Review: Rebirth kicks off its 2024 with a remix EP that serves as "a tribute to the Brescian music scene in its many facets and declinations." The full original project is a complete 12-track album that brings together many different sounds, scenes and generations, with the best bits now assembled on this new 12". The revered deep house master Fred P opens up with some texture spiritual synth depths, K-Lone brings some nice house swing to his version of 'Paline' and edit maestro Rahsaan also keeps it paired back and late night on his soulful take on 'Scent Of An Old Life'. A great reimagining of some moving musical adventures, then.
Review: The Belgian label Higher Hopes is run by DC Salas who now returns to it with a new EP with the collaborative Los NiNos Del Parque project alongside Anthony Barbarich aka Mirror Minds. They say it is a release that has been 15 years in the making and has roots in their shared love of 2000s electroclash, plus new wave and new beat. They set out to make something inspired by that and have done so over the last four years with a mix of rugged and mechanical rhythms and angular synth lines. A fine remix by the assured Badaboum and Rinse France resident Belaria rounds out the package.
Review: This compilation delves into the depths of electronic music, showcasing a diverse range of artists who blend retro influences with futuristic sounds. It's a captivating journey through hypnotic rhythms, atmospheric textures, and captivating melodies, with each track offering a unique perspective on the ever-evolving landscape of electronic music. Kosh's 'Back To The Future' sets the tone with its pulsating energy and nostalgic synth lines, while Christopher Ledger's 'Steady Process' creates a mesmerizing atmosphere with its hypnotic rhythms and evolving soundscapes. Reflex Blue's 'Super Sweet Feeling' injects a dose of Italo-disco-infused energy, its infectious melodies and driving bassline guaranteed to get bodies moving. Luca Attanasio's 'Mystery Freak' closes out the compilation with a darker, more experimental vibe, its haunting melodies and intricate textures leaving a lasting impression.
Review: Jacopo Latini returns to Altered Circuits with a four-track EP that sharpens his minimalist approach while maintaining his signature melodic touch. Focused squarely on groove, each track explores subtle yet impactful progression and opener 'Sharp' sets the tone with eerie atmospheres, vocoded vocals and fluid 303 squelches. 'Impulse' rides a hypnotic FM bass and sharp percussion for a dramatic yet refined journey. 'Bright Sound' balances modulated leads and deadpan vocals with euphoric touches and closing track 'Rave Harvey' bursts with '90s trance energy which marks a bold shift toward high-intensity club euphoria and minimal design with maximal impact.
Review: There are not many tracks that you could call timeless gems in the progressive house and trance worlds - but this track definitely can. Originally released in 1993 on Braniak Records, this track quickly garnered underground acclaim, becoming a go-to weapon for progressive and trance DJs. When Hooj Choons picked it up, 'Sacred Cycles' transcended the underground, solidifying its status as a trance classic. The track's hypnotic blend of ethereal melodies, pulsing basslines and spiritual samples continues to resonate with fans of the genre. The new Fort Romeau dub on Side-2 gives a new perspective to the iconic track. By honing in on the rhythm, Fort Romeau crafts a remix that innovates the track in different ways. The rework strips the original down to its core elements, emphasising groove and atmosphere while giving a contemporary edge that aligns perfectly with today's dancefloors. This release is a smart move by Hooj Choons, bridging the gap between classic trance euphoria and modern electronic sensibilities.
Review: Having previously taken on trips to imaginary 'Lost Moons' and the 'Island of Being', Yaroslav Lensyak is now our tour guide through Trippy Land - an aural, club-ready soundscape that combines his love of undulating acid lines and glitchy tech-house beats with sun-splashed melodic motifs, enveloping pads and off-kilter basslines. The sonic sightseeing begins with the gorgeous-but-weighty 'Yupi', before taking in panoramic views and shuffling breakbeats on the alternately picturesque, raw and sleazy 'Flicker'. Title track 'Trippy Land' boasts motorik bleeps, jagged analogue bass and sharp TB-303 tweaks, while the excursion-ending 'Sirius' is a deep, low-slung, early morning jog that's as rhythmically driving as it is sonically mind-altering.
Review: Big up to northern powerhouse Burnski for steering his Constant Sound label to the not-so-insignificant feat of release number 50. More importantly, the sounds remain as vital as ever and always evolve into subtle new sound worlds. The mantle for this one is taken by Locklead who brings some fine drum patterns to 'Backup' and pairs them with sliding hi-hats and bubbly synth motifs. It's garage-infused but utterly fresh. 'Wizzord' is a darker tech house with searching lead synths and plenty of pent-up energy, and 'Motherland' brings nice jazzy chord work and atmospheric samples. 'Pink Skies' is a bright closer with contrasting synths - some farting, some smooth - and more high-speed, catchy drums that span house and tech.
Jamie Dodger - "Yes Yes Release The Stress" (6:20)
Review: Here we are introducing new label Art of Dark and its AODVA Series, a platform showcasing a diverse array of artists, especially those who are newcomers to the music scene. For its inaugural release, the series spotlights four different artists with their own distinctive sound and who are all set to go on to big things, at least if you ask us of the evidence of this. Log_In kicks off with 'Antivirus' which spins you out on nice cosmic tech vibes and screwy alien synth lines, while Landed's 'Anaesthetic' is a retro-future tech house pumper with neon lines and a tight bassline. Matthew Hartshorn's 'Computers' gets as digital as you would expect from the name with the sound of malfunctioning motherboards over sleek beats. Jamie Dodger shuts down with the more edgy percussion and rapped vocal sleaze of 'Yes Yes Release The Stress'.
Review: Will Long's 'Behind The Times' delivers a refined minimal tech-house experience, blending smooth jazz elements with deep house vibes. The title track on Side-1 is a laid-back, melodic journey with a low tempo, incorporating subtle jazz influences into its minimalist structure. Its gentle, flowing rhythm creates a serene atmosphere, perfect for immersive listening. On Side-2, the 'Bassline Mix' elevates the track by introducing a powerful bassline, giving the smooth composition a darker, more groove-oriented feel while maintaining its minimal aesthetic. Long's ability to balance intricate jazz influences with house and techno elements shines throughout this release, making 'Behind The Times' an understated but captivating entry in the minimal/tech house genre.
Review: Anacalypto Records' second release revives a gem from the Dutch electronic scene. Originally released in 1998 by Luc Wacherlin, aka Luca, on Orlando Voorn's Slamdunk Records, this four-track EP represents one of the label's final releases. Described in its press release as "beautiful, elongated, shimmering, Detroit-style trancers for the morning after the night before," it delivers on that promise. The tracks blend Detroit's vibrant techno with Sheffield's deeper sounds. From the liquid synths of the title track to the hypnotic grooves of 'Indian Summer,' the EP's immersive warmth and intricate compositions capture the essence of '90s techno, restored for a modern audience.
Review: Fresh from blurring the boundaries between electronic disco and quirky disco-house via EPs on Nocturne and Public Possession (the latter alongside Wolfram), Josh Ludlow brings his trademark sound to Toy Tonics for the first time. Style wise, both A-side tracks doff a cap to Italo-disco and the hard-to-pigeonhole dancefloor psychedelia of Maurice Fulton's Syclops project, with throbbing opener 'New Transition (extended 12" mix)' being followed by the heady nu-disco squelch of 'Bumper Thumper (12" club dub)'. The latter track is given a makeover by Medlar on the flip, with the Wolf Music regular re-imagining it as a bumping, sweat-soaked house jam topped off with disco guitar licks and ghostly lead lines. Also worth checking is B1 'D.G.A.F', a funky, punky house jam smothered in intergalactic synth sounds.
Review: Offbeat, bouncy Euro-house come new beat from Lvca, debutant artist on Bordello A Parigi. 'The Wanderer' works piquant acid lines and visitant vocoders around a precision pump, alluding to, and serving as the stylistic fountainhead of, the artist's own analogue-gear driven live sets. 'Chromatic Equanimity' privileges no colour over any other, with its pointillist plucks betraying only a minimal investment in the dance, and 'Opal' contrasts this with a well-wrung, dripping torrent of emotion set to 4x4. Rounding off the proceedings is the overloaded high of 'Opium', our withdrawal from which track is indeed rather tremulous and painful.
Review: Effortless fusions of broken beat and rabbit hole prog-acid on this latest from Speed Dial. After a slight hiatus, the imprint is back, and is here joined by a slew of underground talent, coming together as one for a combinative set of 'Rhythm Rituals'. Surprisingly for a set of rituals, the three A-siders proffer three wordless mudras (as opposed to incanted mantras), with Mtty's 'Ahhhhh!cid' laying down a two-stepping breaks dust-storm replete with bells, ufologic risers and ectoplasmic synth flatulences; and Pocket's 'Smoke Signals' imparting the ways of long-distance telegraphy by way of a deeper four-wheel drive, with indo-Australian chants sampled therein. B-side helmers DJ Relax and Local Support offer two contradistinct Balearic beats, the former track veering more chuggy and auto-suspensive, in contrast to the latter's emotive, e-organic builds and vox gates.
Review: In its formative years in the first half of the 1990s, IRMA offshoot Calypso Records released some of the finest Italo-house records of the period. By the middle of the decade, though, the imprint was dipping its toe into darker and infinitely more druggy territory. DJ Nabile's 'Moonlight', featuring some chanted and spoken lead vocals byLucio Baradel, played a key role in this transformation. All these years on, it still sounds fresh. Side A boasts two of the earliest versions: the mind-mangling 'Alfa Mix', where dark and moody, Tenaglia-esque motifs ride an extra-percussive tribal house groove, and the more rolling 'Gamma Mix'. Over on the flip you'll find two previously unreleased takes - a throbbing, heavy and warped bass-propelled Alex Neri revision, and Alessio Colina's stomping and hallucinatory 'Tribe Acid Remix'.
Review: As you can tell from the title of this ongoing series, System Error likes to serve up only 100% party bombs. The third volume lives up to that once more with Parchi Pubblici kicking off with the acid-laced bumps of 'Perfect Vacuum2Disco' complete with zippy synths and snappy percussion. Lanzieri's 'Twisted Tango' hits just as hard with an electro-techno fusion that rides on psychedelic synth loops with jacked-up drums. Raku's 'Valle Dei Templi' has a more pared-back sound with a menacing and rubbery low end and creeping synths that keep you on edge. Phill Prince's 'Indigo' shuts down with something tripped out and retro with 90s techno vibes colouring the drums.
Review: The debut album from Ukrainian collective Noneside unites musicians and visual artists under the inspiring words of poet Taras Shevchenko, who said 'Make love, o dark-browed ones.' Framed by a painting from contemporary artist Iryna Maksymova, the music explores the trance and tech house that is destined to bring souls together on the dancefloor this summer and beyond. Shjva opens with fresh and mashed bass and sleek trance pads that are subtle but effective. Lostlojic layer sup deep, bubbly techno drums and bass with an angelic vocal tone and Saturated Color's 'Trancia' is a speedy, scuffed-up tech groove for late-night cruising. Peshka and Yevhenii Loi offer two more future-facing trance-techno fusions packed with feels.
Review: We're told that this EP is an archive of encoded human memories made to "survive the AI's purge." Anyone listening back to this years from now will be sure we had a good old time, because it's slick and charming, minimal and tech with real soul. Sweater's 'Front Street Strut' is a kaleidoscope of colours, Reyer's- 'Martian Law' brings some stripped-back but bubbly and rubbery funk and Poten's 'Coming Or Going' layers up whirring machines and pixelated synth sequences into something zoned out and warm. Lukey shuts down with the snappy broken beat tech of 'Spectrum' with its bright, singing leads.
Review: After a three-year break, Swedish producer and DJ La Fleur is back with 'Vasen', her long-awaited debut album. The pandemic led her to pause her music career as she returned to Sweden from Berlin, putting her Pharmaceutical Science degree to work in Stockholm's hospitals. This significant life shift followed a decade of running her Power Plant label and accomplishments like being named Mixmag's breakthrough artist, releasing an Essential Mix, and performing at major festivals like Creamfields and Awakenings. During this hiatus, La Fleur reflected on her artistic direction through her challenging time. Originally planning to release her debut in 2020, she instead waited until the timing felt right. 'Vasen' is a sleek, emotionally resonant exploration of house and techno, a collection born from both personal and musical growth that finally feels ready for the world to experience.
Review: Leftifled's Leftism remains one of the great dance music albums of all time. It came back in the 90s when no one was making full lengths that really made the most of the format: This is not a collection of club tracks but a musical voyage through dub, techno, bass and house that is meticulously designed and all-consuming once you turn it up nice and loud. In fact, it is best enjoyed in one sitting rather than in the modern playlist fashion with tracks broken up because that way the pressure is built and released, the moods ebb and flow and the music really makes an indelible impact.
Review: Leipzig-based record label Riotvan indulges Llewellyn here with a superb full length on limited edition vinyl. The prolific local producer known to his mum as Martin Enke deal in deep house but not as you know it: his sodas come with all sorts of smart drum patterns and retro synth sounds that make them all the more unique. 'On The Edge' is fine example with its suspenseful pads and busy analogue drums, while '1998' has as synths-pop feel and plenty of lush cosmic arps unfolding over the hurried drums. 'Fractured Memories' is another synth laced house jam with squelchy bass that is sure to being some good times.
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