Minimal / Tech House Recommendations July 2015

Review: Fumiya Tanaka has been a guiding light of the little-known Japanese techno scene since the early '90s, and celebrated 20 years in production in 2014. Here he enters his 21st year as a producer by delivering his first 12" for Bruno "Cleymore" Santos's Pluie/Noir label. Opener "Abacus Avenue" is typically undulating, with skippy, minimal-influenced rhythms, wonky bass, clandestine vocal samples and trippy effects combining to excellent effect. There's more hypnotic, bass-heavy swing to be found on flipside "Himegami Marathon", a formidable late night shuffler whose power seems to derive from the subtlety of Tanaka's alien electronics and skewed, barely audible melodies.

Review: Romania's Adrian Niculae and Ionut Arapu are Super Moon and together they make effective and tool-wise minimal techno in a distinctive Perlon flavour. Their collaboration comes through Niculae's own Motif Records, home to some of the most sought-after club music that's booming out of Bucharest. "Track 1" is a sweltering piece of itchy floor minimalism, and "Track 2" drops in some synths in the background for good measure. The final "Track 3" is a little darker and murkier around the edges, adding in a subtle layer of dubby delays and minute chords - the winner of the lot!

Review: The third vinyl installment from FarFromNormal features an excellent 4 track EP from the young, Romanian producer Groovesh, riding high off his impressive remix of Jamie Haus' "Meiose". The record enchants throughout thanks to the deep and dubby feel of Groovesh's minimalist production style. Slowset commences with "Arrow", a subtle, slow burner with a contagious bass line and a hint of dub, augmented by the classic grooves achieved on "Rewind". The title track opens the B-side, featuring similar levels of rousing bass and rhythm along with two warm synths that brighten up the vibe and offer a refreshing twist. For a finale Silat Beski remixes "Slowset" and turns in an invigorating breakbeat reinterpretation.

Review: After years of organising parties, bringing cutting edge underground talents, Colt starts it's own imprint launching with a three tracker by Hamid. Three original cuts where the French born-Berlin resident shows his love for modular-influenced, weird, late-morning sounds. In Cacoethes Carpendi, Hamid finds his way through to deliver his very own hallmark thanks to his quirky and peculiar way of seeing dance music.

Review: Presented in 5mm spine, LTD edition full-artwork colour sleeve which fits Parts 1-3. Having scored on Mosiac, Bodyparts and Project London, Kashawar returns to Autoreply to complete his critically acclaimed "Moments & Lost Memories" series. Here the young German star steps up with "Time Cures" a hook driven weapon possibly paying a slower respect to Mill's "Purpose Maker" releases. MPC style swing infects the groove on "Rise and Shine" adding soothing vocals and subtle acid lines to Side A. Flip the disc for deep, funking atmospherics on "Knotting" and "Spheres" adds some of Kashawar's early morning dub magic to the package. Look out for repressed Parts 1 & 2 to complete your collection!

Review: 11 years on from DJ Koze's one and only commercial mix, 2004's All People Is My Friends for Kompakt, the Pampa boss lines the 50th DJ Kicks mix, following high profile contributions from Nina Kraviz and Actress. This vinyl edition offers the best of both worlds really, featuring some 17 highlights of Kozalla's selection in their original form spread across two slabs of vinyl whilst !K7 have also thrown in a CD copy of the mix so you can hear how it's all done Koze-style. As you'd expect Koze presents one of the more far-reaching selections in the series, with Madlib-produced Freddie Gibbs nestling up alongside William Shatner, Boards of Canada remixes, Broadcast whilst the likes of Marcel Fengler, Session Victim and Frank & Tony offer some deepness.

Review: France's Djebali just keeps on giving with through his self-named label and this Two Diggers 12" is another testament to the guy's shimmering quality when it comes to tailoring house beats. "Jungle Boogie" is dusty, swinging and utterly primed at the dancefloor, and there's also REda daRE remix which heads further down the rabbit hole thanks to a total strip, leaving the hi-hats to lock the groove. Further dubby house business on "House Music On" and "Number One", two licks which can act as both tools and background ambience rhythms. Effective, slick and quality as per usual.

Review: Ricardo Villalobos has clearly found a kindred spirit in former Sun Electric and Moritz Von Oswald trio man Max Loderbauer. The duo has been remixing together for some time, delivering some notable reworks, including a stunning minimal jazz re-imagining of Nightmares on Wax's "Aftermath". Safe in Harbour marks the Berlin-based pair's first original work together under the Vilod alias, and continues their theme of melding elements of fizzing jazz, minimal, and dub techno. It's an impressive set, all told, full of wonky, off-kilter fusions of live instrumentation - most notably some brilliant drumming - glitchy electronics and a Berghain-friendly attitude. In fact, it may be Villalobos' most impressive studio work to date.

Review: After releases on Saints & Sonnets and Stay Underground, It Pays, Berlin artist Quell aligns with the MIL label for the four track Tomahawk which further cements his reputation for no-nonsense, stripped back house and techno music. "Size 7" sets the tone, a dark, underground roller with a trilling bassline and acidy bleeps that sits nicely alongside the shimmering chords and deep dubby vibes of "Monolame". On the B-side, Harhead leads with fluid percussive rhythms and sequential kick drums to give an immediate groove-intrinsic melody. The energetic, groove-led tone continues into the last track, "Where Are They Now", a Dark, techno-fused stripped back rhythm track with an acid tinged-feel.

Review: Project London has been carrying the minimal techno dynasty over on the British front for the last two years, and they've also been responsible for bringing out new and exciting talent in the game. As such, Romania's Einzig is called up to carve his name on the label's eighth outing; the dude begins with "Dupa 5", a track which could easily be on Perlon and/or in the hands of Villalobos at one of his marathon DJ sets. Flip it over and you have the odder "Primavera Straina", another glitch and itchy minimal belter with intricate percussion shots and heavy-bottomed basslines.

Review: The Legendary Lightness strikes back. The Zurich based Indie-Folk Band sees the debut on new founded label Zukunft Recordings including a brilliant remix by swiss legend Ripperton, already charted by the likes of Dixon, Ame and Mano Le Tough to name just a few. Soon to be followed by part 2 including remixes by Kejeblos and Frank Wiedemann from Ame/Howling.

Review: 22 Digit Records are proud to present the second release from their vinyl only off shoot 22 Digit LTD. Pressed up on a limited run of red and black coloured marble vinyl, the release features original music from YokoO along with remixes from Trus'me (Prime Numbers), Clio (Drumcode/Saved) and label boss duo William Welt & Peter Bartram.

YokoO has been involved with 22 Digit since its inception and the label are proud to be welcoming him back for his third release. His last outing on the label was picked up by Jozif and featured as part of his Balance Mix CD released in 2013 and since then the follow up has been highly anticipated.

This is a truly diverse release that crosses the boundary between house and techno with something to suit all moods and tastes in one mammoth package.

Review: Lorenz 'Recondite' Brunner enjoyed a typically fruitful 2014, delivering much hyped material for Hotflush, Dystopian and Innervisions, the latter releasing his third album in as many years. This first 12" of 2015 sees him transfer to Life & Death for two more forays into the world of atmospheric tech-house. As usual, the rhythms are quietly effective, with fuzzy, reverb-laden bass to the fore, and the melodies sparse but attractive. This is most notable on the crystalline flipside "Serak", though there's a similar formula behind lead cut "Think Twice". He fills out the sound space a little more on that track, though - as ever with Brunner's productions - it's the space around the elements that impresses most.

Review: The Untold Stories returns with another double vinyl collection, this time divided into two chapters: Chapter III and Chapter IV. All begins with an extended work by Denis Kaznacheev. Then tracks by Vlad Caia and Kaitaro complete the first record. The second record, Chapter IV, begins with a warm and laid-back work by Ivan Lopez, followed by a distinct Andrey Zots remix. The final side, begins with a track both playful and eccentric by Zefzeed, and the chapter is complete with an ethereal lightness from Verrina & Ventura. So as a collection, 3 darker moodier tracks on the black Chapter III record, and four lighter tracks on the transparent yellow record of Chapter IV, make for another exciting release from The Untold Stories.

Review: Vadim Svoboda has been making music since 2011, releasing most of his output through Matt Edwards and Jamie Fry's DBLR label. This time, however, the plucky producer lands on Holland's Patterns imprint - home to artists such as Patrik Skoog since 2003 - for a bit of a showdown. "Pattern 64" is a true hybrid monster, a tune which boasts a fat, growling bassline and half-time beats at a house tempo. Flip the wax and you have "Pattern 65", a considerably tamer affair which verges on the minimal end of things thanks to its chug-a-lug beats, dubby sonics and intricate patterns of percussion. Strong stuff, don't let it slip you by...

Review: After a string of recent outings for the likes Cardinal, among others, Belgium's Ilario Liburni returns to Invade Records with four knee-deep house nuggets. "Right" is spacey and cinematic thanks to its backdrop of synths, "Doom" has a straighter edge and a dubby kinda groove, while the flip sees the sludgy echoes of "Uhn Doos" warp across the beat, and we even get a masterful remix experience from deep house stalwart Sascha Dive. Lovely.