Electro

Review: Ready for another All Nighter? Not the boring work or study related round-the-clocker we sometimes have to endure but the fun ones when you never want the party to end. This one (the second from the anonymous artist this year) even tells the tale of the best sunrise/sunset sesh. 'Dial A Deal' is the pre-drinks prep. Full of energy and a little analog edge. 'The Empress' plays the consummate role of the club itself, devouring you with her softer focus, rippling 90s synths. 'This Is The Way' is full mission mode, locking you in way beyond your bedtime before the sprightly Ian Pooley-style jacking shimmers of 'Second Sun' soundtrack your blissful mooch back home. Sweet dreams.

Review: As any electro-head will well know, AUX88 is one of the original Detroit pioneers. Back in 2008 he dropped this EP and now leading Dutch electro titans Creme Organization's Classics offshoot remasters it and reissues it complete with a bonus joint from DJ K1. 'Electro Muzik' is fierce from the off, with vocoded vocals and squelchy bass ripping up raw analogue drums. 'Interstellar Funk' is pure and perfect body music, with super-funk in the drum and bass combo and smeared sci-fi chords bringing all the feels. 'Alia Life Form' is another dark interplanetary trip then that DJ K1 tune 'Just Don't understand' locks you in a hall of reflective melodies and restless bass.

Review: The mysterious C-Lektro continues to run anonymously amok with their crisp, authentic electro designs. As always in this white label series there's no info or track titles, just ice cold breakbeats, stark, emotional musicality and vibes across the spectrum; those in need of a deep space trip and layers of elements to get lost in head for the opening 'Track 1', those looking for more of a body high jump on the thick switchy beats of 'Track 4', those in need of turning inside out and hurling around the room go direct to the head-turning rudeness of 'Track 6'. Raw.

Review: Following this summer's 'Night Of Tapes', mystery person D.A.B returns on what we believe is their own imprint Signal Unknown with three more retro-futurist adventures. Each cut dipping into the primordial techno soup, at once we're fired with references from electro to acid house to classic Chicago feels. 'Offspring' starts the engine flexing its (Mr) Fingers with glee before 'Disnix' creeps up the rear with rolling acid breaks and late entering synths that change the vibe entirely. Flip for a trip to Detroit with the solemn but hopeful moves of 'VHS' before 'Young Modulus' closes on an electroid b-boy flex... With a little extra breakbeat magic laced in for good lino-spinning measure. Roger that?

Review: Another week, another killer electro outing from Dmx Krew. This one is a rather surprising one even for an artist who has done as much as Ed Upton, however: it's an EP of Level 42 covers that remoulds the English jazz-funk band as a collection of future funk robots. A real labour of love and a sincere tribute to the band Upton loved as a youth, 'Turn It On', 'Love Games' and '43' are the tracks he tackles. They all came on the Isle of Wight band's much acclaimed self-titled debut album in 1981 and here are kept true to their originals, but with plenty of synths and drum machines in place of the live instruments and a vocoder doing all the vocal work. The results will bring a smile to anyone's face.

Review: Sweden's Stilleben is an all action electro label that for a third time - twice solo once as part of a VA - welcomes back IXRQ for five more fine excursions to distant astral worlds. The nimble bass and tinny hits of 'Comprised Of Wires' opens up in widescreen fashion and 'Dream In Data' follows a similar path, with melancholic pads draped over busy bass. The smooth cyber-funk continues on 'Frank' before 'Quartz' starts to get a little more introverted as life on planet earth grows an ever more distant memory. The best comes last though with 'Time Travel' being a bleeping, twitching brew of coruscated bass and bright synths.

Review: Spaniard Martin is based in Almeria and his fourth EP is another fantastic fusion of different sound worlds - electro, synth pop, dark wave and disco. 'Frothy' is a melancholic excursions with moody vocoder vocal sounds offset by a more optimistic melody. There is more urgent fair on 'The Tycoon' and walks n foreign lands on 'Desolate Wood'. All the tracks brim with analogue machinery and snapping hits, with plenty of extra character coming from the vocals. 'Speck Of Dust' is the most forlorn and melodic of the lot, while the tenderness of 'Little Blue Housecoat' also makes a good impression.

Review: Fresh from dropping a fine mini-album on Djak-Up-Bitch (DUB), rave-loving electronic fusionist Quadratschulz (real name Carsten Schulz) pops up on Golden Pudel's admired Pudul Produkte label for the very first time. It's a rather cheery and ear-pleasing collection all told, with the sometime Shipwrec artist focusing on combining cheery and colourful synthesizer melodies with a variety of eccentric, on-point machine rhythms. The pick of the bunch is arguably surging opener 'Duke of Sealand', where Schulz usual sparkling electronic lead lines dance away atop skittish, high-octane beats and a rubbery, funk-fuelled bassline. That said, there are plenty of treats elsewhere across the EP, with the classic '90s IDM flex of 'Gestalt' and the deliciously tactile, acid-flecked deep house colour of 'I Don't Believe' standing out.

Review: 20/20 Vision continue to celebrate their renewed electro vigour with the third part in the Exit Planet Earth series, once again calling on a crack team of machine funkers to deliver the robo-goods. Radioactive Man is up first with 'One Out', which finds the original Lone Swordsman on impeccable form teasing and testing his rubbery synth flex around a needlepoint groove. Annie Hall follows up in fine style with the dreamy lilt of 'Invisible Dust', while Sansibar locks into something a little dirtier on the dungeon boogie of 'Tamagotchi'. VC-118A's 'Moss' completes the set in a spellbinding fashion, dropping the tempo for something a little more exploratory with plenty of mystical atmospheres and tweaked FX fills marking out an evocative soundscape.

Review: On his previous EPs and singles for the likes of Natural Sciences and Emotsiya, Vaseline Sunny Seppa AKA Sansibar has proved adept at delivering otherworldly, off-kilter electro that pairs icy melodies with warm chords, angular acid lines and beats that pop and crackle with giddy dancefloor intensity. "Targeted Individuals", his debut album, expands on this, in part by wrapping his futurist visions in emotive chord sequences, melancholic motifs and occasional bouts of paranoid intensity. It's a blueprint that guarantees far-sighted and ear-catching thrills, with the album's brazen club cuts - see the foreboding hustle of "My Mind" and deliciously Kraftwerkian "Body Rock" - being outnumbered by deeper, more contemplative compositions. Impressive.

Review: Following up some great ones by Nutia, Lopal and JAJA, Berlin-based live musician Temple Haze joins the Tal der Verwirrung label. Fresh off his collaboration with Stil Vor Talent chief Oliver Koletzki, he presents a four-track debut vinyl full of mellow guitar, ethereal vocals and an intriguing, nebulous ambience. From the low slung island dream of 'Sylveren Soul' infusing neo-classical and deep house elements, to the vocal-led/pop-inflected downtempo ballad 'Wondering Why', there's also the moody and knackered shuffle of 'Movement'. Closing out the EP is the sun-kissed road trip balearica of 'El Mirador'

Review: New Flesh Records boss Umwelt returns with a searing new record that brings to a close the French producer's Future trilogy. It started back in 2015 with When Future And Past Collapse, then took in 2017's Encoding The Future on Shipwrec and still has lots to offer with this big finale. 'Escape The Future' is a haunting cut that keeps you on edge with its unsettling and glassy synths while 'Pionners From Earth' is slower, crispy and devastatingly final. There's more darkness from the depths of space explored on 'Wormholes Through Space' while 'Horizon Lost' kicks like a mule as it explores more contemplative moods.

Review: Parisian alt-pop house Cracki return with a third instalment of their curious Memoires D'Elephant collection. Once again loaded with some of the label's brightest and most endearing artists across the cosmic pop, alt electro and deep house axis, this time highlights include Menage A Trois' Everything But The Girl-style lament 'Be Right Back', the playful digital Tropicana of LeonxLeon's 'Rokanbo', the sunset jazz of Chassol's 'Music Is God My Love' and the lively, up-tempo squiggles and giggles of Eliott & Voiski's brilliantly-titled 'The Friendship Spacecake'. And that's just the tip of this immaculately packaged double 12" iceberg. Beats you'll never forget.

Review: As if his Musar-released album Resa wasn't quite enough electronic soul soothing this year, experimental producer Jacob Wiltshire returns with another super-limited offering in the form of Aux 4424. A much more dancefloor-focused affair, taking in strong doses of breakbeat, bleep bass, jungle and electro, it's a dark, tense side to the Berlin-based producer. Highlights include the early J Majik style two-step slices on 'Land Of Dreams', the dub techno and jungle bubbles of 'Cornish Yarg' and the gentle breakbeat climax of the finale 'Hig'. Grab it while you can.