Not much more than a year has passed since the Zenker Brothers presented their debut EP Lion in Mars on Tresor Records. The follow-up record segues perfectly between a triumphant year in the studio and in performance, and a 2014 which promises to take their growing reputation for blazing techno to new heights.
The Zenker Brothers welcome Italian producer Stenny back into the Illian Tape fold for a third time, with the Eternal Restriction 12″ offering a further refinement on his distinctive blend of heavy bass, loud sonics and rhythmic syncopation. Dario and Marco end the record with a remix of the title track that evens out a few of the kinks without edging too close to being straightforward.
Welcome Rismu, a new project of M.A.D.A. (Marseille/France) debuting on Affin! Opener MST combines tricky chords with massive beats, working perfect as a bridge in the mix. The Plant Worker (also known from Blank Code & Limited) remix emphases the technoid elements of the original. S3 going its way with floating chord arrangements, nice delayed percussive lines and pounding beats while the reshaped version from The Plant Worker another time focuses more on his stoic beats
Strong release with trippy acid injected tracks to more psychotic trippy techno. Juho Kahilainen – the man who actually inspired label owner Max_M to conceive the Grey Series sublabel – returns with a new EP of experimental excursions that delve into the darkest realms of dance music. Max_M and his Grey Series continue to grant freedom to artists deviating from cliches and formulas. Juho’s “Dyson Sphere” encompasses that exact desire.
Deeper techno tracks by the macchines of Milano. Le Macchine are a Milanese trio formed of Cristian Croce, Luca Saponaro, and Nicola Mazzetti.
Phonica announce the arrival of their celebratory compilation marking ten years of the shop. A triple LP pack, where some of their favourite artists produced a track for an eclectic yet cohesive compilation, which will hopefully go some way towards sonically unfolding the ‘Ten Years of Phonica’. The triple LP features tracks from: I:Cube, Trevor Jackson, Raudive, Discodromo, Joe Claussell, John Morales, Henrik Schwarz, Massimiliano Pagliara, Iori remixed by Steve Moore, Juju & Jordash, Legowelt & In Flagranti.
Continuing the feeling that a new Legowelt record is seemingly announced or released on a weekly basis, the Dutch producer adds another label to his faintly daunting discography by inaugurating the Spanish label Riverette. Aside from a sparse website and hollow Soundcloud account, little is known about this low-key Madrid label, but it’s easy to focus on the music here as the Blue Tearz 12″ offers a snapshot of Legowelt’s production diversity. The title track grips all available space on the A Side and offers a perfect display of Wolfers’ talent for wrenching melodic beauty out of his equipment, whilst “I Shadow Wolf III” – which must be a reference to his recently unveiled Shadow wulf CyBeRpUnK E-ZiNe – is reminiscent of Psyche-era Carl Craig. “Source Of Menace” meanwhile is vintage Legowelt.
Following suit where his 2xlp left off Gunnar Haslam presents a new ep for L.I.E.S. Once again we see Haslam find a nice balance between combining samples and hardware in his productions creating moving and atmospheric tracks, which range from slow stripped down soundtrack style cuts to more developed far out techno.
New release by Arcanoid one Tabernacle Records, presenting his exploratory take on techno and electro.
Next for Brokntoys is prolific producer of the underground UK Electro scene, Scape One. Kurt Baggaley has released on many electro labels over the years including SCSI-AV, Drivecom, Electrix and Cultivated Electronics. For this EP Scape One serves up 4 tracks of deep and murky electro and techno for the early morning and afterhours.
Next on the “The Crystal Issue” series is EXS a side project from Robert Witschakowski better known as The Exaltics. Authentic Soul Techno flows on this one sided clear blue vinyl edition. German Techno rooted in Detroit for those who know.
Krautrock and EBM inspired post-industrial techno. Next-level electronic music made by one of The Hague’s most original producers. Must have for fans of Unit Moebius Anonymous and Shitcluster.
While JD Twitch & JG Wilkes aka Optimo are undoubtedly men-for-all-seasons musically, as anyone who’s seen them in action behind the decks will attest, they’re often at their best when creating a mood, delving deep into their bulging record collections to showcase sludgy curiosities, dark electronics and intoxicating oddities. Pleasingly, it’s this side of their multiple personalities that’s explored on Dark Was The Night, their sixth commercially available mix CD. Predictably, it’s a doozy, effortlessly joining the dots between the moody deep acid house of QX-1’s “I Won’t Hurt You”, the pulsating industrial rhythms of Carter Tutti, the icy melodies and snowy rhythms of Recondite’s “Cleric”, and the paranoid dubstep of Kode 9 and Space Ape.
Basic Soul Unit delivers another 3 track release on Lab.our Music, the label he has started with long time friend and dj partner Jason Ulrich.
Cliff Lothar’s new record on Skudge White. After his wonderful entry for the Viewlexx camp earlier this year, our friend comes clean with a somewhat darker take on his trade sound. With “Murked Out”, we’re reminded of “Dro Friday”, but the halloween version. “Tangaxuan II” is equally funky but dwells further in a deep and bleepy fashion that invokes the early Warp catalogue spirit while “Audiomess” even enhances that felling, adding an eerie edge familiar to the more continental Bunker rooster. Concluding this four tracker comes the mostly gruesome “Darkhole Gloryroom” that uses high contrast to convey schizophrenic moves on the dance floor, a perfect testimony to what Skudge stands for after a year of unusual journeys.
The Hipodrome Of Music 