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BnB Review: Alex Niggemann - Paranoid Funk (Poker Flat)

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:38:00 GMT

Residing in the epicenter of all things electronic, Berlin, 26 year-old Alex Niggemann has been releasing a slew of hotly tipped releases on labels such as Tsuba, Supernature, 8Bit and Poker Flat since 2008, merging retro elements to jacking Chicago grooves and deep but very powerful textures. Paranoid Funk has become a culmination of his musical efforts so far, as it transmits pretty much everything us demanding clubbers could wish for in today’s overcrowded house and techno scene.

A very warm and diverse album in essence, Paranoid Funk switches from dark cuts for midnight dancefloors to more above-ground electronics in which elements from roughly 20 years of house collide. After the hypnotic opening track Don’t Wait, the album sails towards heavier material such as the massive Chicago-tinged jack track The Sweetest Thing (with Daniel Solar) and the throbbing Audiofly-esque Curious. Each track is filled

BnB Review: Ryan Davis - Particles Of Bliss

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:03:59 GMT

The press release that came with this album states that Ryan Davis “refers to his music as "soundscapes" rather than trax. (…) His history of releasing music with labels worldwide leaves marks of a musical journey rich of emotions, dreams and desires.” We couldn’t have said it any better. Ever since his first release came out (Transformer – 2006), Ryan Davis has been releasing a steady supply of tracks defined by a great deal of atmosphere and self-expression: soothing pads, euphoric synth waves and heartwarming vibes are just some of the melodic aspects that mark his music, while thumping kickdrums and organic percussion assure packed floors.

Particles of Bliss is Ryan’s debut album and is set to appear through Traum, one of Germany’s finest labels when it comes to high quality house music. It has become a canvas for Ryan to demonstrate his skills to

BnB Review: Fachwerk 25 - Compiled By Mike Dehnert

Thu, 17 May 2012 16:06:38 GMT

The Fachwerk label is best known for its high quality, dubby and unconventional techno, and in that sense this album comes as a bit of a surprise. Although Fachwerk 25 does reflect the hallmark sound of the label,
the album as a whole is much more diverse and draws on a much wider range of genres then we're used to hear from the imprint. Is this a negative thing? We think not.

All tracks are churned out by Mike himself and range from slo-mo chugging house to beautifully layered ambient and no-nonsense, stripped Detroit-ish techno. The ambient intro lays down the basics of the album's musical direction, and going forward from track two the compilation continuous to serve up a bunch of incredibly solid house and techno bombs. Tracks such as the acid-induced Fraction and Modulat are typical examples of mid-tempo trip-house

BnB Review: Jin Choi - A Thousand Whales Of Love

Sun, 06 May 2012 10:17:58 GMT

"A Thousand Whales Of Love" (Album Promo Snippets 128kBit) by Jin Choi

Variation is what it’s all about in today’s electronic music industry. Due to today’s wealth of subgenres, the need for longplayers that have more in store than just peak time floor material has grown out to the point where they have become industry standards, yet it takes great skill and creativity to actually deliver an album that manages to stay interesting from the first to last second. Jin Choi’s debut album A Thousand Whales Of Love is such an album.

After a slew of releases on labels such as Contexterrior, Lessizmore and Archipel amongst others, Korea-born/Berlin-based producer Jin Choi now delivers his first full-length, which has become avert colorful and diverse piece of work. Whereas his EPs revolve around stripped but melodic house, this

BnB Review: Chelonis R. Jones - The Prison Buffet (Systematic)

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 17:25:56 GMT

10. Chelonis R. Jones The Incredible Sulk (Soundcloud Preview) by systematicrecordings

An American artist of the old school tradition leaving NYC for Europe in order to pursue a career in the world of The Arts- Chelonis got signed to Get Physical in 2001 and immediately hit it big with 'One & One', a collaboration with Booka Shade and M.A.N.D.Y. on which he dropped his trademarked sexy vocals.
Collabos with Spektre, Oliver Huntemann and Röyksopp soon followed, which further cemented his status as a mainstay in today's electronic scene.

The Prison Buffet is Chelonis' fourth album, and his second release for Systematic. The album spawns the sound we've come to know Chelonis for: throbbing deep house, electro bits, poppy elements and the man's abstract, soulful,

BnB Review: GoGo Get Down - Compiled By Joey Negro

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:29:02 GMT

So, GoGo Funk eh? Yup, but we can imagine a little history lesson would be most welcome here. In short, the Funk genre was shaped in 70s Washington DC and was soon dubbed the laidback brother of funk, emphasizing on slo-mo grooves and loads (and we do mean loads…) of conga’s. Given the genre’s fairly local existence and rarity of the original recordings, it’s quite an accomplishment that Z Records honcho Joey Negro has managed to get a hold of some of the most exciting tunes from the GoGo Funk era.

As someone who has more or less made a career out of being a music lover, it’s a great buzz to put together and release albums of these semi-forgotten genres like GoGo or our recent Brit Funk compilation. Many of the tracks included on this album are ultra obscure local-only releases which I’ve picked up over

BnB Review: Stefny Winter - Wind Walker (Archipel)

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:39:57 GMT

Coming from the 90s as a DJ who would juggle with a variety of genres, the 00s have seen Stefny turning more towards techno territories. Still, her broad vision on electronic music is evidently present on her debut album Wind Walker. Across twelve tracks, Stefny moves from spacious techno to slightly psychedelic deep house and a handful of hybrid and experimental compositions, delivering a very balanced LP in the process.

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BnB Review: Undo - Motas De Polvo

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:13:04 GMT

It’s been six years since his debut album as Undo, but the wait has been worth it. On his second album Motas De Polvo, Gabriel Berlanga (formerly a member of the dream pop outfit The Light before venturing into the realms of electronic music) further closes the gap between indie pop and electronics in the form of nine incredibly hybrid and utterly stunning tracks. The result is a solid album in which shoegaze pop, organic electronica, and uptempo cosmic disco beats are just some of the ingredients that make up this album, which as a whole can be described as a truly fascinating collection of electronic music in its most intense yet intangible form.

Motas De Polvo is more dancefloor-orientated than Undo’s debut album but its content remains relatively sedate from beginning to end. Opening track Before It Disappears immediately introduced us to

BnB Review: TJ Kong & Modular K - Dream Cargoes (Poker Flat)

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 10:12:35 GMT

TJ Kong & Modular K Dream cargoes (album preview snippets) by TJ Kong

Having been friends and colleagues for well over a decade, both TJ Kong and Modular K have been providing the worldwide dance community with vast doses of melodic (deep)house tracks on a variety of labels such as Four:Twenty and Compost. More recently they’ve contributed tunes to Poker Flat’s Forward To The Past compilation series, and that same label now serves as an outlet for the duo’s new album Dream Cargoes.

Dream Cargoes lines up ten expansive tracks built from warm chords, organic basslines and lush synth layers, coated in a mix of both futuristic and vintage atmospherics. Although the album as a whole is deeply rooted in deep house, we also come across bits of progressive house and even techno from time to time. This

BnB Review: Bedrock's Underground Sound Of Miami

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:33:09 GMT

Bedrock_Underground Sound of Miami by John Digweed on Mixcloud

Whether you take this whole Miami thing serious or not, fact is that the event brings along plenty of opportunities to hear new music from labels and artists. These opportunities often present themselves in the form of samplers (which appear even before promo mailings are sent out) and quality tends to vary, but this one right here is something special. Why? 'cuz new stuff from the mighty Bedrock label always has our undivided attention, and once again we're not

BnB Review: fabric 62 (DJ Sneak)

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:10:07 GMT

DJ Sneak is a proper stalwart of the scene – the mere mention of his name being enough to raise a smile from any dedicated househead. That’s the idea behind those ‘I’m a house gangster’ he’s been pictured wearing recently. It’s not about being a criminal, but rather being dedicated to house music, even when a few years ago it seemed to be getting pushed aside by pretty much every other electronic genre. But now everyone’s playing house again, so it’s with consummate skill that fabric go to someone who always kept the faith – Carlos Sosa (Sneak’s real name) has come a long way from his roots in Puerto Rico, via a background as a graffiti artist in his new home, Chicago, where in the 90s he became a DJ who’d work with established players like Green Velvet and Derrick Carter to hone skills that would make him an

BnB Review: Nick Curly - Between The Lines

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:48:43 GMT

In just a few years, Nick Curly has grown out to become one of the most exciting house producers to emerge from Germany. As one of the originators of the ‘Sound of Mannheim’, Curly rose to prominence due to a fine selection of solo productions and remixes on labels such as Cocoon, 8Bit and Murmur while rocking floors from The Netherlands to Ibiza and everything in between. His debut album Between The Lines, consisting of 10 organic house bombs, sees Nick further cementing his status as a credible producer.

Between The Lines is the work of an artist who fully understands what clubbers want to hear on the dancefloor, while at the same time being diverse enough for more chilled moments. Sound wise, Nick has managed to create a wonderful flow, gradually building up from soothing and deep to dancefloor extravaganza. Opening tracks Inside My Head and

BnB Review: Petar Dundov - Ideas From The Pond

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:44:38 GMT

Petar Dundov has been supplying us with minimal techno for ages, many of which have established him as a credible producer in the field of highly melodic, stripped down grooves. After a set of well received releases, Petar now presents a new album on which he explores the boundaries of minimal techno, which has resulted in 7 tracks with an average length of 10 minutes each. Smoothly shifting from chilled out grooves to crafty dancefloor material, the album as a whole can definitely be called one of the most melodic and musical in the genre today. Opening track Ideas From The Pond, for instance, isn’t minimal techno per se, but its revolving keys guarantee a warm welcome to the listener. The tracks that follow are for the floors, but the many layered keys, arps, and fx also make them little gems to enjoy at

BnB Review: Oliver Schories - Herzensangelegenheit

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 15:06:15 GMT

Among the latest wave of promising producers with a penchant for deep and emotive techno is Germany’s Oliver Schories, one of 2011s one-to-watch artists and a new favorite for clubbers who like their techno grooves organic and melodic. After a string of releases for labels such as Kollektiv Turmstrasse's Musik Gewinnt Freude and Ostwind, Oliver now presents his first full-length in the form of the 13-track Herzensangelegenheit (meaning 'matters of the heart' in German).

If we would get a nickel for every promo we receive that is labeled ‘melodic, heartfelt, emotive, yadayadayada’, we would have been filthy rich by now. Labels and artists alike know these words make powerful selling points, but the simple (and painful) truth is that only very few releases actually deliver. So, when we came across these keywords in this album’s press release, we were a bit wary to say the least. That

BnB Review: Various Artists - Sieben (Mixed By Chris Tietjen)

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:49:48 GMT

Although still only in his mid-twenties, Chris can definitely be called one of Cocoon’s most exciting artists. He’s been touring the globe with label honcho Sven Väth (we still remember his DJ sets back in the mid-00s. but sadly not the name of the festival he was playing…) while also being in charge of the label’s ‘Numbers’ series since 2006, which has now reached its seventh instalment. Anyhoo, enough with the background info: of course you want to know whether this release is any good. Let’s find out.

The tracklist looks quite decent to us: Nick Curly, Boys Noize, Maetrik, Guy Gerber… pretty solid, not too surprising but hey, it’s the music that counts. And in terms of that this compilation definitely delivers. The mix opens elegantly with Ross Evana’s The Thrilla In Manilla before blasting off to housier territories with tracks from Maetrik (the