UK based studio wizard Timothy J. Fairplay returns to Italo Moderni with a masterpiece EP including remixes by Dj Overdose, Intergalactic Gary and Univac. Three originals and three remixes influenced by italo disco with catchy basslines and acid harmonies. It is not a surprise that Italo Moderni & Timothy J. Fairplay are great combination together and this is a fine example of his quality studio productions.
Creme Organization presents a retrospective of sorts, compiled from dozens of unreleased tracks from literally two decades of producing, these gems were collecting dust in the vaults of Ekman. Ekman takes us to a journey deeper into the woods with his unique brooding electro, vivid sparkling soundscapes and minimum for the maximum dirty brown The Hague Acid (TM). Evocative and eerie electro from the Dutch master. The compilation is splitted into two parts including 7, respectively 6 tracks.
Levon Vincent returns with his fifth studio album, titled Work In Progress, the follow up to 2022’s Silent Cities cassette release. Progress sees the dub techno and NY house auteur throw away any overarching concept, apart from the idea that it must move you. Work In Progress is a collection of club ready jams that form the latest productions from Levon’s incredibly prolific run of 12”s he’s pressed on his own label Novel Sounds, directly for the next weekend’s sets. Rather than his previous albums presenting a finished story, his fifth presents a diarist’s work in progress, his latest club constructions, many raising the BPM to 140 to reflect the faster pace of his latest DJ sets.
Redshape’s visits to Running Back are a welcome recurrence and a soothing reminder that techno and house can still come in several shapes and sizes. Related and referring to earlier acid studies on Release Me and to a certain extend on Rise, the masked man continues to find new approaches to the 303 canon with Acid Leak.
Daniel Pringle aka The Jaffa Kid returns to 030303 with a heavy and versatile five tracker. Amazon is a futuristic cut, reminiscent of Gerald Donald’s Arpanet project, but a little faster and even more otherworldly. On Drum Mode, Pringle adds some dramatic melodic layers to a bare steadily rolling kick drum – making it a perfect track for a melancholic rave. In the Morning, the first one on the flip, is a beautiful, arpeggio-driven electro jam that should appeal to fans of early Legowelt. We then enter breakbeat territory with the droney, mid-tempo Etafe warming you up for Rudiman, where Jaffa Kid lets Lynn Collins’ famous Think sample run wild in a spooky way. Stunning stuff.
Pinkman’s resurrection of its Broken Dreams series is marked by a release of Dolphins – Benedikt Frey’s project with Markus Woernle and Nadia D’Alo. 40G evokes landscapes of doom, disorienting pleasure, and the surreal visions that occupy a sleepless night; the soundtrack to a Lynchian fantasy about the creatures that haunt the murky waters of the modern mind. It’s an album for finding yourself on a stranger’s couch, tearing at the fraying edges of another endless night, wrapped beneath a blanket of drugged-out kraut.
Aufgang B never disappoint with their rough sound excursions. Finally they continue the infamous Demo series with three techno tools rich in mind-melting sound design.
Another deep techno ride on Delsin’s Cameron series by Rhythm Büro co-founder Na Nich. The Ukrainian DJ and producer delivers four excellent vibrant, dreamy techno trips. From the punchy ‘Inlamint’ to the unstoppable flow of ‘Subway’. A darker twist appears on the mesmerizing ‘Black Soil’ finishing it off with a downtempo eyes closed delight ‘Argonaut’.
To relaunch his seminal imprint, Infrastructure New York, Function presents his new 12″, Green EP. Celebrating 27 years of Function releases this year and the label’s 25th anniversary, the label will serve as an outlet for his new material, reissues of out of print classics from Synewave, Sandwell District and Ostgut Ton (and of course, Infrastructure), as well as developing new artists. Green EP encapsulates the same raw power and hypnotic energy of his genre defining Sandwell District releases updated with a modern flair.
Anthony Linell puts a steely force at the foreground of his latest EP, Sheltering Skies. Blunt force tension builds, layer upon layer, as an anatomy of mechanistic torsion is worked in across an opening pair of tracks. Linell holds out the respite and oxygen for the EP’s closer, undercut by aching feedback that just threatens to go again.
Rude 66 dusted off some of his vintage digital samplers and came up with this release on Pinkman. In these tracks you can hear influences of early 90s Meat Beat Manifesto and Coil weaving with the typical West-coast vocoder and synths, making “Fragmented Living” sound like it could have been produced anytime from the early days of industrial music to a few decades ahead from now. Special edition on red vinyl + bonus 7″ with two vinyl only tracks.
Over the years veteran producer Mark Ambrose wrote some of the most unique, energetic house / techno tracks. The Journey is an essential and timeless compilation that collect his most rare and hard to find classics. Volume 2.
Bad Manners welcomes none other than Mr Vertigo himself, K’ Alexi Shelby to the label. One of the founding fathers of Chicago House blesses the label with a four track EP ranging from far-out twisted-ness to puristic deep house class with a stop in uplifting piano-land in between.
Keith Farrugia under his acid alter ego Acid Synthesis with some proper 90’s acid with a trance feel.
‘2023’ is the rather unexpected new project of the Dutch cult hero Wladimir Manshanden. 32 years ago, in 1991, Wladimir M founded together with techno icon Stefan Robbers, one of the first Dutch techno labels: Eevo Lute Muzique. While Robbers (as Terrace and Acid Junkies) pursued an international techno career in the years that followed, Manshanden preferred to remain in the shadows. His discography is as small as it is peculiar. But his track ‘Evil’ is an undisputed classic. On ‘2023’ he disassembles the eighties pop hits of his youth into sober, futuristic spoken-word techno. On the one hand, he does not shy away from some cringe (Dire Straits, Simple Minds, Tina Turner). On the other, he pays tribute to some genuine electronic heroes like Kraftwerk, New Order or Master C&J. The path to the bare essentials leads through a futuristic labyrinth. Along the way, you get hints of monotone voices, cipher codes and wondrous Dutch titles like ‘Privé Onderzoek.’ The outcome is alienating and magical at the same time.
Rave Or Die’s sixteenth release signs a 100% frenchies masterpiece that will leave you breathless. As an absolute must-have for anyone who loves old-school music, this collectible double 10″ features tracks from techno pioneers The Hacker, David Carretta, Terence Fixmer, and Umwelt.
The Hipodrome Of Music 
