Search results: Texture

Review: DJ Plant Texture aka Bari's Donato Basile makes a Return to Disorder with four blistering cuts of jungle, electro, techno and acid. He is a versatile producer who takes no prisoners and considers no sounds off-limits. This one kicks off with the brutalist beats and casuistic synths of 'The Other World' before funky, acid-laced techno bouncer 'Preserve The Rave' takes you to the next level. 'The Man Of The Street' (feat Mike Tansella Jr) is then a deeper, more cosmic cut with thinking synths but still plenty of powerful rhythms and last of all are the dark jungle breaks of 'Hasta La Vista, Baby.' These are highly charged and guaranteed dance floor destroyers from this ever-on-point wizard.

Review: DJ Plant Texture is Donato Basile, a diverse producer from Bari. He returns to Munich-based Ilian Tape to follow up 2017's The Bongoman Archive with four slamming cuts on his latest EP. Whether it's pummelling, bass-driven ruckus of 'MPC Jam 1' (Breaks mix) or the off-kilter slam of MPC Jam 2' (Saturator mix) on the A side, to the proper, peak time heads-down stomp of 'MPC Jam 3' (Exp Forever mix). Finally, the early '90s zeitgeist of 'Ciao Ragazze Jungle Style' goes out all guns blazing. On the MPC Thangs EP, this talented Italian producer is at his most fearsome yet.

Review: Aubrey's Don Gardon alias was a one-shot decoy deployed in 1997 with the now highly sought-after "Textures" 12" on Aubrey's own Textures label. While the provenance of these new tracks is a little foggy at this stage, what you can be sure of is the grade of techno we're dealing with here. Aubrey's illustrious career speaks for itself, and so do these tracks in the first Textures release since 2001. "The Phase" is an effervescent, funk laced race to the stars, while "Vari Tube" takes a more intimate route through dusty house that wouldn't sound out of place in the Workshop stratosphere. "Slam Dunk" is a cheeky, jazzy affair while "Dons Slide" gets a little more freaky and far out in the finest tradition of B2 tracks.

Review: Roland Klinkenberg is back on Late Night Burners with his Sim o1/Trance Textures 2 EP and does a fine job of hooking you in form the first beat. 'Planetoide' is warm, surging tech house with an underlapping bassline to die for. 'Loopy Tune' is a different proposition with a much more bumpy and playful rhythm full of bounce and 'Encountings' closes down with the more teary eyed and trance-tinged euphoria of the whole EP. In between is the raw, stripped back 'Subterranean Express' to make for a fourth different tune in this fine and varied package.

Review: Stark, uncompromised body music from one of the most interesting unapologetic duos to emerge in recent times - Sha Ru make their debut on Monkeytown with this outstanding five tracker. Visceral, political but, most importantly, fully physical; 'They Are Textural' flexes deep shades of electro, breaks and even d&b in provocative brew. An exploration of queer identity that sits somewhere between Madonna, Modeselektor and Massive Attack but through a brutalist, industrial lens; Sha Ru have a powerful and intoxicating vibe that's genuinely one of a kind. Essential.

Review: The REPITCH label started back in 2011 with a 12" split three ways between its co-founders, Pasquale Ascione (Ascion), Davide Carbone (D. Carbone) and Nino Pedone (Shapednoise).
Some 11 years on, and the trio are still very much at the heart of the label's activities, celebrated here with the Dys Functional Electronic Music X compilation, highlighting not only their label's scope but also, they say, pointing a way forward for its future intentions. This collection pushes at the edges of the experimental techno genre, whether that be through speed and heaviness (see Buttechno's pummelling 'Ghost Yunost'), smashed up arrangements like opening tune 'Mastice Riddim (VIP Mix)' from Shapednoise and Gabber Eleganza or reconnection with the ruffneck breakbeats that were once an integral part of rave culture (Ascion's 'Plugged' (Heavy-Rotation Mix) and DJ Plant Texture's 'Threat The Music With Respect')

Review: Stuttgart's Luca Daniel Schwarz returns to Dax J's Monnom Black with an astonishing take on modern dub techno, featuring six futuristic grooves. LDS is an artist that stands at the cutting edge of technology, influenced by artificial intelligence and digital innovation and the Digi Spa EP extensively showcases this aesthetic. On the A-side, you've got the direct attack peak-time onslaught of sturdy DJ tools like 'Nord Dab' or 'Gl03'. Over on the flip, there's the pounding minimalist terror of the title track and the strobe-lit frenzy of 'Fuend Formen' which will definitely have you reaching for the lasers.