Review: Valerie Ace solidifies her rising status in techno with her third vinyl EP, 'Givers & Takers', on her Hardwon imprint. The title track sets an ominous tone with a slow breakbeat and interlocking percussion, building tension before a heavy bass climax. 'Eat Dirt' lives up to its name, switching between breaks and straight sections to pound the floor with relentless intensity. 'A Moment Lost' wastes no time, charging out of the gates with rapidly evolving snares and filtered bass punches driving the track over atmospheric background sounds. The afternoon or afterhours vibe of '3PM' is enhanced by seasick synth layers contrasting against malignant drums, creating a sense of uncertainty. Each of the four tracks offers a hard-hitting techno experience, showcasing Valerie Ace's skill in crafting intense workouts. Givers & Takers confirms her premier place in contemporary techno and this EP is a great example to her ability to push boundaries and keep the energy high on the dancefloor.
"Bad Boy" Pete Vs Shnootz - "Acid Dub Tekno Lineage" (6:29)
Noise Frequency - "Lost Humanity" (5:49)
Review: AcidLab serves up more innovative findings from their hard techno research operations courtesy of an array of uncompromising talents on this new various artists release. Acid Steve kicks off with 'Working In An Acid Lab', a straight-ahead banger with bristling percussive loops and slamming drums. Chris Liberator & Sterling Moss & Athar then combine forces to fire futuristic acid techno out of a machine gun and across the dancefloor and BadBoyPete vs Shnootz's 'Tekno Sound' is amped up and urgent drum funk. Noise Frequency then shuts down with dark distortion in 'Lost Humanity.' This is only a second drop from this new young label but one that again establishes it as a vital imprint.
Review: Following up last year's Time And Nothingness on Charlotte De Witte's KNTXT, Francesco Pierfelici aka Alignment returns to the imprint for an absolutely riveting new EP. Power is a fitting title for this massive four tracker, where the Berlin-based Italian wastes no time in an attempt to fire the synapses. Pure elevation is to be experienced on the euphoric rave energy of the title track which opens up in a big way, followed by 'Disconnection' which will pummel you into submission - peak time style - with its assortment of classic dance music motifs throughout. Over on the flip, the EP's highlight exists in the form of the euphoric modern trance reconstruction titled 'Frequency'.
Review: Purposeful and fad-free techno troubadours Planet Rhythm welcome aboard Antic Soul here for a quartet of sleek, minimal, effective cuts. 'Utapau' is super fast and layers up pulsing synths with wavy pads and driving drums. 'Asukara is even more urgent but this time feels anxious in its raw percussion and for the way the drums are almost stacked on top of one another. 'Transmutation' brings plenty of dub synth work and far-sighted Detroit melodies and 'Just A Dream' rides on shimmering synths and gliding hits that pack a punch both spiritually and emotionally.
Review: Pasquale Ascione and Davide Carbone are veterans of the techno scene. Not only do they run Repitch Recordings and 3TH Records but also of course, produce music. Repitch Fast Forward outlines that each producer has a side of the record to themselves. Ascion opens with 'Hurry', a killer hard and melodic burner that features vocals from the iconic rave track C'hantal's 'The Realm'. 'Himmerbone' reminds us of Johannes Heil track that we won't give any clue too. For the second side, hard techno is on the menu. They are relentless, mechanical and industrial, these are designed with one mission in mind: to destroy the dancefloor as you raise your techno fist. They should have some warning signs before these are played like 'Helmet Only Area!'. Wicked hard!
Review: Mystics Arts is young label from Belfast that welcomes vocal duo Black Bones aka the DJ and production duo of Aaron Black and Timmy Stewart. Both men have been at this for many years and bring considerable know how, studio chops and dance music understanding to an EP that is aimed square at the rave. It's all about hands in the air breakbeats, old school rave energy, lush chords that come on stronger than the rush of an E and are steeped in the culture of pirate radio, illegal parties and warehouse sessions. A timeless EP that will light up any dancefloor.
Review: Ascendant Berlin duo Blame The Mono return with their latest outing on French label Molekul titled 'Riot Toys'. There's no holds barred on this hard techno onslaught: the adrenalised energy of opening cut 'Gazellehorden' (feat HerrClem) fires up the engine in style, followed by the hyperaware energy of 'Switch The Pilot' and its jacked-up big-beat influence which also lunges straight for the jugular. Over on the flip, 'Funk Herald' will keep you tripping out under the strobelight, plus one more peak time banger to hammer the message home in the form of 'Bad Disco' which will keep the heads down on the dancefloor.
Review: You can always depend on Ali Wells' mighty Perc Trax for the most brutal industrial strength tackle and its latest release certainly delivers that. Scottish enfant terribles Clouds take up the reins on TPT 096 titled Clubmatter. All the classic tropes of 90s dance music are mashed together in an unholy mixture on the foreboding energy of 'Ravesight', heading into post Y2K peak time techno on the functional main room affair of 'NRG - Density' and 'Corestyle' respectively - the latter's injection of classic trance arpeggios adding to its adrenalised effects. Finally, the Perth drug legends go out all guns blazing on the pummeling 'Liquid Tank' with its foreboding bassline underpinned by the most visceral kicks.
Review: Nantes-based Willy Taconne is Creeds, a producer having an absolute blast operating in the crossover between psy-trance and hard dance. Rave Alert are the latest label to carry his work, and those craving the nastiest slammers for their bosh-off are going to be very pleased indeed. First up, 'Push Up' bursts with playful inventiveness, chopping between ear-snagging hi-jinks from acid licks to disco cuts, plenty of hyphy trance synths and loads more besides. 'Slap The Bassline' is a much dirtier affair with an absolute juggernaut of an acid bassline which will absolutely level the place. 'Stolen Memories' has a hard trance leaning, teasing the tension between peaks and troughs for everyone to lose their marbles good and proper, leaving it to 'Get Your Mom Down' to clean up the mess with some arch anthem material to trigger the ravers of yesteryear.
Review: It is 30 years since Curley and R-Zac joined forces to cook up their Sahara Tekniq EP way back in 1994. Surely, the legendary Dutch free party scene hero is sadly no longer with us, but with R-Zac he very much laid down a definitive blueprint for this type of textural, dense techno. It is the first of a big series of newly remastered reissues from the Network23 label and it offers up four visceral, high-impact, live-sounding techno workouts that are packed with anxious synths and whirring machine sounds, unrelenting drums and more which is sure to bring real chaos to the clubs.
Review: DJ Ali from Melbourne is up next on Berlin-based Blue Hour Music with the Regeneration EP, a collection of high-energy tribal techno tracks reminiscent of the late 90s. The EP opens with the bruising 'Interceptor', followed by the pummelling peak time track 'Paradox Cell' which maintains the tension. Over on the flip, 'Nightwatch' is more of a heads down affair that's optimised for losing yourself to under the strobe lights, and the title track goes out all guns blazing with its mesmerising tones underpinned by the most furious of rhythms.
DJ Ali from Melbourne is up next on Berlin-based Blue Hour Music with the Regeneration EP, a collection of high-energy tribal techno tracks reminiscent of the late 90s. The EP opens with the bruising 'Interceptor', followed by the pummelling peak time track 'Paradox Cell' which maintains the tension. Over on the flip, 'Nightwatch' is more of a heads down affair that's optimised for losing yourself to under the strobe lights, and the title track goes out all guns blazing with its mesmerising tones underpinned by the most furious of rhythms.
Review: DJ Disrespect again shows no regard for the rules of electronic music on this new and visceral outing on 777. It is a 12" he dedicates to "some of the feelings associated with the tribulations of mental issues" and that's reflected in the sounds which are dense and full of duality - drums going one way, coarse synth textures and percussion puling in another direction. On 'Energy Rush' screeching synths tear through the middle of the high tempo techno drums and 'Focus' is a compelling and parboil linear banger. If his mission is to unite people and offer comfort and community with his music, DJ Disrespect has succeeded here.
Review: "A record planned for almost 30 years is finally happening!" say the only notes with this new, one-sided and limited edition hand-stamped 12". It finds DJ Heartchore offering up two versions of the same track. 'In Love' is a classic hard techno banger with more energy than a classroom full of nine-year-olds after a crate of Monster energy drinks. It issuer rave fodder for main room deployment and also included is a 1994 Tool with a more old school feel but no less of an impact.
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