AUX 88 Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Earlier this week the label found a box of Aux 88's 2009 set Mad Scientist in a dusty corner of their warehouse. This was a stroke of luck because, quite simply, it's brilliant. At the time of recording, it was the legendary Detroit electro act's sixth studio set and marked their comeback from a four-year hiatus. Rugged, robust, sci-fi seeped and unashamedly Afro-futurist, the set combines occasional ambient interludes and funk-fuelled numbers with the kind of hard, aggressive, acid-fired electro hedonism that the Motor City outfit has always done so well. As a result, it should be considered one of their strongest albums, as well as an essential collection of throbbing, strobe-lit dancefloor cuts.

Review: As any electro-head will well know, AUX88 is one of the original Detroit pioneers. Back in 2008 he dropped this EP and now leading Dutch electro titans Creme Organization's Classics offshoot remasters it and reissues it complete with a bonus joint from DJ K1. 'Electro Muzik' is fierce from the off, with vocoded vocals and squelchy bass ripping up raw analogue drums. 'Interstellar Funk' is pure and perfect body music, with super-funk in the drum and bass combo and smeared sci-fi chords bringing all the feels. 'Alia Life Form' is another dark interplanetary trip then that DJ K1 tune 'Just Don't understand' locks you in a hall of reflective melodies and restless bass.

Review: One of the genre's funkiest groups, continuing where Cybotron, Model 500 and Drexciya left off and heading to a style all of their own, Aux 88 aka Tom Tom (Tommy Hamilton) and Keith Tucker (DJ name DJ K1) give two tracks from their classic 2009 album Mad Scientist an inaugural outing on vinyl, getting electro fans everywhere dribbling with instant Pavlovian desire in the process, no doubt. 'Voice Modulation' is slower, heavier and steadier, built around a shuddering b-line that anyone with a pulse will find hard to resist. 'Mad Scientist' the track, meanwhile, is faster and, with its vocoder-ed vocal delivery from Tucker, gives a good flavour of what makes the Michigan pair a vital live act as well as a legendary studio prospect.