Electro charts

Review: Sturdy electro thumpery from Konery TMI, served up in five portions across what will surely prove a highly delectable EP for fans of the genre. Opening track 'Nauhuri' and 'Automaa' are both full of grace and gorgeous, effortless glide, while 'Lumivyory' alters the mood somewhat to get down and dirty with some thoroughly filthy acid squelch filth. 'Polaaritahti' takes its cue from the more minimal 80s sounds of Egyptian Lover or Hashim, before we draw to a close with the more serene and soothing 'Mustikka'.

Review: Ralph Lawson's Leeds based 20/20 Vision label has made a distinctive shift into electro territory over the last couple years. It is a sound the boss has said has long been in his heart despite him being best known as a house head and longtime resident at Back to Basics, and the quality of the tunes he unearths to put out more than backs that up. The Exaltics & Paris The Black Fu kick off with a shiny, bright, visceral metallic electro workout then three further cuts take in dark wave drum machine rhythms and acid-laced bangers.

Review: Lloyd Stellar was not really a man gifted an extraordinary name when he was born. Rather, it is the chosen alias for Dutch dude Erik Griffoen, but he's surely made the name his own with a rapid rise in the number of releases of his music so far this year. Now Stellar gets has mitts on 20/20 Vision alongside The Droid, aka Ben Evans. In line with the label's exploration of electro over the past few years, this is hi-tech machine funk through and through, with twitchy synth lines and brittle, crisp drum machine patterns programmed within an inch of their lives. Maintaining a steely, dystopian mood throughout, this is serious electro for the heads, executed with precision and flair.

Review: Following up an inaugural release by the enigmatic DJ Playstation, we have London based Age Genesis delivering yet another outing by the mysterious producer in the form of Maukook. The Enter Maukook EP sees them serve up some hard hitting takes on classic techno forms. From the euphoric opener "Welcome To The Island" getting that soaring 303 acid glide on in full effect, to the pitch back warehouse stormer "The Rave Under Maukook". On the flip, "She Left The Party" was definitely our favourite of the bunch; this deep and evocative electro number is perfect for drifting and is reminiscent of American legends Exzakt & Excel's work from the early noughties.

Review: The fourth release of Barcelona-based label Kommuna finally lands after being teased late last year. It is a various artists affair that includes the opening gem from breakbeat legends Stopout. They ride rough and ready over a lumpy groove thats full of angst, then Pekkuliar & Driahn step out with a more cosmic bit of chunky funky on 'Dazed Transmission.' CMYK & Driahn servo up a beautifully sappy out mining affair in 'How's The Sauce?' with some great vocal snippets and Driahn's 'Tea Breaks' pairs cinematic ambiance and lush pads with tightly woven electro bass.

Review: MOY has been whipping a very tasty strain of braindance over the past year across a number of labels such as AC Records, Batrachian and Exalt. These are surely bountiful times for warm, playful acid and tricksy electro, and this latest drop from the London-based artist on new label Emotec surely adds fuel to the fire. MOY's sound is rounded and self-assured, striding forth with the moody, breaks n' bleeps vibe of 'Dreamcoast' and bolstered by the emotional jack of 'Wheel Of Time'. 'Echolab' has a fatter, more polished finish to it, but once again the gnarly 101 and 303 lines are front and centre. 'Cyclotron' offers up something a little deeper to close the EP out, completing a beautifully rendered set of braindance dynamics.

Review: The Maltese machine funk specialist himself Keith Farrugia is back once more with yet more of his impeccable electro business as Sound Synthesis. This time the prolific producer is shoring up on Burnski's Infiltrate label with four cool and deadly cuts which build on his previous drops for 20:20 Vision, Furthur Electronix, Orbital Mechanics and more besides. From the nervy sci-fi flex of 'Motor Space Maps' to the playful fun n' games of 'Back In Time', Farrugia knows exactly what he's doing within the electro blueprint, and his tracks are reliably punchy warm - a true master at work.

Review: The latest one on Orson sees Daniel Savio teaming up with Mesak for some lean and mean electro gear. Stockholm's Savio has gifted us reams of flexible, idiosyncratic machine jams over the years, while Finland's Mesak has been on a rampant run of late across labels like Klakson. On this four tracker we get to run the gamut from pumped up peak time pulser 'Tungt Vatten' to downtempo braindancer 'Surt Regn', all powered by a smorgasbord of blipping analogue-isms and keen studio instincts. If you're serious about your machine music, you're absolutely going to dig this one.

Review: After the Poly Schematic series of EPs, local hero Matthias Schildger (Matt Star) aka Polyfan Polyphenix returns to Frankfurt am Main label Rawax's Motor City Edition with the Polyvalence EP. From the deep and cerebral electro journey that is the title track, it then moves into evocative territory on the loved-up sunrise breaks of 'Polychor', then into early 90s sublime IDM on 'Polyamorie' and going out all guns blazing on the booming acid electro-bass of 'Polymorph' on the flip.

Review: Night Defined Recordings is an Austrian electronic music label based in Salzburg that has featured previous releases by Spanish veteran Eduardo de la Calle, Romanian upstart Serb and label chief Juergen Vonbank. It now presents the second edition in the NDVAX various artist series, featuring Finnish producer Mesak (Klakson/Cleaning Tapes) with the hard minimalism of 'Palek', as well as Erfurt, Germany's Mary Yalex with the unsettling ambient house of 'Running Out Of Time' and Workshop affiliated Even Tuell with the dusty twilight dub of 'In Circles' delivered in typically understated fashion.

Review: Berlin party crew Aller Ende Anfang presents their debut release, featuring five diverse and energetic tracks. The first side begins with the bass-heavy computer funk of 'Hyperdrive' by Icelandic producer Jadzia, followed by Bielefeld Murder Boys' peak time techno remix of Lord Pusswhip's 'Sveigth' and Unwucht's 'Back Da Fuck Up' - and catchy mixture of donk and ghetto house tropes. Over on the flip, Crouds goes for a bass-heavy and off-kilter UK sound on 'Splinters' and one more sci-fi beat programme courtesy of Hungary's LAU om 'Hangover'.

Review: After 16 months of pandemic-related hibernation, Kanja offshoot Svemir returns to action with a label debut from former Bass Agenda Recordings and Twilight 76 Records artist Alavux. The talented Serbian is in fine form from the off, with opener 'Kalemegdan' offering a near perfect fusion of crunchy, laidback electro beats, woozy synthesizer chords and picturesque melodies. He and pal Tomi Bojadzi then deliver contrasting mixes of collaborative cut 'Monday', with Bojadzi's warm, melodious and glacial 'live' take being followed by Alavux's bleeping, acid-fired club electro take. Finally, Alavux goes solo once more on sci-fi flavoured club electro treat 'Fuse Out'.

Review: Lerosa has a flexibility in his sound which can reach from immersive techno pastures (as on his album for Acid Test) via exquisite deep house on to true-school electro and Italo. It's the latter formation which takes the lead on this new 12" for Welt Discos, with 'Karnak' revelling in a cascade of heart-wrenching synths with a snappy funk to the drums. 'Pledge' strikes a unique sweet spot where minimal wave and dubwise steppers meet, offering a hitherto unexplored dimension to the Italian man in Dublin town. '893' brings a more classic electro-techno flavour for the uptempo crew, and then 'Universal Balance' smooths things out with blown out piano chords atop a relaxed machine funk beat.

Review: The mysterious Who is a Berlin based artist who releases brilliant music but only sporadically so. They launched their own Who Is Paula label in December last year. That was an original EP which now gets revisited and remixed for the label's second release. Electro don Cignol gets first with a plenty of rueful pad work and leggy drums. Vertical67 's take on 'Bang Tang' is hurried, with bleeping melodies and closely stacked kicks bringing the cyborg-funk. The Sound Synthesis remix is a punchy one that goes deep and Train Station (36 Night Train remix) is lo-fi and thoughtful, with end-of-the-night melodies sending you home in a blissful state.

Review: "Way back in the 1990s, Mark Hand, Neil Iceton & Jez Nicholl channelled their love of sci-fi-fired Motor City techno into a string of inspired releases under the alias Cubic Space Collective.

After reuniting for a memorable machine jam at Freerotation festival in 2016, Hand & Iceton headed back into the studio for a one-off session and recorded 'Holiday in Beta Centauri', a musical love letter to Mad Mike and the rest of Detroit's most militant futurist techno crew.

Sending us surging skywards via 'Binary System', where lilting lead lines, fizzing electronics and enveloping chords dance atop a snappy, cymbal-heavy drum machine rhythm, before 'Arps in Hyperspace' sees them step things up a notch via layered waves of synths, sparkling melodies and a driving, hyper-speed groove.

The North-East-based twosome then attempt to warm us to the core in the shape of 'Rigil': restless organ stabs, undulating Michigan bass, alien electronics, psychedelic acid lines and Galaxy 2 Galaxy style chords catching the ear. Bringing us gently back down to earth, they complete their deep space mission with 'Beyond The Nebula (Holiday in Beta Centauri)', a bustling electro number full of stabbing analogue bass, star-burst electronics, meditative ambient chords that shimmer full of night-sky melodies.

A fine return to action for this Teesside UR-loving techno twosome... 3,167 miles away in Detroit, their achievement will be noted."

Review: Over the past few years Nick Gynn has been whipping up a storm with his loose and limber strain of trance-inflected club melters. Now he's landing in exactly the right spot to kick off 2022 alongside the good folk at EYA Records. Minting their Lonewolf series specifically, the 2000 & Something EP deals in maximal acid wrigglers with a playful but dark-tinted edge which should go down very well with the buoyant wave of psychedelic party people. Watch out for the electro stylings of 'Ritmos Obscuros', which closes out the 12" in body-popping fashion.

Review: Miami-based imprint Blkmarket Music, run by NYC veteran Taimur is back this week with a riveting 12' by the Russian producer Kirill Junolainen aka JLM Werx, following up releases on Hilltown Disco and Zero One Music. The Heartbeatz EP puts the bass in your face from the get-go on opening cut 'Heartbeat MC' with its futurist electro beats, while over on the flip he takes you to the rave on the acid-infused breaks of 'Total Zero' followed by one more excursion into dark-sci-fi aesthetics on the low end assault of 'Just A Mirage'.

Review: In 2018, unknown artist James Infiltrate dropped an album of smart electro tunes that get everyone talking. It turned out to be an alias of James Burnham aka Burnski aka the Constant Sound boss aka Instinct, who is one of the most visible and prolific artists of recent years. Now some of the cuts from that album get choice remixes - AlexJann flips 'Flash' into a caustic electro banger with bright synths and twisted bass. Stojche goes for a lurching, loopy, scintillating and loopy remix of 'Isolate' that takes you to the stars and the flip offers up an acid laced electro cruiser from Sound Synthesis and Relpek mix of 'Reconnect' that is melodic and mysterious.

Review: 'Frankfurt Bass' specialist O Wells has been associated with Die Orakel since 2016, though this EP - the artist's fifth in total - is his first for the imprint for two years. Wells goes in hard from the word go, adding ragged, mind-bending TB-303 'acid' lines and intergalactic aural textures to a punchy electro beat on opener 'Consico'. Focus switches on the following track, 'Rhytim'[sic], where outer-space melodies and bubbly modular motifs are layered over a tighter electro beat. Side-B opens with the tracky, hypnotic, otherworldly techno of 'Moldoom', while the EP's concluding cut (IDM inspired number 'Spectral') boasts deep sub bass, Aphex Twin textures, subtle bleeps and oddly swung beats.

Review: YUYAY Records chief Robyrt Hecht from Leipzig presents the label's next release in the form of Yskayan Knowledge, an extended EP featuring some intelligent takes on the electro sound. There's bass heavy computer funk as heard on 'Don't Sell Our Knowledge' and some minimal night moves for showroom dummies ('Earnings') on side A, while over on the flip there's the mandatory futurist epic in the form of 'Exploitation/Liquidation'.

Review: Iranian DJ/producer Ramtin Niazi (1000PA, Ben & Jerry, KAHKLI Cru) inaugurates new imprint Needlessness with some sleek and ravey tech funk on his new offering titled 'Reaction'. It comes with two remixes: London's Voigtmann (of Toi Toi fame) injects more groove into proceedings with his minimalist take, while Tbilisi-based Giorgi Koberidze aka Cobert (Casa Voyager/Partisan) equally impresses with his swing-fuelled electro beat re-rub, over on the flip.

Review: LNS and DJ Sotofett explore a new direction on their latest EP, 'The Reformer,' released on Tresor Records. Moving away from their debut album, the duo fuses digital artifacts, scanner sounds, and vocoder voices with melodic colors that radiate across cold electro landscapes. The opening track, 'Reform,' takes a deep dive into the electro sound, while 'Plexistorm' blends synthesised strings with arpeggiated acidic bleeps. 'Electric Terraforming' uncovers charged energy sources for life on another planet, and '909 The Controller' features washes of dub over a skipping beat, with a slow, rippling melody and percolating synths. The vinyl version includes exclusive locked grooves by DJ Sotofett.

Review: The Valley and the Mountain aka TVTM aka Josh Dahlberg makes a bold return with 'A Number of Northwests', an EP which tells the tale of an artist in transition. Quite literally, that is, as he moved from Detroit's westside to the very far edges of the Pacific Northwest. Musical this is a stylistically diverse offering with four cuts starting with the mid-tempo smooth grooves of 'Bretton Drive' and glistening synths and pads of the cosmically minded 'Grand River Slide'. The chugging 'Ramps to Nowhere' is a dubbed out afters classic and then the one and only dusty deep house don DJ Aakmael remixes it into another cuddly classic.

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: Deep Shopping has us filly our trolleys once more with plenty of top-shelf goods here. Mister Bellini is the one on the till and his elastic, bouncy techno is all about pure thrills. The restless and characterful 'What What?!' opens up with plenty of joyfulness. The sound design throughout these tunes is fresh and fun but never silly. 'Stop The Buz' is a little tougher but still with some tripped-out motifs, then 'yes' is a hyperspeed spin-out. On the flip side are squelchy future bass bangers, police sirens and low-key basement tracks. Brilliant EP.

Review: Winthorpe Electronics signs up Dublin musician and producer Daniel Jacobson aka ZOiD for his debut on the label. What a fine one it is too with a real creative freedom in the melodies and rich sense design bringing each of these curveball cuts to life. '2-Oh-Techno' is a loose mix of bumpy drums and smeared chords, zippy leads and pixelated melodies that shine bright. 'Winthrope Acrid 2C (2-5s On The 303)' is then a double-time and wonky workout with a collage of synth textures all intertwining. 'Sunrise Acid' is another unusual but effective techno cut with a happy heart and 'Megajazz Acidhops' is a final collision of synths and rhythms that leaves you wanting more.

Review: Furthur Electronix has always been a highly recommended label but they seem to be in a purple patch right now with a wealth of essentials releases all dropping in quick fashion. It is Kreggo who steps up this time with a new limited run 12" that follows his last on the label last year. The Milan based artist is eclectic and throughly underground and is the brain behind the Art-Aud label and the cult Secret Rave series. His electro sound here is raw and rugged, with bumping drums, fixing synths and flashes of acid all making these standout cuts.

Review: Until now, finding Robert O'Dell's music has been nigh on impossible, with a couple of long deleted electro jams on the Metroplex sub-label Interface (produced with Juan Atkins) trading on eBay for daft amounts, and an obscure split EP released on Rephlex in 1998 standing as the only fruits of his labour. O'Dell is inspired by a lot of groups, from Kraftwerk to Duran Duran and has been in different bands all of his life, collaborating with such luminaries as George Clinton and with Model 500 /Juan Atkins for the Infiniti project and others. An electric vision of Detroit funk's future, "Cazelica" is his brave new sound. This six track LP fuses electrofunk and r&b with the dark energy of the techno sound he grew up with.

Review: Russian titan Monokle is back to once again traverse many different sound worlds with his new album Ultraflowers. It is one of a number of superb albums landing on Constellation Tatsu this summer and one defined again by its warmth. The title track is a lo-fi, scruffy and deep opener with persuasive breakbeats, while 'Glassy Eyed' is an ambient jungle trip that drips with watery melody. 'Night Objects' offers some introspection and 'Moths' is a glitchy future techno cut with smeared synth soul. '1000Work' layer sup more breaks with elegant ambient melodies and 'Predteche' casts you admit in the deepest corners of space.