Rekids Schallplatten & CDs

Review: You always know what you are going to get from Radio Slave, and that is high functioning techno that never fails to make an impact in the club. The man behind the music, Matt Edwards, is one of techno's most enduring and consistent performers and he confirms that again here with the pair of bangers on his own Rekids label. 'Acid Dip' has punchy, funky drums that hammer home the groove with big, bouncy hits bring further dynamics as an occasional slaying synth sprays across the face of the tune. Devastating. 'Armani' is a brian-frying, loopy, synth-heavy workout full of texture.

Review: Matt Edwards has been in a nostalgic mood of late, thinking back to the start of his now long-running Radio Slave project. That began with an unofficial (but widely played) rework of Kylie Minogue smash 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head', and it's that tune - and his unreleased version of it - that inspired this floor-filling, mind-mangling ear worm. The A-side 'Club Mix', a nine-minute throb-job powered forwards by Giorgio Moroder style bass, snappy house drums and rich organ stabs, boasts snippets of vocal courtesy of Sylvester-style American singer Michael Loves Michael, and sounds every bit as alluring as Edwards' infamous bootleg take. The flip-side 'Maxxi Version' features all of Michael Loves Michael's vocals and sits somewhere between sleazy underground synth-pop and sparkling, revivalist Italo-disco. Two ace takes on a stone-cold pop classic that sound fabulous when played on meaty club soundsystems.

Review: Audion's 'Mouth to Mouth' was one of the biggest minimal techno anthems of its era. The vaping chords and unrelenting drum funk worked countless dancefloors all over the world into a real frenzy a decade or so ago. It now gets revisited by Rekids label head Radio Slave who has updated it with some extra effects nd naughtiness for modern dance floors. The original is included with its freaky vocal loops and rising synth tension and then we're also treated to a 'mouth beats' version, acappella, and two tracks that isolate the iconic original synth line.

Review: Here comes the second part of the RSPX presents Actualize compilation, released by Rekids, a Berlin-based label run by Radio Slave aka. Matt Edwards. Ultimately, said comp will contain 16 tracks of hard-hitting and diverse techno from a range of artists to have featured on Edwards' Rekids Special Projects sublabel, which focuses on 'no-nonsense' techno. For the time being, though, the comp split into a series of four EPs, evidently allowing the listener breathing room and time to consider each track, not least with the intention of being heard on high-quality vinyl. Slam and Radio Slave helm up the A-side for some neat meditative numbers, while relative newcomers Silvershower and Confidential Recipe deliver much wilder hard techno tea on the B.

Review: Radio Slave making a record in tribute to the late, great Terry Hall was not on our bingo card for 2024, but the resultant workout - based on the much-loved vocal hook from 1981 workout 'The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum' - is both undeniably dancefloor-ready and fittingly forthright (the original song was, of course, a scathing commentary on Thatcher-era Britain). The EP-opening 'Club Mix' places at the vocal refrain at the heart of the action, surrounding it with hazy vocalisations, thunderous bass, heavyweight tech-house drums and horn sounds that offer knowing nods to the classic 2 Tone sound. The accompanying 'A Clinic Full of Cynics Dub' leans into the ska sound of the original more, placing echoing horns and steel pan sounds atop a deep, dubby bassline and unfussy house beats.

Review: To mark two decades of his famous Radio Slave alias, Matt Edwards has spent most of the last 18 months making music inspired by his musical journey so far - as well as delivering a few remakes of choice catalogue cuts. The result is Venti, a fine dancefloor focused album full to bursting with familiar favourites (his fine cover of Kylie's 'Can't Get You Out of My Head', the beefed-up Rhodes-rich early morning deep house of 'Wild Life', Terry Hall tribute 'The Lunatics', and his riotous, mind-mangling update of Audion's 'Mouth To Mouth') and a string of largely unheard highlights (see the late 90s Tenaglia-esque 'New Balance', the Italian ambient house inspired 'Strobe Queen', punchy electro number 'Strangers in The Night', and Edwards' new rap-sporting revision of Radio Slave classic 'Wait a Minute').

Review: You always know what you're gunna get with Radio Slave, and that is the case again here as he returns to his own long-running and mighty Rekids label. The Berlin-based Brit offers one single, 'Wait A Minute' but it is a bulky one with robust, skipping, funky drums and ravey synths all topped off with a lively vocal. After the instrumental comes two typically monstrous remixes from the one and only UK techno veteran Mark Broom. His drums kick like no one else's and cannot fail to blow up any club.

Review: Radio Slave's most recent single, the trippy, string-laden and subtly disco-influenced deep house after-party workout 'Wake Up', gets the remix treatment, with two artists renowned for delivering delightfully wayward dancefloor epics at the helm. Kompakt favourites Superpitcher steps up first, placing the original's oddball (sampled) spoken word vocal atop a hypnotic, subtly changing bed of acid motifs, warming chords, hypnotic house drums and delay-laden Rhodes chords. Over on side B, the Idjut Boys retire to their shed, potter about a bit, and return with a typically mind-mangling, dubbed-out take that's most likely amongst the darkest and most psychedelic things they've ever released - and that's saying something.