Nous Klaer Audio Vinyl & CDs

Review: Call a track 'Rotterdam In De Jaren 90' and you can expect people to have some pretty strong feelings about what it might sound like. Especially given this double-A from Nous Klaer Audio opens on what grows into a tense, electronic, club-ready builder, for a while at least. Cast any thoughts of gabber out the window, though, because if this is the Dutch port city's rave scene on record, it's a post-sweat soaked, blissed out reflection on the wonders of whatever happened the night before. Kems Kriol's mini epic, a 15-minute long tune no less, is a beautiful combination of wistful woodwind and synthesised refrains, presumably found sounds, and strange, abstract noises. 'Tegenlicht', on the other side, shares some of those qualities in the extended intro and outro sections, but also spends some of its 18-minute running time in the basements and warehouses we were originally expecting to find.

Review: It is always hard to predict just what Nous Klaer Audio might serve up next. In this case, the always-fresh Dutch label looks to Mata Disk for four innovative and rhythmic techno workouts. 'Icon' is a busy one with kinetic rhythms and busy hits that pepper the groove and keep you moving. 'Diffusion' is just as much in a hurry with its squelchy synth blasts and sucky, looped drums but also there are more thoughtful and cosmic pads to bring a different energy. 'Two Sides Of The Same Coin' keeps the restless sense of rhythm alive - nothing here feels tethered to a strict grid. 'Space Brings Us Together' is a final off-kilter techno bumper with more sci-fi synth designs.

Notes: Orange Nous'klaer Audio slipmat with text logo, 3mm thick.

Review: Nadia Struiwigh's Pax Aurora was a standout ambient techno LP in 2022, and now Nous Klaer Audio have returned to the project to commission a grip of remixes which respond to the source material in distinctive ways. DJ Nobu takes a delicate, mesmerising approach to 'Nana', while Jakojako plumbs the depths of immersive, feathery techno. With Om Unit and Julia Gjertsen representing with equally hypnotic, elegant versions on the flip as well, this is the perfect example of a remix EP which truly adds weight to the original release.