Review: Following last year's collaboration with Ash Code, Ellen Allien returns to her own label with a high-octane two tracker. "Rave Luv" does what its title suggests. Over a galloping groove, Allien weaves in jittery synths and screeching Hoover builds. The end result is a brilliant blend of disconcerting electronics and dance floor dynamism. "Lust" is also designed for club use, but it applies a different approach. Slamming kicks are merged with raw electronics, while dreamy synths play out in the background. It has echoes of the short-lived, early 90s techno-trance sound pioneered by Harthouse - but realised through the Bpitch boss' unique lens.
Review: Exos has been releasing music since the late 90s, including dubbier sounds on the seminal Thule label. Cyber City offers a more frenetic take on techno compared to those early, frazzled excursions. Clocking in at well over 140bpm, "Open Your Mind" is a rave-infused banger that features ponderous vocal samples. "We Are In Control" has a stronger connection to his older work, as dramatic chords swoop in - but in keeping with his current focus, the rhythm barrels along frenetically. "Buzzer" is the most visceral track on offer here. Led by a noisy bass and pounding kicks, it is sure to cause dance floor mayhem.
Review: Ellen Allien has commissioned remixes of tracks from her 2020 album, striking a balance between well-known and emerging names. Hadone aka J?r?my Bonnet delivers a thumping tribal take on "True Romantics", while on a deeper tip, there's upcoming Dutch producer Keith Carnal's version of "Walking In The Dark". Peppered with 303 lines, it features a wonderfully twisted vocal. Meanwhile, Matrixxman drops a jacking take on "I Can't See You", with acidic bleeps unraveling over tough kicks, while Allien has also tapped Lady Starlight for a take on "Hello Planet Earth". In the Lady Gaga collaborator's hands, it turns into a relentless, heads-down banger.
Review: On its third and final instalment, We Are Not Alone delivers more cutting edge electronic music from the artists who guested at the party of the same name. This volume is hugely varied, ranging from Ryan James Ford's uplifting deep techno to the underground pulses of Lada's "Kassi" and Heidi Sabertooth's "Innergaze". Sounding a more visceral note is Henning Baer's "Nightwing Microlight" and the hard-jacking analogue banger "Basic" by Truncate, while Setaoc Mass' "Silent Tension" is led by cavernous drums. Sandwiched in between these dance floor burners are more offbeat pieces, like Cosmin TRG's gentle, downbeat "Sourde" and the wonderful drones of "Chaos Transition" from Adriana Lopez.
Review: The second instalment in Bpitch Control's compilation series gets off to a rousing start, with Rebekah dropping a pounding, hardcore-influenced techno track, "Last Summer". The same intensity levels are audible on Inhalt Der Nacht's "In Lust Verirrt" and Tham's "The Third Kind" but deployed differently, with both acts using swirling acid lines and blustery filters to arrive at the same destination. While keeping the focus on the dance floor, ebm influences loom large on "Herzschlag Der Figur" from German trio Die Selektion. The compilation also embraces ghetto techno as Andrew Moore delivers the slamming "That Makes Me So Horny" and big-room 303 mayhem on Alien Rain's "Dream Interceptor".
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