Article
Lucy

Albums
Alphabets Heaven
AREA C
Aidan Baker
Black Devil Disco Club
Cluster
Dakota Suite & Errante
Davis & Machinefabriek
Deaf Center
Fancy Mike
FM3
Forest Swords
Frivolous
Hakobune
Kyo Ichinose
Juv
Deniz Kurtel
Sven Laux
Lucy
Stephan Mathieu
Joel Mull
Near The Parenthesis
Netherworld
nunu
Fabio Orsi
Penalune
Pleq
port-royal
Rainbow Arabia
Todd Reynolds
Roedelius
Rosenqvist and Scott
Steffi
Sublamp
SubtractiveLAD
Tapage

Compilations
Back and 4th
Future Disco Volume 4
SMM: Context
Tasogare: Live in Tokyo

EPs
Aardvarck & Kubus
Corrugated Tunnel
Debilos
Djamel
Tolga Fidan
Flowers and Sea Creatures
Anne Garner
Mike Jedlicka / Cloudburst
Mo 2 Meaux-2
Proximity One: Remixes
Darren Rice
Sepalcure
Sharma + Krause
Josh T
Talvihorros
Francesco Tristano
Widesky
Dez Williams

Darren Rice: M9
Heavyreel

M9, its title cut a club-ready techno monster from Darren Rice accompanied by remixes from Donnacha Costello and Diarmaid O'Meara, inaugurates Heavy Reel, a new imprint overseen by Irish producers Rice and Djamel and intended as an outlet for forward-thinking electronic music by, initially, the label heads and, in time, others too. Rice lays it on thick and fast in his “M9” original, starting with a granite-heavy beat pattern whose slamming lockstep is powered by a rolling bass pulse that Rice then builds up with one layer after another. Thrusting forward, the tune is peppered with creamy chords, ringing ride cymbals, and—most trippily—a buzz-saw strafe of ammo-firing synth stabs that, coupled with an occasional dive-bomb, gives the cut its distinctive character. Costello's remix exchanges Rice's forward drive for a less frenetic skip without losing any of the original's tripped-out aura. There's more of a jacking feel to the makeover, and Costello wisely ensures that there's no lack of swing as the version's off-beat hi-hats and dubby chord punctuations ride it into the second half. At disc's end, Gobsmacked Records label head Diarmaid O'Meara weighs in with his own slamming version, its rolling bass throb and thrum given a hearty percussive spanking by the Berlin-based producer. The EP's a solid start for what one expects will be an equally solid label.

March 2011