Techno News

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Insanlar returns with an epic 45 minute shamanistic techno folk song, split over two sides. With 'Demedim Mi', the Istanbul born group ft. the renowned DJ Baris K and multi-instrumentalist Cem Yildiz, offer another off-kilter journey through deep, esoteric Turkish electronic music.

Insanlar means humankind. Their techno folk hybrid is rooted firmly in Anatolian/Alewi religious poetry, their energetic, almost punkish attitude has created a mystic following around the bands early shows. Insanlar's first release catapulted them on to the international stage, where their idiosyncratic mixture of traditional Anatolian/Mesopotamian instrumentation, electronic music and spiritual/philosophical lyrics continue to captivate festival audiences.

The musical excursions of the group go into uncharted territories rather than towards an end goal, melting traditional songs in their music as divine inspiration, while entering places one didn't know existed. Insanlar's recorded version of 'Demedim Mi' was initially meant to become a traditional Alewi 'deyis' song, with lyrics. However, this session resulted in a long magical instrumental folk hymn, that is surprising and captivating at the same time.

Miss Kittin & The Hacker are the Electro duo of Caroline Hervé and Michel Amato from Grenoble, France. The pair met during the early 90s at a rave and soon after bought turntables and began DJing. In 1996, they started writing music heavily influenced by 1980s synthpop and post-punk bands like Fad Gadget, DAF, Liaisons Dangeuresues, and Yazoo, as well as Italo Disco. Bored by the techno scene at the time, they set out out to lighten the serious tone and bring a campy sexiness to the dour musical landscape. Upon hearing their demos DJ Hell signed them to his Munich-based International DJ Gigolo label and released their first 2 EPs in 1998 and 1999. Their debut album 'First Album" was released in 2001 followed by . in .

Lost Tracks Vol. 2' contains 4 previously unreleased demos recorded between 1997 and 1999. The duo fused 80's European New Wave/Italo Disco with 90's Detroit Electro acts like Le Car and Dopplereffekt. By utilizing verse-chorus structures, they playfully shook up the loop based hard techno and electro that was popular at the time. Their studio set up at the time was a Korg MS-20, Roland SH-101, TR-606, TR-808, Siel DK80, and Boss DR-660 drum machine. The songs are direct, spontaneous, seemingly improvised in places. Miss Kittin sings about falling in love in the new millennium, snuff movies and controlling the unknown trip to death, all in her cheekily derisive French accent.

All songs have been transferred from the original DAT tapes by the band and remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. The vinyl comes housed in a glossy jacket featuring a black and white photo of the duo taken in 1996. Each LP includes a postcard with liner notes from Miss Kittin and The Hacker designed by Eloise Leigh. As Miss Kittin says of these demos, We were naive, innocent, adventurous and we didn't expect anything in return'

What If It Works’ first release, minimum wage maximum joy arrives by way of newcomer 11:68PM. Produced in Berlin in the winter of 2020 and mixed & mastered at the newly minted Brewery Studios, minimum wage maximum joy’s five tracks are precision-tooled for the club, showcasing 11:68PM’s veneration for UK-leaning house and techno.

11:68PM’s moniker, as well as the EP title minimum wage maximum joy draws on the artist’s experience of balancing the grind of the 9-5 with dreams of realizing his creative vision. The skittish breaks on “Bluff Mind State” and “Sway”’s glitchy “Call Mohandes Dub” reveal this state of mind, while “Vertical Mobility” reveals a playful side with its irresistible acid bassline and soaring synths.

In 11:68PM’s words: “Writing the record in the evenings in my bedroom on one of the loudest streets of Neukölln, after I had clocked out from work, I found myself in the ever-present struggle of being artistically active while making ends meet. In making this EP, I decided to prioritize my own desires and not wait for some hypothetical moment to pursue this project that might never arrive.”

Visually, this is underscored by Philipp Pess’ striking artwork, depicting the gaunt face of a man whose tired eyes hint at a lifetime spent in front of a screen.

With minimum wage maximum joy, 11:68PM offers a compelling glimpse into a new generation of Berlin’s left-of-centre club producers.

Electrodefender is back with a bang, serving up his signature West Coast influenced electro. These are for the floor! Limited to 100 black vinyl copies & 50 red vinyl.

It’s time to rave again! Welcome to Simon Lovejoy in the unreality world. Simon began professionally playing ‘rave’ and club venues and releasing records from 1989 ‘The Rave Age 'album is a supreme mix of techno, house and downtempo, includes unreleased tracks from his rave age.

For its second release, Climate of Fear proudly presents “So Nice,” the debut LP from Soft Boi aka Pessimist aka Kristian Jabs. Following 2019’s sludge-crawl collab with Karim Maas and the eco-hellscape new age of Boreal Massif’s “We All Have An Impact,” Jabs turns his attention to a new nightmare: dating. “So Nice” dials back the suffocating d’n’b bass weight. Jabs has perfected, opting instead for a shimmering palette of magenta hued synth leads and chunky Rhythm Nation snare cracks.
Across this languid backdrop, Jabs narrates the inner monologue of his Soft Boi counterpart. By turns cheeky, seething and emotive, his terse lyrics dissect modern masculinity with unflinching control. Hours blearily wasted on dating apps, spiraling arguments and circular
obsessions, the clammy loneliness of self-obsession and the rigid fury of objectification all spread out across the album like an oil spill.
From the opening credits roll of “Saying Hi To You,” through the slo-mo rave sheen of “Fais Moi La Guerre” (feat Nastychong), the junglist malaise of “And Shout” and the boiled trip hop of “Guestlist,” “So Nice” is an album of surprising violence, tightly coiled and covered an
artificially-sweetened pop glaze. As Soft Boi, Jabs reclaims the conceptual from its oft-clinical corner, giving us a concept / breakup album rooted in the club marketplace, executed with
punk’s jugular concision and driven by a deep antipathy for modern life & love.

Spring Snow is a compilation of eight leading experimental artists from different cultures and musical backgrounds who were asked to freely reflect on the word, nostalgia.

The word, nostalgia, in particular comes from the Greek nostos (homecoming) and algos (pain), which are reflected on both sides of the record.

Li Yilei's SHI, meaning 'time' in Japanese, sets the stage with its free-form synth notes and traverse rhythms. The listener is then presented with a memory of an orchestra, conducted by Lucy Liyou, leading to euphoric moments from Sawako and Gonima.

The latter half explores the melancholic and sometimes painful side of nostalgia and youth. Forest Management opens the journey with a late-night rumination, which seems to loop endlessly. Jiyoung Wi, from South Korea, reflects on her birth and upbringing, and leverages her own voice to narrate the story.

Things take a deeper turn with Gaël Segalen's The Bed of Wewa, which paints a rougher picture with its noisy soundscapes, pounding synth notes, and synthetic voices. The trip concludes with Evicshen's rumbling and noisy track, titled Inguinal.

2LP : box including DISSIDÆNCE Episode 1 (White vinyl) and DISSIDÆNCE Episode 2 (Black vinyl)

-> Hardcover Slipcase with embossing of the DISSIDÆNCE logo on the front and the tracklist on the back

-> 2 printed outer-sleeve

-> 180 grs Vinyls

-> 2 Stickers

-> 2 Download Cards

Locked down and furloughed, Vitalic went back to his synths and beatboxes, resulting in his fifth album "DISSIDÆNCE" - the title of which is a whole story in itself - destined to be released in two volumes. He describes it as a return to the roots of his sonic identity, a kind of reinterpretation of the rock energy of his early albums. "More than anything, it was a question of timing. While composing I realised that eight tracks felt like too little for an album, and sixteen was really over the top, so I decided to cut the whole thing in half! The main reason though is that I felt I hadn't been able to express everything I wanted to on the first volume - like something had been left unfinished."

The two episodes of "DISSIDÆNCE" - navigating between pop and hardcore, sweat and tenderness, melancholia and anger - are a sort of boiling down of what the artist knows how to do best, after twenty years of creating, from filthy whirlwinds that make your mind explode on the dancefloor to bubble gum pop songs about love that transport us elsewhere. On these two volumes of "DISSIDÆNCE" that now form one, the powerful beats and galloping sequencers translate the social and political anger of the global pandemic, and Vitalic looks into the past, channelling his love for off-kilter synth sounds, skew-whiff pads, heady refrains, distorted vocals and heavy beats. Above all, this dancefloor marathon expresses his obsessional passion for dance music and the primal need to dance. "DISSIDÆNCE" should be taken as both a celebration of celebration and a journey back in time to an era that maybe does not exist right now, but which will - and this album is the dazzling proof - be reborn from its ashes to burn bright once more, its BPM let loose and rage still blazing, because more than ever, to dance is to live.

And here we go again. After making his self-titled label debut in 2019 followed up by the super limited cassette tape "Sport EP" in 2020 Mint Huus is finally back on Cheezy Crust Records - and he's back on vinyl!

Exploring "Odd Radio Circles" we see Mint Huus catering an array of four cuts, once again covering and exploring a spectrum of superbly driving, high quality electronic club music of a timeless quality which is nothing short of a truly epic manifestation of the German artists production standard and value which is up to par with the genres greats.

Sparse, yet melodic, bouncing, yet dreamy from the very start the Mainz / Germany-based producer effortly amalgamates a highly functional Electro foundation, beautifully arranged vintage retro synth layers and ever bubbling Acid modulations to further carve out and create a distinct sonic realm and niche which, due it's innate drive and well comforting depth, is set to excel way beyond the confined boundaries of the Electro genre and gain praise and recognition on many dancefloors all around the globe.

UK ElectroBass! Bass Junkie's Battle Trax label returns with the second installment of the "Assimilate This!" various artist EP series. Featured are Sub Sonic Force - a new collaboration project from Bass Junkie and Mandroid, Obsolete Robotics (Global Surveyor 4), Matt Whitehead (one half of Model Citizens) and a Bass Junkie remix of the Unknown DJ produced 1980's Electro classic "2030" by Cli-N-Tel. Resistance is futile!

Arsonist Recorder lands on 20/20 Vision with his debut EP ‘Geist’. Following outings on Specimen Records, Diffuse Reality, Bass Agenda and his own imprint ZwaarteKracht. The EP sees Arsonist Recorder continue his exploration into groovy dark-matter electro- beats and abstract, abrasive sound-design. The title track ‘Geist’ kicks things off with deep Drexciyan bass and disorientating synth, an all out electro assault on the senses that sets the pace for the four track EP. ‘YvY’ follows this up like a 90% proof chaser, committing you to the land of no return as perfectly crafted drum patterns lay down heavy robotic funk with driving bass lines complimented by a peppering dark synth melodies.

On the flip side ‘Rauch’ switches things up with rapid fire pad work, serving up fast paced breaks in a dose of hyper speed electro grooves. Wrapping things up E-606 forges an evocative robotic war cry, firing on all cylinders with restlessness club-rocking rhythms.

With previous releases catching the attention of the late Andrew Weatherall as well as Detroit’s electro Don, DJ Stingray, Arsonist Recorder is definitely not one to sleep on!

Varum delivers a massive hybrid of vehemence and thoughtfulness with his six-track-release Vigilance on Strictly Strictly. Side A pushes with wild blend of trancey breakbeat escapades including a big room flavored remix by Almaty, a full series of uncompromising uplifters. Side B contrasts with forceful Electro pensiveness, accompanied with a nailing Mell G remix. High prio for vigilance!

214 aka Chris Roman is highly regarded as one the most innovative electro producers on the planet following releases on esteemed labels including; Cultivated Electronics, Frustrated Funk, CPU, Klakson and Lunar Disko. 'Exposure to Winds' sees 214 return to the 20/20 Vision fold with his first full length album release in 5 years.

'Exposure to Winds' was inspired by Roman's love of the mountains that surround his native Washington State, living in North Bend where David Lynch's masterpiece 'Twin peaks' was filmed. It could be no co-incidence that 214 produces other worldly electronic music that always sounds out of the ordinary. This expertly balanced eight track vinyl release features a selection of styles and tempos from the laid back electro funk grooves 'Tongue Twister' and 'Ball of Straw' to dark room wobblers like 'Quick Start' and 'The Night's Shift'. AIt's a record that will live long in the boxes and crates of discerning DJ's but also provides an auditory adventure for the listener.

Described by his peers as a keystone in ambient-electro, Datassette is a bastion of the underground and one of alternative electronic music’s most exceptional and enigmatic talents.

His extensive and diverse discography spans two decades and includes a plethora of albums, EPs and remixes for independent record labels, including: Ai Records, Apollo/ R&S, Wall Of Sound, CPU and Shipwrec. His work and creative output also extends to the design of music libraries for TV and radio; producing sound effects for 8-bit video games; working as a graphic designer and co-running the Misc label.

Datassette has never been shy of creating complex, addictive and emotive music and this magical music formula is replicated on Sentinel, his new EP for Lapsus Records.

As is emblematic in his long-standing career, Datassette demonstrates a healthy non- conformist approach to conventional labels and pigeonholing. By using a combination of powerful vintage hardware and latest generation digital techniques, the British producer continually manages to redefine his sound. This new four track EP sees him fuse dub, electro, braindance, ambient, experimental electronica and even abstract hip hop.

‘Flashmob’ is the second studio album by French electronic music
artist Vitalic. 2022 sees a reissue of this seminal record on white
vinyl. While the electro foundations of his sound remain the same
after more than a decade, these tracks are sleek and innovative -
proving that Vitalic spent the years between his debut, ‘OK
Cowboy’, and this album uniting everything he’d learned from
making electrifying dance tracks since 2005. ‘Flashmob’ provides
cuts that are classic Vitalic, with massive synth lines and hardedged beats.

Child of order and chaos. Part of a plan, devised by an obscure sound documentary maker, whose desire was to capture the entropic potential of his tools. A data management process, wich generates automatic poetry. This object, is a ambigus product. The synthesis of decisions and indeterminacy. A sound that blurs the boundaries between production and capture, the result of a secretly administered system.

Very sought after early Cignol productions which were only previously released on CD. TIP!