Running Back Germany 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Fresh off that awesome Unit 2 reissue of Happy Recordings, Running Back now look to some early works of seminal NYC duo Mateo & Matos under their Alex M. alias: its namesake dedicated to Mateo's late brother. The EP was originally released in 1992 on their Final Cut sub label, which became defunct the same year after around eight releases. On the A side is the deeply sublime and evocative zeitgeist of early 90's house; Big Apple style, on "It Works" and the deeper "Without Thought (Bassline 1)" which is more reminiscent of the Windy City sound actually. On the flip, the funky and stripped back late night groove of "Lakeview Slang (First mix)" is a familiar groove with a mesmerising melody and those dusty swing fuelled rhythms beneath. A time capsule from an important time in the genre's development by house music royalty on this respectful reissue.

Review: Wild Pitch Club is next up in the excellent and ling running Running Back Mastermix series. It's a legendary space that has very much defined the Frankfurt and wider german scene and was also something of a predecessor venue to the new well-loved Robert Johnson. That club was itself a place where Panorama Bar's very own nd_baumecker really made waves and it is they alongside co-founder Ata who have curated these tunes. The venue was hooked on the US sounds and often hosted the likes of Robert Hood and Claude Young to Kerri Chandler all of which shows in the sounds of the tunes.

Review: Described by Running Back boss Gerd Janson as "studies in the transformation of emotional states" and inspired by the music of his youth, Deetron's latest EP is a wholehearted, saucer-eyed riff on music of the rave era, given his usual 21st century twist. He begins in confident fashion with 'Mind Eclipse (TranceHouzz Tool)', cannily manipulating waves of hypnotic electronics and glassy-eyed synthesizer riffs atop a sturdy house beat, before joining the dots between bleep techno, jacking house and vintage Alter Ego on 'HG'. Over on the flip, 'Phoenix' is a locked-in chunk of rolling techno/trance fusion, while 'The Shore (808 Mix)' is a gorgeous exercise in rushing, retro-futurist deep house bliss that will have the hairs on the back of your attention standing to attention.

Review: Dusky enjoy lofty status in the UK underground after many years of putting out streams of assured deep-house goodness. They have done so on plenty of well-regarded labels and now return to Gerd Jansen's mighty fine Running Back for Life Signs Vol 3. Opener 'Wildfire' is a fizzy one with intense synth lines layered up next to ambient pads and dreamy vocal mutterings that all make for a fine post-rave comedown. 'Tea Cake' also harks back to the 90s with a dusty breakbeat rhythm powered by a fat bassline and twinkling keys. Flipside jam 'High' brings piano energy and 'Hawthorn' has an old school Chicago feel. Dusky cover plenty of ground in good fashion here.

Review: With acid sounds once again being all the rage, Running Back has decided to launch a new series featuring previously unreleased, TB-303-heavy cuts. The versatility of the machine - which, after all, was initially designed to create basslines - comes to the fore across the EP, from the throbbing, acid bass-propelled techno-jack of DVS1's 'Lower Wacker Drive' and the low-tempo early morning creepiness of I:Cube's 'Folie Noire', to the excitable acid house funkiness of 'Go Kart' by Marko East and Jordi Chu's, and the colourful dreaminess of 'Meet Chu In My Dreams'. Best of all though is Prins Thomas's remix of Like a Tim's 'Wonderline 1', whose TB-303 squelches ride a cowbell-rich disco-not-disco groove rich in the Norwegian's usual loose-limbed, live-sounding drums.

Review: Eagles & Butterflies has had plenty of notable tunes over the years. No doubt that is why he gets the nod from Gerd Jansen's legendary Running back label to offer up Retropolis Vol 01. It is a four-track EP that shows off the producer's well-realised sounds. The title track is the real standout - 'Retropolis' brings electro-styled synth work with brilliantly future retro euro-disco energy. It's packed with hints of Italo and is sure to light up any club scene. Says the producer of the EP, "Retropolis is the past meets the future. I love influences and technology from the past and making music that sounds like it could be from a time yet to arrive." Mission accomplished.

Review: Nacho Marco and Garen Moreno have not released much music as Jet Hammer - just two singles in a decade, in fact - but what they have put out is genuinely superb. Their latest EP, an expansive collection of retro-futurist gems inspired by 12" mixes of the 1980s, is similarly impressive. For proof, check opener 'Last Night', which sounds like the missing link between Italo-disco and the Cure; the Bobby Orlando-era Pet Shop Boys meets New Order wonder of 'How It Started'; and 'On Your Side (Instrumental Version)', which adds an early UK acid house veneer to the shimmering, club-ready extended synth-pop jams of the late '80s. Throw in an alternative new wave/post-punk style '1981 Mix' of 'Last Night', and you have an indispensable package.

Review: Numbers hold the key to unlock the universe. So, a six-pack can either consist of six bottles of beer, very well developed stomach muscles or in our case: a string of smash hits. To take it even further, it's exactly six tracks for the sixth part of the VA-series that is One Swallow Doesn't Make A Summer. Hit men include friends new and old: Llewellyn, Stereocalypse, Zillas On Acid, Storken & Hammer, Ede, SeNor Chugger & Count Van Delicious. The pace is cool and hot at the same time. Rave signals by Ede foil the nouveau disco by Stereocalypse or Storken & Hammer, Llewellyn does a classic house piano hop, Zilles On Acid deliver mid-tempo acid, and last, but not least, SeNor Chugger & Count Van Delicious strike a delicious pose.

Review: Back in 1996, Losoul's first outing on the now legendary Playhouse label caused such a stir across Europe and the U.S that it ended up being licensed and reissued - with additional reworks - by labels in Detroit and the Netherlands. This double-pack from Running Back brings together Losoul's original mix - a loopy, is-it-house-or-is-it-techno loop jam that cannily builds in intensity over the course of 11 and a half minutes - and two of the smartest revisions: Theo Parrish's mesmerising, deep and hypnotic revision (one of his best, we'd argue) and Dutch producer Gerd's jazzy, warm and sub-heavy shuffler. Also included is original B-side '00000000', a fine slab of minimal house hypnotism, and the previously unreleased 'D1', a more laidback and stripped-back disco-house loop jam.

Review: Since making his Running Back bow 12 years ago, Sebastien Kramer has periodically returned to Gerd Jansen's label to deliver EPs (and one memorable album). Acid Leak is his eighth release in total for the imprint, and as the title suggests makes extensive use of sounds created by the small-but-mighty TB-303. Kramer sets the tone with the title track, a triumphant blend of acid house and Detroit techno sounds featuring some classic, Underground Resistance style synth strings, before cannily combining rising and falling melodies, buzzing electronics and undulating acid lines on 'Wing Wing'. 'Acid Flow' is a more jacking, forthright and mind-mangling slab of breathless peak-time brilliance, while 'Frantic' sees the experienced German producer join the dots between sci-fi-powered excellence and tactile deepness.

Review: Frankfurt producer Shan has enjoyed a long and productive friendship with Running Back Gerd Janson. To date, it has included a swathe of collaborative tracks and remixes, as well as regular solo releases on the label. Shan's latest EP for the imprint is naturally packed with playable material. Saucer-eyed, retro-futurist opener "Who Run Tings", for example, underpins jaunty, Inner City style stabs and piano riffs with corking, hip-house style breakbeats, while "Awakenings" offers a slightly more muscular, big room-friendly take on the turn-of-the-'90s piano house blueprint. Shan deviates further from the script on the Nu Groove style vintage deep house musicality of "English Summer" and deep '80s synth-pop-meets-deep house flex of closer "Take Me To The Top".

Review: Few are better at saucer-eyed, rave revivalism than Victor Shan. He's made a habit of successfully doffing a cap to the early '90s, primarily via collaborations with Tuff City Kids and the booming Chord Memories 12" on Running Back. Here he's at it again, kicking off with a "Piano Mix" of "Work It" that sounds like a long lost collaboration between Inner City and Tyree Cooper. There's a more flustered, UK hardcore feel about "Bassline Party", even if it does contain a classic Chicago house bassline and a swinging, boompty style groove. Flip for a ghetto style "Miami Mix" of work it, plus a couple of handy DJ tools (the hip-house-goes-rave groove of the "Rave Beats" version being particularly potent).