Review: This first new instalment of Drawing Tools's self-titled new series comes on hits splattered vinyl with five fresh names all contributing one tune each. Juan Panza's 'Found Quite Place' is first up and a smooth-as-you-like dubbed-out tech roller with smeared chords radiating real heat. Franco Cinelli & Esteban Gutierrez then join up for the brilliantly carnival-esque tech cut 'Piso 11' (feat Lux Z). Nacho Casco's 'Looperboy' gets more twisted, with gritty loops and busted bass amping up the energy levels. U-FO comes down with something more clean and serene on 'Reset'.
Review: Kulture Galerie is back with more wax and the third time proves a charm here with Doc Sleep, Rambal Cochet, The Jaffa Kid, Mesmerist, Jack Bags and Undsidedly all coming correct under the stewardship of label head Filippo MSM of Metropolitan Soul Museum. Cochet kicks off with some trance-infused prog techno, Doc Sleep offers jacked-up and analogue house, there is lithe cosmic tech from The Jaffa Kid and twisted machine sounds from Jack Bags, while Undsidedly's dreamy electro and The Mesmerist's peak time synth techno close down in style.
Review: Ulysses is the founder of Scatalogics Records and he first dropped this EP there back in 2003. More than two decades on it stands up to modern floors so gets a reissue courtesy of DAMN. 'Stripped Down' combines percussive house drums with free-roaming synth sequences and cosmic radiance into something bright and breezy. 'Immaterial' is a darker sound with gritty electronics and vocoder vocals for a retro-future feel. Both of these are the sort of characterful cuts to switch up the mood and groove in any set.
Review: Berlin's Keinemusik bring fresh amapiano flavours to the heretofore mostly minimal house label, courtesy of a fresh collab between label honcho Rampa in collaboration with newly welcomed wunderkind Swazi producer, Uncle Waffles. Named after the national genesis of singeli, among other recognisable dance styles - Tanzania - this is a still-steaming ambient amapiano number, one that will not, by our estimation, go unnoticed as a bridger of two sounds. The fast riser Uncle Waffles, a 24-year-old from Eswatini, has already graced Billboard as a progenitor of the next-gen amapiano sound, and 'Tanzania' here sees an official release remix-release, not long after the debut version of her single here has already climbed the charts.
Review: Cough & Laugh is a rather unusual name for a label and it deals in rather unusual minimal sounds. Following a couple of head-turning first EPs it now offers up this fine various artists release with a trip of tunes from a trip of new talents. Uniix's 'Mindegy' opens up with a glitchy mix of dry hits and sinewy sine waves all peppered with a freaky mix of vocal fragments. Shato's 'Nephilim' then takes a darker turn with ghoulish sounds and synth mutations over an icy beat. Dubfound takes over the flip side with 'Sonya Baskerville', a supple minimal rhythm with well-worked samples smeared into the kinetic mix.
Review: Only Music Matters keep it real once more with another superb EP from an unknown artist featuring loads of untitled tracks. And those tracks all operate in the world of minimal and tech house with fresh ideas and forward-thinking sound designs. 'AAA001A' is a dark one with paranoid vocals looped over churning beats and steely metallic hits. 'BBB001B' is more smooth and free-flowing with a dubby undercurrent and bumpy pads over a deft rhythm. 'BBB002B' adds a third and final different look - a more warped and elastic rhythm with some brighter melodic touches that will help shift the floor up a gear.
Review: This is a cheeky single-sided affair that contains a gently tooled-up, rolling and rearranged version of a Marlena Shaw-sampling jazz-house classic that is rightly considered something of a dancefloor classic. The edit itself is undoubtedly rather good, subtly adding a little more bottom-end grunt whilst making a little more of the original's snaking sax parts, much-loved vocal sample and groovy jazz percussion. You can decide or not whether the re-edit was needed; certainly, the mystery re-editor has done a rather tidy job on the rework.
Review: A new year always brings with it a wealth of new labels and 2024 is proving no different. The latest to fall in our laps is Unknown Musik from Spain, and the production credits on this inaugural EP also go to Unknown Musik, although the two edits are actually by Sadkiel. They first tackle 'Latin Flute' which has some nice fresh tech beats run through with Balearic guitars and soul samples that really bring it to life. On the flip is the more minimal styling of 'September' with its pulling low ends and raw percussion as well as some edgy stabs to keep things from being all too sweet.
Django (Daniele Baldelli & Marco Dionigi remix) (6:06)
Japanese Funk Machine (1984 version) (5:10)
Japanese Funk Machine (Delphi remix) (4:11)
Review: Unknownmix were Swiss-based singer Magda Vogel, electronic talent Ernst Thomas, Krautrock drummer Mani Neumeier and Hans-Rudolf Lutz and we have just unearthed some of their early classic in our warehouse. This time the outfit gets remixed on Mondo Groove by some venerated talents. 'Django' (1984 version) opens up with freaky and experimental vocal loops over percussive beats and then the Daniele Baldelli & Marco Dionigi remix has a more club-ready groove with loose percussive jumble and acid-infused synth bass lines. 'Japanese Funk Machine' is included in its original form and as a Delphi remix that flips it into a proto-house jam.
As It May Seem (feat Paul Brenning - Beat version) (6:26)
As It May Seem (feat Paul Brenning) (3:11)
Cult (6:07)
Blau Cel (8:11)
Review: microCastle's second release of 2024 sees Upercent return to the label with another great new EP. Since his debut in 2011, the Valencia-based artist has developed a unique style of electronic futurism with an experimental approach and often fresh creative vision. As such he has become one of the standout artists of the past decade and his first microCastle release, 2018's Vuit, marked the label's second vinyl project and featured contemporary club tracks and innovative sound explorations. Persevere continues with his signature aesthetic with tracks like 'Oracle', 'As It May See', 'Cult', and 'Blau Cel' offering immersive grooves and imaginative soundscapes.
Review: Premade heavyweight Obscure Shape and classically trained musician Conrad team up; Berg Audio proudly welcome them as a new duo addition to their roster, together under the name Urban CC. Throwing back to real-deal minimal-ambient techno of a steezy kind, something between Maurizio, Move D and Ghost, 'Pegasus' and 'Marly' cycle through fluttering dub techno and 1-2-step garage respectively, the latter bringing an eyebrow raising combo of yearnsome garge vocal science and pulsewidth techno shots, post-drop. 'Hadban' sneaks a cheeky drum & bass bullet train onto an otherwise techno-centric platform, marking Sleepnet-style vocal etherics and sold-on-us liquid. 'Shagya' finally restricts the mix, with a dubtech-house full of beeping, filtered vocal shouts; a Strictly Rhythm-meets-Chain Reaction contraction.
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