Review: Italian talent Giuseppe steps up to Loft Records with a trip back to the 80s. He fuses everything from Italo house to post-punk, techno and synth pop into these warming grooves and does so with a fine array of hardware tools including the Yamaha DX7, Korg monologue and Behringer Crave, all of which lend their distinctive palettes. 'Flying Minds' is a musical techno opener with singing leads and crunchy beats, and that bright sense of melody also defines 'This Is My Show' and the playful, angular grooves of 'No More Dark Music'. 'Takinti' shuts down with the rawness of a proto-house cut and sugary synths of a classic Italo gem.
Review: Spain's Tensegrity Records makes its debut with a release that locks together rhythm and atmosphere like well-fitted joints in a wooden lattice. Founded by Babu, the label takes its name from the concept of tensegrityistructures held in equilibrium through tension and compression. That same principle underpins these five tracks, where restraint and release shape the groove. 'Tensegrity' sets the foundation, interlocking elements with a patient, tensile flow. 'Erase una vez' nods to electro and new wave, its synth lines tinged with nostalgia, while 'Meritocracia' stretches out into lush, contemplative territory. On the flip, 'Romi' leans into shadowy, percussive minimalism, its tribal pulse threading through negative space. 'Structural Stress' closes with a rawer energy, drawn from personal upheaval yet channelled into something direct and resolute. With only 200 copies pressed, this first transmission from Tensegrity Records feels not just meticulously crafted, but necessary.
Review: The song 'Satisfaction' by Benny Benassi is not just a song, but a scandalous brain-imprinting; whether it elicits groans, shocked gasps, or recognitive gleeful smiles remains irrelevant, past the simple fact that you remember it. And we know you remember 'Satisfaction'. This is a song whose effect on the dance music scene is unavowable to some, and many a deep-head producer will not allow this fact to themselves. But now Dance On The Beat Italy enshrine its impact at last, not with a direct look back at the original but with three new dubs from Isak, Greece and Sfact. Each new mix brings out the original song's farting, taunting bassline to squeezed but snazzily clear effect - the cheeky, almost criminal minimality of the melody is not once sacrificed - with the emphasis on the "extended mix" affirming that total satisfaction isn't ever again achievable after the original experience - only in incomplete doses. Repeat, reissue, ident perceptions... Sfact's version of the rarer B-side 'No Matter What You Do' is introductory to Benassi's robo-voiced, 21C outlook on style at the time, though it adds extra womps and sidechain effects for an added up-cheeking.
Review: Ali Berger has long been known for crafting soulful, dynamic house music whether through his label Trackland or releases on Spectral Sound, Clave House, Firm Tracks, and FCR. He also performs solo or with Davis Galvin as Hits Only when his unique touch always remains evident. This new 12" features four tracks that blend uplifting and introspective house vibes and it oozes class. Opener 'Sun Rising On Harmony' boasts an infectious bass line and melody, while 'Inside,' offers a classic acid house feel. On the B-side, you have the lovely 'Thoughts Like Light Snow' which delivers an alluring electro twist, while 'Mint Leaf' closes with a rich bass line and intricate details.
Review: Brique and Babu step up for two tracks each on this nice and cosmic new tech house offering from the Quinoa Cuts label. Brique get first with a deft blend of silky synth designs and snappy tech house drums. It's both driving and physical but nice and heady at the same time. His 'Customer Service Meltdown' has more textural, fizzy synths snaking their way through the crispy tech beats, then Babu's 'Apollo' has an acid-laced sound and cyborg vocals piped in. Last of all is 'American War' with more tight, bobbing beats and electro-tinged rhythms.
Review: Sweat It Out Records kicks off their tasty Sweat Sampler series with their first volume, cutting niftily across four exceptionally sweaty bops, spanning tongue-in-cheek deep tech reworks and downtempo disco delights. First off is the dream team of Cid and Havoc & Lawn, whom together deliver a hilariously effective house version of America's 'A Horse With No Name'; this is shortly followed by Saturday Love, Kon and Furious's 'Come Out', a rejigged nu-disco samosa packed with some rare vocal spices; then there's 'Give It To Me' by Marco Lys and Ben Miller, a bass-driven bouncer unafraid of lasershot winddowns, injunctive vocals and risers; and finally, there's Set Mo's 'Could I Be', the anthem of the bunch, whose buildup and drop is alarming, affecting, cumulatively awe-striking.
Ora Che Non Ho Piu Te (Benny Benassi club mix) (5:01)
Ora Che Non Ho Piu Te (Deborah De Luca remix) (5:47)
Ora Che Non Ho Piu Te (DJ Ralf remix) (8:37)
Ora Che Non Ho Piu Te (Samuele Sartini - Nicola Zucchi remix) (4:41)
Review: Amasser of over 100 million streams in 2024, 'Ora che non ho piu te' ('Now I No Longer Have You') was one of Italy's top electropop hits of 2024. Attracting a panoply of remixers for use in their own DJ sets, Mondo Groove now commit four of the choicest of said redoings to a vinyl press, enlisting such first magnitude stars as Benny Benassi and DJ Ralf. Progressing through fine layers of burbling synth and cooing sentiment, we're most taken, however, by Samuele Sartini's closer, which the roar of crowds into descending synth beneficences, causing all heaven to break loose.
Review: Dagobert & Kalson deliver the third instalment of their serial Stellar Mode project, which sticks out like a rogue planet amid a sea of drab and unremarkable stylistic orbiters. This four-track cosmic fulguration consists of two tracks by each artist, and is notable for its ultra-glossy action-packed ambient breaks content; they've just done something wonderfully extra to the sound here, treating each element like exoplanetary objects of study and refinement. As Kraftwerkish sequences and ambient soundscapes collide with planetary ring systems of bass and plucksynth, what's not to love here?
Review: Ferrari's Terrooooir takes a more restrained approach to electronic music, with each track unfolding at its own pace. 'Terrooooir' kicks things off with steady percussion that forms a solid foundation, while the atmospheric synths gradually build tension without overwhelming the listener. 'Echoes of Silence' leans into ambient territory, the bassline providing a subtle drive beneath the delicate pads, creating a sense of calm. In contrast, 'Midnight Mirage' adds more bite with syncopated rhythms that bring a bit of urgency, though it never disrupts the EP's overall flow. Closing with 'Fading Light,' the track combines melancholy with an undercurrent of energy, leaving a lasting impression with its refined balance. Ferrari's ability to create space and movement within each track shows a strong command of electronic music's subtleties.
Review: Juaan's debut on Kalahari Oyster Cult channels the Argentinian producer's ability to merge gritty, hypnotic house and electro with an unmistakable dark edge. With these four cuts, he expertly navigates a sonic landscape where urgency and allure coexist in perfect harmony. 'O Bianco O Negro' opens with a deep, rolling bassline, leading into acidic bursts and sharp percussive hits. It's a track that demands the dancefloor's attention, moody and relentless. 'Ladron' takes a slightly more sinister turn, with rumbling synths and a touch of tension, while still maintaining Juaan's fluid, dancefloor-driven momentum. Over on the B-side, 'Puntual' drops into an intricate mesh of stuttering rhythms and hypnotic arpeggios, perfect for those late-night sessions. Closing with 'Apego,' he draws the EP to a close with a darkly seductive groove, laced with eerie atmospheres and an unyielding forward motion. Informed by 90s influences but firmly grounded in the present, the EP delivers the kind of atmospheric, high-octane dancefloor heat that's made Juaan a standout talent in the underground scene. It's dark, sleek and perfectly calibrated for the dancefloorian intoxicating blend of funked-out futurism and dystopian allure.
Review: Who are the internet OGs, and who has a right to claim the internet as territory anyway? Present day acid house musician Rio Kawamoto queries us this in EP form, blasting us right on back to the era of static gif-laden webpages and firewall chinks, before platform-centric neoliberal whitewashing of the internet took hold. From 'Straight Outta GeoCities' to 'AOL' to 'Marathon 2', this is an extremely compelling time capsulate of the late nineties and noughts internet told through the lens of acid house. The EP makes deft use of noizy flat beats, farty cyberspatial sound design, and offbeat Kylie Minogue-ish organ hits for good measure (on Mogwaa Calle's version of 'Real Player'). The saying "you've got mail!" will never get old, not least when you find this one in package form on your doorstep.
Review: Kitchen Plug is a Parisian trio that seeks to combine "the rebellious energy of punk and the synth-driven chaos of electro." This new EP on Chat Noir does bear that out with some playful and quirky cuts packed with fresh sound designs and charming vocals over some effective drum programming. 'A New Kind Of Peace' is a hooky opener with a carefree vibe, 'L'amante (feat Vica)' brings some disco licks and 'La Nuit' gets more raw and direct. 'Confusao' is a balmy and widescreen number that encourages you to daydream and 'Captain Nikouze' shuts down with some pixelated synth madness.
Review: "Underground dance music" got its name for a reason: the black market is where the good stuff is! The ninth release on the underground-allusive, daytime-elusive Undergroove label moot a congregation of sound spivs, turntablist tricksters, deep house dealers, and many other scraggly clientele, for a fresh and unregulated yield of homegrown Lyon talent. Said to have channelled electro house and garage house going in, lord knows what has come out the other side, but we can aver its dankness: Lazer Man and and Funktroid nod to twin moods of desperation and forbearance commonly seen in criminal underworlds, with the stoic grind of the street represented in unfazed, steely electro beats. Real fiends only let loose on the B-side, where Local DJ's 'Dreams Of Radio' and Aladdin's 'The Ali-ens' quell any residual fears through glitchy purples and ghostly tech backings.
Paradise City Breakers - "The Butterfly Man" (6:42)
Review: A quirky new ambient electro follow-up to the 'Quadrifonia' V/A from Positive Not Happy, with wicked contributions from The Lumens, AT, Floog and Paradise City Breakers. From the jump, we're hit with bursty bright arps and hard-hitting kicks on 'Transformazione'; gurgling, bitcrushed, yoying groundswells on 'Ga Ga'; lo-fi ruminative movements verging on speed garage with 'Deviate'; and creative, dynamic future swellups on 'The Butterfly Man'. Mostly breezy, hardly cheesy.
Review: Antoni Maiovvi returns to Cosmic Club with an EP destined for classic status. Drawing from 15 years of experience, his fusion of disco, synth beats, and Italo influences shines. 'Lucidario' opens with Moroder-esque grandeur, cinematic and mesmerising. 'Cenotaph' echoes Legowelt's spirit, blending pop sensibilities with intrigue. 'Cyberia' closes the Side-1, mysterious and alluring. On the Side-2, 'Ghosted Again' ignites the dancefloor with dark Italo-disco energy, while 'Levitation Technique' explores ethereal realms. 'Today Is Yes' brings a satisfying conclusion to the album in an impressive way. Each track is a sonic journey, showing Maiovvi's diverse influences woven into a coherent whole. His work resonates alongside Gesloten Cirkel and Dopplereffekt, solidifying his future classic status.
Review: Occibel cranks up the decibels on this new outing for the fledging label Playful. The artist taps into a fresh tech and minimal sound from the off with 'Behind The Walls' spinning out on disco stabs and phased basslines. The kinetic 'Look Around You' then pangs more prickly drum programming and spaced-out synth work with sensuous spoken words and 'Freak' layers up balmy pads and bright, shiny and sugar melodies for a nice colourful exploration. 'The Mess' shuts down with more menace thanks to its monstrous bassline and snappy drum hits.
Review: Who know what Ian Dury would make of this? Uabos delivers a robotic electro-techno interpretation of the Blockheads' very own 'Reasons To Be Cheerful'. On the new Loud Enough A1, 'The Future' translates Dury's quite reasonable refrain from "cheerful" to "dismal", and his admittedly imperfect list is replaced with a monotony of calculative and computational ends: to "calculate (our) own future", for example. Over-dutiful future planning is indeed perhaps the only reason at all to be dismal! The EP unfurls over two further mechanoid tracks, with 'I Need A Freak, Hear What I Say' intuitively likening bodily movement with Q-filtered modulars; both tracks are new favourites indeed.
Dirty Summer 2k6 (Greg Acess & Mafia Mike remix) (6:39)
Review: Another killer reissue here from the unrivalled team at ZYX who look back to the early 2000s for Dirty Summer, an energetic electronic album by Joy Kitikonti. This one very much captures the essence of summer nightlife and dancefloor thrills while fusing house, trance and euro-dance influences with big shiny beats and catchy melodies. Its uplifting sound is as infectious as a virus and the melodies are more sugary than a mountain of Haribo, all of which are designed to keep you moving and fill your hart with the sort of carefree fun that euro-dane is all about. It's an electrifying soundtrack for any party.
(What Did You Expect From) Sex With A Stranger (3:17)
Tennis Song (2:24)
I Feel Like Shit (2:52)
Room 116 (3:03)
Leviticus 18 (0:26)
Abomination (3:19)
Lucky (2:12)
Smalltalk (2:29)
Lynks Thinks (3:51)
Flash In The Pan (5:40)
Review: After a long emergence in and adjacent to the South London underground music scene, producer, singer, performer and outlandish mask donner Lynks returns to the fore with the announcement of their debut album, Abomination. Moving between the well-paired, current twinnings of post punk, art pop, and rubbery electronica, Lynks lays down a whopping debut full-length here, commenting on casual hookup culture and queer psychic contemporaneity amid a brash and ironically relentless weirdo rave faux-schlock.
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