Review: The Hotflush name and brand has always been synonymous with futuristic flavour, making this exceptional collection a perfect way to celebrate their success over the years, taking the title 'Post Whatstep?'. The project takes a serious deep-dive into the concept of thinking outside the box, whilst still maintaining genre ties to garage, dubstep and techno throughout. The roster involved is pretty outstanding, with household names such as Scuba, Mount Kimbie, TRG, Dub U and Untold all providing seriously high quality inclusions. There are definitely a few stand out features, with the sweeping synthetic layers of 'Don't You' from George Fitzgerald being an immediate point of interest, next to the heavily sidechained atmospherics of Sepalcure's 'Love Pressure' and the more old school garage chops of Or:la's 'UK Lonely' also setting a high standard. Exceptional work, as we have come to expect from such a critical UK label voice.
Review: To celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary, Blueprint has delved deep into its back catalogue. "Post Traumatic Son", a collaboration between label owner James Ruskin and Karl O'Connor, features three times in remixed form, with DVS1 dropping a deep take, Robert Hood turning the track into an angular, metallic jacker and Marcel Dettmann remodelling it into a grainy Berghain stomper. In as much as dance floor tracks like "Son..." and the coruscating, gnarly rhythm of Outline's "Encounter" have defined the label since the start, so too does its more abstract work. A shadow of textured sound looms over Ruskin's "Correction Centre A"; Samuel Kerridge's "Operation Neptune" is a trip into the world of grungy electronics, while Lakker's "Static & Amp" fuses haunting vocals with a hissing, humming groove.
Review: Hot on the heels of last year's Metabolism album for Token, Sigha drops a new four-track EP. "Circular" is a pounding, bleep-heavy rhythm that resounds to powerful drums. On "Gliss", the UK producer ramps up the intensity levels with droning riffs and a dense rhythm that come across like a contemporary, more refined take on vintage Steve Bicknell. "Flare" is less obtuse and experimental, with Sigha dropping hypnotic tonal bleeps over a pounding groove, in much the same manner as Mike Parker's output. Rounding off the EP is "Hum", where Sigha goes deeper and deeper into experimental sound scapes.
Review: The In Silent Series label is the brainchild of Berlin-based artist Mike Jefford aka Positive Centre, who took the title for the imprint from his 2014 debut album on Sigha'a label. Now Jefford has returned the favour by tapping Sigha to contribute to this split release. "Mother" crackles to dissected industrial rhythms, but is also interspersed with evocative ambient layers. By contrast, SNTS delivers the dense, stepping techno of "Fearless" and on "From Function to Form", Dadub lets loose with a steely, industrial breaker. Jefford himself also contributes to the release, with the multi-layered ambience of "In Extracts" bringing the EP to a dreamy conclusion.
Review: Taken from Sigha's second album which was released this year on Token, this package of heavyweight remixes cast a hypnotic spell. Wata Igarashi delivers two versions of "Black Massing". The first, the 'Dusk Falls' version, is a dense workout that features a dynamic interplay between the pulsating bass and eerie, textured chords. The second 'Daylight Breaks' take sees the Japanese producer drop mesmerising, tranced out melodies over a bleepy groove. By contrast, Marco Shuttle delivers a droning, low tempo version of "Morning Star", replete with late night squalls, while at the other end of the spectrum, Function turns "Down" into a droning dance floor workout, led by spiky hats and a tunnelling groove.
Review: Hotflush alumnus Sigha has long been a masterful exponent of dark and gothic techno, developing a signature style that puts pitch-black textures and paranoid atmospherics at the heart of the action. Metabolism is the producer's second full length, and his first since joining Token in 2015. The 12-track set is in a similar vein to his previous work, with the 12 tracks flitting between deep and intricate explorations, more forthright workouts, and clandestine cuts that shy away from easy categorization. It's a formula that guarantees consistently impressive results.
Review: Very few can do po-faced, gothic techno as eloquently as the UK's dark lord Sigha, the Our Circula sound main man returning on Belgian hard techno imprint Token with the rather restrained "Christ Figures" which makes up for the kind of aggression most usually associated with him (and the label), with its exploration in tension, texture and functionality. Second offering "Puritan" explores the same path of dystopian hypnotism in the tradition of greats like Mike Parker or Donato Dozzy; strap yourself in for this one, it's one wild journey!
Review: Given his ability to mix the esoteric and ethereal with the bone crushingly intense, it was only a matter of time before Sigha released on Token. Indeed "Our Father" sounds like a perfect distillation of the aesthetic that drives Kr!z label. Hypnotic, crystalline synths break and splinter over a fuzzy low end and dense beats, and this fragile union is held together by blasts of jagged percussion. However, the UK producer departs from the script on "A Better Way of Living". One-note stabs unfold over dense tribal beats and a rough, filtered rhythm that recalls the best of Lost and Cosmic Recordings.
Review: Sigha returns to his own Our Circula Sound label with a four-track EP called A Series Of Desecrations. Like all of James Shaw's music, his titles are as colourful as his music, like the tough minimalisms of "352 Lashes (Ideal)" or the spaced-out "Hard Lines Soft Skin". "My Blood Is Gold" is a statically super-charged, noisier version of the EP's opener, and the same can be said about "Grace" when compared to "Hard Lines Soft Skin".
Review: While it might be tricky in these open-minded times for Scuba to shatter preconceptions the way that he did with his Sub:Stance mix a few years ago, this compilation should be seen really as a celebration of the man himself as a DJ. After launching with a decidedly minimalist approach, the mix meanders between pacey techno, bluesy broken beat and rolling dubstep tempos. At times the flow feels unsteady, but then it just rings true that he put this mix together for himself. Without a dancefloor to look after, who knows where many of our favourite DJs might take us?
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.