Review: Off Topic builds on its early momentum with a third outing if deep tech class from Antonio and Pir. Antonio get first with a cute vibe on 'We Sang We Laugh' which repeats the title's refrain over elastic and nimble drums. 'Danca Danca' its more heady with reverb-rich kicks and echoing vocals that bring a curious edge and then it is Per who takes care of the flipside. 'Mighty Blue' layers a smoky jazz line over weighty house kicks and 'Glass' shuts down with more sample madness.
Review: Burnski's high-quality Constant Black is back with more essential club-ready sounds. Donnie Cosmo and Pascal Benjamin step up for one side of action each. Cosmo's 'Holo Glitch' is first and pairs balmy synth work that is colourful and silky with some punchy tech drums and rolling bass that pulls you in deep. 'Echo Drift' is another lithe and lively one to get you on your toes while the groove flows and 'Airplane Mode' is another stylish mix of lush synth design and great rhythm. Benjamin's trio on the flip is a little more gritty with industrial-space-tech many the most fitting way to describe these curious cosmic cuts.
Review: New Theo Parrish? Yes please. The Sound Signature boss remains in a class of one and continually finds new ground to explore in the studio, often taking a freeform jazz mindset to roughed-up house and techno that blends the mechanical with the soulful in otherworldly, hypotonic fashion. 'Orange Barrel Action (Yellow Flashing Light mix)' is very much in that mould with lumpy drums detuned and off-grid keys and hissing hi-hats all coalescing into something seductive and subversive. 'Pianamonn' is a deep house foundation topped with weird and wonky keys in inimitable Parrish style.
Review: Neoclassic acid-from-garage movements from Peter Reilley aka. Persian, a favourite of the UK dance music scene since as long as anyone can remember. For 20 years, Reilly has gone his own way, operating in and on genre after genre, up-peggable as he is adept, blending breaks, digidub, electro, garage, house, and jungle across a repertoire of no less than 50 EPs. Though this release serves as his farewell, as Reilly formally steps back from music production, it beautifully showcases his skill in programming, with 'Questions 2' proving a sleight hand for twinging post-funk leads, and 'Questions 7' bringing unprecedented sci-fi desolations to an erstwhile jam-funky tune collection.
Review: Exarde Records welcome a new pair of engineered shock troops from The Netherlands: pH Project. Many a year spent raving and partystarting informed the basis of this turbulent affair in acid and psych-prog house, which consists in the murmurous 'Obvitrip' and the interstatic 'Intersafe' on the A1, tracks which complement each other's twin fluencies in both the downtrodden and the upbeat. 'Kres' completes the trifecta with a third round in the ring of squelchy, functional festi-house, while Levat's version of 'Thritrakk' casts any predilection or expectation aside with a cascadingly tense electro recto on the B2.
Review: Described as "the home of unnamed beats", North Macedonia label Pirka stand out as among the few to do it in their home locale of Skopje. On their fourth release, we've a new release from fresh but soon-to-stick producer PVC, who throws three new ones at the wall on an adhesive 12", and all them happen to stick. 'Door', 'Cocai' and 'Mode Dubs' chart a slow movement from functional to textural, stimulating every kind of floor-going soma out there, from thrill-seekingly impulsive through to the restrained and cerebral.
Review: The first release on this label came - as far we can tell, anyway - all the way back in 2022. Three years on, the second is another effective club weapon, this time with an electro twist. Pop Panic's 'Your Body' has mad heavy drums and maximal synth lines perfect for nice loud plays. Aut Zebel's 'Flipped Smile' takes off on a jacked up acid groove for peak time plays and DJ GLC lays in some high speed retro-future synth euphoria on 'Trance Dance' for emotional plays. G Punx shuts down with the gritted-teeth grooves and slamming bass of 'Electro Baked' for menacing plays.
Review: Prince De Takicardie delivers a new four-track set of tachycardial heart-racers as reinforcements to his own Prince's Castle, which is both a label and a proverbial princely citadel. This is also the Barceloni producer's second edition to the powered 'Force Bleu' EP series, matched colourfully by the equally propulsive 'Force Rouge' counterpart, for which there have also been two records so far. Increasing in both pace and intensity, this raw and jammy follow-up reaches its crescendo at the rough 15-minute mark with the hypnotic 'EX-ecute (Execution Mix)', which conclusively yields to mesmeric acid and mystical three-tone entrainments, contrasting the first three track's relative utilitarian sense.
Review: Cultured minimal craftsman Bruno Pronsato returns with two "motif-based" cuts for Logistic. Each one has interwoven motifs made from vocals, marimba, piano and pads which combine to play a game of peek-a-boo, constantly shifting throughout the pieces. Pronsato's balance of complex ideas yet accessible grooves allows each motif to stand out while also contributing to the overall narrative. There are aspects of 1980s ECM aesthetics, Morton Subotnick's experimental sounds and a dose of club beats here that once again back up the notion that Pronsato has a fine mastery of intricate composition and rhythmic freshness.
Review: This release features a sleek blend of futuristic dance styles, balancing crisp production with atmospheric touches. The opening track presents tight, clean tech house grooves, punctuated by spacey sound effects that create an addictive, futuristic vibe. Its remix takes a more direct approach, incorporating a subtle 90s techno flavour while cleverly reworking the original's elements into a creative, space-themed journey. On the flip side, the second track leans into progressive house and techno territory with a meticulous production and a hypnotic, driving rhythm. The accompanying remix weaves in a sharp acid line and a euphoric, almost trance-like energy that elevates the track's impact, making for a great all round package.
Review: Seasons Limited made a welcome return in 2024 and now keeps up that good momentum with another big single from French house mainstay Franck Roger with some fine vocals by Paul B. It's a super smooth sound with drum swaying back and forth, molten synth adding late night and tissue soul and the tender vocal adding intimacy and late night romance. Rocco Rodamaal steps up for remixes and first of all he pairs things back to a sedate, seductive deep house roll then fleshes out the drums with some dubby weight to finish.!
Review: Jay Tripwire sits right at the most trippy and after-hours end of the tech house spectrum. His fresh and future sounds now pop up on The Other Side, where he works with Pheek on two new jams. 'Thirsty (feat Cimpian Mark)' kicks off and is an immediately compelling and atmospheric sound with smart sound designs and metallic snares cutting up the kinetic beats. On the flip is an equally minimal offering in 'L'Express' which lures you into its moody mist and keeps you there while occupying your mind with its many marvellous details.
Review: Despite their name, we find that the music of retro technicians Paranoid London offers us a rest from the paranoid mental state that the Great Wen often instils. Now out on a tenth anniversary edition, the duo's raw acid techno debut, released in 2015, heard two Londoners take temporary flight to Chicago, re-imbuing urban smoky techno with a long-lost sense of looseness and grit. Working in relative anonymity, the duo drew praise for their sparse use of original Bernard Sumner vocal lines, affording the record an esteem-by-proxy as well as a sense of turning full circle, as PL's Quinn Whalley actually spent many a pre-teen afternoon in Factory production wizard MArtin Hannet' studio. But it's the record's own minimalism that keeps it satisfyingly repetitive yet never complaisant. PL go their own way, swirling the old school round a ringer road of outer-city grit.
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