Hyperdub and Teklife present Nextlife [Hyperdub Promo]

When it comes to Chicago's highspeed dancefloor craze referred to as Juke or Footwork there's no doubt that Hyperdub , alongside Mike Paradinas' Planet µ, is one of the pioneering labels pushing that specific windy city sound to the next level, raising attention all over the globe. Teaming up with the notorious Teklife crew, once home and family to the scene's pioneer DJ Rashad, Hyperdub recently unleashed "Nextlife", a twenty track CD compilation paying homage to the vast stylistic variety to be found within the Juke / Footwork scene. With loads of contributors from all over the place we see stunning workouts like the Jungle-reminiscing "Do This Again", an atmospheric but amen-heavy cut crafted by DJ Earl x DJ Taye, the 8bit, computer game tribute "The Matrixx", a super bleepy collaborational effort of DJ Taye x DJ Manny or the "House Of God"-sampling Hardcore Basement hybrid "Godz House" causing serious mayhem on the dancefloor whilst DJ Tre's "DNB Spaceout" is pure Breakbeat sickness for all lovers of the early 90s scene - mad devastation happening here. Analysing every single track seems like a bit too much, but there's more good to excellent stuff to come for sure. Later on we see things getting really experimental with the Electronica-infused, knob twiddling Piano melancholia of Sirr Tmo's "Live In Chicago Subway" that takes on a slightly tender and romantic perspective that was previously unheard of before in Juke and Footwork, RP Boo's delivering a dry cold killer with his super busy "That's It 4 Lil Ma" and Gant-Man delves deep into Detroit Techno with a tune ironically named "Jungle Juke". Focusing on things halftime and Trap-related is Boylan's 808 drums deep "He Watching Us" sporting some serious Amen wizzardry and seductive sawtooth synths, DJ PayPal resurrects and superslices some discoid, well-familiar samples in his 23rd Century CutUp Funk orgy "FM Blast" and DJ Earl x DJ Taye are "Wurkinn Da Bass" like there's no tomorrow, contributing another Hardcore Basement anthem to the "Nextlife" album and so does Rashad in collaboration with DJ Spinn,Taso and Manny on "OTS". With "Never Could Be Pt. 2" we see Tripletrain taking a ride to the deeper, more emotional side of things, Taso's solo effort "Drop That Thang" is even able to provide 171 second of paradise for proper EDM ravers with its serious siren and vocal cut up abuse, DJ Chap's "Glacier Bae" provides deep, cosmic string arrangements, laser bleeps and complex Jungle beats for a mental latenight audience and the triple pack of DJ PayPal x Feloneezy x Jackie Dagger are closing the show with their playful, uplifting GhettoBass piece "U Should No" - a sweet tribute to French FilterHouse on fast forward that puts a smile on my face for a reason. Heavyweight album. Get "Nextlife" for a reason. This one's essential.

Dale Cooper Quartet & The Dictaphones / Witxes - Split [Denovali Records 216 Promo]

Fresh on Denovali Records is this kinda conceptual 41 minutes long two track album featuring both the Dale Cooper Quartet & The Dictaphones and Witxes - two French acts based within the Experimental / DarkJazz-scene on a mission to remix each other to a result of approx. 20 minutes runtime. Although it's quite hard to rate the artists works without knowing the original source material and to evaluate how it has been altered, replaced or re-arranged we see Dale Cooper Quartet & The Dictaphones opening their "Le Strategie Saint-Frusquin" which is in parts based on their opponents "The Apparel" with a plaintive sax that leads into a fuzzy, Feedback Noize-heavy world built of whooshing electric guitars and slowly grinding rhythm signatures, the foundation for the expression of a dark and deep grief and despair, rarely interrupted by cold, sputtering strings and eruptions of distorted bass before, right in the middle of the track, the emotional  setting seems to take a 180 turn into peaceful, calm and heavenly waters. A surprising twist with an undeniable reference to both Film Noir and Disney's star sparkling world of fairies and a world ideal met with a shitload of irony in the final five minutes of the first tune. When Witxes are taking care of Dale Cooper Quartet & The Dictaphones' "Nourrain Quinquet" with their epic Ambient-driven "Pisces Analogue" workout the first association that comes to mind is Karftwerk's 1975-released "Geigerzähler" snippet due to a lot of - seemingly - scientific noises and processed measurement device signals providing a buzzing background for deep Ambient spheres that are about to unfold hereinafter providing sheer beauty harshly destroyed by distorted, hard hitting, jittering sawtooth synth modulations drifting and meandering through psychedelic fields of strange nature after a heavy first impact, with disturbing frequencies slowly decomposing and sonic beauty finding its way to the surface, not unlike nature re-conquering the concrete structures of the lost Pripjat area. Recommended for cold winter nights.

Various Artists - 5 Years De:tuned (Preview)

The Belgium-based label and party organisers De:tuned are celebrating their 5th anniversary these days and what could be better than unleashing a massive vinyl box set with one of the most impressive line-ups one has seen on a compilation box? We won't start any namedropping here, but listen to the whole preview set on Soundcloud and you'll be cold stunned if you love your classic Techno music right.

Buttering Trio - Jam [Raw Tapes Records Promo]

Recording a whole album within a three days session is quite an achievement, even a bigger one when the session is a flowing freestyle jam taking place without any song layouts or pre-sketched ideas brought into it. Tricky circumstances as such and a challenge for sure which was accepted by the Israeli band outfit Buttering Trio in November 2013 but things became even trickier and more intense when Palestinian barrages hit Israel and were answered by air raids immediately at the time the session took place. That said it's quite astounding how calm, jazzy and laid back the result of this session turns out to be, rightly named "Jam" after its initial approach and pleasing the audiences ears with a bunch of eleven tracks now put on the circuit via Raw Tapes Records. Starting of with a vintage synth twisting NuSoul jam - "Circles" -, exploring the sweetest, vocal driven DeepHouse grooves in the future classic  "I Cried For You" and turning heads towards slow-motion, Tango Noir-influenced, highly dramatic Downtempo with the super eccentric "Master Of Rockets" the first three tracks unveil the broad and impressive musical variety of the stylistic range covered by Buttering Trio which masterfully manage to incorporate influences like Scandinavian Skweee or Westlondon Phusion into their musical spectrum as well, creating a wide, organic and lovingly embracing cosmos that surely appeals to an audience from everyone being fond of Compost Records' seminal "Future Sound Of Jazz"-series, to followers of labels eclectic as Tru Thoughts, those blessed with a reliable sense of style like Hamburg's Lounge Records or Legere Recordings and those being pleased by the works of DJs like Gilles Peterson and his Brownswood Recordings, Bugge Wesseltoft and - last but not least - the pioneering works of the original Mojo Club . And although some of the tunes on "Jam" might be suited into a high quality, advanced lounge concept it is tunes like the short "Juno Juno" that perfectly showcase that the Buttering Trio is way more than just that by incorporating well-quirky, tongue-in-cheek synth sounds and psyched out Dub FX whilst the following, dolorous Jazz melancholia of "Window 04" seems to be a sweet on-repeat compagnon on a cold winter night in front of an open fire, sipping on some proper port. More deep melancholia strikes with "What It Madness", this time accompanied and nicely contrasted by mad'n'rhythmic white noise cut ups, a thrilling Funk bass and dark rumbling beats best played throughout the second half of the night to a Dub-aware crowd of advanced punters looking for something special. Finally we see "What Your Waiting For" amalgamating the Skweee with NuSoul and - again - twisted Dub, proving that the bands members have got a healthy sense of humour by altering and shifting the vocalists voice, sending it to outer space and back without losing the soul aspect lieing within. Nicely done, check this.

 

Mr Mitch - Parallel Memories [Planet µ 335 Promo]

One to watch out for all evolution lovin' grimeists and Electronica headz is "Parallel Memories", the debut album of Gobstopper-founder Miles Mitchell known as Mr Mitch which is set for release on December 1st, 2014  via Planet µ, serving a quite different, tender and athmospheric view on the genre that's hardly found in other producers tunes, no matter if being instrumental or vocal backed. With the first tunes "Afternoon After" and "The Night" being pure Electronica and laid back ChillOut it takes a bit until the raw, unprocessed basslines and skeletal, highly compressed drums associated with Grime do appear in "Intense Faces", a sparse instrumental cut with a lovely, kinda playful and dinky melody that might be filed under the flag of PostGrime if one feels the need to open another musical drawer here. The first vocals appear in "Don't Leave" which is an autotune driven piece of modern UK Urban paying homage to Soul choruses and epic synth lines. With the skeletal crimescene vibe of "It Takes Hold Of You" the tension truly mounts and brings to mind very early tunes of the Two Fingers project crossbreeding with Virus Syndicate's dark industrial feel of ca. a decade ago whilst "Sweet Boy Code" featuring Dark0 seems to be the albums ladies tune, evaporating echoes of DigiSoul and Rhythm'n'Grime in a tingly bedroom manner. Coming up next are the "Wandering Glaciers" weighing in some reduced, but still heavenly and crystal clear synths sparkling their way through an icey arctic night, "Feel (Don't  Ask)" seems to refer to Grime aesthetics in a quartertime tempo and "Bullion" brings in a more noisey Illbient-infused, ever spiralling opium den feel based on a nerve wrecking yet thrilling off-kilter loop and slow hammering bass drums nicely contrasted by the super positive, Plaid-reminiscing Electronica vibe of its follow up "Denial" that features some anthemic, ecstatic and well tongue-in-cheek vocal cutups for mid-rave abuse. Although sporting some obviously HipHop-rooted sample work the calm, introvert feel of "Fly Soup" suggests a post rave listening on cold winter sundays before the final cut "Hot Air" drives advanced dancefloors crazy with ever building layers of stone cold sci-fi sound, warped aerial strings and pounding drums promising a climax that never comes. Thrilling. Check. 

Recondite - Iffy [Innervisions Promo]

Put on the circuit only via the highly appreciated Innervisions imprint is "Iffy", the third longplay effort from the studio vaults of Lorenz Brunner, better known under his Recondite moniker amongst lovers of electronic music these days. Praised for his unique amalgamation of technoid melancholia and his stripped down - not minimal! - approach in the use of rich sounding, partly cinematic but never kitschy melodies by the likes of Sven Väth or Richie Hawtin and backed with a massive string of releases on Absurd Recordings, Ghostly International, Dystopian, Innervisions, his own Plangent label and more, all of them released within a period of three years only, it's pretty obvious that this man is on a mission, following the paths of what the now Berlin-based but originally Bavaria-rooted producer regards as the very essence of electronic music. No matter if Recondite explores the realms of Techno or Electro or even wades through Acid-infused quagmires musically - it seems like he has found his magic formula in the use of only very few essential elements per track, usually one of of them being a huge, warm, very organic, simple and ever embracing bassline that's accompanied by a sparse, secluded yet yearning but still alien'esque synth melody evoking feelings of security and comfort whilst echoes of longtime dolor are ever present underneath this surface. Even a track like "Buteo" which is nothing but a cold latenight killer causing massive mayhem with its metallic sci-fi tones and brooding bassline evaporates some foreign, acrid fumes and so does the tense follow up "Duolo" that makes pretty sure that something evil and dangerous is lurking in the dark corners of each venue although heavenly analogue synth angels are guarding the sweaty, heavily heaving crowds whilst a tune like "Steady" presents vernal innocence and beauty within a classic piece of Ambient / Electronica paying homage to the genres early days of so-called Intelligent Dance Music and the beautiful, tender slow jam "Jim Jams" is waving farewell to exhausted ravers, sending them home safely after a long night out. 

Hyperdub 10.4 [Hyperdub Promo]

Closing the circle of ten years anniversary compilation albums Hyperdub has put its "Hyperdub 10.4" selection on the circuit quite recently, another 2CD piece that was heavily cut down for press promo use with CD2 only available as stream on request and Burial's contribution to CD1 omitted from the promo cut. But regarding to the 13 tracks remaining - both tunes selected from the labels past five years catalogue as well as fresh, previously unreleased cuts - "Hyperdub 10.4" is more than ready to please the UK Bass dancefloor massive. Starting with the warped time signatures of Cooly G's "Him Da Biz", turning into "Ugly Observations" from the House meets UK Funky side made by Ossie & PHRH and bringing in technoid pieces like Funkystepz' "Vice Versa" that sets out to please the bass headz as well as followers of stripped down but hard hitting House with its classy melody, kosmische synths and seductive vocal cuts the message is clear within less than 15 minutes: Dance your ass off to the funky music! With Walton's dry tripping "Laser War" and Kode9's "Oh" exploring bubbling TechnoBass areas of motor city pedigree this rule is clearly obeyed and Ikonika's banging "Position VIP" fuses some of the heaviest Techno drums around with super minimalist off-kilter synths, rave signals and influences taken from Dancemania's sickest Chicago Basement releases - a tune crafted for steel and concrete wombs like the legendary old Tresor Club in Berlin and possibly one of the most impressing cuts on "Hyperdub 10.4". More ravey ClubTechno signals are to be found in Funkystepz' highly fascinating "Fuller Rev VIP" amalgamating tribalistic Techno and UK Funky for a buzzing massive whilst Dorian Concept's rework of Martyn's "Mega Drive Generation" obviously pays homage to the more twisted, experimental and Electronica-based side of electronic music, puzzling ravers and pleasing more advanced punters due to its calm, organic and partly jazzy vibe. More twisted filter works and dry bassdrums are provided by King Britt as Fhloston Paradigm in "The Phoenix", a deep experimental House cut with a jazzy twist that's also the title track of his recent album. DVA is having a "Monophonic Nightmare" based on deep, duophonic bassline modulations and blaring analogue space keys so unique that one might recall the long gone TechnoJazz genre to pigeonhole this tune genrewise before Bambounou is on remix duties for Jessie Lanza's "Fuck Diamond", providing a clap-heavy excursion into raw technoid abstractions. Coming in with a brand new, tender but yet 4/4 based digital love song made to please all DeepHouse and 808 aficionados out there is Cooly G with her tune "Love Again", paving the way for Kyle Hall's closing tune "Kaychunk" which is a frolicking Detroit affair featuring chopped analogue beat structures and vast beautiful strings on the border of  Broken Techno and Future Garage. Nice.

Various Artists - Universal Quantifier [Halocyan Records Promo]

Coming in as the best, most fascinating physical promo format these days was the new, recently released "Universal Quantifier" compilation put on the circuit via Halocyan Records. A card-sized, classy looking, partly coated aluminum piece with a fully revolvable USB-port that holds all 24 tracks of this compilation, a huge bunch of pack shots, liner notes plus an additional quadruple set of Dntel remixes - one of the best prepared press promos we've come across for a long time and, on top of that, including a very fine selection of contemporary quality electronic club music catered by an illustrious bunch of contributing artists. Starting into the first half of the pack we see xxxy crossing borders of Electro and FutureGarage with his massive "Bash" which is a very well-named Bashment piece indeed that pleases bass modernists and UK Garage tradionalists alike whilst Chrissy Murderbot fuses bubbling bass notes with loads of scifi undertones and a kinda electroid feel that blends in perfectly into both Detroit Electro and UK Bass sets for a reason and cold floors advanced dancefloors with the return of hoover noises. Friends of UK Funky and sweet, dreamy oldskool'ish piano licks will be pretty pleased to see Hackman touching their soft spot with a sweet early morning jam named "Semibreves" before (Dub) Techno headz get their first fix with Sumsun's super bass heavy "Avey Oliver" which is a true statement in terms of seeing club music as body music. All clubs better provide a proper P.A. when this one's battered into a heaving crowd. Staying on a straight, but more frolicking 4/4 tip we've got Mr. Paul Woolford serving a nice menu of chatoyant synth works riding on a slightly 'troity TechHouse / (Neo)Trance foundation that is about to stand the test of time for a reason and might easily turn into a future classic clubwise. This also goes for the stab heavy, uplifting and The Third Man-produced ClubTechno hybrid called "Red Boxing" that introduces some echoes of UK Funky to more uptempo tech floors before Arkist's "23 Summers" brings back the some very detailed beat and sound programming in Future Garage whilst lifting vocal bending to the next level. Not "23 Summers" but a 23rd century urban lovesong with loads of lovely chords and sweet synth bits. One for the Drum'n'Bass headz on the floor is ASC's tune "Sonic Assault" which is a truely skeletal ride to the dark side basswise whilst minimalistic melodies are meandering like polar flares - that's what we call a sweet example of epic beauty in bass. With Raudive - also formerly known as Oliver Ho - we see a pretty appreciated purveyor of classy, no bullshit attitude Techno weighing in more than one and a half decades of productions experience in his tune "Last" whilst DJ Pierre's HEY Wildpitch MX of Dosem's "Attica" is nothing less than a raw BassTechno monster that's about to kill some weak ass nuskool ravers on the dancefloor - get ready for serious LFE ('low frequency explosions') that are made to destroy and some really great samples from an oldskool Gabba anthem. Closing the first CD1 of "Universal Quantifier" with Minilogue's so-called "Ocean Of Love"-Mix of Sumsun's "New Piano" we see the term of Intelligent Techno rise again with a neverending subaquatic intro sequence and deep, thrilling beats spiralling through a universe of floating, string heavy beauty and an impressive total runtime of approximately 17 minutes. Opening CD2 it's Artifact's "Cry" that beams us straight to the center of a heaving, pumping and especially glitzy House music floor, working the crowd to a maximum effect with a slightly techy and well ecstatic attitude. That ecstatic feel bound to a primetime brockout is also to be found in a deep, but well stab-heavy remix built French Fries for xxxy's "Bash" which is a stripped down, sexy ass 808 UK Garage tune for lovers of more intimate venues whilst Legowelt's rework of Chrissy Murderbot's "Friendship" is more of trademark Legowelt tune, focusing on straight 4/4 and playful, 'troity melancholia with a positive vibe. The next remix to come is Extrawelt's so-called "Griddle RMX" for Paul Woolford's "Pursuit", a deep functional TechHouse affair touched by DubTechno and a very Acid-infused low to midrange synth sequence that's about to set floors on fire. With Max Cooper's remix of Aki Latvamäki's "It Is Not Now Either" another TechHouse soldier is at the controls here, providing loads of low frequency bass, hollow snares and a more tool'ish albeit trippy feel alongside some quirky breakdowns and mazy strings - one of the rare weaker moments in the "Universal Quantifer" universe. Coming up next is Stabber's "Huh!" remixed by Randomer who builds a stomping, muscular fusion of ElectroTech well infused with rolling background amens, killer breaks and massive bass artillery as well as supercut, well-familiar vocal bits - all this falls into place as the essence of a ravers heaven, providing ultimate brockout moments whenever played out. Large tune! Not that large but still made for dancefloor pleasure is the collaboration of Arkist and Appleblim named "Addict", turned into a solid piece of dubby, uplifting, glitzy ClubTechno by Komon. With Kangding Ray's remix of ASC's "Sonic Assault" we see a calm, fever'ish broken beat slowly turning into a more 4/4 driven, tribal'esque structure that - despite its atmospheric overall feel - is able to seriously do damage to unprotected eardrums... and innards. Another one from the - beatwise more complex - bass side of things is the collaborational rework of Raudive's "Last" crafted by Al Tourettes and Appleblim who're turning the technoid original into a cleverly swinging FutureGarage tune with an iridescent main motif and shiny strings. As a contrast to this fascinating dancefloor cut Dntel's "Peepsie" is transformed into a lovely, relaxed and well-floating PostStep / AmbientBass cut by Hyetal that is followed by the second rework for Stabber's "Huh!", a quite hypnotic, hardstepping PostJungle / Future Jungle vision crafted by Matthias Zimmermann - seemingly this guy has a bright future to come as his complex beat chopping is nothing less than amazing. With Jason Potratz' "Absent Center" borders between hard, super tense, 'troity Techno and banging Hardcore seem to blur before the great Joey Beltram delivers a highly energetic, big room Techno cut with his remix of Dosem's "Atica" - a perfect closing tune for this compilation and a huge dancefloor smasher. Additional reworks of Dntel tunes included on the promotional USB card are provided by Slackk, Maxmillion Dunbar and Sei A, covering a spectrum from UK Bass-infused Detroit Techno, well-experimental SloMo Tech featuring strangely hypnotic, meandering drums and weird flange effects as well as classic techno with a deeper, athmospheric twist, nicely rounding off this great and highly recommendable accumulation of tunes from the Halocyan-imprint.

Radian + Howe Gelb - Radian Verses Howe Gelb [Radian Releases 001 Promo]

Set for release on November 25th as the first album to be put on the circuit via the new imprint Radian Releases is "Radian Verses Howe Gelb", a collaboration of the more Improv- / PostRock-oriented Austrian band outfit Radian that's defo not afraid of electronic textures and atmospheres with Alt.Country-legend and -vocalist Howe Gelb who states "This is a Radian album. I'm only living in it.". And although this fusion of influences is not the most obvious ever it seems like they're  complementing each other well in a way that might evoke memories of some early Morr Music or Digital Kranky-releases, the rare but legendary split 7" of 40 Sekunden Ohne Gewicht and Zwei Tage Sauerstoff released on Guido Möbius' Emphase Records back in 2001 or possibly Einstürzende Neubauten's "Silence Is Sexy" album although we see at least a few heavy, electric guitar riffs trying to break their way through distorted Cut-Up Campfire Country in noisy experimentalisms like the well tongue-in-cheek off-kilter orgy named "From Birth To Mortician".  But there's also enough space for more tender tones (...and crying babies) presented in the relatively short Piano PostRock cut named "...And Back" whilst a certain rebel romanticism and melancholia is to be found in the lyrics of the slowly starting "The Constant Pitch And Sway" that later gives way to more excessive, drum-ridden moments before fading out into endless echoes and eerie atmospheric drones. With "Return To Picacho Peak" the musical attitudes of the collaborating parties are perfectly falling into place, creating a sweet ride into darkest campfire melancholia whilst the disquieting, threatening beats and feedback drones of "Pitch And Sway Again" provide a more anxious, Tarantino'esque-feel in contrast to the songs soft spoken vocals before a cover of the alltime classic waves listeners goodbye in a mostly acoustic not less dramatic way, making "Radian Verses Howe Gelb" a sweet companion for long autumn nights in front of an open fire.

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Noises

Alien swamp sounds although the comet is way too small for having things like that on its surface. And the comments are funny as hell. Biggin' up ESA  for their Rosetta / Philae mission!

Maurice Louca - Benhayyi Al-Baghbaghan (Salute The Parrot) [Nawa Recordings 002]

Dealing with more oriental sounds of Egyptian origin is the forthcoming sophomore album of the Cairo-based composer and musician Maurice Louca which will be released via Nawa Recordings under the name of "Benhayyi Al-Baghbahan (Salute The Parrot)" on November 17th. Following up on his 2007-debut "Bikya" he and his fellow guest musicians like Shaker Ismael, Mahmoud Abd El Khalek, Alaa 50, Alan Bishop, Mohamad El Mahalawy and many more are amalgamating a musical body of various styles representing the Arab world with elements like slow, but heavy Rock drumming - "Al'Asr Adh-Dhababi (The Golden Age)" - or Bhangra-reminiscing rhythms - "Al-Mashoub (Idiot)" to a coherent ensemble that frees the Arab music from the shady drawer that so-called World Music might be seen as and makes it - maybe also due to the mostly instrumental nature of the compositions - more accessible to a Western audience that is usually not very familiar with or used to listening to Arab scales but will well float along the more electronic and dancefloor-focused title track whilst "Tassaddu' (Rupture)" turns the focus towards odd loops and weird, dubby cycles. With the psychedelic organs, tripping strings and twisted cross references to Jazz found in "Maksim (Maxim)" Maurice Louca caters a quite fascinating piece of Arab Psychedelia that's followed by a kitsch-dripping fusion of Blues-/Country-infused twang guitars and super cheesy synths in "Al-Mallahat (Salt Pans)". In "Sharraq Rah Tegharrab (It Will Set)" heavily twisted, digitally obscured male vocal bits are accompanied by a more balearic foundation that might be best described as of live played ChillOut / Downtempo origin with a FreeJazz twist before the final cut "Malnash Diyah (Spineless)" brings some old cliches of snake charming fakirs back to mind due to the super obvious main melody meandering around a set of well-abstract, yet block rockin' beats, finally proving that "Benhayyi Al-Baghbahan (Salute The Parrot)" is an album well worth to check out, even if Arab music is not your favourite musical playground of choice

Kein Kiel Festival 2014 [Limited CD-r]

Going back to the good old, classic school of independent DIY-releases we came across a sweet little six track CDr compilation that was issued in a limited print run of 50 copies only alongside this years KEIN KIEL festival - an event originally featuring the underground music scene of the North German city of Kiel with historical roots going back into the very early 80s. With the 2014 listing of the legendary NO MORE, the Canadian Minimal Wave / Industrial outfit Psyche as well as the relatively young combo Bleedingblackwood & The Bernsteins directions were set to more darker shores and the six tracks - both solo songs as well as cross collaborations of the three bands involved - on this limited underground sampler perfectly complement this setting, presenting a musical spectrum from highspeed Kosmische / SynthKraut to solid  PostPunk, proper Wave and longing, more experimental yet epic home recordings that are kinda reminiscent of ...well... the early tape and so-called Ingenious Dilettantes underground which is very well suitable whilst keeping in mind where the KEIN KIEL festival is rooted. Nice one.

Lawrence English & Werner Dafeldecker - Shadow Of The Monolith [Holotype Editions 002 Promo]

The Monolith (Twin Screen Version Excerpt) - Werner Dafeldecker / Lawrence English / Scott Morrison from ROOM40 on Vimeo.

When it comes to places on this planet that can be described as hostile, alien and especially isolated the Antarctic Peninsula is one of the spots that comes to mind easily. And it's the exactly this isolation the pair of Lawrence English & Werner Dafeldecker was looking for when working on their collaborational effort "Shadow Of The Monolith" that will be relased via Holotype Editions on November 17th. Restructuring and electroacoustically re-editing recordings of atmospheric, hydrophonic and ionospheric source material that has been captured around the Antarctic Peninsular all eight tracks reflect upon the cold, desolate conditions of this specific surrounding - no matter if it's the seemingly unprocessed Field Recording from inside one of the countless research stations set up in this untamed wilderness going by the name of "Marambio" or the meandering pulses of static noise found in "Mapping Peaks", accompanied by clanging pitons that are driven into frosty rocks. More organic but to some point even more alienating sound movements are to be found in the obviously subaquatic recordings of "Moro Mute" which document a steady swell under layers of icy crackles and echoes of myriads of buzzing micro crustaceans whilst "Fall" comes across like a Field Recording from another planet where inscrutable non-humanoids are shifting metal pieces of unknown function. With "Rio Gallegos" quivering distortion and industrial noises take over for 141 seconds before the final "Outtake" leads us back to a calm, but still perturbing state of Drone-led Dark Ambient. A specialists album for sure, but a recommended one for a reason.

Manga, Rival, Ghetts & Eyez - Uh Oh (Prod. By Lewi B)

Manga and Ghetts - two of our favorite MCs spittin' lava bars over this sick bass beast. Blam!

Claas Brieler (Jazzanova) - Boiler Room Collections

A highly entertaining and quite educational insight into the record collection of Claas Brieler, one of the founding members of Jazzanova and the Sonar Kollektiv label. Great music to hear and some interesting stories shared... Recommended and well spent 108 minutes for every record collector and DJ.

06.11.2014 NO MORE live @ Grüner Jäger / Hamburg

NO MORE are back in Hamburg this week - we're not gonna miss out on that for reason. Legends on stage and friends to meet. Lookin' 4wd to this.

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baze.djunkiii Charts 11/2014

01. The Bug - Exit [Ninja Tune]
Following up to The Bug's highly praised "Angels & Devils" album his recently released 2x12" piece "Exit" comes up with more darkness, although we see the calmer, deeper, angelic side of The Bug's musical vision come on top here. Apart from "Void" and "Function" which both have already been featured on "Angels & Devils" we see the "Void Version" explore an even more subaquatic, dubbed out terrain that will be well appreciated by those who're still loving Alec Empire's "Low On Ice" to pieces whilst "Black Wasp" brings in solemn Illbient-infused Downtempo and ethereal  background choruses which are muted in the following "Black Version".  Heavier sounds are to be found on the second 12" of this twin set with the massive DistoGrime-banger "Function" that kills every dance due to being cut even louder than on the full album as the only track on the C-side of "Exit" and so does the new Industrial Dancehall-piece "Blaow" on the flip. Heavy. Get.

02. SB81 - The Blueprints EP [METHXX 007]
Shaun Bateman's a.k.a. Nolidge's second appearance on the mighty Metalheadz-imprint under his  relatively fresh SB81-moniker is a fest for all lovers of classic Drum'n'Bass and the genres early heydays when producers like Hidden Agenda, Source Direct or anyone else featured on the first "Platinum Breakz" box set was setting new standards with each and every new dubplate. Perfectly emulating these times with earthshaking bassquakes and a lot of super detailed beat wizzardry the title track builds an endless, dark tunnel for the true headz out there whilst the "Four Tun (170 Re-Visit")  starts things with a long, haunting intro sequence and evolves into a tricky, bass warped piece of fascinating halftime Drum'n'Bass. Finally we see the B2-tune "Arq" catering a more modernist musical vision of deeply fragmented, yet minimalist bass music of the future.

03. Stiff Little Spinners Vol. 5 [Audiolith Promo]
See review for details...

04. Terry Farley presents Acid Rain: Definitive Original Acid and DeepHouse 1985 - 1991 12" Sampler 1 [Harmless]
Seemingly my longing to complete my vinyl collection with represses of long-loved classics instead of digging the crates for new musical developments has raised since I kinda stopped to play out as a DJ so I couldn't withstand this 12" - especially due to the fact it features DJ Pierre's "Box Energy" as A1 which I regard as one of the best Acid tracks of all times. Furthermore there are more less known classics like Ralphie Rosario's "In The Night (Original Kenny Night Club Mix)" as well as two Laurent X cuts - "Drowning In A Sea Of House" / "Machines"- that are perfectly complementing my growing stock of Acid House / House tunes from the pre-1990 era. Recommended.

05. Terry Farley presents Acid Rain: Definitive Original Acid and DeepHouse 1985 - 1991 12" Sampler 2 [Harmless]
More beloved AcidHouse classics on this one - a double pack served by Frankie Knuckles featuring Jamie Principle with two of their best known collaborations "Baby Wants To Ride" and the highly hormone-dripping "Bad Boy" whilst Pierre's Pfantasy Club "Got The Bug" while riding the thrilling 303-lines of their seductive, vocal driven anthem and Pleasure Zone fulfills every oldskoolers "Fantasy" with a great late night House jam.

06. Jammin Gerald - Factory Funk [Dance Mania 258]
It seems like there are a lot of long gone labels offering represses and re-releases from their back catalogue these days and the beloved Chicago-based Dance Mania-imprint is one of these. One might guess if this demand for raw classic originals is caused by the lack of originality and edginess in a lot of todays productions or if people are keen to explore the roots of Juke and Footwork when it comes to the sound of windy city but apart from that unanswered question it's a great opportunity for collectors and lovers of electronic dance music to complete their collection with missing bits and pieces. Jammin Gerald's "Factory Funk" originates from the year 1998, an era shortly before the labels long hiatus, and serves seven raw, unpolished GhettoHouse / BootyFunk tunes for those who know which are seemingly - due to the occasional skips a lot of Dance Mania pressings are known for - even reproduced from the original mother that also served as the pressing tool for the initial print run. That spoils a bit of the fun here but on the other hand keeps up the original grimy street vibe Dance Mania was known for back in the days. A lesson in history.

07. Bitzbaker [Bitzbaker 001]
The first release from the mysterious Bitzbaker-imprint produced by the man they name Bitzbaker himself is so fresh (or rare) that it's not even listed on discogs yet so its origins remain somewhat of in the dark. Coming in to Germany via a French distributor this four track piece serves plastic-sounding DigiDub, Lo-Fi Trap with a gangster vibe, Skweee'ish Electronica on a happy tip as well as a laid back Downbeat tune for nice sunny summer afternoon session. Recommended.

08. Various Artists - Four Jacks Vol. 1 [Poker Flat Recordings 153 Promo]
Poker Flat Recordings are celebrating their fifteenth anniversary with a series of four 12" releases, each of them features two reworks of the labels back catalogue classics as well as two brand new tunes from artists that haven't appeared in the labels roster before. On the first issue we go on a journey with a quite thrilling rework of Steve Bug's "A Shot In The Dark" which is called "Taylor 'Trapped In 92' Remix" for a reason, moving dancefloors with decent oldskool stabs and positive vibrations whilst The Organ Grinder remixes Boris Dlugosch's "Sweet Talk" to a well-stomping effect whilst raw synth motifs are swaying to and fro, accompanied by a sweet little Acid-modulation and Future Garage-reminiscing vocals. On the flip we'll find the notorious Youandme and their "Quince" providing a tense, stripped down version of crime scene House for the small hours of an ecstatic night out as well Tom Flynn's "She's Nice" which is a deep, damp and sexy TechHouse affair sporting a plinkering, ever modulated synth line as most recognizable feature alongside some mysterious background vocal bits for an extra thrill.

09. Vandal / Yowii / TLB [Raggatek Power 003]
Originally released in 2013 this one caters a quite interesting and well unique fusion of heavy pounding Hardcore with a few Tribe Tekno bits and a remarkable amount of Jungle-influenced Ragga-toasting - a combination that amalgamates surprisingly well into a bouncy, positive crossover of styles able to mash up anything from illegal Teknivals set up by crusty Hardcore heads and independent spirits, massive Drum'n'Bass raves as well as the occasional soundclash  on fire. Nice one.

10. Yvat / Tlic - Yvatlic [Minor Label 031]
Limited to 200 copies on yellow, labelless vinyl is the latest release on Leipzig's Minor Label, fusing the creative forces of the two artists that have been responsible for a main part of the labels output throughout the past two years. Whilst Yvat fuses heavy distortion, beat twisting and melodious Electronica in a kind of Aphex Twin-manner on the A-side we see Tlic explore cold, grinding, sci-fi'ish soundspheres based on a slow, pounding 4/4 foundation on his B1 tune "Digital Kautschuk" whilst things are speeding up with "Homeo Sapiens" on B2 to a not less grinding effect. Frosty.

Nirvana - Heart-Shaped Box

For the love of really weird music videos.

Sascha Müller & Duality Micro - Atomic City Grooves [Psychocandies 029]

Scheduled for November 27th is "Atomic City Grooves",  the next full length album to be unleashed via the Acid-loving Psychocandies-imprint which is crafted as a collaborational effort by Sascha Müller and his longtime associate Duality Micro. Usually known for exploring the wild side of the cankered, acidic swamps the opening ten minutes-jam "Stomach Recorder" shows off a new, surprisingly deep and partly romantic variety in Acid whilst featuring tender pianos and decent slow motion beats. The following title track takes the still present piano play to a more haunting and spooky place that hypnotizes late night crowds with creepy field recordings, tantalizing strings and eerie surface noises. With the arrival of the mysterious "Space Machines" we see time signatures get really gooey and viscous Acid lava starts to surround tripping Electro beat structures that just "Shove Shove Shove" their way through the hot fumes rising from the molten rocks in the next tune. Talking the second to last chapter of this deep Acid trip we see the "Robots In The Jungle" staging a feverish ritual dance whilst echoes of extinct felines' roars are providing a spine-tingling thrill from the dark side before the final cut "Thank You And Good Night" serves a previously unheard of fusion of Electro, Acid and deep ass Dub - amalgamating these styles into a sweet, superminimalist late night smasher for Ambient-friendly dancefloors. Props!