Arkajo Dorisburg Efraim Kent
AniaraWL04

We are glad to welcome the Italian veteran A.T. aka Ivan Iacobucci in our crew!This 3 tracker EP is a journey into the deep and hypnotic side of House and Techno.“Overseas” is a gritty jam for the dancefloor, while on B side two versions of “Bluephonic” explore a more atmospheric, trippy but yet groovy sound.

Scottish Techno wizard Astro joins PIFF Records on their landmark tenth release, with 5 cosmic and groovy belters.Having recently found success with his own Neptune Discs imprint and regularly performing up and down the country, Astro has firmly established himself as one to watch in the techno sphere.Opening with the title track, Astro combines a relentless bassline with dubbed-out chords and spacey leads. Echoing space-age soundscapes and futuristic sounds of 70s kosmische musik and 90s techno, Astro makes good on the aesthetic promised by his artist name.Astro brings down the tempo for the hypnotic Cloned Substance. A mesmerising hat pattern combines with delay-drenched leads and a bouncy bassline to create a track intent on capturing the listener in a state of trance.Thunderstorm adheres to the tried-and-tested Astro combination of a thick bassline, spacey stabs, and continuously evolving drums. As to be expected, the results are spectacular. Irresistible grooves and rich soundscapes are the order of the day as Astro delivers once again.A haunting and proggy FM-lead acts as the foundation for Pluto, underpinned by a sub-heavy kick and tranquil chords. The meditative ebb and flow of various elements masterfully expresses the solitude of the track’s namesake.Planetary Blitz closes the EP as a digital bonus track. Expanding on the spaced-out motifs of the previous track (as reflected in the track title), Astro substitutes chord stabs and warm basslines for a driving blend of punchy kicks and a subtle glittery guitar.

Another dreamer joins our OCD ranks. After our launch EP by ac$, we’ve cast our ears across the pond and discovered Adam Solomon, pushing the underground scene up in Montreal. With influences spanning across various genres, we believe Adam’s debut EP is just a small insight into what his career will bring forth. From MTL 2 the World.

Up next in our main series are Milan-based dub techno outfit Primal Code. With a solid back catalogue comprising releases for Hypnus Records, TGP and Konstrukt, the Italian duo have honed their skills to impressive effect over the last few years, forging a sound signature thoroughly engaging on both body and cerebral levels, and now punching in on KOC to breathe further hard-hitting opaque heat into the collection.Putting things into gear, “AI Calculator” propels us across dim-lit streetscapes and murky subterranean entrails, pared-down to a minimal array of modular signals, subtle machine inflections and particularly acute rhythmic progression. Steering the original into further pumped-up, DJ-friendly territories, NAFF affiliate Priori, hot on heels from his sophomore album, drops the hammer badman style, bringing forth the racing muscular bass and squelchy machine talk on loop mode to keep everyone on their toes from start to finish. Flexing a different kind of acidic swagger, “Autopilot” pulls out the weird extra-terrestrial jazz tropes and whirling dynamics for a round of proper otherworldly bop in the outer-space. Last but not least, “Mainframe” rounds off the release on a more openly experimental note, letting the loops, envelopes and textures float in a haze of half-controlled abstraction. The result evokes something of an immunocompromised Rubber Johnny getting glazed as he weightlessly drifts off from a galaxy to another, and into another world completely.