping ‘Poptones’ stepper.
Thema announce Minimalism Re:Vision, featuring remixes of Terrence Dixon’s groundbreaking Minimalism Part 1 from 1995. Revising it is a tough task to tackle, thus, Thema present three equally reverent mixes by today’s finest techno figures on a full EP, Mike Huckaby, Silent Servant, and DVS1.
Appian Sounds is a new Vinyl Only Label based out of London with firm roots in Dublin. The first release is by analogue techno don Eduardo De La Calle. Three beautifully crafted Techno cuts of varying degrees of intensity to suit all intimate dancefloors.
Thema presents the first up out of the 3 releases for the Re:Vision series, Steve Poindexter’s timeless classic “Computer Madness”. It’s hard to imagine that this was really created over 2 decades ago, and Thema made sure to find the right minds to revise this masterpiece. Function and Jerome Sydenham where chosen for this one.
Abstract Division venture away from their own Dynamic Reflection imprint for the first time, releasing the Relevance EP for Portuguese label Labyrinth. The deep and repetitive bleeps of “Relevance” suggest it’s a track for peak-time dancefloors during longer sets. Pacou inventively reworks the original into an effective loop made up of the same elements, only upping the intensity, whereas Michaelangelo does away with any bleeps in his version, substituting them for an acid bassline and dissonant synths. Forward Strategy Group maintain Abstract Division’s late night vibe via subtle blips embedded in dusty atmospherics and ricocheting reverberations.
Jeff Derringer fashions hypnotic loops into deep and darkly charged techno. Now comes Situational Ethics, Jeff’s first full three-track EP. Over “Ambition”, “Compassion” and “Shame” Jeff Derringer masterfully builds tension with shamanic cyclical rhythms and punishing basslines, weaved here into potent and intoxicating concoctions from haunted beginning, viper-laden middle to heavyweight end. Electric Deluxe bedfellow Brendon Moeller then concludes the EP with a rework of “Shame” plied with signature Moeller-crafted sounds over a punchy, turbulent beat that only just about lifts Jeff Derringer’s powerful spell.
First release in a brand-new series of heavily textured, hypnotic and puristic techno by one of Holland’s veteran’s in this area of expertise. This twelve marks the official launch of the second alter ego from Nijmegen’s Darko Esser. You might call Tripeo the nemesis of his other project Onionboy. Where Onionboy is as eclectic as he can get, Tripeo is all about niches and purism. All trips are inward journeys through explicit sounddesigns, textures and rhythms.
The Hipodrome Of Music 