Review: Italian techno heavyweight Claudio PRC's fifth album, Self Surrender, is a meditative dive into self-acceptance that comes on Amsterdam's long-running and always top-notch Delsin Records. Claudio delivers a fluid narrative across an exploration of tasteful ambient, dub, minimal house and deep techno here, and it opens with some absorbing introspection before gradually shifting into more kinetic territory. It is driven by pulsing kicks, dreamy textures, acid flourishes and ghostly strings as a refined blend of techno and house sounds all coalesce with the signature depth Claudio has honed over years of his craft. Self Surrender closes on an ethereal note, which encapsulates its core message of letting go.
Review: Before they became ambient titans with a penchant for doing gigs from their studio via ISDN line, the Future Sound of London had already established themselves as a well-regarded house and techno act - albeit one whose love of wavy chords, drifting vocal samples and hallucinatory acid lines put them at the psychedelic end of the rave spectrum. The album that established their reputation, Accelerator, is now 30 years old, which is as good an excuse as any for this reissue. Now stretched across two slabs of wax rather than one for a louder cut, the set still sparkles, thanks in part to the duo's ability to mix and match elements of turbn-of-the-90s ambient house, breakbeat hardcore, bleep techno, deep house and what would then have been called "jungle techno".
Review: There is a great selection of reissues of Future Sound of London's back catalogue going on right now. It goes all the way back to 1988 when they first started chaining the game with their forward facing electronics and mix of rave, breaks, hardcore and ambient into something utterly fresh. It still resonates today, hence these reissues, and this one is a 25th Anniversary edition of Accelerator. This one was, at the time, seen as the group's most "commercially-minded" album but that takes nothing way from its visionary sonics and immersive sonic landscapes.
Review: Lenxi's debut album, Did You Get the Dream I Sent You?, is a cultured blend of IDM, indie pop and techno that is laid out across 10 deeply personal track. The London-born, Amsterdam-based producer channels a period marked by heartbreak and isolation into the music, which means the album emerges as an emotional escape shaped by paintings, sketches and synth lines all crafted in studios from London to L.A. It balances vulnerability with resilience while weaving nostalgia and hope into the mix. Ultimately, Lenxi transforms pain into empowerment here and takes you from sounds of solitude to the dancefloor with a powerful, dreamlike narrative.
Social Alliance Warriors (Political Greed mix) (5:53)
Review: Detroit electro investigator MICRO4CE delivers a no-compromise double pack here across two EPs packed with nine tracks of raw electronic futurism and imaging. It is all rooted in classic Detroit electro and so-called hi-tech-funk so the sound channels early 80s influences like Nucleus and Mantronix while carving out its own cyborg-driven edge. 'Bass Situation 313' gets underway with swampy low ends and far-sighted chords then the likes of 'Borg Fightz' bring unrelenting coruscated drums and 'The Greed' is a more minimal sound with zippy synths and dehumanised vocals. This is seriously high-grade electro for heads who like gritty, futuristic and fearless sounds.
LB Dub Corp - "I Have A Dream" (feat Benjamin Zephaniah) (5:18)
1995 Epilepsy - "Get 2 Kno" (2:53)
Blawan - "Fourth Dimensional" (5:03)
Sockethead - "When I Close My Eyes I See Paint" (2:27)
Overmono - "If U Ever" (4:45)
LCY - "Shhh" (4:00)
Orca - "Intellect" (7:30)
DJ Misjah - "Victim" (5:13)
Review: Overmono is a real techno-making machine that rarely makes a misstep. He's landed on Poly Kicks and XL already this year and now his entry into the long-running and legendary fabric series is another doozy. Here we have the double 12" selection featuring key tracks from it such as his own 'If U Ever' and a fantastic cut 'I Have A Dream' (feat Benjamin Zephaniah) for an LB Dub Corp album of a few years ago. Blawan's typically supersized 'Fourth Dimensional' is another big moment in an album that is jam-packed with them.
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