PATRIK SJEREN Schallplatten & CDs

Review: FXHE maintain their monthly heat emission for 2012, with label boss Omar S displaying all aspects of his production prowess (as well as skill for a humorous track titles) across four productions - one of which features the button bashing assistance of one Patrik Sjeren. There's something icily brilliant about the restrained "Income Tax Refund Dance" melding a dark piano riff with snapping 808 kicks and rippling lo fi rhythms which only further justifies the title of Omar S's killer 2011 LP. It's complemented by the far rowdier box jam "The White Castle Song" which jackhammers a simple yet highly flammable key riff over low rent percussion for FXHE's most potent ode to the perfect warehouse moment since the all conquering "Here's Your Trance..." Given the lack of additional info, we presume the Patrik Sjeren that produces the B Side "Untitled" track is the same Patrik Sjeren that released in the mid 90s under a multiplicity of aliases, and his contribution is every bit as incendiary as the track preceding it, whilst "3c 273" sees Omar S slip into pensive utopian electro mode with aplomb.

Review: Swedish acid techno legend Patrik Sjern has experienced something of a career revival since an unexpected production credit on a FXHE 12" last year; this EP for the newly minted Virgo Rising label is his second of 2013 following that excellent 12" for the Fit operation out of Detroit. Not bad for someone who's been seemingly absent since a '95 12" on the Fuck Pig Recordings label. The lead cut packs similar heat to Steve Poindexter's seminal "Work That Mutha Fucker" with its hyperactive '90s-styled acid synths weaving in between hardcore Adam X industrial strength sonics. Sharing the A-side is the cut up, percussive and broken ghetto techno of "Mannitj", while Adam Rivet's remix to the title track slows in BPM, opting for something much lighter in comparison, it's equally jacking, with uplifting synths stopping the EP from becoming too much of a militant monster.

Review: Of all the delightful curveballs FXHE pulled last year, coaxing 90s Swedish techno producer Patrik Sjeren out of hiding to contribute to a Omar S release was the least expected. Detroit obviously favours the producer as Aaron Siegel's FIT Sounds operation now presents a full eponymously titled EP of new Sjeren material. The Swede's dalliance with Omar S on that 998 12" last year feels like it's inspired him as the four tracks here sound as diverse as a FXHE release and are held together cohesively by Sjeren's veteran production touch. Lead track "Lowdown" throws around a fractured female vocal edit and playfully shining keys over a smooth yet bumping house groove whilst the driving "Trashed Funk" adopts a similar approach but feels a whole lot dirtier. Flip over and Patrik switches the emphasis to techno, heading down the analogue wormhole on "Code Black" and pulling us sideways with the hypnotic warblings of "Lumena".