Paula Temple, Lee Gamble, Perc and Minor Science take the Italian artist to task on Stroboscopic Artefacts.
The new EP from Ali Wells takes a political stance inspired by the recent UK general election.
Perc, Samuli Kemppi, and Fallow Field’s Ian Maleney speak with Richard Brophy on whether social media and new distribution platforms are threatening the role of small, independent labels.
Our review of 2014 continues as James Manning, Scott Wilson and Tony Poland discuss the best 30 albums issued in a strong year.
Thomas Heckmann’s 1993 track “Phosphene” receives contemporary remixes from Perc & Truss, AnD and The Exaltics.
Two essential drops from The Trilogy Tapes, techno from Perc & Truss and the excellent debut album from FKA Twigs were among the best records this week.
The UK techno heavyweights deliver another four tracks of hardware techno on the Perc Trax Ltd imprint.
With his debut LP still being felt reverberating in the hearts and minds of techno lovers everywhere, Perc swiftly follows it up with a fearsomely heavy remix package featuring producers with serious amounts of clout in every sense of the word. “Take Your Body Off” made for a thrilling concoction in its original form, melding the toughest industrial techno with an EBM performance that pitched frantic vocal yelps in amongst the searing beat. Tessela meanwhile does the logical thing and twists up a breakbeat revision of the track that sports his uncanny knack for slicing and dicing drum funk into unique shapes that still manage to be eminently danceable.
Untold, Tessela and Clouds all feature on forthcoming remix 12″.
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to think about Ali Wells’ music as anything other than explicitly political. Despite the problematic nature of drawing any parallels between the declining standards of living in the country and an increased enthusiasm for so-called “industrial” techno and darker strands of electronic music as a whole, it would be hard not to see track titles such as “London We Have You Surrounded” from his debut album and “Cash 4 Gold” from 2012’s A New Brutality EP as anything less than a reflection of his own unease at the economic and political conditions the UK is facing after the boom years.
James Manning talks to Ali Wells about the path to his bracing second album, The Power And The Glory.
Records from Perc, Austin Cesear, Vaghe Stelle and Rhythmic Theory were among this week’s gems.
Prior to its release we are giving away one vinyl copy of Perc’s second album and two double passes to the LP’s launch at Corsica Studios with Shackleton, Demdike Stare, Truss and Clouds in support.
Once again we end our annual round-up by asking a selection of our favourite DJs, producers and record label owners to ruminate on their own personal favourites from 2013. Looking to keep things fresh, we have chosen a largely new selection of individuals without any sacrifice in standards, with contributions from Ben UFO, Helena Hauff, Paul Woolford, Anthony Parasole, Powell and more. It’s a typically diverse selection too, with rare Mala dubs, underscore-loving Philitronics and EVOL amongst the picks.
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The second split release on the Tokyo-based 10 Label features an insert with an unidentified woman looking out at a cloudy horizon. It looks like a typically Utopian 50s image, and is in stark contrast to the music that the accompanying record contains. With just one exception, Replay is home to a mix of tracks that skirt sideways around modern conventions and popular tropes. The sole contribution that feels like it belongs to another time is Steven Porter’s “Fundamental Belief”. It is realised with a typically contemporary noisy undercurrent, but the slow motion hip hop beats, bugged out vocal sample and sluggish sensibility that the arrangement exudes reminds this writer of trip hop from the late 90s
The UK techno producer will release his second album through his own Perc Trax label in February.
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