Review: Given his productivity over the years - with a steady stream of EPs and albums to match - we were surprised to learn that 'Abspace' marks Christopher Rau's first release of note for almost three years. Naturally it's a quietly impressive and impeccably produced affair, with Rau first joining the dots between drum machine-driven jack-tracks and huggable, loved-up deepness ('Abspace'), before delivering a deliciously dreamy, warming and intergalactic slab of hypnotic techno futurism ('Set It Off'). He further indulges his love of deep house retro-futurism on the classic-sounding shimmer of 'Do It', while closing cut 'One More Time' sees him reach for a superbly squelchy, alien-sounding bassline and dusty deep house beats.
Review: Dresden label Uncanny Valley's big name supporters include the likes of Jimpster, Steve Bug, Scuba and Ripperton, which gives you an idea of the kind of leftfield-leaning deep house and techno to expect from this 10th birthday compilation. Big names may be in short supply but quality certainly isn't, with the album's 18 full-length tracks ranging from RJ's floaty, dreamy opener 'Nie' to the acid throb of Iron Curtis's 'Ensuite', and from the jazzy bruk beat-isms of Lake People's 'Roaming The Streets' to the psychedelic small hours deepness of Charlotte Bendiks' 'Pasco', with a DJ mix from Conrad Kaden tying the whole collection together nicely.
Review: To celebrate notching up 50 releases, Uncanny Valley offered up a septet of colour-coded EPs featuring never-heard-before cuts from its growing roster of artists. With that campaign finished, they've now collected together all of those tracks on one suitably epic compilation, All Colors Are Beautiful. It's a pleasingly positive, life-affirming and kaleidoscopic collection all told, with the likes of Lauer, Jules Etienne, Johannes Albert, Cuthead and Basic Soul Unit taking it in turns to deliver cheery, synth-heavy cuts that variously join the dots between deep house, nu-disco, synth-pop, proto-house, jacking acid, crunchy electro, Motor City techno, ghetto-tech and glassy-eyed late-night sleaze. The results are uniformly excellent, making this one of the most essential compilations of 2020.
Review: Like many of the artists that grew up and were nurtured by the Smallville label, Christopher Rau's music owes a debt to deep US house and techno. On The Keys, his first release on the label for a number of years, those influences loom large, but are intertwined with other sources. "Who Am I" sees Lone-style psychedelia fused with lithe break beats, while on the title track, Rau strips back his approach for a lean dance floor track. However, he returns to deeper territory with the woozy synths and pulsating bass of "Slu Terms", while "Beamer" ends the release with a swinging, summery groove and dreamy chimes.
Review: Following up a great release by Wyndom Earl earlier this year and a couple of wicked ones by label boss Arsy, the ever reliable Hamburg stalwart Christopher Rau (Smallville/Money $ex) presents the next installment for Berlin-based Rixdorf Jams - serving up material that's much more ferocious and upfront than we've ever heard from him. From the hard hitting subterranean electro-bass of "Lapidem", to the hypnotic tribal techno banger "MTP" and the mesmerising "Drei Und Zwanzig Karl Heinz", this is exactly the type of ultra-deep mood music you have come to know and love from Rau.
Review: Hamburg Elektronisch is the ultimate ode to the German harbour city's rich musical scene and heritage. A massive compilation comprised of a whopping thirty tracks by the city's legends (Boris Dlugosch, Lawrence, DJ Koze) and young guns (Tilman Tausendfreund, Joney, RSS Disco) alike. There's just so much great music on here but for our money, our picks are Christopher Rau with his sensual and ultra deep "RG En El Casa", Dial affiliate RVDS with the sexy late night groove of "Catwalk", local heroes Smallpeople on "Cricket Orchestra" (ultra deep, this one!) and the undisputed master of the dark journey track Oliver Huntemann with his comeback track "Kiez" that shows us that long before Tale Of Us or Mind Against: it was all about this guy!
Review: Oh my, it's number six in the Patterns series for London's Hypercolour! The previous compilations have all been absolute gold, blending house and bass-heavy clusterbombs like there's no tomorrow, so we're pretty psyched about this latest affair. There's plenty of exciting from all over the sphere on this one, namely some new appearances from Analogue Cop Lucretio and his lovely and soulful "Do It Forever" track; an absolutely cracking house-electro hybrid by Marco Bernardi in the form of "Japanese Firecracker", and a whole load of other bangers by the likes of West Norwood Cassette Library, Canada's Kevin McPhee, Luke Vibert and even Smallville's Christopher Rau! Essential comp vibes!
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you've provided to them or that they've collected from your use of their services.