Clone Royal Holland Vinyl & CDs

Review: Dexter and A Made Up Sound get the Clone call to mess with the material from Arttu's great debut on the Royal Oak label, and naturally the results are a must have. In their original form both "Nuclear Funk" and "Get Up Off It" were the improvised results of a studio session between the 4Lux artist and Detroit vocalist Jerry The Cat. It's a bit of a genius stroke from Clone to enlist two well respected audio technicians like Dexter and Dave Huisman to bend them further out of shape, with the latter's take on "Nuclear Funk" a particular demented delight. Operating under his alias A Made Up Sound, this remix typically smudges the boundaries between genre and rhythm to suit his own needs, reworking the synths to sound like a faltering dot matrix printer over incessantly stumbling drums. Dexter indulges his love of 303 patterns on a remix of "Get Up Off It" that stays closer to the original's origins and makes for a nice contrast to the A Side onslaught.

Review: Basic Bastard is one of the more humorous aliases ascribed to dance music household name Orlando Voorn - it's one of almost twenty. Most releases that have come out under the name have included dark surrealist themes, homing in on everything between hard techno to the self-styled genre of techno-soul. Usually optimistic, this music tends to appeal to the basic bastard in all of us; 'Engine' and 'Rise' are an essentially funky pair of tracks, the sonic equivalent of well-worn dancing shoes. The best bits here are the original 'Rise (Detroit Dub)' and the dubbed-out version of 'Engine'.

Review: Dutch Veteran Gerd's career stretches back an impressive 22 years. Planet F.D.M.X Pt 1 sees him return to Clone's retro-futurist Royal Oak offshoot for the first time in five years. Interestingly, opener "Planet F.D.M.X (909)" doffs a cap to early Warp "bleep and bass" releases, while also paying tribute to the spacey techno sounds of Detroit. There's a slightly more Larry Heard feel to the accompanying "707" mix of the same track, with deliciously deep chords and bright stabs accompanying a "Can You Feel It" style groove. On the flip, he's in full on space mode on the wonderfully attractive and rubbery "Visitors", while "The Cube" bounces along on a wave of vintage acid style refrains, jackin' beats and dreamy, drawn-out chords.

Review: Maybe it's something to do with Sabre's Portuguese background, but whatever the explanation, this latest release is full of breathy, sun-kissed melodies and ramshackle grooves. It starts with "Cascavel Breeze", where woozy, psychedelic chords unravel over broken down drums and a beat-down rhythm. "Vigilante" is based on the same template, but on this occasion it sees Sabre conjure up jazzy keys and loose drums, against which there is some nonsensical but hugely enjoyable vocal wittering. "Ghetto Prophet" is the main dance floor track and features a searing bass fused with dreamy melodies, but the standout track is "Streets Of Love - Blaze". It sees Sabre lay down a hypnotic deep techno pulse to which he adds freeform synth lines and cosmic pan pipes.

Review: A little over a year ago, Sabre brought their brand of jaunty electronic melodies and loose machine grooves to Clone Royal Oak for the first time. Here, three tracks from that EP get the remix treatment. Gifted and Blessed steps up first, serving up a pleasingly loved-up version of "Vigilante" full of rubbery synth bass, snappy snares and dreamy, stretched-out chords. MdM handles "Ghetto Prophet", making much of the Portuguese duo's swooping strings and moody chords, before veteran Dutch twosome Clone turn in a tactile techno re-make of "Cascavel Breeze". Finally, Aera delivers a jumpy, ultra-positive version of "Ghetto Prophet" that sits somewhere between classic Detroit techno and vintage US deep house.