Review: Twenty-five years is a long time in any field. In the fast-moving world of electronic music, it's practically an eternity. That Turbo has managed not just to last that long but also to remain fresh says a lot about Tiga's immaculate A&Ring. On Turbo 25, we see the form this takes. There's "You So Pretty", his cheeky electro collaboration with long-time Turbo collaborator Jori Hulkkonen. Audion and Seth Troxler also celebrate the landmark anniversary with the searing techno of "Hate", while The Hacker goes down the industrial route with the slamming "Forcefield". Tiga continues to flirt with pop with the Soulwax edit of "Woke". However, the fact that he has commissioned Gesloten Cirkel of Murder Capital fame to rework "Easy" means he remains as connected as ever with techno and electro's underground. Here's to the next quarter century.
Review: This year saw Berlin clubbing institution Watergate turn 20 years old. To celebrate the milestone, they took the experience outside the club for a full weekend rave, plus the release of this mammoth 20 track compilation of new and unreleased tracks. Highlights come from legendary artists such as the ever reliable Henrik Schwarz who appears with the highly engineered soul of "You Need Attitude", veteran of the scene Sasha gets a seriously heads-down groove happening on "Wolf Cider", Hamburg maximal heroes Extrawelt deliver as expected on the hypnotising "Rover" and former Mobilee co-head Anja Schneider gets the hands in the air on the uplifting house of "Can't You See Me No More?' plus many others.
Review: Biesman's contribution to Watergate's ongoing mix series is a little different, featuring as it does a swathe of his own previously unreleased solo tracks and collaborative productions. This sampler EP - the first of two - showcases a clutch of highlights. Th Belgian first hooks up with Shubostar on the star-fall, deep space Italo-disco chug of 'Across The Universe', before opting for a mind-melting, TB-303-heavy deep acid house sound on Zombies in Miami collaboration 'Smooth Monday'. Solo production 'All Day, Every Day' is a soaring, heavily electronic breakbeat roller, while 'Hola Y Bienvanido' is a shirts-off dance through bold electronic melodies, mid-80s Pet Shop Boys melodies and throbbing sequenced bass. Finally, 'March For Peace' is a retro-futurist synth-wave anthem in the making and Vandesande joint production 'Away' a grandiose ambient number.
Review: Londoner Henri Bergmann has been tipped for big things on the underground for some time, so it's nice to see her stepping things up via a first EP for Berlin institution Watergate's in-house label. Her trademark style sits somewhere between new wave, throbbing electronic house, electro and stylised European techno. It's an undoubtedly exciting and strobe-lit sound best exemplified by the subtly Ann Clark-influenced chug of 'Our Time Has Come' and the EBM-influenced muscularity and surging melodies of Wennink hook-up 'We Just Keep Going'. The headline attraction though is Biesmans collaboration 'Mind Col', where here whispered spoken word vocals rise above a densely layered, synth-heavy, post-Italo new wave backing track. Tidy, club-ready remixes of that track from Stephan Jolk and Echonomist complete a rock-solid package.
Review: Joris Biesmans recent debut album, Trains, Planes & Automobiles, offered a scintillating, synth-heavy fusion of electro, Italo-diso and classic-sounding house. There's a similar feel to this fine collection of remixes. Adana Twins lead the way with a refreshingly squelchy, club-ready old school electro re-fix of 'Save The Night', before Alex Medina turns 'Cold Void' into a bubbly trip through analogue-rich cold-wave territory with added melodic clout. Geordie hero Man Power's revision of 'Cosmic Cruise' is a delightful fusion of cascading synthesizer sounds, dreamy chords and locked-in acid house grooves, while Biesmans' own rework of 'Hawkins' is a spiralling, uplifting electro roller with spacey sounds and filthy bass aplenty.
Review: The Adana Twins deliver the third edition of their annual compilation series, and Spektrum 3 is the best volume yet. It features swirling, vivid electronic jams from Echonomist and Hadiid - the frosty synths on the latter's "Neuro" is especially memorable - alongside the raw percussion and melodic hooks of Aaaron's "Smile". The pace picks up on Cabaret Nocturne's "Afterlife", with Eleonora's breathy vocals set to a pulsating groove, while DC Salas' "Solar Walk" is a chugging piece of Bordello A Parigi-style Italo. However the centre piece in the compilation is the purring bass and the tight drums of the Adana Twins' own "Nordlys", a killer modern electronic disco workout.
Review: More '80s themed than a Steve Martin & John Candy odd couple comedy, Joris Biesmans Trains, Planes & Automobiles is an ode to '80s arcadia, retro synths and spaced out motifs. Combining his octane video game music with swirling layers of electro and cosmic synth, Watergate's current marquee act also draws upon touches indie disco, French touch house music and Italo. Delivering a most impressive debut album, subtle gothic rock influences make themselves known furthermore in "Cold Void (feat Tom The Bomb & Boi Wonder)", with the album's hit material coming through in "The Last Chase", "Another World" and "Pac Man" to its synth riffing title track. Open the floodgates!
Review: The Berlin-based producer/live act and in-house engineer for Watergate club, Jans Biesmans has created a 'nostalgia-driven delight' here for their eponymous label. 'Trains, Planes & Automobiles' is a neon-lit night drive through a nu-disco fantasy. The remix up next by Italian duo Fideles (of Correspondant and Afterlife fame) deconstructs classic rave motifs on their emotive and breakbeat driven rendition - which is equally as worthy of your attention. Finally, Biesmans serves up the shimmering and euphoric Italo disco energy of "Save The Night" with its infectious vocal hook which seals the deal.
Review: In the depths of Melbourne's northside once laid a club called My Aeon and coincidence or not this is the type of soundtrack you'd expect to hear there...a futuristic selection of minimal, progressive techno and synth music appealing to the dancer. WIth a slight Italo feel permeating parts of the compilation, arpeggios, electro synths and EBM drums find their way into tracks like Alex Niggemann's "What Can Go Wrong?!" and Alan Dixon 'Love Attack' remix of Kimshies! Trippy tribal sessions are revealed in Ferrari's "Jungle Boogie" next to Rotterdam-style cosmic electro and space rock of Biesmans' "Dr. Electric" guitar. 2020 licks, best of!
Review: Based in Hamburg, TAU is a label started in 2018 by Benjamin Busse and Friso Traas aka Adana Twins, that has released tracks by scene heroes such as Glowal, Echonomist, The Cheapers and many more. The label presents their second instalment in the 'Spektrum' various artists sampler, which features top shelf material by the likes of: Southern Italian duo Underspreche who deliver the entrancing pizzicato inflected vibes of "My Beloved", German veteran Ruede Hagelstein delivering impeccable dancefloor drama as always on "Aschera", ascendant Berliners Local Suicide teaming up with Duro main man Theus Mago on the dark disco odyssey "Technican" and Watergate's sound engineer in residence Biesmans, who provides yet more successful efforts in his newfound love of music production on the neon-lit Italo acid energy of "Wild Wild World".
Review: As Watergate's former technician, Joris Biesmans has been an invaluable fixture at the Berlin superclub for the last five years. With his new focus on making music full time, he's been added to the club's agency roster and emerges with an impressive debut EP on the label, after releases on Correspondant, AEON and Adana Twins' TAU. "Electric Love" is a delightful serving of upbeat electro-pop, featuring vocals by Idorski. It then receives a roaring rework by the ever impressive Italian duo Marvin & Guy and then two more originals follow. "Technician On A Mission" goes for a classic Italo viibe which is pure neon-lit ecstasy, while "City Boy" delves into moodier nu-disco territory similar to Lauer or Tuff City Kids.
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