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!
Review: Following his Did This release earlier this year, veteran producer Dino Lenny returns to R&S. Washington Street may not be typical for the label's sound, but at its heart is a lithe techno groove. Led by niggling hi hats, subtle snare rolls and a pulsating bass, it's all about the piano keys that flow and build in a celebratory fashion. Like a contemporary take on 90s Italian house, the title track is sure to have widespread appeal. In anticipation of its audience, the release also features a truncated radio edit - don't be surprised to hear this version on daytime radio.
Review: Following his R&S debut last year, Berlin-based American Afriqua (aka Adam Longman Parker) presents Vice/Principle, which veers into psychedelic territory and is inspired by the cosmic departures of '70s krautrock and jazz. After several years developing a hefty catalog of releases, Parker has embraced his R&S signing as an opportunity to dive deeper into his signature, yet versatile sound. From the hypnotic and ethereal bounce of "Melamed", the broken beat hi-tech soul of "Noumenon" or the immaculate production of "Cerch" which showcases Parker's classically trained foundations, he serves up a cohesive effort here which further demonstrates his abilities as one of electronic music's most innovative sonic heroes.
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: Here's something to celebrate: a surprise collaboration between R&S regular Lone - a producer now best known for the colourful feel or his shimmering, retro-futurist workouts - and sometime Shall Not Fade and Unknown To The Unknown contributor Kettama (real name Evan Campbell). "The Way That You Feel" genuinely fuses the best of both producer's styles, with kaleidoscopic, neon-lit synth stabs and bubbly, eyes-closed electronic lead lines riding a busy bassline and 130 BPM techno drums that seem to fizz as much as they bang. The results are not only undeniably heavy, but also insatiably ear-pleasing.
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: Tale Of Us did it, Blawan did it, Special Request too, and many others at the top of their game find their hype bonafide with a silver & green plated R&S debut. Joining that list alongside other contemporaries like Djrum, Ada Kaleh and Benjamin Damage is rhythm, UK bass and percussive techno specialist Forest Drive West. Channeling a harder, slightly darker tribalistic and UK style for the rave-minded R&S, each track here sees deeper Italian techno in breakbeat form meet with shady Bristol rave and dubstep atmospheres. Throw in the splash of jungle in "Curved Path" and you've got a EP that covers what any R&S / FDW fan needs. Rave 2.0
Review: One of 2023's positive developments is the re-appearance of Dave Angel. Following a long period when he didn't release much material, the iconic UK producer has returned in style. The most recent outing was an excellent new release for Rekids and next up is Stairway To Heaven. It's the latest digital reissue of Angel's classic 90s material on R&S and starts with the unforgettable squelchy bass and dramatic builds of "Bounce Back". The high-paced tribal drums of "Sighting" provides a glimpse of the frenetic techno that became Angel's staple. "Trip To Darkness" embraces the hardcore sound that prevailed at the time, while the rolling groove of "Jungle Love" also reverberates to early 90s bass-heavy menace.
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: Under the Blocks & Escher alias, Phillip Smith and Will Hansen have been one of the most reliable drum & bass duos of the last few years, with their 2018 debut album on Metalheadz, Something Blue, being a must listen. The pair's first outing on R&S is naturally still rooted in drum & bass but could have appeal way beyond genre purists thanks to its frequent nods to classic jungle and the more immersive and saucer-eyed end of the breakbeat spectrum. Our picks of a very strong bunch are 'Dance Girl', a sweaty, enveloping chunk of post-jungle featuring what sound like cut-up live drum-breaks, the punchy, Exit-esque experimental D&B creepiness of 'Abyss' and the hot-stepping, horror soundtrack moodiness of 'Shot in the Dark'.
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: The RV Trax series make for the most personalised releases on R&S, with founder Renaat Vandepapeliere selecting tracks that he plays out. As "Archivolt" the contribution from B?rtaub demonstrates, he is clearly a fan of teased out, trippy minimal house in the style of Ricardo Villalobos. In stark contrast is Dawn Razor's "Acid Funk", a dense break beat number, with splurging acid lines insinuating itself into the funky beats. On Milesh's "Jedi Mind Design" Renaat covers territory similar to Dawn Razor, albeit with moody soundscapes and dramatic stabs unfolding over the funky rhythm. Finally, there's Izan Hesse's "Tinder Express", a searing, noisy stepper that could be a distant cousin of Neil Landstrumm's work around the time of Restaurant of Assassins.
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".
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: Over the years, Felix Manuel's DJRUM project has been an important reference within the so-called 'post-dubstep' scene, which has conveniently been reimagined as 'bass' music. The artist was and still is a big part of the 2nd Drop catalogue, having released an LP and countless singles on the imprint, so it's no surprise that Belgium's mighty R&S have called upon his services. He comes through with his second album, Portrait With Firewood, and it's a much more contemplative piece of work that spreads much further than mere dance tooling, often dissipating into contemplative ambient rhythms with a post-modernist spin. Tunes like "Waters Rising" provide mystique and wonder, while others like "Sex" call to the dancefloor or even some solid meditation, much like the placid waters of "Sparrows". More than anything else, this is a true album from start to finish, constantly wondering into abstractions and then back again for some serious beat throw-downs. Excellent.
Review: Since ditching a plethora of recording aliases back in 2014, Malaysia-based Frenchman Karim Sahraoui has released music on some of techno's most renowned imprints, including Transmat, Compost Black Label and OFF Recordings. Plentitude sees him add another iconic label to his CV via a first outing on R&S Records.Our highlight is probably the ear-catching, house-tempo Detroit futurism of "Born Again", where positive-sounding pianos and saucer-eyed electronics rise above a shuffling rhythm track. That said, many people will enjoy the hypnotic, dub techno inspired tech-house hypnotism of opener "Spy of the Desert", while closer "Before The Second Coming" is as rich, fragrant and melodious as they come.
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.
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