ANDREA Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Andrea opened this sophomore album Due In Color mostly during 2020 and 2021. You may reverb that those times were slightly crazy due to the small matter of a pandemic which is what lead the artists to explore a world of more hazy and experimental jazz sounds. That in turn inspired him to use more acoustic sounds in his music and so this is a record that turns its back on dark and booming club spaces and heads instead towards blooming fields of expansive downtempo, textured ambient and dreamy soundscapes.

Review: Ilian Tape staple Andrea returns to the imprint, marking a big one for the Munich-based operation with a massive album by Skee Mask also this week. As always, UK and rave influences are abundant throughout the talented producer's work and this one is no exception. This EP is called Sktch and features the cavernous, glacial and downright knackered dub techno of 'Sarec', followed by the sinister subterranean breaks of Auxl and the meditative deep dubstep frequencies of 'Kjones' which sees him delve deeper into off kilter territory.

Review: Turin techno stalwart Andrea has been serving up slabs of goodness on Ilian Tape since way back in 2012, though "Ritorno" is remarkably his very first full-length excursion. The 12 track set is far more varied than his fine club-focused singles, with the Italian variously turning his hand to swelling, Global Communication style ambient techno ("Attimo"), ultra-deep breakbeat dreaminess ("SKLYN"), melodious, jungle-influenced IDM ("LS September"), bassbin rattlers ("TrackQY", the skittish brilliance of moody roller "Reinf"), dreamy soundscape techno ("LG_Amb"), angular fusions of bass music and dark Italo-techno ("Drumzzy") and picturesque ambient dub slow jams ("Twin Forests").

Review: Sprightly Galvanizing Bud Spencer Hits.

Review: New Andrea material on Ilian Tape - incoming! The mysterious techno maverick returns to the German imprint with four new slices of sci-fi funk, packaged in the artist's usual blend of synth experimentation and 90s d&b flavours. "20th November" is a booming, piledriver of a tune suited to the world's biggest dancefloors, while "Layer" breaks the groove down with heavier injections of breaks and growling bass tones. The B-side kicks off with "Radiant", a beat-heavy, dubwise joint that reminds us of Shed's Head High material, leaving "Remade" to stutter in space with its off-kilter beats and glitchy percussion swings. Masterful.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing on outer sleeve, also the record has light surface marks/scratches, but otherwise in excellent working condition***


New Andrea material on Ilian Tape - incoming! The mysterious techno maverick returns to the German imprint with four new slices of sci-fi funk, packaged in the artist's usual blend of synth experimentation and 90s d&b flavours. "20th November" is a booming, piledriver of a tune suited to the world's biggest dancefloors, while "Layer" breaks the groove down with heavier injections of breaks and growling bass tones. The B-side kicks off with "Radiant", a beat-heavy, dubwise joint that reminds us of Shed's Head High material, leaving "Remade" to stutter in space with its off-kilter beats and glitchy percussion swings. Masterful.

Review: Italy's Andrea is now a trusted member of the Ilian Tape collective, having only released for the German label thus far. But, why would he go elsewhere? These guys are on fire, and releasing some of the most interesting shades of industrial 4/4 these days. This is his fourth EP for the throng, and "Floating" starts off with a beatless, wide-eyed landscape of soft pads to introduce the twisted, shifting, break-driven tech of "Timed". "Queue A", on the flip of the disc, is a driving pile of rusty kick drums and oceanic pads that head into the deeper end of the techno sphere, while "22:22" goes all-out on the jungle patterns with its broken groove that recalls the likes of LTJ Bukem or Dego at their more pacy moods. A killer of an EP!

Review: Over the last few years, Dario and Marco Zenker's excellent Ilian Tape has given us some of the purest and most bold-faced techno around. The label has built up a solid reputation as being all about the music, minus the hype, and Italy's Andrea has been there at the forefront of their growth. The Turin-based producer returns to the moody imprint with his third EP for the label, led by the thumping, hypnotic swings of "Outlines" - containing possibly the best kick drums we've heard since Head High - and the break-ridden journey that is "Rainbow", on the A-side. The flip sees "Machine" enter a no nonsense mode, where a fast percussive groove locks tightly within a sea of intergalactic pads, and dubby, broken pastures on "Choral". All in all, this is a fine selection of wild, dare-to-be-different dancefloor tracks that span many styles and influences. Tip!

Review: Andrea finds himself going from strength to strength with each release he delivers Ilian Tape and "Clouds" is definitely the hit track on this record. Just listen to that arpeggio and those drums. "Drain" is also another great production which you can imagine DJs like Truncate and Ben Sims through to Marcel Dettmann and the Lobster Theremin crew championing, while over on the B1 there's "Void", a smooth and deep, syncopated techno cut. Lastly, the frenetic drums in "Barnard 68" hold down a tight groove while grimey blobs of bleeps pop and burst like cooling molten lava.

Review: Ilian Tape's milestone 20th release sees a similar combination to what we saw on Project Squared's not-so milestone, but landmark, 7th release. Basically Stenny and Andrea have hooked up in the same way Tom Diciccio and Kowton did to produce a self-and-collaboratively produced Untitled EP. A1 is Stenny & Andrea together; a gritty and soulful combination of house, techno and tinges of electro. The inner A sees Andrea go solo and produce something as rough and spacious as what you could expect from Kyle Hall, while over on the B-side, Andrea fills in the gaps with extra bass, drums and stressed synths. Stenny wraps up the EP with the quick BPMs and crushed sonics of the aptly "How The Story Ends".