Review: Oasis Collaborating is the name of two different double albums that Omar S and Shadow Ray put out under their Oasis alias back in 2005. They are both hugely original and essential works of stripped back Motor City house music perfection. This one is packed with gems like the wispy pads and metallic synths of 'Oasis Fifteen', the low slung rawness of 'Oasis Seventeen' and the brightly, optimistic melodies and twanging chords of 'Oasis Twenty Five'. Each of the tracks sounds like they were recorded live, with two masters of their machines just jamming away, tweaking knobs and cooking up pure house magic.
Review: Italian producer Enrico Sangiuliano may have been serving up dark and intoxicating techno twelves for the best part of a decade, but never before has he turned his hand to the full-length format. Biomorph is not just any old debut album, either, but rather a concept album described by Drumcode as "a journey of evolution". In practice, that means an album that ebbs and flows throughout, opening with a dash of spacey ambient, before charging off on a trip marked out by pulsating techno rhythms (crafted from both straight 4/4 beats and breakbeats), spiraling electronic motifs, booming, elongated basslines, experimental electronic interludes and more future big room techno anthems than the contents of Adam Beyer's USB stick. In other words, if you love Drumcode's particular brand of bombastic techno, you'll love Biomorph.
Review: Dubwise astral travellers Seekersinternational here present their latest self-released album, 'What He Does', another timeless meditation on cosmic dub and house. Phoned-in vocal samples, two-tone ambiences, soothing sub; they all feature on this mega LP from the artist and label, whose aim is clearly to bring an extra, perhaps fourth, dimension to an established sounds. Rough and ready and analogue-centric, it's perfect for the restless jam-seeker.
I'm Out Here (feat Dusty McFly - Ghettotech remix) (4:01)
I Need A Ho (3:51)
Bitches, Blunts, Yac (4:03)
N The D (feat Twisted T) (3:48)
Blowin Crud (feat Sheefy McFly) (4:22)
Review: I'm Really From Detroit by Sheefy McFly - who is a new name on us, we must admit - is a bold, raw homage to Detroit's famous sound. Blending ghettotech with various other potent rhythmical styles, McFly delivers an authentic and powerful sound full of smart artistry and self-released to showcase his independence. It features standout tracks like 'Eddie's Revenge' and 'I'm Out Here (Ghettotech Remix)' with guests Twisted and McFly himself getting feature credits. McFly's deep roots in Detroit shine through these cuts which offer an unfiltered look into his creative vision.
Review: Last year, Shifted owned techno with numerous 12"s under a variety of aliases complementing his curatorial efforts at the head of Avian and of course Crossed Paths, his debut album for Mote Evolver. In turns spooky, bleak and hypnotic, full of dub techno attitude, post-minimal crackle and droning rhythms, it made quite an impression. This follow-up for Bed of Nails treads a similar path, flitting between droning soundscapes, unsettling grooves and intense, murky compositions. While there are tougher, dancefloor-centric workouts (see title track "Under A Single Banner", "Pulse Incomplete" and "Burning Tyres"), these come cloaked in a murky fog of clandestine atmospherics. It feels like the unheard soundtrack to a black and white documentary on urban decay, fronted by a paranoid insomniac. It is, then, both unsettling and quietly impressive.
Review: Swedish duo SHXCXCHCXSH distort club music by using a refined, idiosyncratic palette that challenges functionality. As logophiles, they twist language into fragmented, barely recognisable sequences, reflecting their experimental process. Their new album marks their debut for Northern Electronics and showcases a broader exploration of sound. Spanning 15 tracks in style, it combines drone elements, shredded vocals and chaotic melodies to make for a dark, intense atmosphere. Interspersed with brooding yet effervescent breaks, ......t is their most focused and comprehensive work to date and it also pushes their sound into new territories.
Review: New Interplanetary Melodies is a great name for a label and it also sums up the sounds of this new album from Sindaco. It's a beautiful mix of exploratory soundscapes, organic percussion and lush melody that unfolds in charming and captivating ways. Found sounds add more real world details to these tracks which range from lazy downbeat jaunts on a wide open savanna to more dynamic deep house trips through the cosmos. Worldly percussion, exotic melodies and unique instruments are all deployed to mark for multi-layered tracks that work equally on brain and body. It makes for a triumph of a record that is experimental yet aborsbing and packed with great detail.
Review: As one of the leading lights in Norwegian techno with guts, heart and soul, Skatebard has long skirted scene recognition to simply focus on slipping out his own strain of wayward machine matter. Given his track record with Sex Tags Mania, it's no surprise he'd trust DJ Sotofett with access to his archives, and so Spektral has come together as an exploration of long-buried recordings from the early 00s, edited by Sotofett and wrestled into a digestible form for this record. Capturing the best aspects of freeform jamming while cutting everything into shape, there's an inherent dirtiness to these recordings which instantly tells you it comes from an honest place.
Review: The next level beat maker and sound designer that is Skee Mask returns to long-time home label Ilian Tape with another bold and brilliant album, Resort. It's an album that expands on the artist's usual sound with fusions of celestial ambient, IDM sound design and lithe, rhythmic techno drums. There are breakbeats on 'Reminiscrmx' backlit by heavenly pads, 'Schneiders Paradox' is marbled with zippy pads and raw drum hits, 'BB Care' glistens with a futuristic glow and 'Holzl Was A Dancer' slips into a shuffling, UKG tinged dub house pumper. It's a wild, wonderful ride that reaches all new levels for this already accomplished producer.
Review: Munich based producer Bryan Mueller aka Skee Mask presents his latest album titled Pool, via local imprint Ilian Tape which follows up his LP Compro which came out three years ago. There's an extensive collection of sonic experiments on offer on this one, such as opening cut 'Nvivo' which goes down an IDM route, to the glassy eyed rave euphoria of 'LFO', the intelligent drum and bass reductions of 'Rio Dub' and UK influenced steppers like 'Crossection'.
Review: Dutch industrial techno producer Parrish Smith created Light Cruel & Vain over the course of nearly three years. Each track on the record was originally conceived solo, then further realised with the assistance of contributing musicians Sofiane Brahmi and Javier Vivancos. The collaborative where no studio sessions occurred due to the pandemic - the full collaboration conducted remotely. Notable tracks include the seething post-punk swagger of "Black Scarlet" or the brooding industrial rock of "Sway", to the industrial strength breaks of "Never Break Faith" and a frantic techno banger towards the end "I Wanna Be An Idol".
Review: After being commissioned to produce several 'interlocking' ambient pieces for an art gallery piece in LA, Brian Foote and Sage Caswell decided to take the concept of 'audience crossfading' to the next level, creating an entire ambient album using a particular sonic technique. Over five long pieces from 'Waterwheel' to 'Smiley', their aim was to evoke the feeling of bodies moving in thoroughfares. The tracks are long-exposed movements captured in ambient space, blending rhythms and soundscapes for chillout rooms that exist only in memory now.
Review: SND & RTN show their class here with a set of six sublime dub techno cuts that have been pressed to nice solver and heavyweight vinyl. There is nothing groundbreaking about the music here but what is done is done to an exceptionally high standard. The sound designs are faultless, from the bottomless bass to the pilot kick drums via the way in which their fizzing chords do nimble dances over the face of each tune. Some lean into the wind, some are utterly horizontal, all are great.
Review: Sarah Sommers' inaugural album HeartCore was captured live at Princess Tower Studios in Berlin. Clocking in at 74 minutes, it's a vibrant fusion of dance music genres fuelled by Sarah's profound passion for electronic beats that span various eras. From dub to techno, house to dubstep, and drum & bass to breakbeat, the record showcases all that and more across nine tracks extracted from Sarah's live sets and previously performed across Berlin clubs in 2022 and 2023. A testament to her lifelong love of the music, this LP epitomises authenticity and comes on lovely gatefold neon pink wax.
Review: This first album from Sons proves them adept at a range of techno soundscapes, It was written as the soundtrack to a movie that does not exists and it plays out with a great sense of narrative because of that. It tells the story of Anna and her escape from earth to a new planet, Seylanide. The record features well-received singles such as 'Identity' (ft. Sun) and 'Eternity' (ft. OCB), complete with plenty of rich layers of emotive pads, deep basslines and melodic vibes that have your mind cast adrift in a cosmic abyss.
Review: DJ Sotofett is a cult hero with a sound that is never less than eccentric. This new album Braindance on Sued is a collection of material the mercurial one has written between 2002 and 2020. All of the tracks are short but high impact in different ways and despite some of them being the best part of 20 years old and pre-dating all the famous Sex Tags projects they still bang. Thrilling breaks, icy techno, mashed up jungle and deeper, more acid laced late night grooves all feature and offer a window into the mind of one of electronica's most vital talents.
Review: Sound Synthesis is the alias of a Maltese producer with a brilliantly evocative and rich take on electro. He proves that beyond doubt with this new album of accomplished sound design across four sides of vinyl. Right from the off this one sucks you into its own singular world. 'Finding Balance' pairs a pensive melody with slick rhythms and from there the goodness never stops coming. 'DRG Branch' is a double-speed workout, 'Realm Of Human Understanding' is ambient for star gazing and 'The Cosmic Highway' is a lush brain dance.
That Wisnae A Microdose/Melon Farmer/Epsilon/Sheep To Shepherd (21:33)
Review: Mad-heads, rave veterans and lovers of having their brains rewired by previously unexplored sonic realms unite, because here comes the first of four, yes four, new albums from the fantastic freak of nature that is Special Request. His 'What Time Is Love? Sessions' arrives in several different formats this month and across six sizzling tracks that re-wire the KLF's hit of that name, he taps into everything from "ephemeral ambiance to barnstorming hardcore, pummelling house to pointillist trance" and does so with a mix of the surreal and the psychotic, the psychedelic and the downright ridiculous. It's mental, and we love it.
That Wisnae A Microdose/Melon Farmer/Epsilon/Sheep To Shepherd (21:33)
Review: As you know if you have followed the work of Special Request aka Paul Woolford, it often comes in huge bursts and across several releases at once. So it is that this year the one-man production machine is to drop not one but a four-album run over the next 12 months, all independently. Quite what he runs on we do not know but we need some because once again on this limited clear vinyl version of his 'What Time Is Love? Sessions' he taps into the future as he rewires the musical DNA of rave, techno, bass and jungle into tracks that make your brain fizz and your body move. Unreal work once more from this unstoppable force.
Mu Ziq - "Twangle Frent" (Special Request rework) (5:52)
FC Kahuna - "Hayling" (Special Request mix) (3:19)
Special Request - "Elysian Fields" (5:31)
Review: The last few years have really seen Paul Woolford reach the top of his game in many different ways. Be it bowel emptying rave as Special Request, festival baiting piano house tunes or chart topping pop dance crossovers under his own name, the man is proving himself to have a real golden touch. He sure does crank out all these tunes at a prolific rate, too, but you still feel he does everything with meticulous precision. This DJ Kicks is a case in point. It touches on all the many different facets of his sound from glossy and feel good house to early Chicago classics, post-rave dreamscapes to brutal jungle breaks. What a legend.
Review: Statiqbloom's new album Kain epitomises the essence of industrial music as it transcends mere sound and embodies a more broad worldview. With a fusion of innovative, dystopian sounds, pulsating basslines, and mid-tempo rhythmic beats, the album offers a meticulously crafted industrial techno journey that never lets up. It goes beyond conventional boundaries to embrace forward-thinking elements to create an arresting and immersive experience that encapsulates an outlook on the world, inviting you into a realm where darkness and innovation converge. With its evocative soundscapes, this album stands as a testament to Statiqbloom's commitment to pushing the boundaries of industrial.
Review: STL is a master of making knackered sound drum loops and lo-fi sounds then chucking them all into a blender and serving them up for deployment in backrooms around Europe's most heady clubs. He has been at it again it seems and now has a whole bunch of brilliantly dishevelled cuts for us on this new album U Know The Score on Something. It is packed with twitchy, urgent rhythms punctuated with occult sounds, smudgy melodies and shards of melody that all sound like they could collapse at any moment, but until they do, you will be locked in for the ride. Some are dark, some are light, all of them are brilliantly beguiling.
Gravitys Embrace, Dancing Among The Planets (6:34)
Celestial Caravan, Across The Outer Reach (4:50)
Stardust Serenade, Tales Of The Cosmos (4:15)
Echoes Of Solitude, Voices From The Abyss (4:45)
Pale Blue Dot, Earths Odyssey (3:59)
Homecoming Of A Voyager (Epilogue) (2:08)
Review: After making more than a good impression with his releases on the likes of Jeff Mills's Axis imprint and Oscar Mulero's Warm Up, Mike Storm now steps it up a gear with his debut full-length. The Dutch native's The Pale Blue Dot again draws on his love of conceptual sci-fi and was reportedly all written live in one take, with no recall, which is a unique approach in this day and age. that lends each track a realness and toughness that makes them stand out even more as the pummelling drums drive on towards some unknown cosmic future and the synths are so tightly interwoven that they melt your mind as you try and keep up.
Review: Andy Stott excels at exploring the spaces between electronic genres and has gone for many years now, He is known for crafting a unique, ever-evolving sound and after experimenting with minimal techno and dub early on, he defined his style in 2011's Passed Me By, a world of grey tones, static and experimental rhythms. In 2012's Luxury Problems, Alison Skidmore's haunting vocals added a human touch to his artificial landscapes then with the now ten-year-old Faith in Strangers, Stott fused his signature sound with influences like trap and minimalism. Over 54 minutes, the album builds in intensity and is still unmatched in its originality and impact.
The Strangler Of The Swamp - "Get Up (Ripley Sucks)" (5:26)
The Strangler Of The Swamp - "Pu Sh T" (0:51)
The Strangler Of The Swamp - "Inside" (3:00)
The Strangler Of The Swamp - "Bloody Beach" (4:00)
The Strangler Of The Swamp - "King Of Pain" (4:06)
The Swamp - "Driver" (live) (5:33)
The Swamp - "Hard Core Bodys" (live) (7:14)
The Swamp - "Ground" (live - II) (2:54)
The Swamp - "My Body Rip Up" (live) (5:37)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Days Of Tears" (3:51)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Sex & Wars" (6:03)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Creepshow" (3:41)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Show Me The Pain" (4:07)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Rosa Bernet" (3:49)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Kranzo Roses" (1:18)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Ende" (5:25)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Devil" (4:13)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Maid To Be Laid" (4:12)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Example Of BBC" (4:03)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "Leaving Risk" (2:35)
Bande Berne Crematoire - "The Electric Chair For Atomic Spies" (2:45)
Review: Born and raised in Bern, Switzerland, Michael Antener spent most of the 1980s concerned with interpreting the subconsciously and overtly apocalyptic discourse of that time through the medium of industrial-edged, dark feeling music. "I found a niche where I could express myself, along with other people who were not afraid of dark themes," he's quoted as saying in retrospect, before going on to explain that singing about love would have been more difficult than using "cries of pain taken from horror movies". This triple vinyl collector's item celebrates that fertile, if angry and dystopian period in Antener's life. Bringing together work from two of his formative projects, The Stranger of the Swamp and Bande Berne Crematoire, what's here is captivating. Electroclash with groove, distressed collages of noise, a certain sense of sonic expressionism - all brooding shadows, menacing arrangements and deeply unsettling moods.
Review: Paul Dickow is the man behind the Strategy project and this album was first released by Khaliphonic in 2018 and now reissued on wax. The artist has long been thought of as a musical polymath who has spent his life immersed in hardware and crafting unique sounds across the dub spectrum. This record proves that and then some with a mix of dub techno, digi-dub and everything in between. The rhythms are deep and involving, the synths often icy and the percussion is just enough to elevate each tune next to sci-fi signifiers and cosmic motifs.
Review: Wolfgang Voigt's Studio 1 and Freiland are landmark examples of 1990s minimalist concept techno. Studio 1 defined a stripped-down, hypnotic approach, while Freiland explored a more experimental, textured sound. This release features two discs with each of those differing approaches served up, but the second compiles the best of Freiland into a continuous set. Both showcase Voigt's pioneering vision and knack for marrying great precision with an absorbing atmosphere in a way that remains influential today. Essential listening for techno-purists and fans of the avant-garde.
Review: In Japanese history Suemori refers to a castle constructed in 1548 by Lord Nobuhide. A short-lived structure, it was abandoned just over a decade later and subsequently- in the many years between then and now - all but vanished from the face of the Earth. A solitary stone stelae now marks the site, but whether impermanence was really a central theme to Suemori forming isn't clear. Nevertheless, their growing, reforming and restructuring sound certainly fits with the idea.
Occupying a strange, jerky and juxtaposed place between art sounds, crunchy electronica and noise, Maebashi represents a real melting pot of ideas and details. 'Yakkosan''s scatty hi hats, 'Kaminari Okoshi' and its strange sense of abstract rhythm, the pared back is-that-breakbeat of 'Bonsai'. Definitely destined for the pile marked less ordinary, if you're diving in prepare for a real experience.
Review: Anthony Child claims that the inspiration for his seventh artist album came from using hardware to receive transmissions from far-flung galaxies. He then hooked up with astrophysicist Dr Andrew Read - a former collaborator - to work out the bewildering track titles. That's the concept. The reality is that From Farthest Known Objects is a dense, grainy work. It feels like Child has deconstructed or in some more extreme situations has hacked away at tropes like minimalism, clicks and cuts and dub step to reveal an inner, hidden world. On the first few tracks, this alternate reality resounds to a sluggish pace, amid the crackle and groan of cleaved percussion and tortured subs, but it gradually comes round to stepping, broken beat techno and lunging rhythms. That these also descend into pulverising walls of white noise and nausea-inducing frequency shifts at times also serve as a reminder that Child has tuned into something other or inner-worldly.
Review: SUED co-pilot SW offers up a six track MyDefinition of techno on Kalahari Oyster Cult that is utterly fresh. He starts with dubbed out rhythms and percolating percussion before getting tripped out and break-y on 'Moonnewso On', with its alien effects and squelchy bass. 'Goiossee' is another slow motion braindance the 'Massless' recalls the early work of Two Loneswordsmen. There are hectic rhythms and wild detuned chords tumbling all over the place on 'J JustMUST4y' before closing salvo 'VFXpeaksTWIN' is an ambient piece pairing church chords with breaking waves. Weird and wonderful.
Review: mindSET is the ninth album from elusive producer SW. and it comes after his well-received myDEFINITIONS Vol II release. In mindSET, the producer explores the more abstract, leftfield elements of electronic music and departs somewhat from traditional techno and IDM sounds. The album draws inspiration from the off-kilter house and broken beats that briefly emerged in the early to mid-90s and are made using classic analogue equipment to capture the essence of that style. The eight tracks take in de-tuned techno synths, syncopated drums and warped harmonics to create an eerie, otherworldly atmosphere. mindSET is a tribute to the oddball moments on the dancefloor and we love it.
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