[Swayzak Recordings] It’s been over ten years since the duo of James Taylor and David Brown started releasing their particular brand of deep techno under their piss-take bastardization of Patrick Swayze’s name. They’ve toyed with dub, electroclash and hip-hop along the way, but generally their records have been brooding, emotive techno that is minimal in […]
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Move D & Benjamin Brunn, New Horizon
November 2, 2008 – 7:59 PM
[Smallville Records] Six months since the release of Move D and Benjamin Brunn’s acclaimed full length, a few more dollops have dripped from the beehive. On “New Horizon,” our duo get a bit more mileage out of the syrupy palette that characterized Songs From the Beehive, but replace the drowsy rhythms with peppier booms and […]
Donnacha Costello, It Simply Is
October 29, 2008 – 7:16 PM
[Minimise] Donnacha Costello is always a hard man to pin down. He seems impervious to trends, instead often focusing on productions that pose subtle conceptual questions. His 6 X 6 = 36 series, for example, felt like it exploried the relation of dance music’s comparatively formal beat structure to abstract systems. His “Color” series, on […]
Los Updates, First If You Please The Remix Part 2
October 28, 2008 – 8:46 PM
[Cadenza] Los Updates’ First If You Please full-length has the distinction of being not only the first artist album released on Luciano’s Cadenza imprint, but also hands-down the most disappointing thing the label has released to date — an uninspired set of tech-house tunes dragged down like an anchor by Jose Gonzalez’ cringe-worthy lyrics and […]
Sex Trothler, Sexplosion
October 27, 2008 – 8:46 PM
[Wagon Repair] “Through a leaking bodily cavity resembling the pork found in Chinese restaurants, Satan shat out a crystal beaming with glowing red embers. This crystal matured into the fetus of Seth Troxler.” Thus begins Beyond Booking’s bio for the artist behind “Sexplosion,” the newest EP on Wagon Repair. Both the absurdity and the extravagance […]
DJ Bone, Circus World EP
October 26, 2008 – 7:32 PM
[Subject Detroit] What sets apart DJ Bone and, indeed, his label Subject Detroit, from the pack is the rawness and energy coursing through their numerous releases. In “No Sleep (True To Da Roots),” Bone’s jaw-dropping EP for Sect Records, this was embodied in the hands-on method with which the tracks were arranged, each gridless rhythm […]
Quince, Genetrix EP
October 22, 2008 – 8:27 PM
[Music Man Records] Quince, aka Bram Sluiter (he’s also released a pair of singles as Quinn), follows up his “Expanding Contracting EP” on Delsin with a three-tracker on Music Man that further mines the pure electronic techno sound that’s been brought back into vogue of late. With a clear, cold eye on the floor and […]
Sebo K, Diva
October 20, 2008 – 7:14 PM
[Mobilee] The past couple years have seen Watergate become a sensation in Berlin for steadfast techno lovers as well as semi-oblivious party people. While its billing reflects an intimate knowledge of underground dance culture, its eye-popping light show and posh décor attract plenty of average punters. As one of Watergate’s resident DJs, Sebo K’s style […]
Wouldbenice, Backlash EP
October 14, 2008 – 9:33 PM
[Vidab Records] Wouldbenice, or if you prefer, Andre Goc, from Berlin, appears for the second time on the year-old Vidab imprint with the three-track “Backlash” 12″. Though it’s still young, Vidab has been making a splash. With a spiritual home at the Golden Gate Club and label nights at Panoramabar, Vidab would seem to earn […]
Pigon/Marcel Dettmann, Kamm/Plain
October 13, 2008 – 8:13 PM
[Beatstreet] In Marcel Dettmann’s rather enigmatic Discogs bio, we read that he sees techno as “a determination of both his life and music” which continually leads him on a “quest for the optimal track.” It’s a touch ridiculous in its overstatement, but it’s the kind of hyperbole that sheds a very bright light on Dettmann’s […]
Sound Stream, “Live” Goes On
October 12, 2008 – 5:56 PM
[Sound Stream] Whether as Soundhack, Sound Stream or half of Smith N Hack with Errorsmith, Frank Timm’s steady hand with an editor’s razor has been in great demand since the late 1990’s. But like a surgeon, Timm knows it’s not the number of cuts you make, but how well placed they are. His house/disco moniker, […]
John Roberts, Hesitate
October 8, 2008 – 8:26 PM
[Dial] “Hesitate” is in the running for the most ironic title of the year. As John Roberts’ debut on the frequently great label Dial, the single begins with a hiccup of a listless groove that quickly fades as a facile tribute to the title — there are few actual hesitations on “Hesitate.” Roberts can afford […]
Melchior Productions Ltd, Who Can Find Me EP
October 5, 2008 – 7:29 PM
[Cadenza] Last year Thomas Melchior revealed a darker side of his musical personality in his powerful second album, No Disco Future. With texture, repetition and context as the dominant themes, slits of light and shades of tone color shone through even brighter when they appeared in the elegiac strains of “Water Soul,” the reduced regal […]
Luke Hess & Marko Fürstenberg, Campfire Dialogue
October 1, 2008 – 6:46 PM
[Echocord Colour] While no proper affiliation exists between Detroit’s Echospace and Denmark’s Echocord, there is certainly an interesting volley of ideas taking place between the two like-minded labels. Both champion a sonorous mid-tempo dub style, and, with the recent launch of the sub-label Echocord Colour, both please collectors with lush transparent records. But while the […]
Johannes Heil, Aum
September 29, 2008 – 8:10 PM
[Metatron House Division] With his latest release on Metatron House Division, Johannes Heil delivers two exceptional tracks which reflect a knack for composition as well as production. “Aum” and “Soul Made” both slip right past the ten minute mark, but Heil’s songwriting (for lack of a better term) is shrewd enough to keep things fresh […]
Runaway, Brooklyn Club Jam
September 28, 2008 – 7:56 PM
[REKIDS] Taking after the piano-driven house of Still Going and Osborne, Runaway’s “Brooklyn Club Jam” starts with the same impetus but makes sure to contort itself. First released on Runaway’s Myspace page, the track was surprising almost to a fault; as a stream of an unreleased track, “Brooklyn Club Jam” sounded like it could (and […]
Minimal Man, Make A Move
September 24, 2008 – 6:34 PM
[Trelik] A collaborative project between Baby Ford and Ian “Eon” Loveday birthed way back in 1993, Minimal Man have released a dozen or so singles for such labels as Perlon, Trelik, Guerilla, and Vinyl Solution. But it’s been “Make A Move,” originally released in 2000, that has taken on a life of its own via […]
Stimming, Una Pena
September 23, 2008 – 6:04 PM
[Diynamic Music] Hamburg producer Martin Stimming is on a roll. From his work with Einmusik on the “Mesdames EP” to his split with Matthias Meyer, he’s quietly tricked out a string of excellent singles all summer. “Una Pena,” a tightly wound, live wire of a track that’s been popping up left and right in DJs’ […]
Bovill/Murmur, Low Pressure/Magnetic
September 22, 2008 – 8:06 PM
[Meanwhile] Does anyone else feel that really good dub music seems to have something to teach you? The melodies and rhythms play with each other at arm’s length within a wide open space. This always suggests to me that most everything dubsided is more concerned with finding out how the musical pieces interact than with […]