Rekids Vinyl & CDs

Review: Having been a staple in the Parisian scene for over two decades, Deeply Rooted boss DJ Deep returns to Matt Edward's Rekids with four tough productions here. "La Grande Brasserie" features rolling kicks and a subtle rhythm, as futuristic stabs ebb in and out of the mix, while the '2e Service' version (whilst sharing a similar aesthetic) sounds bigger with its echoing synths and infectious claps. On the flip, both tracks are more dark and mellow in comparison; "Paris Heartbeat" showcasing twisted atmospherics and gloomy elements, whilst the intricate and mesmerising 'Chord Kids' is exemplary of DJ Deep's ability to craft imaginative left-of-centre cuts.

Review: What a coming together this is - Detroit pioneer Robert Hood and European techno powerhouse Rekids on one blistering record. The title track is as powerful and unrelenting as the name suggests, with bass fired from a machine gun under militant snare rolls and sweeping filters adding to the waves of techno washing over you repeatedly. '7 Mile Dog' is a little more freeform, with synths riding up and down the mix but more high pressure drum work and coarse snares locking you down. 'Ignite A War' is the sort of expertly reduced minimal that Robert Hood is best known for and lastly, 'The Cure' builds a big old wall of techno designed purely for warehouse detonation.

Review: In its original form, "Trans" was one of the dancefloor highlights of Matt Edwards' second album as Radio Slave, 2017's Feel The Same. Here, the dark and stylish original - think alien new wave synth-pop from 1983 re-imagined as a Panoramabar-friendly workout - is given a makeover by two titans of the electronic music scene: Innervisions overlord Dixon and Detroit techno stalwarts Underground Resistance. Naturally, Dixon's rub is weightier and more obviously big room-friendly than Edwards album cut, with the foreboding original synth bassline and bubbly electronic flourishes being joined by weightier drum hits and bold new melodic motifs which fire "Trans" towards the stratosphere. In contrast, Underground Resistance's revision is fuzzier, wonkier and more hypnotic, albeit with a little disco surprise here and there.

Review: Markus Suckut clearly knows how to make throbbing, no-nonsense club cuts. His second 12" for Rekids begins with a chunk of sweaty, muscular techno, where a restless, warehouse-ready riff rides a formidable rhythm track built around pulverizing kick-drums, crunchy shares, and relentless hi-hats. In essence, it's the sort of funk-fuelled techno stomper that doesn't strive too hard to impress, but does anyway. His modifies this approach a little on flipside "Zero Nine Six", utilizing a looped synthesized sax loop to add additional funkiness to a denser groove in which his crispy snare hits take a much more prominent role. Like the A-side, it sounds phenomenally large over club sound systems.

Review: Germany's Markus Suckut should be rather proud of his catalogue, so far. The multi-talented house and techno producer has released several EP's through the mighty Stroboscopic Artefacts, along with setting up his own Exile imprint, and providing some seriously interesting DJ sets, to boot. This time, however, he drops a surprise in the form of an EP for Radio Slave's Rekids, three untitled floor shakers. "Track 1" is jarring, broken, half-stepping and slightly acidic in taste; "Track 2" heads down the techno wormhole with its pounding 4/4 kick and minimal melodies; but it's "Track 3" which comes as the surprise thanks to its quasi jungle structure, and stop-start motion. All in all, this is perhaps the best Rekids 12" of the year, and it truly does come warmly recommended.