Private Persons Vinyl & CDs

Review: Russian imprint Private Persons are back, following up some terrific releases by the likes of Florian Kupfer, Jensen Interceptor and Locked Club. Taking over the reins this time is one of the more enigmatic figures in the Moscow music scene - Art Crime. He serves up some dusty and emotive deep house on his latest long player entitled Memoirs of Naive - a collection of old/previously unreleased songs written over the last five years, and described by the label as 'melancholic late-night bedroom diaries full of reflections and hopes.' Highlights include the evocative opener "Seoul", the chilling ambient interlude "Dearth" and the bittersweet melancholia of "Images Of You" that's just perfect for all the solitary dancers out there.

Review: The latest missive from Russian imprint Private Persons comes courtesy of Formally Unknown, a bass-obsessed duo who won plenty of plaudits for last year's "Off Peak EP" on Dusky's 17 Steps label. Their love of weighty, bowel-bothering sub-bass comes to the fore on opener "Hectic", a clandestine stepper rich in metallic percussion hits, rumbling low end frequencies and watery, dubbed out electronic motifs. The sense of foreboding continues on the pulsating peak-time creepiness of "Rave Safe", while "Fields" sees them pepper an off kilter two-step rhythm with glassy-eyed chords, ear-catching bleeps and wonky percussion fills. Fittingly, the pair finishes with an inspired flourish via "Feel It", a rush-inducing breakbeat cut that recalls the glory years of British rave music.

Review: Sydney sorts Jensen Interceptor and Assembly Code first joined forces late last year, delivering the throbbing and jacking 6th Element EP on Boyznoize Records. This second collaborative salvo is, if anything, even better. They kick things off with the redlined, industrial electro assault of "Drum Rack" - think distorted drums, mind-bending bass fuzz and ghostly noises - before tiptoeing the fine line between Drexciyan electro and more concrete-clad sounds on the essential "Pipe". They tip a wink to original EBM maestros such as Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb on the bustling brilliance of "Natural Control", while "F5" sounds like a successful attempt to fuse crispy, hardcore style breakbeats and mind-bending acid house.

Review: Following fine outings from Gazatech and Youngg P, Moscow-based Private Persons has turned to long-established producer Florian Kupfer for release number three. He kicks things off with "Post Present", a pleasingly lo-fi, analogue-sounding chunk of deep house that wraps reverb-laden vocal samples and fluttering synthesizer motifs around a tactile, old school house groove. While sturdy enough to sound good booming out of big sound systems, much of the track's power is derived from the drifting waviness of its sparse samples and melodies. Flip to the B-side for the driving but distorted drums and spacey chords of "Can't Love Life Without U", and the slowly shifting, Pete Namlook style ambient of "Lubov".

Review: It would be fair to say that Netherlands-based Potuguese producer Lake Haze (real name Goncalo Salgado) has released music on some impressive labels over the years. His bulging discography boasts appearances on Creme Organization, E-Beamz, Unknown To The Unknown, Shall Not Fade, and now Private Persons. In keeping with the latter label's raw and forthright vibe, title track "Atomic Label" is a sparkling slab of Kraftwerkian electro blessed with notable percussive and low-end weight. "Brain Hack" sees Salgado pepper another rolling electro rhythm with trance-like stabs and sci-fi melodies, while "Moscow Forever" sees him take a more foreboding, creepy and paranoid musical stance. Finally, "Laniaka" is a raw, pitched-down electro treat laden with vibrant, alien electronics.

Review: Since debuting on Private Persons in 2017, Russian duo Locked Club has gone on to release well received material on TRAM Planet and, more recently, Boys Noize. Here they return to the Private Persons fold with their first EP for the imprint in two years. Fans of no-holds-barred, industrial strength electro/techno fusion should check the brain-melting insanity of funk-fuelled opener "Russian Banya" and "WC", a buzzing, lo-fi electro cut that's as urgent and energetic as a panicked commuter legging it to catch the last train home. Elsewhere, "Whisper" is a strobe-lit chunk of electroclash revivalism and "So Funky" is a serviceable slab of electronic body music.

Review: Private Persons look East for their latest no-nonsense 12", which sees a welcome return to the imprint from no-holds-barred Russian twosome Locked Club. It's a brilliant collection of tracks all told, with the TB-303-powered acid-electro madness of "Electro Raw" and thrusting, industrial funk-meets-EBM bustle of "Punk Navsegda" both delivering sweaty dancefloor thrills by the bucketload. There's plenty to savour elsewhere across the 12", too. Check, for example, the aggressive, fuzz-fuelled electro-rap madness of "Svoboda" and fizzing opener "Nega Arashi", where doom-laden chords, growling industrial style vocal samples and razor-sharp electronic melodies ride a heavy, end-of-days electro groove.

Review: Releases on the Private Persons label tend to come from the more intense, forthright and lo-fi end of the techno spectrum, though they're frequently funkier and more inventive than you might expect. Label regulars Locked Club specialise in this style, where dark and breathless rhythms are variously combined with nasty-sounding stabs, rave riffs, cut-up samples and galloping, all-action basslines. It's this eccentric, enjoyable style that comes to the fore on the balaclava-clad duo's latest EP. Highlights include the EBM-influenced, warehouse-ready insanity of 'Edu v Epiget', the lo-fi, percussion-laden stomp of 'Go People', the mind-mangling throb-job that is 'After Cake' and the 'rave-era hardcore-reimagined by techno radicals' flex of bonkers closing cut 'Kuliki'.

Review: ***B-STOCK Record has light surface marks/scratches, but otherwise in excellent working condition***


Releases on the Private Persons label tend to come from the more intense, forthright and lo-fi end of the techno spectrum, though they're frequently funkier and more inventive than you might expect. Label regulars Locked Club specialise in this style, where dark and breathless rhythms are variously combined with nasty-sounding stabs, rave riffs, cut-up samples and galloping, all-action basslines. It's this eccentric, enjoyable style that comes to the fore on the balaclava-clad duo's latest EP. Highlights include the EBM-influenced, warehouse-ready insanity of 'Edu v Epiget', the lo-fi, percussion-laden stomp of 'Go People', the mind-mangling throb-job that is 'After Cake' and the 'rave-era hardcore-reimagined by techno radicals' flex of bonkers closing cut 'Kuliki'.

Review: This new collaborative EP from Russia's Private Persons provides a healthy dose of twisted electro-minded tech that should appeal to all sorts of DJs seeking that 'raw' edge. This new pile driver comes from the minds of Locked Club and RLGN, both of them new to the scene and hungrily to deliver some good old dread into the dance floor. "Bosozoku" and "Baikal Boogie" are both made of the same, twisted sort of highly abrasive metallic percussion, and should light up more than a few light bulbs to fans of the Bunker stable. Over on the B-side, Locked Club appears on his own for "80.8 FM", an FX-heavy juggernaut with nothing but merciless energy at its core, whereas the duo are back together on the punchy warehouse techno of "Tsukare". Cold and effective.

Review: Pretty much any new London Modular Alliance release is worth checking, though even by their high standards "Galaxy Exploration" is rather special. The six tracks cover a variety of electro-fired sounds, from the blackhole Drexciyan creepiness of "Private K-Hole" and rumbling bass and warm chords of "Remainder", to the sparkling and spacey deep electro of "Oscillator Reflux", Autechre-style angular IDM of "In Vaccum" and bold, peak-time ready darkness of "Mirrors". Throughout, the trio once again shows their seemingly innate ability to fix atmospheric, ear-catching electronica to drum machine rhythms that are punchy and powerful in equal measure.

Review: Following outings on Echovolt, Further Electronix, Nerang, X-Kalay and Of Paradise, Gennadiy Manzhos brings his Low Tape project to Private Persons for the very first time. "The Next Summer of Love EP" is an expansive and universally impressive affair, with the Russian producer brilliantly charging between sun-kissed deep electro (melodious opener "Euphoria" and the similarly summery "No Acid For You"), raw and heavy jack-tracks ("Chicago Blues"), skittish but spacey electrofunk (the high tempo thrills of "Detroit Love"), bittersweet brilliance (the melancholic chords, non-stop machine beats and acid-style electronics of "Never Not Known You") and bass-heavy ghetto-house/ambient techno fusion ("Winter Acid Waltz").

Review: When French "enfant terrible" Joan-Mael Peneau AKA Malestrom first pitched up on Central Processing Unit earlier in the year, more than a few eyebrows were raised. Many were expecting noisy, all-action techno similar to his earlier work, but instead he delivered high-grade futurist electro. Like that EP and his subsequent releases since, this outing on Private Persons is similarly minded. Opener "Red Stamp" offers a brilliant balance between distorted, gut punching beat-box drums and intergalactic melodies, while the even fuzzier "Blue Stamp" comes on like the soundtrack to a CGI battle in a big-budget Hollywood sci-fi flick. Turn to the flip for the panicked, mind-altering intensity of EP standout "On The Run", as well as the acid-fired electro trip "Temporary Document" and the anthem-like peak-time bustle of "Dialogue".

Review: According to the secretive Private Persons crew, debutant artist Reehl is, "a mysterious artist from England", which we'd like to think that's usually code for: "someone well known who doesn't want to be named". Whoever the producer behind the project is, there's some blistering techno fare on show across the EP. Check first the lo-fi broken house heaviness of "Ratchet", before moving on to the even more distorted and intense industrial techno clatter of "Crust". The brilliantly named "Acid Monkfish" is as wild and mind-altering as we'd hoped, with waves of wiggly TB-303 motifs, leaping motifs and glassy-eyed samples leaping above a hybrid electro/breakbeat groove. If that's not enough to set the pulse racing, closing cut "Hurricane" is a moody old school techno roller full of hissing cymbals, foreboding riffs and crunchy drums.

Review: Back in the summer, XAN made his debut on Ron Wilson's 777 imprint via a forthright but pleasingly varied EP full of subtle techno variations. This follow-up for Private Persons is seemingly inclined, moving from the gut-twisted sub-bass pulses, starburst electronics and curious drum machine programming of "PP", to the skittish, breakbeat-driven lo-fi techno assault of "B2B". In between, the publicity-shy, Moscow-based producer variously turns his hand to loose-and-funky, bass-heavy broken techno ("Gallery"), metallic electro ("C") and swinging, intelligent techno influenced late night science ("Hotbed"). Throughout, the tracks retain an impressively atmospheric feel and speaker-bothering weightiness.

Review: The second 12" on Moscow-based mystery label Private Persons comes from Youngg P, a Ukraine-based DJ/producer whose debut release dropped on Kiev House a couple of years back. On the four tracks showcased here, he shows a good grasp of analogue house and techno dynamics. "Carpathian Rave" is a quirky, off-kilter jacker rich in buzzing electronics, liquid acid riffs and bustling house percussion, while "Ocean" fits the stargazing electronics of vintage Motor City techno to the saucer-eyed melodiousness of vintage Italian deep house. Meanwhile, creepy flipside "War" sounds like it was inspired by a mix of L.I.E.S style distorted techno and 1980s industrial funk. As for closer "Masher Track", it's a full-throated exploration of clanking, drum machine techno.