In The Dark Again welcomes back two old friends: Dmitry Distant and Igors Vorobjovs. They’ve come up with an EP, featuring 6 tracks. You’ll find Igors delivers some intergalactic Electro, and Dmitry lets the melancholy of a gloomy Wave sound rise.
techno
Luxus Varta – Aquamarine Puzzle [SHIP049]
Aquamarine Puzzle marks a new step in the sound of Luxus Varta. Six paths are etched for this journey into time, space and the machine. A spectrum of sound is allowed to roam, to wander into strange worlds of galvanised synthlines, serrating snares and soulful strings. The 12″ is perfectly balanced, astral melodies countered by crisp and precise rhythms, distant harmonies tethered to absorbing bass. A renewed partnership with machinist in arms Paris The Black FU of Detroit Grand Pubahs is formed for the mechanical dreamscape that is “Globb.” A complex and utterly compelling encounter with the Luxus Varta nebula.
Ross 154 – Fragments [ART-EL1]
Originally released on Stefan Robbers’ Eevo-Lute label in 1993, Ross 154 aka Jochem Peteri – now best known for his productions as Newworldaquarium – released four tracks of deep, dark, mysterious hybrid techno interspersed with four delicate ambient interludes.
VA – Texas Instrumentals [TRU003]
Texas Recordings Underground presents Texas Intrumentals EP, featuring deep techno from 4 well-respected producers from the Lone Star State. The A-side features classic techno from 2 well-respected producers in Brooks Mosher and Convextion, the brainchild of Dallas producer Gerard Hanson. Magic Hat and Summer Indoors harken back to late 80s Detroit, filled with strings and harmony that exude the type of emotion you often heard in early Transmat records. Ill76 opens the B-side with the aptly-titled New Years Night, a peak hour techno banger produced by Dallas producer Lacy Lawson, a figure on the Dallas techno scene for 2 decades. Submersible Machines rounds out the EP with the deep techno cut If You Know How I Feel.
Gavin Guthrie – Into The Box EP [COTB001]
Welcome to the all new Children Of The Box, a label heavily inspired by the edgier side of Chicago’s legendary club, the “Music Box”. We’re getting things rolling with a whirlwind of raw Analog recordings by Gavin Guthrie, aka TX Connect. First up is “Dripping”, which carries a vintage (yet modern) Gherkin Jerks sound. The song continuously builds throughout the track, ending in a frenzy of synthesizer’s & 707 drum patterns. The title track “Into the Box” takes you on a hypnotic journey through the mind of Hellraiser’s very own Pinhead. A melodic interlude gives the listener a slight break, but only to return with a vengeance. “Not Forever” brings a “back to the future” vibe, equally stacked with both vintage & modern elements. The song comes complete with an overpowering low synth line & 707 drums.
Closing things out is “Destinies”, a track inspired by the deeper side of the Windy City. A more than perfect ending to a stellar release.
Hypnobeat – Prototech [DE179]
Amongst those that keep track of these things, German trio Hyonobeat are considered proto-techno pioneers. While it’s not known whether Detroit’s Belleville Three were fans, you could argue that Hynobeat’s rhythm-focused approach pre-dated both techno and Chicago house. Thanks to this fine retrospective from Dark Entries, you can judge for yourself. The material included was all recorded between 1983 and 1986, with the wild, off-kilter polyrhythms and ragged TB-303 lines of “The Arumbeya Fetish”, mutant electro of “Kilian” and high-octane thrust of the decidedly out-there “Mission in Congo” standing out. Remarkably, Hypnobeat would chain together drum machines and bass synthesizers to create their tracks – a practice that would later become common during the acid house era.
TYVYT|IYTYI – Platforms [PBD008.5]
TYVYT|IYTYI. A dusty tape of six tracks unearthed beneath the Pinkman Broken Dreams division. Nothing is known about this unnameable artist apart from his sound. A legion of hiss marches across the cassette, a blighted beat bites into lancing synthlines that bellow and writhe in their pitiful attempt to escape. Strings are left to howl in turmoil in tracks born out of a crude joke and wry smile. Mick Wills offers no condolences, the Stuttgart man lashing away any humanity with his embittered edit. Found in the pit, made for the pit.
Retrograde Youth – We’re Not Humans Anymore [PBD008]
A new recruit has been drafted into the Broken Dreams ranks. Retrograde Youth, also known as Felipe Marin, takes up his position with four tracks of tooth and nail electronics. His style is ensconced in EBM, but trying to pin him down is near impossible. Guttural techno aches through the clang of metal and the rattle of rhythms, wave lances in with spiking synth lines as lost samples stalk. Music for scarred psyches that will leave hearts and minds raw.
Roberto Auser- Color Of Your Soul [PNKMN021]
Four years after his excellent Eclipse 12″, Roberto Auser is back on a Rotterdam staple: Pinkman. Color Your Soul has adopted some, but not all, of its older brother’s attributes. Lumbering with menacing intent, the title piece leaves wreckage in its bruising wake. “Do You Want To Believe” is cut from the same deviant cloth. Grunting rhythms stomp on tortured strings, industrial shrieks cry beneath the boot of a raging beat. The closer, “Wake U Up”, has Auser toying with his victim. Steam hisses, acid lines bulge, pistons pound and sirens blare in this boiled work of brooding brutality.
Helena Hauff @ Boiler Room x Dekmantel Festival 06.08.2017
Conforce live @ Dimensions Festival 01.09.2017
RA.589 Erika
Ben Sims – Gamma Ray Subway EP [DRH055]
Four techno banging tracks by UK Legend Ben Sims, on the A side Rippin & Skippin is this relentless Jackin heavy Techno jam. Gamma Ray Subway is a Funky Hypnotic and repetitive jam that can somehow be pictured in a Jeff Mills set, while on the B side it’s Acid attack. The Stalker is a darky heavy monster, while Acid OD is a dope and raw Acid jam.
Re:axis – Selected Tracks From “Ten” Album [MONOCLILTD001]
After the success of Monocline’s latest digital imprints, we re super happy to present to you our first vinyl release with selected tracks from ‘TEN’ album by Re:Axis, featuring two beautiful remixes of Abstract Division and TWR72. A magical and passionate nifty piece of work which can free our minds to embrace the senses, rising the frequency once again through the energetic vibration of love.
Heartless – Impulse Model [126D-03]
The first release from Heartless on Steve Bicknell’s 6dimensions. Acid tinged techno lives throughout the EP. Hazy modular sequences, sizzling precision crushed atop of a constant kick drum creating an organic aesthetic. Impulse Model exudes human emotion, the EP’s emotional depth lies beneath its techno construct within coarse and bruised production which gives the release a confidently imperfect aura. The production process for Heartless is a ‘way of absorbing things that have happened and completely escaping from them’, ultimately Heartless has composed an EP that condones escapism whilst the listener stays firmly rooted in their emotional state.
Nuel – Tecnica [SEM086]
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.
Phuong-Dan @ Dekmantel Festival 04.08.2017
Ron Morelli – GeezerMix 011
Interstellar Funk @ Dekmantel Festival 05.08.2017
Borusiade – Dekmantel Podcast 139
The Hipodrome Of Music 