Neville Watson ends 2013 with a club-focussed 12” and the second in the DBA Special Editions series. Since remixing DBA003, and thereby providing one of the most requested tracks in the label’s history, it has only been a matter of time before the legendary UK producer joined the DBA camp for a full 12” release. In keeping with the remit of the Special Editions sub-label, all three tracks are …
Given his stated role as curator at the head of the ‘non-stop’ LIES, it makes perfect sense that Ron Morelli would look elsewhere to issue his debut album. Gravitating towards the Hospital Productions label run by Dominick ‘Vatican Shadow’ Fernow makes equal sense given their shared appreciation of noise, ambient and industrial music. Apparently the first of three planned releases on Hospital from Morelli, it’s no little surprise that Spit arrives with much expectation. Spend some time with the eight tracks that make up the LP and you’ll begin to understand why Morelli has used such words as pressure, monotony and stress to describe the motivating emotions behind Spit. The corrugated growl of “Modern Paranoia” and the broken metallic rhythms of “Crack Microbes” are considered highlights!
First surfacing with an impressive debut EP for the Horizontal Ground label, it makes perfect sense that Berlin-based Samuel Kerridge should then gravitate towards Downwards to further expand on his own brand of industrial techno. You get feeling that the knowing sense of humour apparent in many of the titles to Kerridge productions appeals to someone like Downwards label boss Karl O’Connor. After several EPs for Downwards, Kerridge unveils his debut album A Fallen Empire which comes brandishing “7 pieces of sonic warfare” that lodge the producer ever deeper into the crawlspace between jagged industrial techno and white noise laden experimental sounds. B side behemoth “Death Is Upon Us” is a morbid highlight.
James Ginzburg and Paul Purgas are getting crustier and more experimental with every passing year. Recur, their fourth full-length excursion, is decidedly fuzzy and discordant. Seemingly intent on pushing experimental electronics to its limits, the formerly Bristol-based duo serve up a challenging but rewarding set based almost entirely around half-rhythms, white noises, drones, feedback and hissing atmospherics. It’s spooky, intense stuff, all told, occasionally enlivened by sparse, pared-down concoctions that sound like a smacked out take on Autechre. But for all the bleak, out-there sounds, Recur is strangely involving, due in no small part to its immersive nature.
Recorded in Madrid and Rome during 2013, this is the new album by the influential electronic duo ranked as industrial music pioneers. Ultraphoon is a leap ahead as for production and sound quality, with a stunning and brutal outcome, richly detailed nonetheless. Rhythms, noises and processed voices from different sources come together in hypnotic –bordering on trance– soundscapes along the lines of previous releases such as Pulsión (2009) and Desarrollos Geométricos (2011). Most of the meticulous mastering process has been carried out by Francisco López, internationally renowned as one of the top sound art and experimental music personalities, giving a new twist to the usual Esplendor Geometrico sound.
Mancunians AnD have lead the way when it comes to the industrial techno revolution of recent times and now serve up three such tracks on the small but perfectly formed Ann Aimee label after plenty of great work on their own eponymous imprint. The titular track ‘Ard Core Krew’ kicks things off with squealing machines, huge dump piston sounds, metallic synths and brutalist kick drums. It’s a hostile world of sound in which it is easy to get disorientated, and ‘Changed My View’ is much the same, with every single element sounding raw, frazzled and under plenty of strain. It’s a fuzzy, dirty track with lots of detailed activity as well as huge stomping kick drums, which pin it all together. ‘Free At Last’ is the most propulsive and forward moving; surging as it does on a grimy brew of splintered hi hats, incessant kick drums and low fizzing frequencies.
Mark du Mosch is a Rotterdam based producer and DJ who has earned the highest amount of respect in the Dutch alternative music scene in the past couple of years. The reason is simple: he dares to go beyond the obvious, his raw yet emotional signature sound being distinctive, versatile and stunningly creative. Expect perfectly executed analogue bliss from a craftsman who is slowly yet steadily making his way into the records bags of global house and techno connoisseurs. From Russia with love; Moscow based cult producer Gesloten Cirkel kicks it up a notch with his rough-and-ready take on ‘Living Up’. Wailing synths, piston hi-hats and an everything but straight-to-the-point bassline make for an epic esoteric house jam.
That Girl, produced by Innershades, opens with a repeated voice sample and a nostalgic pad, just to drop one minute later into one of the rawest hard hitting house tracks you’ll see around in a while. Hotflush’s Locked Groove gives the original track an acidic twist halved with his signature top-class deep house production skills. As if that isn’t enough, the B-side is followed by a simple-yet-effective remix from Ukraine’s very own Vakula who provides what seems a purely energetic techno cut right up to the point when the killer snare comes in.
More heavy hitting analog club tracks by the man from Bucharest! Proper house tools that will bring joy worldwide.
Two years after his last full-length titled ‘Second Son’, which was out on Jamal Moss‘s Mathematics label, John Heckle has returned with his second album ‘Desolate Figures’ for Tabernacle Records. ‘Desolate Figures’ revolves around vintage-tinged Detroit techno, gritty Chicago house and experimental hybrids of the aforementioned genres, with the overall result sounding deliciously and uncompromisingly nasty. The album opens with a wonderfully warped slab of Detroitish techno in the form of ‘Blindman’s Bluff’, a track deeply rooted in spacey synth and string structures that gradually transforms into a superb dancefloor track. From that point on, Heckle continues to present his broad view on house and techno across a set of track that seem to stray away from pre-fabricated song patterns, instead drawing on more abstract and less rigid textures. This ethos gives the LP as a whole a very personal and organic touch, as if it were recorded in a single take while creativity and intuition were peaking. Tracks such as the emotive ‘Inhuman Nature’, ‘Something For Your Distorted Mind’, and the acid-driven, Legowelt-esque ‘Never With You’ are all examples of Heckle’s signature blend of flowing melodics and raspy rhythms, while the industrial and very minimal ‘Love-Lies’ and the nervously rattling ‘Crazy Metal’ add a dash of experimental flavors to the LP. Its diverse content and overall DIY-attitude turn ‘Desolate Figures’ in a somewhat unorthodox package, but if you don’t shy away from experimental house and techno (or if you’re just a fan of the Crème Organization and Tabernacle labels in general), then you simply can’t afford to miss out on this one.
Latest release from the collaborative project between Move D. & Juju & Jordash. Deep and refined techno tracks.
Shortly after his debut vinyl album in late October, Patrik Skoog comes with another techno track on his own label We Are Records, accompanied by three new favorites on the scene. Tapirus aka Charlton lives in Rotterdam is first. R_L out of Hong Kong contributes to the Ep with his “Chaotic Bliss”, a forceful track drenched in reverb, echoing metal throbs and resonating lustful timbres. Atimpuri finishes off the Ep with his lush track “So Edo”, we have been secretly making people dance to this one for a little while now and are excited to finally have this pressed on vinyl.
MPM17 comprises two brand new Floorplan tracks, Phobia and Glory B plus a remix of album cut ‘Higher!’ by Ben Sims. The opener, ‘Phobia’ is a driving, funk-fuelled track. An unrelenting looped jam that immediately sets the tone for another stunning M-Plant release. Solid peak time techno tracks.
Mr.G is returning with a mint 4 tracker for the heads. 4 acey analog anthems with that authentic Mr.G. sound. Rich basses and excellent placed vocal cuts that allign with open hats perfectly.
To mark the occasion of Delsin hitting 100 releases, the label is to release five new various artist EPs throughout the rest of the year. Besides a special collector’s box edition, all EPs will be offered separately, with limited edition colour runs and unlimited black copies. All fifteen tracks will also be compiled onto one CD. Label mates Convextion, Sawlin and Ross 154 (aka Newworldaquarium) contribute one tack each for the third EP in the series.
The Hipodrome Of Music 