Sergio Bennett meets Jee Bear for the creation of ‘Propaganga’, a solid tech house production to be out soon on the great Brise Records. The release is completed with a remix made by Sascha Dive, who alters the main theme avoiding the rawness of the bassline and the drums, giving to the song a classy and sexy touch.
Artist: Introversion Title: REM Label: ARTS Cat: ARTSCORE013 Format: Digital, vinyl Release Date: November 16th 2020 Tracklist: A1 REM A2 Myoclonus B1 Night Terrors B2 Lucid
Berlin (DE) based dj and producer Introversion gets released again on ARTS with the EP ‘REM’, four tracks pressed on vinyl that rediscover the rave side of techno music. All the songs melt raw drums with dreamy synth melodies or vocals, that’s mostly evident on ‘Myclonus’ where a nice female vocal is interfaced with a tiny pad sound: the strength of the low frequencies is boosted by the magic spread of the higher ones. The only track that detaches from the others is ‘Lucid’, in this Introversion uses a broken beat rhythm that gives more airness and brillance to the whole sound, in fact the synth game prevails and the melodies soar through the air.
Electronic music artist Waajeed has announced a series of fundraising initiatives for the Underground Music Academy (UMA), a new Detroit-based community music hub, of which he’s the director, that aims to help build the future leaders of independent electronic music coming out of the city. The fundraising goal is to help pay for the second portion of the academy – hiring the digital team to capture, edit and distribute video tutorials in early 2021. The fundraising link for all the activity is: https://ioby.org/project/underground-music-academy
Waajeed began the campaign by releasing the first of a 2 part ‘Acts Of Love EP’ vinyl series (both editions limited to 200 copies). The first EP released 2nd October sold out quickly, and the second EP is available on 9th December. Each copy retails at $25, and is available exclusively from Bandcamp. All profits will be donated to the Underground Music Academy. You can pre-order the EP via: https://waajeed.bandcamp.com/album/acts-of-love-mixtape-act-two-ep
In December, Waajeed will host a live raffle to raise money for the Academy by selling a series of donated items including a framed photograph from his ‘A Day In The Life of John Doe’ exhibition of unseen J Dilla photographs. The stream will be broadcast live from his Instagram page (@waajeed_).
The photograph which will be the main raffle prize features J Dilla, D’Angelo, DJ Premier and Alchemist, and will be printed (11 inches by 17 inches) and professionally framed. The photo was the best-selling picture from the exhibition tour which took place autumn/fall 2019. Press quote: “Gathered from years of friendship, A Day In The Life of John Doe — named after Dilla’s first production moniker — offers rare glimpses of the pioneer at work between 1997 and 1999, just before cementing his household name.”
The Underground Music Academy (UMA) focuses on two pillars of electronic music: the art of deejaying, and the art of production. The goal of the UMA is to build a more inclusive electronic music community, using music as the means for education, healing and building esteem. The curriculum will begin in 2021 with a series of free online tutorials for all skill levels.
In 2022, and following the competition of final building works, the UMA will open its doors as a bricks and mortar place of learning for a small selected group of all ages, alongside a full course for remote learning for domestic and international students. Detroit-based students will be able to access production and business workshops, internships and job placements, as well as access to domestic and international DJ gigs.
The UMA was founded on the same street as legendary Detroit Black-owned music institutions that have influenced the globe, including the Motown Museum, Underground Resistance, and Moodyman’s Mahogani Music. Waajeed says, “UMAbuilds upon these rich cultural histories and passes their lessons onto the next generations of creators.”
After every publication of a CD from the Watergate mix series, the Berlin based label proposes a set of EPs featuring some exclusive tracks included in the recording: here we go with the first follow up of ‘Watergate 27’ mixed by Hyenah, where in her ‘The Message EP’ she presents a great set of productions. The first one is the title track, there the notorious vocalist Bajka provides a brilliant and sexy vocal, creating a deep and warm atmosphere. Henrik Schwarz gives his interpretation, adding a minimalistic drum loop and a monotid synth pattern that creates a wider version of the main theme. On the flip ‘Soul Rise’ it’s made in collaboration with Floyd Lavine, this track recalls to the mood of ‘The Message’ because the tribal drums and the introspective mood of the synth instruments. The vinyl EP is closed with ‘Not Enought’ where Lazarusman shares his voice to this intriguing tech house production. As digital bonus we can find the acapella of ‘Not Enough’ and the track ‘Warm Drum’, which is the awesome starting track of the Watergate 27 mix.
Artist: F.E.M Title: Timelapse EP Label: EP Digital Music Remixers: Ian O’Donovan, Paul Nazca, William Masson & Matt Sugar R Cat: EPDM34.0 Format: Digital Release Date: November 5th 2020 Tracklist: 1. Original Mix 2. Ian O’Donovan Remix 3. Paul Nazca Remix 4. William Masson & Matt Sugar R Remix
F.E.M’s ‘Timelapse EP’ is set to be released on EP Digital Music: that’s a great bunch of tracks really dancefloor oriented and with a mesmerizing vibe. This particular blend of progressive house and techno features solid drum loops and dreamy synth parts, a combo where the music theme is shown in its best form. ‘Timelapse EP’ is filled with three interesting remixes: the first name in the tracklist is Ian O’Donovan, who after his recent success on Bedrock Records continues to deliver amazing tunes, his remix of ‘Timelapse’ stays in line with the original, elevating its potential; the next remixer is Paul Nazca, he adds some dub techno influences to get a stronger result, while William Masson and Matt Sugar R adapts the theme into a classy house production, getting some warm and luscious vibes.
Veyl presents the brand new album from Verge, an artist who already appeared with an album on Avian and with an EP on Rengaine. This 12 track ensemble explores the aesthetics of ambient and drone music, sharing an attempt to going through the core of the various instruments used, soundscapes like these recall to abstract ambiances and post apocalyptic scenarios, a situation where the darkness prevails and there’s a continuous fight between the obscure forces and the light legions. ‘Impermanence’ will be available on digital format and on cassette too.
Artist: Franky Rizardo Title: Dusty Mornings Label: 8Bit Records Cat. #: 8BIT162 Release Date: November 11th 2020 Tracklist: A. Dusty Mornings B1. Gritty Fuze B2. Spirit Walk
Both 8bit bosses Nick Curly & Gorge are glad to welcome dutch house sensation Franky Rizardo back on their imprint with his 4. release. Spot on for these great 3 dancefloor weapons.
Artist: Mary Yuzovskaya Title: Sleeping Beauty Working Beast Remixer: Blazej Malinowski, Patrick Siech Label: MondayOff Release Date: 26th October 2020 Cat. #: MOFF008 Format: Vinyl only Tracklist: 01. Sleeping B 02. Sleeping B (Blazej Malinowski remix) 03. Working B 04. Working B (Patrick Siech remix)
MondayOff announce label boss Mary Yuzovskaya’s debut solo EP, an immersive four track techno release featuring remixes from Semantica’s Blazej Malinowski and Parabel’s Patrick Siech.
Actively running the label since 2017, the Russian artist has consistently kept the quality of MondayOff’s output incredibly high, perfectly in line with her notorious vinyl-only sets in New York, Berlin, and Moscow. For the eighth release on the label, which has previously released tracks from the likes of Soramimi, Cory James, and Michal Wolski, Mary steps up to the plate, backed with a pair of excellent remixes.
Kicking off the release is ‘Sleeping B’, a deep hypnotic workout, with blooming synths and basslines moving in tandem with the rolling drum patterns. Blazej Malinowski ups the pace expertly, with his remix keeping key elements of the original, applying a broad brush of subtle hyperactivity to the proceedings.
On the flip, ‘Working B’ sees Mary deliver another heads down affair, the slowly mutating synths and drums finding their own space with clever use of intricate echoes and sonic permutations throughout. Comparatively, the Patrick Siech remix is an energetic take, it’s textures constantly evolving upwards to create a mesmerizing atmosphere that perfectly rounds off this exceptional release.
Artist: DuBeats Title: Mesmerized EP Label: Music is 4 Lovers Cat. #: MI4L014 Release Date: 23.10.2020 Tracklist:
Mesmerized
Lonely Man
If Ever
Do What You Wanna Do
Music is 4 Lovers is excited to debut this four track EP full of deep house groovers from their senior blog editor, DuBeats.
Based in San Diego, DuBeats is a rising producer and fixture in the SD scene – running his own record label, Staybad; contributing to MI4L’s blog; and resident DJ for MI4L events.
Artist: Various Title : Underwater Label: VillaHangar Cat. # : PPP192020 Format: Digital Release Date: 22nd October 2020
VillaHangar announces a new V/A ‘Underwater’, featuring a host of organic and melodic house gems from Double Drop, Deckert, Sound Shapes, Diass, Nina Simmons, Matizze, and Socko.
VillaHangar, founded in 2011 by Andrea Pellizzari and Matt Sawyer with support from Chris Leòn, operates between London and Milan, focusing on the finest in slick, laidback house. Having seen support from the likes of Solomun and Kollektiv Turmstrasse, VillaHangar’s music continues to conjure images of long journeys through breathtaking landscapes in the minds of listeners worldwide.
For ‘Underwater’, VillaHangar recruit a selection of artists for their debuts on the label. Aiming to give visibility and exposure to those involved, the release also nurtures the individual creativity of the artists, forming a supportive environment for full freedom of expression to flourish.
Kicking off the compilation is Double Drop’s ‘Nguvu’, a beautiful slice of tender house, before moving into Deckert’s emotive ‘Imposter the Syndrome’ with its reverberated vocals samples taking centre stage. Following on is the synth and string tinged ‘Tembour’ by Sound Shapes and the floaty, expressive ‘Mount Athos’ by Diass.
Nina Simmons slows down the pace with ‘Raksat’, with its exotic percussion and melodies carrying the track thematically into Matizze’s ‘Siddhartha’. Rounding off the release is Socko’s ‘Gamma’, a decidedly synthetic yet refined and delicate track.
Perfectly cementing its already established sound, ‘Underwater’ is a landmark release for VillaHangar. Offering a glimpse into the future of the label, the compilation stands as an exciting sign of things to come.
Tracklist: 01 Double Drop – Nguvu 02 Deckert – Imposter the Syndrome 03 Sound Shapes – Tembour 04 Diass – Mount Athos 05 Nina Simmons – Raksat 06 Matizze – Siddhartha 07 Socko – Gamma
