Versatil EP with strong tracks by Amir Alexander / Hinode / Samuel Andr Madsen / Chris Mitchell. Special Record Store Day 2014 release.
techno
Aiken / Ben Gibson – Words For Silence [EVENTLTD701]
Fierce minimal techno by Aiken and string loaded techno by Ben Gibson on the new release on Chronicle.
Optimist – Vice Versa [AKR003]
Optimist (also known as Hive) plays with the balance of warm, paralysing melodies and rolling, old school drums but not too dark and burdensome. The release comes with a heavy remix by Bleak.
Epi Centrum – Raw [SW115]
Solid stripped down techno tracks with a sexy funky groove coming from the minimal-ish basslines and rattling percussion. Comes with Function and AudioInjection remixes.
Chaos In The CBD – Hot Haus Radio Mix
Romansoff – It Works Podcast #25
VA – Use Of Weapons 6 [UOW006]
Deep Space Orchestra’s Use of Weapons label has always been a reliable source of analogue-heavy left of centre deep house, with each split EP, featuring tracks from a variety of like-minded producers, featuring a range of must-have nuggets. This expansive sixth release, with eight tracks spread across two slabs of wax, is no different. DSO’s beautiful and surprisingly fragile “Mendoza” leads the way, with 7 Citizens calming, alien house groover “Fatum” close behind. Arguably best of all, though, is Other Worlds’ “Coldname ELD”, a sparse and bassy concoction blessed with some brilliant, Head High style pianos. It is, though, all good, with further impressive contributions from the Detroit-included Haku.
VA – Music For Visionaries EP 1 [CINMV12005]
Meaty new various artist ep that features tracks by label head Soy Mustafa, acid man Jared Wilson, dubjack specialist XDB and relative newcomer City 2 City.
Toygun – Tales From The Crypt Demo Tape
Joey Anderson – After Forever [DKMNTL017]
Dutch label Dekmantel release the debut full-length album from New Jersey producer, DJ and Inimeg Records boss Joey Anderson. Entitled After Forever, the album is the natural next step for a producer who has turned out plenty of deep and intriguing techno EPs for labels like Latency, Deconstruct Music and Syncrophone over the last couple of years. Having been championed by the connoisseur likes of Levon Vincent and DJ Qu before the rest of the world cottoned on, Andersons style has proved to be truly idiosyncratic, where near bottomless techno grooves get run through with haunted piano lines, shadowy synth work or elegant drones. There are barely ever any claps or snares, instead just plenty of deeply hypnotic kicks and plenty of noir tension. “Every track on the album has its own take on my personality, my mentality musically and my vision of off-dancefloor music,” says Joey. “I find it very difficult to create something for people just to like. I’d rather pay attention to making them get close to the album and uncover the ideas within it. Being my first LP, it’s dedicated to my two daughters, Akatriel and Auset.”
Xosar – TRAX.102
Drvg Cvltvre – American Psychosis [Part one] [SHIP023.1]
Shipwrec proudly present one of the pioneers of Dutch electronics, Vincent Koreman. Under the mask of Drvg Cvltvre brutish 303 soaked anger is being doled out. An Acid washed Industrial wrath comes in the form of American Psychosis [Part one]. “Acid Flash” sees a new collaboration with Bournmouth’s Chris Moss Acid for a burning piece of aggression. Violent knob squawk is further punished by bullying beats, cruel claps and some late night horror. “I’ll Wear Your Face On A Chain” has the same red mist behind the eyes. Shrill 303 chords run into abrasive drums with darkened vocals prophesising pain.
Factory Floor – How You Say #3 [DFA2439]
‘How You Say’ is the new single from Factory Floor. This third 12″ contains new versions, both from Bookworms aka Nik Dawson, who turned in 2 new versions that were so good, we had no choice but to put them both out.
Sandman – Sandman [ELVAT002]
Another mysterious release from the Take The Elevator camp. Once again no info just mechanical rhythms, dry acidic synths and weird deathly vocals.
Ngly – L.I.E.S. 019.5 [LIES019.5]
Fans of L.I.E.S. couldn’t have failed to notice the Russian Torrent Versions label, a highly limited vinyl-only operation that shares many artists with Ron Morelli’s imprint. While we’ve yet to prove a direct link between the two labels, the latest piece of compelling evidence comes in the shape of this L.I.E.S White Label from NGLY, an anonymous artist who recently debuted on the Russian Torrent Versions label. Fans of dank basement techno will be in their element with this record, with “Service Cost HH2” offering a muddy jack track featuring an uncommonly melodic touch, but “Some Relationships” offers a track in more of a submerged experimental hip hop mould. On the flip, “Speechless Tape” is a dark 303-led track whose copious reverb and spoken word vocal sample puts it somewhere between classic synthwave and acid, while “I Don’t HAve A Soul” harks back to classic Chi house sounds, albeit glimpsed through that gauzy L.I.E.S. filter.
Unbalance @ Re:Forms Night (Kazan) 12.04.2014
Luger @ Control 5 Years Aniversary (Bucharest) 05.10.2013
Spoiled Drama – Black Drama EP [US004]
Nous #4 is here featuring 5 moody, tracky cuts by Berlin’s enigmatic Spoiled Drama. The show stealer comes courtesy of NY’s Patricia who takes the lead track’s disembodied vocal sample and proceeds to intertwine it around an at once sinister yet beatific piece of atmospheric po-mo techno.
Pedro Vian – Dancing Hindus EP [MOM001]
Pedro Vian with remixes by Hieroglyphic Being ad the Italian-futuristic Madteo. On side A of the disc we find an original track entitled News From Near Future, which is along techno noisy lines at low revs and full of highly emotionally charged melodies. The second track is the remix by Jamal Moss, head of the American squadron Mathematics Recordings. On the flip side of the disc we discover a monumental reinterpretation by Madteo 15 ‘minutes long.
The Hipodrome Of Music 