Third Ear’s Detroit Beatdown series was instrumental in redefining the perception of Detroit electronic music abroad. Now we come to the final Detroit Beatdown release. Four Detroit artists giving us as good an ep as any of the releases in the series. The tracks by Mike Clark and Rick Wade rank amongst their best, for sure. DJ-T1000, a Detroit producer and DJ known for some of the city’s hardest Techno, surprises with a stripped-back groove that is pure electronic Funk. Wrapping up the ep is Scott Ferguson’s A Groove, a heavy skanking groove with that classic Beatdown rawness.
New album by the irrepressible Dutchman… The ‘2080’ part of the album title is taken from the Roland JV2080, a legendary digital synthesizer from the nineties that was used a lot in the making of the album. Bought second-hand in Tokyo for a couple of hundred dollars, it lends the record a very dewy eyed soul, whilst the ‘Crystal’ part of the title stands for the self-made ‘DIY germanium crystal compressor’ Legowelt used throughout the writing process. The album itself features ten new tracks of pure Legowelt music mainly recorded in De Hague in the past year, but also on the road during tours of LA, the Californian desert, Tokyo (which spawned ‘Crystal Cult 2080’) and Tejada Gran Canaria (where ‘The Future of Myself’ was written.) Where his last album The Paranormal Soul was an organic trip into misty forests, this one seems more concerned with medieval spirits; it’s deeper, darker and the whole thing is tied together by a more coherent sense of ancient alchemy. Given the use of a DIY germanium crystal compressor during production, it’s no wonder everything feels warm, fuzzy and mystic in a way that draws your attention in like that fabled philosopher’s stone… glare too long and you might just turn to stone. Right from the opening track the mood is so encapsulating you are drawn right into Danny Wolfers’ mysterious electronic world. From there various different tempos are explored and plenty of famed synthesiser work comes to the fore, wrapping grooves in trippy themes, impish spirits and plenty of organic lushness.
The debut full-length by Achterbahn D’amour (Johannes “Iron Curtis” Paluka and Jurgen “Jool” Albert), captures two artists coaxing the most emotional sounds to date out of classic Roland boxes. The album is the natural extension of the duo’s live-rooted sound, further defining the oblique dance moves contained on their three Acid Test EPs. They demonstrate a true reverence for the 303 and 606. On “Odd Movements”, lush pads and abrupt toms create a literal pedestal for the bassline machine. The duo have hit on a sound well-suited for dark rooms and towering sound systems.
Bio Rhythm seems to be spiraling deeper & deeper into the rabbit hole… Six brand new tracks by Villa Abo (a Frak side project) and his first release since the 1997 Borft releases. Fix yourself the full-length audio package and get lost on the other side through these six little Scandinavian fairy tales full of desolate techno mysticizm, pressed on 2×12” for maximum dj delight.
Myriadd is Craig Stainton, a producer that has also released as Acid Phreex and Mantra on labels such as Pinkman, Signals and Creme Organization, to where he returns now with a new four track EP that explores plenty of mystic house and techno territory. Kicking off the release is Time Will Tell, which is a nicely frayed, rough round the edges bit of house music with a deep and lashing bassline as well as some rich and rounded melodic hooks. Forever Yours kicks that bit harder and more insistently but bares the same sense of misty melodic lushness. Various lines fly about like spirits in the night and bring a haunting sense of melancholy to proceedings before B1 Gold Section hiccups and stutters pleasingly. Like everything here, its a fairly rich, dense track that layers everything on top of each other with little break for breath. Final track At One is backed with the sort of serene pads that have you day dreaming about the future as jacked up beats kick below and all manner of synths whip around in the foreground. House music never sounded as magical as when in the hands of the talented Myriadd.
Willie Burns returns on the great Trilogy Tapes. The title track is akin to traveling in a time machine to 4am on a Saturday night in Den Haag circa 1994 – real grotty basement acid techno! Providing contrast in a way Burnett does so well, the B-side offers two tracks of a more immersive nature, with “She Left In Spring” an exercise in dubby techno as pensive as the title would suggest.
Ron Morelli returns to stare down the ‘floor with four pieces written during the stress-busting sessions for ‘Spit’. The muggy, droning welt of ‘Public Consumption’ kicks off with the sound of New York techno shot from the hip, while ‘Another Hit’ vents a vintage era-Regis style built on skull-chipping snares and effluent acid modulation. The album’s writhing batacuda banger, ‘Crack Microbes’ reappears here as an extra-ferric extended Version, sustaining the hypnotic intensity for nine minutes of panic attack acid and febrile cowbells, while ‘’Rushing Again’ escorts us to a close with triplet techno shook down by railgun snares and a grotty synthline.
The first release on the Adelaide Soundworks label comes from producer TX Connect. He delivers 3 diverse lo-fi techno jams; lovely oldschool vive on the A side while the tracks on the flip are a bit more fierce
First full length album by Exploit combines punchy techno grooves and mature melodic electronic passages. You are taken on a real deep space journey: from strict techno in Utopia and UFO, through dubby chords of Time Slowdown and Visual Distorion, to electronic works like Shifted Reality and No Escape.
Shtum continues its trip through dark and gritty territories with its third record by Yor. And what he delivers is pure Techno-bliss. “Nachtwache” starts things off rather groovy with its Tom-heavy beats and rising synths. Following up, “Ritus” is driven by a hypnotic chord delay and makes an advanced Techno-track you can’t resist on the dance floor. On the flipside it gets even more bewitching. “Agony” develops a never ending suction over its 8 minute length. Finally, “Under The Influence” is no less mesmerizing but more playful Techno. It’s a track that feels like a storm is coming.
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.
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.
The Hipodrome Of Music 