Perlon Germany Vinyl & CDs

Review: After the adventures in Meditations from Thomas Melchior, Perlon's latest release of an impressive 2015 so far finds the label turn to a lesser known artist in Bihn. The production alias of Berlin based Germann Nguyen, BIHN emerged last year with a pair of low key 12"s as well as working with Onur Ozer as Treatment. What Nguyen lacks in profile he makes up for in punchy Perlon-worthy productions skills on the basis of his two tracks here with opener "Visio" a quite haunting cut where stripped back drum programming allows a neat bassline and detailed synth work to shine. Complementing this, it feels like "Ruski" is Nguyen letting his more urgent desires reign free and is likely to become a B side many selectors cherish.

Review: Since debuting in 2016 Gaetano Caruan has only put out a handful of releases. While these EPs showed promise, there was always a feeling that the producer may be capable of hitting higher heights musically. Diaframma, Caruan's first outing on the mighty Perlon label, delivers on that early promise, offering up rhythmically interesting, off-kilter workouts that blend minimal techno chops with oddball electronics and plenty of smoky jazz influences. For proof, check 'Steps to Klapa', where wonky but weighty bass, fuzzy electronic stabs and chanted vocal snippets ride a killer rhythm, and the smooth, intergalactic micro-house hustle of 'Spalladium'. Elsewhere, 'Horns' is a sumptuous chunk of heady, morning-fresh electronic jazz and 'We Got The Swing' is an oddball, bass-heavy club workout full of hazy samples, bossa-influenced beats and creepy keys.

Review: After the 2022 release of 'Tamarindo' with his band Ottlix, German artist Felix HK (Felix Hornfeck) presents his first ever solo 12", continuing his forays in aerated minimal house and techno. Contrasting to 2022's leguminous debut EP, 'Flooss' is much twiggier and snappier. Only the title track blurs beats into ambiences, with soft-attacked, long-tailed drum transients effecting a notable dreaminess; all else is sticklike and sassy, with closer 'Salagratzos' especially charming with its difficult-to-comprehend, yet feistily childlike vocal lines.

Review: This is the thirrd release by the amazing Italian producer Ivan Iacobucci for the Perlon label. The previous two were so well received, this next one was destined to come out sooner than later. Perlon fans know what to expect from their label of choice and Ivan delivers the goods. Those addictively quirky and fonky jackin' minimal techno jams. The title track is that and then some! We especially like the sexy jam 'Waiting For My Love'. Expect the unexpected when you flip over the record as 'Close the Door' is a full-on acid banger that combines high energy techno into what sounds like a video game soundtrack theme song! Closing things out is the wild sounding 'Fear & Madness in the Desert'. We are smiling at the thought of someone playing out these corkers to audience. Expect to see WTF typefaces everywhere!

Review: Under the Melchior Productions name, German producer Thomas Melchior has committed some of his finest material to wax in the name of Zip and Markus Nikolai's seminal Perlon imprint. After an absence of some three years, Melchior's name is back on one of those distinctive Perlon 12"s with the first of two planned records under the Meditations banner. Don't get confused by the name though, the three "Meditations" are in no way meditative! Instead this is a record that finds Melchior fully channelling that classic Perlon vibe with the rowdy "Meditation 2" the pick of the bunch.

Review: And so the Perlon Meditations continue... Late last year German producer Thomas Melchior made his first appearance on Perlon in some three years with the exquisite Meditations 1-3, which naturally channelled the iconic label's vibe perfectly. The first Perlon release of 2015 presents a further three Melchior produced Meditations, 4-6, with the opening track something of an understated epic. At 12 minutes long, "Meditation 4" demonstrates Melchior's craft for slowly building a groove, adding elements in a fashion that sounds subtle on headphones and deadly on a soundsystem. Face down, the 5th Meditation is an infectious little house groover, with hi hats and vocal samples jousting playfully whilst the closing track is a sub heavy number rich in vocal abstraction.

Review: It's been over ten years since Thomas Melchior made his bow on Perlon, and the house and techno fusionist has released most of his best work on the imprint since. Here he returns to the acclaimed German label with a series of six "meditations" - long, drawn out compositions that variously doff a cap to hypnotic tech-house (see the excellent, jazz-flecked "Meditation 5"), tribal-influenced, spaced-out grooves ("Meditation 6") and woozy, evocative deep house ("Meditation 3"). Best of all, though, are the album's more melodious moments, with opener "Meditation 1" - a loopy, picturesque concoction that sounds like an unlikely collaboration between Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Ricardo Villalobos.

Review: Thomas Melchior's take on minimalist house and techno - wonky and off-kilter, but surprisingly funky, far-sighted and pleasingly atmospheric - is amongst the most accessible and ear-catching around. It's a sound that works as well on albums as it does on singles and EPs, so it's somewhat surprising to discover that Vulnerabilities is his first full-length as Melchior Productions since 2007. It's been worth the wait though, with the veteran producer offering up tracks that combine brilliantly programmed, often off-kilter drums with smooth but druggy basslines, tactile chords, addictive melodic refrains and his usual subtle (and occasional not to subtle) nods towards deep house, dub techno, two-step garage, trippy ambient and the quirky, funk-fuelled eccentricity of Ricardo Villalobos productions.

Review: Here comes something new on the ever-essential Perlon. There's no exact information about who is behind Ottlix, although some scant information online points to the names Felix HK and Ottber, whoever they might be. Either way, mystery is always a part of the Perlon vibe and so it goes on this superlative trip into micro house territory, with lead track 'Tamarindo' pivoting around a relaxed broken beat formation and elegant slithers of deep techno synthesis. The snaking rhythmic style keeps up on 'Time Issues', which comes on like a Stasis joint with its fluttering, psychedelic machine soul tones. 'For' has a more pointed shift towards the dancefloor with a steady house beat, but it's still plenty weird as a good Perlon record should be.

Review: Japanese techno titan Fumiya Tanaka is no stranger to Perlon, having first appeared on the lauded label back in 2012. Even so, Ab still marks the veteran producer's first appearance on the Berlin-based imprint for the best part of five years. Tanaka hits the mark straight away on A-side "On A Bass", a perfectly crafted, low-slung tech-house roller that pits the rhythmic swing associated with Ricardo Villalobos against a locked-in bassline, creepy deep space chords and all manner of twisted, cut-up vocal samples. In comparison flipside "Dreaming Perfect Zebras" feels rather classic and old school, with Tanaka drawing on both his love of early UK tech-house, Motor City influenced deep house and the crunchy tech-house percussion of contemporary imprints such as YYY.

Review: Seven years after Superlongevity Five, Zip and Marcus Nicolai's Perlon ushers in its 20th anniversary celebrations with the long-awaited follow up. 18 exclusive cuts from label family and firm friends old and new, Perlon's whole range is on display; from the pensive, restrained and dense house music of Baby Ford right through to the cosmic p-funk of Kalabrese, every Perlon shade and hue is on display. Highlights across the deep, widescreen trip include Villalobos's freaky "Gonzo Funk", the planet-leaping jacks of Spacetravel's "No More" and the late night trooping power of International Anything's "When It's Dark". Super.

Review: Seven years after Superlongevity Five, Zip and Marcus Nicolai's Perlon ushers in its 20th anniversary celebrations with the long-awaited follow up. 18 exclusive cuts from label family and firm friends old and new, Perlon's whole range is on display; from the pensive, restrained and dense house music of Baby Ford right through to the cosmic p-funk of Kalabrese, every Perlon shade and hue is on display. Highlights across the deep, widescreen trip include Villalobos's freaky "Gonzo Funk", the planet-leaping jacks of Spacetravel's "No More" and the late night trooping power of International Anything's "When It's Dark". Super.

Review: By his legendary standards of messiness, Ricardo Villalobos seems to have calmed down a bit of late. Perhaps it's related to spending more time in the studio, because Dependent & Happy is his first solo full-length for four years. It's a pretty good set, all told, delivering warmer, groovier minimal tracks than we've come to expect from the skeletal, perma sweating Chilean. Notably, there are more melodies, looser drums - some of which have a smooth swing that suggests he's rediscovering his Mojo - and even the odd track featuring rolling electric pianos and a fuller sound (see the devilishly funky "Samma" and Clavinet-boasting "Tu Actilud").

Review: Ricardo Villalobos has clearly found a kindred spirit in former Sun Electric and Moritz Von Oswald trio man Max Loderbauer. The duo has been remixing together for some time, delivering some notable reworks, including a stunning minimal jazz re-imagining of Nightmares on Wax's "Aftermath". Safe in Harbour marks the Berlin-based pair's first original work together under the Vilod alias, and continues their theme of melding elements of fizzing jazz, minimal, and dub techno. It's an impressive set, all told, full of wonky, off-kilter fusions of live instrumentation - most notably some brilliant drumming - glitchy electronics and a Berghain-friendly attitude. In fact, it may be Villalobos' most impressive studio work to date.

Review: Ricardo Villalobos has clearly found a kindred spirit in former Sun Electric and Moritz Von Oswald trio man Max Loderbauer. The duo has been remixing together for some time, delivering some notable reworks, including a stunning minimal jazz re-imagining of Nightmares on Wax's "Aftermath". Safe in Harbour marks the Berlin-based pair's first original work together under the Vilod alias, and continues their theme of melding elements of fizzing jazz, minimal, and dub techno. It's an impressive set, all told, full of wonky, off-kilter fusions of live instrumentation - most notably some brilliant drumming - glitchy electronics and a Berghain-friendly attitude. In fact, it may be Villalobos' most impressive studio work to date.

Review: Originally formed in 2014 as a trio dedicated to blurring the boundaries, the Waves now exists as a solo project of one of the members: Berlin-based Maayan Nidam. Here she presents her long-promised debut album, 'Motorikherz', an atmospheric and off-kilter affair that confidently joins the dots between eyes-closed experimentalism, wonky post-punk-pop, minimal house, opioid electronica and stylish new wave pop. It's opaque and atmospheric in the extreme, with Nidam's evocative vocals rising above (or sometimes being buried beneath) sparse but warming analogue electronics, stripped-back rhythms, heavily processed instrumentation and inventive production trickery. As you can see, it's hard to describe, but it's adventurous, entertaining and - for the most part - surprisingly soothing.