01. 2121 - Vol.1 [2121-01]
See review for details...
02. Ceephax Acid Crew presents Acid Cask III: Mind Wharf [WeMe Records 053]
Ceephax Acid Crew have been the purveyors of relentless Acid madness ever since so this release comes as in a kind of a sweet surprise. Not necessarily following the path of the most uncompromisng brainfuck ever with the five tracks featured on this 12" we see them providing a dreamy, captivating and most beautiful update of the long lost AcidTrance genre for 2k20, bringing pure delight to all oldskool ravers without sounding dated at all. Let the rave begin!
03. Kelvin Larkin - Tell Me / The Force [Art Of Dance]
After more than a decade of radio silence Kenny Larkin relaunched his legendary imprint Art Of Dance in 2k19 with a 12" release of his son Kelvin Larkin who's bringing on two dedicated Bigroom House bangers which might come as a surprise for longtime fans and followers of the label. With "Tell Me" Kelvin Larkin even sort of harks back to the era of anthemic, soulful VocalHouse in terms of abusing a classic, well beloved sample whilst "The Force" turns out to be a muscular powertool for ecstatic peaktime sets. Killer.
04. Various Artists - Innate 003 [Innate 003]
The Bristol-based Innate-crew are back with their third 12" vinyl in their third year since they launched the label, coming at us with hand-picked tracks by the likes of Perseus Traxx, Ewan Janssen, Reedale Rinse and label head honcho Owain K. With influences taken from the deeper, melodic side of Motor City all four tracks are meandering in the sonic realm between Electro, Armchair- and Intelligent Techno, providing the depth and complexity needed to move and please crowds on intimate, musically well educated and experienced dancefloors. Quality cuts.
05. Cop Envy - Cotton EP [Hypercolour 078]
For an avid collector and music explorer listening to DJ-mixes is both the horror and a fest at the same time. The horror because one's wantlist grows bigger and bigger with every quality mix, a fest because one usually discovers artists that weren't on one's radar before. This is very true for this release as I discovered Cop Envy through Changsie's contribution to the Resident Advisor podcast series and was immediately captivated by the sparse, stripped down take on UK Garage as well as the hefty low end the tune provides. Besides this, the complex, yet minimalist Jungle / Sublow fusion of "Rat Break" as well as other cuts on this four track EP are well timeless and will sit in my box for ages for a reason.
06. DJ T-1000 - I Told 'Em I Was From Detroit [Suspected 018]
Alan Oldham a.k.a. DJ T-1000 has been a staple in Techno culture for decades now and his most recent 12", released on green vinyl, provides proof why his storming, captivating approach incorporating both a stripped down, yet highly functional attitude as well as, once again, a killer vocal sample is well timeless and never grows old. Both the original mix as well as Scan 7's rework on the flip are massive tools for any Techno-driven DJ out there whilst the DJ Stingray rework on B2 is nothing but pure disappointment, not necessarily musically but because the cutting / mastering quality of this specific remix is beyond poor so it won't do anything for anyone, no matter if it's in a home listening session, on the radio or on the dancefloor and therefore is nothing but a waste of space.
07. Grauzone - Raum [WRWTFWW Records 043]
The epicly named imprint We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want Records comes at us with the second re-issue of a tune by German New Wave band Grauzone, most famous for their major hit "Eisbär" as well as the ProtoTechno cut "Film 2". With "Raum", a tune only sitting in my collection as a NuSkoolBreaks bootleg of questionable origin, the label gets closer to the raw, uncut core of the NDW / German New Wave movement and brings back a well harmonic, but also melancholia-infused and PostPunk-influenced anthem for all creatures of the night, accompanied by a muscular ElectroTechno / IndieElectro rework built by Naum Gabo as well as a so-called 'Extended Mix' which is actually more like a classic edit brought to us by Frankfurt's long standing hero Ata Macias a.k.a. Ata.
08. Manu Louis - Coltan Major Harmonics: Music For Escif's Magic Piano [IGC 037]
See review for details...
09. The KLF - Chill Out [KLF Communications]
Most likely an unofficial repress but who cares at this point? "Chill Out" possibly is the most praised and widely recognized early collage Ambient / Chill Out album of all times and surely the one that put the genre on the map for a large scale audience. And it is still a trip so this re-issue on translucent vinyl was a must have for me, not only for historical reasons but because I had been looking for a copy for ages. Actually since it was first released back in 1990.
10. The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu - Shag Times [KLF Communications]
Born in 1978 and infected by electronic music from early on it is more than obvious that The KLF and their various incarnations like The Jamms a.k.a. The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu or The Timelords defo played a role in my musical upbringing. Therefore it was quite a no-brainer to pick up this - most likely unofficial - repress of "Shag Times", a compilation album collecting a heapload of early material produced by Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty. Musically oftentimes closer to the sample-heavy approach of the Beastie Boys HipHop-madness at the times than to the chart breaking Stadium House of "3 a.m. Eternal" or "Last Train To Trancentral" this is quite a trip into the anarchism of early electronic dance music in which cuts like "Whitney Joins The Jams" or "Downtown" were still possible and not the cause of major lawsuits like they'd be today.
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