Andrea Bertoli & DJ Bogdan - "Extremely On Line" (5:36)
Review: Exxtra Beats Records backs up its commitment to pushing things on with a new four-tracker of minimal and tech cuts. Edo Ecker's 'Extraluxxo' has warped synth lines that encourage introspection while the snappy beats make you move physically. Leff's 'Future Problems' has hazy and positive arpeggios that toot away over sustained chords and move at a nice inviting pace. Little Sea offers the snappy drums and gurgling acid lines of 'How I Wanna Feel' while Andrea Bertoli & DJ Bogdan's 'Extremely On Line' is a snappy and upbeat cosmic tech cut with wonky lines adding the charm.
Review: Clarifying its vision ahead of its ambient and en-tranced origins laid out earlier this year, Sense Code's third release solidifies the Northern Italian label as a hub for introspective and refined electronic music. Following last winter's split EP, 'Sense 003' embraces a multi-artist approach, all the while further establishing Italy's baton-bearing role in deep techno. Formant Value's dynamic downtempo standout 'Deep Core' unfolds with ingenious, perpetual motive basslines set against penumbral textures, while crisper percussive nuances unfold across Biocym's dark forestation on the B-side, 'Forest Blackout'.
Review: Lakker's debut release on Love Love Records happens to be the imprint's first vinyl and it melds shrill melancholy with hypnotic techno grooves. It's both captivating enough for home listening, but also primed and ready for DJ deployment. Following their work on Blueprint and Killekill, Lakker retains their intricate sound while intensifying their focus on the grooves with 'LF9' evolving from chaotic rhythms into a powerhouse of clattering percussion, accompanied by haunting pads. On the B-side, 'Deathmask' offers ambient melodies and precise skittering drums that create fragile beauty. 'PRESET Numb' plunges into cold, clinical rhythms with eerie synths, marking a striking new chapter for Lakker.
Review: LDS - or German producer Luca Daniel Schwarz - builds techno like a machine whisperer, programming intricate rhythmic structures that breathe with an uncanny human feel. Stadion Progg is a showcase of his algorithmic finesse, where probability-based sequencing drives hypnotic, shifting grooves that evolve in real-time. 'Pow' and 'Diff, Block Mix' weave dubby textures into pulsating frameworks, while 'Zipp Prompt' jolts forward with clipped vocal stabs and needle-sharp synths. The title track stretches into grand, propulsive territory, amplified further in Jean Redondo's remix, which adds extra layers of kinetic energy. The LDS process is equal parts engineering and intuitionimeticulously constructed yet alive with spontaneity. Stadion Progg is proof that machine-driven music doesn't have to feel mechanical; in the right hands, it moves with instinct.
Review: Fierce electronic mavericks LNS & DJ Sotofett deliver a thrilling two-tracker that's built for serious warehouse action. The A-side is a teeth-clenching, bassline-driven beast that is raw, gritty and euphoric with static rhythms, stabbing synths and a halftime arpeggio breakdown that erupts into dreamy pads. On the flip, DJ Sotofett's 'Buzzy Breaker' starts minimal with just kicks, stabs and dubs, then morphs into a breakbeat monster with polyrhythmic tension and soaring pads underpinned with jungle-inflected drops. Both tracks harness deep, hypnotic repetition while sounding bold and system-ready so make for techno with real weight but also edge and purpose that results in high class DJ and dancer tackle.
Review: The Young Hegelians once reparteed that Manchester was the geographical birthing place of the Industrial Revolution. Mysterious Manc monarch Louis The 4th nods at this fact with an express delivery straight from the millworks; even in the most brutal of working conditions, one might find love. 'She's From Manchester' evokes plumes of ashen smog as the waste byproduct of an excessively productive, surplus labourious love affair. Foundries founder, and railway workshops curdle under the weight of mechanical process, as the fast propulsions of 'Sub Genetic' and 'Stuck In The Void' quell the soul as much as they do exhaust the body, outstripping and going beyond the injurious demand to work overtime. 'Suffering Experience' closes on a dulled but continual note, as wan reverberations resound in a now abandoned factory.
Review: Nantes-based producers Luche and Laton Rave, both rooted in the free-party scene and affiliated with Esprits Sauvages and Chat Manik, channel their underground origins into this latest Acid Avengers split EP. Across four tracks, they tap into the raw, hypnotic energy of early acid techno, weaving together influences from tribe, doom, and Belgium's old-school rave scene. 'Pain Bird' and 'Some Days Don't Exist' showcase Luche's knack for atmospheric intensity, while Laton Rave's 'Celestial Bloom' and 'Hornest Revenge' push deeper into shadowy, propulsive territory. A dark, electrifying release built for all-night sessions under open skies.
Review: Motion Potion Records returns with a second release from the Australian label founded by Jono Xidias, Mehmet Alpdogan, and ritmiq. This collaborative project sees ritmiq teaming up with Lewba and Louis for the 'Signals' EP, a heady exploration of spacey club sounds. Standout track 'Transmitting From Space' (with Lewba) glides through cosmic synths, subtle breaks and hypnotic melodies so is sure to become a certified late-night burner. On the A-side, Louis and ritmiq deliver 'Interplanetary Prisoner' and 'Parallax,' which are both rich in mood and groove. ritmiq's solo cut 'Nebularae' closes the EP with high energy and dancefloor heat. Signals is a stylish, cosmic journey worth taking.
Ramon Tapia - "Fear" (Dynamic Forces remix) (5:05)
Review: Netherlands techno titan Planet Rhythm goes full percussive gas giant on their latest V/A, 'Friction', a motorsport motivator full of accelerometric elan - one of several V/As to grace their revving catalogue in recent times. Ramon Tapia leads the motorcade with 'Friction', a stabbing aerator full of overtop claps and rims, while Louis Lp's 'Radioactivity' unsettles with its seething high ringing and affectively isolated chord-stab-melody. Deas' 'Hard Dreams' nods to the real, unshakeably material core of dreams, with its rancorous full-tone acids, while Ramon Topia closes with 'Fear', a restless, chord-throttling, hard trancey, speed demonic rally racer.
Review: Pierre Bastien has a strong team record of interesting collaborations. He's done stuff with fashion designer and scent mogul Issey Miyake, legendary singer and composer Robert Wyatt, and the enigmatic electronic producer and reality-shifter Aphex Twin, releasing no less than three full length records on the latter's landmark label, Rephlex. "A mad musical scientist", the Guardian once quipped, and C(or)N(e)T doesn't break from that tradition. Instead, it offers some of the most abstract and strange, beguiling and fascinating sounds we've heard in a while. At least a few of which have been made on self-made, bespoke pieces of equipment. At a push, you might label this jazz, for the simple fact it's so free-form and avant-garde. Realistically, though, it sounds like the noises that might happen if someone attempted to tame a pack of rogue electronic hubbub-chatting things in a vaguely structured way. "Thank fuck for Pierre Bastien", the Quietus once said. We happily concur.
Falling Down (feat Totally Enormous Estinct Dinosaurs & A-Trak) (3:49)
Y Don't U (8:11)
Alive (feat Bloom Twins) (3:31)
R U Dreaming? (feat Mathew Jonson) (7:44)
So Low (feat Zoe Kypri) (5:56)
La Hija De Juan Simon (feat Mestiza) (7:02)
Warrior Dance (feat Jojo Abot) (9:53)
Sunrise Generation (feat Fink) (7:27)
Force (feat Jojo Abot) (4:29)
Review: Damian Lazarus's fifth studio album is another left-of-centre exploration of house and tech, often with a spiritual twist and hints of voodoo magic. It is heavy on collaborations and finds the Crosstown Rebels boss hooking up with the likes of Hem Cooke for the spine-tingling downtempo opener 'Searchin' while 'R U Dreaming? (feat Mathew Jonson)' is a more deep and bubbly late-night tech sound. 'La Hija De Juan Simon (feat Mestiza)' is laden with percussion and warped bass, and 'Sunrise Generation (feat Fink)' is a deft and progressive melodic roller that is sure to be huge this summer and beyond.
Review: Stockholm sound architect Cari Lekebusch stops over on Lady Tazz's Mind Medizin with a four-sided EP of sleek, dark metallic, carbon-plated techno. Lekebusch's early outings on Drumcode and Planet Rhythm make for some of the best possible CV boosts you could add to such a document, and now 'XYZ' forms as the three-character update. Best among the tracks on this soon to be episodic EP series are 'Freakout' and 'Heritage', which are the two most abrasive onslaughts. Strategic sorties of sound, the tunes are placed in impeccable contrast to the relatively moving quellers 'Ninguno Es Uno' and 'Mind And Matter'.
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