Shan on Running Back with his monolithic ‘Chord Memories”. An evocation of what dubbed out house and techno tracks usually do, but to a rather unusual and – if we dare say – devastating effect. The flip holds three short and direct cuts with leanings to the A-Side and one acid track.
Debut release on Rising Label. Spaced out, stomping techno by NX1 with remixes by Tadeo, Jonas Kopp and Agony Forces.
Vril serves up is three titanic techno tracks designed with maximum dancefloor damage in mind. The Vortekz EP starts with the title track and it’s a dramatic bit of big room techno with nerve gangling chords and plenty of sonic grit. The dub version is slower and more purposeful and is buried in a much wider, deeper groove that snakes more than stomps. Finally comes ‘y7/10’, which rocks back and forth in the same rusted loop as percussion flutters like tin foil in a stormy wind. The track flows an ever-higher arc of tension that eventually erupts into a sea of analogue fuzz and hiccupping techno beats.
Steve Murphy turns in a rough and raw four-tracker featuring the blazing piano cut ‘Eyes Behind The Door’ knocking knees with deep house/techno banger ‘Relax’ on the A-side. The B-side sees Steve operate on two different levels – ‘Tram’ takes a very Shari Vari-esque drum beat and loads it with a buzzing electro synth-line and shattered hat explosions, while ‘Try It’ plunges the depths of the soul on a seriously trippy deep house excursion.
Reissue of 2008’s highly sought after Vancouver with a new special remix by Head High aka Shed.
Markus Suckut has become one of Figure’s key artists over the last few years. His early work on Figure SPC stood out as some of the young artist’s strongest productions around, while his debut full length LP, ‘DNA’ released on Figure in May 2013, saw a maturing producer proudly sticking to his talents. Those talents clearly lie in deadly, reduced basement techno, sub heavy, rough around the edges, yet highly accurate for the dancefloor. This meeting of minds then, is somewhat of a perfect match. Len Faki’s renowned high-end production and impressive back-catalogue provide the rock-solid foundations for the ‘Skulls’ EP. Over 4 tracks and 2 pieces of vinyl, the pair go deep into their influences and come up with an advanced, designed and suitably seismic sound. From the reduced and spaced cuts like ‘Skulls 1’ & ‘Skulls 3’, the pair offer contrasting textures and rolling percussion amidst a remarkably weighty bass-end. Fizzing hats and tripping technobleeps then complement a snaking, tribalist vibe in ‘Skulls 2’ which also comes with a straight-up Dub version.
New release by Exercise One on Exone, featuring two original tracks and remixes by Peter van Hoesen and Donato Dozzy.
Chicago og Dj Skull with a strong come back! Versatile 4 track ep ranging from more spaced out house to uptemp techno-ish tracks.
Area Forty_One steps up for a full EP on Delsin. The Dutchman proves himself to be an elegant producer of electro that has a super future soul to it across the four tracks on offer. First up, ‘Nocturnal Passions Part I’ skips on snappy drums through an ethereal galaxy lit up with neon trails and twinkling lights. It’s a vastly spacious trak full of celestial vibes and expert production before ‘Reminiscence’ deals in more serene pads and glassy melodies and conjures the sense that you are lost floating in deep space without a rudder. It’s a beautiful place to be for the way it has no real drive or direction. Then, ‘Freefall’ trudges along some heavy, gloopy drums. All around are huge mirrors of melody that shine and reflect light back at you and leave you marvelling at their sheer scale and sereneness. Final track ‘Isolated Soul’ sure is aptly title, featuring sad synths, skipping beats and raining melodies that make you feel beautifully alone. There’s a menacing sense of tension pervading the whole track, too, that makes it all the more engaging
The third release in the Dimensional Exploration series. This time four deep cuts with completely submerged underwater-vibes from Acronym.
With a sprawling discography that can be traced as far back as 2005, the last few years have found the Providence-based noise artist Ren Schofield shifting his attention towards his Container guise with increasing vigour, delivering full-length albums for Spectrum Spools and I Just Live Here, as well as an acclaimed EP for Rabih Beainis much-lauded Morphine Records. With Liberation Technologies having already exhibited the fiercely confrontational style of BMB, and coaxed an EP of skewed electronics out of Vessel for Misery Is A Communicable Disease, the Adhesive is a natural fit for the imprints burgeoning canon. As uncompromising as youd expect, the four tracks on offer display the work of a producer working intuitively with the machines he surrounds himself with, a relentless pulse ever present at the core of these abrasive workouts.
A collaboration from Finland consisting of Michael Diekmann and Matti Turunen. “Intercal” follows a string of sought after electro releases on Abstract Forms, Semantica and Cultivated Electronics, fusing haunting melodies with perfectly executed electronic sounds. The 9th release on the binary cataloging CPU Records.
DynArec will release his first 12″ for Solar One Music. Deep aquatic techno/electro at the highest level. All will presented on the new “Elektronische Werke” series on Solar One Music.
This is the first EP of Aleqs Notal, a boy who spent his early years in the heat and sand of Saudi Arabia, but then decided to take some dust with him and throw it in our ears. In love with the soulfulness of Detroits style and the roughness of Chicago suburbs, he comes solid with this four tracks release full of shadows and tricky rhythmic patterns. While it sounds calm on the surface, theres a lot of restrain angst hiding behind, convulsing all along this mental tracks.
Asok is the man behind burgeoning house and techno label Scenery Records, and has released on Deep Space Orchestras Use of Weapons and, though he has firm roots in d&b, has proven himself adept at crafting raw analogue jams that fuse house and techno together the jacking way.
Berlin operation Killekill continue where they left off with their impressive releases last year, with Genetically Modified Tracks the end product of pairing DJ Spider and Franklin De Costa together. Rhythmically, Spider and De Costa don’t stray far from the 4/4 template but it’s what occurs around it that’s so memorable. It’s no more apparent than on “Buzzsaw” where a sticky wooden block style rhythm is made all the more viscous by the thick bass line, muffled vocals and blurred jazz licks that cloak the channels. Elsewhere “The Unseen” is perhaps the most straight up dancefloor number, underpinned by a sense of impending gloom, which is a sensation shared with the post apocalyptic rumble of opening track “Slithis”.
The Hipodrome Of Music 