New releases last four weeks: Electro House

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.

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: The UK label Cartulis Music is celebrating ten years in existence in 2024 and we are happy to say, their 16th release might just be their best yet. PO's Satania's Diary is an otherworldly techno standout that seems to blend all kinds of futuristic genres into a sci-fi soundtrack that is their own. Electro, techno, trance, psy, IDM and some sort of 'wave' subgenre. Nu-Romantic perhaps? Technowave? 'L'etoile De La Mort' balances a cool sounding techno and electro edge that has a EBM tinge to it that we just can't get enough. Super spacey and eerie, this cut is too good to be true. 'Are You Sure' continues that similar motif, begging the question is goa-electro a genre? One of the most original records we've heard in a long, long time.

Review: Veteran producers Posthuman (cousins Richard Bevan and Joshua Doherty) own and run UK label Balkan Vinyl and it has a strong resume of releasing excellent IDM and electro since its first release in 2010. For this release they call upon a legendary friend Luke Vibert and together they've make a staggeringly great, joint EP. 'Still In Love' kicks off the record and brings Luke's familiar acid techniques to the party while sampling classic 80s and 90s dance tracks and samples within it. 'Android Webber' is quintessential sound Vibert is known for that balances a quirky IDM grit and a downtempo slow jam. For the B-Side, Posthuman offers the futuristic electro stormer 'Grad' followed by the sexy, slow burner 'Forever Circles'. A match made in acid house heaven.