Ital & Aurora Halal return to Lovers Rock with ‘Tower B,’ an EP of enigmatic techno explorations. ‘Shenzhen River’ opens: an ominous, questing acid line stretches its tendrils around nocturnal atmospheres. ‘From the Brink’ counters with glints of warm melody. On side B, the title track unfurls with slithering percussion and a menacing drone. Ambient closer ‘Where Exactly I Am’ picks up the pieces, lost voices traveling across the stereo field, searching for answers through an endless pale haze.
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.
Berlin-based producer Lapien serves up an atmospheric three tracker on Rekids. Also known as Metropolis or one half of Artefakt, Nick Lapien’s last three releases have landed on Finale Sessions, Fred P’s Soul People Music and DVS1’s Mistress Recordings. Releasing on Rekids, the multifaceted Dutch artist’s next outing features three mesmerising cuts with the dusky ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ initiating the package using infectious hats, subtle sub-bass and an indistinguishable vocal that ebbs subtly in and out of the mix. ‘As It Is’ is the most robust number on the package with its undulating percussion and moody chords taking centre stage, until ‘Vexed’ concludes everything with gloomy pads, shuffling hats and echoing effects.
…and then the Log Lady said: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Yet there are those who open many eyes. Eyes are the mirror of the soul, someone has said. So we look closely at the eyes to see the nature of the soul. Sometimes when we see the eyes — those horrible times when we see the eyes, eyes that … that have no soul — then we know a darkness, then we wonder: where is the beauty? There is none if the eyes are soulless.”
First OYE Black Label Edition comes with two outstanding electro tracks by Alex Seidel. More known more his dusty Max Graef Band deep house jams but makes the crossover into electro on the S.G 12″. On the first side is SG (mix A) a serving of dirty and lowdown electro funk where snappy vintage machine breaks are balanced out by some dreamy Rhodes keys: remnants of Seidel’s more typical work. On the flip, SG (mix B) injects more ferocity and tempo in the track; the breaks on this one get more glitchy and aggressive.
Norwell’s Death Of A Star E.P, released earlier this summer, mixed his usual kosmiche-inspired sounds with the distorted grittiness of ’80s industrial music. It was impressive, and now Pinkman has decided to offer up two remixes apiece of EP highlights “Nordic Nights” and “Death of A Star”. The former track is given the acid-flecked, 8-bit techno treatment by Antenna, before S Olbricht turns it into an unsettling, Motor City-influenced roller. Delta Funkitonen channels the spirit of EBM pioneers Nitzer Ebb on his throbbing interpretation of “Death Of A Star” – all psychedelic synthesizer arpeggios and restless kick drums – before DJ Overdose steals the show with an inspired electro remake of the same track.
Brooks Mosher, one of Dolly’s solid regulars, delivers another excellent high quality Detroit injected house EP.
Two original tracks and two edits from Detroit’s up-and-coming talent: Val G. Her youthful fresh style shows she’s learning to stand on her own two feet behind gear that’s been around decades longer than she has.
Following up from his critically acclaimed industrial flecked debut album on Skudge White; Bristol’s October comes correct with a new series of 10” records, each featuring under-polished no frills club cuts aimed straight at the floor, rough enough to strip paint from the walls.
Following a couple of strong releases on labels such as Russian Torrent Versions, Dog in The Night and Wilson Records, Fabio Monesi finally makes his debut on his own Hardmoon London imprint in which he released his music, since 2014, under his alias Hissman.
Two compositions, scored for trio: Papyrus is excursive and melancholic, with giveaway distorted kicks; the flip is more hard-hitting and propulsive, with an industrial intensity lifted by simple piano motifs.
IXVLF is back at it again following the Language Of mini-album released earlier this year as part of our ongoing tape series. Pushing it further from where we last left off, Connor Clasen’s vinyl debut reflects our ever growing desire to re-interpret club music in its most primitive and cartilaginous nature. While cleverly obscuring any reference to a specific period of time, Involuntary Movement shows a sense of the American-based producer stretching disorienting imagery over the existing landscape of proto-industrial — matching the visual interpretation of Ailsa Ogden undertaking the artwork by way of a new collaboration to be expanded over a handful of releases — where unpolished synthesizers and rhythm machines collide and bawl in a controlled crash. It is an exercise of existing in various states of detachment; a fixation on mechanical repetition and unpredictable behaviors through the haze of helium laughter. Definitely one for the animals.
FR Fels is making his debut on Ortloff Records with a four track journey through analogue mindscapes. Record and sleeve are provided with a phosphorescent silkscreen print.
JASSS debuts on Mannequin Records for the “Death Of The Machines” series with a killer 3 track mix of ebm/industrial & wave on this heavy 12”. Perfect for the most abrasive dancefloors.
The Hipodrome Of Music 