Ok, let’s get this Thursday started.
Aphrohead, aka Felix Da Housecat for all you 90s heads out there, has recently put out his first LP in over a decade and he’s pulled in the-man-who-needs-no-intro Carl Craig to rework one of the tracks, ‘Grown Man Cryy’.
The ‘Brainy Grimlin’ remix (us neither) is nine minutes of muscular techno that kicks into life with some old-fashioned bleeps at 4:40. Essentially, these two still very much have “it” and “it” is on full display here.
Mysterious producer Auden returns to Hotflush for his third EP Hunger.
The title track picks up where previous EPs ‘Wall to Wall’ and ‘Trip to Fade’ left off, revolving around yearning vocal samples, persistent kick-drums and pulsating synths. Channelling everything from breakbeat to acid, the track can have a disjointed feel but the mysterious producer successfully brings it all together under one techno-shaped roof.
For those partial to something a little darker, Alan Fitzpatrick does his thing on the B-Side. It’s stripped back, combustible techno which builds to a serious bomb around the 3:50 mark.
Cop these two, along with doses of ambience and rolling techno in ‘Simmer Down’ and ‘Sewer System’, here.
Since a disgustingly young Happa came on the scene at 15 years old, he’s been honing a sound that’s always been interesting if not cohesive. He’s made some headway with this one:
‘Ascension’ is the latest track from the ‘PART 1’ EP, out now on PT/5 Records, and it’s a cut of ravey techno (featuring a niche sample of The Fall) that will be cropping up in sets for the rest of the summer. Championed by Four Tet and others, the boy’s coming of age nicely.
Just over two weeks now until Found Festival presents five carefully curated electronic stages of electronic music at its new home of Brockwell Park in South London’s Brixton. Block out Saturday 13th June in the diary if you’ve not already.
The line-up is now complete and with the likes of George FitzGerald, Nick Curly and party promoters Feelings hosting stages, it’s looking very tasty indeed. Not to mention big hitters Guy Gerber, Motor City Drum Ensemble and Genius Of Time on the main stage. Here’s how the full line-up is looking:
Tickets can be bought here. There’s only a limited number of £35 tickets left before they move on up in price, so you best get to it.
Delve into Motor City Drum Ensemble’s Boiler Room to get you in the mood:
Something a little heavier now, produced under the tutelage of Levon Vincent. Having won a three month ‘bootcamp’ with Levon last year, Dublin boys Terriers are on the verge of putting out their second EP ‘Octagon’. ‘Believing the Crystal’ is our first taster and it comes here courtesy of the dulcet tones of Pete Tong:
It’s out on brand spanking new label Rhythm Nation and if they keep this up, we’ll be hearing that name a lot more. Good release.
Saturday 13th June – a date for the diary. Found Festival returns in the new environs of Brockwell Park in Brixton. Same top line-up, different grassy patch to dance on.
Your boy George Fitzgerald heads up a stage this year and, propped up by big boys like Barnt and KiNK, we’re sure he’ll bring the house down. His recently released album would appear to confirm that:
To be honest, the KiNK live show is worth the entrance fee alone (this is almost too good to watch/listen to at work):
The pick of the other stages is NTS’s effort, a showcase of their deep bench of DJs. Bossman Mr Wonderful and globetrotter Bradley Zero will undoubtedly on the money.
Basically, see you there. The perfect pick-me-up as memories of this begin to fade…
Come get baptised:
French techno producer Agoria has marked his Kompakt debut with this ‘Baptême EP’ and it’s emotional. The man himself says it represents “a lot of changes in my personal life these last two years. It signals my ‘second life’.” Heavy stuff. Either way, ‘Baptême’ and the remix by DJ Tennis and The Rapture’s Luke Jenner provide 20 minutes of emotional techno that are worth investing in, the man’s had a tough few years yeah.
Although relatively new on the HD radar, Swiss duo Adriatique have been making dance music to get lost in since 2008. This remix for Butch, out on Watergate, sums up what we’ve been missing nicely.
Almost unrecognisable from the original, Adriatique’s remix tones down the punchy bassline and focuses on adding layers of flickering drums and warm melodies. The result is complex and dreamy techno, made more for hazy after parties than peak-time dancefloors.
Want more? Soundtrack your day with six hours of Swiss goodness:
Lake People’s long awaited debut full-length is out today on Permanent Vacation, titled ‘Purposely Uncertain Field’.
From the tracks he’s serialised on his Soundcloud page, Lake People (real name Martin Enke) has concentrated on perfecting the melodic, shoe-gazing, tech-house style that has made his productions such a hit, both in his native Germany, and abroad.
The two we’d like to focus on are the fidgety, yet haunting ‘Glease 29’…
…and, our current favourite, ‘Drifting Red’.
On this evidence, ‘Purposely Uncertain Field’ is an LP to get lost in.
Human Drizzle will be in Berlin at the end of the month, where we will try (and probably fail) to catch Lake People at Panorama Bar. Should we manage to sneak in, we’ll report back on how this transfers to the dancefloor.
Back in April 2014, we did a feature on the debut release from a Leeds-based start-up label called Slipstone Records. The ‘Moonwalk’ EP was a spacious and perfectly measured three-track release by Kesper, who we later went onto see at One Day festival on the summer solstice. The pick of those three tracks is ‘Re-entry’.
Brooding. Anyway, Slipstone Records are in no rush to hurry through their releases, and the care and attention shown in ‘Moonwalk’ is reflected in ‘Escapism’, the follow up. Einerlei is the producer in chief here – we couldn’t find too much on him, sorry – but it’s clear that Slipstone are developing a very dense and mystical sound. Our favourite is Kesper’s remix of ‘Berg’.
We think this one’s out in early January. Enjoy it on SoundCloud until then.
