Review: Berlin institution Watergate Records celebrates its 10 year birthday, with this special 50 track anthology of their favourite records. Over the last decade, the imprint has set a standard for captivating electronic music from across the house and techno spectrum, successfully mirroring the club's booking policy. Now up to over 60 releases including a remix of the Josh Wink classic "Higher State Of Consciousness" by residents Adana Twins, and the 26th installment in their acclaimed mix series by Danish legends Whomadewho - this compilation presents some of its most memorable cuts since its inception in 2008. Highlights come from: label staple Mathias Meyer - the Hanseatic hero presenting several tracks including "Love Letters From Sicily" with Ryan Davis, local legends Tiefschwarz on "Fire It Out" feat. Ruede Hagelstein, resident La Fleur getting remixed by Detroit legend Kenny Larkin on "Nightflow" and rising duo Adriatique's 7am remix of "The Spirit" by the ever impressive Butch (featuring Hohberg) amony many others.
Review: American producer Eric Estornel must barely find time to sleep: when not returning to his Detroit roots when curating his wonderful Lone Romantic imprint, making electro as Mariel Ito, tech-house as Maetrik or running his long standing Ellum Audio imprint - he's recorded some of the most infectious and pop-inflected techno under his most well known alias: Maceo Plex. He has also become a key artist for Afterlife Recordings in recent times, playing a great number of shows at their Ibiza residency alongside label heads Tale Of Us. Dramatic strings announce you to surrender to the void (right before the massive drop) of "Lonely Tribe" - tunnelling and hypnotic techno number featuring an infectious looped vocal refrain. There's also a remix by the ever impressive Italian Fango which takes the track ionto oddball exotica territory.
Review: Fresh from reworking Remake's 1992 progressive house cover of Vangelis' "Blade Runner" theme, Maceo Plex returns to the Ellum Audio family he co-founded with Alta in 2011. This time round, he's got company, too, with veteran Texas outfit Paradigm Shift (whose "Requisition" was featured on Plex's recent Fabric mix CD) lending a hand on title track "Mutant Pulse". It's a typically atmospheric, peak-time-friendly affair, with trippy female spoken world vocals weaving in and out of an alien techno groove and spine-tingling pads reminiscent of the Moby classic "Go". "Mutant Radio" is an altogether darker and more hypnotic interpretation, with spaced-out stabs and ghostly chords accompanying Plex's fuzzy, on-point grooves.
Review: Six years have passed since Maceo gave the world his debut album Life Index. In that time he's solidified his status as one of techno's most untouchable soul men who's unapologetically ungoverned by tempos or boxes or any type of formula. He's also become a father, which is what this (and last year's "Journey To Solar") are all about. Rich in sentiment, hope and fear, each cut reveals a deeper layer of Maceo: the star-gazing optimism of "Kepler's Journey", the Bristolesque industrial dub soul of "Indigo", the careful countering of vulnerable emotion and roboticism on "Was Away My Tears", the list goes on. This is Maceo at his most heartfelt and arresting.
Review: As sure as night follows day, every year Kompakt releases an installment of the Total series. Now at its sixteenth volume, the compilation still manages to bring together the best bits from the Cologne label's catalogue. From the dreamy textures and spiky off rhythms of Kaytlin Aurelia Smith's take on The Field's "Reflecting Lights" to the woozy vocals and pitter pattering break beats on Weval's "I Donat Need It" to the stripped back but evocative house of Patrice Baumel's take on Blond:ish's "Endless Games" and the throbbing techno reshape of Coma's "Lora", the full range of the Kompakt emotional spectrum is audible here.
Review: Tech house titan Maceo Plex makes the move to Kompakt once again after storming the German institution with the Conjure Superstar release last year. This time around he has some assistance in the shape of Car, and between them they shape out the seductive, moody tones of "Mirror Me". The track comes in two forms, with Car dropping some unsettling robotic vocal turns on the "Extended Original" version in a perfect channeling of electro clash posturing, while Maceo's own "Dark Dub" strips back the bulbous melodics and pushes the techno intensity up. Whichever mix tickles your fancy more, there's no doubt the Plex machine has once again delivered the goods for the big room experience.
Review: Eric Estornel rose to fame a few years ago, from what seemed like out of nowhere. But unbeknownst to many was churning out sleek electro for a long time before as Mariel Ito. But it was with Maceo Plex that he really found his groove with anthems such as "Your Style" and Sleazy Rider". Fast forward to 2015 he's still at the top of his game as a DJ (check the polls) and as a producer as heard striking out on his own imprint Ellum Audio. It sees him temporarily return to his old ways with a chill electro number that ticks all the boxes; vocoder, soaring analogue strings and warm chunky arpeggiated bassline. If that wasn't enough, he flips the script on us again in the form of right techno banger "Solar Detroit" sounding like something on Oscar Mulero's Pole Group. Nice one!
