Ryoji Ikeda - Supercodex [Raster Noton Promo]

Released via the great conceptually working Raster-Noton label Ryoji Ikeda recently unleashed his 20 tracks strong "Supercodex"-album - part three in a series of three albums and an uber-precise, highly digital affair consisting of super fast electronic pulses, digital chatters and dithers, abstracted rhythm signatures and machinegun attacks, danceable for mathematic minds only and, if at all, playable in a club context to those used to consume fragmented structures and sonic brutalism usually coming from those active in the fields of Breakcore, Speedcore and Rhythm Industrial. And although the brute force is not a part of the "Supercodex" concept at all I bet the majority of people out there will refer to listening to a full 60 minutes of sonic cut-ups and structural meta phonk of the more advanced kind as an act of torture for a reason. The steady high-speed mode of sonic on / sonic off-events which - like in "Supercodex 6" - is partly even spread over the whole stereo field might turn out to be nerve wrecking when listening to them in the wrong mood but if things are clicking this is the future of 25th century Braindance - and super great! Unfortunately not available on vinyl but recommended for those still sticking to the CD format which, given the digital 0-1-aesthetics of sound storage of the medium, might be regarded as the right and suitable medium for music of this abstract nature.

A Large Yet Largely Undiscovered Voice In Bass Music - Jade H

Based in Essex, UK I stumbled across Jade H on Soundcloud just recently and totally feel loads of ppl should open their ears widely - this lady is able to rise if catching up with the right producers. Her voice could be adding largely to a shitload of tunes... Especially when she's singing I think there's loads of potential that defo needs to be exposed to the scene. Check her.

Lewi B - Beef

Lewi B - better known as Lewis Birtles to has parents - kicks dark shit again. Getting ready for the "Beef" the young producers provides some epic quality - a soundtrack for large scale 23rd century murder and bloodshed. He's ready to kill a soundbwoy for shure. Huge.

Maritta Sonnenschein - Canned Spirits Part 2 [#chilloutberlin Video]

A dark, black hole of a track able to suck you in and to heavily transform your space-time-continuum. Recommended for the strong minded only.

Major Lazer - Jah No Partial *Jstar Remix (Free Download)

What a tune for all Reggae lovers out there - biggin' up Jstar big time!

Hainbach - A Ritual [Hainbach Musik]

Great news have it that Stefan Paul Goetsch, better known under his Hainbach moniker in circles deeply fallen for dark'ish, kinda experimental music with a raw, unprocessed and partly melancholia-driven twist has recently put his new, and second, E.P. out on the digital circuits. Released under the name of "A Ritual" this five track piece caters a mostly solemn and ceremonial atmosphere based on tape and voice manipulations - yes, the backward trick still works astoundingly well given the result named "So We Evolved Into Birds In A Ritual" - as well as sounds coming from the bowels of a modular synth. With "The Big Calm" offering ethereal arrangements with short roaring Noise sequences breaking through like roaring thunder, the organ-reminiscing title track being a poignant Dark Ambient affair and others catering a quite haunting feel it's not hard to imagine that at least two of the featured tracks were commissioned for theatrical plays which they were as writing music for those is part of Hainbach's profession. Someone should licence these for a proper vinyl or tape release. Soon.

PlanningToRock - All Love's Legal [Human Level Promo]

Recently released via her own label Human Level is PlanningToRock's third solo album named "All Love's Legal" which is another, pretty gender-politics heavy - or better: gender dissolving - affair musically consisting of floating ethereal and partly even beatless SynthPop and glitzy, cliched Disco-reminiscing dancefloor pieces. And although it might take a bit of time until one gets used to Jam Roston's distorted, detuned vocal works and the conceptual, monothematic bias "All Love's Legal" works pretty fine as an album, combining sociocritical topics and surely hedonistic sounds. Especially the great and Rave-flavored PostGarage / FutureGarage led tunes "Misogyny Drop Dead" or "Beyond Binary Binds" are highly recommended for primetime abuse whilst the kinda Jarre'esque ballad "Steps" features synth motifs as epic and rich as if they were written by the  French synth and light master himself and "Public Love" lives up to promise of heavily de-tuned basslines and sparse, thrilling uptempo beats. A good one for sure and recommendable to all fans of Chromatics as well. 

21.03.2014 Pure Garage And Silk @ Dreiundsiebzig - Jolly Jumper / Hamburg

decks: baze.djunkiii [Intrauterin Recordings]

 

Dreiundsiebzig - Jolly Jumper

Schulterblatt 73

Hamburg / Schanze

Germany

Are you ready for some heavy bass ? baze.djunkiii surely is and well prepared to serve another round of „Pure Garage And Silk“.

As constant keeper and purveyor of original 2Step & UK- / SpeedGarage vibes for more than a decade now he's been diggin' his crates intensely to pull out all pirate radio classics of the scene's early noughties heydays, garnished this already big selection with huge Sublow and DarkGarage bangers that paved the way for todays Dubstep scene and looks into a bright future whilst bringing in the best in Future Garage & UK Funky to round off the night for all bassheadz out there.

A journey into 15 years of UK Bass culture and a throwback to the pre-digital era when playing out meant nothing but 100% vinyl, two turntables, a man and his mixer. baze.djunkiii honed his skills in these days and still is championing original trueskool DJ culture and craft for a reason. So let's get back to the classics! Now!

Dr Walker - MK Naomi Part 9 [#chilloutberlin Video]

One from the dark side of Deep Listening Music.

Manga Saint Hilare - Vexxed

UK Street Rap / PostGrime on top of stone cold beats that weigh more than a ton - Manga Saint Hilare on the mic and Dizzee Rascal on production. Huge collabo, large up.

Origamibiro - Odham's Standard [Denovali 191 Promo]

Scheduled for release on February, 28th via the ever active Denovali Records is "Odham's Standard" which is the latest longplay effort of Tom Hill, Jim Boxall and Andy Tytherleigh under their conjunctional moniker Origamibiro. Grown from a growing interest in incorporeal spectral photography and the electronic voice phenomenon a.k.a. the voice of the dead developed by two of the groups members in parallel as well as the old discussion about whether or not these phenomenons exist and how the pros and cons in this discussion relate to the beholders point of view and expection - same goes for several experiments in quantum physics btw in which a single photon either appears as particle or as waveform depending on what kind of phenomenon is to be investigated, meaning that the same photon  possibly appears to one scientist as "solid" matter whilst another sees a light wave which is not only interesting but kinda odd as the photon seems to pass the either / or of regular physics and represents two different modes of existence at the same time which usually shouldn't be possible. But leaving this little exploration into the world of strange phenomena aside we see the triple headed group serve a full ten tracks album of seemingly live played - yes, we're talking real instruments here - and post-processed Electronica with an Indietronics / Post-PostRock-flavored twist. With the main focus on an intimate mixture of violins, semi-acoustic guitars, glockenspiel and tender, chary drumming that also could be released via labels like Morr Music - and will be surely appreciated by the labels fans, too - it's the small, quiet pieces of hissing surface noise, the crackles, swishes and rustles possibly not even recognized by unaware listeners that seem to deal with the matter discussed, adding a kind of partly spooky, but mostly open fire-like atmosphere to what seems to be a late fall album bearing the sweet melancholia of cold, but sunny days, coloured leaves and beloved memories - to a nice result.

Girl With The Gun - Ages [Folk Wisdom 001 Promo]

Set for release on February 28th is Girl With The Gun's first - and the very first release of the new Interbang-subsidiary itself - album on the freshly launched Folk Wisdom-label. Named "Ages" the second longplay effort of the Italian-rooted duo consisting of Matilde Davoli and Andrea Mangia the album seems to revolve around a Psychedelia-driven intimate edge still, serving a dreamy, fog-covered view on Folk like the amazing Peaking Lights minus their dub but at the same time drifting away into more Pop-flavored territories with songs like "Love Far" which might even be appealing to a more mainstream audience as well as Glam fans with a tune like "Hover". But overall the intimate feeling overrules the exceptions whichare only a few amongst the ten songs on "Ages" which is a sweet one for listening in a huge club chair in front of an open fire - with a glass of port as company.

Introducing: Streetart Daily

Theoretically in the making for quite a while it's now time to announce that our new website project Streetart Daily has been officially launched now. A website meant to reflect a view on our urban environment, to archive and capture things remarkable - stickers, graffiti pieces, photography, possibly even architecture and whatever seems to be interesting in future times.

Streetart Daily is not intending to be the next hip streetart website of the moment as there's no interest in any kind of hipsterism here. The website's not intending to be funny, cool, trendy or whatever. It's meant to keep records of what's happening out there - or what used to happen as it'll unveil a bunch of classic and previously unpublished graffiti photos from the 90s for a start. Expect more content to come soon.

Check: www.streetartdaily.com 

The Glitch Mob - Love Death Immortality [Glass Air Records]

Ever been sucked into a warp drive? No? Listen to The Glitch Mob's new longplay assault named "Love Death Immortality" and you'll surely know what that feels like. Quite uncategorizable as we totally deny to use the perverted term EDM stylewise the ten tracks featured on this one fuse heavily twisted ElectroHouse bangers, dirtiest bass Filth, sawtooth-heavy BroStep and the occasional Pop-suitable vocal sample or overly catchy, high octane melody lick and a certain feel of precise and well on point 80s Rock drumming - thinking of epic, if not pathetic even anthems like "Final Countdown" here - sparkling through layers of compressed synth sounds into nothing but a massive bass monster that's sporting pure energy. A hybrid beast unleashed that's either loveable or hateable but undeniably able to move huge - spell: H-U-G-E ! - festival crowds within seconds, no matter if they consist of dedicated PLUR ravers or Metal heads doing the mill. Talking "I Need My Memory Back" we see one of the most uplifting intros ever turning into a happy 4/4 anthem for the fluo whistle and wristband crew whilst the seductive voice of Yaarrohs heard in "Fly By Night Only" might even - although contrasting banging electronics - enter daytime radio rotation and the closing tune "Beauty Of The Unhidden Heart" uncovers an even tender, romantic aspect of The Glitch Mob's music previously unthought of. Impressive.

Danton Eeprom - If Looks Could Kill [inFine Promo]

Scheduled for February, 7th is Danton Eeprom's sophomore longplay piece "If Looks Could Kill" which is following up to his 2009 inFine-released "Yes Is More" on the same label again. Starting out showcasing a sweet ElectroPop attitude and starring the seductive ItaloDisco-flavored single "Biscotto & Chimpanzee" as second tune which, amongst others, I recently featured via Joinmusic , DigiSoul / Urban vibes take over with the pheromone blasting "Hextape". Dantom Eeprom serves a widely varied but still vibewise homogenic journey within the first ten minutes of playtime before entering dark'ish nightlife realms with the ever building "Femdom" that takes underground venues by storm due to a massive sex drive and truly suggestive vibe paired with glitzy TechHouse and decent 303 lines shining through.  Further surprises included here are the intimate, floating Pop of "Never Ask, Never Tell", the dark but tender Synth ballad "All Dressed Up (And Nowhere To Go)" as well as the stab heavy RaveHouse affair "Occidental Damage" that - at some point - seems to reminisce about Green Velvet's heydays whilst creating a well positive and pretty uplifting vibe amongst punters and hardbaggin' drag queens alike. Later on "Hungry For More" caters a deep, even Yello'esque feel with its sonorous male vocals and rare "when-Pop-suits-club" arrangements before the overly dope "All Eyes On Me" triggers memories of long gone but great summer nights with Stereo MC's "Connected" blasting out of each and every car stereo and late night backyard basketball court sessions backed by shitloads of canned beer. Good one.

Time To Say Goodbye - Splitting From FAZE Magazine

As some of you might already know and others who've been missing my monthly column and record reviews in the recent February issue of FAZE Magazine have asked questions about why none of the mentioned have appeared this months print issue here's just a short statement that baze.djunkiii and FAZE have split paths recently after a roughly two years period. Basicly I enjoyed working with them for most of the time and was happy about the amount of freedom I had as a writer - both speaking of topics discussed in the monthly "There's More To Life Than..."-column as well as when it came to quite a bunch of merciless, slating reviews that were published in print and online issues without any censorship, rewritings or even questioning my opinion at a point - a freedom that is a rare good in a commercial print publication these days and therefore I'm not totally happy about things coming full circle again as I've been going through similar splits before throughout all the years of writing. But still - a few incidents not to be discussed here in detail made me sit up and take notice as I've seen and heard the same kind of signals before. And they've been causing sneaking suspicion for a reason so a further collaboration under the same terms and conditions seems to be impossible at this point. No bad vibes - just sharing the facts.

baze.djunkiii Charts 02/2014

01. Gelbart - Vermin [Gagarin Records]
What a great (con)fusion. Adi Gelbart a.k.a. Gelbart serves a sweet piece of ArtSchool-influenced lofi'ish, playful Spiral Space Punk touched by quite a lot of trippin' Psychedelia on his newest longplay piece named "Vermin" which has been put on the circuit via the legendary Gagarin Records label recently which has been home to a wide-range of un-fileable artists like Die Weltraumforscher, Pia Burnette, Felix Kubin, Gunter Adler and many more in the past  15 years. This genealogy of music given one can - possibly - imagine that this totally lovely and loveable longplay release drifts into far out spheres way beyond any established term, even more given the fact that the two tracks on the B-side were originally written as a soundtrack to the album name-providing short film. If you share a distinct love for all things special and leftfield this one might be the soundtrack to your next trip into space. Say "hi" if you meet the man on the moon, any kind of white rabbit or even the sarcastic rover out there.

02. Stoornis - Rave Alarm / Coexsystems - Level Five Exp. [Audio Riots Records 002]
Watch this post for soundfiles....

03. Animalhouse [Hirntrust Grind Media 037 Promo]
Watch review for details...

04. Echo 106 - Infernal Regions [Lux Records]
Techno? Yes. Acid madness? Please. Echoes of Motor City? We like. This 2x12" vinyl piece produced by two brothers based somewhere in Switzerland is to be filed under the flag of an instant classic and essential blueprint of what quality electronic dancefloor music is all about. A sparse structure, highly functional, well thought of elements, a certain deepness, sweet seductive melancholia and irresistible grooves sucking everybody onto the dancefloor within seconds. This one's not to be missed for a reason - if still in doubt listen to the uberly epic first 120 seconds of  "Wretched Souls" which turns out to be the most spooky and haunting Techno tune produced in ages. Massive.

05. Steve Bug - Simple, Thick & Raw [Poker Flat Recordings 144 Promo]
Watch review for details... 

06. [aniYo kore] - Y [BOBHARRIS 003 Promo]
Watch review for details... 

07. Ich-AG Geige - Trickbeat [Arbeiten Und Nicht Verzweifeln 001 Promo]
Watch review for details... 

08. Wyoming - Fountain [AdP Records Promo]
Watch review for details... 

09. Henry Rodrick - Don't Believe [Studio Barnhus 017 Whitelabel Promo]
The Chicago Juke / Footwork movement takes over the world slowly and now we see the first ever Juke / Footwork record produced in Sweden coming from Henry Rodrick, the latest signing to the genre eclectic Sudio Barnhus-camp. Electro'esque beats and sample madness on warp drive speed, informed by synth squeezing Skweee plus brutally pitched Disco and Funk licks cranked up to the max is what the young producer serves here, providing a unique view on most abstract vary speed dance music that has ever rocked floors. And we do like that.

10. Bloodgroup - Disquiet [Sugarcane Recordings]
Four tracks taken from the recent Bloodgroup album "Tracing Echoes" remixed by the likes of Com Truise, Girl Unit, Keep Shelly In Athens and Renaissance Man all transferring the bands epic originals into deep electronic spheres ranging from multistring-layered Post SynthPop to deepest, yet, anthemic melodic structures on top of slow motion, kinda electroid beats, haunting, melancholia-led Post Step - this goes for the winning remix beauty provided by Keep Shelly In Athens - and finally a sparse but sub bass-driven killer workout for advanced dancefloors. Nice one.

Bauhaus - She's In Parties

Just because it's a great song. And I love it.

Thug Entrancer - Death After Life [Software Recording Co. Promo]

Set for release in late February via the experimentalist and well eclectic Brooklyn-based label Software Recording Co. is "Death After Life" - the first  ever album of the mysterious artist named Thug Enhancer who has only very occasionally appeared on the digital release circuit via labels like Digitalis Recordings and Mabson Enterprises so far. Although the release info refers to styles such as Chicago Juke in its description of the artists eightfold variation of "Death After Life" and two additional bonus tracks featured on the promotional CD release we're more likely to file these tracks under the flag of impressingly uber-cold, sci-fi'esque Electronica with bits and pieces of Intelligent Techno popping up - see "Death After Life III" for this -, sweet, kinda abstract Electro workouts with a slightly acidic twist that, at certain points, seem to hold some harsh surprises like hard-hitting Noize excesses and essentially dancefloor-focused pieces that totally breathe Juke's shuffling, tempo-varied beat aesthetics but are miles away from being Juke due to their differing approach and more scientific feel albeit they might work footworking crews well in the cypher. Plus: even little lovely, plinkering melodies are to be found in here - "Deather After Life VII" - that haven't been heard like this in quite a while and are rounding this one off very well due to their more playful feel and so do the bonus tracks with their more chilled, laid back vibes. A nice one for sure.

Animalhouse - Neater This Time/ Sandy (W.A.S.O.) [Hirntrust Grind Media 037 Promo]

Yes, it's Mutant HipHop time again. Austria's Hirntrust Grind Media label kicks off 2014 with a long announced 7" by Brooklyn's conjunctional triple Animalhouse consisting of Akaaap, Dreadface and Risk which are serving lo-fi'ish, pretty stripped down killer beats for Hardcore HipHop headz, Word Sound addictz and crackhouse dons with "Neater This Time" featured on the A-side of this dope smoke marbled vinyl pressing whilst "Sandy (W.A.S.O.)" on the flip is a way more threatening affair with tense, heavy and defo evil electric guitar noise underlining angry, hate fueled slowmo raps and raw, unprocessed 808 beats going wild, accompanied by a scores'que use of strange noises and quirky samples. Morphine Rap anyone?

nitestylez.de Exclusive Midnight Premiere: [aniYo kore] - Stinging Nettle (Official Video)

[aniYo kore] - Stinging nettle ( OFFICIAL VIDEO ) from [aniYo kore] on Vimeo.

[aniYo kore] - Stinging Nettle
out: March, 8th via EmptyHeadRichHeart (002)
forthcoming limited edition 100 copies 7"
video created by Bløff

There's no doubt about the fact that we're huge fans of [aniYo kore] and their albums "Pieces Of Conversation" and "Y" and more than once we've praised them as the saviours of vocal-led TripHop and Downtempo. That's why we're extremely proud of being the first website to not only pre-announce the release of their new single "Stinging Nettle" that's due on March, 8th as a limited 100 copies 7" pressing but also to exclusively celebrate the amazing vintage chromatic artschool video that's to come alongside that lovely little vinyl piece with the first ever music video premiere hosted on these pages. Created and shot by the Dortmund-based quadruple artist collective Bløff - which will also take care of the 7" sleeve design btw - we'll find ourselves caught in a world full of moving shadows and blurred silhouettes whilst [aniYo kore] are taking floors and hearts by storm with their amazing amalgamation of Drum'n'Bass (Not Drum'n'Bass) and deeply afflicted vocals well informed about the hindrances of life, love and everyday struggle. There's no way not to love this one. Enjoy.

Wyoming - Fountain [AdP Records Promo]

One of the newer- and surely remarkable - findings in the wide fields of more intimate Indie is the first ever longplay release of a young three piece band named Wyoming which was put on the circuit via AdP Records last fall. "Fountain", as the name of the ten song piece is, breathes a bit of a shoegazing attitude and combines this discreet feel with a thing for decent, Jazz-informed drumming and a recognisable love for AfroFunk-influenced structures which have gained popularity through bands like Sinkane or the - also AdP-released - outfit The Eclectic Moniker throughout the last year. This rare but well crafted musical vision plus the fact that these three youngsters are not only able to serve a nice stage performance but turned out to be extremely neat fellas after their recent Hamburg show and whilst meeting them again throughout their soundcheck at Berlin's Privatclub makes them highly recommendable and so do these three videos, perfectly showcasing what Wyoming are all about. Check 'em out whenever you'll find them playing a stage near you.



Wyoming - Afterword (Official Video) from Wyoming on Vimeo.

Wyoming - Man/Machine from Wyoming on Vimeo.

Dr. NoiseM - Studio Works 2 [Dr NoiseM Tapes]

The unknown and yet unveiled Dr. NoiseM strikes back with phase two of his so-called "Studio Works"-series which is another - quite harsh and uneasy - trip into the world of musical experimentalism and bending sonic borders. Especially the latter is proved true by the albums 16 minute long opener "Selfburning" which fuses heavily distorted but still kinda psychedelia driven guitars with loads of static noise and twisted LFO feedbacks into a distraught echo of post-apocalyptic Desert Rock unheard of before. And the further the album progresses the more desparation and cold hearted vibes are to be felt, especially when it comes to the bubbling sonic terrorism catered by "Bomb The Bilini" which combines layers of icy drones with frantically vibrating bass resulting in ten minutes of grinding Harsh Noize with occasional WWII TV documentary samples or the hard hitting Rhythm Industrial piece "Evil Surrounds Us". Furthermore Dr. NoiseM also dives into the tense and ominous world of real time landline scanning with its characteristicly bleeping background signals here and finally closes with "Some Noise" which switches from cumulative white noise to tweeting echoes and nervous cutups for lovers. Sweet one.

Bloodgroup - Fall (Official Music Video)

Iceland's Bloodgroup crossing paths between deep melancholia and Future Garage with this track taken from their album "Tracing Echoes". Plus: they're unveiling a  great but quite mysterious video piece here.

Lewi B - White Russian

More massive Grime talent from the UK. Crime scene vibes. Skyrocketing soon. Watch out.

Sascha Müller [Sascha Müller Music 10000005]

The underground club music manufacturing machine they call Sascha Müller strikes again with his next eight track mini-album on his own imprint Sascha Müller Music. The well ambitioned cat.no. 1000005 starts off with signal driven, slightly Acid-infused Hardbag House with 90s twist, turns into minimalistic HypnoTech with "Desert Tek" followed up by Intelligent Acid that knows about Jack - check the amazingly named "Multi Karton 1" for this one -, frolicking and slightly askew Electro, dry and bouncing Highspeed Techno touched by madness - and a massive Acid overdose, of course, - and a few other variations in electronic music that - all in all - make up another excellent and interesting showcase of how thrilling this originally club-rooted music can be experienced as a whole length album.

24.01.2013 Psychedelic Kitchen TV & Radio @ Twen.FM & Alex.TV / Berlin

featuring members of the Liquid Sky Berlin family:

adsx
mijk van dijk
datis 5 L
omsk information
sheldon drake
elec ice
dr walker
baze.djunkiii - on air from 02.00 - 03.00

schedule:

TV stream via Alex.TV
23.15 - 02.00

Berlin radio frequency @ 88.4 FM
Livestream via TwenFM 
02.00 - 04.00 

Lost Reviews From The Archive: Mission Statement Update

Earlier this month the new blog project Lost Reviews From The Archive was introduced to all readers of these pages and due to recent circumstances it's time for a first update on the sites mission statement. Apart from focusing on reviews that remained unpublished printwise due to a lack of space plans are set to recover and - if necessary - re-polish in terms of misspellings or typos reviews that have been lost throughout switching the original late 90s nitestylez.de layout to the recent blog format and international focus in 2005.

So Lost Reviews From The Archive will - in addition to the sites original intention - also bring back thoughts and reviews that haven't been available online for nearly a decade or more. A back into time machine especially for German readers as nitestylez.de originally was launched in German language as the baze.djunkiii-led electronic underground section of the Hamburg-based webzine Cityvox, later Cityvoice which was focusing on a local readership before the site went independent.

Manga Saint Hilare - Shottas Freestyle / My Darg

No-one to fuck wit. Hard flexin - straight downfloorin foes. Grime's lively. Seen?

Sanomat - Nein v3 *Rotten Cat Berlin TV Noize Video Remix

A trippy way to say "No" brought to you by Liquid Sky Berlin.

Gratulierung!!! Or - When Spam Goes Wrong.

Actually we all hate daily spam flooding our inboxes and filters with shitloads of data no-one even cares to open or read. But sometimes, very rarely, it makes our day due to horribly wrong spellings and very strange use of grammar. This is one of these rare things - funny for German readers only.

[DNA] - Techno For Arty People

Techno for arty people by [Dna] on Mixcloud

One of the best Techno mixes I've heard in a while. Sending props to Tunisia for this one!

The Go Find - Brand New Love [Morr Music Promo]

It's been ten years now since Dieter Sermeus a.k.a. The Go Find has been signed to Morr Music and with "Brand New Love" scheduled for February 7th he sees his fourth album to be released via the Berlin-based quality imprint. Somewhat romantic, tender and surely in love the Belgium-based one man band is wandering musical paths of Pop and Shoegaze, intimate Indie and blurred electronic backings, serving what's to be called a lovers album for sure. A sweet and emotionally embracing start into a new year, a foretaste of spring and longtime companion for tender souls. Nice.

Steve Bug - Simple, Thick & Raw [Poker Flat Recordings 144 Promo]

Scheduled for late January is the first Poker Flat Recordings transmission in 2014 and the labels 144th single release which is crafted by its leader Steve Bug himself. Named "Simple, Thick & Raw" this nice little 12" piece brings us three tracks - "The Arpeggio" on the A-side and "Thickest Bass" alongside "Smoking Parrot" on the flip - that fully live up to the high expectations one might have when the master himself is at the controls. These tunes are as Bug as a Bug can be with their stripped down, tense atmosphere, dark synth arrangements and sparse but effective tones. Talking the A-side dancefloors are sent to heaven when the nervous, spine-tingling melody appears to add a bit of extra thrill to the warm embracing bass chords building a super solid foundation on the low end of the sound spectrum.  Exploring the flipside we'll find a similar use of bass chords here, too, which are complemented by crunched vocal snippets to a more tool'ish but uberly functional and sexy tune. Finally we see the "Smoking Parrot" on B2 coming up with a nice, ever repeating five tone melody and a sparsely changing, skeletal rhythm structure for late night floors. As that is where Mr. Brügesch's tunes work best anyway it's pretty clear that a lot of DJs out there are about to love this one as well. Quality.

Mental Overdrive - Everything Is Connected [Love OD Communications Promo]

Following up to his December-released "Cycls" album Per Martinsen, better known as Mental Overdrive to the world of electronic music, has his new longplay work "Everything Is Connected" already lined up for January 23rd via his very own imprint Love OD Communications. And once again stylistic diversity is the key to fully embrace the great quality of his work. Rave-driven electronic Phonk, playful KrautDisco-referencing 4/4 pieces crossing over into the realms of (Neo)Trance, uplifting - if not happy - Breaks vs. ElectroHouse crossovers with an oldskool'ish twist, signal and stab-heavy UK Funky bangers (see the uber-tune "Mønster" for this one), perfectly crafted Tribal House efforts and much more is to be found amongst these eleven tracks which are about to please all lovers of classy club electronics for a reason. Recommended.