Electro charts

Review: For its ninth release, Gamine knocks it out of the park again with Konerytmi's new five-track EP. This release is a heartfelt tribute to the 80s, but it offers more than just nostalgia-it's an interpretation of the era's distinct musical style. The tunes capture the iconic timbres, drum sounds, melodies and harmonies of the 80s so take you back to that time on a wave of killer electro rhythms that are both vibrant and fresh but driving and club ready. If you're longing for the 80s but don't have a time machine, this 12" is the perfect way to relive the music of that decade.

Review: Antoni Maiovvi flaunts an aerated, sunspotty sound on 'Knights of New Haven', blending Ned West Coast influences and US machine music. 'Later Not Lately' pulses with light kicks and ruffling hi-hats, echoing Chicago house and flavoursome tech trance; Legowelt (Danny Wolfers) reimagines it with serrated snares and a gritty TB-303 bassline. 'Slack Blabbath' weaves staggered synths and sharp percussion, and closer 'The Madness In The Method' swirls static-laced drums around eerire bass, balancing Maiovvi's horror-disco roots with bold house rhythms. This EP is a dark, driving, and grand fusion of electronic styles, veering increasingly crushy and redux-happy. Legowelt's snare is especially oomphy, and the closer's synths especially brooding.

Review: Anbau's debut on Bordello with a Giro d'Italia themed EP pays homage to the legendary riders of the race, notably the late Marco Pantani. Coinciding with the 108th edition of La Corsa Rosa, celebrates Pantani's iconic victory at Passo del Mortirolo in 1994. Inspired by disco and nu-disco, the tracks exude energy and rhythm reminiscent of the exhilarating atmosphere of the race. Each copy includes a limited edition sleeve adorned with a rare original Merlin collector's sticker from the 78th Giro in 1995, adding a unique touch to the release. With its blend of disco house and Italo disco, Anbau's EP is a vibrant tribute to the passion and determination of Giro d'Italia's heroic riders.

Review: Shannon's debut single from her debut album, 'Let The Music Play', defined an era. It was a huge crossover hit and one of four number ones from the American singer and was the start of the huge dance-pop sound that dominated for many years after. The gated 808 drums are one of the most popular sounds of the time (also heard on the likes of Phil Collin's 'In The Air Tonight') and here they are paired with some spaced out reverb, crisp snares and big keyboard stabs. It's prickly and futurist even mow, and that vocal is always going to get any club going wild. Two versions are served up here next to the original on a slick purple vinyl.

Review: Ruben Benabou marks out and identifies another sonic constellation; this is a rapid indie trance-dance four-tracker of galactic ambition and scale. Drawing inspiration from sci-fi soundtracks, and the warmer currents of electro, leaders 'Message To Nowhere' and 'Words In A Void' also recall the gladdened awe of space disco, with twinging leads skirting about the stereo like passing shooting stars. The Hacker's version of the title track plays back like an 8-bit minigame version of the main mission, with its pocket-generated drums, while 'A Thousand Nights' is a prime exercise in retro synthwave, and the perfect closer.

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: Vincent Fries second album as Italo Brutalo, the throbbing, darkwave and EBM-influenced heaviness of Heartware, has been given the remix treatment. There's eight high-grade, club-focused reworks to choose from, with our picks of a very strong bunch including CYRK's dark, twisted and funk-fuelled electro re-imagining of 'Reach Horizon', the glossy, big studio Italo-disco brilliance of Mufti's rub of 'Dream Machine' (think Stephen Hague producing the Pet Shop Boys circa 1986) and Shubostar's thickset, melody-rich, Bobby Orlando-influenced rework of 'Heat of the Night'. We'd also recommend checking out the two takes of 'Into a Sampler'. There's a raw, intense and breathless dark Italo-disco tweak courtesy of Fabrizio Mammarella, and a more chugging, atmospheric rewire by Kris Menace.

Review: Dandy was the alias of choice of Italian singer Alessandre Persone, who collaborated with a string of producers to craft Hi-NRG and 'Eurobeat'-powered synth-pop hits between 1987-91. 'For Your Heart' dates from 1989. Rooted in the kind of sing-along, Hi-NRG pop pioneered by Bobby Orlando but developed commercially by Stock, Aitiken and Waterman, the song is a genuine earworm and comes complete with weighty, arpeggio-driven bass, echoing drum fills and classic Italo-disco style stabs. The killer version is the EP leading, extended 'Mix version', though plenty will also reach for the jaunty and heavy instrumental take. The short bonus 'MYOM version' is a DJ tool that cycles through various riffs and echoing vocal snippets.

Review: Italo-disco originals International Music System released a handful of singles and two albums during the early-to-mid 1980s. Many of those killer cuts have been reissued over the last few years, leaving space for unheard tracks and remixes. This EP boasts both, starting with the previously unissued 'Ready To Believe' - a delay-laden blend of electro, synth-pop and Italo-disco topped off with a sweet female lead vocal. Most DJs will likely be interested in the trio of reworks of classic catalogue cuts stretched across the rest of the EP though. Fabrizio Mammarella delivers a raw, heavy, mind-mangling and lightly dubbed-out re-fix of 'Nonline', Franz Scala subtly breathes new life into the trio's early classic 'Dancing Therapy' - a genuine neo-Italo-disco treat - and Italo Deviance adds some sweaty, acid-flecked spit and polish to 'An English '93'.

Review: More musical "tricks that never fail to amuse at parties" (as the Party Tricks label describes its output), this time courtesy of Argentinian producer Tobi. Showcasing his deep love of 1980s Italo-disco, Hi-NRG and formative Eurodance/Italodance, Tobi delivers a quartet of cuts that wouldn't sound out of place on Dutch label Bordello a Parigi. Check first 'The D Spell', a vocoder-sporting fusion of fizzing synth sounds, colourful electronic riffs, electro-disco drums and jaunty Hi-NRG bass, before admiring the razor-sharp, late 80s synth-pop-goes-Euro-disco sounds of 'Abradanzabra'. Over on side two, the Random Access Memories era Daft Punk-influenced 'What We Yell' is joined by the kaleidoscopic synth sounds, bustling breakbeats and memorable organ riffs of 'Dias Mejores'.

Review: Queen of Coins unleashes a six-track journey into electro, Italo-disco and Detroit techno brilliance here that serves as a masterclass in dancefloor psychedelia. It's been crafted for DJs blending innovation with homage to legends like Legowelt, Drexciya and Francisco. From the hypnotic pull of 'Head Tension' to the electrifying pulse of '16K Cal,' this BPM adventure bridges past and future. Elsewhere 'Bring it to the Top' delivers rawness for every powerful sound system, while "Damaged Souls" offers a heartfelt reflection on life's haunting "what ifs."

Review: 22Recordings' latest dystopi-lectro outing takes the form of Lachina's second self-titled EP volume, bringing six edge-of-the-map microchip malfunctions to the replicant ear. Spanning every trace influence from chiptune to outrun to Italo, 2024 debutant Lachina continues to explore their very own brand of phlox purple electro, beginning on the twizzling opener 'Sogni E Ombre', marking the midpoint with the synthetic bass guitar pluckers '05.11.93' and 'What Is Love', and ending on the sampler vox-shot cheese-oozing that is 'The Violet Season'. Every track faithfully adheres to the sensibility of 80s synth music, while also getting away with things that only a contemporary artist of Lachina's calibre could.

Review: Red Laser has long been champion of what they call 'Manctalo' ie a fusion of Italo sounds with Manchester attitude. Il Bosco is next to contribute to that canon with The Darkroom EP. It's a limited edition four track that opens with 'Sexual', a throwback 80s disco jam with retro future pads and a great sense of mystery. 'Darkroom' then has big bright synth arps and chugging beats for expressive move-making in the club and 'Notio Botherdini' then gets a remix from the great Fabrizio Mammarella who turns everything up to 11. 'Darkroom' (Bob Swans remix) shuts down with an electro-tinged rhythm and lashings of cosmic goodness.

Review: Army of God's 'Salvation'' back in 2012 soon became a cult coldwave cut. It was the one and only release by the pair of Aroy Dee and Miss Jagroe... until now. More than ten years on they are back with 'Endless Skies' which is a new EP full of analogue warmth, signature synth designs and aching strings. Of course, Jagroe's unique voice features and brings extra allure to the beats. Aroy Dee steps up with an edit of the title cut and lays in some more form drums and pairs back the vocals to make things even darker. On the flip you'll find the throbbing bass and off-kilter keys of 'Fear the Night' with a dark version going even more into the shady unknown.