A very successful opening on nu-school Exceleration label ! For the first release, manager Dj Excel invites his friend and neighbour Larry McCormick to produce a dark, innovative and controlled two cuts EP. Influences come from Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk and Art of Noise. Florida artists have nothing to envy their German counterparts.
www.exzakt.com
Nexus 6, 24/02/2001

Blash Recordings is a new record label dedicated in electronica and abstract hip-hop music styles. The first release is an album by Entropie, a French band composed of DJ Cisco, Johann and VJ Milosh. Coming from three different activities (mix, jazz, video), their work is quite good. The seven tracks are sometimes minimal with soft rhythm (TR-808 or TR-606) and additional strings and melodies. To note : this CD features a CD-ROM part with two Quicktime movie clips...
www.blashrecordings.com
Ludo, 23/02/2001

Uwe Schmidt, Cologne' artist known for his Kraftwerk reworks, mixes his own version of Showroom dummies : fresh and easy, electro-mambo ! On the other side, Markus Nikolai, Perlon' boss, releases two tracks of German deep house, massive filtered synth, bleep sounds and fine spoken words... cool.
www.multicolor-recordings.de
Chaton, 22/02/2001

After the 2xLP called "The Preface" which started Southsoul, the Italian artist from Naples is back with a new brilliant two cuts. Between techno and house, Gaetano Parisio successfully mixes groove, deep sounds, strong bass sounds and pumpin' rhythm... far away from usual tech' house productions because it's smoother. The side A is so great... Can't wait for the next chapter !
Ludo, 21/02/2001

Last UR' release, Galaxy to Galaxy returns to the source : groovy Detroit house. The millenium edition is build for the dancefloor : smooth bassline, strings old school and tribal drums, it sounds like a good old Transmat. On the flip side, an "amazon" mix by 4Hero (a UK guest on UR ?), the westlondon off-beat' style takes higher UR' groove. Futur classic !
www.undergroundresistance.com     www.submerge.com
Chaton, 20/02/2001

Labinsect seems to be really valued by some of our German neighbours. After his last collaboration with Savas Pascalidis (lasergun 05), the French artist is back alone on Richard Bartz's label. The side "A" is first dedicated to the dancefloor with "So hudge" and then more quiet with the downtempo title "Process dream". But this is especially the other side which must be carefully listened to. The two tracks "Ho ! Happy days" and "Songe d'une nuit d'EtE" (coproduced with TaOko Nova) are simply beautiful with their strong rhythm, strings and deep sounds. Respect !
www.kurbel.com
Ludo, 19/02/2001      

The first chapter of the "Frühschicht" saga, on Dj Olive's famous label will blast you ! Featuring owner of Tinnitus-Tontraeger rec Marc Gottling and Andreas Kremer from Holzplatten records, this three cuts project is an amazing trip into (very !) hard-techno. Be carefull, those amazing producers from Germany will strike back soon on Sotrax records !
www.tinnitus-tontraeger.de     www.sotrax-records.de
Nexus 6, 17/02/2001

Anthony Child on his own imprint delivers 3 exceptional tracks. Excellent postdetroit sound, confirms his abilities as a producer. A1 is a piece of work - old skool breakbeats with a killer break, along with filtered industrial detroit strings. B side is just as smashing. For those who understand techno. The phuture is now. [watch out for Midnight Club Tracks II]
www.dj-surgeon.com
Lesha, 16/02/2001

The electronic chameleon with clean moustache and scratches is back ! Precursor of Hard-acid and Big-Beat styles Freddie Fresh is returning with latino-house sounds on it's young Howlin' rec label. Featuring puertorican Melendez and Benitez-grau, B-Boy from St Paul (USA) lives it up in a fiesta atmosphere on "Corillo" song. The other side, co-produced with Brighton artist, is a pure disco-funk hit. Waiting for it's third album in summer will be difficult ! Whatever, let's spend good time on it's new website !
www.freddiefresh.com
Nexus 6, 15/02/2001

This record was originally released on Back in Black label. It is re-edited on Output Rec., the label managed by Trevor Jackson aka Underdog. What to say about it ? It is absolutely great : 80's Belgian electro fans (Front 242, Cassandra Complex, Neon Judgement...), get it ! The sound is perfect. I'm ultra fan : bravo Mr Smaghe, bravo Mr Rebotini !!
Most of Output releases are very great so do not miss them !
Paton, 14/02/2001

This is the first EP on Primevil for Leandro Gamez & Oscar Comas, following their success on Fieber, Phont, Superbra... Driving, phat basslines characterize their music, and this 4-tracker proves it so. 'Rien..' sounds like Marco Bailey: with sinister basslines - sure floorkiller. 'Folie a deux' is slower, minimal but more groovy. Recycled Loops-like 'The Capital' uses vocals shuffled with a funky bassline. At the end, 'Emerge' featuring piano stabs with ambient strings and a great percussion, makes a sure hit (if you liked Leandro's rmx on Audiodrome 10, don't miss this one).
www.primedistribution.co.uk
Lesha, 13/02/2001

For those who don't already know him, DJ Skip comes from the Chicago scene and produced many tracks on Dance Mania. No Ghetto Trax on this new Brique Rouge record. A new way for this artist : groovy music and guitar samples, it sounds very good. Check also the two remixes by French artist David Duriez who made excellent work as usual. At last, there is a remix by Step Time Orchestra with a nordic sound that let us think that it was produced by a well-known artist...
www.briquerouge.com
Paton, 12/02/2001