Records of the Week - July 23

Shadowy House/Disco producer/re-edit bloke Mark E is so painfully hip right now it hurts, and he’s taken the record of the week on the strength of his remix for Ghost Note and edits on the Sun Shadow release. And if you’ve not picked up “Slave 1” from earlier this year, then do so now before it sells out. If you’re a fan of Gino Soccio, you can take your pick from either Ray Mang’s Awright edit, or Force of Nature’s I-ight, both released simultaneously, both sampling “Alright” from the Canadian Disco legend’s orginal. Dan Bell’s label Elevate pops up after a near decade-long hiatus with German producer Baaz’s Few Days EP, and also on the North American tip, it’s worth checking the Prescription-esque production on Adam Marshall’s Thelon EP on New Kanada.

Returning to Europe and things more minimal, the latest Workshop release is getting a lot of plays here, as well as the latest from My My on Playhouse, and there’s also Stimming’s most recent release on Freerange.

On the Disco and Italo tip, there’s a Flemming Dalum remix of Ghecko’s classic record “Firelight” on Flexx that is well worth a peek at, and Amplified Orchestra’s Solitude is a heavyweight record that I’ve been loving for a while. Last but not least, more troubling Mancunian Italo from Cyberdance, with their “Messages from the Void” EP featuring Ali Renault, Casionova and Tommy Walker III.

It’s been a good week for techno, what with heavyweights Surgeon and Jeff Mills featuring. The former is on a must-have compilation by Downwards that has the magnificent crusher “Argon” on it, plus works by cohorts Female and Regis. There’s more British Techno from the likes of the 65D Mavericks and Oliver Ho on a single dedicated the late Richard Polson. Mills returns to form with a rather cosmic set of downtempo techno tracks on the Alpha Centauri EP. One hopes that he continues to make records as good as this. Modern Love’s MLZ chucks out another dub-heavy monster, whilst Hardwax legends Substance and Vainqueur get a chance to remix Petar Dundov on Oasis. The original is better though. Belgian label Morse have come out with a quirky release from Almas, the first track “Klarheit” is worth checking.  On a slightly more industrial note, the 2nd release by the mysterious Ancient Methods is a rumbling monster, and there’s some excellent uptempo electro action from EDMX on Breakin’.

Toby Frith

Clone
Flexx
Vinyl Underground
Hardwax
Piccadilly Records
Rub-a-Dub
Boomkat