quête:techno chic

House Of Black Lanterns is the latest musical project from Dylan Richards, the man behind the King Cannibal and Zilla monikers (on the Ninja Tine and Warp Records labels respectively). With an album and two singles out in 2013 on the highly respected Houndstooth label, Richards returns with a deadly EP for Hypercolour, backed with a very fine Mosca remix.

In its Original Mix, 'The Smack' is a dense and atmospheric production, the slow pace and chugging bassline evoking shades of early Chicago house but with a thoroughly modern UK twist. Filled with tension and drama, 'The Smack' is a big sounding record that cuts through so many genre sounds from dub techno to dubstep but sounds entirely individual and unique.

Mosca steps up to the remix, following on from the launch of his new label Not So Much, and remixes for Alland Byallo and Sweatshop Boys. Taking 'The Smack' up to an altogether skanking tempo, Mosca plummets the Basic Channel school of sound for the aptly titled 'Dread At The Controls' version. Spring reverb all over the joint as Mosca works the droning synths and fire & brimstone vibes over a watertight, dub heavy workout. 'Grey Leather Glass' takes things up a notch, continuing the HOBL theme of dark & shadowy techno sounds with heaps of drama and sinister twists and turns, like some cinematic score to a Wes Craven slasher epic, and '8 Million Stories' cuts up vocal chops, finger snaps and piano stabs over a brooding house production. Deliciously dark music from HOBL here....

With this release, Anne Arbor's jakbeat man delivers 6 minutes of electronic mania; a piece of repetitious, dance-inducing machine funk with a hook that hits you like a punch in the face with a velvet glove, brooding pads, and a top line like steel drums on acid. D'Marc Cantu twists the sound of Detoit techno and Chicago house with his own visceral production style and makes it his own.

"Sonically I'm reminded of old home videos, a lower quality presentation of a memory. Decay has that quality to it that reminds of a time gone but stills feels familiar and comforting" DMC

"Rival was the first experiment of my first alias, Rival. It was recorded in with a Volca drum machine the first day I got it, no effects and no edits, as is the basis of the alias, unedited analog sessions. One take" DMC

Reminiscent of a time where we were releasing 4-tracks sampler every month (remember the Secret Gems From The Vault) It is naturally that we thought about a various artists sampler in order to introduce the new wild bunch,

Julian M, is french and is taking over right now, releasing here his first track on Briquerouge, But the man is no beginner, having released on Catwash, Homecoming, Denote, to name but a few and of course recently on our own RZ Muzik, His music is deep, acid, techy and ready to please any crowd, Ange Siddhar is working for Laboratory Records and works with legendary artists such as Ron Carroll, Paul Johnson or Chris Count and now teams up with Illan Nicciani on several House project, They have a strong vinyl lovers community following their releases and just joined the label with 'The Show'

Jepe was one half of John Waynes who already release on Brique Rouge and is now one of the most respected producer from Portugal, Actually living in Berlin, he has released on Get Physical, Blossom Kollektiv or MuleMuziq, Jepe's tracks have a very high level of quality, True House Music,

And last but not least, our good friend from Switzerland, mr Salvatore Freda, With the machine-driven futurism of Detroit in his step, and the bounce of Chicago in his shadow, Salvatore Freda is a pure vinyl DJ from Lausanne, Switzerland. With a production career that began in 1997, Freda has built up an impressive discography over the years. His music has touched some of techno and house's most respected labels including Trapez, Music Man Records, Liebe Detail, Freerange, Area Remote, Push Communications, Dessous, Nightvision, and Cadenza.

Early Support:

Dubfire / Nacho Marco / Matthias Vogt / Tyree Cooper / Ame / Clive Henry / Renato Cohen / llorca / Blacksoul & many more

After a two year gap Clio is back on Metroline Limited after producing two of the most successful releases from the label's extensive catalogue: For Sure Baby (2010) and Do It EP (2012). In the opening track, The Beautiful Forces, Blade Runner soundscapes morph into post-rave stabs and combine with heavy subs and sci-fi effects to create the soundtrack to a rave in an abandoned space station. On a more Chicago tip, Something Like That is a collaboration with French groove master Loquace. The result is a loose, flowing house jam, which as the lyrics tell you, is all about vibe - it doesn't have to be planned... it's just how you feel! The legendary Thomas Schumacher turns out a serious burner on the flip with his remix of The Beautiful Forces, bringing the vocals up in the mix and throwing in a pumping b-line to keep things moving nicely. Swiss rising star Yvan Genkins takes on marginalising the Chi-town flavour of the original and working the elements up into a eyes-down Tresor-style techno monster. Classic 909 hits, a satisfying low-end rumble... it doesn't get more floor-friendly than this.

Sev Dah brings his brand of powerful, no-nonsense techno with the mighty, pounding Xanax. Life Of The Unborn takes a more experimental approach and offers a dark and haunting soundscape. Inter Gritty is on remix duty, stripping it down and turning the EP around with his jacking, Chicago-inspired take on Xanax.

Remarkable dancefloor oriented EP by a resident dj of Suicide Circus. A perfect bond between the techno of Berlin and the groovy touch of Chicago.

#3 Live Act of 2013 at Resident Advisor, one of the most in demand remixers around, a total of 156 gigs in 2013, releases for Rush Hour, Ovum, Macro; booked out months in advance from Berghain to Ibiza to the main electronic festivals ... KiNK: Arguably the world of dance music has not witnessed anyone else rising so clearly from bottom to top just by the centrifugal force of sheer talent. Being based in Sofia, Bulgaria, without a support network, a campaign or any media hype, his music alone - live and in the studio - created a momentum whose end we have yet to see. Lenin said: 'Communism is Soviet power + electrification of the whole country.' Hardly did Lenin suspect what an inspired take on these words could do: post-socialist techno. A child of 80's late socialism, KiNK grew up on the home computers Bulgaria's IT scientists had created by backwards-engineering Western technology. Fueled by nuclear energy on the edge of desaster, a whole generation of kids was trained to hack. Dance music gradually dripping in through early dial-up internet connections, the acoustic fingerprints of distant parties put Eastern producers from KiNK to Nina Kraviz to Vakula under a spell. Yet KiNK spent years of backwards-engineering the sounds of Detroit, Chicago and early Warp.

Cute Heels is the solo project of Bogota´ born, experimental producer Victor Lenis. Since the early 2000's Lenis has been working on a myriad of electronic projects, including the management of the labels Black Leather Records and Romance Moderne, in his current home of Brussels. Drawing on the influences of the radical punk scene that surrounded him growing up in Columbia while nurturing his passion for synthesizers and drum machines, Lenis developed the broody, gloomy brand of electro-techno that is Cute Heels. Deemed by Juan Atkins as ''the new blood and spirit for the next step in techno music'' Cute Heels has released various digital only releases over the years, as well as his first vinyl release, an EP on Gooiland Elektro. His debut album Spiritual, rides the line between cold electro-techno and left field electronic body music. Inspired by equal parts Liaisons Dangereuses and Drexciya, Spiritual takes the listener on a journey over 8 tracks and 40 minutes of music. Listening to "Spiritual" you can see why. The songs on this full length reveal a sublime influence from Detroit techno, early Chicago house and new wave; advanced electronics for the dance floor, pumping and sophisticated. The album was recorded and mixed by Victor at Sensorium Studio in Zagreb, Croatia in November 2013. Each song has been mastered for vinyl at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley by George Horn. Each LP is packaged in a custom-made jacket by our in-house designer Eloise Leigh and incorporates the geometry of analog synthesizers and celestial rose patterns. 

Shlomi Aber returns to Ovum with 'Slack Tide". It has been three years since Shlomi Aber's acclaimed album Chicago Days/Detroit Nights was release on Ovum. It was followed by an incredible remix package in 2011. He returns to Ovum in fine form with the 'Slack Tide' EP. Shlomi has stayed busy the past two years focusing on releases for his own Be As One imprint as well as big releases on Desolat and Cadenza Lab. He returns to Ovum coming off strength after strength with his releases. For his Ovum return Shlomi has come back with a bang. The title track 'Slack Tide' is a rolling ball of energy. The track ebbs and flows delivering builds that should drive the dance-floor crazy. For the B side, Shlomi returns to his techno roots with 'Warehouse". You can seen this being played in a dark sweaty warehouse space and driving the crowd insane. Both tracks will rock any crowd and show Shlomi's diversity. Welcome back!

Idiot Savant Masterpieces is the 3rd release and the first full solo EP by Amir Alexander on the Vanguard Sound record label. On display is Amir's somewhat off kilter take on U.S. dance music. An approach so different that one critic described the work of Amir and his crew as Idiot Savant Masterpieces. All bases are covered, acid, deep, big room, and banging techno with a little hip house thrown in for good measure. Vanguard Sound is quickly establishing itself as a label to watch so serious collectors should buy this one on sight!


The Realest of the Real! - An acid/ hip house hybrid banger that draws influence from the classic acid and hip house vibes. With vocals written and performed by Amir himself, this track combines 303 808 and 909 sounds with Amir's "street chants" to create a vibe that looks back to classic Chicago while pushing it forward and into the future.



Sonic Weaponry! - An insidious techno groove that grabs you by the neck on the first note, and never lets go. Tough banging drums combine with a staccato analog synth passage that charges like an advancing army. The rubbery bass line joins the fray to incite utter madness as this deceptively minimalistic track whips the floor into a mad frenzy.



Rebel Music (Version One)! - A big room Banger lead by a phrenetic sine wave bass line that never lets up. Deliberate, yet, stuttering percussion anchors the track. The accompanying synth ostinato continuously shifts as huge lush chords blow through like gale force winds. Black Panther's H. Rap Brown and Stokely Carmichael drop science about the nature of rebellion in the U.S.



Who are You - The "Deepest" track of the four opens with a beautiful ascending/ descending flute like synth passage that instantly sets the soul adrift. The hard and jumpy kicks interplay with a throbbing rhythmic bass that bubbles like a boiling cauldron. About halfway in a driving synth ostinato comes in to push the track forward. In the middle there is a dreamy

It's only early July, but 2013 has already proven to be a landmark year for production/DJ duo Deep'a & Biri. With a couple of their tracks being released on Transmat Records and appearing on Derrick May's mix compilations on the one hand, while on the other, getting signed to DJ Hell's International DJ Gigolo Records, where they released a single in April and have a full album forthcoming mid-September - it seems that all corners of the techno diaspora are ready to catch up on their sound. But it doesn't stop there, as they now launch their own Tel-Aviv based label, Black Crow. With a successful series of parties operating under the same name, bringing to Tel-Aviv a tasteful selection of the world's top class techno DJ's and live acts, Black Crow, the label, is set to counter-match this high standard with its musical output. Inaugurating the label is the imminent release of 'Redshift", produced in collaboration with their long-time partner and excellent producer on his own right, Gene. 'Redshift' has the signature Deep'a & Biri sound, a pumping Detroit-indebted roller, with shout snippets riding in & out the keys-led workout. Keeping it in the Mediterranean, Greek producer Argy provides the remix, accenting the baseline and adding a spoken vocal that takes 'Redshift' all the way to Chicago. Rounding off the package is 'Blueshift", which demonstrates the team's melodic tendencies, with its more spatial arrangement perfect for those deep space moments.

New Chico Mann remix single ahead of his forthcoming full length album 'Magical Thinking' !
Featuring the sultry vocals of New York based Kendra Morris, the slinky and catchy album version of 'Same Old Clown' is joined here by deeper re-workings from USA DJ and re-edit king Kon (Kon & Amir, Nitetime), who provides both a vocal and dub remix as well as UK producer Linkwood, known in underground circles for his groundbreaking mix of future-boogie, house and detroit techno on Scotland's excellent Firecracker Recordings imprint.
Guitarist with the band Antibalas, multi instrumentalist and guitarist, Chico Mann (AKA Marcos Garcia) has in the past worked with the likes of TV On The Radio, The Roots and Dam Funk as well as remixing Little Dragon and Alice Russell amongst others.

Borrowed Identity is based in the small city of Freiburg, Germany. However, his sound is BIG!
Being influenced by early Chicago and Detroit house and techno, he produces deep emotional compositions that move both soul and body. Je T'Aime is no exception. The four tracks included in the EP tell a story of autumn nostalgia for one special summer. The cure for the nostalgia is offered as well through the analog fatness of the bass lines and the sophisticated drum patterns and grooves.

RAWAX IS PROUD TO WELCOME MR. K-ALEXI SHELBY TO THE FAMILY!
Mr. K Alexi Shelby
Like a moth drawn to a flame, there is something utterly infectious about the music of Mr.K Alexi Shelby, better known as K-Alexi one of the founding fathers of house music direct from his home city of Chicago. Since the late 1980s, he has pioneered the true house sound, leading to a DH and production career spanning over 20 years, including collaborations with artists ranging from The Pet Shop Boys to Derrick May and from Larry Heard and Felix da Housecat to Will Smith, as well as gigs across the globe.
An impressionable young teenager, Mr.K Alexi Shelby developed friendships with Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy whilst attending seminal venues like The Warehouse and The Music Box in the mid 1980s. Being here at this embryonic stage of dance music culture, there were no rules or precedents, so K Alexi drew on a rich musical heritage that had seen him grow up in the 70s and 80s listening to Stevie Wonder, Prince, Curtis Mayfield and David Huff. Those roots continue to influence his music to this day.
It was under the moniker Risque III that Essence Of A Dream was released in 1987, firmly establishing the name of Mr.K Alexi Shelby amongst the most prominent of all house producers at the time. Moreover, those early tracks are still recognized to be the quintessential Chicago house sound. The rumbling and dark bass, smooth strings, incredible percussion and the spoken word poetic and erotic lyrical flow became the trademark for classic Chicago house and the template for everything else that followed. To reiterate, there was no template before this. This was the beginning.
This initial success has lead to Mr.K Alexi Shelby working with the leading names across the electronic music world and beyond. Collaborations and remixes for Chicago peers like Mike Dunn, Mr. Lee and Marshall Jefferson merely served as the springboard for Alexi to work with the best in the electronic scene, from Derrick May to Paul Johnson ,Ron Trent Dave Angel to Felix ad House Kat. Furthermore, his talents have also lead to him working with The Pet Shop Boys and Will Smith.
On top of this, his tracks have appeared on compilations by artists varying from Laurent Garnier to DJ Hell, who used It's Me 2010 contribution to the Body Language series for Get Physical Music. Produced under the Club M.C.M. moniker, the 1991 EP It's Me/Club M.C.M. has been a frequent selection for compilations for 20 years and is rightly regarded as a true underground techno classic.

Next up in the Delsin house series is a man who's been perfecting it for years - Düsseldorf's Andy Vaz. The boss of Yore and Background Records, Vaz has released two full lengths and many EPs to date, always exploring a heartfelt brand of electronica that draws on house, techno, Detroit and Chicago in equal measure.

Here he serves up two versions of the same track - 'Don't Lose Your Mind'. Both feature the sweet vocal stylings of Niko Marks and the first, the Soul Version, is all ditty, bouncy chords, floating, summery saxophone lines and warm, effusive synths.

The second House Dub mix is a little sharper - the claps cut through the soupy sonics like a knife and as a result the groove has a more urgent bite. Still stuffed with plenty of human loveliness, though, both tracks are surely set for many spins this summer given their classy feel good vibes.

Klectik014 marks Argentinean producer, Pablo Denegri's debut for the Chicago based label. Pablo has emerged in recent years as one of Buenos Aires most dynamic producers and performers in the techno world. His work has been featured on highly regarded labels such as Dumb-Unit and Unfoundsound, and his live set has been featured at many clubs across Europe and South America.

Another unknown, unexpected, magic- and mystical whitelabel series. Beyond is an intrastellar trip to ChicagoDetroitChicago by (thats all we know) a new young japanese mastermind called Gonno and remixed by non less than irish techno hip priest donnacha costello.