Solar One Music is always on the search for new missions and now its time for a new series on this label called “The Crystal Issue”. Focus will be more on Acid/Chicago/Detroit/Techno/House which also big influences for the label heads of SOM. First release is from Mantra.
RoundHouse Kick are a couple from Portugal, one with unusual couple fixations: they’re constantly buying, experimenting and selling synths, drum machines and records. Combining analogue and digital in search of an honest, evocative sound, inspired in equal parts by the increasingly documented traditions of Detroit and Chicago and the formative early years of a naive and emotional portuguese rave scene. The release is completed by two versions by Auntie Flo.
Concrete unleash a series of Textures, representing their diverse and hugely popular events. On this release we have four tracks by Bleak, Dario Zenker, Abdulla Rashim and Behzad & Amarou.
The idea behind Decision Making Theory is to propose some stripped down no-nonsense techno, aimed directly at the dancefloor. DMT’s first one-sided 33 rpm colored vinyl release consists of two tracks by Knotweed Records owner Philippe Petit. ‘Give’ starts with some spaced-out chords and then shifts into a dubby Detroit inspired floor filler. The second track, ‘Take’, is a much darker heavy peak-time affair aimed at blowing the roof off!
Second release from Amsterdam based label Tape Records. The Smoke & Mirrors EP offers an unique insight into the adventurous mind of Haron, a young and talented Amsterdam-based producer. His debut, best described as strongly layered, boundless, diverse and melodic, is carefully crafted with the utmost devotion.
Music Man presents the second single ‘Drive (The Age Of Automation)’ on Music Man with remixes from Ø [Phase]. There are two different versions from Ø [Phase] for you to check out. Some good news too for the people that couldn’t get a hold of the ‘Nighttime World’ 3LP too; the original is also included and gets a full side.
Various artists compilation on Semantica’s Nonnative series with stripped pulsating techno tracks by Giorgio Gigli, Cassegrain, Baryta and Staffan Linzatti.
Len Faki is no stranger to Ostgut Ton having mixed the label’s third Berghain CD back in 2009. The Basement Trax Vol 1 12″ signals Faki’s return to Ostgut Ton in impressive and diverse fashion. Lead track “Btx1” is dominated by the heavily processed treatment of some orgasmic sounding female vocals which are submerged deep in the mix and smeared greedily across the channels chased by whip cracking percussion. The flipside accompaniment “Btx2” is a tougher version with the tribalistic percussion gradually consumed by the vastness of Faki’s string arrangements and the final version “Btx3” sees Faki present a swirling mass of ambient calm.
Houndstooth, the new in-house label from London clubbing institution Fabric have offered a preview of their first release, from Berlin based producer Call Super.
Function aka Dave Sumner presents “Incubation”, his first solo album on Ostgut Ton. Over nine tracks we are guided through the varying moods and scenes of Function’s musical temperament. Be it through writhing layered club tracks, soaring string-led atmospheres, or melodic pieces founded on classic electronic traditions, ‘Incubation’ marks a new level of maturity for the Berlin-based producer.
An electrotechno bomb by Nukubus on Syncom Data Records. Comes with the epic 13 minutes original, the hammering dub version and the trippy space mix by Louis Guilliaume in a wonderful double vinyl package.
Following his critically acclaimed “R.I.P.” album on Honest Jons, Actress returns with 3 new tracks on his own Werkdiscs imprint.
Bad Cop Bad Cop are underground veteran Alex Cortex (XX Badcop) and glam-tech-hero Lopazz (ZZ Badcop). So different they are in their respective solo-projects, so indistinguishably they melt their unique visions into one flow of effervescent creativity when they hit the studio or stage together. Bad Cop Bad Cop’s music is deeply rooted in early to mid-nineties techno, house, and electronica but at the same time peeps through wormholes into the future. Driving, roaring, epic, and cosmic are all apt descriptions of their sound, but so would be jacking, funny, surreal and -above all- alien. A typical trip to Bad-Cop-Land is a full on crash through a psychedelic wall of sound that has to be experienced rather than understood. Now, Pomelo label brings Bad Cop Bad Cop’s debut album “Wings of Techno”. It’s a trippy puzzle of styles and moods that blends the most absurdly divergent tracks effortlessly into one coherent piece of intriguing musicality.
