Review: To mark the fiftieth release on his label, Moustache boss David Vunk teams up with Tafkamp. Inspired by Chicago house and electro, this three-tracker has a definite dance floor focus. "The Jacker" is a relentless percussive workout. Powered by rolling snares and featuring repetitive vocal loops, it's in the same vein as the output on Crème Organization's Jak offshoot. "Acid Party" has a more club techno focus, but even here, Vunk and Tafkamp populate its robust groove with spiralling acid lines. The sound of the 303 is also audible on "Interzone" - on this occasion, it unravels over an old school electro rhythm as the pair reach for the heights again.
Review: For those who enjoy muscular electro-house and sweat-soaked neo-Italo, Moustache Records semi-regular 'You Can Trust A Man With a Moustache' series has long been a much-check affair. There's naturally plenty of 'tache-sporting dancefloor excellence to be found across volume five, the series' latest missive. Tending Tropic sets the tone with 'Hondebrok', a typically tough and angular mix of rolling Italo-disco drums, arpeggio style electronic bass and trance-inducing top lines, before Cafius joins the dots between Eurodance, late-80s Italo and nu-disco ('Tonight Is The Night'). Dark and sleazy bass and trippy electronic noises are the order of the day on Rotterdam special 'Not To Be Compromised' by Im Kellar, while Adrian Marth's 'Icon of the Night' is a pulsating, I-F style dark Italo throb-job with added drum machine handclaps.
Review: Circumventing the intergalactic sounds of Holland's Italo universe is one Martin Matiske, a floating satellite whose releases are few and far between; be they on International Deejay Gigolo Records or Frustrated Funk during the early-to-mid-2000s to more recently with Ali Renault's Vivod. Matiske surfaces again out of relative obscurity in 2020 with this Robitic Theatre EP which adds to the thematic of his Robotermusik mini-LP Stilleben released in 2012. Sending in something of a Murder Capital vibe through the electro arpeggiations and stringed-cosmic tip of "Acting Faces" (think Der Zyklus) find some detuned horror thematic keys turned Zelda victory tones in "Practise". There's no denying the pure Italo brilliance of "Transistor Dances" that screams Rimini circa-1985 more than most, while "Robitic Theatre" itself is an undeniable chiptune number that fuses Kraftwerk inspirations with nods to Alexander Robotnic. The drama!
Review: David Vunk's label has a strong track record in signing new talent - after all, Moustache was one of the first labels to give Gesloten Cirkel's primeval sound a platform. It sounds like Vunk has struck gold once again; Univac is a project from Rafael Espinosa, who has put out material on Bunker. "Lectro City" is a dystopian stepper, led by mysterious synths, while on "Eniac" and "Tangra", the Spanish producer drops powerful, pulsating baselines that provide the backing for dramatic strings and sub-sonic blips. Rounding off what is hopefully the first of many Eps on Moustache is the discordant breaker, "MC's Street".
Review: Miami's finest Danny Daze is up next for David Vunk's Moustache Records out of Rotterdam - following up a grinding EP by himself and David Spaans as Im Kellar. On a homage to his roots, The El Cubano EP features a collection of tracks that hark back to his youth in Vice City. From the gritty warehouse techno banger "Trumpet" featuring Jonny Superglu, to the tunneling 808 driven banger "Late Night Snack" - a song about a boy on its way to the nightstore who gets lost his way on LSD, to the deeply hypnotic electro bass journey of the title track complete with robotic vocoder for added effect.
Review: David 'Vunk' Versteeg's Moustache Records returns! The Rotterdam-based label now presents Im Kellar aka Versteeg and David Spaans, with their second release on the label since 2017's eponymous effort. The Scene EP continues on with the pair's exploration of the grey area between electro, Italo and EBM. The grinding and rusty bass driven groove of the title track calls to mind the work of Vitalic, this is followed by the dirty old school Chicago jack of "Bolwerk", and the moody/tripped-out tunnel vision of "Lasersports" closes out the EP, calling to mind the early work of the legendary Green Velvet.
David Vunk - "Hetero Girl" (Sx Lines Of Speed version) - (5:07) 125 BPM
Dax Jax - "MaDMAn" - (6:02) 127 BPM
BRZ - "YOKO 1" - (10:42) 123 BPM
Parasols - "Extort" - (4:11) 120 BPM
Review: Moustache Records is a Rotterdam based label run by David Vunk. Over the years it has flaunted wares by the likes of Cute Heels, Neil Landstrumm, Third Side and many other all analogue styled retroverts. There's more of where they came from on Moustache Homo Club Series One, where Vunk himself steps up to the challenge on the hilariously titled "Hetero Girl" (Six Lines Of Speed version), a grinding and guttural expression in slow motion 303 acid. Elsewhere, stomping old school techno comes courtesy of Dax Jax on "MaDMAn", sludgy L.I.E.S. styled techno-punk on BRZ's "YOKO 1" and the mysterious Parasols with the seething and slow burning "Extort" that's sure to cause some tunnelling and strobe-lit moments on the dancefloor.
Review: It's hard not to admire David Vunk. Apart from being a great party DJ, he is also an astute label owner, and Moustache was one of the first places to champion Gesloten Cirkel. For his latest coup, he has signed the debut act by Dutch pair Im Kellar, which focuses on ebm and new wave with some industrial thrown in for good measure. The title track on Im Kellar as well as "Brain Roto Cast Action" sound like they were fashioned in Front 242's studio, and are led by pumping bass, steely drums and paranoid vocals. "Golden Queen" is a noisier, heavy affair, with the pair letting off regular blasts of white noise as they descend down a pulsating wormhole. "Golden Axe" is the most musical cut, with the spirits of Yello and Rago & Farina looming large.
Barbara B.A.M. (Raw Demo version) - (6:01) 123 BPM
Review: Lone Wolf McQuade and Freezy Freeze (to pick just two of their aliases) reunite for another Monkeyshop saga. Expressive and loaded with contrast, "Ozzyism" thumps with heady abandon. More disco than electro (but still crisp and edgy on the riff), it pounds as hard as Moustache can handle before giving us a much slower rub down with the spacious and mildly acidic "Ambibarb". Rutherfort adds more of a twinkle to the lead track while retaining the full thrust tempo while "Barbara BAM" is a much denser, heavier piece of analogue soul that's almost crunchy in its texture.
Review: The fifth installment on the only underground label to make facial hair cool comes from its owner. Working with Gucci, another doyen of basement parties, David Vunk drops "Cold As Ice". Clocking in at nearly ten minutes, this tearing, bass-led track moves from icy synths into abrasive acid as a ponderous vocal interrupts occasionally. The other two tracks aren't quite as grandiose, but they are just as effective. "Medication Time" sees snares crash and drums flail relentlessly, while "Dikke Pep" involves the pair taking the listener on a journey through The Hague's sewers, accompanied by chilling rave stabs and percussion so sharp it could take your ears off.
Review: If you've heard Dutch DJ David Vunk do his thing, there's a fair chance you've also heard "Moustache Italo Anthem". He's been hammering it in his sets for the best part of six years. Finally, he's giving it the release it deserves. Supposedly by a darkwave Italo band from Holland called The Problems (mystery surrounds them, so chances are Vunk has something to do with it), the track sounds like a classic Italo production - all druggy arpeggios, bold chords and twinkling pianos, plus typically cheap but heavy percussion. Vunk himself remixes, delivering a sweaty, 909-heavy reinterpretation bustling with techno intent and glistening breakdowns. Hot stuff, all told.
Review: Gesloten Cirkel's opening salvo on Moustache Techno is a hard act to follow, but Du Mosch does a good job here. Like the first release on the label, diversity is the key. The first untitled cut is a slamming, grainy techno rhythm, like a European update of early Mike Dunn or Steve Poindexter Chicago techno. The second cut is deeper and more groovy as an insistent bassline provides the basis for a rolling disco techno arrangement, while Du Mosch revisits his familiar Italo approach on the third and final track, the synths soaring to a melodic and wonderfully epic crescendo.
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