20/20 Vision 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: 20/20 Vision has always been a label that sets the bar high when it comes to dancefloor releases - one of Yorkshire's most treasured institutions, to say the least. And while historically the imprint has often been on a tech-y house tip, lest we forget the is the crew that were letting a then-emergent Paul Woolford explore the outer reaches of electro house and breaks way back when, and that attitude hasn't really changed since.

Here the team hand the spotlight to another Leeds name, Alfred, who responds with three original tracks that are punchy, funky, engaging and hugely impactful. Broken beats, subtle rave hoover lines, mind-melting synth arpeggiations and a thoroughly futuristic feeling throughout. Definitely a powerful addition to any DJ's arsenal - the sort of tunes that can marry up well with so many styles and always grab maximum attention.

Review: 20/20 Vision present the debut release from Manchester based artists Armec. Following releases for Cultivated Electronics and Furthur Electronix, the Caged EP hits the ground running - with a record that spans heavy club-ready electro and futuristic soundscapes. Complete with a hefty remix from German acid connoisseurs Hardfloor.

'Caged' sucks us down the rabbit hole with dense textures fortified by an infectious groove, vast pads, and bubbling synth lines. The Hardfloor remix of 'Caged' submerges us into an acidic electro trip - fuelled by quirky melodic licks, a menacing low-end and body shaking drums.

On the flip side 'Curvature' is an out-and-out understated bomb. Propelled by a squelching, supercharged bassline which soars over Armec's signature textural landscape, it's reinforced by razor sharp hats and a heavy kick-drum. 'Replicants' is a side-winding, emotionally charged cut that feels truly fresh and forward-thinking. Deep, luscious pads are underpinned by a superbly engineered break-beat driven groove.

Review: LA-based trio ASHRR return with another sunkissed dose of cosmic new wave and indie electronica laced with psychedelic hues in the form of 'Sway'.
This time they're joined by internationally renowned DJ and ESP Institute imprint manager 'Lovefingers' on remix duties, who supplies three genre-bending experimental dance gems perfect for summer terraces, pool-side parties or the dance floors of Pikes Ibiza.
Lovefingers' ESP Institute has dropped releases that have found their way into the bags of dance-floor heavy-hitters from Harvey to Weatherall and Moodymann to the legendary David Mancuso. His take on ASHRR original showcases dubbed-out oddities and psychedelic left turns in signature style.
In addition to the Lovefingers remixes, ASHRR returns with their very own 'ASHRR Soundsystem Version' offering up a tripped-out feel-good cut for the dance floor.

Review: Falko Brocksieper is a cult German minimalist who was favoured by the likes of Craig Richards and his Tyrant project. This new EP from 20/20 Vision takes a deep dive into his back catalogue to unearth a gem that first arrived via Treibstoff Recordings almost 20 years ago in 2006. 'Frantic Formula' is a nice liquid cut with wispy sci-fi pads and rolling grooves for early evening warm-ups, while 'Outrun' gets more upright with its jumbled drum loops and gurgling bass. 'Covert Action' is another masterfully languid and elastic rhythm that layers up cowbells, wobbly low ends and silky loops that soon lock you into the groove. A welcome remaster and reissue for sure.

Review: Ralph Lawson's Leeds based 20/20 Vision label has made a distinctive shift into electro territory over the last couple years. It is a sound the boss has said has long been in his heart despite him being best known as a house head and longtime resident at Back to Basics, and the quality of the tunes he unearths to put out more than backs that up. The Exaltics & Paris The Black Fu kick off with a shiny, bright, visceral metallic electro workout then three further cuts take in dark wave drum machine rhythms and acid-laced bangers.

Review: 20/20 Vision are exiting planet Earth once again with the latest in their perfectly formed series of electro explorations, as Extrawelt leads the charge with an illustrious slice of braindance-tinted funk titled 'Hail The Whale (Coexisting Mix)'. Djedjotronic follows that up with a bold blast of mammoth synth work which hits pretty damn hard without being pointlessly brutal. Ste Roberts takes a break from his self-titled label run to offer up a freaky foray into acid-speckled territory, and Ivna Ji gets expressive with a rich palette of synths moving in harmony around a sharp and snappy beat.

Review: To date, Kim Cosmk has generally done her own thing - self-releasing a string of digital-only singles and albums which variously mix and mangle elements of electro, IDM, techno and dubstep. Here she pops up on an established label - Ralph Lawson's 2020 Vision to be exact - for the very first time. First, she whips up a frenzy courtesy of the fuzzy and aggressive riffs of techno roller 'Night Flight', complete with creepy chords and foreboding motifs. She then delivers raw, heavy, industrial-fired electro on 'Ore', whilst warped dubstep and electro are brilliantly mixed on 'Nocturnal'. To round things up nicely, 'Drifting' is a partial vocal number built around a wobbling dubstep bass with punchy electro drums and twinkling pianos.

Review: Lloyd Stellar was not really a man gifted an extraordinary name when he was born. Rather, it is the chosen alias for Dutch dude Erik Griffoen, but he's surely made the name his own with a rapid rise in the number of releases of his music so far this year. Now Stellar gets has mitts on 20/20 Vision alongside The Droid, aka Ben Evans. In line with the label's exploration of electro over the past few years, this is hi-tech machine funk through and through, with twitchy synth lines and brittle, crisp drum machine patterns programmed within an inch of their lives. Maintaining a steely, dystopian mood throughout, this is serious electro for the heads, executed with precision and flair.

Review: Carl Finlow has been a prominent name in UK electro since the mid-90s, releasing music at an astonishing rate under a variety of monikers. Silicon Scally defines his most strictly electro-oriented project, reflective of the Kraftwerk era and the emerging electro-scene, with releases on respected labels such as Cultivated Electronics, CPU and of course 20/20 Vision, with music from a variety of Carl's monikers being amongst the labels earliest releases.

'Crushed' is a sought after album project originally self-released on Finlow's Bandcamp during the 2020 lockdown. We felt the release was to important to be overlooked without a much deserved run of vinyl, so have pressed a limited run of records featuring futuristic electro highlights and the best unreleased cuts.

'Proton Mass' kicks things off with perfectly crafted robotic funk, solid mechanical breaks and mind bending glitches, setting the landscape for a journey into the abyss with Silicon Scally unshakeably at the helm. 'Centronix' follows up with razor-sharp rocking beats, squelchy bass and jarring grooves as if designed for high pace no nonsense club sets from the likes of DJ Stingray or Helena Hauff.

On the flip side 'Axiom' takes us deeper into the void with dark basslines, complex drums and unapologetically disorientating frequencies. A track that makes us question if Finlow has transcend to a future state where he is more machine than man, sending psychoactive messages in the form of killer electro cuts.

'Cascade Lasers' wraps up this epic dose of electro with interstellar energy, driving things home with deep bass wobbles, high octane breaks, wrapped grooves and tormenting yet playful synth licks. Yet another release that has us convinced the late great Andrew Weatherall was indeed correct!

"For quite a number of years now I have been convinced that Mr Finlow is a conduit for musical transmissions beamed from a parallel universe, sometime in the future" - Andrew Weatherall.

Review: Luther Vine's Fragments Of Reality and its various artists series have been a real doozy for 20/20 but now the sub-label offers up a first solo EP. It is Snad who gets the gig and he is a house producer from Berlin making big waves right now. This one follows outings on Chicago's Kimochi Records, Chez Damier's Courtesy of Balance and the Dungeon Meat label and is another raw, stripped-back offering of tough house. 'Bootlickerz' is a bristling cut ready for the peak time, 'Goobernatorial Candidacy' has a more stripped-back but just as compelling groove and 'Per Savour' goes deep into late-night goodness before closer 'Butt Heads' picks up the pace once more.