Hieroglyphic Being – The Disco’s Of Imhotep [TCLR015]

Seriously strong Jamal Moss LP under his Hieroglyphic Being moniker. “The Disco’s Of Imhotep is about creating Frequencies and Vibrations for the Listener that are conducive for him or her to Heal The Mind and Body and Enrich the Soul by creating Hemi-Synced Harmonies and music that contains embedded Binaural Beats. We have been made to believe that electronic sounds are just for Movement, Enlightenment, Primal Afflictions and Entertainment purposes, but it’s much more… It’s Sound Healing, but the ancestors would call it Frequency Medicine. Medicine is Healing and this project is dedicated to one of Earth’s first Healers: High Priest Imhotep. The One who comes in Peace, is with Peace.”

vinyl / CD

Hieroglyphic Being – The Disco’s Of Imhotep [TCLR015]

O. Xander – From Antartica With Love [US010]

When he made his debut on Nous Disques last year, there was much discussion about whether O.Xander – AKA DJ Rei Ayanami – was actually from Antarctica, as his sparse Soundcloud profile claimed. Either way, he’s decided to roll with the theme on this fine follow-up, From Antarctica With Love. The EP’s five tracks variously touch on icy electro (“Snowspeeder Blues”), windswept acid (“Thru Our Veins”), glacial electronica (“A Perfect Balance”), and clanking, mechanical techno (the deep but metallic “Full Spectrum”). The latter track is also featured in Juniper Dub form, with the Smallville and meandyou duo excelling at combining cut-up melody snippets with rolling, drum machine rhythms.

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O. Xander – From Antartica With Love [US010]

Tensal – Cause Effect EP [POLEGROUP039]

Tensal, half of Exium, aka Héctor Sandoval is releasing his first solo EP on the PoleGroup label. Cause Effect is a 4 tracker that shows different explorations of the sound crafted from Moog synths, starting in a more slow-paced A side – Cause- to a more aggressive B side – Effect -. Expect spatial Techno trips and contagious tones, totally according to the PoleGroup stamp.

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Tensal – Cause Effect EP [POLEGROUP039]

NHK yx Koyxen – Doom Steppy Reverb [DIAG034]

Japanese experimenter Kouhei Matsunaga has been quietly building an exceptional discography as NHK yx Koyxen and the numerous variances. With prior NHK yx Koyxen output on PAN, Skam and Raster Noton, Matsunaga’s growing alliance with Powell’s Diagonal label makes perfect sense. A fresh NHK yx Koyxen LP that expands on his fuzzy, texture-laden, leftfield techno blueprint. So, while there’s plenty of industrial-influenced darkness, claustrophobic tape hiss, and redlined rhythms, the Japanese artist also includes quietly beautiful textures and hazy, looped melodies. This is most evident on the foreboding, late night swing of “Y”, where the application of dub delays helps emphasize the skewed, doom-laden mood.

vinyl / CD

NHK yx Koyxen – Doom Steppy Reverb [DIAG034]

VA – Volume 1 [PB001]

P-Balans is a new imprint in the Future Nuggets emerging constellation. A tehnodelia ramification within the Bucharest electronic scene that will host rising names like Khidja and Borusiade while introducing new characters like The Holy Fix (Camil Dumitrescu, co-member of Delusion Men) and Utopus (Ion D, producer of Steaua de Mare, Raze de Soare, Anahore?ii among others) already featured on “Sounds on the Unheard from Romania vol. 2”. Keeping the same strategies of fusion and diffusion as Future Nuggets, P-Balans will explore the space traversal to techno, entering and exiting the dark halls of the club through multiple doors.

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VA – Volume 1 [PB001]

John T. Gast – Overseer [APRON025]

“Overseer” finds the illusive John T. Gast align with FunkinEven’s Apron label for a sharp, club-ready one-sided 12″. Gast’s appearance on Apron sees him fully engaging in techno forms on his own terms. Wasting little time to kick in, “Overseer” sees a coldly delivered spoken word vocal uttered amidst a cacophony of drum machine hits and synth-shaped drama.

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John T. Gast – Overseer [APRON025]

VA – Tales From The Dark Side EP Volume II [KW020]

This is the second episode of our Various Artists serie. The Fallen (a collaboration between Plural (James Johnson) and FBK (Kevin Kennedy)) opens the E.P. with Interference, a fast paced killer hypnotic dance floor friendly dub track: they create a sound that is unique, fluid and extremely danceable. Philippe Petit follows with Exposed, a stripped down, bleepy bass-heavy rhythmic piece of techno. Julixo brings us Own Structure, an aggressive jackin techno track leading to a warm synth line that will leave nobody indifferent. Terrence Dixon closes the E.P. with Odd Numbers, a track that only him can do. Sub bass melodic techno reduced to the max.

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VA – Tales From The Dark Side EP Volume II [KW020]

Ness – A Personal Voyage EP [MMV004]

A Personal Voyage Ep These walls have made us the beings we are. They have listened and echoed, our words, our creed, our hate. These walls have tied down the souls of us; they made us insane, hysterics, in observing defenceless, uncredulous that there was not, any reaction. We can only halt us, after having used up our nails, over these walls now rough because of our shouts, our burned hopes, by our passions damned; by our minds, dinned. None could ever help us, because as slaves we feel and now we are, of these cursed walls and of these walls damned that, however still give a sense, to our cold life.

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Ness – A Personal Voyage EP [MMV004]

VA – Sleep Not Found [TRP008]

Nina Kraviz’ TRIP label knows how to put out conceptual releases featuring some high calibre music canvassing a wide spectrum of artists. “This Sleep Not Found” edition sees the label tap into some minimal sounds thanks to cuts from Roma Zuckerman, a TRIP upstart, Perlon’s Maayan Nidam (“Justice For Some” is damn funky!) and label faithful Exos. His “Dub Jazz” track helps bridge the gap between minimal and techno, with heavier cuts coming from Bbbbbb, A_000 and Deniro’s Skudge-like “G”.

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VA – Sleep Not Found [TRP008]

Bleak – Relics EP [NR004]

Naura Records presents the third release of the Bleak series. ‘Relics’ is a full oriented dance floor track, twisted and static in all directions.’Black Ice’ reveals itself as a cataclysmic and intelligent analog tool with pulsating baselines and profound deepness.

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Bleak – Relics EP [NR004]

Artefakt – The Final Theory [FIELD021]

The excellent Field label embarks on a new mini trilogy of EPs that will “present a magical journey through modern-day trance.” First up in the series is Artefakt with their three track effort The Final Theory. Dutch producers Robin Koek and Nick Lapien make up Artefakt, and between them they excel at moody voodoo music on labels like Delsin. They open this latest EP with the title track, a deep, spacious house roller with subtle pads and gentle acid that perform slow motion acrobatics for nearly ten minutes. It is suspensory, dreamy music that works on the head as well as the heel. Moving Horizon is then less doleful and introspective but just as deep, with sweeping pads add a sense of scale, busy drums bring the dynamism and icy percussive sounds adding a sense of urgency. Last but not least, Solaris is a fatter, more physical groove with claps and gloopy bass, acid flashes and trancey pads all fleshing out a lush and deep electro workout. This is heavenly stuff that cannot fail to get inside your head and heart.

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Artefakt – The Final Theory [FIELD021]

Marcel Fengler – Kyu EP [IMF007]

Strength lies in calmness – and vice versa. Marcel Fengler returns on IMF and offers three new inspirited musical pieces that protrude from the club context just as well as cater for your home stereo, picking up on the diverse musical moods defined by his debut album Fokus (Ostgut Ton, 2013) while concentrating on intertwining sound aesthetics.

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Marcel Fengler – Kyu EP [IMF007]

Africans With Mainframes – Faces of Africa [MATH090]

Noleian Reusse and Jamal Moss team up again as Africans With Mainframes for ”Faces Of Africa EP”. Think early Ibadan or Smile records B-sides of murky excursions in Tribal and Techno.

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Africans With Mainframes – Faces of Africa [MATH090]

Faces of Drums – Popping Off [MATH089]

Returning for another spastic floor beating with jack tracks and Gherkin acid experiments from Steve Poindexter and Jamal Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being, this 3rd Faces of Drums EP on Mathematics does not disappoint.

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Faces of Drums – Popping Off [MATH089]