Review: LILA mainstay Ayaavaaki and ambient veteran Purl speak different languages but used a translator to convey ideas to one another as they made this record. And they very much foment their own unique musical language on Ancient Skies, an album that blends ambient, drone and space music into richly layered soundscapes that are constantly on the move. Each piece is meticulously crafted and suspense you up amongst the clouds, hazing on at the smeared pads and swirling solar winds that prop you up. It's a record that would work as well in the depths of winter as a bright spring day such is the cathartic effect of the sounds. Beautiful, thought-provoking and innovative, this is as good an ambient record as we have heard all year.
Review: James Bangura steps into the ring with his new Shadow Boxing EP which is named in honour of his grandfather, Carroll Daniel Smith, who boxed for the US Army in WWII. It's a punchy take on tech house from the off, with 'Hazy Recall (Airdrop mix)''s off-grid beats swinging in from all directions with same the potency as a Mike Tyson uppercut. 'Drown It Out' has a garage swing to it as it slips and sides as fluidly as Mayweather's defence and 'Shadow Boxing' floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee. Last of all is 'Analyze, Socialize' which will have you on the ropes and sweating in no time.
Review: Bezier returns to Dark Entries with Valencia, a six track rumination on memory, geography, and transmutation. Multi-instrumentalist Robert Yang's Bezier project has appeared on Dark Entries many times over the last decade, most recently with the 2018 LP Parler Musique. Says Yang, "What started as a project to investigate the love of the sound and scenery while living in San Francisco quickly developed into a passionate search for interlocking melodies and driving rhythms." On Valencia, Bezier invokes twinned places. The Valencia Street of San Francisco is channeled, which was the center of the city's vibrant new wave scene in the 1980s. But also echoed is Valencia, Spain, and La Ruta del Bakalao aka La Ruta Destroy, the Spanish clubbing scene throughout the 80s and 90s famed for its aggressive and synthetic sounds. Valencia is a darker record for Yang, exploring themes of submission and catharsis with nods to SF's gay leather bars of the 70s and 80s. The high BPM salvos of "Valencia" and "Scrupulous" capture the frantic energy of Bakalao and Valencian wave acts like Oltima Emocion. Elsewhere Yang mines the dreamy space disco and Hi-NRG sounds they're known for, like on the brooding "Past the Marshes" or the anthemic "Reservoir", which features their partner Len.Leo on vocals. Bezier deftly navigates past and present, light and dark, pain and pleasure, the stasis of memory and the flux of time. Valencia was mastered by Alex Michalski, with EQ for vinyl done by George Horn. Gwenael Rattke designed the sleeve, which features an 80's punk zine-esque geometric grid pattern mirroring San Francisco street maps. Also included is a 5x7 postcard with notes.
Review: T4T LUV NRG welcomes Brooklyn's Russell E.L. Butler who now makes a welcome returning with a new album that comes some five years after their critically acclaimed LP The Home I'd Build For Myself and All My Friends on Left Hand Path. The years since then have seen Butler live thorough various experiences which they explore through melody on Call Me G. It's a fusion of New York house, poetry and dub techno that works both in the right club setting but also as a more intimate listening experience at home or in headphones.
Review: For "Spectres", a 6-track split release, Buttechno teams up with DJ Speedsick, a Chicago-based artist, famous for his raw and uncompromising approach to sound. Together they explore sonic and textural possibilities of the extreme forms of dancefloor music employing distinct ways of sound manipulation. Buttechno's side features highly saturated textures being torn out, dissected and sewed back together with a wicked use of spectral processing. On the other side, Dj Speedsick, known for reamping his material with guitar amplifiers and cabinets, puts out tracks that bear unique sonic qualities and transform the usual sense of space and distance. The underwordly sounds and high-speed beats presented on this split go beyond the common bounds of dancefloor music, exposing the spectres that dwell between the genres.
Review: Casino Times is a London-based project of producers Joseph Spencer & Nicholas Church; a partnership that is rooted in house & techno since 2010. The duo have released on labels like Wolf Music, Mireia and their own Casino Edits. This one's courtesy of Swdens Omena imprint, the new label run by Tooli of Local Talk fame. A Change In Motion Part 2 sees the pair enter a new phase sonically, experimenting with the more experimental side of the spectrum. There's some punchy and futuristic electro to be heard on 'Ultra Synthetic' and 'Unfold', as well as sublime downbeat offerings like 'Tides' and 'Run Mods' and some swung-off kilter beats offered up on 'Something Else' (feat DUANE).
Review: DJ Disrespect again shows no regard for the rules of electronic music on this new and visceral outing on 777. It is a 12" he dedicates to "some of the feelings associated with the tribulations of mental issues" and that's reflected in the sounds which are dense and full of duality - drums going one way, coarse synth textures and percussion puling in another direction. On 'Energy Rush' screeching synths tear through the middle of the high tempo techno drums and 'Focus' is a compelling and parboil linear banger. If his mission is to unite people and offer comfort and community with his music, DJ Disrespect has succeeded here.
Review: Fractions are a duo of Russian producers who make high-energy and uncompromising techno music. Their latest release on NG Trax is a four-track EP which showcases their influences from their youth such as The Prodigy, with EBM and fast-paced club music. The EP features tracks like 'If You Love Me' (Press Play), a catchy and infectious banger with a vocal sample and a breakbeat rhythm, and 'Rush Zone' - a collaboration with Blame The Mono - that features a powerful bassline underpinning a vicious synth lead. 'Dimension X' is an intense sonic journey that transports listeners to another dimension.
Don't Hurt Me Now (Rico Puestel's Don't dub Me Now remix) (7:04)
Review: Singer and musician Rico Friebe has a new album on the bay in October but first comes this special one-sided 12" via Time In The Special Practice Of Relativity. 'Don't Hurt Me Now' (Rico Puestel's Don't Dub Me Now Remix) is a warm, deep techno cut with the tender vocals left front and centre, Surging synths add extra heat to this most heartfelt of trehcno cuts - it's there sort of tune you can imagine being dropped at sunrise somewhere special like Robbert Johnson, just as the first light breaks through the shutters and brings some dancefloor euphoria.
Review: Trauma Collective returns to shock your system on their fifth release, which comes courtesy of Spain's Rafael M. Espinosa aka Geistform. The Barcelona-based artist, also known for his exploits under the Univac alias, has crafted a singular style that exists at the interzone of IDM, digital noise and electro and having earned him releases on Pi Electronics, Femur and Hands Productions in recent years.
Espinosa executes four programs in sonic warfare on the Antena EP, all sounding akin to complex bitstream amplification. A multi-level barrage of frequencies play offense on opening cut "Proxima B", which sets the theme for more widescreen pulsations that gash the senses, as heard on the syntax error of "Note Repeat" and building up to a climax on the monochromatic soundstage of "Norc" - a jagged and angular exploration in bass artefacts and static redux.
Since unleashing the austere techno of Birmingham legend Mick Harris (as Monrella) and hometown hero Kwartz on unsuspecting ears, the Madrid-based collective has now ventured into more experimental spheres, as heard on the off-kilter mentalism of ASC's Loop Research and the brooding atmosphere of Makunaimadama's limited cassette release last year. Antena is the logical progression for the label's next chapter, where it continues to push the threshold of electronic music's outer limits.
Review: Weirdo minimal tech soul, anyone? Any takers should be directed towards this oddball release from Melchior Productions and Paul Walter. Two tracks of serious strangeness: timestretched vocals and repetitious yeahs blossom between the beat-thickets of Melchior's 'Yeah X 3', while many more percussive hits and cuts and clicks and pops and booms come courtesy of Walter's B-side, 'Xvive'. It's an impressive first foray for Maria Newyen's new imprint Scious; let's hope future 12"s stay just as weird.
Review: Istanbul born, Berlin and Copenhagen based artist Nene H (real name Beste Aydin) had amassed a hardcore following for her slew of early releases. She then finally came good on all her promise with a debut album that blended bass, techno and plenty of her own cultural heritage. Ali arrived in 2021 but only now lands on wax via Incienso. It's an album that processes personal grief and mourning with melancholic melodies, moody grooves and introspective soundscapes that allow for deep thought processing. At times psyched out, at others manic, and always alluring, it's a real triumph.
Review: Back in 2021 Adam Pits heralded the start of the On Rotation label with his own debut album, A Recurring Nature. Now he's back with a follow-up which finds him stretching out as an artist ever more - a fact which is absolutely evident from the gorgeous ambient swathes of opening track 'Lost In The Ether'. Even when the drums kick in on 'Sleepless', they're more tilted towards fragmented patterns and organic tones rather than rote drum machine sounds. There's space for peppier electronica and steppy heads-down gear, but throughout Pits imbues his sound with the richest synthesis imaginable. In that sense, you can track the path of development from his earlier work while enjoying the adventurous new terrain he's exploring as an artist.
Review: Back in February, Detroit Sound Odyssey put out the first part of the Better Together EP and it found Mexico-born but Detroit-based Isaac Prieto hook up with several different artists including Javonntte and Moppy. Here he goes it alone for part two and blows up with an all new electro that is part electro-funk, part ghetto, part cosmic wig out. 'Go For It' (feat Loren) is punchy drum-led tacker with a brilliantly knackered bassline and pinging 909s. 'Hesitant Hand' (feat Ali Orlandi) is quick and supple techno with razor sharp hi-hats and synth details that have a mind of their own. 'Rasta Pasta' (with Moppy) slows things down to a deep beatdown then it's off to the stars with thumping house curveball 'Interstate 90 Highway' (with Javonntte). What an EP.
Review: After four years of work fusing acoustic and electronic sound worlds, Rand finally unveiled the fruits of their labours with Peripherie. The duo of concert pianist Jan Gerdes and minimal techno producer Dr. Nojoke have cooked up urban and sensitive music for piano and electronics that was all recorded live with no overdubs back in 2019 at Berlin's Chez-Cherie Studios. It was made across three pianos with improvisation at the heart of the process. It's a great collision of worlds, from dark and intense pieces of pulsing techno to more light and hopeful and empty soundscapes that perfectly blur the edges between the different tools used. Fans of Nils Frahm, Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto will enjoy digging into this one.
Review: Hailing from Columbus, Ohio and bringing some of the Midwestern techno energy that makes scenes in nearby Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Detroit so revered, Shut Off Notice means business from the get-go. The first release on the label is a debut appearance from Rarelife, who knows exactly how to elicit the kind of nerve-shredding tension that makes a deep-in-the-night dancefloor take off. 'ALONE/alone' is a taut, hypnotic workout, which gets remixed into a trippier reverb freakout by FBK. FBK also delivers a remix of 'Endo.' which gets into the realms of Rrose-flavoured psych-out gear, and then Rarelife seals the deal with the edge of the world ambience of 'Solvent Swamp'.
Review: Rise Black is Maxim Gkikaev, a producer based in southern Spain who also goes under the aliases Mitjun or Ocitin, and is part of the duo Psevdonym. He has released for Fil-Lex, Moustache and locals Another Perspective in recent years, but It is indeed a case of Bad Robot on this new one for Adjacent Possible. From the snarling acid electro bite of opener 'Alania', to the minimal EBM muscle of the title track and the truly dystopian bass dynamics of 'Laser Gun' - Gkikaev is not messing around here. Over on the flip, there are some mighty fine remixes which are equally as worthy of your attention. Benvol's electro-industrial sounding rework of 'Alania' retains that sick 303 squelch throughout, while PX's re-rub of 'Bad Robot' has an utterly majestic style of sonic futurism in the vein of legend Carl Finlow.
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