Pleasure Zone Germany Vinilo y CD

Review: Andrea Ferlin is the Italian DJ and producer who heads up the Sleep Is Commercial label. His latest release however comes courtesy of Germany's Pleasure Zone, featuring two advanced and breakbeat-driven minimal cuts. On the first side of Crepuscular Beats Part 2 is the lean and subtle groove business of 'Thai' featuring enough atonal blips and clipped rhythms to soundtrack Sunday morning mischief, while the equally reduxed B-side cut 'Varia' is another hypnotic affair benefiting from a sparse and experimental arrangement.

Review: The third edition edition of Frankfurt label Pleasure Zone's new limited series belongs to mainstay Ali Nasser from Romania, who serves up a smooth, rolling and ethereal groove on the great opener "Lyric Beat". Things get more uptempo and driven on the infectiously reductionist groove of "The Calling", which we particularly enjoyed for its angelic vocals that sound reminiscent of Cassy. On the flip, "Lyric Beats (arena version)" gets much darker, dubby and rhythmic; this abstract number is deep and will appeal to fans of Vid. Finally "There" gets some delightfully snappy breaks in, over a rolling groove that's just perfect for after-hours shenanigans.

Review: Veteran of the Frankfurt scene Frank Heinrich aka Reboot makes a surprising appearance on local underground imprint Pleasure Zone here with 'Bombons', a blissed-out and evocative minimal tech house journey that's strictly made for the afterhours slot, all the while retaining his idiosyncratic sound throughout. The sublime feelings continue over on the flip with the widescreen, steel drum-led melody on 'Tell Me' which goes deeper and triggers an even more emotional response. This is highly engineered microhouse by a modern master of the art.

Review: Romanian minimal-tech badboy, Silat Beksi, returns to the ever-impressive Pleasure Zone with pair of highly-crafted, ultra-sleek dance bangers that really put some style and panache into the whole scene. "Rolling Shapes", as the title implies, is a smooth and direct dancefloor bruiser that cruises at a steady tempo and yet still manages to pulsate its heavy bass with a distinctive style. On the B-side, "Trainline" gets even dubbier and more ethereal, retaining those swiping waves of bass, but adding in all sorts of quirky, off-the-cusp melodies for even more psychedelic fun. Class.