Review: Oliver Deutschmann's music has been released on labels as diverse as Mobilee and Mote-Evolver. For his latest missive on emerging imprint Arkham Audio, he shows why he has such broad appeal. In keeping with his signature style, this four-tracker is tough and functional but also diverse and distinctive, with Deutschmann balancing this seemingly incompatible aesthetics through a range of approaches. The title track features gurgling acid lines unravelling over a driving rhythm and relentless percussion, while on "New Age", he goes deeper, with blustering chords supported by a rolling tribal groove. In contrast, "The B-S Track" is a lean, percussive workout, lit up by a cacophony of bleeps and deft filters and he goes down the minimal route for the impactful closer, "Mr Robot".
Review: The last commercial mix that Robert Hood did back in 2008 for Fabric re-ignited his career. Appearing at the tail end of minimalism, its hard-edged sounds provided a welcome relief to the prevailing sound. A decade on, the 66th DJ Kicks finds the Detroit artist once again in firing form. "Focus" signals his intent with its massive siren riff and pounding drums, while "Clocks", which builds and builds to electronic bee swarms, shows that he has lost none of his minimal techno firepower. Sure, there are other fine contributions, like Truncate's sheet metal banger "Terminal 5" and the shadowy riffs of Marcel Fengler's "Thwack" - itself a paean to Dr Motte's "Der Klang Der Familie" - but like the Fabric selection, this instalment of DJ Kicks is all about Robert Hood.
Review: The second volume of the Endeavours compilation starts with the artist it is dedicated to - Trevino. "Plugged" shows why the UK producer, who sadly passed away earlier this year, was held in such high esteem - its rich, dubby chords and swaggering groove sounding effortless. By contrast, Ambivalent delivers a rough, rugged take on jacking techno with "Supertouch" under his LA-4A guise, while Lando inhabits similar territory on the grimy "Ritual Track". There are emotions of a different nature audible on TML's "Crying (Piano Mix)", where euphoric keys and haunting vocals unfold over a rolling groove. Oliver Deutschmann provides the toughest, most frenetic track in the shape of the loopy techno "Sequel", while Scuba himself works as SCB to deliver the rough, sample-heavy techno of "Rolling SN".
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