Review: If your broken beat tastes lean towards the glitchy, leftfield and experimental side of the street, you'll find much to enjoy on this latest full-length from German trio Kuf - their fourth since 2014. Looped, stuttered beats and chopped-up samples abound, making 'Yield' a set that'll appeal to fans of labels such as Ninja Tune and Warp. For this writer, though, it's the album's mellower moments that stand out: cuts like 'Seem To Take' and '9' bring us a hazy, Balearic take on contemporary jazz while there's a certain appealing, laidback lounginess to 'Ah Oh' and, in particular, closer 'Long Before'.
Review: Well known for productions on the more experimental fringes of minimal techno for labels such as Classic, Ovum and Cocoon, Germany's Stefan Goldmann returns with his latest album on Macro - which he runs with fellow Berliner Finn Johannsen. Vector Rituals changes up the typical formulas of the genre, largely utilising shifting time signatures and hypnotic metal polyrhythms. Whether it's the slow motion tribal trance of opener "Nayba", the sparse, tunneling reductionism of Lorino" and "Yukagir" or the cavernous and glacial soundscape of "Ayon" - Goldmann succeeds in evoking ancient rituals throughout.
Review: Austrian act Elektro Guzzi squeeze primal techno shapes from a traditional band format of guitars, bass and drums. On Clones, their fourth album for Stefan Goldmann's label, it sounds like they have perfected this art. From the glitchy, grimy "Room" through the galloping bongo-heavy, LCD Soundsystem rhythm and breathy synths of "Voix", this album shows that they bring a wide-ranging approach to live dance music. As the murky noise and crashing drums of "Slowfox" and the epic melodies and shuffling electro beats of "Element" both demonstrate, this album also proves that Elektro Guzzi are far more than the average three-piece band posing as techno auteurs.
Review: Stefan Goldmann's label has made a very astute move by releasing music from Rroxymore. Fresh form the Decon/Recon 1 release with Oni Ayhun, Paula Temple and Planningtorock, Tautologies sees her deliver three advanced, futuristic grooves. Bridging the gap between house and techno, "Darksun" is a lithe, organic groove that shifts and rolls incessantly, riding a torrent of bleeps and deft filters. "Q19" and "Dff" are in a similar mode, but more abstract; the former resonates to chim-ing bells in much the same way as Efdemin's music, while the latter houses drones and wind chimes in its drum-heavy, rolling groove.
Review: This young producer has only put out three releases so far, but he is already developing a distinctive identity. Merging found sounds, subtle abstractions and detuned offbeat trance melodies, his latest release sees him bring this bizarre but engaging approach a few steps further. "A Night Out With Therese" is typical of Stamm's sound, fusing tough stomping beats with a resonating, bleep bass and dramatic drops and effects. The title track is even more unusual in that it combines screeching background noises with banging beats and frosty trance melodies. On a different tack is "That Kid From Newport"; while it too is banging and full on, is covered in an acrid acidic veil.
Review: KiNK's technical prowess has long been a known trait of the Bulgarian producer's music, and here on Macro he gets to stretch-out his intellectual, avant garde-self more than he has for labels like Burek, Ovum, Boe or liebe*detail. After a long career which, release-wise, dates back to 2005, he's delivered for the most-part straight up house and techno. But here, after all these years, his debut LP sees KiNK twist his synths and contort his grooves to sound, well, very Macro. Take the confused bleeps and brash drums of "Summa Technologiae" and "Kakavida" or the interdimesional electronics and Hare Krishna chinqs of "Povreda" for example. But for some real dancefloor toughness it's tracks like "Sintezator" and "Source OF Uncertainty" that do the trick, while for something a little more disco look out for the album's penultimate track "Tel". Go KiNK!
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