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It's been more than a year and a half since 'Life About To Change' and the anticipation has been almost unbearable, but the long wait is over as Marco Resmann is finally back on Watergate with his brand new 'Run EP'. Over the course of three tracks Marco displays his production prowess and once again solidifies himself as a creator at the peak of his career. The EP begins with the title track 'Run' and it's a perfectly executed techno anthem bridging an unrelenting drum line with crisp stabs and euphoric blasts of spaced out synths. 'Run' will flawlessly fit into any mood or setting, whether it be a sun soaked open air or a strobe filled, sweaty warehouse. Following the lead on the b-side is 'Hello Again' and it unveils itself to the sounds of singing birds before slowly morphing into a palette of synthetic electronics. As 'Hello Again' grows larger in intensity the more wild it becomes. What almost seems at one point to be a clashing of wild sonic blares reluctantly falls back into a cascade of organic percussion before once again rising to a crescendo of critical mass. Bringing the EP to an epic close is the magnificently executed 'Es Vedra' and it is by far the most emotional ride of the package. Lush pads and cosmic flutters are laid over an pulsing groove expertly combining two polar opposites resulting in an intoxicating journey through a lucid dream. Overall, 'Run' is a gem of dance floor integrity finely curated by a man who is a master of combining new, avant-garde sounds with a classic procedure. It's good to have you back, Marco!

Butane's Alphahouse imprint kicks off 2015 with Pablo Inzunza's 'Convenience' EP, featuring three original cuts from the Chilean artist and a remix from the label-founder himself.

Pablo Inzunza is a Chilean DJ and producer most notably known for his recent long player on Butane & Someone Else's Little Helpers imprint, but also acknowledged for material on Germany's Highgrade, and French imprint Monique Musique. Inzunza has explored an array of organic and abstract Techno styles across the early stages of his career and here we see him push on with more powerful dance floor focused cuts via the Alphahouse imprint.

The original mix of title cut 'Convenience' opens things up here and sees Inzunza employ a hypnotic 303 hook as the driving force, while ghostly synth textures flutter away in the depths of the composition and sparse rhythms further fuel its undulating groove. 'Hypnotica' follows and as the name would suggest lays its focus on an entrancing, percussion and pad-led groove, which subtly unfolds over its five and a half minute duration.

Opening up the flip side of the release label-head Butane offers up a tougher, heads down take on 'Convenience', treating us to his typically rough and ready production style with gritty drum lines laid over the original's squelchy 303 lick. Then finally to round things off we have the third and final original from Pablo entitled 'Intimate', which takes on a more house tinged aesthetic this time with organic percussion, sweeping synth stabs and stuttering bass tones.

Audiojack's Gruuv label returns this October with a four-track package from French producer Okain, featuring a remix from Tuccillo. Parisian artist Samuel Thalman aka Okain has quite the standing in contemporary electronic music having been a prominent name as a DJ and producer for the past fifteen years. Playing at some of the leading nightclubs across the globe such as Fabric, Watergate, Space Ibiza, Rex Club and Electric Pickle to name but a few. Thalman's also built quite the respectable back-catalogue in his time, releasing material via the likes of Tsuba, BPitch, Memento and Cadenza, and here we see him add Gruuv to his affiliations.

Kicking off the release is 'Down the Block', seeing Okain offer up a rugged percussion and bass led house cut, fuelled by swinging rhythms, rumbling sub tones, sporadic sax licks and processed vocal lines, opening up the EP on an energetic tip.

'RZ One' follows this, retaining a similar aesthetic with an insistent drive and penetrative low-end, though Okain opts for a grittier production feel here, distorting the drum sounds, instilling expansive, atmospheric reverb tails and drawn out delays alongside hip-hop imbued vocal lines.

On the latter half of the release we have two versions of 'By Your Side', the first of which is the original mix from Okain, which takes on a more stripped-back approach in comparison to the preceding composition's, laying its focus on fluttering synth sounds, a stab-led bass hook and warm motown style vocal chops. 2020Vision artist Tuccillo then rounds off the package with his mix of 'By Your Side', turning in his signature percussive-led style on the mix with intricately programmed drums and a subtle underlying tension that softly bubbles away in the depths over the cuts seven minute duration.

New York City, USA, 2014. A community filled with amazing shit and amazingly fucked up shit. This Yin Yang is an ever-present part of life, and it is this contradiction that Isaac Basker seeks to take on with Swishin' & Dishin,' his sophomore release on Play It Say What Records.

On A1, 'Swishin' & Dishin',' Isaac references NYC basketball legend, Walt 'Clyde' Frazier to define the city's Yin. Starting off like a certified banger; a simple 'bleep' blasts the track over a thumping kick and rhythmic percussion, as if attacked by a penetrating crossover dribble. Yet Isaac then drops his trademark melodic chords to turn the track into an authentic deep house groove.


With A2 Plan B Recordings boss DJ Spider provides his latest remix for Isaac, helming 'Swishin' & Dishin' (DJ Spider Mix).' The original is then obliterated into his classic raw, deep sound. Hard kicks, obscure female vocals, hats and snares form the basis of the track as we then get slowed chords to tease us until deeper sounds and syncopated percussion elevate the listeners mood before bringing the track back to the remix's original rawness.


B1, 'Slumlord Billionaires (5Pointz Of Light Mix),' Swishin' & Dishin's most dance floor friendly track, takes on the Yang of the city, using the to be demolished graffiti mecca 5Pointz as a point of reference. Yet, this is an uplifting build up banger of a track emphasizing human resilience in the face of doom. Booming drums start the song off until a single fluttering melodic chord drops. Then syncopated claps, and vocal hits arrive challenging 'the powers that be' to further enhance the song's call for dance floor resistance.



Then there is 'American't.' With B2 Isaac, takes dark analog keys and syncopated techno sensibilities over a simple eerie baseline to further emphasize the Yang. A manipulated vocal later emphasizes this further and another layer of angry, reflective keys drive the operatic finale of this definite New York release.

Terror Danjah's second Hyperdub album is 'The Dark Crawler', a well-paced and much more upfront and energetic journey through his musical world than his debut 'Undeniable'. The album revolves around the 'Dark Crawler' theme, a blistering grime track that pops up several times, vocaled by MC's Riko Dan, Mayhem, Deadly and Saf One, and then lastly Trim and Kossie. That's not to say the album is one dimensional or relentless. It's subtley balanced with the 'Dark Crawler' thread of tracks allowing the album to spin off in a web of directions without losing any focus. It's a much more contained body of work, paced to keep the listeners interest. From the 'Dark Crawler' intro into the cartoonish horror soundtrack of 'Mirror's Edge', which tricks you into thinking its just any dubstep tune, before scattering into Terror's signature broken kicks and claps. 'Dark Gremlinz' featuring D.O.K. is a classic peak-era asymmetric grime instrumental. The album then drops down into the 130ish speed of 'Air Max 90' featuring Champion, which builds from a soca-like drum drill stretching the rhythm to the point of collapse with a wonky synth, before concluding on a driving baseline house 4/4. The first 'Dark Crawler' vocal is next, with a ferocious performance from veteran Roll Deep MC Riko Dan, who drops bloodthirsty threats at a breakneck pace. Next, the tempo drops down again to the drunk funk of 'Full Hundred', with criss cross claps and a rasping bassline breaking down into live drumming and tight trap door edits. Things speed up a little again with the intricate 8 bar funky of 'Rum Punch', a hard drum tattoo rolling out over a heavy detuned bassline and intense bleeps. On the second 'Dark Crawler', mic duties are shared by Birmingham MC's Mayhem , Deadly and Saf One. Their hard vocals contrast with lush styled R'n'B of 'You Make Me Feel' featuring Meleka. The album then rolls out into the galloping drums and smooth G-Funk synths of 'Baby Oil'. Trim and Kossie drop the final 'Dark Crawler' vocal, with Trim dropping deadpan threats contesting with Kossie's focussed hysteria. Next up 'Delicately', with Ruby Lee Rider, starts in slow motion R'n'B mood, sweet Rhodes chords drift and bubble up as the track doubles up into dreamy drum and bass with a fluttering tabla keeping the time, and Ruby's tender vocals tempering the pace and aggression. Overall, it's a brilliant exercise in breathless rhythmic arousal. 'Moschino', on the other hand is a darker, chunkier and grimier mirror image to 'Delicately', switching up into a ferocious metallic riffage, before the album closes on an outro of 'Dark Crawler' again. Form, function, energy and talent fuse perfectly over 'The Dark Crawler' s length. Enjoy the ride.

Sect Records' recent compilation It's All For You showcased the exceptionally high standard of the label's roster as well as introducing some talent to the world, and this, the first 12" sampler from the album, selects three of the compilation's finest tracks for vinyl treatment. Victor Martinez takes over the A-Side with "Dav To Dub", combining heavily delayed chords filtered to breaking point, while a massive kick drum propels everything along, and a jazzy piano melody adds some subtle ambience. On the flip, D'Knox's "I'm Sorry (remix)", is a sparse number contrasting soothing chords with micro-loops which contain the spectre of disco, with a rapid rhythmic flutter and chittering melody at its core, while Fanon Flowers closes with "Invisible Life", a murky production filled with chords that ripple like sheet metal over a flurry of 909 rimshots.