Search results: Synthesis

Review: There is some serious electro talent on this new EP from Fanzine, starting with now US-based, UK-favourite Carl Finlow. His machines are in fine fettle once more as crisp, kicking electro rhythms are overlaid with bright, silvery, pixelated melodic fireworks on the sublime 'Organoiods'. Hoax Believers get more gritty with the sheet metal snares and in-your-face arps of 'Short Circuit' while Sound Synthesis offers something moody and unsettling on their 'Vertex43'. Univac will make your eyes water with the abrasive textures of 'H Beat.'

Review: The Maltese machine funk specialist himself Keith Farrugia is back once more with yet more of his impeccable electro business as Sound Synthesis. This time the prolific producer is shoring up on Burnski's Infiltrate label with four cool and deadly cuts which build on his previous drops for 20:20 Vision, Furthur Electronix, Orbital Mechanics and more besides. From the nervy sci-fi flex of 'Motor Space Maps' to the playful fun n' games of 'Back In Time', Farrugia knows exactly what he's doing within the electro blueprint, and his tracks are reliably punchy warm - a true master at work.

Review: More hand-stamped headiness from Keith Farrugia AKA Sound Synthesis on his own Orbital Mechanics imprint. In keeping with the Maltese producer's trademark sound, what's on offer is an attractive, highly accomplished blend of electro, glassy-eyed underground electronica, acid and ambient techno. Our pick of an extremely strong bunch is closing cut 'Memory Re-Generation', a deep, melodious and loved-up affair in which TB-303 acid lines and gorgeous melodies bubble away atop tight electro beats, warm bass and ultra-dreamy chords. There's plenty to get the pulse racing elsewhere across the EP too, including the lovely - and hard-to pigeonhole - opener 'Don't Let Go' and the tighter, tougher electro club jam 'Let The Music Take Control'.

Review: Since launching two years ago, Bristol's We're Going Deep label has consistently delivered some of the deepest and most atmospheric club tracks around. The music they champion is, as many in the West Country would no doubt confirm, "proper deep". That's certainly the case with the tracks on the label's seventh multi-artist extravaganza. Acid Test regular Tin Man kicks things off with a touch of TB-303-doused proto-house minimalism ('I Said Acid'), before Rai Scott takes us 50 leagues below the sea on the ultra-deep, drowsy and hypnotic house cut 'I'll Meet You on the Dancefloor'. Over on side B, Sound Synthesis's 'Necessary Order' is a simply breath-taking trip into deep electro territory, while Roger Van Lunteren's EP-closing contribution is a deep (and deeply psychedelic) acid house trip.

Review: Wave Function is the brand new label from Maltese producer Sound Synthesis. Like many artists, he hit a fine run of form during the lockdown and has once out the other side just as on it. He's put out more than 12 releases in the last year or so and now mints his own new concern with a superb double album of timeless, spaced-out electro. This is the sort of sci-fi tackle that takes you on smooth groove cruises through the planets, with tipsy synths and heavenly pads all soothing the trip. Electro as emotive as this will always tune a place in our racks.

Review: The ever-prolific Sound Synthesis is usually found dealing in a classic strain of electro, but on this appearance for the burgeoning AmenTec label he's switching things up with a foray into blistering jungle. On 'Electrical Synpases' he more than proves himself up to the task, creating a monster of a track which will send limbs flailing as soon as the drop hits. 'Emigdela Network' finds an interesting fusion of electro synthesis and ragga jungle touches, while on the flip we get some interesting remixes from Cridge & Powder and Tone Def delving into the machine funk you might have reasonably expected on the A side.

Review: 'Dwell Time' focuses on the moments in between. Expanding on Satie's Furniture Music, which explores the role of music as a backdrop, Dwell Time explores the moments in between active and passive listening. A sound that maintains a unique balance of properties can start as an active relationship that slowly dissolves into the background and accompanies a listener over its course. The Dwell Time signal remains completely analog, utilizing homemade tape samples and hardware synthesizers to encourage the listener to move between the different states of listening. Produced by Rafael Anton Irisarri and Mastered by Taylor Deupree.

Review: In 2018, unknown artist James Infiltrate dropped an album of smart electro tunes that get everyone talking. It turned out to be an alias of James Burnham aka Burnski aka the Constant Sound boss aka Instinct, who is one of the most visible and prolific artists of recent years. Now some of the cuts from that album get choice remixes - AlexJann flips 'Flash' into a caustic electro banger with bright synths and twisted bass. Stojche goes for a lurching, loopy, scintillating and loopy remix of 'Isolate' that takes you to the stars and the flip offers up an acid laced electro cruiser from Sound Synthesis and Relpek mix of 'Reconnect' that is melodic and mysterious.

Review: The mysterious Who is a Berlin based artist who releases brilliant music but only sporadically so. They launched their own Who Is Paula label in December last year. That was an original EP which now gets revisited and remixed for the label's second release. Electro don Cignol gets first with a plenty of rueful pad work and leggy drums. Vertical67 's take on 'Bang Tang' is hurried, with bleeping melodies and closely stacked kicks bringing the cyborg-funk. The Sound Synthesis remix is a punchy one that goes deep and Train Station (36 Night Train remix) is lo-fi and thoughtful, with end-of-the-night melodies sending you home in a blissful state.

Review: Beyond his prolific body of original work under myriad guises, Gerald Donald has gifted the electro world many a superlative remix. At all times, his pioneering strain of machine funk from the days of Drexciya remains at the forefront of the sound, and so as Belgian label WeMe gather together this compilation of key reworks from the Donaldsphere, it's just as relevant to consider this a compilation of Drexciyan magic you might not have stumbled across before. Whether as Heinrich Mueller, Dopplereffekt or Rudolf Klorzeiger, Donald brings his unique cybernetic qualities to tracks from Ultradyne, Cisco Ferreira and Duplex amongst many others. A particular highlight is the emotive future-synth-pop of his remix of Rough Days For Diamond Trade, while the slow creep of his version of White Car's 'Now We Continue' is equally show-stopping.