Review: Spawning the 96 Back project with a surge of EPs for Central Processing Unit, Evan Majumdar-Swift's emerging talents make the leap to Hypercolour! Keeping hope alive with cuts like "Fe Symbolic" and "Party Animal" - going great lengths in perpetuating the legacy of Aphex Twin, Warp and other bleep-era sounds - the EP also touches on elements of deeper dubstep and minimalism in "Cosied By" to other melodic club tracks in "TBQFH". It sees the 96-name added to a fresh cast of labelmates including HVL, Gary Gritness, Asquith and Carlton Doom. Believe the Hypercolour!
Review: As the title of his latest release suggests, mystery man (or woman) A Sagittariun has been around for a while. It's no surprise then that this release, like the rest of his catalogue, draws on older sources for inspiration. "3--4-3" is constructed from clipped drums, a shuffling rhythm and features the kind of wide-eyed, jazz-tinged keys that you'd associate with classic Prescription releases. Rolando's version of the track features this melodic element, albeit underpinned by a tough, linear rhythm and splintered percussion, while label boss Alex Jones' version is all about a splurging, noisy bass and a low-slung rhythm. The best track on the release however is "Delta House", a slower groove full of demented jazz squalls and a woman moaning ecstatically.
Review: Following a release on its sub-label, Nick Harris brings his A Sagittariun project to Hypercolour. The title track resounds to cinematic orchestral flourishes and moves rather skilfully from rolling break beats into dance floor friendly kicks. "The Pathway" offers no such musical distraction and centres on tough, insistent kicks, a succession of filtered breakdowns and splintered percussion. To mark his appearance on the label, Hypercolour have commissioned US producer Matrixxman to rework "The Pathway". Taking the tempo down, his version has a cavernous, spacious feel. The kicks feel like they are submerged, but Matrixxman keeps the dance floor focus thanks to the use of rickety percussion and wild horn stabs.
Review: Hypercolour boss man Alex Jones gets weird & wild on this Infin EP with four starkly different numbers that somehow all come together. "Infinity", the darkest, and hardest of the four, kicks out at a badass tempo for the heavier tech house heads out there, with something breezier, funkier and uplifting yet equally strange in vocally in "Gwilliam". As if cutting and screwing some lost Crookers tracks from the late 2010s "Passe" has squat rave written all over it, with vocoder of the year effect going to "Pressure Wash" and its distant drum pattern. An EP made unique by its oddball vocals and higher tempo beats. Wickedly strange
Review: Stellar vocal cut here from Alphonse Rozel, who has had previous releases for Klasse Wrecks, Emotional Especial and Black Orpheus. Described by Hypercolour as 'spacey and dusty deepness' and that's pretty on point. Vocals are provided by one Rev Be, which Rozel utilises across these three versions. The deep bleep techno of "Better Weather" in its original version calls to mind the sounds of northern UK sounds from the early '90s, the trippy dub version - or Phazed version - is vaguely reminiscent of Derrick May's studio expriements around the same time with its funked up, flanged out and reversed elements galore. Finally is the more straight ahead and dancefloor friendly bounce of the Abyss version.
Review: Following a couple of releases on the Hype_Ltd offshoot under the Analogue Cops guise, Restoration Records founders Lucretio and Marieu get a chance to put out some solo tracks on Hypercolour. Lucretio steps up first, kicking off with the bass-heavy, 8-bit deep house swing of "Vampire Killers", before once again reaching for the cheap-sounding synths and hustling rhythms on "Shinobi World". Marieu opts for a tougher, all-encompassing sound on the boompty-influenced "Corona", all thumping beats, speaker-bothering bass and occasional vocal samples. He continues on this theme with "McGraw", which sounds like a tribute to the Dixie Jazz-sampling madness of one-time classic regulars Mike Dixon and Greenskeepers.
Review: It's all kicking off with this latest Hypercolour outing, as we see Carlton Doom land in top quality form with a truly fiery display, unloading three dizzying originals, exploring a wide spectrum of dancefloor ideas. We begin with the earth-shattering drumlines and sub sweeps of 'I'll Be Fine', a mind-boggling twist up through explosive subs and subtle background glitches. Next, 'Cesspool' delivers an either deeper exploration of modern breaksy themes with just as much potency, before the icy synthesiser lines and warm bass bulges of 'I Miss You' gives the EP a truly emotive round off to close.
Review: Following up a couple of great releases for Matthew Herbert's Accidental Jnr, Sydney producer Cassius Select debuts on Hypercolour with a fresh batch of crooked beats and twisted rave experiments. From the jagged and angular dub of "They Shook", the moody knackered house jam "Loose Pursuit" or the brooding grey area groove of "Yut" which calls to mind the crossover experiments of London's Autonomic crew nearly a decade ago. This collection bass heavy and highly urbanised jams all feature a truly UK influence and make a welcome addition to the Hypercolour catalogue.
Review: With releases on Soma, Echocord and Kontra to his credit, it's fair to say that Clementi is one of the most promising new European producers. The Italian producer's reputation gets a further boost with this release on Hypercolor. More techno-centric than the label's usual output, "The War Inside Me" is a driving, heads-down affair, augmented by rapid-fire percussion and dubbed out drums. "THD" is even more functional, with Clementi laying down a drum-heavy track populated only by razor sharp hats and messy chord stabs. However, there is some relief from this approach, mainly on the stepping title track and the more reflective but still pumping dub techno of "Voila".
Review: With releases on labels like Hotflush and Drumcode to their credit, Dense & Pika bring it back home with Amber: after all, Hypercolour was set up by Alex Jones, one half of the act. The title track focuses on dreamy hooks and blissed out vocal samples, before the pair's insistent, stepping beats kick in. It's atmospheric, but also tailor made for the dance floor. On "Hard Light", they opt for a somewhat different approach: here, the tempo is faster and the rhythm more percussive, but the pair leave enough room in the arrangement for cosmic laser stabs that sound like they were taken straight from a sci-fi thriller.
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: At times, it really does feel as if DMX Krew must make tune sin his sleep; wherever we look, we find a new EP or album form the man, and all of the highest calibre, too! This time, the long-haired UK techno soldier lands on the ever-excellent Hypercolour with a hefty nine-tracker made up of eerie, slithering techno and cinematic electro. The opener "Spiritual Encounter" is almost enough in term of quality - check those Drexciyan waves - and the res of this beauty develops in similar fashion, from the gorgeous strings od "Bombay Mix", to the grizzly synth-led beats of "Daylight Saving", and the heavy, Detroit style of "Computational Paradigm Shift". Class, through and through.
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...
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