HIVER Vinyl & CDs

Review: For its seventh release, southern Italians Obscura Music return to welcome exciting new talents and core label acts. Head honchos Agents Of Time venture down an electro route with "East Coast", as do the ever impressive London Modular Alliance on the hypnotic "Buck One". Man of the moment Aussie Jensen Interceptor channels classic Drexciyan aesthetics on "Manix" before homeboys and label staples Hiver come through with the slinky and hypnotic tech house of "Stasys" and Detroit veteran Kris Wadsworth makes a surprising appearance with some slow burning minimalism displayed on closer "Abroad".

Review: Blackhall & Bookless have been pursuing a fantastic strain of house and techno via their Jaunt label for many moons now. They're back and celebrating 10 years with a series of fantastic remixes that highlight the scope of their artistic vision, and that of those close to them. Inland leads in with an oceans deep version of the label bosses' "Spirit", which is smartly followed up by Jonas Kopp's equally submersive take on Hiver's "Itria". Jasper Wolff and Maarten Mittendorff lets the swooning "Meandering Rivers" by Kaelan burst its banks and fill out an expansive landscape, while Stojche pings Gian's "The Exchange" out into an electro-speckled cosmos.

Review: Rebirth is thrilled to announce the release of three bonus parts of the 'Ciao Italia. Generazioni Underground' album in 2023, available on limited edition vinyl. 'Ciao Italia' Bonus Quattro, Cinque and Sei continue to connect two generations - the trailblazers of the early 90s and those continuing the legacy today, with a futuristic perspective and renewed energy. Bonus Sei includes classic tracks from legends like Doni & Leo Young, Pastaboys, G.P.M., Steve Mantovani, Dan-E-Mc, Daniele Mad, along with unreleased material from newer Italian artists such as Hiver and Feel Fly.

Review: Appian Sounds' Indelible Expressions series returns with its second and final chapter, this time spear-headed by a totally different collection of artists. The Irish label have featured plenty of exciting talent in the past, including Joey Anderson, Imugem Orihasam, Eduardo De La Calle, so we know that they can throw together an excellent variety of artists to form one hell of an EP. This time we have: Evigt Morker with the supremely dubby and laid-back "Langbro Kyrka", "Once Upon A Time In A Dub" by G-Prod, "ison" by Vidab and Curle members Hiver, and a cracking piece of percussive grit-house by the one and only XDB, always up for it and never shy of a fat groove.

Review: Hiver have a solid ten years of releases behind them for labels like Curle, Vidab and Fides, but now they're making the move to Peggy Gou's Gudu for a trip into celestial tech house of the highest order. This is sparkling, fantasy acid house with a slant towards glistening cascades of synth work reaching for euphoric peaks. There's a steadfast sense of melancholy folded into these tracks, whether it's the yearning string pads hovering over 'Dream Universe' or the augmented chords hovering over 'Purple Phaze'. 'Lodash' has an electro-disco tint and 'Higher Space' takes a slick approach to 90s stabs, rounding out a stadium-sized house record that fits right in on Gudu.

Review: Italian newcomers Hiver continue to explore the crawlspace between US and European styles of house and techno on the Blue Aconite EP for Belgian imprint Curle. Brandishing a crisp and icy sound that makes their name all too fitting (it's French for winter don't you know) Hiver impress from the off with the breathless, subtle deep techno of the title track By contrast, "Egaltine" is more European sounding, its dubby groove revealing tantalising acid licks and a broadside of hi-hats as the filters build and drop, whilst "Teasel" demonstrates Hiver's capacity for soulful productions. This later track is remixed by Tobias, with the German choosing to implement some shuffling, metallic drums and ponderous bass.

Review: Jaunt Records' 10 year celebrations are spanning a series of 12"s that feature a broad spectrum of artists searching for the ultimate deep techno fix. The four contenders that occupy this Sea release all have their own agenda, but they sit together perfectly. Hiver weaves illustrious pads in between nimble electro drums and bubbling acid bass, while Artefakt creates eerie, fractured acid meanderings to send a shiver down your spine. Hinode does some deft break choppage to create a dreamy trip for the up all night crew, and then Region rolls the record out on an emotive tip while keeping the rhythm section pumped up for the floor.

Review: Map.ache and Svensol & Bender's Kann imprint has been going string since 2008, putting out a diverse mixture of dancefloor music from some of house and techno's most interesting artists. Once in a while, they like to put out some collaborative works and it's time for the second instalment of their Family Horror compilations. Plenty of fire and new faces on this one, and we're particularly digging Hiver's "Egeo", a cinematic opener with an aqueous sort of feel to it, "Kokobay" by QY and the acidic "Track 6" by Perm. Wild and multi-faced.

Review: Previous volumes in Polifonic's multi-artist Itria series have loosely explored the more 'Mediterranean' end of the dance music spectrum, giddily scampering between tracks variously inspired by dream house, Balearica and glassy-eyed nu-disco. There's a more psychedelic tone to this third instalment, with the collected cuts doffing a cap towards cosmic sounds and slow techno. Amsterdam producer Interstellar Funk sets the tone via the chugging beats, throbbing sequenced bass and sun-bright synth melodies of 'Jupiter's Arpeggio', before Tamburi Neri opts for hallucinatory textures, twanging Jew's harp sounds and slow-motion tribal percussion ('Oceano Irrazionali'). Elsewhere, Salamada's 'Morning Magic' is an aural sunrise ritual rich in tribal percussion and drowsy sonic textures, 'Thunder' by Hiver's Night Heron project is a bubbly cosmic throb-job, and Zippo & Claudio PRC's 'Nettuno Blu' is an immersive, ultra-deep dancefloor delight.