MUSIC DECEMBER ON THE DANCEFLOOR This month’s tracks played out p. 92 GO LONG! The long-players listened to p. 108 WILD COMBINATION The most crucial compilations p. 113 Cooked In The Lab Dark, techy d&b trio Ivy Lab break bad on LP p.108 djmag.com 091 HOUSE REVIEWS BEN ARNOLD [email protected] melancholy pianos, ‘A Fading Glance’ is a lovely, swelling thing, QUICKIES gorgeously understated. ‘Mayflies’ is brimming with moody, building La Fleur Fred P atmospherics, minor chord pads Make A Move Modern Architect and Burial-esque snatches of vo- Watergate Energy Of Sound cal. ‘Whenever I Try To Leave’ winds 9.0 8.5 it up, a wash of echoing percus- The first lady of Berlin’s A most generous six sion, deep, unctuous vibrations Watergate unleashes tracks from the superb and gently soothing pianos chords. three tracks of Fred Peterkin. It’s all This could lead Sawyer somewhere unrivalled firmness. If great, but ‘Tokyo To special. ‘Make A Move’’s hoover Chiba’, ‘Don’t Be Afraid’, bass doesn’t get you, with Minako on vocals, Hexxy/Andy Butler ‘Result’’s emotive vibes and ‘Memory P’ stand Edging/Bewm Chawqk will. Lovely. out. Get involved. Mr. Intl 7. 5 Various Shift Work A statuesque release from Andy Hudd Traxx Now & Document II ‘Hercules & Love Affair’ Butler’s Mr. Then Houndstooth Intl label. Hexxy is his new project Hudd Traxx 7. 5 with DJ Nark, founder of the excel- 7. 5 Fine work in the lent ‘aural gallery’ site Bottom Part four of four in this hinterland between Forty and Nark magazine. Debut celebration of 10 years house and techno from track ‘Edging’ rattles and hums of Hudd Traxx. Two new Shift Work on Fabric’s through a taut five minutes, a dark, tracks — from Ekkohaus Hounndstooth label. electronic disco workout thick with and Mihai Popoviciu ‘Abandoned Hands’ is Kask Disclosure harsh hats and some old school vo- — blaze, plus there’s a live and vital, while the Periferia Jaded (Lone Remix) cal action. On the flip, it’s Butler in repress of JT Donald- Factory Floor mix of X-Kalay PMR/Island solo form on ‘Bewm Chawq’, laden son’s spectacular ‘Just ‘SBFM’ is sublime. 8.5 with snappy block percussion and Bounce’. 9.0 This third single to emerge from snapshots from Sandee’s classic Everything about this release Disclosure’s second album ‘Cara- ‘Notice Me’ adorning a bubbling is exciting. Estonian producer cal’ has had extensive re-tools 303 bassline. Vee nice. Andreas Kask let loose some from the likes of Boy Better Know’s blazing work on Legendary Jammer and Dense & Pika, the lat- Soul Of Hex Sound Research in 2013, and ter being a dark, brooding techno Sleep Mistakes then again a month or so back, workout. But it’s this version from CVMR and this comes as the inau- Nottingham’s Lone which scores, 8.0 gural release on new London all delivered in a lean, mean five The superb Soul Of Hex — aka label X-Kalay. Plus mastering minutes. Warm Detroit synths Mexico’s 4004 and Sebastian duties have been taken care prepare the way for pulsing stabs Vorhaus — are on fire at the mo- of by veteran Clone Records and a rattling loop, retaining ment. There’s another excellent affiliate Alden Tyrell. ‘Periferia’ Howard Lawrence’s vocals. It’s an release for Freerange this month is a huge, encompassing slab end of night anthem if ever we’ve too (‘The Muth EP’, also very much of emotive house music with heard one. worth checking). This for Mexican chords to soothe the soul. imprint CVMR is loaded with a ‘Orion Cloud Complex’ brings Greg Beato skippy groove and laden with the wonky party vibes, percus- When Monkeys Attack spine-tingling pianos on ‘Intro’. sive like a drum kit being Apron ‘Sleep Mistakes’, meanwhile, kicked down the stairs. It’s a 8.0 features Albert Vogt on vocals in huge track. ‘Untitled’ is just Blazing work from this 20-year-old a low-slung deep disco groove RED AXES CROSSTOWN REBELS joyous, with a demented mix from Miami, showing far more that’s just irresistible. The equally from Ajukaja. Don’t miss out. dancefloor savvy than he has any hot Glenn Astro busts beats with 01. SIMPLE SYMMETRY ‘Mimino’ Low Budget Family “Ace track, killing it every time.” right to. The frantic ‘When Mon- a stuttering remix, while ‘Ink’ keys Attack’ is somehow mastered is a super-slick party starter par 02. FAT WHITE FAMILY ‘Cream Of The Young (Medicine 8 Re- mix) Trashmouth Records Baba Stiltz to sound like you’re listening to excellence. “Sexysadhappytrip, nice clubby version for this great song.” Cherry it on a dodgy car radio coming UTTU back from an illegal rave in 1989. Dinamo Azari 03. PATRICK COWLEY ‘Somebody To Love Tonight’ Dark Entries Records 9.0 ‘El Dinero Falla’ skips, bumps and Victim “Amazing jam from one of a kind.” ‘Cherry’ is like an early ‘90s house grinds in the best New Jersey The Vinyl Factory 04. RED AXES FEAT ABRAO ‘SABOR’ Crosstown Rebels jam, but made just weird enough style, jammed with off-kilter 8.5 “New track from us, featuring our good friend and inspiration Abrao.” to make the whole thing feel really synths. ‘Sadati’, meanwhile, with a He of Azari & III fame, Toronto’s 05. NADUVE ‘No Good News’ Cocktail d’Amore quite unsettling. In a brilliant way, merciless bassline and reverb you very own Dinamo Azari drops “Late-nighter bomb from great Tel Aviv musician Naduve.” of course. Studio Barnhus cohort could get lost in, pumps without a this blinder for London’s Vinyl Baba Stiltz, also hailing from break for six minutes. It’s a girth- Factory imprint, a squelching, 06. AUNTIE FLO FEAT. ANBULEY ‘Mandla In Space’ Huntleys + Palmers Stockholm, unleashes bass-loaded some workout indeed. Massively glacial workout with vocals from “Some mad jungle vibes from Auntie Flo.” madness for the ever-reliable promising. Fritz Helder and Starving Yet Full, 07. YOVAV ‘Botanical Garden’ Malka Tuti Unknown To The Unknown. With who also assisted him on the Azari “Euphoric adventure in Tel Aviv with the brilliant Yovav.” its chipmunk vocals and stabbing Greg Sawyer & III material before the group pianos, in other hands ‘Cherry’ Whenever I Try To Leave disbanded in 2013. This is the first 08. THE MAGHREBAN ‘Wonder Woman’ Versatile Records “Dancefloor danger! Killer tune!” would almost certainly sound Falk Recordings single to drop from his forthcom- thoroughly obvious and derivative 8.0 ing solo album — ‘Estranged’ — a 09. KING KRAK ‘Medusa’ Invisible, Inc. given the vogue for such things. Tenth Circle label boss Greg Sawyer most enticing proposition if this is “Beautiful guitars and atmosphere.” This doesn’t at all. Augmented steps behind the software on this any indication of what’s to come. 10. RED AXES ‘Shem’ I’m A Cliche “From our latest release ‘Shem Vol 2’ on I’m A Cliche, the theme song of the with a driving Legowelt mix, this is polished three-tracker for Bristol’s It’s out on 180g vinyl, in case you sierra.” essential. Falk Recordings. With its layered, needed further encouragement. 092 djmag.com VOTED “BEST ELECTRONIC MUSIC SCHOOL” - DJ MAG ENROL NOW FOR JANUARY TERM WWW.POINTBLANKLONDON.COM For course enquiries call +44(0)20 7729 4884 or email [email protected] DJ Mag page template.indd 1 16/11/2015 15:28 REVIEWS TECHNO RICHARD BROPHY, [email protected] producers, and ‘Institute’ is no exception. The title track is a typical QUICKIES Wolfers affair, with the Dutch producer chopping up female vocals Various Artists Shinra over warbling acid lines and an Trust XV-111 Ball & Chain EP understated rhythm, while eerie Trust Null & Void synths soak the arrangement in a 8.5 7. 5 mysterious fog. The remix by One The seminal Austrian Shinra launches this new Eyed Jacks boss Photonz isn’t bad, electro label’s 20th label with four high- but his tough drums and frosty riffs anniversary celebrations quality electro tracks. don’t carry the same weight as the continue with this The spirit and sound of original. excellent release. UR is never too far away, Micromega delivers the and the title track has Fast Eddie dreamy, bleep-heavy echoes of ‘Final Frontier’. My Melody ‘Halcyon Days’, while However, Shinra shows Super Rhythm Trax Adapta weighs in with the enough flair to ensure 8.5 heavy, distorted ‘Black these are not carbon Previously available only on a Orpheus’. Meanwhile, copies and in particular, limited pressing that sells for up to The Exaltics and Plant the swinging bass of £100, this reissue of ‘My Melody’ is 43 impress with bleak ‘Chills’ and the warbling greatly welcome. The track’s fusion but curiously uplifting acid on ‘Thin ice’ impress. Gesloten Cirkel of breezy piano-lines, tweaked metallic electro-funk Murder Capital 11 & 12 acid and understated, hissing soundtracks for late-night Daze Murder Capital hats is in stark contrast to some urban journeys. Longhorn EP of Fast Eddie’s biggest tracks, e.g. Lobster Theremin Black 9.5 ‘Acid Thunder’, and it succeeds in Steve Simpson Label Last year’s Submit X album saw bringing together Chicago’s esoteric ND 7. 0 Gesloten Cirkel bring the gritty and primal influences. The reissue 10 Pills Mate Daze offers no quarter sound of Hague electro and also contains typical Fast Eddie 8.0 here with a heavy techno techno to a wider audience. tracks like the acid-heavy pulses, If you ignore the puerile three-tracker. From the These two follow-up EPs, a year kettle drums and hip-hop scratching label name and the fact distorted stomp of ‘Oil Rig’ later, see the mysterious Russian on 'Keep on Dancing' and ‘Clap that Steven Simpson to the shrieking horns on producer refine and re-focus Your Hands’, but it’s all about the is barely old enough the title track to the tough his sound.