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Optimo Trax
Browse the latest digital releases on Optimo Trax
Review: Sadly, it seems that this is the second last release on Optimo Trax, but it's a good one to start the farewell with. The work of Israeli dub maverick Kalbata, it features three very different versions of "Enkuan". According to its author, the material was recored in "a small studio shack in Addis Ababa", together with an Ethiopian musician who came to the session with a range of different flutes. The first 'version' features the mysterious instrument wailing over heavy drums and powerful thunderclaps, while on part two, Kalbata opts for a tougher sound, as tough drums underpin layered, detuned drones. By the time he reaches the third and final "Enkuan", Kalbata goes back to heavy reverb and dubbed out drums.
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OT 032 D
01 Dec 17
Techno
01 Dec 17
Techno
Played by: Chris Massey
Review: Mathias Schober runs the fine Lossless label - home to artists like King Britt and the fast-rising Neil Flynn- but has found the time to debut on Optimo Trax. Using just a simple set-up of drums and one synth, Schober creates some distinctive tracks. "In A Certain Way" is a tripped out techno affair, its colourful synth line unravelling against a rolling groove that has similarities to Mathew Jonson. On "But What Rules Are Made For", Schober opts for a different tact and delivers a slow-burning affair drenched in grimy electronic textures. "Is To Break Them" offers his perspective on dub techno, as a cavernous groove plays home to spiralling trance riffs, before an ambient version of the same track brings the release to a close.
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OT 031 D
03 Nov 17
Techno
03 Nov 17
Techno
Played by: Lurid Music
Review: Geoff Kirkwood aka Man Power has a small but enviable catalogue, with releases on labels such as Correspondant and ESP Institute. For his latest outing, he delivers on Optimo Trax, another respected outlet for left of centre dance music. On the title track, he drops a pulsing groove, around which he adds in eerie textures and some spoken word samples, which appear to come from US politics. It makes for an unusual, hypnotic dance floor track. "HDS" follows a different tact; it sees Kirkwood deliver subtle break beats - one of the longest running themes on Optimo Trax releases - reverberating vocal chants and a droning sound scape, as another unnamed vocal narrative plays out. It makes for one of the best left field releases of 2017.
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OT 029D
07 Jul 17
Techno
07 Jul 17
Techno
Played by: Alkalino
Review: According to JD Twitch's sales notes, Luke Solomon and former Greenskeepers man Nick Maurer decided to join forces as Powerdance in reaction to "the bland, soulless dance music that's infiltrating clubs the world over". Certainly, there's little bland or soulless about opener "Mysterious Space Plane", which not only jacks harder than Ron Hardy after a face full of amphetamines, but also boasts a typically eccentric vocal from Maurer (this, incidentally, is given additional prominence on the accompanying, beat-less Reprise version). Elsewhere, "More Fire" takes TB-303-driven acid house into deep space, while "Fire Beat" offers a stripped-back, percussion heavy take on the same cut.
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OT 021D
20 May 16
Techno
20 May 16
Techno
Review: Optimo's spin-off label has been home to some of the most endearing dance floor oddities of the past few years and this release is in the same vein. The work of French composer and pianist Fabrizio Ferrero, the four tracks consist entirely of drum machines and acoustic pianos. The results are jarring, awkward and quite unlike much contemporary techno. "Pinky" has the wonky chaos of Herbert's house work, while the piano lines on "Ring" are so far to the front of the arrangement that they sound like they are coming through the speakers. "Thumb" ends the release with doubled up drums and insistent drones.
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OT 019
29 Jan 16
Techno
29 Jan 16
Techno
Review: According to the label, the late Bryn Jones recorded this untitled track during the mid-80s and used tape loops instead of sampler to create the rolling breaks and rough riffs that comprise "Untitled". Fittingly, Optimo Trax has commissioned Victor Shan and Running Back's Gerd Janson to rework it. The first take, the 'Rave' version, resounds to dark hardcore stabs and similarly tough breaks, while on the 'Morning' take, ponderous pianos and dubbed out claps prevail. While Italian pair Unterspreche drop the ethnic sampling groove of "Flowers from the Lake" on the flip, it feels like an afterthought compared to Muslimgauze's pioneering pre-hardcore.
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OT 018
15 Jan 16
Techno
15 Jan 16
Techno
Played by: George Fitzgerald
Review: The spin-off Optimo Trax is in danger of overshadowing its mothership if its run of form continues. First up on this split release is Beta's "Endless Plains", where rolling breaks and dubbed out drums prevail. Then comes the brilliantly named Love's Flaccid Disco Muscle's - a pseudonym for L/F/D/M - "3am At The Aqua Disco". Unlike some of the producer's industrial-leaning music, this is a trippy, jazz-house groove. Alex Burkat steers the release back towards disco territories with the sassy sounds of "Culture Full Circle", but Modini demonstrates that diversity is the name of the game, and "Ghost Seducer" is a cold, bleep techno affair.
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OT 016
18 Sep 15
Techno
18 Sep 15
Techno
Played by: Wascal, Chrissy, Alkalino, Juno Recommends Techno, Juno Recommends Minimal Tech, Trevor Jackson, NYMA, Kiwi
Review: Having brought countless obscure tracks from the '80s to our attention through their mix CDs and club nights, Optimo now turn their attention, albeit temporarily, to the decade of drums, the 90s. While the later part of the 1990s saw dull tribal house and one-note loop techno monotony prevail, this split release shows that the use of heavy drums wasn't always tedious. On "The Way Out Is The Way", Norwegian-English duo Illumination deliver three minutes' worth of searing bass and epic keys before the filtered drums roll in, while Mr Marvin's "I Want You" is straighter percussive rhythm although its stuttering vocal sample makes it stand out. Best of all though is Fuel's "Rigid", a panning, stomping affair with traces of Chicago's ghetto sound.
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OT 011
12 Jan 15
Techno
12 Jan 15
Techno
Review: The third release on this fledgling Optimo label comes from Luma, aka Scottish duo Paul McEwen and Graham Morrison. Representing old and newer sounds and styles, the release starts with the contemporary, stepping rhythm and cut-up vocals of the title track, before the duo focus on the '90s with "Don't Give A Damn". In essence, they deliver a fresh take on minimal techno, situated somewhere between the chaotic analogue clatter of Cristian Vogel and Rob Hood's visceral rhythms. Not content with veering from old to new, they decide to combine these narratives on "John Broadwood" and "Electroboon", where house keys and classic synths vie with muscular basslines for attention.
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OT 003
11 Nov 13
Techno
11 Nov 13
Techno
Played by: Kid Who
Review: Bringing to light the work of long-serving Dutch producer Maarten van der Vleuten, Optimo Trax have drawn on four different aliases of the many van der Vleuten has employed in the past, giving a neat introduction to just some of what the man has achieved in his lifetime. This moves from the sunshine piano house of Integrity's "Summer Love" to the cheeky techno bounce of Flux's "True Feelings". As DJ Dusk he whips up a mean live bassline and some jagged drums for a uniquely freaky experience, while G S G's "Higher Spiritual Planes" unsurprisingly reaches for a more wistful, ambient kind of melodic content even if the drums still pound with quintessential Dutch intentsity.
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OT 002
07 Oct 13
Techno
07 Oct 13
Techno
Review: Having established Optimo Music as a truly eclectic label more than worthy of the Optimo (Espacio) night it grew out of, JD Twitch and co expand operations with the launch of the club specific Optimo Trax label. The all encompassing approach of Optimo Music remains the driving force behind this new offshoot, with the label apparently taking in both current artists and excavated "forgotten classics" and it's with the former that they launch. Little is yet to be known about the London producer L/F/D/M, credited as R. Smith, who was apparently encouraged to pursue music production while studying art with Factory Floor's man on electronics, Dominic Butler. Taking Butler's advice, L/F/D/M delivers a strong five track of EP of deep, analogue-fueled acid techno which simultaneously draws upon the influences of the motor and windy cities, while also incorporating the more sinister strands of European techno.
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OT 001
16 Sep 13
Techno
16 Sep 13
Techno
