Electro charts

Review: 20/20 Vision present the debut release from Manchester based artists Armec. Following releases for Cultivated Electronics and Furthur Electronix, the Caged EP hits the ground running - with a record that spans heavy club-ready electro and futuristic soundscapes. Complete with a hefty remix from German acid connoisseurs Hardfloor.

'Caged' sucks us down the rabbit hole with dense textures fortified by an infectious groove, vast pads, and bubbling synth lines. The Hardfloor remix of 'Caged' submerges us into an acidic electro trip - fuelled by quirky melodic licks, a menacing low-end and body shaking drums.

On the flip side 'Curvature' is an out-and-out understated bomb. Propelled by a squelching, supercharged bassline which soars over Armec's signature textural landscape, it's reinforced by razor sharp hats and a heavy kick-drum. 'Replicants' is a side-winding, emotionally charged cut that feels truly fresh and forward-thinking. Deep, luscious pads are underpinned by a superbly engineered break-beat driven groove.

Review: Having spent much of the last few years working alongside Lou Savary in cold-wave revivalists Reymour, Luc Bersier has decided to go solo as Marcel Die Sie. His debut release, which also happens to be the inaugural EP of the Rababoo label, naturally inhibits a similar sonic space to his work with Savary, with each of the three original cuts on show offering a mixture of chugging, mid-tempo grooves, wayward electronics, early '80s new wave synth sounds and a subtly psychedelic mood. There are similarly impressive remixes on the flip too, with De Roo's moody, occasionally spacey IDM style take on 'Poetic Frame' being followed by a hypnotic, acid-fired and trance-inducing interpretation of the same track by Dark Entries artist Anatolian Weapons.

Review: To deliver their third release since debuting in 2018, from the less-than-prolific DXL Records has recruited Pressure Point, a producer who received plenty of praise for his earlier singles on Sol Asylum, Telharmonic Texture and All On Tape. The Wrong System EP is a quietly impressive return to form, with the little-known producer smoothly moving between intergalactic tech-house funk (the leaping, sci-fi sounds, shuffling drums and bubbly melodies of 'Timepiece'), mind-altering tech-house box jams (see 'Wrong Systems', with its chiming lead lines and hypnotic vibe), and tech-tinged deep house goodness ('Tom Cat'). The accompanying 'Spacetravel Mix' of 'Tom Cat' is also rather good, in part because it features what sounds like a broken modem having a meltdown over bustling machine drums, foreboding bass and soft-touch chords.

Review: Dual-minded Frenchman Louis Pierret makes his debut on Karat as he continues to explore the extremities of his passions and interests over four crisp, forward-thinking tracks. 'Changes' eases us in with big swooning emotional tracks and a classically minded 808 electro beat before 'Davy Jones' eases us down a much deeper channel with dub techno soul and a jazz sensibility. Flip for the main attraction as 'Achab' shouts the orders by way of venomous acid, glacial chords and whale-like textures before 'Rhune' brings back ashore on a boat made in the heart of Detroit. Precision engineering. Bon voyage.

Review: Watch yer bassbins, Club Winston is back with another loud n' lairy bit of wub for his wickedly named UKGEORGE label. This is club pressure that's as serious as it is silly, boiling garage and rave tropes down for maximum efficiency and celebrating the limitless joy of a wobbly bassline. "Blurt" keeps things raw and direct, stomping at a nifty tempo and teasing the tension and release with the simplest of ingredients. "Reject" on the flip has a sweeter vibe, using little touches of melody to create a mellower mood but not at the expense of the all-important low end.

Review: Rise Black is Maxim Gkikaev, a producer based in southern Spain who also goes under the aliases Mitjun or Ocitin, and is part of the duo Psevdonym. He has released for Fil-Lex, Moustache and locals Another Perspective in recent years, but It is indeed a case of Bad Robot on this new one for Adjacent Possible. From the snarling acid electro bite of opener 'Alania', to the minimal EBM muscle of the title track and the truly dystopian bass dynamics of 'Laser Gun' - Gkikaev is not messing around here. Over on the flip, there are some mighty fine remixes which are equally as worthy of your attention. Benvol's electro-industrial sounding rework of 'Alania' retains that sick 303 squelch throughout, while PX's re-rub of 'Bad Robot' has an utterly majestic style of sonic futurism in the vein of legend Carl Finlow.

Review: Exclusively crafted for Satamile, these four dynamic electro and breaks tracks come from Roadking, one of Germany's top electro producers and known for his work with Elektrolux and Mikrolux. The man born Frank Rueckert delivers four electrifying electro tracks that are each defined by his distinctive style and sound - they are tunes infused with energy from the crisp and snappy drums of the title track to the more silky and loopy celestial sounds of 'Devotion' via the rugged metal snares and robotic vocals of 'Only Electro Music'. 'Silence' shuts down with a spraying synth lead that takes you into the future.

Review: Although he rarely speaks about the project in public, His Master's Voice is the itechno alias of underground deep house producer (and sometime Raw Soul label contributor) Jaines Bomt. Carry On In My name sees the shadowy German producer return to Delsin for the first time in nearly three years. There's plenty to set the pulse racing throughout, from the breathlessly up-tempo, broken techno rhythms and filthy analogue bass of 'Lotek' and the '90s ambient techno-influenced deep space wooziness of 'Lion', to the Motor City electro-futurism of 'Bassline' and the Autechre-at-their-most-melodic flex of 'Carry On In My Name'.

Review: Synapse's Get The Freaks And Get Some is an acid, electro and techno classic from 1996. The pair behind it - Jason Szostek and John Selway - dropped only a couple of EPs in the mid-noughties, then a couple more around five years ago, and this was their standout. Opener 'Get Some' is tense, electrifying stuff with lively synths, crunchy drums and pummelling bass. 'The Freak' is another edgy and hard hitting cut with frosty Detroit electro overtones and 'Set It Off' then slowing down to mangle your brain. 'Cosmic Connection' closes out with a deeper more astral exploration.

Review: Introducing Wobbly Mob, a new independent label based between Germany and the UK. Their debut release is by rising producer Glockta (aka Popka) from York, who serves up a collection of diverse tracks on WMR001. Detroit meets 2-step on the wondrous opener 'Plastic Fiver' which receives a ravey remix by Shawn Cartier over on the flip later, there's also off-kilter late night mood music on 'No Diamonds' and the rolling low end theory of 'Next Year'.

Review: Tristan Watkins is exploring a horse-themed concept in earnest with his work as Phonopsia on his burgeoning Horse Category label. There's an inherent wonkiness to the sound on this third entry which possibly hints to the meaning behind this aesthetic, with 'Prepaternal (Paternal Revision)' leading in with some delightfully off-kilter synth action around a light and skipping house groove. 'Secrets Of The Pedal Bone' meanwhile deals in a quirky sound somewhere in the region of chiptune but with a little Ceephaxian bite, and 'Ooze' deals in some potent, dislocated techno. 'Figuring Out This Damn Jetpack' goes more explicitly towards 8-bit synth lines, but then gives them a walloping beat, making for some of the most distinctive club gear we've heard in a while.

Review: Like his brother DJ Sotofett, DJ Fett Burger is not a producer you can 'second-guess'. On one release, you might get surging techno or outer-space ambient, while on another it could be analogue acid house or throbbing machine-disco. On 'Ephemeral Lightspeed', he adds punchy, crunchy breakbeats to a swirling ambient techno soundscape whose trippy and wide-eyed quality is confirmed by the Norwegian producer's accompanying 'Beatless Version'. On the flipside two friends of the Sex Tags family deliver their interpretations. First LNS re-imagines the track as a bouncy, keyboard stab-sporting electro treat, while the Snorre Magnar Solberg revision is a bonkers-but-brilliant, high-octane acid breakbeat rush-a-thon.

Review: Following a strong start with a compilation curated by Hodge and Franklin De Costa, Berlin party promoters Mother's Finest are back with the next instalment on their label which comes from the CEO at Nasty Enterprises: Nasty King Kurl who follows up an impressive run of EPs for 777, low income $quad and Nerang. The Hekate EP opens up with the UK bass influenced title track, leading into the contorted drum'n'bass whirlwind of 'Kimat'. On the flip, 'Ovinnik' lends a change of tempo in the form of a meditative deep dubstep joint and 'Inugami' closes it out all guns blazing with a heads-down techno stomper.

Review: "Hope is not passive. Hope is not blah blah blah. Hope is telling the truth." So said the world's most visible climate activist Greta Thunberg in her pre-COP26 speech in Milan, blasting world leaders for inadequate (or near-non-existent) responses to the environmental crisis. Given we're 12 months down the line and the vast majority of promises made at said 2021 climate summit have not been actioned, with emissions continuing to climb, it's unsurprising direct action has turned much more direct and disruptive this year, and people are now sampling the young orator to amplify her message through music.

If that sounds like it may lack subtlety, fear not. Renude19 have managed to achieve something pretty difficult - a protest dancefloor track that doesn't ram things down your throat and works very well without you knowing that context. Essentially a dystopian-vibed broken beat synth workout with electro-pop vocals and occasional "Blah blah blah" hook, it's timely and well executed.

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: Having been dormant for over three years, New York label Satamile returns to continue spreading the gospel of proper electro music with a six-track EP from The Ghost That Walks. Drexciya enthusiasts will be all over this record; the rubbery melody of "The Angriest Angel" recalls the Detroit duo at their most playful but with a simmering undercurrent of tension that is very much the producer's own signature style. Similarly great are the searing analogue synth buzz of "Seven Deadly Sons", the tribal 303 stomp of "Urban Jungle" and the 808 rattle and Belgian rave tones of "Resident Evil". Those who were lost without the label's presence should rest easy - Angry Angels is easily among their extensive catalogue's best releases.