Review: To celebrate 250 parties, Eamon Harkin and Justin Carter, the residents at and organisers of Mister Saturday Night, have put together this wonderful compilation. It starts with the offbeat folk of Menelik Wossenatchu's "Tezeta" and the glorious, soulful disco of Soul Bros Inc's "Pyramid". The compilation veers back towards electronic sounds on the stripped back deep house of ESB's "On Cue" and the bleepy "Aches" from Baba Stiltz. FaltyDL's "Hardcourage" bridges the gap between the abstract and dance-floor structures, Marcellus Pittman drops the acid-soaked Detroit house of "There's Somebody Out There" and Kerrier District delivers the lush electronic disco of "Let's Dance and Freak".Then & Now is a wide-eyed, freewheeling compilation that captures the long-running New York party's essence.
Review: Luke Vibert has made many great records over the years, but few are quite as well crafted as his 2004 debut album under the now familiar Kerrier District alias. Inspired by a mixture of Metro Area, Black Devil Disco Club, cheap synthesizers, early New Jersey garage, Italian house and, of course, classic disco, it remains a touchstone in the development of nu-disco. This timely reissue features freshly re-mastered versions of all ten tracks from the original album, plus the six tracks which made up 2006's Kerrier District 2 12". These include the loved-up, late '80s loveliness of "Ce Porte", the 808 cowbell and vocoder laden "Disco Nasty", and a typically eccentric Ceephax remix of "Sho U Rite".
Review: Luke Vibert donned the Kerrier District moniker last year on the tremendous Kerrier District 4 album on Hypercolour, and here are the remixes. He's done alright; look at who he's got on board. First there's the Ricardo Villalobos & Max Loderbauer remix of "Sexspurt", which is long and as liquid and tripped out as you'd imagine. Bulgarian hardware maverick delivers the goods always on his funky, fierce and soulful rendition of "Techno Disco", it's quite brilliant actually. Finally the now legendary Rene Pavlowitz dons the Head High alter ego for a slamming warehouse rave makeover of "Come On Kerrier".
Review: After releasing Luke Vibert's acid-heavy Ridmik set, Hypercolour boss Jamie Russell asked the Cornishman if he had any disco-flavoured Kerrier District material knocking about. He answered in the affirmative, and 4, Vibert's first full-length under the alias for a decade, was born. Although the project was initially inspired by Black Devil Disco Club's warped electronic disco (and, presumably, the smoother grooves of Metro Area), a decade on Vibert's approach is noticeably different. While the fluid synths, undulating disco basslines and cheery grooves remain in place, the intoxicating depth of the original has been replaced by a cheekiness more readily associated with Vibert's Wagon Christ pseudonym. It is, then, a different beast than previous Kerrier District outings, but no less entertaining.
Review: A confirmed presence within the landscape of UK dance music for the best part of 15 years, Hypercolour has cultivated its own constellation of artists while becoming a port of call for those hitting their peak within pseudo-mainstream house music. It's Patterns compilation series has always offered rare cuts and remixes from its roster of artists and from the get go here a lesser known Zodiac impresses out of the blocks with a banging dub techno joint "GhostNet". Sebastian Mullaert & Boelja go hardcore Swedish bleeptronic in "Who Are You Really?" with FRAK also included with an old school and lo-fi 909 workout "Berga Magic". Roman Flugel hits a sweetspot as usual next to some lowly jackin tracks by London Modular Alliance, a vocal breakbeat number of classical drum and bass refrain by Mathew Herbert to some tongue cheek rave by Luke Vibert and much much more! Approved.
Review: !K7 Records launches a new compilation series entitled Kollections: Club which inaugurates the project. The tracklist features artists of the partner labels under the !K7 umbrella such as Turbo, AUS Music, Mobilee, Mister Saturday Night and Hypercolour. Each edition explores a different musical theme but this first installment, naturally, is all about the club! Highlights here include Midland's recent hit "Blush", Maya Jane Coles' funky afterhours tech house jam "Not Listening" (from a few years ago), KiNK's roaring remix of Kerrier District's (Luke Vibert) "Techno Disco" and Lauer's recent feelgood number "Killian" showing off his knack for classic retro vibes like no other.
Review: Well, this is surely the most special treat this week and we're not surprised it's coming from the Hypercolour mandem. These guys have been on fire over the last three years, releasing everyone worth releasing and even having them remix themselves such as on this new compilation. You have all the big guns: Maya Jane Coles, Kris Wadsworth, Tom Demac, Mark Henning, and George Fitzgerald. But, the best part of it all is that they're rewired and revamped by none other than: Bonobo, Jimmy Edgar, FaltyDL, Mr G, KiNK, Deetron, Matthew Herbert and more! We don't need to go on about how big this is...just enjoy this festival lineup in whatever way pleases you best. BIG and RECOMMENDED.
Kerrier District - "Techno Disco" - (4:40) 112 BPM
Tom Demac - "Four Leaves Right" - (7:54) 120 BPM
Luke Vibert - "Stabs Of Regret" (FaltyDL remix) - (3:52) 95 BPM
Garnier - "Confused" - (10:38) 130 BPM
Lucretio - "Vampire Killer" - (6:22) 134 BPM
J. Wiltshire - "False Awakening" (Tuff City Kids remix) - (6:45) 128 BPM
Last Magpie - "Separation" - (9:09) 126 BPM
A Sagittariun - "Delta House" - (6:33) 107 BPM
Zoe Zoe & Enoah Ballard - "1234" - (5:41) 124 BPM
Losoul - "Time & Space" - (8:11) 122 BPM
Roberto Clementi - "Novism" - (5:56) 122 BPM
Review: London's Hypercolour crew have now become synonymous with quality house and techno, and although they are originally rooted in the UK strain of the genres, recent years have brought along a whole new heap of styles and talent on their catalogue. First up, we should give credit to Axel Boman and the ridiculously hummable tech-house groove that is "Depression 01", followed supremely by a hard-hitting house banger in the name of "Lynn" by the unstoppable Dense & Pika. Other choice cuts on here include Kevin McPhee's nasty "CC-XXX-YY-NNNNN", Jimmy Edgar's sexier-than-ever "Hush", Lucretio's smooth "Vampire Killer", and...of screw it, it's all pretty damn killer. HOT.