






Ninos du Brasil
Amazing shifting rhythms from the Italian percussionist duo. The group has moved from hardcore punk to this unique hybrid Batucada and Techno, and come up with something you might find nestled deep in a Villalobos marathon set. “Olhar Das Folhas” makes most minimal techno seem rhythmically bland - Ninos du Brasil’s drums are alive, a locktight amalgam of hand-played and electronic drums.
Dalhous
Blackest Ever Black
Darksided ambience from the duo formerly known as Young Hunting. That good ol’ Blackest Ever Black sound. Highlight “Success is Her Sensuality” sounds like an 80s gated-snare ballad (eg. In the Air Tonight) put through an austere, string synth grinder.
Omar S and Luke Hess
Deeplabs
Omar teams up with longtime collaborator Luke Hess for a motor city summit. Fans of both producers will be delighted with the results."Automatic Midnight" combines AOS's percussive grit with Hess's refined sense of space. It's a dub techno track imbued with gritty personality. The B, "Outerspace Drive" feels like the duo attempted to force Terry Riley's expansive minimalism into a jack track. Perfect for late night trips.
Lack
Morphine
Rabih Beani continues his circuitous path through the mutant US techno underground, this time unearthing Lack, from Carrboro, North Carolina. This is pantomime techno. The only present elements are those necessary to convey a simple point - it's not dance music, rather the implication of it. "Eminence Grace" uses a bold stab which sounds sourced from an early rave record and not much else. "Aphelion" focuses on an unnerving sine wave and a skeletal rhythm.
Various Artists
If This is House, I Want My Money Back III CD
Permananet Vacation
Terrific compilation that's acts as a good indicator on the state of current underground house music. Permanent Vacation shows an admirable dedication to exposing newer US/EU producers alongside relatively established names. Highlights include the dubby, warp zone funk of Lake People, Willie Burns' slightly chilled out take on his Hauge-influenced sound and one of the best Achterbahn D'Amour tracks to date. They can keep my money.
Buy If This is House, I Want My Money Back III CD
Blase
ESP Institute
Secret Circuit and Suzanne Kraft debut their breezy cosmic-afrobeat collaboration just in time for summer. Though both of these chaps know their way around a synth, stringed instruments are fully embraced on Sunset Dawn. "Breathing Made Easy" features a hypnotic acoustic guitar, while the low-key heroics on "Downtown Salad" recall mid-period Floyd. Shuffling rhythms are complimented by adroit melodic interplay within these improv-based jams - they sound like they're having a good time, you will too.
Matt Karmil
Popnoname
Inward-looking house album from the English producer Karmil. These tracks unspool slowly, largely based on gauzy samples and minimal synth work. The result is somewhere between Fennesz, Gas and the L.I.E.S. catalog, an alluring sound indeed. "Sinkhole" mixes an elegant, corroded string sample with a touch of 303 squelch. Ambient shufflers for the heads.
Jonsson & Alter
Kontra Music
Single version of the moody cut of J & A's excellent "2" album. Kazumi's heavily reverbed vocals ride an expansive synth motif. Eventually, the breakdown opens up to a tough tech/house drum workout with some Seinfeld slap bass accents and subtle jacking percussion. This track would do damage at one of Lee Burridge's All Day I Dream parties.