Hardworksoftdrink 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Roman Flugel seems to have been in a nostalgic mood of late. He recently released a superb retrospective of his early '90s Acid Jesus work alongside Alter Ego partner Jorn Elling Wuttke and now offers up an EP of previously unreleased solo productions from 1995. All three cuts are enthralling and on-point, making us wonder why they were never put out at the time. Many DJs will naturally be drawn towards A-side "Bibo", a warm, bass-heavy and fluid club roller that sits somewhere between early UK bleep techno, US deep house and the sci-fi inspired techno of Detroit. Elsewhere, "Partyhouse" wraps deep, Motor City-influenced electronic motifs around snappy, Chicago-style drums and a bustling bassline, while closer "Smell Flashback" is a jaunty trip into melodious techno-funk territory with added jammed-out organ sounds.

Review: Frankfurt up and comer Felix Reifenberg is well known by now to be affiliated with the local hardworksoftdrink crew and serves us some sublime minimal electro that's definitely in vogue right now on "Broakiloop" and "Kamelion" respectively. Broken beats, blips & bleeps and retro sci-fi fantasies are the order of the day here and we we're loving it! On the flip, Reifenberg translates said sensibilities into "Kanion" where he produces a deep minimal house groove that will appeal to fans of Spacetravel or Francesco del Garda's recent works.

Review: For the seventh release on Hardworksoftdrink, the Frankfurt am Main based collective present us with a collaboration by Restoration and Parasella main man Marieu with upcoming producer Yoshi aka Berlin based Andrea Fioravanti. "Playground" is so typical of the Restoration sound: raw, tough and dusty! This one has so much swing, it sounds like Todd Edwards stuck in a cold, dark London basement. "Remember" is more emotive and soulful; sounds like like classic 430 West in a way, really digging it! Finally "Crafty" gets stuck into some classic Chicago hard house sounds brought up on a diet of Cajual and Relief records sounds.