Best New Releases from October 2019
Each month we listen to hundreds of new tracks, test the standouts on club or bedroom speakers and pick our favorites.
October has provided some exciting tracks and imposing full-length albums featuring incredibly talented artists such as Baikal, Lawrence, Love Over Entropy, Tracey, RDS, A Psychic Yes, Dewemer, Even Tuell, TOOOL, Two Shell, Hunter Lombard released on Maeve, KANN, Dial Records, De Lichting, Kalahari Oyster Cult, Nous’klaer Audio, Workshop, Schloss Records and Livity Sound.
Even Tuell
Highway Daydreams
Workshop
Even Tuell is back to the Hardwax affiliated deep house imprint Workshop, the label that he runs with Lowtec, with a brand new “Workshop27” EP. It’s his first solo release in five years since 2014’s “Longing Way” EP via Latency. In every sense, Paul David Rollmann‘s “Workshop 27” EP is an amalgamation of intricate leftfield house and techno sounds in connection with intelligent sonic mood.
The introspective and elegant "Highway Dreams" grinds through a circular drum pattern build on pulsing hi-hats and crispy electronic textures wrapped in a blanket of warm frequencies and delicate synth lines.
FOOOL
Shoplifter Of The Year
KANN
Leipzig-based KANN Records continues to spotlight the brightest talent from the underground electronic music world. Their latest release welcomes FOOOL, a project that originally started as a live band and later developed into "solo performances and widespread collaborations", for an exquisite mini album. The new "Shoplifter 2000" EP is described by KANN as follows:
"The new EP is about adolescence, peer pressure and - the most romantic act of teenage love in late capitalism possible - shoplifting goods for your lover. 5 tracks combine broken electronic beats, gritty synthesizer melodies, kraut-ish guitar riffs with a punk rock attitude."
The thrilling collection also features a twisted remix from mighty London-based producer Desert Sound Colony.
Filled with combined energetics of intricate breakbeat drum patterns, addictive synth melody and electrifying guitar riffs “Shoplifter Of The Year“ displays FOOOL’s master kraut-ish house finesse.
Hunter Lombard
Magic In Light
Schloss Records
Following last year’s debut release on Volvox and John Barera’s label Jack Dept imprint, the New York-based producer and an active rock musician Hunter Lombard brings her musical affluence to Karima F’s Schloss Records. With wide range moods and styles, the three-track “Slow Foam” EP exists somewhere between the dance-floor and the euphoric world.
The second track on the EP “Magic In Light” continues the tradition of elevated dance floor melancholia. It masterfully brings lush old-school rhythms interwoven with breakbeat, flowing harmonies and delicate sequenced synth melody
Two Shell
SYNC-2020
Livity Sound
The latest release on the forward-thinking Livity Sound comes courtesy of the enigmatic London-based Two Shell, who debuts their “Access” EP on Bristol’s label. The four-track package is “drawing influence from the South London underground of the late nineties and early noughties with a nod to more contemporary Bristol sounds.”
The vibrant closing track "SYNC-2020" pulses on a gritty, bass-driven groove layered with futuristic electronic embellishments and 90s funky vibe.
Tracey
TRR (Lawrence remix)
Dial Records
Amsterdam-based producer Tim Reuijg is revisiting his impressive 2019’s debut album “Biostar” as Tracey in the form of a new “Biostar Remixes” EP. This digital-only remix collection features a diverse group of talented artists turning out their unique interpretations of the original album tracks. With contributions from the Dutch producer Steve Rachmad, Dial Records label boss Lawrence, Darling, Jordan GCZ, Sterac Electronics, the “Biostar Remixes” EP gives a fresh perspective on Tracey’s beautiful album.
Fused with driving ghostly energy, Lawrence’s version of the “TRR” gradually morphs into a hypnotic nocturnal sound through waves of twisted synth lines, ominous baseline and subtle emotive melody
Love Over Entropy
Unfathom (Steady State)
Dutch electronic music maestro Love Over Entropy revealed his second exclusive single “Unfathom” via Bandcamp platform. The EP presents four versions of the alluring piece ushering the main idea into new sonic territory that is “not aiming for perfection but simply with having a good time.” The demo version can be downloaded for free.
Here is how Love Over Entropy describes the release:
“The project started off with the demo version of Unfathom, which can be downloaded for free. It came about quite quickly and for those into pop quizzes, it features dummy drums taken straight from my track “Sea”. For the main version, I slowed things down a bit and let everything breathe more. What the track loses in the drive, it wins in depth. The Deep-Six Version dives below the surface to explore the melodic elements against a backdrop of tight broken beats. And lastly, the Steady State version is all about music as a landscape. Moving but going nowhere, stuck in place.”
A Psychic Yes
A Maze Dream (Sapphire Slow Mix)
Kalahari Oyster Cult
UK-born Berlin-based artist A Psychic Yes steps up for the next release on the Dutch record label Kalahari Oyster Cult.
On his second “A Maze Dream” EP, the British producer merges intricate percussion shifts and vibrant harmonies with irresistible sub-tropical rhythms injected with a leftfield vibe.
Japan’s Sapphire Slow remix of the title track propels the original tune forward with the exhilarating fusion of colorful hypnotic groove and delicate leftfield intricacies.
Baikal
Hear Me
Maeve
It's always exciting to hear what Maeve is about to release next, and their latest package from the record label co-founder Baikal is no exception. A renowned perfectionist returns to his own imprint with his first solo release in three years, a two-track EP titled “Hear Me”.
On the lead title track, Baikal creates a melting pot of tweaky sounds and rhythms that have multi-layered instrumentation, deep percussive roots, and unconventional raw energy.
Dewemer
Jeer
Nous’klaer Audio
The latest installment in the Rotterdam-based imprint Nous’klaer Audio comes courtesy of Dewemer, a new project from Dutch producers Tammo Hesslelink and his long-time friend Elkan. Their debut double LP “Long Low Edmund” is “inspired by friendship, spice girls, minimal afters and sunrises in the german countryside.”
The closing track “Jeer" expands upon the arpeggio-driven introspective, cinematic motif reflecting a theme more akin to the “Twin Peaks”. From the opening breath of the dreamy broken beat, the music unfolds with elegant gravity expertly creating a sense of unsettling beauty.
RDS
224
De Lichting
An exciting Amsterdam collective De Lichting, a fruitful partnership between three Dutch underground record labels such as Yield Records, Native Response and Working Titles, returns with the third installment of their compilation series.
A new compilation album “Drie” is an impressive collection of the well-crafted original tracks ranging from ambient to leftfield to house and futuristic techno.
On the C side, RDS pairs his extravagant electro-fusion approach with an underlying funk-inspired quality and dancefloor-friendly broken beat touch saturated in the cinematic ambiance.