A few more bits n’ bobs

Along with those disco edits mentioned in my last post I’ve picked up a nice few varied slabs in the last couple of weeks, and with a slow night at work I thought I may as well share a few.

Sean Deason and his label Matrix is someone/thing I’ve been aware of for quite some time, but I actually own just the one release, the excellent Miranda double pack from Convextion. The latest release is from Deason himself, Elements Vol 2. The A side especially has two excellent cuts, leading off with “Absolution” a more than solid piece of good old melancholic, string-laden Detroit techno. Some of you are more than likely aware of the discussion about the so called “myth” of Detroit that Tom has been involved in over on Mnml ssg, and without getting into that debate on this post, “Absolution” is a nice reminder of how the Detroit peeps still do this music with as much soul and conviction as ever. My other fave off this is “Teknomusik” a more danclefloor orientated roller based around a simple vocal refrain of it’s title. It doesn’t really do much, but it doesn’t need to. Solid.

For many a year now Amsterdam’s Rush Hour Recordings have been responsible for some of the most high quality house and techno to come out of Holland, for me Europe’s leading light in the field – not to mention in electro and italo, but more of that in a second. The latest 12″ to impress me is from new artist Conforce. His latest release is the peak-time, synth heavy Junction, with both sides a variance on the same track. While I’m a fan of quite a few European producers take on the more melodic side of techno, sometimes they rely overly on waves of epic strings n synths cliches in a vain attempt at coming across all emotive (see Fabric Lig’s “The Track”), and the results can sometimes be that little bit bland. Conforce veers close to this territory but, I feel, manages to pull it off really well. I’m looking forward to seeing this do some damage on the dancefloor.

Keeping with the Dutchies but moving in a very different direction (and something I’ve yet to see here on ISM), electro/Italo master Alden Tyrell has returned in the last 6 months with a few superb releases for Clone and new electro/italo label Moustache Records. Many of you on the Tyrell tip are more than likely aware of the stunning The Hasbeens – Keep Fooling Yourself that came out at the beginning of the year. They (it be Tyrell and Dj Overdose) have another 12″ just around the corner, but in the mean time Tyrell has teamed up again with 80’s singer Fred Ventura on the first of his 2 releases on Moustache, Memories. Your fondness for this track will mostly depend on your fondness for that supreme oddity of genres, Italo-disco, as once again Tyrell has recreated and updated the sounds perfectly into a slo-mo – dare I say it – Italo ballad. Ventura does his best to pull at your heartstrings with his tale of a love lost, and in a nice touch, if you feel that way inclined, you can sing along as the vinyl version comes with a photocopy of hand-written lyrics of the song. A nice reminder of that personal touch you will NEVER get from an MP3.

Last but not least on all things Tyrell, he has recently played his part in electro super-group The Clone Machine along with the peerless Egyptian Lover and Dexter AND Jamie Jupiter. The straight up 808 beats of the Empire mix gets my vote.

Also, for any Irish readers out there who have been living under a rock for the last month, Tyrell is rolling into Dublin on July 5th with what looks to be one of the nights of the year as he plays – along with Intergalactic Gary – the after party for the heavily anticipated Irish debut of the one, the only Dopplereffekt. I, for one, am in a permanent state of excitement!

Finally, has any one else come across the Electunes label? Unawares to me until last week they put out three 6-track 12″s of 70’s/80’s electronic strangeness a couple of years ago. I picked up Vol 1, which contains some Yellow Magic Orchestra and eh, Jean Michel Jarre amongst others. I’m a fan of these types of releases as they always tend to uncover a few nice gems I may have never been able to find on vinyl. Hopefully in the near future I’ll be putting up a mix containing some of this type of stuff along with some electro and italo, both old and new.