Audio Love #3

Music

Cor blimey… last week it was all about sick notes and excuses, this week they've all come out the wood work! Something needs to be done about this. There's almost too much to get through this week. Reflective of all the good shit out there…

Redshape Wires (One sided vinyl) + Made of Steel EP (Present Recordings)

Not one but two releases from the masked marauder that is Redshape. The purveyor of live, raw techno drops a one sided release with the tough, angular techno of Wires. As well as this, his recent 12 Made of Steel EP will soon be getting a digital release. Both come out on his own imprint Present Recordings which, if you havent already done so, is definitely one to check.

So first up Wires is a stripped down chugger with a churning laser gun that bubbles its way through the whole eight minutes. Overall the track feels a little bit harder edged than his usual sound. Very Berlin. The Made of Steel release is a much more open affair with its sweet square wave hook and harp patterns. Dont worry though, theres a Punked version on the flip where the man takes the sweet tones of the original and passes them through all kinds of ungodly bit crushing and distortion to create a warped and fractured counterpoint. (Joe 'The Final Countdown' Europe)

Wires out 25^th November on wax

Made of Steel Out now on wax, digi to follow end of November

Cuthead Everlasting Sunday (Uncanny Valley)

An intriguing release from Dresden boy Cuthead on his hometowns true institution of forward thinking house music Uncanny Valley. I say intriguing because what weve got here is a two sided wax with three beautiful house cuts and then on the flip weve got 6 short, broken hip-hop sketches.

So on the house side Cuthead gives us three silky smooth tracks, not pushing into the rougher edged sound of his last couple of releases but still very true to his sound overall. Think of the gorgeous, jazz infused sound of his classic Sinner. Melancholic yet bumping, high quality house music laced with soul.

Then on the hip hop side weve got a collection of little 2 minute ditties which show the mans deep love of hip hop. The tracks are not incongruous from the A side though. There are luscious jazz samples, there are squelchy synths, there are heavily swung, lazy beats which make up a surprisingly pleasing whole.

Out now on wax and digi.

(Joe 'The Final Countdown' Europe)

? JEROME CGI002 (CGI Records)

I came across new label CGI Records recently and was very impressed indeed by what I heard. Based in Atlanta Georgia theyre now set to release their third 12 which is confusingly called CGI002 (there was a CGI00 obvs) which showcases two tracks from producer JEROME. This is tough edged, driving house music with suitably obscure track names (5 on the a side, 4B on the flip). Both tracks are different jams around a theme. Both are top quality. (Joe 'The Final Countdown' Europe)

Out on wax 25^th November

XI – Mania 16 (E-GZR Mellow Mix)

Devastatingly simple left-leaning house from XI on the superlative Wania. With a repetitive yet deceptively compelling bassline underpinning locomotive percussion, all slathered in a haze of abstract atmospheric freestylings, this one's all about the long build. Indeed, the deployment of a pounding kick halfway through the track proves unexpectedly effective, with XI providing a real masterclass in pacing. A spine tingling 15-minute hypnotic trip to lose yourself in. (Patrick 'Hatrick' Henderson)

Buy it here.

App – Appiness

The over-riding theme is one of depravity there is a really sinister edge to most of the album, and indeed, most of their work. Although APP are Danish, their style is akin to a Berlin after party, one of those 'after after' parties that occurs two days after you originally started, when the only substance that seems to work anymore is ketamine. But it is a skilful piece of work, with more musicality than your average K-Hole. ('Mad' Mike Boorman)

Mike Khayata – Truthless EP – Departures Records 001

A debutante producer and a fresh label should make a bold statement with their first outing. Montreal's Mike Khayata does that on the Qubcois/Mexican Departures Records with a pair of well crafted and dreamily keyed tracks, one soothingly lilting, the other dubbier and more forceful. Paired with the skills of Mark Hand (an afternoon hit at this year's FreeRotation) and the Ukraine's discoid dreamer Volta Cab, this sweet quartet of laidback, under-the-radar slow-burners is definitely worth a punt for those looking for something more mature in house music. (Joe 'Bonez' Jones)

Ray Escortienda – El Nueva York EP – Echovolt Records

Allegedly recorded in a basement in Newark sometime in 1992 and rumoured to be Legowelt under a pseudonym (though the video made by Echovolt would suggested that if it is he's put on 20kg) this 3 tracker crosses the lines between electro, freestyle, Baile funk and techno with assured grace. A flashback that still resonates afresh today, epic yet intimately emotive. (Joe 'Bonez ' Jones)

A Sagittariun – Dream Rituals LP – Elastic Dreams

A long time coming, A Sagitarriun drops a celestial LP. As a producer that's hard to pigeon-hole, a full length stellar voyage was a natural format for him to express his cross-over experimentations. He carries it off with panache and intelligence, diving into a musical dressing-up box and revelling in the various sonic costumes he comes up with. While the use of constraining genre definitions doesn't do the album justice, its clever trajectory and fusing of everything from IDM, DnB, techno, New Beat & electro is outstanding. While many will pass it by, this is, in this reviewer's opinion, one of the electronic albums of 2013. (Joe 'Bonez' Jones)

Night Slugs Club Constructions Vol. 1

I was taking a look back through the Night Slugs archives the other day and was re-united with this beauty of an EP. For the first in the Club Constructions series, L-Vis 1990 took his inspiration from the traditional Chicago sounds and formed them into these purely peak-time records. Love it. (Jake 'Mavis' Davis)

Literon Knob Exploitation

Literon delivers (as-standard) contagious, club ready tracks that will get played everywhere. Expect this to be within a whisker of Christmas number one. (Anthony 'Tony Tone' Mooney)

Alexander Robotnick – Undicisco (Fresco Mix)
It's bangers week round my manor this week…

First up, this little beauty as heard on Prins Thomas & Gerd Janson's b2b Boiler Room this is a supreme rolling stomper of a god knows what. The only vinyl I've seen of this is a Justin VanDerVolgen edit which is well worth anyone's hard earned cash. (Wil 'Not From The Bill' Troup)

Chymera & Naum Gabo – Double Header on Kompakt
Next up a double-header from Jonnie 'Naum Gabo' Wilkes and Chymera. It's the Chymera flip that steals the show for me… builds and builds, then breaks into a monotonous (in the most flattering of ways) bassline that makes me want to be in a very dark room with a smoke machine and a laser. Nothing else. (Wil 'Not From The Bill' Troup)

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Pop Corner
Joe Goddard – Taking Over
Out last week but we're not really ones for release dates round these parts. Just a sublime piece of pop that makes you happy to be alive. What pop is supposed to surely be about?