Review: While some of techno artists acts to emerge from former Soviet states favour a tough style, the same cannot be said about Yansima. On Tweede Cans this upcoming Ukrainian artist favours a radically different approach to many of his peers; the title track unravels to the sound of tight, skipping drums, vocodered vocals and deep-seated melodies. Similarly on "Hold Her" Yansima favours an introspective sound; resounding to tropical hooks, seductive squelches and slightly trippy effects, a heady combination that is supported by lithe break beats. Rounding off this sublime adventure in techno soul is the slightly more uptempo rhythm and guitar licks of "La Kappa".
Review: Hailing from different countries across Europe but united by label owner Renaat Vandepapeliere's love of percussive tracks, the contributors toVolume 5 deliver a fine dance floor compilation. It starts in introspective mode with the stepping rhythms of Tension's "Pure Black Skies" and Hala Bahma's "My: Emi", before moving into deep tripped out techno courtesy of Primal Code's brooding "Tridimensionale". On "Oracle", Optmst introduces a more accessible approach thanks to the use of dreamy vocal samples, while the human voice also makes an appearance on Hermetics "Escaping Samsara", with dreamy chants unravelling over an undulating tribal rhythm. It makes for a vivid climax to another volume of RV Trax.
Review: John Talabot and Axel Boman released their debut album as Talaboman last year, and now R&S are issuing remixes of tracks from The Night Land. First up is Superpitcher, who is tasked with reworking "Dins El Llit". The Kompakt star uses a stripped back, bleepy groove as a basis to conjure up blurry vocal samples and pulsing 303s, making for a subtle, tripped out affair. The same can be said about Samo DJ's take on "The Ghosts Hood". While it is more pacey than Superpitcher's rework, the break beats are understated and the acid line keeps niggling away. The final remix comes from Luke Slater under his LB Dub Corp guise; on his version of ""Brutal Chugga Chugga", the UK veteran delivers a superb, low-slung, jacking Chicago workout.
Review: Manchester based producer Joe McBride has incorporated disparate influences across the spectrum of bass culture and electronica over recent years for respected imprints such as Apollo, Exit Records and his own Synkro Music. His latest outing, the Information EP, comes courtesy of the mighty R&S Records and features four tracks with a distinctly UK underground feel; the half-time grey area beats of the title track call to mind the Autonomic sound the late noughties, leading into the ominous atmosphere of the seething slow burner "Signal" and ending with the celestial, immersive ambient journey "Last Breath".
Review: Rightly so, Paul Woolford sees his Special Request project stamped and approved by R&S with this fully sick Spectral Frequency EP. Lifting the title-track from the Zero Fucks compilation Woolford released last year, this insane banger of experimental jungle comes backed by a sidewinding beatless version in "Inverse Frequency". The EP sees two new numbers in the bassline driven bliss of "No Other Way To Say It" and the uplifting arpeggios of "Family Doggo" that offers some respite in techno from the bonafide mad breaks of "Spectral Frequency". Undeniably good. Tip!
Review: If you like things harsh and jungley, packed full of amen sounds and couched in the audio aesthetic of grimy warehouses and early morning smoking area haze, this is the release for you. Courtesy of Special Request via the label R&S, Spectral Frequency takes you on a journey up and down the spectrum of dancefloor frequencies. The destination? Jungle city, and it's a rough town that finds beauty in its disorder. This track climbs and climbs, distorted breaks forming the bedrock of its acceleration, before crashing onto the waves of amens which form its main body. It's perfect for the dancefloor and a seriously atmospheric method of transport.
Review: Fresh from the release of his low-key, self-released "Redemption of the Cryonauts" album, Jack Hamill once again dons the Space Dimension Controller alias for a first outing on R&S Records in nigh on two years. The headline attraction is undoubtedly opener "Beyond Pulso-IV", a suitably epic, stargazing affair that sees the Northern Irish producer layer his trademark colourful synthesizer lines and deep space electronics over a classy mid-tempo groove that sits somewhere between spacey deep house and '80s electrofunk. He ups the tempo to 128 BPM on the Motor City inspired futurist warmth of "First Contact With System Lobitso", before wrapping luxurious ambient electronics and lilting lead lines around a soft-touch drum machine groove on the deliciously loved-up "Valuts of Arcadia".
Review: Some six years ago we met Mr. 8040. It was 2357 A.D. and our hero was in the throes of hazardous journey back to his home planet. This premise was set up with Welcome To Mikrosector-50 LP in 2013, a debut Space Dimension Controller album for R&S. Love Beyond The Intersect, it is told, sees Mr 8040 again exploring "the unknown world in the hope of finding help." With Space Dimension Controller at the controls, this return represents a deeper touch to the story, with Moodymann levels of deep house depth reached in "Alone In An Unknown Sector" alongside the equally ambient and evoking sounds of "Sundown On Memory Point". A new level of maturity and minimalism shines through on the album with the power of subtleness is on display here. Cue ambient swells of cosmic atmospheres dusted up by the soft pitter-patter of luscious drums and sweet shining synths. Godspeed Mr. 8040!
Review: At its creative height, minimal house was all about championing the left of centre and the offbeat. In that regard, Shcaa aka Sacha Khalif? is the real progeny of artists like LoSoul and Akufen. Building on the momentum of last year's debut artist album, the title track on this EP sees him deploy bluesy guitar twangs, samples of creaking doors and understated, freeform lyrics over a shuffling rhythm. "Pacific Gold" sees the Paris-based producer get even weirder. The samples are cut to shreds, the groove ambles along in a stop-start manner and the end result is one of the quirkiest, most individu-alistic records you are likely to hear in 2019.
Review: Introducing Sam Chadburn aka Sam Interface, the artist formerly known as SNOW whose music, interestingly enough, shared a split release with Zed Bias to inaugurate his More Time Records in 2017, while in 2019 he appeared on a swift R&S various artist compilation. Fully emancipated under a new alias, Sam Interface's full solo debut arrives with the Pink Dolphins EP turning four heavily UK influenced club bangers. With next level bass going 3D in tracks like "Crud", there's skippier, and more percussion enlightened cuts in "Underground". An EP that's undeniably made for the club, find something heavy, full of phase, ghostly house vocals and a splash of melody in "Finally", while "Pink Dolphins" sends in a sidewinding bassline hit of low end frequencies, funky percussion and new drum and bass mechanics that even Special Request would be proud of. '90s 2.0.
Review: If deep, dark and moody D&B and dubstep are your bag then don't sleep on this new EP from Cardiff lad Elliot R Garvey, AKA Quartz. His work has previously appeared on Metalheadz and System Music, but here he comes to the mighty R&S with four cuts that will delight those of a red-eyed and headnoddin' persuasion. 'Lilac Cobweb' feat Selena Jones is all about the jittery, twitchy percussion, 'Deity Spear' itself is sparse, haunting and features barely-there Middle Eastern-style vox, the gnarlier 'Cosmic Horror' is aptly named and 'Switchblade Groove' brings hints of a dark, beats-driven psychedelia. Late-night, skunk-fuelled listening of the highest calibre.
Review: Mahjong Music boss makes his way to R&S under the PROGedia name, with this "We Are The Night" single of funky western rhodes preceding a forthcoming LP! With pitched vocals that sound as if they've been sipping some deep purple drank, this single expands on Conti's penchant for heartfelt arrangements, playing with beats and textures, with touches of acoustic folk elements alongside smooth, bluesy melody lines. Diving deep into UK electronic music folklore - Peacefrog legend Charles Webster is employed for two remixes with the original mix delivering a pre-eminent Disclosure / Mount Kimbie vibe next to an ambient mix that sounds all the more Bleep and Orbital inspired. Looking forward to the album, and a most intriguing release to say the least!
Laugh With Me (feat Sarah Williams White) - (4:34) 104 BPM
All Around - (4:28) 112 BPM
Review: As producer for American rapper Danny Brown, South London's Paul White collaborated with him on the acclaimed XXX album back in 2011. Since making his name with debut The Strange Dreams of Paul White, he went on to create some real innovation in contemporary hip-hop production on a further nine albums, in addition to working with Jamie Woon, Homeboy Sandman and Charli XCX. With his new album Rejuvenate, the producer and multi-instrumentalist tries something new, incorporating psychedelic pop elements with cosmic rock, ambient, electronic, jazz, folk and more. Vocal contributions come from Sarah Williams White, Denai Moore and Shungudzo and he's said to have abandoned sampling altogether and instead played and recorded all the instruments himself.
Review: Inspired by Sun Ra and Philip K Dick, Lost Souls of Saturn is the vehicle for Seth Troxler and Phil Moffa's more esoteric dance floor musings. These tracks, taken from their debut album from earlier this year - and in some instances here in extended form - show just how far down the rabbit hole the duo go. "Divine Plane (M?ditation Des Enfants)" is a dreamy, wispy affair, with cosmic meandering unravelling over a tight rhythm, while on "Lunarvision", rain forest warbles accompany deeper sound scapes. While the extended take on "Lost Souls of Saturn" is a more grimy affair, led by gurgling acid, tripped out discordance and scuffled beats, the late night sax squalls of "Midnight Karma" shows that this is a proper out-there project.
World Of The Wars (Wolfgang Tillmans remix) - (7:51) 127 BPM
Review: Lost Souls Of Saturn - the unlikely pairing of Seth Troxler and Phil Moffa - are preparing their debut album for release in June for R&S. They're searching for signs from another dimension and channelling this into a higher consciousness, stating that inspiration came from a broad range of subjects not limited to art, film, literature and the esoteric - through to science and even sci-fi. This is all merged into an inextricably linked whole, wrapped-up in a philosophy of their own making. All these facets certainly do make their way into the dense minimal journey that is "Holes In The Holoverse", followed by the tripped-out deep techno of "World Of The Wars" which is followed up by a remix of Turner prize winning artist and photographer Wolfgang Tillmans.
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you've provided to them or that they've collected from your use of their services.