Review: Tronic has decided to celebrate its 400th release by issuing the second edition of its More Than Machine electro series. It gets off to an impressive start with label owner Christian Smith delivering an ominous slice of machine funk on "I Want It", before Carl Finlow drops a lithe rhythm and powerful low end in the shape of "Anomaly 3" and Detroit veteran DJ Godfather up the pace with the twitchy "Invasion of Detroit". But the presence of these veteran electro producers proves to be the exception rather than the rule, and the rest of Machine features techno artists exploring less well-known paths. Samuel Session impresses with the gritty, angular "Engine of War" and Alexander Kowalski deploys his bass-heavy approach to the nocturnal "Flickering Lights".
Review: Unlike the best part of this recent wave of electro stunners hitting our charts, Carl Finlow's material dates back to the mid 1990s; the man is an underrated pillar of the genre, and thanks to his days working with Ralph Lawson he has accumulated plenty of respect around these parts. Following up from some killer EPs by the likes of Maceo Plex and Mariel Ito, Finlow lands on Barcelona's Lone Romantic imprint, coming through with four effectively assembled electro deviations. The opening "Romboid Assassin" is a dark, cavernous gunshot of bass and elastic beats, while "Veiled" goes deeper on the euphoric synths, "Phisge" strips it all down to bleeps and hard-edged drums, leaving "Anomaly 2" to keep us dreaming in warm, placid drum-machine jam. That's Finlow for you.
Review: Carl Finlow is one of the UK's greatest electronic music producers, as this compilation demonstrates. Issued on 20:20 Vision, the label he co-founded with Back 2 Basics' Ralph Lawson, it features some of his finest electro work. On the deeper tip, there's the wonderfully mournful synths of "Anomaly" and "Equilibrium", while he veers into synth pop with the irresistibly catchy hooks and nerdy vocals on "Broken Mirror". However, that's not to detract from the weight of Finlow's catalogue, and tracks like the menacing "Nanotech" or the dense electro funk of "Mr Machine"- the title track of the bench mark 2002 album he recorded under the Silicon Scally guise - put him right up there with electro's greats.
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