Saturday, December 31, 2022
Friday, December 30, 2022
Thursday, December 29, 2022
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
Monday, December 26, 2022
Saturday, December 24, 2022
Friday, December 23, 2022
Thursday, December 22, 2022
Versallife - Chronoception (20 20 Vision)
Title: Chronoception
Artist: Versalife
Label: 20/20 Vision
Cat Number: VIS334
Genre: Electro
1: Altered Perception
2: Equilibrium
3: Temporal Resolution
4: Altered Sense
5: Oculus V2
6: Polychron
7: Perceptual Time Dilation
8: Clairvoyance
9: Memento
Straight off the back of their exceptional ‘Exit Planet Earth’ collection, 20/20 Vision come up with even more electro goodies in the shape of ‘Chronoception’, the latest long player from Boris Bunnik, aka Versalife, and his second for the label, after 2020’s ‘Manifold’. Having steadily built his reputation as a purveyor of fine machine funk, tinged with a melancholic depth; that has certain similarities with James Shinra’s productions, but here the overs]all feeling is more desolate and disconnected, ‘Chronoception’ represents a nadir of sorts. The tracks are all at least around 6 minutes long, which gives them plenty of time to breathe and exercise their elastic instincts, because although electro is undoubtably the name of the game here, like the aforementioned Shinra, Bunnik’s music strays into a hinterland hitherto reserved for trance and the potential for new age shoegaze. Characterized by space, a creative use of dubby motifs, a foundation of funk and what feels like a layering of imaginative, off-kilter beats that serve to disorientate in the subtlest possible way, this is a collection of tracks that effortlessly balances introspection with the need to jack.
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Theiz - For The Love EP (EPMmusic)
Title: For The Love EP
Artist: Theiz
Label: EPMmusic
Cat Number: EPM102
Genre: Techno
1: 1000 Year Cycle Of The Dragonfly
2: Filtered Reality
3: For The Love
4: Infinite Compassion
‘1000 Year Cycle Of The Dragonfly’ hits the high analogue Detroit – inspired notes all at once. Rolling, bass-heavy percussion moves the track along, which is adorned by glistening, synth stabs and an occasional layer of additional drumming. It’s definitely something that hearkens back to Theiz’s Mathijs Schippers Eevolute days. ‘Filtered Reality’ is much more mellow; the pace drops and a hi-hat keeps time over a heartbeat accompanied by some subtle synthetic embellishment. ‘For The Love’ hits the deep techno/idm sweet spot, and would mix in very well with Wulf & Bear’s ‘Raptures Of The Deep’; as does ‘Infinite Compassion’ which masterfully blends string led atmospherics and highly strung breaks in a stellar combination of android excess. This is Theiz’s third release for EPM, and they’ve all been great, hearkening back to a golden age of Dutch techno that still provides plenty of reference points.
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Opal Sunn - The Problem With George/The Mystery Of Mr Lee (ESP Institute)
Title: The Problem With George/The Mystery Of Mr Lee
Artist: Opal Sunn
Label: ESP Institute
Cat Number: ESP - CX11
Genre: Deep Feelings
A: The Problem With George
B: The Mystery Of Mr Lee
Opal Sunn (Alex Kassian and Hiroaki OBA) really come correct on their first release for Lovefingers’ ESP Institute. ‘ The Problem With George’ is an expanding universe of a track. Percussion builds and erupts in intermittent crescendoes along its linear span, a low end growl appears to emphasise an unspoken solemnity while peripheral elements spin off into the great beyond. ‘The Mystery Of Mr Lee’ is equally atmospheric, but more subdued, giving off updated film noir vibes in subtropical vegetation. Both tracks are incredibly inventive and feel like they have infinite possibilities; and it goes without saying that taking class A drugs will only enhance the listening experience. Absolutely amazing and highly recommended, like pair of synaptic lullabies.
Monday, December 19, 2022
Sunday, December 18, 2022
Saturday, December 17, 2022
Friday, December 16, 2022
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Danny Passarella & Mitch Marcus - New York (Passarella Records)
Title: New York
Artist: Danny Passarella & Mitch Marcus
Label: Passarella Records
Cat Number: PASS016
Genre: Jazz Techno Ambience
1: Brooklyn
2: Manhattan
3: Queens
New York, a city of many musics, jazz just being one of them. Possibly the most atmospheric and evocative, but who knows. When I look back on my time spent there I think more about jazz as an accompaniment than any other. Even though at the time hip hop was arguably at a zenith. And I like what’s being done on this release, which sounds very much as it should, considering I’m sitting in a bedroom somewhere in East Anglia, it’s pissing down outside and memories of the Big Apple are hazy. ‘Brooklyn’ strikes the right note, a collision of the beatless and the dynamic; ‘Manhattan’ descends into the fractal, orchestral abyss, not really getting out of first gear, simmering under attentive ears. ‘Queens’ is bursting at the seams but locked in a cyclical wave of suppression. All three tracks are free of cliché, sounding fresh and specific, giving each of the boroughs they narrate a cinematic identity that conjures up a fresh slant on a location that will never stop inspiring.
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
George Isaakidis - Navigating The Kali Yuga Vol. 1 (Optimo Music)
Title: Navigating The Kali Yuga Vol. 1
Artist: George Isaakidis
Label: Optimo Music
Cat Number: OM 53 D
Genre: Ambient Meditation Aid
1: Ourania
2: Sa Caroca
3: Apana
4: Deer Horns (The Lower Triangle)
5: Slow Ecstasy
6: Deer Horns (The Upper Triangle)
7: Le Jardin Et Son Jardinier
So ‘Ourania’ sounds like an updated version of the Buddha Machine. One of those little boxes that plays a single loop which is designed to induce calm and reflection. Plenty of other things of course, which is no surprise as George Isaakidis is someone who has, in the midst of an ever-changing for the worse world, used yoga as a way to make sense of it all and to pin down his own life. The different pieces presented here are an aural representation of his journey and, I assume, an accompaniment to the philosophy he has embraced. I’m not even going to try and make sense of something I really don’t have the knowledge to make informed commentary on. However, the different compositions here each deploy an ambient structure which is difficult to ignore and which fluctuates according to different requirements. More or less beat less, rhythm is elicited from the listener by a subconscious coaxing. ‘Deer Horns (The Lower Triangle)’ sounds like slow, friction-led techno played underwater. ‘Deer Horns (The Upper Triangle)’ is a 12 minute piece of undulating nebulosity which invites the listener to pour whatever into the void. The slightly abrasive ‘Slow Ecstasy’ comes across as a simmering jog to the senses in the midst of the meditative fug, while ‘Le Jardin Et Son Jardinier’ is a marathon length vibration within an imaginary sensory deprivation tank. “The Kali Yuga, the fourth and final part of the yuga cycle – a ‘dark age’ filled with war, conflict, and declining spirituality.” Here soundtracked
feels like a voyage into an expanding universe, the boundaries of which will be forever tantalisingly out of reach.
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
V/A - Exit Planet Earth Launch (20/20 Vision)
Title: Exit Planet Earth - Launch
Artist: Various
Label: 20/20 Vision
Cat Number: EPE10
Genre: Electro/Techno
Futurenauts - We are the Futurenauts
Egyptian Lover x Soul Clap - Hai Karate (Dub)
Reptant & Dashiell - Gortexia
Kosh - Chaos in the City
Mr Ho & Xiaolin - No Change To How I Feel
Zobol - Data Wars
James Shinra - Launch
Ste Roberts - Rebirth 2_0
Lost Souls of Saturn - Karma is Back
Kim Cosmik - Moonrise
Sound Synthesis - You are the Force
Extrawelt - Hail The Whale (The Coexisting mix)
CKFT (Keith Tucker x Carl Finlow) - Coder
London Modular Alliance - Lump of Coal
DeFeKT - Radar
The Advent x Zein Ferreira - Carpe Diem
Sansibar - Tamagotchi
The Exaltics & Paris The Black Fu- wea poni zedin form ation Konerytmi - Pulssi
Telephasycx! Index Case
Cignol - 51D
Mick Wilson x August Artier - Akira's Cry
Annie Hall - Invisible dust
Alfred - Galaxy Quest
Ivna Ji – Rescape
20/20 Vision, a label of nearly 30 years standing, has become something of a standard bearer for electro in recent years and, over the last few has released no fewer than eight v/a 12”, designed to showcase the best in the aforesaid genre’s contemporary sound. This compilation collects a lot of those tracks together, and throws some new bits into the mix; whicjh is great for muppets like me who don’t have any of the individual releases. Christmas has come well and truly early, or something like that. Anyway, new tracks are by Egyptian Lover x Soul Clap, The Advent, Lost Souls of Saturn (Seth Troxler x Phil Moffat), DeFeKT and Sound Synthesis. While relative new names include Zobol, Sansibar, Annie Hall and Futurenauts. (Everything is relative to Egyptian Lover, Keith Tucker & Carl Finlow btw). There are some names, like VC-118A, who didn;t make it on, but by and large this is a pretty exhaustive compilation. ‘We Are The Futurenauts’ sets the tone, and is a hard act to follow, but this collection is anything but linear. Kosh’s Air Frog inflected ‘Chaos In The City’ is a dreamy tour de force, and Mr Ho & Xiaolin’s ‘No Change To How I Feel’ steps outside the bodybopping blueprint into full on big room techno territory. There’s so much to like here, with Zobol’s ‘Data Wars’ making a powerful impression, James Shinra’s ‘Launch’ underlining his moody, almost progressively trancetastic take on the genre; ‘You Are The Force’ by Sound Synthesis going down the vocoder/acid route; ‘51D’ by Cignol an emotive exercise in wresting melancholic tones from the machines, something which Alfred’s ‘Galxy Quest’ also succeeds. I wish I had the time and the ideas to properly do every track on this excellent compilation justice, but I don’t. Suffice to say that your money will be well spent if you make this machine funk investment.
Monday, December 12, 2022
Aqua Team - DJ Stingray 313 (Micron Audio)
Title: Aqua Team
Artist: DJ Stingray 313
Label: Micron Audio
Cat Number:
Genre: Electro/Techno
1: Serotonin
2: Straight Up Cyborg
3: Star Chart
4: Silicon Romance
5: Potential
6: Wire Act
7: Binarycoven
8: NWO
9: Mindless
10: Counter Surveillance
11: LR001
12: It’s All Connected
This triple vinyl remastered rerelease gathers together two WeMe records from the noughties and puts them back out into the world on Stingray’s own Micron Audio. And, as ever with Stingray’s own output, the boundaries between techno and electro are blurred. The latter lays the groundwork while the former steps in to shake things up from time to time. In any case, this specific fusion produces something unique within the two genres and is uncategorisable at times. It’s machine music Jim, but not always as we know it. Compositions which draw the liustener in by virtue of their sheer weirdness include the jazzy ‘Star Chart’, which mixes the sound of a double bass with spiky keyboard flourishes in order to evoke a futuristic jazz ambience. Nice! ‘Straight Up Cyborg’, a ghostly evocation of android steps, ‘Silicon Romance’ goes down a similar route, before giving way to ‘Potential’, which opens with the spoken word “You have a destiny and now is your time to fulfil it.” This is one of Stingrays more militant sounding tracks, along with ‘Binarycoven’, which seem to exist in a zone between the slower ones already mentioned, and the faster, more recognisably electro offerings; such as ‘Serotonin’, ‘Wire Act’, ‘NWO’, Mindless’, ‘Counter Surveillance’, LR001’ and ‘It’s All Connected’. Something else these compositions have in common is their high tensile rhythms and wire-like beats. None of the tracks here penetrate the five minute ceiling, all being, I imagine, custom made for the rapid fire, gangster DJing style that Stingray is the undisputed master of. Don’t expect sunshine either. This is an album cloaked in shades of grey and darkness. Finally, everything here holds up as well today as it no doubt did when first released, and still sounds like the future.
Sunday, December 11, 2022
Saturday, December 10, 2022
ALFOS EBS37 - Sean Johnston (09-12-2022)
Fly Me In Interstellar Funk & Loradeniz
Better Together (Hardway Bros Dub Intervention) Holy Youth Movement
O Signe Des Temps - Original Version Bernardino Femminielli
Section V Stump Valley
Open Hours Pleasure Pool
Gayatri The Dude Of Stratosphear
Marius Circus - Wrapped
We Are Massive One Massive Younger Than Me & Skelesys
Transistor Tech Support
1Re-arrange Your Face islandman & Kenneth Bager
Duncan Gray - Short Hall
Forbearing John Parsley
Kingston Technologies La Guardia de la Luz
The Magnetic Field La Guardia de la Luz
Lurking Orange Interstellar Funk & Loradeniz
Glasgow Dazion
Out Of Context Anastasia Zems
Mystic Thug - Brocken Spectre
Pure Touch Pleasure Pool
Hay Sabados Eren Erdol
Chociaz Raz Das Komplex
Liron Amram & the Panthers - Paam Paam (NDV Remix) [bonus promo track]
El Pueblo Eren Erdol
Feel Me (Yuksek Extended Remix) Simon Says
4 Osc Man Sasse
Heket Jepe
Alex_Aguayo_-_Altered_Speech_(Original_Mix)
Peak High - Was That All It Was? Hardway Bros Remix
La Grande Île DC Salas
Blood On The Streets Evil Tapes
Tutan Jamon (Chaim & Ozart Remix) Franz Matthews & Local Suicide
Bring It On Diablo Evil Tapes
Nairobi (with elephant) Genish
P.D.T. (Pocket Dimension Truckstop) Unit Black Flight
The Third Eye Genish
Baninga Feat. Fay Jacita Genish
Revelation - First Power (Tommy Musto Remix) [Missile Vintage]
Weltareh (Prins Thomas Remix) Freeform Five ft. Juldeh Camara
Do You Remember (Red Axes Remix) Nenor
Kendal - Come To Me (Club Mix)
Ralph Falcon FADE AWAY ALT MIX
Cymon & Associates - RADIATE LOVE (CROOKED FLEX) AIFF
Phoenix Jepe, Claudio Ricci
Cobra Alt Control
Random Hill (Original) Goeran Meyer
Besty Smith Boo Williams
Hide In (Ewan Pearson Remix) NTEIBINT ft. Stella
Tecwa_-_Pacific_Bends_(Original_Mix)
State Of Mind (Slack Mix) Alex Kassian Dream State Steve Bug, Cle
Late Morning (Rare Edit) Cute Heels
Winamp Oscillator DJ City
Every Turn (Joseph Ashworth Extended Remix) Horixon ft. Else Born
Great Beyond (Extended Mix) Anden
Flare DUFAUX
State Of Mind (Slack Mix) Alex Kassian Dream State Peyote Dreams
Powerful Woman DASCO
Twist In My Sobriety (David Shaw and The Beat Remix) Theodora
Figures Absolute Body Control
SAME AS IT EVER WAS... BFP REMIX
I Get Deep (Roland Leesker's Come Into Our House Rework Rework) Roland Clark
Tranquil Elephantizer- TRISHA -Felix’s Live Drum Italo Monster Mix
PK & GV Enjoy The Day (Hardway Bros Meet Monkton Downtown Remix)
The Maghreb Ft Omar - Waiting (Paul Woolford x Special Request Rework)
Better Together (Hardway Bros Cosmic Intervention) Holy Youth Movement
Friday, December 09, 2022
Thursday, December 08, 2022
SYZ - Burner FM (Banoffee Pies Records)
Title: Burner FM
TechnoArtist: SYZ
Label: Banoffee Pies Records
Cat Number: BP022SD
Genre: Break Beats
1: Burner FM
2: Earworm
An engaging and lively record this. ‘Burner FM’ merges break beats, dub and a nebulous cross section of chaos to create a bottom heavy rhythmatic hybrid, which feels like it has its roots in a grime-inflected universe. ‘Earworm’ is a more linear piece, with throbbing techno foundations, overlaid with loping percussion and punctuated by concave interjections and high-pitched, but subdued squeaks. It’s a very effective double header, with both tracks incorporating a vitality and playfulness that will ensure that their presence is felt where it really matters.
Wednesday, December 07, 2022
Kronos Device - Planet X EP (No Static Automatic)
Title: Planet X EP
Artist: Kronos Device
Label: No Static Automatic
Cat Number: NSA005
Genre: Electro
1: The Men From Planet X
2: Crisis Point
3: Subatomix
4: Dark Architect
Kronos Device are Bass Junkie and The Dexorcist and together, as Kronos Device, they make dark, dramatic, heavy electro. Which, if you’ve seen the Guillermo del Toro film about a vampiric objet d’art that gives eternal life to its bearer, shouldn’t be too difficult a conection to make. ‘The Men From Planet X’ hurtles out of the blocks like an epileptic greyhound, all bass, vocoders and laser guided synths. A slight cheesiness resides around the title, which is spoken throughout the track, but it’s all part of the charm. ‘Crisis Point’ is more angular. The beats are precise, riveting the track’s outline in the dance cortex. The bell that rings in the background is a subtle sign of approaching insanity, which is nice. ‘Subatomix’ has a little of the birth of a new insect ruling class about it; from the debris of a nuclear war perchance? It’s a concise beat exercise with textured instrumental shifting that turns it on its axis. ‘Dark Architect’ differs from the previous three, suspending its syncopation and employing a lighter touch, allowing the track more room to breath and, in turn, endowing it with the energy to explore parts unknown.
Tuesday, December 06, 2022
Anterspace 02 - Ten Lardell (Anterspace)
Title: Anterspace 02
Artist: Ten Lardell
Label: Anterspace
Cat Number: anterspace 02
Genre: Techno
1: Isosurfer
2: The Cold Equations
3: Polygonization ll
Following hot on the heels of ‘Anterspace 01’, comes this from Ten Lardell. ‘01’ caused a little bit of a commotion in techno circles, issued on lovely green vinyl and featuring rapier sharp electro and techno. Moreover, the influence of Rd Planet was inescapable. Well, this is more of the same, this time on very collectable red vinyl. And there’s absolutely no attempt to soften the UR/Red Planet homage: ‘Polygonization ll’ follows on from the prior release’s ‘Polygonization l’, supplying uncompromising electro that flies across the stratosphere of your mind, aided by a pervasive 303 and dramatic synth stabs straight from a UR sequence template. ‘The Cold Equations’ is a relentless banger that is permanently on the boil, but never gets ahead of itself. Again. The 303 reigns, along with metronomic handclaps and an engine room of synth stabs. ‘Isosurfer’ is similar, but feels more raw and stripped down. It’s also off the leash, prowling without thought for anything around it once it gets going. It’s also the track that most reminds me of Red Planet, particularly ‘Star Dancer’.
Monday, December 05, 2022
We Smile - Remixes (Couldn't Care More)
Title: Remixes
Artist: We Smile
Label: Couldn’t Care More
Cat Number: NTUNSURE01
Genre: Updated Cross-Pollinated Pop
1: Sack Voll Drogen (A JD Twitch Version)
2: 31 24 42 (Tentenko Mixdown 1)
3: Can’t Resist (Popmusicker sind auch Kunster Version) (Mense Reets Remix)
4: 31 24 42 (Tentenko Mixdown 2)
5: Kind Und Kegel
Remixed for a new generation, (I really should write slogans for a living), this collection of compositions from Hamburg popsters We Smile have been reinterpreted and reinvigorated. Not being in any way familiar with the originals, they are what they are. ‘Sack Voll Drogen (A JD Twitch Version)’ is simultaneously lo fi and banging. Plaintive, naive vocals occupy space between static guitar and breakbeats. Both Tentenko Mixdowns of ‘ 31 24 42’ have a strident air of effects-laden, psychedelic nihilism, slightly differing in tone, but not much. ‘Can’t Resist (Popmusicker sind auch Kunster Version) (Mense Reets Remix)’ plumbs melancholic, bittersweet depths, but is stretched out, allowing the track to breath and give it gravitas. The only original ‘Kind Und Kegel’, is a great piece of spontaneous guitar /vocal driven, German grunge which sits somewhere between the Jesus & Mary Chain and Nirvana.
