Vigenere Vinyl & CDs

Review: The unknown CFW GRF steps up with Seeking Balance, a three-track 12" that forms the third release from Malin Genie's recently established Vigenere label. Like the previous two releases, expect stripped-back minimal cuts geared towards club play. "The Light" is a real B-side gem!

Review: There's something strange at work with this mysterious label Vigenere, where a recurrent pattern of oddly formed but unknown names seem to generate killer reduced dancefloor grooves from the most humble of ingredients. This time it's the turn of Ipb Lei Tvl. "Funky Creep" is a truly on-point track title - the beat pops but the synths are creepy as hell, and things are no less unsettling on the eerie "Logidiotic". As if responding to this chilling A-side, there is a warmer lilt to "Tethys" on the flip, but there's still plenty of weirdness and a cracking set of drums to keep you freaking through to the run out groove.

Review: First EP of the brand new Vigenere label.

Review: REPRESS ALERT: Vigenere is creating a mysterious vibe with its obscure collaborative releases, but the music speaks for itself as it plots a course through deeper realms of the dance. After contributing to the first release, Malin Genie is back and seemingly flying solo for a more direct trip into dubby techno territory - that's certainly the vibe on opening immersion heater "Eschaton". "Drain" has a more tripped out minimal flavour with the after hours in mind, while "Venus" swaps moody atmospheres out for a hazy shuffler peppered with slices of warm instrumentation. "Elara" brings things full circle with another crooked dub-out to bring eyelids down heavy in a state of transcendental bliss.

Review: Dutchman Malin Genie is head of his own self titled label, as well as this one, is co-owner of Oscillat and De Vloer and is also a member of Mandar member with Lazare Hoche and SAM. Despite all those projects he still manages to sound fresh and different each and every time he pops up. This time out he strides forwards on a loopy techno pulse on 'Corpse Grinder' , gets freaky on the dark synths and eerie pads of 'Death Mangler' and flips you the fuck out with the acid frenzy that is 'Weakling Poser'. And that's just the a-side, on the reverse are three more left of centre dance floor weapons that take in both sleazy house and cosmic electro. What an EP.

Review: Second EP from the Vigenere label.

Review: Amadeo Savio is next up on Vigenere, the label that has thus far presented a whole host of unknown names in the field of minimal techno all bound together by a shared classiness in their production style. Savio's approach is deep and dubby on opening cut "Isolat", one primed for the after hours. "Trance Later" has a slightly more forthright approach, but there's still plenty of mellow delights to be found in the synth department to keep you chilling. "Encor" heads into more typically minimal pastures, while "Kassion" explores broken beat patterns and fragmented samples with scintillating results.

Review: This is techno, but not as we know it from the Vigenere. Sparagamos (a fitting name given the word originally means to render, tear apart, or mangle) is behind these freaky beats but we nothing more about the artist. Suffice it to say they sure do have a fine grip of their studio and can manipulate sound in some thrilling ways. The opener is a warp-speed warehouse banger with distorted bass and manic energy, track two explores sludgy acid techno underworlds and track there is a twitchy cosmic workout with serene pads. 'Track 4' is a world of dystopian robotics while the flip side offers tripped-out, double-time dub techno, more acid intensity and experimental mind melters with exceptional sound design.

Review: The levels of intrigue continue to run high around the rapidly developing Vigenere label, as the Malin Genie-helmed label continues to showcase lesser known talents operating in more adventurous corners of the techno domain. Yard One are a UK duo split between London and Manchester, and you can certainly here a rough n' ready soundsystem attitude and the ghost of classic '90s techno permeating the textured, knotty rhythms on opening cut "Sky Kings". "Cellular Entanglement" takes things in a more serene direction, but not at the expense of crisp beats to propel the twinkling synths along. "Unfurling" presides over the flip with a mystical atmosphere that should appeal to those who like their techno oceans deep and dubbed out to perfection.