Review: Turin techno stalwart Andrea has been serving up slabs of goodness on Ilian Tape since way back in 2012, though "Ritorno" is remarkably his very first full-length excursion. The 12 track set is far more varied than his fine club-focused singles, with the Italian variously turning his hand to swelling, Global Communication style ambient techno ("Attimo"), ultra-deep breakbeat dreaminess ("SKLYN"), melodious, jungle-influenced IDM ("LS September"), bassbin rattlers ("TrackQY", the skittish brilliance of moody roller "Reinf"), dreamy soundscape techno ("LG_Amb"), angular fusions of bass music and dark Italo-techno ("Drumzzy") and picturesque ambient dub slow jams ("Twin Forests").
Review: New Andrea material on Ilian Tape - incoming! The mysterious techno maverick returns to the German imprint with four new slices of sci-fi funk, packaged in the artist's usual blend of synth experimentation and 90s d&b flavours. "20th November" is a booming, piledriver of a tune suited to the world's biggest dancefloors, while "Layer" breaks the groove down with heavier injections of breaks and growling bass tones. Then comes "Radiant", a beat-heavy, dubwise joint that reminds us of Shed's Head High material, leaving "Remade" to stutter in space with its off-kilter beats and glitchy percussion swings. Masterful.
Review: Italy's Andrea is now a trusted member of the Ilian Tape collective, having only released for the German label thus far. But, why would he go elsewhere? These guys are on fire, and releasing some of the most interesting shades of industrial 4/4 these days. This is his fourth single for the throng, and "Floating" starts off with a beatless, wide-eyed landscape of soft pads to introduce the twisted, shifting, break-driven tech of "Timed". "Queue A" is a driving pile of rusty kick drums and oceanic pads that head into the deeper end of the techno sphere, while "22:22" goes all-out on the jungle patterns with its broken groove that recalls the likes of LTJ Bukem or Dego at their more pacy moods. A killer of an EP!
Review: Although now better known for their respective solo work, and the latter's involvement with Sean Canty as Demdike Stare, Andy Stott (pictured above) and Miles Whittaker's Millie & Andrea project stands as one of Modern Love's more unique projects. Releasing a string of 12? singles on Modern Love sub-label Daphne from 2008-2010, the duo's music under the name experimented with various combinations of 2-step, jungle, grime, dub techno and footwork across five 12" singles. Now they return with Drop the Vowels, which makes complete sense given underground music's renewed fascination with all things revolving around the hardcore continuum. Just as wide ranging as previous material, with the LP covering the kind of tectonic mood pieces and wiry noise techno as Stott and Whittaker's recent solo material whilst delivering some of the most straight-up dancefloor material Modern Love has put out in years. Without doubt one of the albums of the year.
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