Back in stock: Electro

Review: Romanian electro agent Andrew Red Hand has been spotted delivering the heat to respected outposts like M>O>S, Detroit Underground and Chiwax, and now he's setting off with Rotterdam Electronix for a night drive through future cityscapes. It's electro through and through, driven by snappy 808 beats and analogue monosynths, but there's something particularly charming about the minimal wave quality to Red Hand's sound. That contrasts with The Exaltics, who delivers a gutsy re-version of 'In The Cemetery' which will keep you up at night for all the right reasons.

Review: The next entry in Tresydos' tenth release series features another four sterling slices of contemporary minimal tech house trance fusions, leading in with B Love's 'Video Soul', which samples a television interview with legendary talk box funker Roger Troutman. Arnic follows that with the brooding synth construction of 'I'm Into You' before Neik's 'New Age' cools things down with a rolling, warm-up-friendly groove. Atree's 'Augmented Reality' is a spikier affair to end the record on an uptempo note, maintaining the playful energy which binds the whole record together in a burst of catchy baselines and cheeky samples.

Review: B12's 1993 debut album, Electro-Soma, has long been regarded as one of intelligent dance music's "must-have releases". Offering a decidedly intergalactic blend of otherworldly techno, ambient and deep space electronica, it remains a brilliant piece of work. Here, Warp Records give it the reissue treatment, packaging the peerless original album with a second disc of early B12 rarities and hard-to-find cuts recorded during the same period. There's naturally plenty to admire on this bonus disc, from the shimmering electro bustle of "Transient Pathways" and Motor City futurism of "Debris", to the intoxicating ambient brilliance of "Go With The Hiss". That this material is every bit as good as the tracks included on Electro-Soma is testament to the (then) duo's rarely matched brilliance.

Review: White Fetish X, the latest release by enigmatic collaboration between Dataintrang and Luke Eargoggle on the Italian label Pareidolia Recordings, is a hypnotic and eerie exploration of the dark side of electronica. The album's six tracks veritably pulsate with a sinister energy, blending elements of EBM, electro clash, and sci-fi to create a truly unique and unsettling soundscape. 'Starting Shift' sets the tone with its menacing EBM stomp and early techno sound, while 'Mann Gegen Mann' ups the ante with its sinister electroclash beats. The title track is a hypnotic and eerie soundscape, with its sci-fi synths and demented, horror-like atmosphere. 'Radiowelt' is a heavy electro track with a pulsing body funk rhythm, while 'Audio Warrior' closes the album out with its dark and evil-sounding but funky bassline. Overall, White Fetish X is a challenging and rewarding listen for fans of dark electronica. Its sinister soundscapes and hypnotic rhythms create a truly unique and unsettling experience that will stay with you long after the final track has faded out.

Review: Egyptian Lover is celebrating 40 years of releasing music in 2024 AMD 'Emotions' is the first track from his upcoming album titled 1987. It's a classic 80s inspired west-coast electro style cut - a style that Egyptian Lover is pretty much responsible for creating, harking back to his classic material like 'Egypt, Egypt' and 'I Need a Freak', his use of the Roland 808 along with Kraftwerk and hip-hop influences making the artist synonymous with the origin of the electro sound. Also included is 'Emotional' which is the instrumental version of the title track. For the B-Side 'Dirty Passionate Yell' is featured again, along with the instrumental version (Dirty Music). Grab your cardboard and meet us on the dancefloor.

Review: Canadian electro-industrialists FLA really do understand what consistency is. Having put out 12 official studio albums since their inception in 1986, they have remained at the top of their niche game since first landing on the scene, making tracks with this dystopian dancefloor energy, rooted in the cold and unfeeling factories of the future and deceptive humanism of warm synth work.

Nerve War was their now-legendary first mixtape, released the year they got together, and it set the bar so high its any wonder any of what followed managed to live up to these standards. Suffice to say, the fact subsequent stuff did is testament to the band's genius. Presenting everything from strange and unnerving sonic collages ('Thy Glory'), to gritty slo-mo builders ('To The World') and grand sci-fi themes with shades of neo-Gothicism ('Front Line').

Review: Experiment Defined is a cult classic of electro by Gedankenexperiment, a collaboration between two legends of the genre: Gerald Donald and Beta Evers. Fitting right into the niche of electro that only these artists alone can be said to have properly found, the EP is a sonic exploration scientific concepts and philosophical questions, but delivered with a cold and clinical precision combined with an unmistakable eeriness. Particularly cold and janky comes 'Experiment', while the A-sider 'Conclusion' also features a haunting vocal contribution from Evers - as if to repetitively ponder why someone would arrive at any conclusion in the first place, ever.

Review: Russian label Samizdat follows up its notable first release with a second 12", this time from Genning. It is classy and sophisticated outing all the way with this one as opener 'Stair To The Sky's Rooftop' soon sets you off on a trip to the stars with its slick rhythms and glistening celestial chords. 'Window To The Dub' follows more of a tech house template with loopy drums and bass that rumble up and down and 'Summer Lighting' then zones you out on some lovely pads and frictionless drums. Last off all is 'Mystic Lakes' which takes off on balmy pads and plump, cuddly but dynamic drums.

Review: Gesloten Cirkel was hero worshipped for a whole by hardcore techno nerds and for good reason. Years after his time in the spotlight he continues to turn out cutting edge techno sounds. 'Cryformechicago' has and old school Windy Cit house feel but with more muscular drums, 'Pkbday' then cuts loose on broken beats and frosted synths for another world. 'GPU_Didit' (Turbo mix) is tightly coiled and loopy, fractious and relentless and 'Detoon' rounds out with the EP highlight - a big, bold electro stomper with fizzing textures and real machine soul.

Review: Golden Pudel's number one DJ-turned-producer, Helena Hauff, returns to Actress's Werkdiscs with her debut LP, marking a fine start to the September release downpour! Compared to her last effort for the label and her banger of an EP on Lux, Discreet Desires spans across much vaster landscapes, and while we knew that she was heavily into Detroit electro, the album is heavily focused on fast, broken beats brimming with synths. "Spur" and "Funereal Morality", for example, are a pair of Drexcyian bombshells, while "Piece Of Pleasure" clearly takes inspiration from Kraftwerk and the resulting synth pop wave. Instead, "Silver Sands & Boxes Of Mould" showcases her more experimental side thanks to its cinematic soundscapes and sparse beats, along with the beatless sway of "Dreams In Color". A fine debut LP that cements Hauff's position at the vanguard of current electronics.

Review: Jack Bags is back on La Sabbia with volume two of his Panorama Groove series. Once more he flies through a mutant mix of electro and techno in his own singular style. 'Another Acid' is first out of the blocks and layers up gurgling 303s with dark and sleazy vocals over a fat mid-tempo groove. 'Gently Glide' does just that with a more serene atmosphere, silky chords and ice cold drums - it's a super nice tune for late night grooving. Elsewhere are the likes of the grubby 'Ground Control', the Chicago jack of 'In My Mind', twisted and sludgy electro-techno motions of 'Operating Base' and the futurism of the more stripped back 'Underbush'.

Review: Domesticated has been giving us a great blend of upbeat genres on each and every release since the label first came out. No exception here, Ukraine producer Kiddmisha jams five heaters on one piece of wax. The first cut 'The Search', is a demented and seedy electro cut that is sure to be a hit those who hear it. If you want to hear what bass music subgenre sounds like, then look no further than the monster that is 'Def'. For the B-side, Kiddmisha showcases a few groovier tracks with the infectious 'Gradient' and killer robotic electro of the title track 'The Game'. Fans of dangerous electro like Carl Finlow or what you would find on the Trust label will know what we are talking about. We really like the seedy and sleazy sounds that germinate 'Freaktown' as well. Once you hear these you are likely not to forget them. Wicked EP!

Review: Mint Condition continues its run of strong reissues of house and techno music. Originally released on the cult label Robs records in 1995, Kilowatt's 'The Last EP' is finally getting the much deserved repress. Included is the wicked acid banger 'Loose End' which is a diamond of the mid-90s bleep house sound. 'The End' is another standout track on this release that gives us great memories of all the exciting IDM related going ons in the mid 90s - not least in the club of the same name - with echoes of 808 State from the late 80s too. Sometimes you aren't sure why a record's been reissued, but this one is definitely a worthy case. Expect these copies to go fast.

Review: Konerytmi is quite a productive name in electro the last few years and in just a handful of earth cycles, the output of this Russian born audio warrior has reached staggering levels. Thankfully, the quality is there giving fans the joy to discover so much from him. One that definitely should be in your wantlist is the Saaristo EP. 'Hiekkalinna' is really good example at the strategy he employs when making tracks. 'Kesakauri' and 'Avaruukisko' add a bit of 80s nostalgia with some darker synth lines and an EBM balance to the electro. The title track ends the EP on a melancholy note and is perhaps, our favorite of the four. Konerytmi continues to give us terrific electro to enjoy.

Review: Having spent six years apart from one another, Marvin & Guy now reunite with Life and Death for two infectious tracks, breaking their two-year silence from original releases. Departing from their signature melodies, the duo presents minimalist compositions tailored for the dancefloor. Born from playful experimentation with a synthesiser bassline, these tracks boast distinctive rhythmic and harmonic shifts - the irresistible appeal of' 'Who Dis' is its fatness and apparently simplicity. Incorporating sounds like shattered glass and Formula 1 engine roars - both meticulously recorded for these tracks - the joy and fun of the creative process shines through in the music and results in effective good time party tracks.

Review: Poetic Hovering Synth Tinkerer.

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: Loud Enough has readied its third outing and this one comes from the amusingly titled Raiders of the Lost Arp. As you can expect from the alias, this is music that leans heavily on arps. 'Funk009 (Otto-Zero-Out)' kicks off with thudding and taught house drums overlaid with rattling percussion and detuned synth hooks. 'Funk010 (Lava P)' hist harder, like an Italo Johnson party banger and then the flip side flips the script as it should: 'Funk006 (Drop)' has a more lively and lithe groove, brighter chords and an uplifting energy. Rounding things off is 'Funk007 (Circular)' , a cosmic looper with the best arps of the EP raining down the face of the gritty beats.

Review: Tel Aviv twosome Red Axes can always be relied upon to deliver trippy, mind-altering and left-of-centre music, regardless of what stylistic or rhythmic framework they're operating in at any given time. That assessment rings as true as ever on the duo's first Shall Not Fade outing. Opener 'The Electric', for example, mixes druggy and hallucinogenic electronic motifs with a throbbing, retro-futurist house groove, sci-fi synths and the creepiest of lead lines, while 'Next One Is Bill' is a twisted, brain-melting jack-track propelled forwards by a filthy TB-303 bassline. Turn to the B-side for 'The Bee', a buzzing, foreboding chunk of punk funk/dub-disco/dark house fusion, and the intoxicating mixture of music box melodies, restless Chicago house drums and clandestine sounds that is 'Axes in the Sky'.

Review: YTP, Raw Takes, Ole Mic Odd & Alonzo, and Chupacabras are all back once again for some more authentic sounds from the underground. These more than able producers land on a hand-stamped translucent green wax 12" that marks the second installment in the Source Material Various Artist series. Just like the first, this is a monster outing with four searing electro cuts that bring intergalactic warfare to any party. '116ctro' is a visceral cut with corrugated rhythms and zippy synths. 'And We Rock' has a funky broken beat and tons of reverb and 'Compassion' slows it down a touch but has lashing synths and thunderous kicks to keep you moving.