BETONKUST Vinilo y CD

Review: Dutchmen Betonkust and Palmbomen II are back on local institution Dekmantel, following up last year's well received Center Parcs LP - which was recorded in the bunker of an abandoned theme park. The retro, grainy and lo-fi qualities that characterise their work is evident again here on Parallel B. This time recorded in a bungalow somewhere in the Dutch countryside, it finds a distinct middle ground between Palmbomen II a.k.a. Kai Hugo's lo-fi classic house aesthetics and Betonkust a.k.a. Swiere Westveen's taste for gritty electro, acid and Italo sounds. It pays fictional homage to a now deceased famous TV star, who instead on working on the screen, took up a new direction in making music.

Review: For the ninth series of Dutch powerhouse Dekmantel's 10 year celebrations they have quite a compelling assortment of tracks, however diverse they are. On the A side we have the Salon Des Amateurs affilated Jan Schulte aka Bufiman serving up yet another oddball groove in the form of "Hymn To The Moonface" (Break mix) an almost new jack swing sounding jam crammed full of lush FM synth textures to boot. We should mention now that colleague and fellow SDA resident Lena Willikens appears later with the spooky and steely brooder "Neue Obakel". The '80s vibe continues courtesy of lo-fi house hero Palmbomen II (with a bit of help from Betonkust) on the neon-lit "Onrust Bij Tihange". On the flip is Irish hi-tech soul merchant Space Dimension Controller with our favourite of the bunch: he takes you deep into the cosmos with his emotive journey "Hindsight '92".