Review: Back to 96: The 4th Wave was a producer named Steve Paton. Also operating under aliases such as The Invisibles and Lo-Fi Sensibilities (when he appeared on Mo Wax), Steve didn't remain active for too long outside of the 90s but he left us two killer EPs. One on Planet E in 95 and this one on Kirk Degiorgio's Op-Art in 96. Reissued for the first time, and now featuring the twinkling downtempo delight "Lounge Music" (which was only ever previously available on a compilation), it's a powerful example of the Detroit/UK feedback loop at the time as both techno hubs were influencing each other. "Attention Please" rolls out the breaks, "Mean Streets" bites like a woozy UR record while "Cosmic Dance" whips up a tribal frenzy for the finale. 23 years old and still sounding future.
Review: A aka Mika Vainio's 'Fermionit' is a significant release from the late Finnish producer, who passed away in 2017. Originally featured in a Belgium Detuned 6x12 boxset just before his death, the track received critical acclaim from collectors and fans. Now, it returns to Mika's own Sahko label for a well-deserved 12" release. 'Fermionit' embodies the essence of Finnish techno with its minimalistic, cold and stark sound. The track's passive-aggressive edge showcases Vainio's signature style, blending raw, unfiltered textures with a profound sense of depth. This release not only honors Vainio's legacy but also offers a chance for new listeners to experience the pure DNA of Finnish techno. An essential listen for fans of minimalist and avant-garde electronic music.
Review: A Certain Ratio have returned with their most tight and funky album, possibly ever, recently, and it is steeped in 40 years of ACR DNA. Now you can grab two of the standout singles on this fine, limited edition white 7" thanks to Daniel Miller's essential Mute. Opener 'Berlin' is the second single from that album, ACR Loco, and has breezy vocals and Trillin riffs over tight drum work. 'Dirty Boy' is riddled with squelchy synth funk, with popping drums and a great vocal performance that will get any party vibing.
Review: The Avidya label arrives with a bold new concept that sees it push itself to "step out of comfort zones to release a series of EPs of broad, challenging and deep music." The first affair is a fine one from four artists, the first of which is Lyon based procure A Strange Wedding from the Worst label. His slow trance locks you in and then Gothenburg trio Datasal come through with a prog rock and post funk and dance fusion. 84PC's contribution is peak time gold and Barcelona's Iro Aka arrive with another debut to round out this fine offering.
Review: A new collaboration of Philoxenia Records founders Luigi Di Venere and Neu Verboten, Affekt Unit is informed by an aim to "spark new feelings on the dancefloor". The three track Discorgy EP celebrates their musical obsessions - Italo house, Frankfurt EBM-house and trance - with the result proving an electrifying crossover of these classic genres together with surprising new sounds. 'Oct-Opus' boasts a serious electro component, fused with progressive trance, UK bass, techno, transcendental rave and even a climactic outbreak of rave-era breaks. The title track 'Discorgy' draws from Euro dance and EBM, experimenting with a polyrhythmic bass line and bringing the kind of 'stadium house' that The KLF were always aiming for. Closing track 'Dreams Of Wrestlers' is cosmic house at its sweetest and beefiest, spruced here and there with Italo stabs and pianos, drum machine fills and some lovely subtle filtering. Not so much a case of something for everyone than everything from everyone, you might even say.
Review: Thankfully, Richard D. James has decided to finally release at least some of the output that he's been banging on about since mid-2000s. In a number of interviews, the might Aphex Twin hinted that he has vast artilleries of tracks stacked up and unreleased, probably more on purpose than out of laziness...or maybe not. What we do know is that AFX is reborn after the string of acid 12"s released about 10 years ago on Rephlex, that saw the alias become one of the most popular of James' alter egos. Orphaned Deejay Selek is a collection of tunes that contain all of the Twin's magic and unpredictably, but that also cut straight to the point and head to the middle of the dance floor. This is banging brain dynamite coated in the man's iconic style and flair. Welcome back AFX, and many hats off to Warp for making it happen.
Review: Basel-based experimental labels Amenthia Recordings and A Walking Contradiction join forces for their first collaborative release here in the form of the Flash Crash/Hack Crash EP. Both labels are known for pushing boundaries within their close-knit creative circles and this one features Agonis' heavy stepper and Konduku's whirlpool of low frequencies on the Amenthia side, while Lemont continues the low-end, tripped-out vibe. Varuna represents A Walking Contradiction and delivers swampy, slow-motion sounds in their signature style. This release embodies both labels' commitment to daring, unconventional electronic sounds.
Review: Japanese stars Akiko and Yukihiro Fukutomi came together to cover SADE's anthem several years ago but it now makes its way back to fresh wax courtesy of Record Store Day 2024. They infused it with dark, mysterious jazz and contemporary influences and Akiko's enigmatic vocals intertwine flawlessly with the minimalist arrangement. On the B-side, their original 'let GO' offers a spiritual journey through dub-techno realms where the synergy between Akiko's emotive delivery and Fukutomi's masterful production creates a captivating sound. This release epitomises the pair's creative chemistry and innovative approach to blending diverse musical elements into a seamless, immersive new realm.
Review: While there's no doubt the Middle East has stepped into the electronic music limelight in recent years, catalysed by good (a rebalancing of media focus within dance culture) and bad (controversy surrounding events like MDL Beast and the media's desperation to keep 'breaking new territory' in a world growing smaller by the day), Fatima Al Qadri is not part of this wave. A Senegal-born Kuwaiti, the US-based artist has been doing very good things for well over a decade (2010's 'Muslim Trance' mix is a must hear), creating everything from music exploring meeting points between Arabic traditions and contemporary synth work, to sound installations for renowned galleries. No stranger to Kode 9's Hyperdub, her third outing on the imprint since 2014 puts dark, atmospheric ambient out on the streets of Dakar after dark. Or something like that.
Review: The Analogue Attic microverse is defined by a unified commitment to the deepest ideas of where house music can head, and no one embodies that spirit better than Alex Albrecht. On this latest 12" he's heading into the velvet folds of low tempo chugger 'The Blacksmith' and downtempo dream state 'Coles Ridge' with elegiac piano sparkling atop fathoms-deep pads and the softest of percussion. This is house music as a vessel for pure relaxation and sentimental meditation, and across six tracks Albrecht offers up balm after balm to soundtrack oceanic realms of calm - a much needed tonic for the frenetic pace of modern life.
Review: The Alex Santos Orchestra is a self-described "orchestra" orchestrated for the express purpose of sanctifying one Alex Santos' lifelong love for jazz and Latin music. Following the much loved 'Alex Santos Y Su Orquesta', 2021's next step in Latinizing said quasi-conceptual ensemble, we've now landed in the project's live ambit. 'The Alex Santos Orchestra On Tour' captures just two live highlights from a much more recent outing (given the mystification surrounding the project, this may or may not have happened). Whatever the case, these recordings span both potentialities, retaining something of a highly-strung Hammond organ come upfront-drumkit drama on the B-side, 'Mr Clean', and an equally stirring version of the main theme from 'The Godfather' on the A.
Review: Lempuyang is a label you will know and respect for its high quality stream of immersive dub techno and now the man behind it, Alastair Kelly, debuts a new label with none other than revered UK techno mainstay Ibrahim Alfa Jnr. He opens up with 'Component A' which is a moody melange of slow, broken dub beats and fizzing synths. There is further experimentation on 'Untitled B2 1' which pairs a churning dub rhythm with naive and innocent melodies and lots of li-fi static. 'Entangled' ups the ante with the suggestion of a fast paced rhythm through a skeletal groove and the flip brings broken beat dub weight, meaning and percussive bass with a 2-step swagger then deep introspection on the closer. A classy EP that suggests this label is one well worth watching.
Review: The original 'Subterraneans', composed by David Bowie from their 1977 album 'Low', was an emotionally striking piece that illustrated the struggles of withdrawal. German legend Alva Noto teams up with Depeche Mode's Martin Gore and ambient wizard William Basinski to transform the piece into an ephemeral, ghostly number that is almost even more chilling - with ambient synths and vocal echoing that conjure being lost in a deep cave, something almost supernatural at every turn. A truly haunting, yet aurally astounding, cover.
Review: BOOM! Our favourites, Cititrax, roll the third editions of Tracks out onto our shelves, and the results are unsurprisingly strong on this excellent various artists comp. It's a mixed bag of skills, as per usual, and the sounds are those of a new NYC, fuelled by a new sort of post-industrial sensibility. Amato Y Mariana open with the tight beats and groove of "Queires Bailar", followed closely by the ominous compositions of the EBM-flavoured "Montgat" from The Sixteen Steps. On the flip, His Dirty Secrets bleeps out some morphed acid on "Structures", and "Another Stranger" from Further Reductions churns out a slow, mild-mannered house experiment with its roots clearly planted in the coldest of waves. Sick.
Review: There's a delightfully celebratory feel about this debut volume of Cititrax Tracks, a new 12" series from Minimal Wave offshoot Cititrax. As beautifully presented as we've come to expect, Tracks Volume 1 boasts a quartet of dancefloor-ready smashers from a blend of new faces and label stalwarts. Amato (aka The Hacker) kicks things off with the glistening EBM funk of "Physique" - all restless synth refrains and pounding bottom end - before LIES affiliate Tsuzing go all dark, psychedelic and twisted on the thrillingly intense, acid-flecked "King of System". An-I go all DAF (with a touch of Front 242) on the fuzzy and dystopian stomper "Mutter", before Cititrax regulars Broken English Club delivers a storming chunk of industrial-tinged analogue funk ("Glass"). Bravo!
Review: Earlier this year Minimal Wave offshoot provided one of this year's most visceral dancefloor weapons in Kino-I, the debut from Doug Lee's new An-I project. Taking inspiration from techno, jack, industrial and punk, An-I successfully drew a line under some of the Berlin-based artist's previous disco-flavoured endeavours. And then some! If you like the Kino-I 12" you will love the new triplet of An-I productions housed on this appropriately titled Gutz 12". The title track alone should come with a health warning; such is the furious onslaught of machine funk it contains, whilst the unnerving "Rut" is the most schizophrenic production you will hear this year. Best of all id closing track "Save Us" sounds like a cross between in Aeternam Vale and Silent Servant. Pressed on a rather thick and dashing slab of magenta orange vinyl!
Review: An-i is the alias of Berlin-based Korean-American Doug Lee, an artist with over two decades in the game already under several different monikers. This is the third EP to come under this name since debuting it in 2015 and finds him in an even more bold and adventurous mode than ever. Opener 'Rabble' is controlled techno chaos, a flurry of whirring machines and unrelenting drums that will frazzle your brain. 'Rubble' is just as intense, a big wall of rusted synth work and industrial noise mangled into something rhythmic and futuristic. 'Chapel Perilous' on the flip then offers up a spaced-out journey deep into the inner psyche. A welcome return from a truly singular artist that comes on fluorescent yellow wax.
Review: Ahead of an oncoming Tbilisi party set to be thrown by the Sameheads crew, their latest 7" appears ahead of time as the latest offering by fellow friends, Andrea & Alexander. With just 300 copies available, this dreamy duo share a juxtaposed space with a more esoteric, gritty B-side, occupied by TINA's 'Vacation', which breaks from the usual Sameheads sound, almost entirely, to indulge a massively wonky inhumation. The A's own 'Olias', by contrast, is light and sixteen-thy, dotting along with detuned Italo saws and descending cadences of relief. Once performed live at the fabled Sameheads festival, City Of A Thousand Suns, the label here celebrate its recorded version for the world to hear on repeat.
Review: Dan Andrei is arguably one of the finest selectors of this generation and a master minimal producer who makes electronic music of the highest order. His latest outing sees him inaugurating his own brand-new label alongside Claudiu Stefan. Rainbow Hill is a platform for their more personal ideas and starts with four more of Andrei's brilliantly deft yet dramatic tracks. 'Numan's Touch' kicks off with rolling drums and bass and a fine eco-system of cosmic pads, twinkling keys and fizzing synths that are theatrical and involving. 'What Else?' then gets darker and more intense with heady loops and wispy pads, and again the ante is upped and the darkness pervades once more on the tense and taught dub-tech roller 'This Is What I See'. Last of all, 'Bluer Than Ever' floats above the floor with airy pads and radiant chords. A perfect 5am vibe.
Review: The story of this one revolves around San Diego native Anthony "Antone" Williams. He was one day alone in a studio, messing about with the gear and before he knew he it lay down the haunting rhythm that underpins the tune now presented here by the good folks at Athens of the North. It's a sinister, restless one that got released as a hugely limited 7" on Unity Records with otherworldly soul production and a pained vocal up top. Post punk soul, some call it, and that's a fitting descriptor. A remix appears on the flip but the allure of the original is hard to beat.
Review: Fresh vintage Aphex meat in the shape of this expanded reissue of the classic rave era anthem 'Digeridoo' from 1992. Treated to a modern remastering job by Beau Thomas at Ten Eight Seven Mastering, this double pack features the four tunes on the original 12" - 'Digeridoo', 'Flaphead', 'Phloam' and 'Isoprophlex', as well as bonus versions by Richard D James himself said to be encoded through his Nakamichi CR7e cassette deck, utilising vari-speed to create versions at different speeds which "felt right at the time". The legend is that he wrote the tune to annoy hippies who liked to attend raves and jam with their digeridoos - or digeri-dont's as they quickly became known - but it's being delighting fans of that golden era between hardcore rave and jungle ever since.
Review: Some 25 years after delivering his debut 12", Richard D James hasn't lost the ability to thrill or inspire. By his obtuse standards, the material that makes up the surprise Cheetah EP is actually rather laidback and melodious. "Cheetah2 (LD Spectrum)", for example, sounds like a slow house jam written by robots, while the even deeper "Cheetah7B" shuffles along in a metronomic fashion, seemingly oblivious to the increasingly aggressive World at large. Of course, those trademark skittish IDM rhythms are present - see the B-side's lead cut - and the Cornishman has thrown in a couple of hazy ambient cuts for good measure.
Review: You wait three years for a new Arca album and then two come along at once. The Barcelona-based, Venezuelan artist has already dropped 'Kick I' and 'Kick II' on his standard XL stomping ground this month, and has now decided to remind us why we fell in love in the first place. &&&&&& is the producer's seminal debut album, and it still sounds fresh today.
Occupying a space somewhere between techno, the proto-footwork and juke popularised by the likes of Addison Groove at the turn of the last decade, IDM and ambient, it's a difficult thing to get your head around, from the strange piano discordance of 'Mother' to 'Feminine''s suggestion of intense 140s and the submerged liquid downtempo of 'Anaesthetic'. A seminal moment in recent dance history.
Review: Army of God's 'Salvation'' back in 2012 soon became a cult coldwave cut. It was the one and only release by the pair of Aroy Dee and Miss Jagroe... until now. More than ten years on they are back with 'Endless Skies' which is a new EP full of analogue warmth, signature synth designs and aching strings. Of course, Jagroe's unique voice features and brings extra allure to the beats. Aroy Dee steps up with an edit of the title cut and lays in some more form drums and pairs back the vocals to make things even darker. On the flip you'll find the throbbing bass and off-kilter keys of 'Fear the Night' with a dark version going even more into the shady unknown.
Review: Current scene favourite Nils Frahm teamed up with Icelandic multi-instrumentalist Olafur Arnalds on three breath taking excursions through lush ambient textures on "Stare" as a surprise release back in 2012 for label founder Robert Rath. "A1" features Frahm's entrancing irresistible melody over some gorgeous all-consuming strings and glacial soundscapes courtesy of Arnalds. "A2" with its heavenly, transcendental beauty has just got to be heard while "B1" explores darker territory with its excavating soundscapes accompanying the most hauntingly delicate cello notes. Exquisite!
Review: We have long been fans of the specific sort of techno that Spanish label Semantica deals in. It is always artful and superbly well-designed and this new Artefaklt record totally fits in with that vibe. It finds Dutch pair Robin Koek and Nick Lapien layering up hypnotic drones and linear deep techno drums to perfectly escapist and heady effect on 'Diorama', while intricate sound designs add the sort of details to 'Natura' that make this miscue as suited to home listening on headphones as losing it in a club. 'Natant' is another undulating mix of electronica, ambient and techno that casts your mind free. 'Floodplain' is a heavenly closer.
Pulse 02(coloured vinyl 12"+ MP3 download code limited to 200 copies (comes in different coloured vinyl, we cannot guarantee which one you will receive))
Joachim Spieth - "Subtle" (Nitechord remix) (4:45)
Review: Past Inside the Present's 'Pulse' series is an investigation into ambient tech and beat-driven ambient sounds. Who better for the job on this second edition than master craftsmen ASC and Joachim Spieth? ASC opens up with 'Tidal Disruption Event', an understated, underwater rhythm with jittery percussive patterns and bright shards of melodic light piercing through the mix as more coarse soundwaves break over the top. Spieth's 'Subtle' is just as artful and delicate a mix of persuasive rhythm and melodic beauty. A classy Nitechord remix closes out this fascinating EP.
What’s Been Turning You On (System Olympia remix) (4:27)
What’s Been Turning You On (System Olympia instrumental) (4:07)
What’s Been Turning You On (ASHRR SOUNDSYSTEM version) (5:13)
What’s Been Turning You On (ASHRR SOUNDSYSTEM instrumental version) (5:12)
Review: Los Angeles-based ASHRR are back with a new cut which comes from their forthcoming Sunshine Low album which they have re-interpreted as their ASHRR Soundsystem alter ego, while System Olympia also steps up with a remix on this fine new package from 20/20 Vision. In the hands of the latter, 'What's Been Turning You' is a remix with plenty of hi-fidelity cosmic details over mid-tempo deep nu-disco drums. The version from ASHRR is a chugging and Italo-tinged classic with loose-limbed and jumbled drum funk and plenty of bright, shiny arps. A great collection then.
Review: Given his long-held love of fusing elements of different musical cultures from around the world, Auntie Flo (real name Brian D'Souza) is almost the perfect Multi-Culti artist. It's something of a surprise then to find that this is only his second outing on the label. He begins in confident mood with 'Esperanto', a delightfully melodious, bubbly and synth-heavy slab of chugging sonic joy, before wrapping waves of mind-altering electronics and sun-bright synths around a slipped Afro-tech beat on 'Unua Libro'. Over on side two, D'Souza takes us to a deeper and more immersive place on 'El Heine', explores hybrid cosmic/ambient soundscapes on 'Ho Mia Kor', and doffs a cap to the new age ambient pioneers of times gone by on blissful closing cut 'Mia Penso'.
Review: Grand River's always-illuminating One Instrument label reawakens with a new album from Martin Sander and Michel Isorinne's Bandhagens Musikforening project. Having previously appeared on Northern Electronics and Semantica, now these two advanced synthesists place all their attention on a select few studio pieces to see how far they can take them. First up is the Roland System 100, which affords them plenty of tonal possibilities for the pulsing, kinetic 'Nedgravd I Naturen'. With the Yamaha DX-7 they create a towering ambient piece of FM synthesis, while the Roland SH-101 gets applied to a dense and detailed slice of obtuse leftfield techno. The Oberheim Matrix 6R becomes a vehicle for cinematic melancholy, and the Waldorf Microwave teases out an immersive swirl of ambience as you might well expect from the One Instrument series.
Review: Well Curated is a series of releases and parties that - in its own words - "reflects the ethnomusicology of the last 50 years of music" - and aims to reach into all genres, merging classic styles and breaking down barriers. Steve Spacek occupies the A-side with the breezy broken beat and soul-in-space of 'Alone In Da Sun', while Lukid's 'Hair Of The Dog' is a more intense counterpart, with wobbling sub-bass and swirling, surging atmospherics hovering above.
Review: Vintage synthesiser fetishists Belbury Poly were last on record with author Justin Hopper and folk musician Sharron Kraus back in 2019 for the superb Chanctonbury Rings album. Here we're treated to a reissue of their very first EP Farmer's Angle from 2004, all magical electro-folk and left of centre new sound worlds that combine both new and old.
Review: John Beltran's label debut sees the maestro flexing and showcasing the full spectrum of his composing and production skills over four diverse tracks.
Brian Bennett & Alan Hawkshaw - "Name Of The Game" (4:25)
Dave Richmond - "Confunktion" (4:38)
Review: Measured Mile is a new 7" label run by regular Ace consultant and confidante Bob Stanley. The plan is to release DJ-friendly 45s that are either very rare or previously unavailable on seven-inch. On this new one come two pieces from esteemed library musicians - the well known pairing of Alan Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett, and Dave Richmond. 'Name Of The Game' is a slow instrumental blues piece with beats ready to be plundered for hip-hop beats that once soundtracked a 1970s aftershave ad, while Richmond's 'Confunktion' is a motivational builder-upper with drums and organs aplenty.
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