Craigie Knowes Schallplatten & CDs

Review: DJ Life's music will invigorate any dancefloor you care to test it on. The Welcome label head DJ Life was also out on Program Earth back in summer and now heads over to the excellent Craigie Knowes for there more high class electronic trips. 'Whomnp' kicks off with a paced progressive techno mind melter that is wired up with screw synths and sci-fi motifs, while 'Frayed' has more psychedelic colours twisting and turning their way over filtered vocal fragments and supple drums. 'Transmission' closes down with stomping drum funk that is again lit up by some celestial melody.

Review: Craigie Knowes are back at it for 2024 with a return appearance from Fader Cap. After a rapid run of first releases in 2022, we've been waiting for a follow-up from the chap and he more than delivers. As the EP title might suggest, he's exploring echo chamber processing on his tracks, but the delay and reverb is teased with precision amidst the shimmering, psy trance tinted tech house vibe he so ably builds on these incredibly accomplished club cuts. 'Kanisza' is an especially hypnotic, subtly broken workout for a more delicate kind of dancefloor, while 'Thinker' offers up punchy arps and flecks of acid for the more up-for-it crowd.

Review: Man of many aliases Ron Wells is undoubtedly an under-appreciated British dance music hero - a producer who delivered a string of innovative jungle-techno releases in the early 90s and has been serving up killer cuts in a variety of styles ever since. Here he dons the Jack Smooth alias (a moniker he debuted way back in 1991) for a collaborative four-tracker alongside fellow storied veteran Anthony Wilson AKA Chicago Loop. They begin in sensational fashion via the bleep-sporting analogue acid house of 'Waverider', before opting for warehouse-ready early UK techno sounds on the gnarled and nasty 'Innervision'. 'Blunderbuss' adds warped hardcore rave sounds to a sweat-soaked jackin' house beat, while 'Under The Influence' sounds like a long lost, loved-up tech-house blueprint from 1994. Stellar stuff all told.

Review: Pascale Project debuts on Craigie Knowes with her 'Good People Only' EP, a melodramatic exercise in bubblegum kitsch, dramatized synth-organ hums and eerily quantized vocal recordings. The title, of course, takes its namesake from lead track 'Cafe Crazy' - a dance-pop hybrid soaked in a simple viscous formula: good vibes and electronic fun. The three originals making up its bulk come laced with nostalgic lyrics recalling hyperpop, but also carry retroisms of noughties dance-pop and trance, 'Hang Out' being the post-ironic jubilant highlight. The lyrics are, of course, written and performed by Pascale Project, and what's more, 'Cafe Crazy' comes remixed and refoamed by D. Tiffany with additional vox by NAP (yes, your eyes do not deceive you - a remix on Craigie Knowes! What?!)

Review: The superb Craigie Knowles label is often a place to check out some mad fresh electro but for this one, it welcomes Primitive Needs who head off down a progressive techno trip that will remind you of the 90s even if you didn't experience them the first time around. On opener 'Mesomorph' the drum programming is fresh and slick and the synths are searching, as they spray about the mix with a hint of old-school video game charm. 'Rhizome' rides on high-speed tech drums that are coloured by the warped lines and stabs that peel off them constantly. There is a kinetic bounce to 'Hypha Dose' that will make any floor step things up a notch and 'Desert Power' closes with real soulful urgency and hints of trance magic.