Three track EP with deep driving techno tracks.
techno
Julia Pé – Una Vuelta Al Sol En Madrid Pt1
Ulwhednar – 1520 [NE013]
Abdulla Rashim and Varg’s collaborative project are back for another quest in sonic experiments and northern tales. Even if they do release obscure drone from time to time Northern Electronics continues to up hold its reputation as record label worthy of the tag: ‘buy on sight’. That can definitely be said about Varg and Abdullah Rashim’s second full length as Ulwhednar. For some dirty Rashim loops look to “De 92 Vita Stenarna” while for some Nordic drone splashed with Varg’s trademark space echoes check out “Kattarens Dom”, and if you want to experience what the crash landing of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise sounds like there’s “Askan Fran Balet”.
Mike Servito @ No Way Back, Movement (Detroit) 25.05.2014
Iron Blu – Science Probe Vessel [FLR011]
Iron Blu is a UK producer and broadcaster on the mighty Intergalactic FM. His production career has spanned krautrock/cosmic, post-punk, electrofunk to what he does today. Stepping aside from managing and A&R for Flight Recorder, Iron Blu releases his second offering for the label. “Science Probe Vessel” is 12 inches of jackbeat and Detroit techno. A1 is a dub-tinged organ driven 909 jack. A2 is a bass-heavy 909 jack cut through with glacial strings. B1 is heavy Detroit techno. B2 is a deep groovin’ house workout fused with wobbly seesawing strings.
Life’s Track – Velocity [COSMOS002]
Italian duo Life’s Track with raw, analogue house sounds that is physical as well as emotive. The first track here is ‘Stone’, a hurried house jam with raw and splintered hi hats racing over broken sounding drums as urgent synth stabs fill in the spaces left behind. It’s live sounding and loose, ghetto in texture and truly arresting in nature. The b-side starts with ‘Velocity’, another over-driven bit of house with non-stop claps chattering over slower, purposeful kick drums deep down below. Nagging synths slowly shape shift and draw you attention away from the physical percussion, making for a nice duality to the track. Lastly, ‘Invisible Symphony’ is a stripped back techno banger with heavy kicks, a great little hook at its heart and turbo charged synths slicing through it like lasers.
Moodcut – Tame Cats EP [US005]
With prudent timing comes yet another artful release from Greece’s Nous contingent, this time courtesy of Manchester’s Moodcut who muses succinctly on the invisible overlap of Chicago and Detroit’s aural heritages. The Tame Cats EP delves deep into the industrial overtures of each with the melancholy sparseness of sound that characterizes the brutally beautiful aspects of man-machine-music.
Rødhåd @ Boiler Room (Berlin) 07.10.2014
2562 – The New Today [DOUBT003]
Dave Huismans (A Made Up Sound) returns under his 2562 codename with the oneiric ambient/concrète dancefloor states of ‘The New Today’, his 4th solo album in this guise. Where its predecessor, ‘Air Jordan’, also for his When In Doubt label, took inspiration from the arid landscapes of the Middle East, ‘The New Today’ draws upon ideas sketched out whilst 2562 was in New York, late summer 2013, and was later finished at his home studio in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Rather than disco samples, as with his last LP ‘Fever’, he sources from and splices together an enviable library of European synth experiments, new age tapes, avant-garde, post punk, pop and long forgotten aces, offering an entirely different palette of textures and tones. Ambient is a keyword here, taking inspiration from the feeling of drift of utopian/dystopian novels, as much as the sublimation of electro-acoustic processes. Between the humid concrète drone sphere of ‘Arrival’ and the sweeping celestial space of closer ‘New Life’, there’s a keen sense of momentum through dreamy time and space, taking in the airborne melodies and syncopation of ‘Vibedoctor’ and ‘Utopia’ along with killer Afro-centric gyrations in ‘Terraforming’. Inarguably, it’s the the most diffuse yet cohesive and involving album in his celebrated cache.
Distant Echoes – Fury Road EP [DYSTOPIAN009]
Sean Dixon – Believe EP [FINALCHAPTER004]
Swedish producer Sean Dixon once again contributes with his characteristic sound. Classic analogue synths and drum machines used in his very own way, with the result being three killer melodic and warm tracks, all with short vocal parts on top. Fellow swede Sankt Göran wraps things up with an excellent floor friendly remix of the title track Believe.
Juju & Jordash – Clean-Cut (Album Sampler) [DKMNTL020]
Dekmantel opens a one-sided window into the new album from two of the most unpredictable on the scene, Juju & Jordash.
Savage Grounds – Over Fences [LXRC020]
Savage Grounds are CCO and Daniele Cosmo, co-owner of Lux Rec. A techno related outfit to explore a darker, noisier and more menacing sound. The EP has been realized by using only three machines. A Roland 808, a modular synthesizer and a Roland Space Echo. Every track has been recorded live with a minimum of post processing. Come over the fence and dance with the savages.
Korrupt Data – Korrupt Data [PLE65366-1]
Surfacing earlier this year with two 12″s on Planet E, the anonymous Korrupt Data now deliver a debut album for Carl Craig’s label. Korrupt Data’s music straddles the divide between Kraftwerk and Model 500 without the crazy frenetics of Drexciyan electro. Said to be made with ‘old kit’ this 11-track album is spread across two discs and it’s very much geared for the dancefloor and sounding distinctly Detroit. Highlights include the vocoder electro space pop of “Inter Arrival”, the glitchy tones and rigid beats of “Photons, Protons, Microns, Mutrons” and the emotional techno acid of “Memory Loss”.
Recid – Uranium Ghetto [NCZ003]
An EP done by Ukrainian producer ‘Recid’ – 3 catchy techno bangers accompanied by straightforward remix done by Saint Petersburg based techno producer Sanys. The EP is named after one of the key elements in universe and Recid’s home city Kirovograd which is full of uranium mines.
SVN & AU feat Paleo – On Tempo / It Takes Time [WANIA100EG]
A-side with pounding worked up and almost gnarly techno by SVN, feat. vocals by Paleo aka Paleologos Koukouvelis. Flip-to-B and dive into a ultra deep chorded stabber by AU (SVN and DNL) for those hours hanging in the air, also this side features Paleo on vocals – giving it a spiritual transit – from the energy in the room when produced.
G-String @ LAB-1 (Eindhoven) 17.10.2014
Xosar – Hunt You [VV015]
Xosar’s new release for Valcrond Video marks the onset of a darker, more dungeons & dragons oriented point of view. The four tracks feature both propulsive, doom-laden beats and expansive drum-free dream spaces. These sounds, appropriate for perved-out DJs and depressed teens alike, trace a narrative of pursuit, captivity, and erotic exsanguination. Held in a stone tower, a prisoner’s fluids are harvested for carnal application, before he is finally allowed to drain and find release in euphoric fields: bare dead trees, empty veins.
Hieroglyphic Being – The Four Dimensions Of A Nubian Mystic [TCLR009]
Deep and tripping acid backed with some jazzed out drumworks on the flip. Producer and boss of Mathematics records, Chicago’s Jamal Moss a.k.a Hieroglyphic Being is a one-off musical explorer. Jamal’s music takes cues from the EBM and House that played a huge part in the city’s musical underground in the late eighties and early nineties, notably Ron Hardy and Adonis, but also Industrial, Avant-Jazz and Noise. His releases, much like his music, have straddled House labels and the more leftfield avant garde electronic imprints with ease. However his deeply held Afrofuturist intent and the discipline of his radical designs set him apart from the pack. Always moving forward, his music is an ever-evolving transmission from his mind to our bodies, or as he sees it, a form of meditation that the supple, tuned listener will enjoy immensely.
45 ACP – Dog In The Night 07 [DIN007]
45 ACP who has seen prior releases on the Odd Frequencies label presents a dense five tracker that is equal parts dj fodder as well as dips into the low tempo trip tracks. This one crosses all lines taking you to bizzaro world and back to the club again.
The Hipodrome Of Music 