Luca Maniaci – Nebula (Vincent Hole Remix) [TECHNO]

Luca Maniaci – Nebula (Vincent Hole Remix)

Nebulas are a reason why one could believe in God. Heavenly in aesthetic, the grandeur sweeping designs make one ponder whether there truly is a master creator beyond this. Delicate but all consuming on the outside, look further in and there’s much more that meets the eye. And that’s exactly what you get on Vincent Hole’s interpretation of this track. Released in 2017 on Luca Maniaci’s EP of the same name by Mind Games Recordings, it’s a bass driven belter. What makes it peerless however is the bleepy melody levitating over the top. A track that would’ve been a great addition to this titanic Sonar 2018 DJ Nobu B2B Ben Klock set.

There’s a time and place for everything. This cut’s time and place is reserved for the most exuberant peaktime only. It pummels in at a fathomable 131bpm like a raging bull on speed. Herculean bass attacks your ears on a double time beat. Instantly propelling the dancer into a rigidly locked groove. Just as a Nebula is chock full of dust, gas and other spectral substances, this track is full of Hats. The way the 3 intersect, all sounding distinctly different yet choreographed in unison, is remarkable. Continue reading →

Billy Turner – Doomsday (Original Mix) [TECHNO]

Billy Turner – Doomsday

British producer Billy Turner’s recent release Don’t Talk To Me About Style EP on Drumcode has been been flying off the shelves. The jittery, sticky humming baselines reign supreme in this brisk affair. Nonetheless, ‘Doomsday’ shows world class dexterity in assembling state-of-the-art gargantuan of lower BPM Techno. Released this year on fellow Britons Dense & Pika’s Kneaded Pains label, it’s shuddering. The term Doomsday has many different interpretations in various shapes & forms, be it the ‘2012’ movie or DC Comics character. They both retain a similar theme to the title track – a sense of dread.

As described on Beatport, ‘Doomsday’s cascading drums and tripped out metallic refrain kick things off in typically explosive style.’ Whatever image Billy had when engineering the glistened sheened synths, you can imaging a crash and a bang of a Terminator landing could’ve been one. Continue reading →

Quenum – Vault Element (Original Mix) [MINIMAL]

Quenum – Vault Element

As one half of the formidable Production/DJ duo Azimute, Quenum is a well known name within the Minimal appreciation circles. Co-producing one of the greatest Minimal tracks of all time in 2003’s collaboration with Luciano, ‘Funky Orange‘, as well as seminal collaborations with other Swiss collaborators Daschund & Lee Van Dowski. Quenum’s cuts tend to be as inventive as a Russian Sports Chief’s denial claims during a doping probe. We first heard ‘Vault Element’ in 2008 on a Sven Väth’s Ninth Season CD, and it was a track rather unconventional even for the conceptive genre of Minimal. Ever since, it has been one of our go-to tracks when introducing a novice to Minimal Techno.

‘Vault Element’ makes one feel like they’re encased within a vault which in this context is the dancefloor. In the majority of his tracks Quenum lashes the mix with a plethora of percussion and it’s no different here, with the melody carried by a noise created through a hollow but aluminous object hitting a desk. Chopped up mutant voices belch ‘time’, adding a real sense of eeriness to compliment the off kilt piano stabs. As soon as your ears start to gauge what’s going down is when the the track truly unravels. Piercing the cerebral like a vengeful mob hitman are the strident laser stabs. Sounding like they’re meant for a hard trance track, slowed down these have the force of a plasma beam intentionally placed to send the dancer into a galactic trance. Continue reading →

Benedikt Frey – Out Of Here (feat. Javolenus) [NU-DISCO]

Benedikt Frey – Out Of Here (feat. Javolenus)

Darmstadt local Benedikt Frey will not be requiring Elon Musk’s assistance for reaching Mars. His range of releases coming from such labels including Ethereal Sound, Mule Electronics and Live at Robert Johnson demonstrate one trait in common – they equally sound extragalactic. The DJs discography consists of alternative soundtracks for ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’, Plutonic acid party weapons and themes accompanying launches of Space X. His bachelor thesis alone feels like an exhibit of a dystopian experiment created by the Fourth Kind. ‘Out of Here’ feels downtempo in comparison, yet retains the viscid quiddity of xenomorph.

Filtered, timid kick drums drop you a clue within the intro that the track is likely to fall under the nu-disco category. Martian frequencies approach you like a UFO-investigator at an vacated Area 51site. Vintage Italo-disco snares begin to shiver. It reminds you of calibre attested by one of the finest exports from Naples. Brass synth stamps its authority with magnitude that rivals the Behemoth creature from ‘The Mist‘. It dances with a water pot clanging hi-hats substitute in an offbeat unison. As the track draws to its conclusion, hauntingly mellow siren lingers on the fringes of the soundwaves. It serves as a reminder of the producer’s intention to create an extraterresteral atmosphere.

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Quince & Benny Rodrigues – Sweet Potatoes [ATMOSPHERIC TECHNO]

Quince & Benny Rodrigues- Sweet Potatoes

Pretty crazy to think that guys like Benny Rodrigues can go from releasing tracks like ‘Sweet Potatoes’ to Papa Sven’s last summer favourite ‘Hor‘ under his ROD guise. That’s the beauty of underground electronic music though – like a chameleon it supports a range of shades and forms yet still retains the same soul. However building a track with Quince, the author of some high-octane jackin’ tech tunes over the years, was always going to strike gold. Quince & Benny Rodrigues combined in 2006 but released the resulting track in 2010. Distributed by Smallville Records, it’s an ideal fit for the label’s quaint and delicate Deep House cuts. The added dubbyness, however, elevates it to a place that none other can climb. Ultimately making you feel like you’re stuck in a dream.

Space Travel 303

The track is a musical opus dedicated to the Galaxy. With all that’s going on, each element swirls together to create a truely atmospheric experience. Delayed kicks play on every off beat along a simple xylophone beat. Fast Roland TB-303 hats sound like crickets in the forest, as a plodding bassline surfaces. Once you start to get your head around the ambience, a deep acid line spirals into the mix. This is before lush & serene pads kick in fully enveloping all the proceedings like mist within a forest. Beautiful and harmonic, the flutes elevate the track towards a mid-song break down. Emotive chords play autonomously, bringing reverie closer to reality. Continue reading →

Matrixxman – Initiation (Original Mix) [TECHNO]

Matrixxman – Initiation (oRIGINAL MIX)

If you’ve ever seen one of Matrixxmans sets, you will know he loves to show the crowd why he’s got the word Matrix in his name. Certainly one for the journey, these are always unrelenting and pumping. Released in 2018 on Dekmental, ‘Initiation’ seems crafted as a perfect track for 5 mins into a set as though a space trooper has just accepted his mission to combat.

From the off, low end sepulchral bass chugs in like it’s engineered for the big room. Squelchy alarm like chords reverberate around the track severing as a warning signal, as though it’s an alarm bell rung by the Death Star in Star Wars. It’s sound it so piercing it will leave leaves the dancer shuddering with anticipation on proceedings of a set. Matrixxman is a fan of 90s sounds, and the melodic bleeps are reminiscent of Jaydee’s ‘Plastic Dreams‘ with it’s galactic leanings, as though one is peering out the side of the space station looking at the worlds beyond. Continue reading →

D5 – Sides of Space (Original Mix) [ATMOSPHERIC TECHNO]

D5 – Sides of Space

Delivering atmospheric techno D5 – Sides of Space takes ones mind to another dimension. The track was released in 2006 on Delsin Records unbelievably as a B side cut. This pristine track deserved an A side just to itself. Was it that they didn’t realise what a gem had been formed by the British based producer? Well going by his standard, by D5 and his former alias Dimension 5, this was just another Diamond among Diamonds.

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Clarian – Space Noir (Original Mix) [TECH-HOUSE]

Clarian – Space Noir (Original Mix)

Canadian Producer and DJ Clarian doesn’t just drop a banger on this cut, he drops a weapon of mass destruction. I first heard this humdinger in 2015 during a Michael Mayer set at London’s seminal go to for music lovers Oval Space. Mayer dropped a few classics that night, but nothing as so visibly powerful as Space Noir.

Throughout a few of his tracks, Clarian had a period of using this stabby, hypnotic bass synth style (See ‘Alienated‘, ‘Fear & Self Loathing‘) and uses it to full effect here. It’s punishing, fitting the narrative as described on Kompakt ‘hypnotic opener SPACE NOIR tells us about the astronaut’s fantastic voyages through space and time – but it remains unclear if these adventures are the mere side effects of a vivid, delusional imagination’.

The synths over the top of the track are highly emotional, filtered I and out at will to ensuring the dancer/listener also is on an adventure of true pleasure. I have a video of the night upon first listening to this track – and every time I watch it I always have a right chuckle at the guy next to me eyes in the back of the his head, in absolute ecstasy not giving a stuff about who or what is around him. This track enough to induce a rapture.

This Is A Banger

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SPACE