Monday, February 28, 2022
Sunday, February 27, 2022
Friday, February 25, 2022
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
The Sound Of Brenta Part 2 - V/A (Perty Records)
Title: The Sound Of Brenta Pt. 2
Artist: V/A
Label: Perty Records
Cat Number: PERTY003
Genre: Techno
1: Everyone Gets There – Sagats
2: Zeedredemption – Lucretio
3: Nothuman – Lucretio
4: I’ll Be Back – Steve Murphy
5: I Capelli Lunghi Dietro – Steve Murphy
6: Improvised02 – Marieu
7: Improvised01A – Marieu
8: Old Future – DJ Octopus
9: New Past – DJ Octopus
10: Connection – Sagats
I’ve listed the tracks incorrectly and couldn’t be arsed reordering them. I say this because the final track, ‘Connection’ by Sagats opens proceedings on this hiatus defying collection. And I say this, because ‘The Sound Of Brenta Pt. 1’ came out in 2013. Before Brexit, when the world was in a better place. ‘Connection’ is a great curtain riser though; all friction, grind and radioactive acid density. Apparently that’s Brenta’s calling card: “Dancefloor killers meeting abstract improvisations, fast and slow beats recorded straight from the machines. This is a specific sound coming from the area in between Venice and Padua (Italy), born from the passion for forgotten gears and the belief that limits are helpful for the creative process of music-making forcing every user to get the best out of what he got.” That was from a press release which gives some useful information for a change. Sagats is the only name here I’m unfamiliar with here, having come across everyone else on my voyage through the analogue vinyl backstreets. So this is real dirt under your fingernails house, you can feel the dust coursing through the grooves and across the top of the mix. There’s a wonderful lack of refinement that feels completely authentic and occasionally evolves sublimely to coalesce in such a way as to make you double take. Steve Murphy’s ‘I’ll Be Back’ is such a track. A pumelling beast along which travel a filigree of serendipitous woozy synth bass. ‘I Capelli Lunghi Dietro’ is even better. It’s a Fisher Price voyage into naive hauntology. Marieu come across as the most abstract of all on here, with both of his ‘Improvised’ efforts defying rigid beat conventions. ‘Zeedredemption’ by Lucretio goes down a similar route, while DJ Octopus applies a subtle reverb to make his tracks vibrate where others can’t. It’s a more than interesting collection which examines the dancefloor from a very specific aural angle. Caught somewhere between the post-industrial sonic outskirts and the mid-nineties Chicago tracky hinterland, there is no doubt that that the pre-digital machines are in charge and making all the right noises.
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Monday, February 21, 2022
Alternate Facts 002 - V/A (Alternate Facts)
Title: Alternate Facts 002
Artist: Various Artists
Label: Alternate Facts
Cat Number: AF002
Genre: Groovy Rollers
1: Puma Print – Thoma Bulwer
2: Incidental – Dexter Kane
3: Gutter Jazz – Dexter Kane
4: Scruffy Notes – Thoma Bulwer & Voightmann
A double header split 50/50 between Thoma Bulwer and Dexter Kane with a Voightmann – shaped cherry on the top; the second release on Alternate Facts is a very satisfying one. Dexter Kane’s contributions are solid, bass-heavy skippy and energetic in only the way good house/speed garage crossovers can be and, although they are composed of similar elements, still manage to maintain a reasonable degree of distinction. Lovely feel and warm production wins the day and the vitality of each track ensures one is thoroughly endeared however. ‘Puma Print’ blends a sparse kick which inhabits various frequencies with minimal acid, and ‘Scruffy Notes’ is a cylindrical rave drive through the metaphorical early hours.
Sunday, February 20, 2022
Saturday, February 19, 2022
Friday, February 18, 2022
Thursday, February 17, 2022
The Upward Spiral EP - Corporeal Face (Acroplane Recordings)
Title: The Upward Spiral EP
Artist: Corporeal Face
Label: Acroplane Recordings
Cat Number: ACP047
Genre: Hardcore
1: To Make It
2: Get To Stepping
3: Shake Your Brain
4: What A Trip
Is hardcore this years’ breaks? And where does one finish and the other begin? Have they ever really disappeared? These, and other rhetorical questions won’t be answered any time soon, if ever. In spite of this, it can definitely be claimed that this release from Corporeal Face is as good as anything, if not better, I’ve heard of a similar stripe evah. When listening to this species of sonic fare, I want rhythm, disorientation, a feeling of inner-city emptiness, big bass and sundry rave noises. Everything is present and correct here in spades. I also contemplate the existence of drum and bass while listening to such output and, in doing so, there’s the perennial chicken and egg question to answer. There’s also a heavy comedic element running through this music. ‘Shake Your Brain’ is a collage of silliness and wonkiness underpinned by a foundation of brutal beats. ‘To Make It’ is the type of soaring, inspiring sound that should be the national anthem. Not that miserable dirge we’re saddled with. Music like this is the sound of an active imagination unconstrained by convention. Keep up the good work.
Wednesday, February 16, 2022
Open Club Dream EP - Sound Of The Suburbs
Title: Open Club Dream EP
Artist: Sloth/Sound Of The Suburbs
Label: https://soundofthesuburbs.bandcamp.com
Cat Number: Immaterial
Genre: Techy Rollers
1: Cocos Trip
2: Fat Stack
3: Internal
4: Oxycuted
It’s always a pleasure to find free music in one’s inbox. It’s even more of one when said music comes unexpectedly and after an extremely long hiatus. Sound Of The Suburbs, whose releases (especially ‘Beautifly’) go for stupiid money on Discogs, returns with the digital files that matter in the shape of this new release. ‘Cocos Trip’ kicks things off, all thick bass, dense, spacious sound and ubergrande synths. It’s a deadly cpombinati0on once the percussion starts to activate. ‘Fat Stack’ has just as much going for it. There is a more stripped down feel initially, but this void is filled, aided by an eponymous vocal sample and disco syndrums. ‘Internal’ slows things down slightly and creates a feeling of vague disorientation alongside general diffidence. Like when you’re summoning up the courage to dance. ‘Oxycuted’ is possibly the most powerful track here, and again uses spoken samples to deft effect. “What they need is more medication” indeed. A wonderful return to form, from someone who never really went away. “Dad’s comin’ back tae us Colin.”
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Monday, February 14, 2022
Red Sun/Kick Punch Harder - Greymatter (Unique Uncut Ltd)
Title: Red Sun/Kick Punch Harder
Artist: Greymatter
Label: Unique Uncut Ltd
Cat Number: UUDIGI028
Genre: Deep House
1: Red Sun
2: Kick Punch Harder feat. Goldslang
3: Real Bad Manners feat. Blood Without
4: Reflections (What You Lived To Be)
Deep house isn’t an easy genre to innovate in these days. So maintaining a certain standard is the order of the day and, if something new emerges as a consequence, all the better. Greymatter has definitely put some work in here, and the result is a release comprised of a quartet which appeals on various levels whilst neatly sidestepping easy categorisation. Having said that I am reminded, rightly or wrongly, of various other artists while listening to it. ‘Red Sun’ has a strong Ron Trent vibe about it, while ‘ Kick Punch Harder’ recalls some Motorbass moments from ‘Pansoul’. ‘Real Bad Manners’ is a depth charge of a track, with hoover-like noises going off to counter bass, stomping percussion and a general feel of industrial collapse. ‘ Reflections’ rounds off an ambitious release with a looped percussive, filter disco combination. It’s all good.
Friday, February 11, 2022
Thursday, February 10, 2022
Wednesday, February 09, 2022
Tuesday, February 08, 2022
Someone - Holger Zilske (Hypercolour)
Title: Someone
Artist: Holger Zilske
Label: Hypercolour
Cat Number: HYPE094
Genre: Disco/House
1: Someone
2: Transformation
A cursory glance at Discogs tells me that this is Holger Zilske’s first release under his own name since 2011. He’s hardly been a recluse, releasing as half of Smash TV in the interim; well, until 5 years ago. In any case his career does seem to have undergone something of a hiatus so, if this is a comeback of sorts, it’s a good one. ‘Someone’ is a wonderfully off-kilter funk-fuelled, vocoder-led, bottom heavy funky bomb. ‘Transformation’ is more straightforward and linear, making use of a throbbing bass line in order to intone deadpan and eponymously. This approach to spoken word is also a characteristic of the title track, but with less gravitas and a more bugged out sensibility. All in all, a potent double header to soundtrack the disco through the looking glass.
Monday, February 07, 2022
Distant Land - Terrestrial Access Network (LDI Records)
Title: Distant Land
Artist: Terrestrial Access Network
Label: LDI Records
Cat Number: LDI004
Genre: Electro
1: Voltage Anagnorisis
2: Endless Dunes
3: Distant Lands
4: Intergalactic Commodities (Versalife Remix)
5: Intergalactic Commodities
6: Slow Fall
Terrestrial Access Network aka Collin to his mum and dad, hails from Austin, Texas. Now as far as I know it’s Dallas which is the epicentre of Texan electro; however, it’s obvious that something is in the proverbial down there. And this is an EP brimming with depth and class. Comparing it with Plant43 isn’t too wide of the mark methinks, what’s more you get six great and versatile tracks for your listening pleasure, all of which hit the heights of emotive expression. No favourites as they’re all excellent, and even though Versalife’s remix stands out due to a noticeable difference in style, it’s by no means a better track, brilliant as it is. ‘Distant Lands’ has the most timeless quality of everything here; there is a pervasiveness about it which makes me sure I’ve heard it before. I guess it’s just me recalling some great nights out and my memory coming in shards and fragments of soaring synths and interplanetary euphoria. A fair criticism could point to a lack of variety, but I like it too much to worry about that, and the sheer grandioseness of 'Slow Fall' has more life affirmation within its grooves than anything I've heard for a long time. So there!
Sunday, February 06, 2022
Saturday, February 05, 2022
Track Of The Day: Hooter (Carl Craig Remix) - Ultramarine (Blanco y Negro)
Massive earworm for me this one. Most days it's in my head at some time or another.
Thursday, February 03, 2022
Waiting On Closure EP - Theiz (EPMmusic)
Title: Waiting On Closure EP
Artist: Theiz
Label: EPMmusic
Cat Number: EPM95
Genre: Techno
1: Waiting On Closure
2: We’ll Find A Way
3: We’ll Find A Way (East Island Remix)
4: A Quiet Warm Scene
Following on from 2020s ‘Moving Forward Into The Past’, which in turn ended a 15 year production hiatus, Theiz doesn’t like to rush things. This is obviously a good thing as the fruit of his labours are careful, considered and profound. Each track on this release carries an air of confidence and gravitas. The acid squelches of ‘We’ll Find A Way’ are dense and leave their mark due to their steady stepping, whereas the remix finds this aspect of the track bent out of shape in order to fit a faster paced, more floor-friendly vibe. ‘ A Quiet Warm Scene’ is a minimal slow burner, artfully composed of three or four patient sonic flourishes, which feel like electric brush strokes, but it’s the title track and its textural layering of deep motifs on a foundation of moist breakbeats which takes the most plaudits in my interplanetary minds eye. Lovely stuff!