techno
VA – Onderwereld EP [CELTD003]
Coming next on Cultivated Electronics Ltd (CE’s limited vinyl offshoot) is a V/A EP entitled ‘Onderwereld’ which takes its name from a former atomic bunker based in The Hague (Netherlands) that housed music studios, offices and the Intergalactic FM station, Onderwereld Radio. The building had to be vacated last year, but the amalgamation of some of those artists and their creative resources lives on. Together, they encapsulate the new underground sound of The Hague. Opening the A-side is a track by Crave Festival organiser, Cosmox who delivers tough staccato Electro-funk on ‘Electrostress’, before 543ff (a regular player on the Dutch Electro scene who’s released on ?X and has a forthcoming album on Diffuse Reality) brings stripped-back beats and layers of melody on ‘Easy’. Keeping the Onderwereld collaborative ethos alive, 543ff joins forces with Star-kid (Bunker Records) and Gamma Intel (Brokntoys / Pinkman) on the B-side, for ‘Three City Firm’. Their original version is dark and bristling, while 543ff’s remix takes the track on a galactic ride.
Steve Allman – Brainwave [EON003]
Scand resident Steve Allman brings together the fast-paced sounds of Detroit and London
electro in his debut EP on EON Records. Sonically the EP is an expression of Allman’s ear for fast-paced 90s era Detroit electro and the UK’s rave edged take on the sound calling upon freaky synth work, heavy bass patterns and eerie rave stabs to colour the release. What we hear on Brainwaves across the three original tracks is pacey, buoyant and sub-weighted – a record ready to be played loud when the systems are turned back on. Closest influence and mentor Sync 24 drops a bomb of a remix for the title track Brainwave, weaponising it a step further adding a deadly acid scrawl.
Filmmaker – Discordian Disco [PHXS10]
Filmmaker sharing some mythical and magical sounds on the latest Phormix release. Dystopian panoramas have been a recurrent panorama on Filmmaker’s tracks and for this work the direction focused on some core elements like the entropy and chaos magic to bring a musical tribute to the goddess Eris. Filmmaker’s birth name, Fauns (derived from Faunus) has surrounded his life with inspiration from greco-roman mythology so all the energy put on ‘Discordian Disco’ is fed by the multicontextual universe and synchronicities that shaped it into a memorable tape. During the days off his touring in New Zealand, Faunes stayed in Wellington, city where these 10 tracks were recorded using his Deluge, motivated by how the other artists on this tour developed various uses and styles for this instrument also crafted in that land. The result is a collection of wave grooves and lo-fi creamed melodies which also included a special collaboration with the Belgian producer Naomie Klaus (ex Laura Palmer) on the track ‘Golden Apple’ where she delivered both male and female vocals with lynchian tones and tribal vibes. Besides the symbolism of this release, Filmmaker wants to dedicate this album to his most eclectic listeners for highlighting the soul reflected on the music since the beginning. Discordian Disco aims to cause a unique remembrance on the auditory memory of anyone who listens to it from start to finish as is the last Filmmaker’s full-length on this 2020.
VA – Still Life [VEYL017]
Veyl introduces a new series called ‘Still Life’ inspired by photographs by Tomaso Lisca. For the first edition we’re thrilled to welcome Jensen Interceptor, Cardopusher and Lokier for an electro-heavy A side, while Morah, Randstad and Empire State fathom the depths of the more leftfield side of the label on the flip.
R Gamble – Sever The Ties [PSR006]
Starting the new decade strong, the French label Public System Recordings debut R Gamble with his much anticipated EP, ”Sever The Ties”. Hailing from Memphis, TN and now functioning out of Brooklyn, R Gamble has been a staple of the New York underground for nearly ten years. This record presents you 5 original tracks and a remix, all ridden with infectious mechanical rhythms laced in haze, abrasive synth lines accompanied by metallic vocals doused in reverb. For the remix, Gotham luminary Shawn O’Sullivan returns to his ”Vapauteen” project, providing an intoxicating and dizzying groove for those ”lost in the fog” moments.
Siegmar Fricke – Time Compression EP [ILG005]
Siegmar Fricke has made a name for himself in the tape culture since 1981 – with a mixture of Musique-Concrète and Post-Industrial. As a former label owner of “Bestattungsinstitut” he released numerous works that went beyond EBM, Electro, Techno and Ambient. In the heyday of the netlabels he focused mainly on his own productions, which he then made available as free downloads. Since 2002 Siegmar has been active with clinical sound experiments under the pseudonym “Pharmakustik”. In 2005 he started his collaboration with Maurizio Bianchi from Milan, who has dedicated himself to “industrial decomposition” since 1979. For his Time Compression EP on Infoline, Siegmar Fricke has unearthed compositions from the period 1992-1994 and curated them anew. A phase in which he listened to the radio day and night and connected his sampler to the stereo to record material around the clock. He listened to many radio shows from England or Holland, which often broadcasted techno, trance and acid. At that time those sounds were new territory for him. He recorded inspiring sequences at first go, edited them and then let them flow into his own productions. The result was “future-pop collages mixed with sequencer-controlled trance and sampled voices”, to put it in the words of Siegmar Fricke.
Nehuen – Psyops Part One [LR017]
Nehuen is an Argentinian born but Barcelona based artist who is notorious for his abrasive dance floor workouts on I Love Acid, BNR Trax and the Classicworks label he co-owns with Cardopusher. Nehuen’s Psyops kicks off with the excellent title track, which contorts acid and electro into a writhing monster filled with dark energy. The visceral ‘Toxic’ is built on slapping hits and spangled basslines that will tie you in knots as the bumping drums drive things forward. The late-night menace continues on ‘Bailar’, with tight synth arps layered up in robotic forms over clunky drums that are industrial and futuristic in equal measure. Last but not least, the eerie ‘Desire’ strikes a more twisted note with double kicks juddering beneath echoing hits. It’s pure, filthy, brilliant body music.
Legowelt – Pancakes With Mist [NW025] [FREE DOWNLOAD]
Legowelt with another free offering on his Nightwind Records. Written, performed and produced by Danny Wolfers at the North Sea Institute For the Overmind Scheveningen Holland. Across the ten tracks, you will find shades of house, electro, techno and Italo but what most notably ties them all together is Legowelt’s signature use of distortion. The album is dripping in Lo-Fi tactics and features plenty of vocal work throughout.
Lausen – Glorius Box Dates [FE037]
Furthur Electronix brings back an essential analog acid album by Lausen. Released in 1995 on Drop Bass Network, includes remastered versions of ”Dry Ray” and ”Acid Inhaler” from the ”Anti Static EP’.
Obergman – Angular Momentum [FE033]
Ola Bergman with a impressive album under his alias ‘Obergman’. 8 tracks of perfectly executed acid and electro bombs.
Stojche – Thug Life [INFILTRATE06]
Stojche is a Berlin-based veteran of labels ranging from Dogmatik right up to a.r.t.less and Tangible Assets, and he’s already had a strong 2020 with drops on Sungate and Grounded In Humanity. Now he comes to Infiltrate with some electro-wired sure shots that keep the tempo up, the synth work bold and the moods intense. “Trauma” rides on rich pads and a harmonious monosynth lead, while “Phobia” takes things freakier with some rapid fire percussion and icy stabs. “Thug Life” keeps the pressure up on the flip, albeit with some dubby melodic flex to temper the rabid beats. “Conflict” completes the set with deep-diving top lines and a decidedly nasty low end squelch you could lose your shoes in.
Dez Williams – By Whatever Means Necessary [MTRON020]
Dez Williams returns to Mechatronica with a critical blend of deadly machine funk, hazy breaks and hi-octane electro, backed by L.F.T.’s menacing remix on the flip.
Daniele Cosmo – Launching day & night
Mike Tansella Jr. – Phormix Podcast #180
Leroy Se Meurt – La Chute [ET065/GOOILAND40]
The mixed background of this duo from Paris in electronic music and in punk-rock shapes the distinctive sound of Leroy Se Meurt. You can call it synth-punk, elektropunk, or simply post-punk for that matter.
VA – Lost & Found Vol. 1 [DED-1]
Dark Entries presents their first digital-only compilation, featuring reissued rarities and new songs from 10 key artists on the label (Bézier, Bill Converse, Billy Nightmare, Borusiade, Doc Sleep, Group Rhoda, Magnus II, Max Mann, Patrick Cowley and Sepehr).
Alessandro Adriani & Cosimo Damiano – Neurodreamers [PNKMN38]
Italian dark electronics aficionados Alessandro Adriani and Cosimo Damiano come together for a debut collaborative EP on Pinkman. Belonging to different generations but both deeply influenced on one side by “the Sound of Rome”, with pioneers like Gabriele Rizzo, Leo Anibaldi and Lory D, and on the other side by the raw electro Dutch legacy of Bunker Records, the two strike a golden middle of their styles with a clanging, raw and packed to the brim with coarseness electro-techno hybrid. Inspired by the cyber dystopia narratives, ‘Neurodreamers’ reflect on the hi-tech surveillance and the promise of AI which unfolds itself into the prospect of dehumanization. Taking the listener through turmoil and anger, the brutish 4-tracker weave the elements of grubby baselines, coarse synths and erratic percussions with the brain-melting hints of acid and Alessandro Adriani’s own recorded vocals.
Shifted – The Dirt On Our Hands [AVNLP05]
VA – Wave Earplug No.4 [4MGLP17]
The fourth part of the Wave Earplug series trying to support the underground wave scene across Europe. This time artists come from Albania, Canada, Germany, France, Colombia, Slovakia, Sweden, Belgium and Hungary.
The Hipodrome Of Music 