Back catalogue: Electro

Review: You can always rely on Dublin's Lunar Disko Records to provide the heat; this time it's in the form of some heavyweight electro vibes by the industry's best and brightest. But this is no surprise given the imprint's invariable doses of quality. First up is Dutch maestro DJ Overdose with "Arecibo", a comparatively more pensive and introspective electro appearance than his usual work, but TR One's "Escape From Enceladus" takes this pensive sway of synths and crystal-like sonics to an even deeper level. Raiders Of The Lost Arp kick off the flip side with the smooth and suave flow of "Equinox", this one belonging more to the house end of the spectrum, whereas Automatic Tasty comes through with a quirky little digi number with the aptly odd name of "I Can't Find My Own Manual (How Therefore Am I To Restore My Factory Settings?)". A tidy little blast of synth-filled goods.

Review: There is never a lack of attitude when it comes to Fukuinn releases. This third one comes on a nice translucent blue vinyl 12" and finds a smorgasbord of producers serving up one tune each. Fazack kicked off with a sharp 'Look Left' that has powerful drum machines rhythms and neck-snapping percussion with talk box vox. Relaxant's 'Swamp Break' then layer up more jittery rhythms and coruscated synths and bass before Bohm layers up Chicago hosue drums with visceral acid lines and silvery drums on the expressive 'Acis Era Kicks.' Foreign Sequence's 'Finfemxtrd' closes in a hurry, with techno drums and twanging synths that will blow up the club.

Review: Electro monarchs Maelstrom, Locked Club and RLGN return to EP-making with a four-track array of acid bangers, happily working together on a split record to celebrate the pan-European electro scene. Their offering is unequal in quantity (2 Maelstrom and 3 Locked Club tunes) but is resolutely equal in heat; 'LA Nuit Est A Toi' is Maelstrom's standout, bleepy and suffocating in its generative, janky fright. Locked Club and RLGN follow up, 'Kill Me' being the best and most suicidally pushy techno track to soundtrack our nightmares.

Review: Loud Enough has readied its third outing and this one comes from the amusingly titled Raiders of the Lost Arp. As you can expect from the alias, this is music that leans heavily on arps. 'Funk009 (Otto-Zero-Out)' kicks off with thudding and taught house drums overlaid with rattling percussion and detuned synth hooks. 'Funk010 (Lava P)' hist harder, like an Italo Johnson party banger and then the flip side flips the script as it should: 'Funk006 (Drop)' has a more lively and lithe groove, brighter chords and an uplifting energy. Rounding things off is 'Funk007 (Circular)' , a cosmic looper with the best arps of the EP raining down the face of the gritty beats.

Review: Tel Aviv twosome Red Axes can always be relied upon to deliver trippy, mind-altering and left-of-centre music, regardless of what stylistic or rhythmic framework they're operating in at any given time. That assessment rings as true as ever on the duo's first Shall Not Fade outing. Opener 'The Electric', for example, mixes druggy and hallucinogenic electronic motifs with a throbbing, retro-futurist house groove, sci-fi synths and the creepiest of lead lines, while 'Next One Is Bill' is a twisted, brain-melting jack-track propelled forwards by a filthy TB-303 bassline. Turn to the B-side for 'The Bee', a buzzing, foreboding chunk of punk funk/dub-disco/dark house fusion, and the intoxicating mixture of music box melodies, restless Chicago house drums and clandestine sounds that is 'Axes in the Sky'.

Review: "Hope is not passive. Hope is not blah blah blah. Hope is telling the truth." So said the world's most visible climate activist Greta Thunberg in her pre-COP26 speech in Milan, blasting world leaders for inadequate (or near-non-existent) responses to the environmental crisis. Given we're 12 months down the line and the vast majority of promises made at said 2021 climate summit have not been actioned, with emissions continuing to climb, it's unsurprising direct action has turned much more direct and disruptive this year, and people are now sampling the young orator to amplify her message through music.

If that sounds like it may lack subtlety, fear not. Renude19 have managed to achieve something pretty difficult - a protest dancefloor track that doesn't ram things down your throat and works very well without you knowing that context. Essentially a dystopian-vibed broken beat synth workout with electro-pop vocals and occasional "Blah blah blah" hook, it's timely and well executed.

Review: The Club Vision label is hurtling towards its tenth release with another potent techno offering from underground favourite Riccardo - two c's. As always he brings plenty of character to his machine sounds, such as with the lazy bassline that underpins the cosmic tech of opener 'Ricordi'. 'Foulard' is another one with bright synths and naive riffs that hook you in while the thudding drums and steely snares drive things onwards. 'Parade' is a playful one again with wispy pads and whistling leads that convey a real innocence. 'Curtain' shuts down with a touch of trance and prog energy as the future tech grooves march on.

Review: Richard Lamb's second album under this alias, Salt Lick, is also most likely going to be his last. It is a special one though, as you would expect from the man born Ricard Wenger. The title tune opens with tribal hand drums and smeared synths next to twanging guitar riffs then 'A Life In Harmony' takes off on glassy melodies and celestial electro rhythms. Further deep space explorations follow as does the downbeat dreamscape 'May I Dance With You.' On the flip side are two tunes from one the most cult remixers in the game - DJ Sotofett, who twist sounds in his usual fashion into a pair of trippy electro skankers.

Review: Rise Black is Maxim Gkikaev, a producer based in southern Spain who also goes under the aliases Mitjun or Ocitin, and is part of the duo Psevdonym. He has released for Fil-Lex, Moustache and locals Another Perspective in recent years, but It is indeed a case of Bad Robot on this new one for Adjacent Possible. From the snarling acid electro bite of opener 'Alania', to the minimal EBM muscle of the title track and the truly dystopian bass dynamics of 'Laser Gun' - Gkikaev is not messing around here. Over on the flip, there are some mighty fine remixes which are equally as worthy of your attention. Benvol's electro-industrial sounding rework of 'Alania' retains that sick 303 squelch throughout, while PX's re-rub of 'Bad Robot' has an utterly majestic style of sonic futurism in the vein of legend Carl Finlow.

Review: Exclusively crafted for Satamile, these four dynamic electro and breaks tracks come from Roadking, one of Germany's top electro producers and known for his work with Elektrolux and Mikrolux. The man born Frank Rueckert delivers four electrifying electro tracks that are each defined by his distinctive style and sound - they are tunes infused with energy from the crisp and snappy drums of the title track to the more silky and loopy celestial sounds of 'Devotion' via the rugged metal snares and robotic vocals of 'Only Electro Music'. 'Silence' shuts down with a spraying synth lead that takes you into the future.

Review: Big week for Dutch imprint Gooiland Elektro who bring on the maximum possible bleakness; first with Radko and now with the foreboding hydra that is Roberto Auser and Melting Dogma. Auser aka Derk Reneman on side A contributes the typically Dutch greyscale electro snarl of 'Man With Dead Leg' followed by a mental slow techno cut 'Imperative'. On the flip, Melting Dogmas, a side project of 4cantons, continues to go at it full force with the hypnotic 303 tunnel vision of 'Wanting To Be With' followed by the body bashing IDM fury of 'Indistinguishable Indications'.

Review: The Rogue Filter label sure has a rogue profile. It claims to have been on the scene for over 30 years, but this is only the fourth release from the label. What's more, it has been three years since their last. Anyway, the fourth transmission is a banging one. 'Everything Can Become One' kicks off with blistered bass and squealing synths then 'Sinister Acts' is a bouncy analogue workout with reverberating bass to rattle walls. 'Sonic Countermeasures' gets more brutal, like intergalactic warfare, and closer 'Wife For Life' s a sleazy and ghetto fried cut for the bass lovers.

Review: Roi has released almost exclusively on the Fanzine Records label over the last four years and each time he drills down further into a celestial world of cinematic and atmospheric ambient music. The opener here, 'Cancer,' is one of his best - melancholic synths convey real loss as the drums ping about all over. 'Pena' has more resolve, a straighter back and tougher snares unsparing away beat the lullaby-like chords. There is plenty of drama in the more unsettled arrangement and course hits of 'Gracias' while 'Tigre' is a potent peak time workout with bleeping tones and a distorted lead line taking centre stage.

Review: There are few more decorated and respected electro artists than Anthony Rother. He has been kicking out the jams for decades and seen many electro trends come and go while doing so. His own sound is in constant flux and next up is an out on Bad Manners that finds him in fine form over four cuts. First is the fizzing and visceral 'Trooper', with bumping drums and robotic vocals firmly nailed to the floor. 'Male Function' is another bulky and macho cut with blistering bass and 'Eighty Four' has thundering synths over rugged drums. 'Com' closes out with an industrial edge.

Review: The mighty Unknown to the Unknown shuts down another superb year with one more vital EP, this time from RTR who brings some top-shelf electro. 'Cercle' kicks off with all manner of mind-bending beeps, synth squeals and hyper-speed drums that make for quite the frenzied vibe, while 'Blue Talisman' gets even more blisteringly quick and brings some molten acid into the mix. 'Dark Tequila' kicks off the flip with a more mid-tempo sound but one still alive with unhinged synth details and squelchy machine noises and 'Tenkick' then brings this most unhinged EP to a close with menacing leads and metallic drums.

Review: YTP, Raw Takes, Ole Mic Odd & Alonzo, and Chupacabras are all back once again for some more authentic sounds from the underground. These more than able producers land on a hand-stamped translucent green wax 12" that marks the second installment in the Source Material Various Artist series. Just like the first, this is a monster outing with four searing electro cuts that bring intergalactic warfare to any party. '116ctro' is a visceral cut with corrugated rhythms and zippy synths. 'And We Rock' has a funky broken beat and tons of reverb and 'Compassion' slows it down a touch but has lashing synths and thunderous kicks to keep you moving.

Review: Milan's Radko first appeared a few years back on Enfant Terrible with the Cherno PPP / Brutalista ?(7') and finally resurfaces with this full-length for sublabel Gooiland Elektro titled The Dirt On Caligula. Described as darker, harsher and more daring, the album takes you deeper into their industrial sound. Opener 'Hip Dork' is a contorted kind of techno derivative that lunges straight for the jugular, while the paranoid and dystopian atmosphere created on 'Manfria' sets the scene in dark ambient style before unleashing a barrage of electro beats. Over on the flip, the gloomy vocal cut 'Leper Colony' takes influences from darkwave, ending with the punishing and abrasive grind of 'Volga' which is pitch black.

Review: Andy Rantzen's Return to the Source is a classy trip to the heart of the dancefloor. It's a contemporary fusion of spangled deep techno, percussive rhythms and heavy electronic funk that is layered to perfection and designed to rearrange your band as much as shake your limbs. There is a lithe feeling to the rhythm of 'The Blender' that really gets you going before glitchy minimal tech on 'Return To The Source' and then old-school electro bounce 'Energize (mix 2)' show Rantzen's range. Four more pieces on the flip explore four more moods and grooves from paranoid bass to sleek electro via winky techno. A Crucial EP for adventurous DJs.

Review: Twenty nine years ago (can you believe it) Alexander Robotnick released his first album, Ce N'Est Q'Un Debut, featuring what's arguably his most defining track "Problemes D'amour" with the Harajuku-cute vocals of Martine Michellod. It's this album that has influenced countless French synth pop acts and a horde of old school electro lovers, and all this time later it's been repressed (again) by the label that first released it, Medical. Keeping the sacredness of this LP firmly intact by sticking with the keyboard-head artwork, Ce N'Est Q'Un Debut - along with Man Parish's 1982 self-titled debut - should be in all of our record collections.

Review: Freeez founder John Rocca made these cuts between London and New York City from 1982 to 1987. Once Upon A Time in N.Y.C is a pioneering compilation of proto-electro and house cuts that, for this reissue, come on nice splattered orange vinyl. As well as the six standouts on the original abut, there is also a bonus 7" with two extra cuts, one of which is the international hit 'I.O.U.' Elsewhere, jams like 'Englishman In New York', 'I Dub U' and 'I Want It To Be Real' all still bang as brilliantly now as they did almost 40 years ago.