Back catalogue: Minimal/Tech House

Review: Argenis Brito, the versatile Venezuelan musician and singer, has blazed an indelible path across the Americas and Europe for over twenty years, first in the Latin American rock scene and, since the mid-nineties, as a collaborator and comrade-in-arms of many of the artists that have given contemporary electronic dance music a Latin twist. "Micro Mundo" has a carefully restrained groove that occasionally erupts into madness, snapping and hissing like a live wire.

Review: Cadenza head honcho Luciano has arranged a special series of EPs to coincide with the 15 year anniversary of his revered imprint, launching the first one here to begin the festivities. This chapter is dedicated to the summer season and contains five enchanting tracks with exquisite sounds. There are moments of lush and hypnotic freefall like on "The Amazing Lilou" and equally impressive when he dives deep into the exotic like on "Hiding Hearts" or "La Tirana Del Oriente" - the latter featuring wonderfully employed classical instrumentation. Elsewhere, lose yourself in the sonic sorcery of "Magik Mechanics" and its superb melodic minimalism - classic Luciano. Each episode of the series will be released every season.

Review: Percussion, rhythms and intricate polyrhythms have always laid down the foundations of Reboot's music ever since he first arrived on the scene three years ago. Since that debut, "Be Tougher / Letters" from back in 2007 on Luciano's Cadenza imprint, the talented German has made a fast and steep rise to becoming one of dance music's hottest properties. He has seen single and EP releases on Cocoon, Below, Love Letters from Oslo, Motivbank, Below and Ricardo Villalobos' Sei Es Drum imprint in addition to highly acclaimed mix CDs for Cocoon and Cécille. Shunyata, his first ever LP marks his return to Cadenza and keeps his ever flowing, tribal polyrhythms at the centre of its sound.


Its title is loosely translated from its Buddhist origins as ‘emptiness’ which is not used here in a negative sense but as a reference to the album’s state of impermanence and constant state of flux. Utilising the album format, Reboot manages to make the individual tracks start at one point and lead to somewhere completely different, keeping the entire record moving in a constant and kaleidoscopic motion. He builds these spiralling grooves or intricate polyrhythms by interconnecting instruments such as congas, bells, cymbals, woodblocks, shakers, steely drums and aluminium barrels, binding them together to weave an evolving groove. Added to that, stranger sound elements such as field recordings, cut up, distorted vocals, pings and gurgles permeate the percussion layers whilst a spongy bed of compressed bass fills the low end.


The focus is once more on the dancefloor as tracks like the peaktime "Hermano," the deepness of "Dreliach" the hypnotic "Me Show," and the darker vibes of "Save Me" all play testament to. However, there are also some more unexpected moments such as the skipping and melodic "Rambon," the spiralling "Down Pantha," the sedate opener "Uruana" and the sampled guitar that appears on "Sanchez Says." It's very structural nature makes Shunyata an album in the true sense of the word, demanding full and repeat listens to fully appreciate its beauty.

Review: Slovenian veteran Valentino Kanzyani first made his name producing balls-out techno toughness with old pal Umek, but in recent years has softened his sound somewhat. This debut full-length, released 13 years after his first single dropped, gives a snapshot of where he's at right now. Although rhythmically dense, dancefloor focused and blessed with moments of near percussive overload, Love & Gratitude is nevertheless blessed with a decidedly soft centre. This is thanks in no small part to the Slovenian's deft use of hazy soundscapes and low-key melodies, which add texture to his undeniably enjoyable grooves. This double vinyl edition of the album lifts out the four most DJ friendly cuts from the 13 track CD version and lays them down one a side.