Review: Luke Vibert follows 2020's Rave Hop long player with another fine album. Ground in the sound of the 303 but characterised by a series of twists and turns throughout, GRIT. moves from the easy listening "Surrounded By Neighbours" and "Decay Hole" into the electro swagger of "Gas Logs" and the title track's wild, woozy techno. "Swingeing Cuts" shows that Vibert is not averse to Chicago jack - once it's delivered in his own playful way - and "Disco Derriere" is the UK veteran's own acid-fried vision of lush, string-filled French house. In true Vibert form, the album concludes with the bonkers 303-led "Screwfix Typeface".
Review: It's been raining Luke Vibert in 2020 with the legendary producer teaming up with Hypercolour for a trilogy of LPs, bringing with it new and neo genres like Modern Rave, and now Rave Hop. restoring some credibility to the lost art of breakbeat and sample culture, Vibert's productions are on point here while exploring different eras of dance music history in the process. Crafted with unique, original and refreshed vintage samples, each track, depending on its element, will transport you across a classic timeline; be it straight up old school hip hop, 90s drum and bass and early chicago house, to soul, disco and jazz before that; all cut up and repackaged in a contemporary and referential approach to rave and its continued legacy.
Review: Since first bursting onto the scene back in 2011, The Cyclist (AKA Derry producer Andrew Morrison) has gone from making dusty, dystopian techno to delivering intriguing albums that defy easy categorization. He's at it again on Sapa Inca Delirium, his fourth full-length in total and first since 2014. Beginning with the dark, feverish ambience of "Go Back" and spiraling, acid-fired, tribal-tinged throb of "Inhale/Exhale", Morrison saunters between impressively atmospheric cuts that variously touch on drowsy early Krautrock ("Inti"), braindance style insanity ("Forest Surge"), Balearic broken beat ("Skateboarding in the Jungle", "When We All Break Down"), lo-fi soundscape jazz-house ("Sapa Inca Delirium") and drowsy downtempo beats ("Antiexist"). It's a gently trippy and imaginative fusion of sounds and styles that's not only expertly executed, but also extremely impressive.
Review: A new DMX Krew album is exactly what we needed to hear on this fine Friday morning. Needless to say, we've been big fans of this guy since his days on Rephlex, and he's clearly respected not just by us, but by certain influential figures in the enlarged techno game. DMX has also invariably represented the UK when it comes to all things 4/4 and, moreover, he's pushed the limits of what that formula can do. This new LP for the excellent Hypercolour, Strange Directions, is a wild and diverse piece of work which feels impossible to boil down to one genre of style. Its fourteen tracks span a range of styles, speeds and vibes, but the crucial thing is that DMX Krew maintains a certain air of mysticism throughout - a lingering sense of psychedelia represents each and every one of these endlessly deep slabs of techno-not-techno. Explore and drift...
Review: Demac has been releasing music on high-profile labels like Aus, Drumcode and Hypercolour for the past decade. As Sink or Swim shows, this is because the UK producer is adept at creating highly distinctive electronic music. The title track is a case in point; it features skipping drums, lithe percussion and frosty melodies, but underpinning these elements is a brutal, oppressive bass. It's the contrast between these two elements that makes "Sink.." so impressive. On "Mayfield Road", Demac moves in a radically different direction. Gone are the straight kicks, replaced by razor-sharp 808s, spacey pads and the kind of futuristic undercurrent that Detroit producers normally lay claim to.
Review: Three men, no computers and many patch cables: That's London Modular Alliance who follow up last year's wicked Out Of Sync EP on Brokntoys with this new one for tech house heroes Hypercolour: who really seem to be broadening their horizons as a label and good on them we say. The Homegrown EP starts out with the rusty boom and snap of "Civic Society", a deep and moody electro number that treads the same territory as Anthony Rother. "Lucid" hits harder but this is exactly the kind of electro-funk we like; dark, bass-driven and minimal. Finally their ode to the North Devon coast "Saunton" is, in a surprise turn; more on the deep dubstep tip. You can almost hear the lighter going off in the background on this advanced experiment in reefer madness.
Review: Famously, Guy Evans has been producing music since the early '90s, though it's only in the last few years that most of it has seen the light of day. Like his previous full-length, Unearthed Trax, sophomore album Concentric Rhythms is also made up of vintage tracks rescued from the archives. There's naturally much to enjoy, from the fuzzy, full-force Detroit techno assault of "Concentric Rhythm", and the glistening, intelligent techno melodiousness of "Through The Galaxy 93", to the balls-out acid onslaught of "Fresh Horizons" and intergalactic D&B madness of "Banzappa Dub". Happily, Hypercolour has also squeezed in "20 96", a 16-minute trip into the furthest parts of the techno galaxy.
Review: Irish tape throb enthusiast The Cyclist adds Bristol house bastions Hypercolour to his discography with this fine four-track 12", Pressing Matters, which features a remix from Pampa and Kompakt legend Robag Wruhme! The title track is a fine example of The Cyclist's warped charm, conjuring bendy bass lines, faltering breakbeats and wavy synth lines over seven delightfully heat-treated minutes. The Robag Wruhme is just as epic, sounding like a lost breakbeat artefact dug up for gleeful 21st century consumption. "Born In '92" adds plenty of pirate radio chatter into it's deep and spectral house bump, whilst Tanaya Harper's vocals lend a palpable edge to the brittle garage swing of closer "Push."
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