‘Draw The Line’ is a brand new techno compilation from Semantica featuring Regis, Oscar Mulero, ASC, Stanislav Tolkachev, Anthony Linell, Jonas Kopp, Claudio PRC & Blazej Malinowski, Valentino Mora, D-Leria, Sciahri & Desroi, Simone Giudice and Svreca.
Cio D’Or returns to Semantica with a new brand conceptual mini-LP. Self-styled “sound architect” and “music creator” Cio D’Or has been strangely quiet since releasing a ‘special edition’ of her “All In All” album back in 2016. Comeback EP “Fluidum III” is a fine collection of alien electronic workouts that sound like they were created via modular synthesis. What we get is six tracks built around watery sounds, swelling electronic motifs, spaced-out noises and occasional quirky rhythms. While some of the tracks – particularly “Climate” and “Celestial II” – boast deep but weighty kick-drum tracks in the techno tradition, for the most part the tracks are sparse, alien and devoid of dancefloor intent. The results are consistently alluring, albeit in a strange and spaced-out way.
Second time around for the third and final part of electro hero Gerard ‘ERP’ Hanson’s “Evoked Potentials” series, which first hit stores way back in 2011. A-side “Repose” is (quite literally) classic ERP, with Hanson peppering Egyptian Lover style drums and funky synth-bass with chiming lead lines, starburst chords and deep space chords. It’s tuneful and picturesque, but will also have you on your feet and throwing shapes in no time at all. Over on the flip, Plant43 (London electro veteran Emile Facey) turns in a very Drexciyan take on “Sensory Process”, in the process wrapping Hanson’s bittersweet strings and 33rd century electronic motifs around a suitably deep sea electro rhythm.
“Be Careful And Nobody Dies” is Stanislav Tolkachev’s first release of 2020 and debut for Spanish imprint Semantica. Super nice versatile EP with a stunning electro cut (the title track) and some sick adventurous techno tunes.
Artefakt returns to Semantica to present their second album entitled “Monsoon”. It would be fair to say that Artefakt have not succumbed to the pitfalls of “difficult second album syndrome”. In fact, “Monsoon” is arguably an even stronger and more entertaining set than their lauded 2017 debut on Delsin, “Kinship”. Its genius lies in the Dutch duo’s ability to craft atmospheric, dancefloor-ready techno cuts that prioritize mood and melody as much as bustling beats and rhythmic intensity. While their inherent grasp of atmosphere is best personified by the album’s opening and closing ambient cuts, it can also be heard in the broken techno hypnotism of “Inverted Forest”, the trance-influenced grooves and dreamy electronics of “Monsoon” and the yearning, early morning throb of “Vertigo”.
Oscar Mulero presents: ‘Perfect Peace’. Don’t expect dancefloor burners here, this time the spanish techno master goes deep and low, exploring sonic textures, low BPM grooves and the intelligent side of electronic music. Melodies, pads, drones and grooves collide in this soulful collection, conceived to be listened as a soundtrack. Oscar is not new to this sounds, in his Grey Fades To Green or Muscle and Mind albums he showcased his abilities in this field as well as with his Av projects Biolive and Monochrome. A new step in Oscar Mulero’s ever growing career, showing his studio skills and music taste, far beyond his role as a fundamental techno dj.
Advance 12″ of the upcoming Oscar Mulero album ‘Perfect Peace’, SEMANTICA 70 with some deep electronix.
New chapter on Nonnative series. New Semantica artists Cosmin TRG, Samuli Kemppi, Opuswerk and Refracted featuring Nonnative 09.
For the 101 release Semantica comes with a special triple album packed with talented techno producers dropping some deep trippy techno knowledge right here.
Manuel Fogliata is one of Italian techno’s most singular artists and deservedly gets lumped in with the modern sound of Rome alongside such greats as Donato Dozzy: whom he’s collaborated with as Aquaplano. The Madrid based Semantica imprint is a fitting home for his style of tribal-trance techno, which incorporates hypnotic elements (much like his peers) but with more emphasis on polyrhythms: his niche. A side cut “Blue-Ray” is one such track: a Roman raindance.. if we’ve ever heard such a thing! On the flip, he’s got you covered for droning/tripped-out late night adrenaline on “Caustic” while “Deep Thought” really does rate him up there with legends like Mike Parker or Cio D’or when its comes to conjuring those ghosts in the machine: this is real heady techno geared for some proper ‘WTF’ moments on the dancefloor.
Any new project from Convextion man Gerard Hanson’s ERP project is worth celebrating, particularly when it is stretched over three 10-inch singles. Part one of the Evoked Potentials series offers two typically on-point chunks of intergalactic electro. He begins with “Sensory Progress”, where vintage computer bleeps, throbbing electrofunk bass, spacey chords and yearning melodies wrap themselves around a snappy TR-808 groove. Flipside “Lodestone” is a slightly more atmospheric affair, where cascading synthesizer melodies and grandiose, deep space chords cluster around a shuffling rhythm track. It sounds a little like Drexciya jamming with Brown Album-era Orbital, which is no bad thing in our book.
The French producer Amandra comes on Semantica with the Shota Mariachi, including four pulsating, minimalist Techno tracks.
Volumi Dinamici is the second long player of Claudio PRC, a project that combines music and art inspired by the Futurist concepts of movement and dynamism and artistic currents such as Abstract Expressionism; the name itself is a tribute to a work of Italian artist and pioneer Luigi Russolo. Volumi Dinamici is a collection of 11 tracks accompanied by the same number of illustrations, different from each other but characterized by a common technical and compositional approach. The several shades of the atmospheres and the linear rhythm of the grooves come together to form a dense and mental musical dimension, a journey into the sounds and their intrinsic symbolic value. Depth, lights, shadows and noises are tangible elements of this work that mark the beginning of a new sound research based mainly on the instinctive use of machines and analogue instruments.
Sixth installment on the 10 years series featuring tracks by Vril, Iori, Eduardo de la Calle and a special collaboration from Andreas Tilliander and Svreca.
Fifth 12″ on the 10 years series featuring tracks by Silent Servant, Varg, Nuel and Giorgio Gigli.
Hypnotising drone techno from the other world. Entangled In Vines is an intricate collection of tracks that span across the entire techno realm, from slow-burning hypnotics to high-tech warehouse blasters. “Enter” is the perfect example of this man’s style, a largely beatless tune that still drags plenty of movement across the groove, and “Getting Closer” quickly ups the tempo with a fine layer of bass and kicks. “Escape” transports us across a deep techno wormhole, and “Wrapped” delivers Acronym’s inimitable swarm of hollow tones in the same vein as artists like Donato Dozzy.
Semantica Records marks 10 years with a worldwide tour and a 10 release series in 2016. Semantica 10.I features tracks from Donato Dozzy, Mod21, Stanislav Tolkachev and Skirt in a 4 track EP.
‘All in all’ getting a special treatment from Milton Bradley, Electric Indigo & Monolake, Mike Parker and Svreca.
The Hipodrome Of Music 