Redshape At Juno Download

Review: Delsin's masked crusader returns with his fifth EP on the ever reliable Dutch imprint. The three tracks on offer here showcase Redshape's sure hand with vintage production, with "Future Shock" a veritable analogue stew of swirling computer game bleepy synths and shuffling drum programming. "Kung Fu" sees the producer pay homage to the jacking sounds of Chicago, while the crunchy stomp juxtaposed by intergalactic synths of "Manhattan" pleases our ears immensely. Top release.

Review: Sebastian Kramer's debut Redshape album, The Dance Paradox, was an ambitious work, with the German producer making reference to Carl Craig, Moodymann and deep house producers like Chez Damier. Its follow up, Square, has a smaller range, but its tighter focus means that it sounds more like Redshape himself than those he takes inspiration from. All of the elements that have made the project so respected are present here: "It's In Rain" teems with crisp drums and the brooding, humming bass, grainy and crackling, that has become the project's staple - the inclusion of an astronaut sample adds some levity to a sound sometimes seen as ultra-serious. "Starsoup" sees Kramer strip away the layers and focus on the groove, with a bleepy bassline and noisy, broken beats prevailing, while "Departing" is a fantastically hypnotic, expansive deep techno workout. One of Redshape's other sides is audible on "Moods & Mice". Like some of the material on The Dance Paradox, "Moods" features lazy drums and warm synth lines. He explores this theme further on "Paper". Like Paradox, it sounds like Redshape has hired a live drummer and he she/he freeforms their way through textured sounds. So while Squares is a deft distillation of Redshape's nuances, it also features a left of centre take on hip-hop, with Space Ape chatting over the loose, mid-tempo drums of "Until We Burn".

Review: Having seemingly exhausted all the talent the UK has to offer, 3024 turn their attentions to the mainland with perma masked Berliner Redshape at the helm for the label's seventeenth release. Redshape's been popping up on some great labels of late - most recently Mr Janson's Running Back and Delsin offshoot Ann Aimee - and the two tracks on Throw In Dirt are up there with his best work to date. The title track descends brilliantly into the foggy depths of where your mind gets lost at 3am on a packed dancefloor - the opening clarity of locked groove jacking drums gradually being engulfed by pitched to hell vocals, sinister analogue bass and twisting melodies. It's complemented by the broader machine funk of "The Land" with sparser percussive rhythms kept company by gaseous bass and deftly chopped gospel vocals, all the elements collapsing on top of each other before a midpoint switch up towards streamlined tones brings respite.