Back catalogue: Electro

Review: Fresh French label Attention Spin! flaunts the talents of the Parisian underground in its freshest incarnation. Currently turning their focus towards cosmic house music with hints of Italo and new beat, as well as aiming to prioritize dance music that uses vocals as an instrument, their first release here is a four-track EP from rising star DJ Dawidu. The likes of 'Une Nuit A Paris' and 'Mad Game' detail the wilder, undergrounder ends of after-hours nightlife in the Capitale de la Mode. 'Half On A Room', meanwhile, spans dub- and hip-house, while 'Lil'Drama' is the most vocal and catwalk-worthy of the bunch.

Review: Munir Nadir has been breaking through in the past few years with essential releases on 4Plae, Nuts On Board and Outcast Planet. Now he's minting a new label called Odd One Tape out of Italy, and bringing his playful, synth-rich sound with him. There's a nod to Italo and 80s electro in the sampling and throbbing, analogue groove of 'Rhythmistic', while 'Bass Jam' tips more towards the early 00s electro house boom a la Tiefschwarz and Tomas Andersson. 'Urban Whispers' has a more jackin' flavour with some low down sub freakiness thrown in for good measure, and 'Binary Technologies' brings the heat on the B2 with a powerful arpeggio and hard-slapping drums.

Review: Barcelona's 22Recordings mark a curveball with Nativo's new release, moving away from their trademark darkness and ever further into playful and melodic, if still diatonic, sounds. Patently led by the drum machine and the step sequencer, the rising producer Nativo flexes their chops across five tracks of varying speed and tenacity, all of which cross between an intuitive pastiche of dark Italo on one spectral end, and pure outsider house music on the other. The mood is gruff but clownish; it's as if your local fairground had been overtaken by vampire bats and bloodthirsty goths. Closer 'Onivia' is the only moment of respite, bringing an impressive substrate of arpeggios to an overall final-shebang feel.

Review: Platform 23 platform the Italian 80s avant-garde and anarcho music scene on a fresh 12" compilation, kicking things off with an unreleased cover, by the band Nengue, of Los NiNos Del Parque's electro-pop-wave track 'African Beat'. Amid the political unrest of the Anni di Piombo (Years of Lead) - which saw the autonomist Marxist movement, and backdrops of government-mafiosi collusion, labour strife, and terrorist splinter group formations - underground artists found themselves transducing the radical energy of the time into rapidfire releases, put out through DIY networks. Rome's Nengue embodied this, blending industrial, jazz, and futurist influences. Initially, the release aimed to highlight their Kraftwerk-inspired African Beat, but the discovery of their cover of 'Los NiNos Del Parque', described as "powerful anarchic nonsense", became the focal point. Berlin's Bionda e Lupo contribute a remix, with Sneaker's sharp production and Sano's vocals adding a fresh dimension. Andrei Rusu (Khidja) delivers a deep, dub-heavy reinterpretation of African Beat, perfect for modern dancefloors while honoring its raw origins. A vital document of Italy's underground electronic resistance.

Review: We imagine "Neonicle" - judging by the affixes of the name alone - would likely mean something like "new instance of a half-biological, half-mechanical monstrosity, capable of lamellic self-regeneration when mortally wounded". Think of Terminator, grey goo or The Thing. Whatever idea the producer behind this alias had in mind when coming up with the name, you cannot deny that this nominal vagary still conjures up a certain set of (grisly, technological) images when paired with such solemn, fatal electro sounds. Machinic desecrations and vocal litanies abound on A-siders 'Kagome' featuring Julia Marks and 'Dirty Sanchez', both of which portray a tarred, oiled and feathered sound, as of an unstoppable automaton setting about a new reformative mission. Then 'Train' and 'New Culture' go on to utterly usurp and displace the old narrative, with the hip cyber electro of the latter - modifying the laryngeal emissions of vocalist Dyroplane - extending this robotic coup d'etat to lay down a new, sinister futural law.

Review: A rich exploration of minimal and tech house sounds with a nostalgic twist. The EP kicks off with 'Istinto,' blending futuristic techno with elements of house music and early 90s bass vibes, all wrapped in spacey sounds that evoke a sense of cosmic adventure. Next, 'Aura' delivers a stomping, darker beat designed to capture attention and drive energy on the dancefloor. Side-2 features 'Potenza' which channels raw techno reminiscent of 1991, incorporating trance elements for a nostalgic feel. The track's energetic vibe and vintage touches make it great for old skool sets. 'Essenza' ends the EP with a great groove and atmospheric feel good melody. A devastating blend of beauty and brawn. Dynamic, engaging tracks that will resonate with techno enthusiasts.

Review: NYC experimental producer Neud Photo is up next on EYA's Lonewolf series with a killer five-tracker, 'Echoes'. The EP brilliantly oscillates between various inspirations with a strong machine sound, making for an incredible and haunting journey into electro, new beat, minimal and techno. Beginning with a bang on the compellingly haunting, riveting 'Replica', we hear myriad cowbells, FM "ow"s, and future-gothic vocal samples abound; the track harks deeper dancefloor explorations to come, from the entrancing call-and-response, push-pull structure of 'Lotus Eaters' to the brittler, rippling, more skeletal coldwave closer 'Flash Pressure'.

Review: Queensland's DJ Whipr Snipr joins forces with Brazilian artist Norus for this superb new EP, Gravitational Attraction, on the also brilliant Nerang Recordings. Since 2016, Whipr Snipr has helmed the label and steered it through plenty of innovative sounds as he does again here, this time with Norus who brings his expertise from Gestalt Records. This collaboration marks their second EP and it is a clean and crisp blend of emotive breaks, electro, techno, and serene synth sounds. 'If I Could Fake One Emotion' is our favourite for its thrilling mix of deft jungle breakbeats and sombre piano chords.

Review: Following outings on Eudominia and Who is Paula, Carsten Fluck and Lucas Lejeune bring their Not Even Noticed project back to Craigie Knowes. Like their last EP on the reliable Scottish imprint, Beneath The Surface has both eyes firmly fixed on peak-time dancefloors. Our pick of a very strong bunch is opener 'Hidden Ground', where razor-sharp TB-303 acid lines, dreamy chords and misty-eyed female vocal snippets ride a rolling techno groove. The quality level never dips throughout, with the warm but spacey tech-house hypnotism of 'Whopper', the deep acid house hedonism of 'Hibiscus' and the electro-fired supernova that is 'Under Your Radar' (whose acid lines are wonderfully insatiable) all hitting the spot.

Review: Four dreamy exoplanetary electro cuts from Nullptr. With a melancholic orbit, the mood of this EP is wistful and lachrymose, as if the sonar-HUD on our spaceship's cockpit is over-bleeping at rapidfire; we've flown too close to the celestial object we sought, and have nothing left to do but bask in the bittersweet antagonism of space-faring victory and revelatory disappointment. 'Exolon' portrays some leftover remnant of trekkers' curiosity, suggesting we're still driven - motivated - on our quest to grasp said strange attractor. Yet 'Sytasol' moves sadder, locking in a grooved stasis through a mixture of fidgeting melodic acid and clappage. 'Alpha Grid' and 'Gekko7' hear spirits revive for a no less dreamy revolution about the sun.

Review: If the Spanish know how to keep one thing alive, it's community; in the spirit of this truth, Xuntaza, the name of Fanzine's latest EP series, is a Galician word that means 'the action of gathering of a group of people to discuss an issue or have fun'. Not overthought beyond the simple xuntanzing of its brightest artists, Vol. 1 in the series functions as a fantastic meeting point between dub techno, tech house, and experimental electro.

Review: The Paris based Velvet Spirit releases its fourth EP. After appearing on their third releases, the label had to have a release specifically dedicated to Numero 6 solely. If you are looking for something different then check out the head turning 'Midnight Treat'. Electro like you may have not heard. The Indy Jane mix of 'Are You Sure' is particularly nasty (in all the right ways), while on the second side, 'Vicious' is a clever and unique take on tech house that injects a bit of electro in it while 'Bloodline' is the smoothest cut of the lot. Quite eerie in a new wave way, you have to hand it to Numero 6 for making something quite unique.