BLUETRAIN Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Bluetrain is one of our favourite artists in any genre and a real dub techno don. He often drops his own work on his own label but here steps up to Kontakt with a couple of killer jams. First up he serves up a special edition dub of 'Frozen Rose' that is a signature sound for him: ice cold percussion and rolling east with watery, liquid, rippling chords disappearing off to an infinite horizon while shimmering vocals add extra layers of depth. Flip it over and you will find 'Precious Times' (feat Prince Morella - Roots version) which is another brilliantly heady back room sound.

Review: Lempuyang's third offering is an outstanding split release between Steve O'Sullivan & Hydergine, label bosses for Mosaic/Bluetrain & Ranges. In 'Binary Riddim' Steve delivers a two-part dub track spanning >13 minutes, seriously heavy in the low end; melancholy strings in the first half, progressing to outright menacing chord stabs in the latter. A versatile track offering something for both warm-up and the dancefloor. Complimenting on the flip are 'Mystic Light' and 'Lunar Eclipse' from Hydergine. Deep, dubby atmospherics meander over a weighty 909 kick on B1. Subtle minimalism a la Terrence Dixon, pitched down on B2. Essential release!

Review: Keeping firm to the now well-trodden "Scientist meets" formula, this release through Convent once again hears Joseph Alpern aka. J Gabriel absorb the dubbing wiles of Hopeton Brown into his own minimal techno laboratory. 'Fly Again' follows up the first Scientist collab 'Too Far Gone' from 2023 with yet another red snapper, and comes backed by heated reworks from Steve O'Sullivan and Bluetrain, each of whose generosities know few bounds (they offer two and three remixes each!).

Review: Dub techno don Steve O'Sullivan's Mosaic label is back with a new dubs series and vol 1 kicks things off with a real doozy on lovely red wax. The boss himself offers up a Bluetrain special edition dub of Hidden Sequence's 'Synapse' which is all icy lines and liquid rhythms which make you think of some frozen lake on a misty morning. Sub Basics (Temple of Sound, Lion Charge Records) opens up with a fresh dub laden track with rippling chords, tons of echo and rolling drums on 'Quarters.' Both are timeless dub outings, as you would expect from this label.