German based imprint BAROC return with their second instalment. Paperwork steps up with three untitled cuts of properly raw, atmospheric house and techno. Drums thump whilst synths and fx float around the perimeters. Comes hand stamped, limited copies with inserts.
Pronounced Ay One Four, the A14 label is a new offshoot of Blackest Ever Black dedicated to issuing everything from “serpentine breakbeat reductions to straight-up terminator trax” in the 12″ format. The debut release comes from December, the recently adopted alias of Parisian producer Tomas More whose earlier material for Correspondant and Items & Things is far removed from the music he now makes. If you picked up the December tape for Where To Now? issued back in August you should have an idea of the abstract textures More now deals in, and there’s something a bit Beau Wanzer about the wave-indebted techno of lead track “In Advance Of The Broken Arm”. Proceedings get a bit more bugged out on the flip with “Collapse” accurately summed up as “khat-crazed small hours death-dub” by the label.
Lobster Theremin debut yet another young Berlin talent in the form of the electro and new wave future-son Privacy. Drawing on a rich heritage of Detroit and Dutch staggered soundworks and beat engineering, Privacy’s debut is a spectral reminder of the power of the swung beat with roaring synthesizer mechanics and industrial leanings all present and correct.
New Jersey’s Joey Anderson joins the TANSTAAFL family in fine tripping, jacking & twisting style. Body & soul music for the headstrong. Joey ‘s take on techno and house – sparse and mechanical, but heavily influenced by both classic Detroit futurism and the twisted pulse of Chicago acid.
If you are looking for a massive slab of techno, you won’t find anything released this week that’s as hefty as Aphelion. A triple vinyl box set from Belgian label Token, Aphelion is essentially a primer for the best in contemporary techno, featuring contributions from Surgeon, Rodhad, James Ruskin, Karenn and Planetary Assault System alongside some label regulars. You will have probably already heard “Fixed Action Pattern” from Surgeon, it’s possibly one of this year’s finest techno 12″s, but it’s got some stiff competition here with Ruskin in particularly funked up form on “No Trace”.
Sonic contributions come from two TEAL newcomers A Sagittariun and Matti Turunen, as well as the return of Jared Wilson to the label with a fresh cut of his own. The opening drum break swirls into synth-line and syncopation europhoria on Gravitational Push. The droning bassline cuts a groove in the space-time continuum that’s so deep, it could put some discussions in Geneva to shame. The playful arpeggios of Spice Flow mask the underlying moody pads, resulting in an unusually honest piece of dance music. Flipping the disc reveals a two-track contribution by Matti Turunen. Menacing kicks and synth chirrups begin Substellar Object as a dark chest-rattling piece. However, its sonic frequency emission spectrum eventually widens into a lush composition. When we arrive at the Apoapsis of our sonic orbit, we are met with a stuttering of rhythms and bleeps. An emotional line melody confidently marks the end of our journey.
Skudge Records presents an involved and masterful album of deep acid from Sweden’s Martin Skogehall aka MRSK.
DJ, producer, all-round music connoisseur and entertainer, Jean Nipon, drops a dope new EP on ClekClekBoom after his first effort for the label released in late 2012. Four touching tracks from someone who likes his house deep, remote and brittle.
Back for one more night with Hardmoon London. Fresh new, gritty, mind-altering tracks by way of Steve Murphy and the eight armed, cephalopod mollusc, DJ Octopus. The Duo are bringing their ecstatic energy for an exciting break in the the label. Definitely count on some serious hardware action to create the finest dance-floor melters. Encapsulating only the cream of the contemporary electronic sounds with the beautiful renditions of classic house just laced with fat sweltering bass and heavily distorted seizure inducing melodies.
Wargames is back, this time on 12” format for maximum impact. Four new tracks coming in from the dark lord of the weird, do not weep for those who are not prepared.
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”.
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.
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.
The Hipodrome Of Music 