A nice lil bit of Garagey, breakbeat for you. Absolutely love this, it’s so leftfield and dark. Not sure how the video for this only has 44 views – absolutely criminal

Circuit 900 are a Danish duo consisting of Nicholas Hansen and Jens Marsden. These two clearly have never thought of doing anything but going full throttle, and their music is somewhere between Garage, Breakbeat and being repeatedly pummelled by Anthony Joshua (but in a good way).

Verge starts with an absolutely fierce snapping snare, before some broken drums kick in one bar in every 8 before the snares start to snap more and more regularly before a funky little steel drum sounding melody comes creeping in over the top of a ferocious drum onslaught that’s littered with various percussive elements. With the the bass kicking in on the 1st kick of every other bar and warping through the rest of the phrase, it give the impression of being a pseudo Dubstep track but the sheer snap and force of the drums remind you that this is anything but. As the track progresses, it gives the illusion of slowing down by returning to it’s trick of only playing the drums every few phrases while this happens the synths aid this illusion by coming in short and sharp with the highs but fading and moving left and right slowly before everything kicks back in and the melody resumes. I’ve made this sound like quite an aggressive track and I won’t lie it is but, the funky melody over the top makes it quite a curious little number that’s sure to excite any dance floor.

This is a song I came across because of the Identification of Music group when someone posted a video of Fort Romeou playing it out at Canal Mills in Leeds. Essentially Cedric Sheva has taken the drums of Bicep’s “Glue” and put them under the ambience of Rhubarb to exquisite effect. Cedric has managed to turn a masterpiece of ambience from Aphex into an absolute club weapon. The hero himself is giving it away for free as well

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16nb5NY9fC5vsDYk_RyRzGWGuND3ZWBM1?usp=drive_open

Focusing on Rhubarb the track itself – wow what a track. I’m not normally a huge Aphex Twin fan but, the simple synth ambience on this is truly awesome. The track starts with some layered chords and the rumble of bass which never over powers the synths. It is simply to add another dimension and by having it appear so irregularly it makes its emergence more powerful. Soon the synths chords are mirrored by the emergence of violin and cello samples playing the same chords before the synths change to play a different melody over the top of the strings. Perfect to sit back and have a beer too.

Higher Intelligence Agency the project formed by Bobby Bird in 1992, has a major standing on the ambient scene and was most active during the 90’s. Although having said that remixes and new tracks do still appear from time to time.

Re-Echo, is an ambient acid masterpiece. Its starts with a swirling drum machine before a bouncing acid line starts ebbing over the top with the occasional throb of some bass being introduced. I talk about swirling synths and drum machines a lot but, in this case it actually stands up the high hats are recorded in such as way as to pingpong around from left to right and back again, as if they were circling your brain. As the track goes on a single synth comes over the top playing short sharp and very trippy chords which eventually elongate, ebbing down to allow more acid in the mix before coming back up with the short sharp notes returning. Eventually everything dies down and alongside the drum beat there’s a pingponging tom letting you know the track isn’t over and a very small restrained siren sample kicks in, with acid gently re-emerging and the sound of a washboard (weirdly) as well. All of this joins together to from quite a pumping yet relaxed track – perfect for when you’re still wanting something with some oomph but not quite as intense as the rest of the night has given you. At 108bpm it’s perfect for the transition between club and afterparty.

https://higherintelligenceagency.bandcamp.com/album/colourform

Words can’t describe how bonkers this song is – so I won’t even try. Just give it a listen and you’ll understand what I mean.

Jose Manuel is an Italian Dj and Producer. He makes some absolutely fantastic disco tracks which always have a natural percussion and faintly african vibe to them. I came across him on Bandcamp and pretty much bought every release he has on there instantly, because it was too hard to choose just one.

One of the releases I bought Excursion Africanism (Remixes) (explains the African vibe I mentioned earlier) had this absolute gem on it. This song starts of with a some bongos filtering through the fattest acid bassline I think I’ve ever heard on a track that’s only 115bpm. As the song progresses more and more percussive elements come in, with echoing snares, hissing hats and filtered claps permeating the bassline which gives you the feel of traveling down a river somewhere in deepest Africa through the jungle. The occasional African chants which don’t sound a million miles removed from Four Tet’s – Human. The ebb and flow of the track is done to perfection making, it seamlessly slink along threatening to burst into all out madness but restraining itself by bringing more elements such as cowbells in to make the groove even more pronounced.

Highly recommend giving this a listen and checking out his other productions on Bandcamp.

https://josemanuel.bandcamp.com

Giraffi Dog is a German Dj and Producer, also known as Max Mulder or Max W. It’s surprisingly difficult to find information on him, so lets just jump straight into the track.

351 Nation is a staple of many DJ’s such as Nicholas Lutz’s sets and videos of it being played out regularly feature on the Identification of Music group as peoples minds are blown it. It is a bit a monster. It starts off beatless and with ambient swirling synths with the occasional bleep or bloop punctuating the synths, before the drums and bass kick in bringing far darker overtones to the track and soon the occasional bleeps and bloops are transformed into single note chord patterns and the happier ambient synths only occasionally manage to permeate the sounds. The bass chops away, threatening to turn from a thump into the squelch of acid but never quite making the transitions. Clocking in at only 4.57, for a house song its quite short but, my does it bang in every one of those seconds.

Copies of this are shifting on Discogs for £33 but, you can buy the whole album on Bandcamp for a couple of quid. On the whole if something is hella expensive on Discogs, some kind beautiful human being has stuck it on band camp – so it’s always worth having a search on there before biting the bullet and buying a £40 vinyl.

https://doomchakratapes.bandcamp.com/album/giraffi-dog-lexistence-du-r-ve

Makes my life a lot easier when people release tracks as Unknown Artist, a lot less research needed into them. That or someone who has this as their DJ name has an unbelievable musical output.

This track is a minimal version of the Kraftwork song “The Robots” and does it bang. The track opens as it means to go on with a filthy rolling minimal drum intro, with electronic sounds galore with the most notable one being an electronic twang kicking in on every 4th beat. The bass line of the original is included but, sped up and with a secondary rolling bass line underneath in it. By having both, it allows them the creator the ability to have a rolling baseline but, add an extra pump to kick of the bass drum. The track heavily samples the original, with elements coming and going every few bars, with the vocals emerging from the maelstrom of electronic bleeps and bloops that punctuate the track.

If like me you are fan of minimal, rolling tech house then this is an absolute must, as is the flip side “Saving Prayers” which is another minimal edit of a Kraftwork song. Although it has only been released on vinyl, so you might want to be quick to snap up a copy before you get priced out of it on Discogs. A real positive is that this release has been put out on a new label called Retro, and is the first release on there – so keep tabs on it for future releases. If they’re half as good as this is then, we are all on to a real winner.

Sergie Rezza is made up of DJ Deep and Roman Poncet, both of whom are very successful DJ’s and producers in their own right. They have come together however, to produce a slew of EP’s released on their own Sergie Rezza Records label, the vinyl only Point G and Desire Records.

MONTE is a track from their Re-Introduction EP, which was released on their own Sergie Rezza label. It starts with some swirling chanting vocals and a thumping bass line, this is just to let you know what sort sonic assault you are about to have bestowed upon your ears. As the track progresses, more swirling vocals and percussive elements join the mix, with bongos coming through as the strongest sound leaving the electronic drum beat faintly petering out in the background. Coming over the top there are synth swirls which wouldn’t sound out of place in a horror film, but once they die off the bass and kick drum thump back in and you realise what an absolute left field techno monster this is. It’s the sort of track that you could drop in a house set to perfectly transition towards techno, or in a techno set to move it away from death by 4/4 909 kick drums and towards more lighter sounds. Basically, it’s an absolute weapon when used at the right point in a set – I wouldn’t suggest that its nice track to just sit and listen to, unless you fancy taking a mental trip away from the office to the middle of a Berlin club.

Moon Boots, real name Pete Dougherty, is an American DJ and Producer. He is probably best known for Love Strong and his remixes of Bondax & Little Boots. However, you might also have heard the remixes of a few of his tracks by big hitters such as HNNY & Le Youth. To be totally honest, I had heard his music long before I knew who he was and despite my best efforts information about him remains elusive on the internet. So this is the best you’re getting.

Love Strong (released in May of 2013 on French Express) is a song which, really is at the forefront of the whole “Disclosure / Deep House” movement that  really exploded around this time. Moon Boots creates a fantastic disco bass grooves overlaid with some simple stabbed piano chords and some space age modular synths create a big summery feel. Then some huge 80’s sounding female vocals, are gradually introduced brought through the midst, growing in sound until they are the forefront of the song. However, at no point does any part over take the other sections, which is quite a feat given how much is going on at any given time. It might be a couple years old but sounds just as fresh as it did then, a summer must. 

Sadly this no longer a free download from his SoundCloud but, it can be purchased from Beatport or iTunes. (Sorry about the video, it was the best one I could find on YouTube)

Joe Brunning, is a British DJ & producer, whose name is surprisingly unknown in comparison to his music. He’s currently signed to Carl Cox’s Intec Digital label and his production covers a wide range of genres from Deep House to Tribal Techno, a few of his monstrous tracks include; Let It Roll, Underground E Motion and the beastly Now Let Me See You Work. His music is regularly played by Carl Cox and has even had some of his unreleased music featured on Carl Cox’s Ibiza boiler room. I’m not sure if you’ve picked up on the fact by now but, I’m a massive fan of his music.

Soul Matters begins with some tribal bongo’s before developing a rolling techno bass line that promises an out and out thrashing. However, this idea is put to bed with the introduction of some ethereal keyboards and synth lines that wouldn’t be out of place in a trance song. With the introduction of these, the bass changes tack and begins rattling along with synths following the note pattern but more than a few octaves lowers in a very subdued manner allowing for the track to build and build before reaching it’s crux. At which, point everything dies away (standard house music drop) with a spoken word vocal over the top declaring “Give me heart, give me soul” before dropping back into the building melody that never quite explodes into the rolling techno belter that the listener expects from the start. This helps to not only keep listeners on their toes but, also allows for it to be a moment of respite in a set. Surprisingly this song is remarkably slow clocking in at 120bpm, but it feels a lot quicker.