COMPILATIONSQUICKIES 7.0
Various 5 Years Desolat Desolat Five-year itch
Founded in 2007, when the chug of lower-tier mnml techno was getting too much for even the most well-connected mittel-European poseur, Desolat specialised in unfussy tools (‘Ribcage’, anyone?). Perhaps that’s why they’ve remained a concern for five years; each of the exclusive tracks here — contributed by roster staples — are optimized for maximized efficiency. There’s not a slither of excess digital fat on Yaya’s ‘Our Connection’, the hang drums and synth splinters so pointed as to nick the skin. The immaculately cut-up percussion of tINI’s ascetic house ‘Room305’ or the conversational whisps that seep from Shlomi Aber’s tunnelistic techno ‘Mancha’ both wriggle into your brain and crouch there. Such functionalism breeds sterility, but if you’re still getting off on this kind of music (pitched-down vocals? In techno? In 2013? Hector’s ‘Amorphous Mass’ thinks so) you know already if that’s a price you’re willing to pay. Louise Brailey
Petre Inspirescu Fabric 68 Fabric Minimal magic
Like Omar and Ricardo before him, Petre Inspirescu serves up a mix entirely composed of his own music. Also like those revered tunesmiths, so singular is this Romanian’s reductive sound that you can’t imagine it any other way. In its own fashion, ‘Fabric 68’ is informed by the classical music Petre has recently involved himself with. There’s a non-stop rhythmic thread that jangles loosely throughout the mix, and infectious as it is, the waify and freeform details around that thread are what really lure you into his candle-lit, chamber-like spaces. Whilst minimal ultimately suffered from over-abstraction and sonic blandness, this mix is quite the opposite — there are plenty of real world signifiers, from the golden strings that drift by on ‘Anima’ to the Alice In Wonderland flutes of ‘Flurimba’ and the horns of a tribal chanting on ‘In Miriste.’ Imagine Dial’s John Roberts making minimal, and you’d be in the right ballpark. Kristan Caryl
8.5
Hauschka Salons Des Amateurs (Remixes) Fat Cat 7.0
Taking a tinkle
On last year’s ‘Salons Des Amateurs’, classically- trained pianist Volker Bertelmann produced a form of live house music as delicate as a glass vase. The remixers such as Michael Mayer, Matthew Herbert and Vladislav Delay have broken the ivories into more abstract shapes here, however, adding somewhat heftier beats and glitches. Paul Clarke
Portico Quartet Live/Remix Realworld Records 8.0
Four go to the floor
With one foot in the conservatoire and one in the club on their last eponymous album, London jazz group Portico Quartet move further towards the latter with excellent remixes from SBTRKT and LV amongst others. But the accompanying live album also reveals more of the rhythmic cogs whirring beneath their scintillating soundscapes. Paul Clarke
Various Where The Wind Blows Bpitch Control 7.0
Wind in the willows
Bpitch Control boss Ellen Allien has cherry-picked 17 tracks from her roster, and a few close allies, that remained unreleased until now. While the label’s musical diversity reaches as far and wide as the title of this compilation album suggests, cohesion lies within the mood and emotion transmitted throughout. Zara Wladlawsky
Various Deutsche Elektronische Musik 2 Soul Jazz 9.0
Proto-techno 7.0
Various Punch Music’s Strongbox Punch Music Packs a punch
The debut compilation from Israeli techno imprint Punch Music is a typically chunky affair, awash in the big-room techno the label’s specialised in during its short life. ‘Strongbox’ focuses closely on the label’s core, homegrown roster — take the melodic-yet-uncompromising techno showcased on Nir Shoshani’s ‘Winter Thorns’, or Muzarco’s old-skool electro stomper ‘The Entrapment’ — but there’s also space for big names from further afield. Scottish don Gary Beck’s remix of ‘Pollinater’ is an Arches-ready block of build-and-release techno, and Trapez mainstay Roland M Dill presents the infectiously guttural low-end workout of ‘The Return Of Maryam Alma’. Still, despite this overseas pedigree, the stars of the show are undoubtedly the label’s local sons, who shine a light on a burgeoning Israeli scene that’s taking the tropes of Europe’s mid-’90s techno scene to excitingly original new places. Tom Banham
8.0
Various Acid: Mysterons Invade The Jackin’ Zone Soul Jazz Records Acid flashbacks
Roland’s iconic TB-303 is capable of feats of aural acrobatics so spectacular that, 30 years after its invention, there’s still nothing to match its power, versatility or capacity for far-out freakiness. This 22-track unmixed collection — curated by Kevin ‘The Bug’ Martin and released on the ever-impeccable Soul Jazz imprint — collects some of the finest moments from the little silver box’s golden era — 1986 to 1993 — all of them born of Chicago, the city that first made the 303 famous. From celebrated anthems — Mr Fingers’ still-killer proto-acid stomper ‘Washing Machine’ — to relatively obscure cuts — Acid Wash’s utterly mind-dismantling ‘Hallucinate’ — this is as solid a collection of old-skool 303’n’808 workouts as you’re ever likely to come across. Plus, it comes with a graphic novel — ‘Mysterons Invade The Jackin’ Zone’ — so you can simultaneously wig out your ears and your eyes. Joe Madden
Soul Jazz provides a follow-up to their original compilation album of Teutonic sonics from 1972-83. Equal parts the electronic experiments that preceded house and techno, classically- rooted ambient exercises, and guitar- based Krautrock, this further celebrates one of Germany’s more fruitful eras. Zara Wladlawsky
Various Correspondant Compilation 01 Correspondant 8.0
Sleep-deprived
Jennifer Cardini began Correspondant while in the grips of insomnia. It shows. This debut comp is a wired affair, all deadweight BPMs and grubby, retro textures. You can practically hear the creak of leather stretched over emaciated frames during the chugging minimal wave of Darabi’s ‘Pistolero’. Louise Brailey
Chris Tietjen Acht
Cocoon Recordings 7.0
Frankfurt vibes
Chris Tietjen mixes the eighth annual survey of what’s up over Frankfurt way. While there’s few surprises — think druggy textures, emotive accents and serpentine percussion — there’s enough strangeness like Secret Cinema and Peter Horrevorts’s twitchy ‘Ana Bola’ to suggest a label with at least one eye swivelled to the future. Louise Brailey
REPEATTHE LPS WE CAN’T LEAVE ALONE...
Various Catwash Beats Vol. 1 & 2 Catwash 8.5
The only cruelty on W!LD’s comps here is to the ears of party animals...
Various Talking House Local Talk 8.0
With cuts from Bassfort, HNNY and Gerd, this is Sweden’s REAL source of house music.
Noir In The House Defected 8.0
The Noir Music man does the disco business for Defected.
djmag.com 095
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