Slow Life 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: While many of Slow Life's releases have been firmly focused on the dancefloor, there's enough variety in the label's wholeheartedly electronic output to suggest that this undoubtedly laidback and spacey album is not too much of a curveball. Crucially, it's really rather good, suggesting that debutant duo Asyncronous has a big future ahead. Musically, it's like an echo of the early 1990s, with the Ukrainian production pair offering up tracks that variously touch on heavyweight ambient dub, Pete Namlook style becalmed soundscapes, the melodious IDM bliss of Boards of Canada, the "Artificial Intelligence"-era twinkle of Black Dog and the shimmering futurist synth-scapes of Tangerine Dream.

Review: Since the early 1990s, Marco Repetto has been releasing material under a wide variety of aliases, most notably Bigeneric and Planet Love. Now, almost 30 years after his debut release, the Swiss producer has brought the two projects together on one hugely impressive set. Fables of Robotics contains a mix of previously unheard material from both projects, plus material that has never before been committed to vinyl. It's a hugely satisfying and entertaining affair that sprints between spacey, tuneful takes on classic Detroit techno, trippy, off-kilter late night deepness, proto-progressive house, deep space ambient and mid-'90s style British "intelligent techno". There's much to admire throughout and little in the way of filler. In other words, it's a fine release from a hugely talented and storied producer.

Review: Representing the new wave of Berlin minimal house alongside Sbri and Yoshi, Italian expat Saverio Celestri is part of the Libertine Records crew and releases his debut album for the closely affiliated Slow Life; another crew of Italian and Spanish expats making big waves in the German capital right now. Reality Is Not Reality proves further that despite how we pigeonhole both respective collectives (and their producer/DJs) they entail a lot more in terms of style. The album veers from Detroit inspired hi tech soul (as heard on the title track), the current trend of minimal crossover into electro ("Cyber Monday"/"Below Zero") plus broken beat house (much like colleague S. Moreira) and typically wacky after-hours shenanigans like on "Flash Factory" and "Sygyzy".

Review: The Slow life label branches out into ambient sounds away from their traditional deeper house grooves. It takes the form of an album by France's Deep Nalstrom who has established himself in Bristol with his tripped out and ethereal soundscapes. More of that downtempo magic defines this long player across seven tracks of otherworldly music. It's laden with percussion, steel drums, shimmering melodies and celestial energy that permeates the soul. It makes for one of the most brilliantly atmospheric and cinematic albums of ambient we've heard in a while.

Review: The last time we encountered Ethereal Logic was on the 2017 record Extraordinary Trip. Now they are back with another that could well do better at living up to that name. Again S.Moreira and Indi Zone show themselves to be every bit the tour de force of abstract sounds, somehow managing to find rhythm, harmony, and structure in vast, open-ended sonic spaces.

'Euclidean Lullaby' is a case in point. Track two on the album, its combination of droplet percussion and waves of half-melody shouldn't be so effective at drawing us in and making us hang on every tap and echoed refrain. But it is, offering a case in point for why less can often be so much more. If this is ambient, it's proof the genre really does sit well with dancefloor focused tunes - you just need to understand how to use it.

Review: Italian electronica wizard Paolo Mosca releases his debut LP, a mature and carefully crafted melting pot of influences from all over the electronic sphere. Dub, house, breaks, acid, ambient, progressive... you name it. The A-side houses techno sensibilities, building in intensity from the suspenseful 'Spiritual Birth' to the mechanical 'Connect Our Minds' with it's 90s-influenced industrial leanings. The B-side pivots to the club, with a deep house-techno to piano house combo breaker. Side C sees Mosca's production chops really showing with a dub twist, a Hideki Naganuma style vocal sample featuring on 'Wake Up', against a downtempo groove. The final side sees a grab bag of variety, from drum & bass to ambient with a three-track run that totally surprises. It's not an exaggeration to call 'Transition' and instant classic.

Review: Berlin-based brothers Mahy and Nichel Cruz made something of a splash with their 2016 debut 12" on Second Step Records Limited, the fluid, tech-tinged Research Centre. Evidence of a Primary Perception is their debut album, and offers an expanded insight into their unique musical worldview. While there are occasional trips into woozy ambient territory and the domain of vintage intelligent techno, the vast majority of tracks fix loose, live-sounding, jazz-tinged breakbeats to the kind of starry, intergalactic synths that have always been a huge feature of Motor City techno. The package also contains two tasty remixes: a bumpin' rework of "12Bit Spacecraft" by S. Moreira, and a wonderfully cosmic, Global Communications style interpretation of "Cosmic Waves" by Etheral Logic.

Review: Berlin-based brothers Mahy and Nichel Cruz made something of a splash with thei 2016 debut 12" on Second Step Records Limited, the fluid, tech-tinged Research Centre. Evidence of a Primary Perception is their debut album, and offers an expanded insight into their unique musical worldview. While there are occasional trips into woozy ambient territory and the domain of vintage intelligent techno, the vast majority of tracks fix loose, live-sounding, jazz-tinged breakbeats to the kind of starry, intergalactic synths that have always been a huge feature of Motor City techno. The package also contains two tasty remixes: a bumpin' rework of "12Bit Spacecraft" by S. Moreira, and a wonderfully cosmic, Global Communications style interpretation of "Cosmic Waves" by Etheral Logic.

Review: Since making his debut six years ago, Sergio Moreira has released countless singles exploring his personal take on drowsy deep house and left-of-centre electronic futurism. Because of that, this debut album feels long overdue. From start to finish, it feels like the set of a producer comfortable in his own skin. While many will be dazzled by the three-part suite at the centre of the album - "Bring Back The Night", which subtly twists and turns over 15 warm, glassy-eyed minutes like a breakbeat-sporting deep house version of a classical epic - there's plenty to set the pulse racing elsewhere. Highlights include the bass-heavy, breakbeat-driven peak-time dubbiness of "One Last Thought", the Motor City techno electronics and shuffling bottom end of "Controlling Transmission" and the hazy opener "From Here To There".

Review: Saphileaum is an alias for multi-disciplinary Georgian artist Andro Gogibedashvili, who since 2018 has been unfurling reams of delicate, mesmerising electro-organic beat works for labels like Silent Season, Diffuse Reality and Constellation Tatsu. Hot on the heels of the wonderful Intrapersonal Experience for Good Morning Tapes comes this debut appearance on Slow Life, which remains true to his artistic arcs as well as the mellow, Adriatic mood of the label. This is meditative groove music from the modern age, revelling in the interplay between strident beat constructions and exotic sound palettes without ever disturbing the over-arching chill of Gogibedashvili's captivating project.

Review: The Slow Life label and associated produces have become cult favourites amongst the heads. Their sound is high tech and futuristic but never at the expense of depth and melody. Now they put out a second colourful volume of their best bits under the Chromophore banner. It features label friends and founders in fine form from the off, with S Moreira & Luis Malon combing to balmy effect on 'Vamo Arriba.' Elsewhere Paolo Mosca impresses with the shimmering pads and tech drums of 'Digital Connection' and Lost Twin's 'RR2099' is another innovative and spaced out house groove.