There’s been quite a bit of talk of late on revivals, most notably those of the jungle and grime variety, but one that hasn’t been talked up quite as much is the acid revival I believe has been taking place. Recently we’ve seen artists like Delroy Edwards put out acid-tinged constructions and the second track on Amir Alexander’s Don’t Go EP is a worthy addition to the ranks. Out early December as a release on secretsundaze, Don’t Go is a lo-fi, two-sided affair with distorted bass that cuts deep on both tracks, but the B-side’s the one that really caught my attention.
Don’t Go is out on the 9th of December as a vinyl only release and you can pre-order it here.
Words by Matt.
Plenty of record labels give away tracks to celebrate reaching a landmark number of ‘followers’ or ‘likes’ on respective social media channels, but rarely are they this generous. Featuring seven tracks, all by different artists including the likes of Innershades, Orgue Electronique and Delta Funktionen, Behold I Send You Out showcases all that we love to associate with Creme, with stripped-back, jacking and often lo-fi house tracks with retro undertones making up most of the compilation. Now armed with some new 4×4 weapons we congratulate Creme on reaching 10,000 Soundcloud followers and thank them for this kind offering.
To celebrate reaching a landmark 100th episode in their podcast series, 
Here’s a track set for release in Athens, made by a Frenchman, who is living in Germany. Confusing enough? Even if so, one would assume such a track would have an air of the continent, but if anything Willis Anne’s ‘Btrack’ comes off like something indigenous to the East Coast of the United States. Reminiscent of a track from L.I.E.S. mainstay Steve Summers (it’s hardly a coincidence that Summers recently headed the bill for Willis Anne’s LAN night that takes place regularly in Berlin), it’s abundantly clear that this guy prefers the analogue approach, deploying a harsh and unrelenting beat that’s complimented well by the delicate melodies and gentle synth textures.
Since its inception The Trilogy Tapes has risen above the mediocrity to stand at the front of the British techno scene and Will Bankhead’s transformation from record sleeve designer to label boss is well and truly complete. For proof you don’t need to look any further than the EP from Ondo Fudd that’s set for a release on TTT in the near future. The title track is a resonant construction with a floaty melody, held together by some carefully arranged clap-snare combinations. The acid-tinged, B-side offering, ‘Harbour’, moves along at a more leisurely pace without feeling sluggish as some sparsely arranged breakbeats work nicely with the other percussive elements.
The recent influx of releases to come out of the Futureboogie camp have been well received here at If-Only as the Bristol label set themselves up for a big finish to the year. A Futureboogie debut for Outboxx, a brilliant collaborative effort from some regular faces and an EP from label mainstay Lukas are joined now by a first solo outing for the producer we know as Hackman. All three tracks fit nicely in with the current Futureboogie ethos, preferring to focus on the groove rather than the moment and if you were a fan of ‘Forgotten Notes’, there’s a good chance that you’ll like these tracks too.
If I had to sum up Arkist’s output in brief I’d say something like “forward-thinking, sonic explorations with a real emphasis on swing”, but that sounds a bit pretentious, don’t you think? Either way, ‘Star’, the Bristolian’s latest Soundcloud upload runs the line of a pretty typical Arkist track, shaping the whirs of bass and dazzling melodies around a 4×4 rhythm, in turn equipping it with the kind of groove prominent throughout his work (something that also features heavily in releases on Applepips, the Bristol-based label run by Appleblim that Arkist has featured on in the past).
With a back catalogue featuring the head-spinning constructions of Paul Woolford’s Special Request project, haunting collaborative effort Snow Ghosts and the tech hybrids of Call Super, Houndstooth have already taken great strides to establish themselves in the UK underground. R
I don’t think many would disagree that much of the L.I.E.S. output could be considered an acquired taste, but occasionally there’s an offering that’s a little easier to swallow than the usual releases. The immersive ‘Missing’ is undoubtedly engineered for intimate headphone listening and will feature on KWC 92′s Dream of the Walled City, but while it isn’t as avant-garde as other L.I.E.S. tracks, word is the rest of the release is a little more abstract (according to Resident Advisor the concept behind the LP is a “soundtrack to a movie set in Kowloon’s Walled City, a densely populated, ungoverned area that was demolished by authorities in 1993″).