Review: Like a long and blurry session at the storied Robert Johnson club, Time Travel brings the listener on a real musical journey. It moves from the low-slung disco of Massimiliano Pagliara's "Sometimes at Night" into the deep, ponderous house of Portable and Maximillion Dunbar, moving into more dance floor focused grooves thanks to Benedikt Frey and Orson Wells before Frankfurt DJ Roman Flugel drops the brilliant wide screen electro of "Girls With Status". While Time Travel does largely document music emanating from the German city, it also goes back to the 80s to include the eternal Italo classic, "Flucht" by Zwischenfall.
Review: People often forget that the widely-praised Robert Johnson club is actually from Offenbach and not Frankurt, a small town situated about 10 miles out of the city centre. Over the last few years, there's been a resurgence of talent emanating from the town, such as DJ Slynsgshot and his Yappin collective and associated artists like the Vincent Feit who opens the clubs thurd instalment of the Lifesaver series with a naughty little house melter called "X04". Across the comp, other RJ casuals appear, such as Massimigliano Pagliara with "Forever What", an aptly tropical house excursion, or Philip Lauer, Fort Romeau and the lesser known Felix Strahd. All in all, this is about the best house/techno compilation we've received all year and, like everything else the club does, it is an excellent addition to their catalogue. 10/10.
Review: Over the past 12 months, Stefan "Chinaski" Haag has really hit his stride. First, there was a superb EP of rich, melodious, synthesizer-heavy compositions for Live At Robert Johnson, followed by a fine contribution to Uncanny Valley's fifth anniversary releases. Here he returns to the latter label with arguably his strongest collection to date. As usual, he fuses a variety of vintage influences - most obviously Italo-disco, early Chicago house, dreamy instrumental synth-pop and Detroit techno - to deliver hypnotic, life-affirming pieces with bristle with melodious intent. Highlights are plentiful, from the head-in-the-clouds bliss of pulsating opener "Disaster", and the John Carpenter creepiness of "Lifetime", to the Behaviour-era Pet Shop Boys melancholy of "Street" and "Never Look Back".
Review: When it came to celebrating their first five years, Uncanny Valley decided to do things differently. So, alongside a retrospective (Five Years On Parole - What Happened), they've delivered an EP of previously unheard material from the archives (Five Years On Parole - Gems From The Vaults), and this selection of brand new cuts. There's naturally much to enjoy, with Chinaski and Panthera Krause both delivering wonderfully deep and dreamy analogue house workouts. There's something particularly impressive about Derive's krautrock, Kraftwerk and proto-techno inspired contribution - think modular synthesizers and pulsing drum machine rhythms - while Iron Curtis' "En Suite" is a clandestine acid jacker build around ragged 303 lines, metronomic percussion and trippy synthesizer motifs.
Review: Synthesizer fancier Chinaski (AKA producer Stefan Haag) doesn't tend to release a lot of music, with his last EP of note dropping way back in 2013. That said, what he does release is usually top notch, with rich, colourful synth melodies and sepia-tinted chords riding fizzing drum machine rhythms. This expansive first EP for Live at Robert Johnson is packed with such moments, from the chiming beauty of dancefloor shuffler "Night School" and the Pet Shop Boys-on-class A's rush of "Hide Society", to the ghostly tunefulness and tech-house chug of opener "Time To Kill". Best of all, though, is "Midnight Workout", a tear-jerking chunk of deep synth-pop melancholia that's simply sublime.
Review: Live At Robert Johnson's first Lifesaver compilation, released in 2013, offered an essential snapshot of the infamous club-turned-label's expanding roster, delivering tracks from respected heads and relative newcomers alike. This second installment ploughs a similar furrow, on one hand showcasing woozy dancefloor gear from familiar favourites (see Roman Flugel's formidable, sci-fi tinged analogue jam, "Tender Hooligan", and the beatbox electro-meets-spiraling synth-scapes of Lauer's "Language"), and genuinely impressive music from lesser-known names. In the latter category you'll find some genuine highlights, including the deliciously Balearic electronics of Chinsaski ("Futuresex"), and the Uncanny Valley style, semi-organic deep house chug of Benedikt Frey.
