Studiomaster Italy Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Marco Passarani is a real techno player in his native Rome and beyond, and now he revives his Studiomaster alias for some red hot club cuts. The name comes from the Studiomaster P7 console he tuns his music though in order to lend it some real-world grit and grime. You can hear it in all these cuts, from the acid-laced low-end oscillations of 'Nerve Punch' to the stripped-back and hissing hi-hats and synth sequels of 'Psy Vs Psy'. 'Wake Up Shake It' is another skeletal rhythm with plenty of metallic textures and 'Test Drive' then lands with more of a firm thud. Add in the loopy 'Numero 4' and you have a stylish and severs EP of fresh minimal.

Review: Long-serving Italian producer Marco Passarani continues his newly minted Studiomaster label project with its second instalment, serving a quintet of typically floor-focused jams on 'The Temple' EP. Arguably best known for being one half of the looped-up disco duo Tiger & Woods, Passarani is also known and loved for the more techno-tilted offerings he turns out from his hometown of Rome. His latest work sits somewhere in between his two trademark sounds, starting with the throbbing sleaze of opener 'The Empty Temple', with its purposeful bass, paranoid synths and dirty vocal whispers. The fierce, snare-driven rhythms of 'Night Walker' power grubby bass and glistening synths, while the descriptively titled 'Rotten Disco' offers a brilliantly wonky glimpse of future Italo. The distorted percussion and jagged bass of 'Dirty Hands' are aimed squarely at the floor, while the storming closer 'Cheater's Smile' bangs as hard as nails to complete a suitably stirring and tightly produced set.