Electro charts

Review: The crucial Mr K is back with a special repress for Record Store Day 2024. This one throws it back to his two superb edits of Kratwerk's 'Trans Euro Express' which is cited often as the start of techno. Side A offers stripped-down, bare drum bones, with naked drums shaped into futuristic fusion, while Part II adds synthetic context. Deconstructing Kraftwerk's original sci-fi masterpiece at a slow, smouldering pace, it presents a classic in an entirely new light. This release unlocks doors of serious DJ creativity and should be snapped up quickly before it's gone again.

Review: Danny Krivit aka Mr K, that veteran of the Roxy and Paradise Garage, turns his attention to the 80s for his latest Mr K edits aka brush ups for the sound systems of today. 'Pleasure Boys' by Visage epitomised the new wave crossover sound when was released in 1982, and Krivit would eschew the vocal, using two copies to concentrate on and extend the thunderous synth bass break in his sets instead. Here he recreates the trick - a bare bones riff that still sounds enormous on a club system.

For the flip, Krivit goes a little deeper with his edit of 'Emotional Disguise' by Peter Godwin again ditching the overwrought new wave vocal in favour of the atmospheric synth stylings of the instrumental, which he recalls being a big tune with hip-hop crowds at the Garage and Roxy alike.

Review: We cannot get enough of Washington, DC-based label Peoples Potential Unlimited. It deals in a particular brand of lo-fi funk and disco with a hit of the leftfield about it. This time out they unearth some lost recordings from Landyhill (Timex Social Club) Bay Area funk. It has the rude girl vocals of Jamie Vallo over crunchy beats, squeaking synth motifs and raw drum work. Word on the street is more demos have been found from the same era and are to be unveiled soon, but this previously unreleased jam is a great starter.

Review: Posthuman's Balkan Vinyl imprint is back with a third installment in the Kanlab series. Chevron is at the buttons and on a clear mission to destroy the dance floor with fresh acid explosions. This latest limited 7" starts with 'Manctronix', a manic mix of brutal breakbeats, fizzing acid madness and eerie vocals that are chopped up and well deployed throughout the mix. There is even more of a prickly and unruly texture to 'Unity' which spits out all manner of sounds on a constant basis, never letting you lock in and instead staying firmly on the seat of your pants.

Review: Neil Landstrumm is one of the UK's most underrated but high-achieving artists if you ask us. He's done it all over the years and has been pivotal to a number of different in-between sounds flourishing into scenes. Here he lands on a fellow UK institution in Swamp 81, once a home to cutting-edge bass and now offering an outlet for Landstrumm to explore the cosmos. He does so with his usual mix of quirky sound designs and heavy grooves on 'Minimoo' which is both serious body music but also playful and charming. 'Aintgotnojob' is a twisted juke-inspired B-side with reverberating low ends and tightly looped vocal phrasings that melt the mind.