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.
MÉTIER is the new label from Jack! Who? and his UK based deathtechno.com project that is set to journey into deep, dreamy, dub, techno, acid, electro and ambient that will surprise and delight from release to release.
Allowing artists to experiment with new ideas, it has already featured UBX127 of Len Faki’s Figure as Shifted Minds, Alex Dolby of Developer’s Modularz as AX15 and William Arist of Gary Beck’s BEK Audio as Dusicyon for example.
Collage artwork images are by local artist Grassi Art.
Italian Francesco De Marzo aka Pyramidal Decode has released on Jeff Mills’ Axis, Oscar Mulero’s Warm Up, Developer’s Modularz, Abstract Division’s Dynamic Reflection and Edit Select Records.
“115” is an ambient and trippy soundscape with a patient and cavernous sound made of wonderful design effects.
“Respiro” has a dreamy and delicate, air-filled feeling. The sparse, tide-like pad sweeps create a deep vibe met with the warm groove from the sub bass.
“Null” takes things up a notch with a pacy, broken beat style and rising intensity. Its cyclical elements buzz and fizz creating an ethereal atmosphere.
Closing the EP with “Walk” which is the moodiest offering, using an abstract approach of stripped back tension and creative, warping percussion.
O’Fella Recordings is an underground techno label created by Angus O’Ferrall in the UK.
The O’Fella label head and artist of the same name has appearances on Luca Maniaci’s Mind Games in Italy, Netherlands label Patterns and Glasgow’s Oscillator One.
Cosmosis is O’Fella’s debut album as he steps into a concept of stimulating sound design and distinctive productions.
“Grey to White” opens the album with a synth-based, ambient delight, “Extraneous” is a tribal percussion and abstract trip. “Moon Skates” introduces a dreamy funk and quirky melodies, while “Marching Melancholy” is an IDM treat with a thumping broken beat. Track five “Martian Tears” has a deep groove with warm and subtle bell highlights, followed by an interlude titled “Breathe” is created from drones and abstract tones. “Syncopate Mentality” has a more powerful feeling from shuffling kicks under a dystopian soundscape, leading to “Vigil” made of cyclical acid licks amidst a bouncing tom and deep pads. “Magnets” has a soulful and Detroit-influenced groove before closing things out with “Channings” another seemingly braindance-inspired cut with heartwarming chords.
Artist: Denyl Brook Title: My Lovin’ Label: Happiness Therapy Cat. #: HT16 Format: Digital, vinyl Release Date: April 7th 2023 Tracklist: A1 My Lovin’ A2 If You Say A3 Good Times B1 Ford Anglia B2 Fellas It’s Me B3 Awake
Tough but ardent house: that’s the kind of music shared by Denyl Brook through his ‘My Lovin’ EP to be out this week on Happiness Therapy label. Positive vibes roll over the playback and increase the dancefloor attitude of each production, bringing the listener into a rhapsodic state of mind.
