CALAGAD 13 Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Calagad 13 made a good impression with his first release, Cyberphunk, and now builds on that with a follow-up that goes long. As such, he broadens his palette with plenty of fresh twists and turns during an enthralling electro-exploration. 'LJDA: El Ultimo Baile' opens in brash fashion with a chaotic collision of drums and synths that carries on through the intergalactic warfare of 'Gamma'. Fizzy electronics marble the stuttering drum patterns of 'Actions Speak Louder Than Screams' while 'Cyanocrylate' has a more cinematic outlook and dubby undercarriage. This is full-on electro for main room action.

Review: This adventurous Bio-Synthetic EP is a dystopian exploration of the intersection between biology and technology that includes two original tracks alongside remixes by CREASOL, C-SYSTEM, 5ZYL, and EC13. 'Biomantics' delves into a sci-fi world where memory and energy are biotechnologically manipulated, while 'Synthogerm' envisions hybrid beings born of synthetic and biological fusion. The remixes expand the EP's themes with Creasol adding 80s synthwave, EC13 bringing an electro-techno edge, 5ZYL infusing electro and breaks, and C-SYSTEM delivering techno vibes.

Review: It was only a matter of time until a pun so ingenious as 'Cyberphunk' would be coined. Mixing the literary term cyberpunk with the drum & bass microgenre term, neurofunk, lends this EP title an unlikely treble entendre: 'neuro' also shares a close affinity with cyberpunk, the aesthetic movement - William Gibson's Neuromancer, a pioneering novel in the noir cyberpunk genre, springing to mind as the obvious case in point. Whilst producer Galagad 13 may or may not have consciously held these influences in mind as he set about making this latest EP, they certainly do persist in the collective psyche of which they form a part. Seemingly as ever of music with the word 'neuro' referenced in the title, the likes of 'Blast Off', 'Loud Enough' and 'Chaos' bring a distinctly crisp, hi-tech sound design approach to the table, with many VIPs - variations in production - of prior works also heard throughout. The most unnerving moment is the many voices, both robotic and human, heard on 'Time Runs Out', which brings a rapid, velocitous hollowness to a rapidfire set of megaraucous basses and leads.

Review: Granada's Cosmic Tribe know the definition of "electro" in its broadest sense; their new Xtrictly Electro comp keeps the dystopian sound endemic to the genre's most present incarnation, but refuses to restrict itself to one tempo: the standard 130-ish that has sadly infected the otherwise genius genre as a necessity. An international splinter cell of spec-ops and mercenaries are recalled from retirement here, as we hear Calagad 13, Nachtwald, EC13 and many more mechanoid ilk lay down all manner of slick utilities, making up a morbid multi-tool. 5zyl brings further lasery Lithuanian steeze on 'Vilnius Bass', whilst Spectrums Data Forces betrays the existence of a sinister corporate entity, whose business model works towards the object of instilling 'Darkness In My Head' through giant, killer mozzy basses.