Review: On her latest release, Kerrie unpicks one of the defining topics of this age - the relationship between humanity and machines. The title track represents a dystopian take on this issue, with waves of droning noise fused with a robotic, stepping rhythm. "Symbiosis" is similarly inclined. Focused on the dance floor, it sees Kerrie deliver a raw, pulsating groove shot through with repetitive, growling riffs. "Technopoly Dream" goes down a different route, as Kerrie drops a stripped back rhythm track peppered with hypnotic vocal loops. "Ode to the D" marks another shift in style - as its title suggests, it's a futuristic paean to the city where techno started.
Review: Since ditching his Marquis Hawkes alias some years back, long-serving house and techno producer Mark Hawkins has gone back to his roots, delivering no-nonsense, hype-free workouts for the likes of Aus Music, Repetitive Rhythm Research and Unknown To The Unknown. Here he makes his bow on X-Masters with a predictably solid four-tracker. Title track 'Time & Space' is particularly potent, with Hawkins layering hazy female vocal snippets and warming electric piano chords atop sweaty deep house drums and a genuinely superb bassline. This classic deep house vibe continues on the even deeper, dreamier and more alluring 'Together', before Hawkins opts for enveloping chords, fluctuating wobble bass and locked-in beats on 'Illusion'. Closer 'Lopez', meanwhile, is a fine fusion of deep house and cultured acid house sounds.
Review: If you're reading this then you will know that Instinct is one of the UK's powerhouse garage labels. Run by Burnski aka James Burnham it deals in serious tackle for rude boys and nasty girls. The drums hit hard, the reversed bassline burn goose old school cool and there gun finger salutes come thick and fast throughout this EP from Mance. 'Checkpoint' opens with the dusty drum shuffles and bulbous bass, then 'The Going Is Rough' is a little more soulful and sweet with its rolling basslines and silky pads. 'Beat 93' closes down with a seriously OG garage sound that takes you back to the mid-90s.
Review: The Lost City Archives team have pulled together a real winner for their 10th edition of the 'Lost City Archives' series, welcoming Ash Brown with three sumptuous subby bubblers. First up, the eerie reverberations and clustered drum stutters of 'Cantankerous' weave themselves into play, focussing heavily on skittish sub sweeps and delicate percussion to match. Next, 'Star Gazing' brings us an ethereal soundscape of icey synthetics and heavily affected vocal processing, before 'Speciality' thickens the mix a bit with more traditional 2-stepping rhythms and harder hitting drum pumps to match.
Review: Pilot is one of the many labels in the orbit of the unstoppable production force that is Burnski aka garage innovator Instinct. It deals in proper club tackle from a wide range of artists and here it is Hatori Hanso that offers up the brilliance. 'Low Rider' opens with a very familiar hook and some deep, deep half sung, half spoken vocal, before nimble live bass, brass and crispy breakbeats bring the party. 'Cherry On The Cake' is a lively house cut littered with James Brown samples and screwy synths that keep the pressure on. 'Don't Know Why?' closes proceedings in a more cool and breezy tech house mood with sci-fi designs, to complete a set of varied but reliable frug-starters.
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