Toi.Toi.Musik Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Since returning to action last year after a near two-year hiatus, Koos 'Ion' Ludwig has barely put a foot wrong. For Real We Are Not For You marks his first appearance on Toi.Toi. Musik, and predictably continues his fine run of form. On the A-side you'll find "Not For You", a woozy and slippery concoction where off-kilter electronic bleeps and delay-laden blips rise above a skewed, bass-heavy rhythm. Turn the record over and you'll find "Are We For Real", a wonderfully evocative combination of slow-burn acid lines, ghostly chords, low register cello strings, pulsing pads, and mind-altering, minimalist house percussion. It tends towards the melancholic, but is all the more impressive for that.

Review: Party promoters-turned-DJ Agency Toi Toi Musik have decided to launch a record label. This debut release comes from British techno and tech-house stalwart Mr G, a man whose career stretches way back to the turn of the millennium. As you'd perhaps expect, there's a tracky, no-nonsense feel to much of the material on display, with the distorted, bass-heavy "Mango & Rum" (and Daze Maxim's snare-heavy interpretation of the same track) leading the way. Ironically, though, it's the more melodic moments - particularly the jazzy deep US house bounce of "Slide Swing" that most impresses. Best of all, though, is the dreamy deep house of "Freefall 7", which eschews his usual intense hypnotism in favour of yearning chords and classic vocal samples.

Review: Toi Toi Musik's latest salvo is something of a biggie. It brings together two stalwarts of the South American minimal techno scene: Chilean wonk-meister Ricarco Villalobos and storied Venezuelan Argenis Brito. As you'd expect, there's a humid and intoxicating feel to A-side "El Malekon", a trippy, 13-minute workout marked out by druggy, manipulated and layered spoken word samples, intricate and subtly shifting percussion programming and a restless, sub-heavy bassline. The groove is pleasingly loose and wayward, something we say a lot about Villalobos' productions in particular. Flipside "Rikileaks" is a little more locked-in, utilizing a more sturdy, tech-house style drum rhythm, mind-bending electronic effects and a more booming bassline. Curiously, it also features a vocal whose lyric includes the immortal words: "these sandwiches keep me going".

Review: London's Toi Toi Musik returns, with Voightmann & Co. bringing the minimal funk again after some great EP's by German legend Audio Werner and the mighty Ion Ludwig. It's now over to Cologne's David Joseph (Assemble Music/Finest Hour) who takes it deep into the afterhours on the 'Tape 3' EP. The first side features a couple of deep and lo-slung numbers on the soulful tip - from the hypnotic and dusted down loops on the title track and the sexy and emotive Moodymann influence of "Secret". On the flip, the raw and jackin' "Tape 2" sees him do his best impression of early DBX, while "Tape 3" channels the equally classic vibes from early Chicago - complete with an infectious Juno bassline.

Review: Claus Voigtmann is slowly making his way around the traps with the records he's released in the past two years making their way to Assemble Music, Do Easy Records, Hello? Repeat, and the impressive Yume. Now he provides Toi.Toi.Musik with a second release after it was inaugurated by none other than Mr G. Chords bounce and shimmer over a skeletal beat in "Possibilism" while a fat bassline in "Fruitification" makes a sultry groove swelter. Fans of Gielgling's Dwig will dig the instrumental, broken hip hop and house vibe of "Repetitionism" while lovers of early Desolat will warm to the dry sounds of "Groovism".