quête:the club years

SHAZZer Project created by Shazz and Jean-Marie K on their respective labels : Batignolles Square & Electronic Griot. These long-standing friends were left with an ambitious project to reissue Shazz's most outstanding titles over the past 25 years!

The SHAZZer Project was born out of the desire of these two enthusiasts to help discover or rediscover Shazz's emblematic titles from his albums or F Communications releases remixed by big players of the electronic music scene. The "A" EP is composed of remixes by French rising stars Folamour & Tour-Maubourg as long as established artists such as Ian Pooley & Oliver Dolar.

"SHAZZer Project" you're back from the future!

Stroboscopic Artefacts releases ‘X – Ten Years Of Artefacts’, a 13-track album curated by Lucy, the nom de techno of Luca Mortellaro. It celebrates ten years of his label by boldly confirming its raison d’être: a continual redefinition of modern techno.

‘X – Ten Years Of Artefacts’ is a various artists album in which the label’s key artists respond to its tenth anniversary with fresh compositions. Artists with divergent perspectives and MOs are equally at home expressing themselves. These tracks’ timbres, tempos and moods differ greatly yet—somewhat improbably—they seem together, ideologically unified.

The album will be later complemented by a special remixes EP, with four new reworks of pivotal back catalogue material from the label (Donato Dozzy, Caterina Barbieri, Xhin and Klock). And from fall 2019, Lucy and an incredible cast of Stroboscopic Artefacts artists will begin an extended club tour to mark the anniversary.

On ‘X – Ten Years Of Artefacts’, Mortellaro features solo as Lucy, in collaboration with Rrose as Lotus Eater and together with Speedy J as Zeitgeber. (Rrose also appears alone with “The Myth of Purity.”) Shifted, Efdemin, L.B. Dub Corp (Luke Slater), James Ruskin, Denise Rabe, Adriana Lopez, Chevel, Alessandro Adriani and Serena Butler each feature, representing a group of singular artists whose relationships with the label range from years to months—Stroboscopic Artefacts’ past, present and future must exist simultaneously.

Back in September 2009, Lucy released “Why Don’t You Change/Dub Man Walking,” the first record from Stroboscopic Artefacts, which began a discography that, ten years later, is almost unparalleled in its ambition and vision. Put simply, Mortellaro wanted to create something that didn’t exist. Stroboscopic Artefacts would be respectful of, and indebted to, the great techno and electronic music artists of the past but would develop new paths forward for the label and the genre. The label refused to perpetuate the established dichotomies of electronic music — between the dance floor and home listening, between club music and experimental music, between the past and the future. It took risks knowing it wouldn’t always work. But within a year or so of the label’s inception, it was obvious Stroboscopic Artefacts’ approach had captured imaginations far beyond its Berlin base, showing us that the boundaries of techno are often constructs of limited imagination.

The label pursued constantly evolving methods of releasing music. It created concept-driven series like Monad, Stellate and Totem, establishing frameworks that would give freedom in limitation. Standout albums by Lucy, Xhin, Dadub, Zeitgeber, Chevel, Kangding Ray, Lotus Eater and Alessandro Adriani were deeply considered longform presentations.

With this new album, remix EP and tour, now is the moment for Stroboscopic Artefacts to look fondly at its past while drawing breath, reenergised, and hinting at new chapters.

Crepuscule presents The Scottish Affair (Part 2), a vibrant live album by iconic Scottish guitar group Josef K recorded at the historic Beursschouwburg arts centre in Brussels on 8 April 1981.
Pressed in a limited edition of 1000 copies in clear vinyl, the sleeve features original 1981 poster artwork by designer Jean-Francois Octave printed in black overlaid with metallic gold pantone. The inner bag includes period flyers and images, as well as quotes by Paul Haig, Malcolm Ross, Alan Horne, Michel Duval, Annik Honore, Allan Campbell and Bert Bertrand.
Best known for their association with Postcard Records, Josef K also recorded two singles for Belgian indie Les Disques du Crepuscule (Sorry For Laughing; The Missionary), and also taped studio album The Only Fun In Town in downtown Brussels. The group first performed in the city on New Year’s Eve 1980, playing a riotous show with Orange Juice and Marine at legendary warehouse venue Plan K, and resumed their ‘Scottish affair’ with Crepuscule the following April, cutting their album in a matter of days and performing at the Beursschouwburg as well as a small youth club in Lier three nights later.
 At the Beurs show Jokay rattled off 10 songs in just half an hour, with journalist Bert Bertrand noting “several good reasons to get excited” about the visiting quartet. Adds guitarist Malcolm Ross: “We played four dates in Holland on our way to Brussels and then recorded the album in about five days. So we were pretty tight and Paul was in good voice.”
 Recorded from the mixing desk, all 10 songs have now been newly re-mastered for issue as a vinyl only album, The Scottish Affair (Part 2).

Planning the imminent arrival of the 50th release on Touchin’ Bass, label boss Andrea Parker was digging through the warehouse during a stock take and it became apparent that there was something missing. There was a gap in the catalogue numbers. Where was TB036? Searching the archives it transpired that, for one reason or another (not least Parker’s inability to count), there actually wasn’t one.

So what better way to backfill this now documented gap than to welcome the multitalented guitarist and drummer, mathematician and multidisciplinary improviser Maria Gamboa Perez into the Touchin’ Bass fold with an updated focus for 2019.

Perez combines elements of rage, chaos, tension and anguish to form a visceral style. Her musical terrain and talent is shaped by dissonance and NO art. Under the moniker NonZero!, Perez brings Matrix Equation to the fore; a heavy 8 track EP with electro aesthetics from none other than Carl Finlow Scarletron/Silicon Scally/Voice Stealer.

Beginning her artistic career as a teenager playing as a bassist and guitarist in groups with influences from Noise, Avant Garde and the No-Wave, Perez was introduced into several areas of electronic music during the club culture years in Madrid and opted for styles such as Electro or Industrial, at which point she began to be interested in the introduction of rhythm boxes together with traditional drums.

Her passion for sound synthesis and musical exploration led Perez to introduce electronics into a solo project under the pseudonym NonZero!. Under this name she aims to make electronic music her field of sound research and for years has been continuously searching for existing relationships between sound and mathematics, focusing on the perceptual limit between music and noise.

Matrix Equation indulges in an evidential brooding angst, shifting between abstraction and the kind of elevated introspection carefully harvested over the years. With dramatic frontage in parts, blasts of boisterous energy and machine mayhem, its deployment of surprise, shifting focus and spontaneity operate in an assured statement.

Splintered beats and a foreboding sense of tension give way to a more DJ friendly logic of instinctive introductions and codas of gradual builds and breakdowns as Finlow further reworks the results to great effect.

It’s been a busy eight months since Dampé’s debut on Dirt Crew Recordings. That time has seen the producer hold down monthly slots on Rinse FM, contribute a downtempo electronica/jazz edit to the S3A ‘Pages Remixes” EP as well as open big rooms for the likes of Surgeon and Blawan.

The intervening months have also seen the producer set up camp in the Rhythm Section studio in South East London, and the result of new access to studio gear can be heard all across ‘Garden’. Compared to the debut ‘Peach Shuffle’ this is a far more machine-led and darker listening experience. Snatches of acoustic instruments and space remain, but it’s never long before the disembodied vocals and oversaturated classic drum kits return reminding you this is music best enjoyed in the club.

‘A Basement, 10 Years Ago’ started just there. A bass line dimly recalled from a long-lost 6am jam is sequenced on a weighty analogue keyboard, while syrupy R&B vocals dance around mbira and gangsa, all slowly building and building together. ‘727 and Arp Breaks’ is a love letter to two of the producer’s favourite instruments from the studio. A TR-727 and an Arp Odyssey collide across dubbed out stabs to form some very rolling breaks.
Sunday Night Machines’ sees Dampé tame the box-of-physics that is the Arp Odyssey again with a sprawling meditation on two repeating arpeggios.

‘Garden’ is the one for the dancers. Four variations play with the same melodic theme in distinct sections, with the second variation being the deepest and most floor-ready the whole record gets. ‘France’ is a warped dub-come-hip hop beat that manages to conjure both Lil Jon and Yusef Lateef. We approached Liverpool’s finest ASOK (Lobster Theremin, M>O>S Delsin) for remix duties and to close out the record with a twisted bang. He turned in a propelling weapon that brings a whole new texture to the track listing. It’s very 90’s, very ravey and very raw, in a true IDM style.

With this eclectic mix of sounds we are entering another chapter of the Dirt Crew story and we hope you dig it as much as we do!

Having returned from a 4-year break in August with its latest release from GW & Henry, A&R Edits follows up with a debut for Moplen.
With a recent remix of Frankie Knuckles ft. Jamie Principle and a Salsoul Reworks EP, Luca Moplen has been gaining new traction of late, so it felt fitting to release two of his evergreen edits on vinyl for the first time. Moplen’s edit of Tavares’ classic disco stomper ‘It Only Takes A Minute’ coupled with Greg Wilson’s edit of Moplen’s edit of Larry Levan’s mix of David Joseph’s ‘You Can’t Hide (Your Love From Me)’, if you can follow all that!

An all brother group hailing from Providence, Rhode Island, Tavares were a band that evolved with the disco sound, hitting their peak in 1976 when both ‘Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel’ and ‘Don’t Take Away The Music’ became huge club favourites. They scored their first R&B #1 in ‘1974 with a cover of Hall & Oates ‘She’s Gone’ and in 1975 they returned to the top of the R&B chart whilst going top 10 pop and scoring a #2 Disco hit with ‘It Only Takes A Minute’.

In 1992 a cover by boy band Take That would gift them their first top 10 entry, many people unaware that this track had first been recorded 17 years earlier. Rising to prominence in Brit-funk band Hi-Tension, David Joseph soon found his footing as a solo artist after they’d split, with his first release being ‘You Can’t Hide (Your Love From Me)’ in February 1983.

That same month, Greg Wilson appeared on The Tube, mixing between two copies of this very record – the first time mixing had been demonstrated on British TV. It would subsequently enter the UK chart, climbing into the top 20. The track would then be remixed by legendary Paradise Garage DJ Larry Levan, resulting in a #2 placing on the Billboard Dance chart.

Upon hearing Moplen’s extended dub edit, Greg worked further into it reintroducing the song – given his history with the track it was unthinkable that he’d play it without the vocal. The result is a unique version where Moplen’s dub sets the vibe during the first half of the edit before the song is finally introduced.

Kerrie makes her debut for DBA with four tracks devised originally for her high impact live sets. Other than a cut on highly regarded London label I Love Acid's 10th anniversary comp Kerrie is a relative newcomer but the ten years she has put in honing her style immediately shine through in her music. The EP ranges from Before Calm's bug-eyed, angular swagger replete with a hair raising distorted hook, to Orb Weaver's peak time techno roll via Acid8 Slider which is one of the most original 303 tracks to come out of the UK in some time and Curveball, a bolshy electro leaning stepper.

Her influences range from current UK artists like Blawan to Japanese artists such as NHK yx Koyxen & Hiroaki Iizuka and pioneers like X101, Joey Beltram and Surgeon. The running thread in her taste is a penchant for high energy, raw banging grooves with a machine funk flavour, and a love of analog sound both as a producer and DJ. No doubt this stems from her time spent working at legendary Manchester shop Eastern Bloc Records where she joined in 2013 and has worked ever since. Honing her skills through her DJ residency for EBloc Kerrie has gone on to become a regularly booked act for the UKs most prestigious underground club nights. As a live performer she has also toured the UK since 2017 with the live show being met with high acclaim. Her live set for Freerotation 2019 has been one of the festival's most talked about debuts.

In order to celebrate 5 thrilling and inspiring years, we gathered well-known artists, Goldmin regulars and emerging talents. It was really important for us to express the elusive nature of the Goldmin sound, in the form of a compilation tracklisting. Over the past 5 years, we had the chance to meet most of these guys in person, follow their very own creative path, share ideas, thoughts and there's no doubt that they all had their part to play in crafting our sound. This intimate and stimulating kind of collaboration had to be expressed and there couldn't be a better way to capture what we've been busily working for, than a serie of Various Artists 12". What it comes down to is a quintessential, hard-to-follow Goldmin selection devoid of any specific standard or norm. And this whole compilation seems to reflect that non-septate artistic direction, this little something, which has grown throughout our whole catalogue, since the label's birth.That's why, picking these select few tracks, that could illustrate Goldmin Music's essential freedom was probably our toughest work yet. It was also important to pick only the most original and iconic tracks from each artist. In the end each track had to be their most Goldmin one and they all have been tried in all types of situations, in club at 1 and 5 AM, on the highway at night or even staring at the ceiling during a sleepless insomnia session. They all fullfilled their duty.

Autarkic describe himself as first and foremost a songwriter but he has also made a name for himself as an international DJ. Over the past three years the musician based In Tel Aviv has, with great success, played clubs throughout all of Europe. One extra memorable gig was on last year's edition of Convenanza in the amphitheatre in Sete, France. Rumour has it that the sea living mammals of the area flocked in large groups in the waters below during Autarkic's gig.

This 12'' record is his first release on Hoga Nord Rekords and the slightly psychedelic, sample- and synthesiser based club music that has become Autarkic's trademark sound is captured by an impeccable production. The music is playful, yet stripped down to the essentials and not overloaded. The vocal elements works more as percussive elements than the carrier of the storytelling in the music.

If you missed him live or just don't have the means to go see him, this record give a taste of Autarkic's hypnotic live performances!

We’re proud to introduce “Afroderrick EP” by Voodoo Sound Club, the brand new 12” release on Mondo Groove. Afroderrick is a storming afrobeat track with special guest legendary italian trumpeter Roy Paci that originally came out on Guglielmo Pagnozzi’s Voodoo Sound Club project’s debut CD album on Cinedelic Records, “Same”, on 2011. The track became kind of a cult during the years with many DJ’s asking for a vinyl version. And here it is, in its full glory, the original itself opening the B side, followed by a solid breakbeat “Voodoo Strange Fruit Remix” by Detox, with the A side massive with another couple of interpretations, an euphoric house “Fresco Remix” done by Leo “Fresco” Beccafichi, DJ and producer and collaborator of Italian popstar Jovanotti, and another remix this time in trippy Afro style by heroes Daniele Baldelli and Marco Dionigi. You can’t miss this!

4 track EP “No Bad Decisions” is Pletnev's debut on Cologne based imprint Feines Tier. And here he matches perfectly with label requirements - hidden melodies, dozens of layers and sounds. Truly simple and addictive music for parties with soul, big or small.

For the recent few years Pletnev did a solid statement as a producer with releases for Lithuanian Le Temps Perdu imprint or french labels KUMP and Hard Fist where he always explored a variety of genres melting tribal, EBM and techno into one solid peace of gold. Originally Russian, Pletnev now settled in Vilnius where he represents incredibly booming local scene being a resident of Opium club.

Title tune “No Bad Decisions” is a noisy electronic boogie with drunk arpeggios & filtered bassline. Comemé based Ana Helder delivers more dance floor oriented version of the track. “Almost Equal” continues the general line of the EP with jumpy boogie beat & tribal percussions. “Norton Commander” makes a perfect balance and adds mystic darkness through running sub bassline & sliding atonal bells. And simple 808 beat makes out of tune a perfect trancy option for the late party hours.

In late 1997, unsigned Melbourne producer Castel won a competition at a local club. The prize was certainly sought-after: a CD single release on leading local label DanceNet. That EP, “Estrel”, subsequently appeared in stores in 1998, but within two years Castel had packed away his Atari-ST, sold off his hardware and quit music for good.

Thanks to Echovolt Records, Castel’s story now has a happier ending. 22 years after it was recorded, the unfeasibly gorgeous “Estrel” is finally appearing on vinyl alongside original bonus cut “Me & You” and a trio of similarly impressive unreleased productions from the period.

“Estrel” is positivity personified – a melodious, morning-fresh blast of deep electro bliss rich in bustling drums, tuneful IDM style lead lines and darting, psychedelic electronics. It’s joined on side A by “Me & You”, a pitched-down chunk of hazy ‘90s electronica that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on one of Warp Records’ legendary Artificial Intelligence compilations.

On side B, Castel opens up his archive of unreleased recordings for the very first time. The rush-inducing, bass-heavy swirl of “Safer Somewhere” – one of the last tracks he ever recorded and reminiscent of some B12 recordings from the period – is followed by the intergalactic ambient brilliance of “Latch” and the lilting, sun-bright bliss of breakbeat-driven shuffler “16/11/1998”, whose combination of weighty bottom-end and layered electronics neatly sums up the unheralded qualities of Castel’s previously forgotten work.

’La Macarena’ is one of the brightest lights in Barcelona’s glimmering nightlife, and a landmark of the Spanish techno scene. 17 years in daily business brought thousands of electronic artists behind the decks and countless dancers and electronic music lovers on the floor of the legendary micro club. The new music label ’Macarena Musica’ features musical contributions by ’Macerena’ resident artists and special guests - all of them share a big love for ’La Macarena’ and Barcelona. The passionate crafted releases come as limited vinyl-editions and extended digital packages, complete with expressive black-and-white artworks, capturing the atmosphere of the club and the streets of Barna.

For the debut release, ’Macarena’ longterm-resident Patrick Zigon teamed up with his friend Paulo Olarte for ’Belleza Tropical’ - a declaration of love to the club and the heart warming vibe of Barcelona, which is strongly coloured by the latin way of life. It’s not surprising at all that this beautiful inspiration led Patrick Zigon to a tropical excursion into the deep cosmos of latin-infused Techno and House music. As in many previous collaborations, Paulo Olarte refines the productions of the Berlin-based producer with his naughty vocals, resulting in a poetic and love-driven statement for the latin familia. ’Belleza Tropical’ is the first glimpse into Zigon’s third studio album ’Between The Lines’, coming up in summer on his ’Traumraum’ imprint. Beside the Original and Instrumental versions, the single features remixes by the Spanish master of hypnotic techno, señor Eduardo De La Calle, Paulo Olarte and Blanali (digital only). Desde Barcelona con amor!

In the years before ​Hunter Lombard​ perfected the gentle art of juxtaposing mega breakbeats with lush synth hooks, the New Yorker was an active rock musician. Citing the afterglow of her guitar background as a big influence for her current melodies and timbre, Lombard inhabits a sparsely populated intersection in dance music. For ​Schloss’​ third release, Lombard connects the dots between sweet rave nostalgia and clublands latest wrinkle. She has previously released on Volvox and John Barera’s label Jack Dept, and can often be found behind the decks at Elsewhere, Good Room or Bossa Nova Civic Club.
Slow Foam​ is mixed and mastered by Matt Karmil.

The Force Dimension was formed in the late 80’s by René Van Dijck and Tycho de Groot. After some demos and appearances on compilations, the band signed a contract with the Belgian label KK Records. Their self-titled debut was released in 1989 curiously on two different versions, one produced by Luc Van Acker (Revolting Cocks) and the other co-produced by Dirk Ivens (Klinik, Dive). The duo continued developing a very unique sound mixing EBM, industrial and different electronic influences. In 1990 they finished what is considered their definitive work, “Deus Ex Machina”, followed by the mega club-hit “Algorythm”. The band released another single next year, “New Funk”, and after a couple of compilations stopped to work together in 1997. During the next years there were some failed attempts to reunite but it wasn’t until 2013 when The Force Dimension was resurrected by René Van Dijck.
“Deus Ex Machina” is being now re-released on an expanded edition with all original tracks plus some bonus including remixes of “Algorythm”, some rare tracks from old compilations and new versions of the unreleased songs “Fatal Erection” and “Scanners”. Limited edition of 500 copies on double vinyl and gatefold sleeve.

Beijing-based techno producer HWA (aka ELVIS.T) is releasing his first 12" EP "Granular Line" on Ran Groove, the sub-label of Bejing's Ran Music. This EP has 2 Deep Pulsating Techno tracks included as well as one Droning Ambient track produced using his customized modular synth system. As one of the leading figures in China's techno music scene, HWA's left-field experimental sound design, delicate poly rhythmic beat groove, dark and twisted massive soundscapes and the full hardware workflow, have earned him a reputation across China's dance music scene. Granular Line is the crystallization of HWA's persistent efforts on using the modular synth to produce techno music, it is the new envelope of his techno sound aesthetic.

HWA was born and grew up in Taipei and kicked off his DJ career in 1998 and soon started to produce his own music. He relocated to Beijing in 2006 and immediately became a part of China's electronic music scene, which had just emerged a few years before and was on its fast-rising phase. HWA is considered a brute force in the promotion of techno music and culture in the country, he was the early co-founder of Beijing's Lantern club, the most influential techno club in China's capital, he was also the co-owner of Acupuncture Records, which is the only techno label in China back in the 00's. In the past decade, he has played in the finest clubs and festivals in Europe, such as Tresor in Berlin and ADE festival in Amsterdam, as well as the top clubs in Toyko, Seoul, and Taipei, where Asian's best dance music scene exists. In 2016, he appeared in China's first ever Boiler Room event with his modular synth system, created the climax of that night and his live set was considered one of the best moments of Boiler Room China.

HWA has deeply embraced modular synthesis in recent years and it has become the centerpiece of his music production workflow and live performances. He attempts to explore randomized beat sequences and experimental sound design furthermore. He's one of the initial members of The Modular Commune, a Beijing artist community focused on the use of modular synths, which has gained a lot of attention across the globe. Through his music work and live sets, HWA's unique athletics and understanding of techno music made by machines, has become a unique label of his.

50 years ago, a young Panamanian singer by the name of Ralph Weeks, who a few years prior had cut his teeth in the US music landscape with the group Johnny & The Expressions, self-produced and independently released a record with an absolute monster of a soul ballad called "Something Deep Inside." It was a song that Weeks had come up with on the spot during one of many gigs in the heart of Brooklyn's Prospect Heights, at the time a cultural hub and community for many Panamanians living in the borough. Along with his group, The Telecasters, Weeks often played at a Panamanian-owned club in the neighborhood called 4 Star's (STA4R's) which would independently sponsor the release of the tune on a 7-inch single.

Fast forward to 2019, where a serendipitous meeting between Ralph Weeks and Names You Can Trust turned into a solid formation of musical synchronicity, bonded over a shared belief in musical fusion, a weaving of musical threads that was similarly the foundation of that earlier era in Panama. It's a fusion that has become a constant theme throughout the Names You Can Trust catalog in the last 10 years, connecting the dots from NY, the Caribbean and Latin America. An immediate plan was put into motion: return Weeks to a studio atmosphere that had eluded him in the preceding decades, a vibe and live musical presence that would be reminiscent of his time recording with The Telecasters and The Exciters in Panama.

In the ultimate tribute to Weeks and that foundation, NYCT label mates Combo Lulo unpacked the 50-year old original tune and refashioned it into a timeless rocksteady ballad. It was an opportunity for Weeks to acquaint himself with a new band and a new generation of musical talent. Ultimately, it was an unexpected chance for Weeks to reconnect to the music he wrote one fateful evening in a Brooklyn club. For Combo Lulo, Names You Can Trust, and now the rest of his musical admirers, it's a chance to hear how gracefully Weeks' voice has aged, still silky smooth with those beloved falsetto runs, sweet and rounded like a barrel-aged añejo rum. It's a testament to the timelessness of Weeks' original music, and certainly another reminder of how far and wide even the smallest of musical blips can spread.

Presented as a double-sided bilingual 45 single, both versions of Weeks' classic tune, "Algo Muy Profundo" and "Something Deep Inside," have been formatted in the traditional Jamaican style, skillfully cut live and mixed under the guidance of NYCT and Combo Lulo's talented musicians. It's a tribute to a brilliant record and an unsung architect of Latin American sweet soul, but also a love letter to a very particular NY-Caribbean fusion that theoretically could have happened 50 years ago, depending on the borough you resided in. After all, there was always something deep inside. Comes with NYCT / STA4R'S Company Sleeve & Liner Notes.

Having spent the past few years quietly building up a dedicated crowd of followers and dancers as a club night, Scenic Route step out for their first offering as a label with three expertly crafted club cuts from Desert Sound Colony, an artist whose pumping productions have provided some of the parties’ most memorable moments. Since his debut release in 2014 on New York’s Scissor & Thread, Desert Sound Colony (real name Liam Wachs) has been refining a deeply personal club sound with releases for the likes of Futureboogie, Me Me Me, his own Holding Hands imprint and most notably of late, Nick Höppner’s Touch From A Distance. In addition to his productions garnering support from the likes of Midland, Raresh, Andrew Weatherall and Lena Willikens, Wachs himself is also a highly sought after DJ whose skills have seen him land bookings at some of the world’s most well respected clubs and festivals, including two stints at Berlin’s Panorama Bar already this year.

His prowess as a DJ has undoubtedly informed the music featured on the Cartographer EP. All three tracks are primarily designed for club use yet their intricate arrangements and undulating instrumentation ensure they remain captivating, despite the effectiveness of their functionality. The EP’s opener, “The Cartographer”, is a sleazy machine-driven odyssey, continuously building and evolving until snapping back into its original groove with a vengeance. “Gypsy Moth” sees Wachs team up with fellow Holding Hands affiliate Guava (real name Bradley Hutchings) for a dangerously syncopated drum workout doused in warped agogo bells, spliced vocals and a two-note bassline with a distinctly London flavor. Rounding the release off is “Budapest”. The combined power of the track’s interlocking kick and bass provide a solid stage for Desert Sound Colony to unleash an eerie arp and pads combo alongside a flurry of stuttering percussion and twisted samples while intermittently sprinkled with an unintelligible and downright ominous pitched down voice.

Will Saul is a key figure in UK dance music. Approaching his twentieth anniversary as a DJ, producer and label founder, Saul has helped break the career of key artists such as Leon Vynehall, Midland and Dusky via his Aus Music label, has himself played some of the world’s finest nightclubs and contributed to !K7’s storied ‘DJ Kicks’ mix series, which he also curates.

Finally returning to the production fold himself with his first full-length album in thirteen years, ‘Open Too Close’ is a condensed trip through the influences, discovery and sense of history that have helped shape his career and drive a forward-facing, unblinking passion for new music. The record’s concept reflects Will’s enormous skill and knowledge as a DJ, and as it’s title suggests, “"represents what I play in a club if an 8 hour set was condensed into 10 tracks.”

Having held residencies and made regular appearances at some of the world’s finest clubs including The End and Fabric in London, Panorama Bar in Berlin, Trouw in Amsterdam and Robert Johnson in Offenbach, Saul is uniquely qualified but this refreshingly straightforward approach. Eschewing the lingering, almost cliched expectations for a dance artist to create an album “that sounds good at home, as well as in the club”, ‘Open Too Close’ instead draws on the timeless futurism at the heart of the music that drew Saul into electronic music culture. Simply put, futuristic, melancholic sci-fi soundscapes meets stripped back raw sample driven house music, all executed with the precision and panache of an artist who truly understands how to move a dancefloor.

Repress

Five years ago, the expression Russian electronic scene bore a tone of futurology and expectancies rather than a real state of affairs. It was possible to put together musicians of local and genre importance easily in general, but not of significance in national scale. With rise and further development of Gost Zvuk, Russian electronic music achieved power not only as cultural phenomenon within country s borders, but also fully proved to be a thing of international meaning. Starting operations in 2014, the label quickly defined its domains of authority and engagement and created full-bloody community of musicians, where everyone has a special view on his own work and unique sound. The projects presented on this compilation can be rightfully called the contemporary vanguard of Russian and global electronic music.

Each of resonant artists holds his own disparate creative field and impact. However, in this diversity the unity of creation of beauty and ingenuity is born, that distinguishes Russian independent electronica. All compiled tracks perfectly characterize the artists involved, sometimes from extremely striking sides; from HMOT s chaotic improvisations to kedr livansky s ethereal grooves, from unearthly landscapes of Gamayun to undistracted concisions by Ol or Buttechno. Both electric boffinry and club anthems merge into united vision, placed in graceful frame of Rashad Becker s mastering.

Maybe this compilation won t close the question What is the Russian Sound? , which has been arising for more than twenty years. Nevertheless, it is able to give an extensive view on the evolution of Russian electronica in the 2010s.