Murray CY
Conformist
[L.I.E.S.]
Dirty techno how it should be. Slow and shuddering with constantly mutating grooves that sound like they’re emanating from the sewer. This is one of the roughest recent L.I.E.S. releases and comes to the Brooklyn label from Glasgow native Murray. These are the type of tunes I’d love to hear in the main room at Berghain, waves of throb enveloping a cavernous warehouse.

Shark Story of the Century
Various
[Contort Yourself]
Contort Yourself is a record label from Glasgow run by Murray CY that releases a soothing mixture of original 80’s Industrial/EBM with brand new raw and dirty techno. This 5 tracker of various artists mixes nice clanging beats from Enrique and techno thud from Beau Wanzer and Prostitutes. Killer cut on this EP for me though is the Broken English Club remix of a 1988 tune from Spanish industrial outfit Esplendor Geométrico. The original is included and is great, tribal raw drums with screams and chants that still sounds fresh. Broken English adds the bass and morphs it into a stripped back pulsing throb with whispered vocals adding to the menace. Perfect for 3am. The past meets the future, possibly?

Jorge Velez
Baby Whale – Coral Cassette Extended Edit
[Berceuse Heroique] [Read more →]

14anger & Dep Affect
Evasive Crapspeak EP
[Badmouth003]
14anger is Clément Perez, who is far from being an unknown man of the french hard electronic scene, known for his contributions to the now defunct magazine Signal Zero for example.
This is less about his Hardcore roots, but violent Hard Techno. He teams up with Travis Evans aka Dep Affect for this release.
The first track, Evasive Crapspeak, definitely digs up some french memories, think of some of the works by Laurent Hô or Manu Le Malin for example.
Followed by a remix by Dep Affect, which puts his own spin to this tune, a bit of extra aggression.
Prayers To Broken Stones is less frontal, but more hypnotic instead. The EP ends on Jericho, my favorite pick of this release, an all-out assault on the nerves via bassdrums and noize.

Umwelt
Days Of Dissent
[BOIDAE 001]
Umwelt is a project that was started in the 90s already, but as far as i know it was not until recent years he really appeared from ‘under the surface’.
My sources also tell me most of his tracks are one-shot affairs, arranged and recorded life during sessions of sonic experientation (could this be true?).
At first glimpse an electro affair, what sticks out for my is the very dark atmosphere, many times riddled with future themed samples, and especially a very strong melody work of compositions that is often – to me – lacking even with most of his peers.
Although he probably comes from a way different background, there are similiarities to the works of Somatic Responses or Fischkopf (Lasse Steen) for me to be found here.
My personal favorite picks on this album include Company Of Lies, a truly distorted, menacing beat+synth workout and the title track Days Of Dissent itself, a kind of a dystopic beatboy breakdown vision.
With tracks like World Shatters, a 4/4 workout, he shows he can step out of his producer ‘comfort zone’ too.
Generally, if you like dark soundscapes, or well-produced and above all smart electronics, this might be worth a listen.

Vinzenz Raindeer
Warteschleifmaschine
[Self-Released] [Read more →]

Honey Disco 1-4
Honey Disco is a label from Canada that releases single-sided, clear 7” vinyls with beewax on the flipside and honey smell included.The first two releases by Hristo and Koosh contain some cool funkedelic disco-dub. Number three By Eddie C was my favorite so far, with a dubby downtempo tune that reminds me slightly of T.Rex’ “Hot Love“. I heard number four by Osmose recently, wich works in a similar way, re-working Billy Idols “Sweet Sixteen”.

Myler
Gorilla Biscuits
[Pennyroyal] Myler
Northern Extension [EarToGround Records]
Irish producer Myler with 3 tight and rumbling techno tracks, released in 2014 on Untolds Pennyroyal label, soundwise somewhere between JoeFarr, J. Tjin and Randomer with those thick bassdrums and a certain funkiness that all of them have in common. The other record came out in ocbtober 2016 with 4 tracks and a locked groove on vinyl and one good digital bonus track that goes in direction of the pennyroyal material. A1 is shuffling breakbeat techno, quite ok. A2 and AA2 are more or less solid techno tracks but the real gem is the AA1 track “D’Electrocution” which is raw, straight forward basement techno with an intriguing filtered piano. Opinions might differ about this, but for me it totally works.

Ossia
Control
[Berceuse Heroique] [Read more →]

KK Null – Star Breaker
[ThirdTypeTapes, TTT18]
Veteran noise/rock artist KK Null returns to a Belgian label (after last year’s excellent Pulsar X cd on Cyber City) for another outing that seems to further his crossover into more rhythmic territory. It’s great to hear shades of speedcore and broken beats appearing in his recent material. Elements of his sound have come together to form what sound like ultra fast beats underpinning the usual abrasive frequency bashing. The rhythmic elements drift in and out of the mix in a way that makes the sound evolve through different (brutal) forms and it makes for a much more cohesive and natural sound than almost any of the more straightforward hardcore/speedcore you will hear today. The beginning of side B is a definite high point for me. Sheets of metallic noise slowly give way to an utterly pummelling broken beat that had me doing the rewind. Highly recommended listening if you like it harsh.

Bombardier
Fury
[Division 13, D13.016]
A new limited 2 x 12” release from Bombardier featuring the best of his tracks from the last few years. Jason Snell has always had a very distinctive, hardware based sound in whatever context he decides to operate in and has carried this over into his recent more techno/electro based material. There is a mixture of 4/4 and more broken tracks here but all of it is an absolute gift for any dj looking for heavy, dark beats of a kind that are extremely hard to find these days. I have no idea how many have been pressed but they seem to be released in batches from the Bombardier bandcamp page where the artist has only been charging for the postage. Don’t miss.

JK Flesh
Nothing is Free
[downwards, LINO-71] [Read more →]

Alert
Mindscan
[Oblivion Fringe]
In space no one can hear you scream. These are maybe not prime time dance floor tracks, but both are expertly crafted and pristinely cold, languid, metronomic, deep-space probes that strap you in and take you far into the void. The engines cut out and you float, suspended, contemplating the silence of eternity. Both cuts as solid and airtight as each other.

Aluphobia & Hataah
Lynx
[Babylon]
A fine, short, cut of ethereal, psychedelic Bass minimalism. Like lying back and watching thick curls of skunk smoke floating lazily in a pale winter light while tinges of paranoia develop as you wander what you’re doing with your life.
The drop out into (little more than) a murky thudding heartbeat seals the track’s expert reined in dynamics.

Aquarian
Bad Feeling/Insulin
[Hanger Management HNGRMGMT001]
His best and most slamming release to date and probably my favourite Bass release of the moment. Drenched in dark warehouse rave vibes, he’s definitely beefed up the low end and fine-tuned his chopped breaks and kicks aesthetic. In fact I would go so far as to say; no-one does it better! Proof that keeping it simple always leads back to something stronger. ‘Bad Feeling’ could almost be of Somatics/SNS/ADC/Anibaldi Italian broken beat vintage, just as ‘Insulin’ hints at a Mover vibe too! This is a must for any fans of that era/sound. [Read more →]