Artist: Eddie Fowlkes Title: Forever EP Label: Rekids Cat. #: REKIDS218 Format: Vinyl / Digital Release Date: 24th March 2023 Tracklist: A1 Forever A2 Shake Your Hips B1 What About Us B2 Nice
Detroit icon Eddie Fowlkes drops ‘Forever EP’ on Rekids this March.
As one of Techno’s originators, Godfather of Techno Soul Eddie Fowlkes has shaped the Techno genre for over 36 years. With his releases on Metroplex, Tresor, Sony, Peacefrog, and his own imprint CityBoyRecords and Detroit Wax Label, Fowlkes‘ contribution to the blueprint of modern electronic music cannot be overstated.
Returning in fierce form for 2023, Eddie Fowlkes arrives on Radio Slave’s Rekidswith a sizzling four-tracker. From the red hot drums and trippy vocals on the opening track ‘Forever’ through to the bubbly synths and swinging percussion on the B2 ‘Nice’, Fowlkes’ funk-infused House and Techno has its sights set squarely on the dancefloor – an unwavering testament to the lasting production chops of a true originator.
“All of my creations start off with a baseline that perpetuates other rhythms. I just wanted to keep the impact of the vibe to hold the dance floor, so I’m always thinking about people dancing on the dance floor. Over 42 years of DJing helps me replicate that into tracks and songs.” – Eddie Fowlkes
Artist: Fiona Kraft Title: Deeper Feelings EP Label: connected Cat. #: connected 119 Format: Digital Release Date: 24th March 2023 Tracklist: 01 Deeper Feelings 02 Deeper Feelings (Manoo The Remix) Piano Interpretation by Bacanito 03 Deeper Feelings (Manoo The Dub) Piano Interpretation by Bacanito 04 Deeper Feelings (MAGA Remix)
Fiona Kraft offers up her most sincere sounds to date with the Deeper Feelings EP on connected featuring remixes from MAGA and Manoo.
Fiona Kraft has spent much time condensing the different elements and ideas in her head together in the perfect sound. She says this new EP is the best representation yet of who she is and what she feels. It comes after years of developing her distinctive sounds and playing everywhere from Hi Ibiza to Watergate in Berlin, mixing up rhythmic and progressive sounds with euphoric breaks.
The gorgeous ‘Deeper Feelings’ has dancing Afro drums overlaid with nimble piano chords. The pressure builds and the groove is in constant evolution as the jazzy keys hypnotize and the spiritual pads bring the warmth. It is a majestic and epic track that oozes future soul.
Legendary Lyon producer Manoo adds two remixes. The first is a smooth and quietly intense rework with aching vocals swirling out of the mix to take you higher. The second is a deeper dub with a darker heart as the kesy speak to a broken heart.
Last of all, Nice-born Scenarios and Flying Circus associate MAGA brings his melodic, organic and minimalistic patterns to a sublime remix. It’s seven steamy minutes of piano-laced deep house joy with rolling drums that are peppered with percussion and hypnotic wooden hits.
This is a deeply moving package of afro / organic house music from connected and Fiona Kraft.
Artist: Dino Lenny Title: I’ve Learned That Remixer: Shadow Child, Jonathan Kaspar, and Dino Lenny & Fed Conti Label: Crosstown Rebels Cat. #: CRM288 Format: Digital / Vinyl Release Date: 17th March 2023 Tracklist: 1. I’ve Learned That 2. I’ve Learned That (Dino Lenny & Fed Conti Remix) 3. I’ve Learned That (Shadow Child Classic Mix) 4. I’ve Learned That (Jonathan Kaspar Remix)
Dino Lenny returns to Crosstown Rebels with his latest single ‘I’ve Learned That’, accompanied by remixes from Shadow Child and Jonathan Kaspar – plus his own take with Fed Conti.
A regular on labels including Afterlife, Ellum, Innervisions, and Diynamic, London-based Italian-born DJ/producer and Fine Human Records boss Dino Lenny’s solo and collaborative catalogue continues to grow as he features as one of the most consistent names within the worlds of house and techno. Having released his first EP on the label in 2019, he now returns to Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels for a second outing with the release of his touching new single ‘I’ve Learned That’ – which is one of a collection of records dedicated to his daughter – with remixes from Shadow Child, Jonathan Kaspar, and his own interpretation alongside Fed Conti.
“My daughter Victoria is seven years old. Since she was born, I always felt I had to make sure she knew about me straight away. You never know how much time you have. At first, I was going to write a diary with all my thoughts and stuff like that. But if she’s a little bit like me, she’d probably pick up the book a few times and leave it there. So I decided to transform my thoughts for her into songs. ‘I’ve Learned That’ is one of those.” – Dino Lenny.
Shaped by emotive piano keys, blooming strings and refined drums, ‘I’ve Learned’ showcases a rich and heartwarming production taking cues from dance music and beyond as the track’s uplifting and inspiring vocals carry the production across nine minutes of delight.
Beginning the transition towards more traditional electronic spheres, his remix alongside Fed Conti utilises vibrant guitar licks and a luminous bassline to head into a late-night discovery of disco influences. Next, Shadow Child’s ‘Classic Mix’ is a skippy house gem as bumping low-ends work amongst hazy chords, with Jonathan Kaspar’s remix moving deeper via surging synths for a hypnotic and thrilling ride to close.
Artist: Rowee Title: Begin The Life EP Label: All Day I Dream Cat. #: adid094 Format: Digital, vinyl Release Date: 24.02.2023 Tracklist: A1 Faded (feat. Eleonora) A2 Till The End (feat. One of Vas) B1 Begin The Life B2 Afterlife
Rowee gives us a reason to get into house music. His last EP on All Day I Dream is a great example of chilling and romantic organic house, proposing an embracing and calm sound that underlines its potential minute after minute. The opener ‘Faded’ with the vocals of Eleonora is pure magic: in the overall it spreads a radiant vibe which envelopes the listener since the beginning of the playback. Follows ‘Till The End’ made in collaboration with One of Vas, a song that blinks to the whole release with a dancefloor influenced style.
Colorize drops the third single extract from Estiva’s forthcoming album, this production titled ‘Carnal Emotion’ features the vocals of Jess Ball, which laids perfectly on the instrumental and of course on the melody, greatly introduced in each drop: it smells like summer, arousing late night scenarios enclosed by smooth lights and pretty good friends or partner.
Cielo Records is a new label project based in France from JC Laurent that features four underground and original works.
The inaugural EP comes from the label boss himself who has over ten years of productions under his belt for the likes of Coyu’s Suara, Abstract Division’s Dynamic Reflection, and Deepak Sharma’s Hidden Recordings amongst others.
Opening the release in style with “Prajna”, it has a quirky and brooding slice of hypnotic techno with cycling sounds and accents.
“Expander” opts for a raw percussion rhythm with bubbling atmospherics and swelling, phasing energy instilled into its spacey vibe.
Stripping things down is “Transparency” that flaunts analogue elements with a less is more approach allowing the sci-fi details to really create a dystopian atmosphere.
“Trikaya” adds a whole new angle to the EP with a stunning breakbeat and IDM-influenced track that will surely spin a dance floor into a frenzy with its creative style.
Truesoul brings back to life ‘Soulcatcher’, an album made by Pig&Dan and Gregor Tresher that was only available in streaming platforms since July 2021. After two years the sound concept is still amazing and visionary, the whole tracklist reveals to be fresh and embracing, sign of a worthy rebirth which will fill soon a few gaps in contemporary electronic music. The robustness from Pig&Dan’s style meets the melodic and dreamy approach to the synths by Gregor Tresher, creating pacific and enveloping soundscapes.
“It’s great to finally release Soulcatcher on all platforms and on vinyl as well – it´s only been out on Spotify up until now and the feedback on it was amazing, so the decision to finally give it a proper release came naturally for Adam and us as well. We are very excited!” – Gregor Tresher
It’s Good To Be A Tree is a deep and atmospheric record label run by Sergey Pushkin, which focuses on downtempo/organic house with indigenous sounds, flowing percussion and heart-warming melodies.
The label’s focus is to create a collaborative environment where artists from different genres can come together on one platform and this latest release is an eight-track compilation featuring solo music by Daniel Hokum, Kuumba, Last Gentleman On Playa, Valique, Yassen, Zoe Reijue and Sergey Pushkin. There is also a three-way collaboration between Betelgeize, Beznosuk and Valique.
Daniel Hokum is the only artist on the release who hasn’t previously featured on It’s Good To Be A Tree and collectively the artists have individually featured on other influential record labels including the likes of Kosa, Underyourskin, down., LNDKHN, Leveldva, Compost, Serafin Audio Imprint and Heimlich Musik.
Yassen’s “Moon Camp” has bleeping synth melodies and swelling pads layered with a deep bassline and shaking percussion that forms the foundation for a hallucinatory vocal sample.
Zoe Reijue’s “Slow Me Down” has poignant piano chords and digitised vocals layered with a juddering bassline and stripped back percussion.
Daniel Hokum’s “Equilibrium” is an electro-tinged downtempo track with bursts of white noise and eerie synths layered over breakbeat percussion and a lurching bassline.
Last Gentleman On Playa’s “Horny Elephants” fuses dramatic percussion with deep breathing and elephant samples that intertwine with dubby guitar chords washed in delay.
The collaborative track by Betelgeize, Beznosuk and Valique titled “La Tribu Triangular” orientates around earth congas and an assortment of sounds ranging from psychedelic guitar licks to marimba style melodies.
Kuumba’s “Homecomforts” focuses on trippy synths that flutter between shuffling percussion and throbbing bass notes.
Valique’s “Phetoho” has tribal rhythms and tropical atmosphere combined with spiralling synths that together create an upbeat Afro house groove.
Sergey Pushkin’s “Fading Away” has a sensual vocal by Unibird which is nestled on a bed of liquid textures and ripening synths, all while the funk of the bassline carries the groove.
UMEK is back on his record label 1605 with another stomping peak time techno EP that features two of his original tracks.
2023 is the year that marks UMEK’s three decades in the electronic music industry and he has been marking the landmark with a flurry of new releases. Continuing to dominate Beatport’s sales charts, UMEK’s latest offering is another fusion of explosive percussion, exuberant synths and captivating vocals.
Based in Slovenia, UMEK is one of Europe’s most accomplished techno producers who has a dazzling catalogue of releases on ranging from underground classics on Chris Liebing’s CLR to big room hits on Reinier Zonneveld’s Filth On Acid.
1605 has become the main outlet for UMEK’s music and this latest release is another brutal techno release that’s shrouded in dark atmosphere.
“Exodus” opens the release with its hard-hitting percussion and pounding kick drum, which is underpinned by a pulsating bassline as it builds towards the euphoria of the breakdown. Its eerie sci-fi vocal about machines taking over the world creates an intense atmosphere that is taken to the next level when the drums slam back in.
“Night Will Never End” is another high-velocity track with fast-flowing rhythms and a rumbling bassline. It’s got old-school chord stabs and compelling vocals that celebrate the unity of rave culture. It’s a timeless track that has got dance floor energy and a thought-provoking vibe.
Techno music studies highlights: Chontane drops a robust and pounding EP, self releasing it on a brand new label called TANE. The artist brings to life these productions previously published by Lobster Theremin in 2022, founding again his own space into this fresh and energetic musical movement, featuring deeply rave and warehouse inspired sounds. Aside the revitalized songs we can find two digital bonus which elevate the potential of the whole EP, strengthening and elevating its durability.
