Killekill Germany At Juno Download

Review: Alex Cortex has put out a wide range of music over his career, but the common characteristic is the maverick German producer's ability to breathe new life into existing narratives. Boldskool is no exception; "Tackle" sees him re-wire minimal techno, its high-paced rhythm and microscopic beats housing yelping analogue bleeps. Similarly on "Beach Bass", he flirts with deep house, only to emerge with a rolling, warm bass-led groove that has echoes of Brikha's "Groove La Chord". Cortex even has a crack at classic electro; "Boing Boing" has the same sweeping robo synths and clanging 808s as Juan Atkins's early Cybotron material. The key difference though is Cortex's cheeky use of the well-known 'you make me feel so good' vocal sample.

Review: Alex Cortex is one of techno's most innovative producers, and thankfully he didn't decide to go ahead with the announcement a few years ago that he intended to stop making music. If he had taken early retirement, the world would never have heard "Future Acid". Shaking, shuffling drums are filtered over a funk bassline, but these rhythmic elements are merely a prelude for the meanest, dirtiest acid line since Bunker reared its ugly head in a Hague sewer. "R-Byte" is completely different, a dense and unrelenting slice of jacking techno, while "Mem" inhabits the middle ground between Juan Atkins's late 90s work for Tresor and Rob Hood at his most abstract, as a watery rhythm glistens ad infinitum.

Review: As rough and grizzly as the underbelly of the German capital's late night culture can be, Youngman's latest missive for Killekill doesn't try to offer a sanitised version of electronic music. Indeed, the opposite is the case on the abstract "Wespe". There, a cacophony of half-heard noises and feedback slip and slide over broken, gnarled rhythms. The title track is more dance floor focused, with a similarly dark, grungy undercurrent contained by firing claps, rolling snares and an angular, insistent arrangement. By contrast, "Centrumcircuit" sounds almost sanitised, as Youngman drops shuffling 808s as a backdrop for dramatic strings and acid lines that climax seductively.

Review: With recent releases on Prologue and Soul Aid to his name, Berlin-based techno producer Cassegrain turns up on Killekill, this time with the equally mysterious Tin Man in tow. There are echoes of his dub techno explorations in all four tracks here, but the dominant sound is acid tweakery. It's put to particularly good effect on the droning "Visitor" - a stoned dub techno/acid house fusion - and lead track "Carnal", which bumps to a club techno beats and jacks to the bubbling sound of 303 abuse. "Sear" simply clatters along on a wave of analogue percussion, while "Rest" goes decidedly deeper and dubbier.

Review: Eomac is otherwise known as Ian McDonnell - one half of the Irish duo Lakker. In 2011 the duo debuted on Killekill with the Spider Silk EP, and now McDonnell dons his Eomac guise for the Berlin imprint. The Spoock EP was originally slated as Killekill's first release, but label boss DJ Flush held back the EP for three years, waiting for the day Killekill had grown in enough stature to give Eomac and his music a deserving platform. Stroboscopic Artefacts boss Lucy remixes the titles track, weighing in on Eomac's original kooky-creepy synths, but adds a fizzing wall of low end to his version. Exquisitely cut up vocals in "No Name" creating a haunting atmosphere for thocking wood block percussion and heavy broken beats to cut through, while a hollow "Stylised & Desensitised" unfurls into a procession of rocky drums and clicks unconnected to earthly matters.

Review: Berlin's Killekill crew have seen their label go from strength to strength over the past year or so, culminating in the release of the recent Megahits compilation which saw them open their doors to a wider spectrum of artists. One was Spectral and Creme producer Tadd Mullinix, whose contribution under his JTC alias provided one of the compilation's highlights, and here he returns to the label with a full EP. "Sonic Criminal" is a hypnotic deep techno jam filled with simmering acid tones, while "Pulse Catcher" is a primal piece of mid-tempo Jak put through a rough and grubby filter. "Earth" sharpens the focus again with its high-frequency basement tones, while the EP closer "Black Oracle" combines electro rhythms with a dystopian analogue backdrop.

Review: In its original form, Killekill was a party that embraced all sorts of electronic music, and the label has opted for the same approach. It doesn't seem to bother Nico who runs Killekill - he previously worked for Shitkatapult - that the imprint's first steps have displayed an almost schizophrenic disregard for the kind of micro-genres that defines electronic music. In fact, like Svreca from Semantica and Micky who runs [Naked Lunch], he seems far more interested in what constitutes a great tune, irrespective if its tempo is 100bpm or 160bpm and regardless of whether it was fashioned in downtown Detroit or a windswept Dublin suburb. Following the wild techno of Alex Cortex's Raw, comes Megahits, a three-installment vinyl release that sums up this approach. It begins almost innocuously, with Bill Youngman's "The 2", a downtempo, jazzy piece that suddenly veers into rude boy half-paced jungle bass. Despite being a Berlin label, UK culture is represented again with the curious blend of ragga vocalsand twitchy acid lines on Affie Yussuf's "Onna Roll", while Radioactive Man serves up his typically party-friendly electro, replete with tonal bass licks on "Addict" and Neil Landstrumm returns to techno territory - albeit a less distorted, noisy one - on the dark, ravey bass of "On The Pussers". There are also nods to contemporary European techno - the most notable being the grainy, dense rhythms and searing acid of Cassegrain and Tin Man'scollaboration - US producers are represented with the murky jack of JTC's "Crush Arbor" and the frightening synths, predatory bass - which has echoes of Suburban Knight - and hyperactive rhythms of DJ Stingray's "Ego Assault". Killekill also proves itself again to be home to the outsider, featuring the punishing beats and menacing synths of Lakker's Autechre-eqsue "Darcdub" and the spectacularly depraved "Furfriend", a stripped back groove powered by a bombastic bassline and featuring a deadpan pervert talking about taking drugs and how he likes to come on people's faces with his "fat cock". Electronic music may have become a smaller place thanks to technology,but as Megahits shows, Killekill's world remains as colourful and occasionally disturbing as an LSD-drenched peek through a kaleidoscope.