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MR OIZO / MOUSTACHE (HALF A SCISSOR) / FCOM

Free expression with no restraints. In Quentin Dupieux’s case, it is absolutely true. He became famous for the electro monster groove Flat Beat, which we all associate with Flat Eric that little yellow puppet from the Levis advert. Now he shows up with a short, abnormally distorted, wild, cut-u...

BAJOFONDO TANGOCLUB / SUPERVIELLE / SURCO

Bajofondo Tangoclub is a collective of musicians either originally or closely connected to Latin America, particularly Argentina and Uruguay. “Bajofondo” means underground, even though nobody would probably use this term in the meaning of alternative and independent. But in this case it applies...

OUTPUT COMPILATION / CHANNEL 4 / OUTPUT

What can I say about Trevor Jackson? He knows how to make an artist big without selling him ruthlessly and blindly to the sponging mainstream, and he has definitely got the right touch. We have got the usual suspects on here like MU, DK7 and Colder amongst newcomers like Von Spar and the myster...

EROTIC MOMENTS IN HOUSE 1-3 / THE ULTIMATE BOX SET COLLECTION / DESSOUS

If you are a discerning deep house fan, then chances are you will find it hard to resist this 5-CD box set, adorned with a variety of cheeky minxes in various compromising positions. Brought into being by label chief Steve Bug, it is a retrospective of the 12” vinyl releases on his Dessous Reco...

FREEFORM FIVE / STRANGEST THINGS / FINE

Another pop-orientated album. Freeform Five are four personalities with different backgrounds that came together more or less by accident. There is mastermind, producer, instrumentalist and songwriter Anu Pillai and the vocalists Cabba, Tamara Barnett-Herrin and Nick Decosemo. Strangest Things...

BLOC PARTY / SILENT ALARM REMIXED / WICHITA

Do Bloc Party actually need remixing? Is there a single dance floor from Hoxton to Osaka that isn't, at this very instant, vibrating to their angular punk-funk revival sounds, to ”So Here We Are“, or to ”Banquet“? Someone at Wichita Recordings evidently thinks so. And while remix albums rarely...

ALTER EGO / TRANSPHORMED / PLAYHOUSE

Transphormer was the album that pushed Alter Ego into the limelight, especially with the huge single ”Rocker“, an underground and then a commercial mega-success story. Now they have followed up with the double CD Transphormed. Two for the price of one?! I hear you say. Yes, indeed. On CD 1 you...

THE PRODIGY / THEIR LAW – THE SINGLES 1990 – 2005 / XL RECORDINGS

Fifteen years is a long time in dance music, because judged from one perspective, fifteen years is the history of dance music. And just as The Prodigy were there are the start, they're here today. Each of these tracks was justifiably massive on release, and few have lost their immediacy, power...

LEROY HANGHOFER / WHITE TRASH / GOMMA

How come that this kind of Dance music seems to be so related to the slick glamour of fashion? The truth is, it blithely ignores all that. Since back in days when Larry Levan played at the Paradise Garage until today disco-punk-funk wants nothing more than you to dance. This idea hasn’t change...

COLDER / HEAT / OUTPUT RECORDINGS

Colder, aka Marc Nguyen Tan, follows up his brilliant debut, ”Again, with Heat“, and it doesn’t disappoint. Introspective, eerie soundscapes from this Parisian are strewn across his album like burnt autumn leaves – check out ”The Winters Fields“ and ”Fade Away“ and you will see. Marc sounds as...

MU / OUT OF BREACH / OUTPUT RECORDINGS

Out of breach, out of reach and just plain out there, this is an album unlike anything you have heard before. Screeching, frenetic, bizarre, amusing and completely refreshing, Mu is a little pocket rocket. The ”Paris Hilton“ track is now a notorious club classic, and the way Mu sings ”Would you...

MARC HELLNER / MARRIAGES / PEACEFROG

Minutes into the CD, you find yourself seated in the Albert Hall. An unconventional sextet have taken the stage, their feet disappear beneath a spaghetti sprawl of wires and circuitry punctuated by gadgets and gizmos all snaking toward a mixing desk. The lights dim and the reds and greens of in...

ERIK SUMO / MY ROCKY MOUNTAIN / PULVER RECORDS

This Budapest-based producer, otherwise known as Ambrus Tövisházi, has numerous aliases, Erik Sumo being the one he is best known for internationally. On ”My Rocky Mountain“ he brings Eastern European flavours together with Western musical trends with remarkable ease. You’ll want to turn this u...

KITSUNE / KITSUNE MAISON COMPILATION / KITSUNE

Those clever people at cult label Kitsune (they‘re French, you know) have struck gold yet again with another frankly brilliant compilation. A democratic mixture of their own artists with ones they just simply like, Maison is the kind of compilation put together with so much love you feel it and...

AUDIO BULLY'S / GENERATION / SOURCE

In 2005 Audio Bully's exist halfway between the filter-disco sophistication of the absent Daft Punk and the brutally streetwise energy of The Streets. It's a place they occupy totally. On ”Generation“ they evolve the game they started with their 2001 debut and deliver a fine collection of track...