22Recordings Vinyl & CDs

Review: Hard, brash, EBM-informed EP goodness from 22Recordings' beloved AMQN, on an exclusive third outing by the artist for the label, and vinyl only at that. This elusive pusher of plaintive, grim new beat is a regular fixture of the label's Capitulo series, and only now does the artist see a full EP slot all to himself. A sophisticated sojourn in the distinctively janky pulse of new beat, an informed by the inexorably Italo rawness of tape-era coldwave, 'La Linea De La Vida' and 'Siempre Al Margen' hear AMQN command a bestial lyrical prowess and bring it to braggart beats, ending on the unabashedly squelchy denouement 'Inexplicable'.

Review: The fourth edition in 22Recordings' Capitulo series takes the name 'SueNos y Sombras' ('Dreams And Shadows'), blessed by none other than producer Lachina. Intended as a vinyl-only release - with the digitals priced at the exorbitantly high sum of €1,000 as of this time of writing - it's clear that the artist and label intend for these dark Italodance numbers to be heard via the naturally lossy medium that is wax, in all its crispy-crackly murk and dirt. From opener 'Attrazione Invisible', which pines after the eponymous long-lost celestial object that has puzzled astronomers and cosmologists since long last, to the closing 'Dialogo Perpetuo', which bedazzles with its harmonic arps, burgeoning melodies and wind-down synth fallers, you're in for a real treat here.

Review: 22Recordings' latest dystopi-lectro outing takes the form of Lachina's second self-titled EP volume, bringing six edge-of-the-map microchip malfunctions to the replicant ear. Spanning every trace influence from chiptune to outrun to Italo, 2024 debutant Lachina continues to explore their very own brand of phlox purple electro, beginning on the twizzling opener 'Sogni E Ombre', marking the midpoint with the synthetic bass guitar pluckers '05.11.93' and 'What Is Love', and ending on the sampler vox-shot cheese-oozing that is 'The Violet Season'. Every track faithfully adheres to the sensibility of 80s synth music, while also getting away with things that only a contemporary artist of Lachina's calibre could.

Review: Barcelona's 22Recordings mark a curveball with Nativo's new release, moving away from their trademark darkness and ever further into playful and melodic, if still diatonic, sounds. Patently led by the drum machine and the step sequencer, the rising producer Nativo flexes their chops across five tracks of varying speed and tenacity, all of which cross between an intuitive pastiche of dark Italo on one spectral end, and pure outsider house music on the other. The mood is gruff but clownish; it's as if your local fairground had been overtaken by vampire bats and bloodthirsty goths. Closer 'Onivia' is the only moment of respite, bringing an impressive substrate of arpeggios to an overall final-shebang feel.