Dalmata Daniel Vinyl & CDs

Review: The shady, provocative artist who goes by the name of 99Letters is back with a selection of mesmerising techno-not-techno tracks for the young and audacious Dalmata Daniel label. As with the rest of this producer's music, these jittery, improvisational outsider tunes have got the sound of the cassette hiss very much at the forefront of the mix, and you can almost hear the cogs of those reel-to-reels turning gloriously. "Neo Life" is a pallid, dreamy stratosphere of beats and pads, but the lead tune "Untold Future" is where we really begin to hear 99Letters' style, that dubby, hazy kind of techno that travels on the borders of dance music and electronica. "Cooper" is similarly washed-out, except that here the beat arrangement has got more in common with electro than tech, while "Neo Life (TRP dub)" is a solid, acid-ridden squelcher with a magnificent layer of distortion and analogue funk.

Review: Rotterdam's DJ Overdose inaugurates new Budapest label Dalmata Daniel with some dark and twisted Drexciyan/Ectomorphian electro nodes. He gets straight down to business on the thumping speaker attack that is "Path To Wrath". There's that dark electro sound so reminiscent of The Bunker heard on "That's Right" complete with jacking vocals. Fellow Hungarian S Olbricht gets on board for a remix of "Path To Wrath" which is some seriously sub aquatic 4/4 electro that works rather well. You'd be forgiven for thinking that "05 Poly 800 Loop" is a locked groove, it's not! But it certainly is a killer DJ tool in the vein of classic Aux 88 Detroit electro. Final track "B(eh)anger (12z remix)" is the kind of gothic electro that people like Visonia and Beta Evers would be in awe of.

Review: Budapest's Dalmata Daniel rewire the electro efforts of Timothy K. Fairplay for their ninth 12", which also includes a B-side icing by none other than fellow producer Norwell. These four retrofuturist cosmopolitan jams are heard divided between the two artists, and do well to flaunt the specific valences of their production styles, which, while doing well to stick to the cosmic aesthetic, cannot help but betray unconscious stylistic hallmarks. Fairplay's is as tweezy and kick-phat as ever, with 'Caliber 9' being the obvious choice as the sonic equivalent of a 70s infographic on telecoms gone haywire. Norwell's take on the vibe is breaksier and more muted, with closing number 'Natives' being the cut of choice, burbling in a vat of liquid acid and emotive smoke.