Chat Noir Tools France Vinyl & CDs

Review: It's brave to call your label, and your new series, 'Tools,' but in the case of French label Chat Noir there is more than enough style to the tunes to elevate them above mere fodder. This various artist collection kicks off with Occibel's 'Opale' which is bathed in balmy pads with tight, clipped tech-funk drum work. Vitess then offers the heavy and heady synth panning of 'AB Road' which is a twitchy cosmic cut that operates at high speed and Sunaas slows things down to a funky downbeat workout on 'Off World.' There is 90s tech from Noiro and space breaks on Jo'Z's 'Analyzing' on the flip.

Review: For their first release of 2024, Chat Noir Tools welcome Levan Grdzelidze, Tbilisi-based artist and founder of the Glispy Records label. After a standout first vinyl release on the Mtkvarze imprint, he delivers his first full-length record here, consisting of five tracks dealing in indubitably spitty deep tech and acid, with the occasional motif from deep house, trance and even downtempo (clock the fantastic closer, 'End? There Is No End', which "breaks" from the structuralism of the 4x4 kick for a rebellious deep-delve into the world of breaks and ambience).

Review: Raw and grimy electro-techno from Lungo for Chat Noir Tools, a slinky and funky label specializing in dance music with a distinctive French touch. Inspired by the world of retro gaming, we can easily imagine the music here cropping up on some obscure pixelbound shoot-em-up, like something between a Mr. Oizo repetitor and a discarded Doom cartridge from 1993. Closer 'Fix This' is the highlight, verging on speed garage with its rough swing, but bringing a lo-fi flair not heard so much on the rest of the EP.