Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly common for artists to create their own labels. That is true to Berlin-based duo Chopstick & Johnson, owners of Suol imprint, that has been dropping great house and techno music since its inception in 2010, releasing albums for artists like Trickski, Fritz Kalkbrenner, Chasing Kurt, Daniel Bortz and Till von Sein. The duo itself has a steady catalogue of singles and EPs that date back to 2004, but only now they're releasing their debut album, 'Twelve'.

Chi-Thien Nguyen and John B. Muder (the two musician's true names) seem to have a genetic disposition for building soothing house gems, trading energy for ambience and while their music is mainly dance floor oriented, it can also easily find its place in your living room at a dinner with friends or even as a soundtrack for relaxing after a stressful work day. They also have remixed other artists like Digitalism, Sono, Aeroplane and Robyn, usually adding their organic conception of rhythm to the originals in order to provide a calm incursion into house music territory. Sometimes, they also venture into other genres, experimenting with electro and even hip-hop. Whatever the result, it always seems to be fueled by the symbiosis that connects the two artists.

But one can't forget another piece of this puzzle called 'Twelve': Chris James, singer of the band Stateless, is heavily featured in most of the tracks, his voice becoming another instrument - or, should we say, THE instrument? -, giving a lot of character to Chopstick & Johnson's electronic constructions. Not too fierceful nor too faint, his candid vocals harmonize with the duo's subtle sound and lush compositions.

'Twelve' starts with a slow burning track called 'Run Slowly', a fluid and eerie ballad in which acoustic elements play side by side with deep beats to create an effortless song rooted in the deep house dialects. On the other hand, songs like 'Comets' and 'Silent Sea' steadily increase the endorphin flux, releasing seductive pheromones that will make your body react to their encompassing rhythms.

Another contributor to this album's rich and smooth atmosphere is Tanner Ross, a New Jersey born producer that is also a member of the Wolf + Lamb crew. In 'Twisted' he uses his production skills to create a lazy jam, a barely naked rhythmic structure that becomes incredibly sensual and organic, sustaining James' vocals with intangible scarlet strings of silk. He returns in 'Nothing Yet', where disco droplets refresh the album's overall mood.

Chopstick & Johnson also visit landscapes where jazz and soul architectures rule. That is more notorious in  the sultry 'Dissolving Spaces', a track in which the basal percussion and the cello strings sculpt its personality. Meanwhile, you get fascinated by 'Erase This Images' contemporaneity as the solid beats and the gentle synths bring the dancefloor to you, wherever you may be. But if those two songs reflect the past and the present, 'I Will Follow' could carry in its structure visions of the future, easily becoming one of the most frolicsome tunes in the whole album, grooming soft piano chords and vocal fragments with a modern tech-house structure.

One of the previously released singles is also featured on the album: 'Pinning Moon' is filled with a tribal charisma that easily buys you off, as James' lines wonderfully intertwine with this Chopstick & Johnson imaginative sonic ritual. There are acoustic guitar swirls and a contemplative cello cry, both adding layers of mysticism to the song.

The last songs in the album might be the least interesting, though. 'Roots' sounds like commonplace tech-house and were it not for James' voice, it would become easily forgetable, while the bubbly 'Dreading the Light' just doesn't live up to the rest of the album strong moments. The last song is an acoustic rendition of 'Pinning Moon', which might be a wonderful and serene way to end the album but doesn't bring anything new to the experience.

Ultimately, the album's main strenght is its ability to give warmth and a human touch to electronic music, specially to house and dance music, which many artists fail to convey in their songs. The ten years the duo have waited sure worked in their favor, enabling them to grow as artists and put out a strong debut album that showcases all their previous work and also escapes most of the genre's clichés. Let's just hope we don't have to wait another ten years to listen to Chopstick & Johnson's sophomore.

RATE: 8/10

Links
Chopstick & Johnson - Facebook
Suol - Official website | Facebook | Soundcloud
Chris James - Facebook
Tanner Ross - Facebook | Soundcloud

In any epic adventure, there are those who win and those who fail, but, by the end of it, no one stays the same. They change with what they acomplish or lose, their characters metamorph into something new. It's not that different from what every mortal experiments daily, be it in life's prosaicness or in love's mysticism. Actually, love might be the most epic journey a soul can take on. Afterall, with all the intrinsic uncertainty and unpredictability it bears, only one thing is sure: in the end, both lovers are different from what they were before they've touched each other's lives.

Born in the Netherlands, but living in Berlin since he was 19 years old, Thomas Azier (now with 25) seems to know a lot about epicness and love. Considering the prevalence of techno and minimalist house in Germany's music scene, Azier became suffocated in its deconstrutive patterns, while his love for pop and synthpop grew stronger. He needed to make a difference somehow and his first live music sets, mainly comprised of pop songs, were profound fractures in Berlin's monotonous techno babble. 

But the city also influenced his sound: his pop became more industrial, flooded with synthetic streaks and a darkness that prevails even in the most intimate moments. But one thing is certain: his music sounds epic. Since 2012, Azier has released two EPs ('Hylas 001' and 'Hylas 002') that were like mechanical thunders in the electronic music scene, two hot iron blades hammered with crystaline, glacial and harmonic compositions which carried his intrepid voice through it all as if he was an herald of doom. Azier intended to release an EP trilogy, but after having hundreds of sketches, he decided he had enough material for a full album - 'Hylas'. Even the name is epic, as Hylas is a character from greek mythology: a young boy who became Heracles companion and lover. Heracles teached him to be a warrior and made him an Argonaut, but Hylas was captured by nymphs. Heracles searched restlessly, but never found him, as he had fallen in love with the nymphs and stayed with them in their underwater caves.

'Hylas' is an album filled with an inate grandeur. There are new tracks amongst older ones, but all of them are part of the splendorous mythology Azier is creating for himself. The title track is the first one: beginning with sounds of running water - as if recalling the moment when young Hylas is captured by the nymphs - it soon becomes a vintage decorated forest where Azier sings like the bewitched boy, with passionate graciousness and fierce vitality. 

Next comes 'Ghostcity', an obscure synthpop anthem that finds inspiration in the soft spectrum of EBM and adds neon shrouds of melody, while Azier's voice ranges from robotic to ardent in mere seconds. Pure bliss! 'Verwandlung' starts with what could be a religious psalm musicality, but then turns into a sacrilegious story about a love that came to an end. There are arpeggios leading the electrified beat and the increasingly distorted voice, suggesting the torment he's been through. Azier also has moments of pure energy and danceable exhuberance: 'Rukeli's Last Dance' (a reference to Johann 'Rukeli' Trollmann, a romani boxer killed in a concentration camp) is an hymn both to preserverance and resistance, sung with such brilliance that its message is conveyed even if you're dancing frantically.

'Red Eyes', one of the older tracks, maintains its strength even after two years: sitting at the fringe of hope and despair, the looping synths give the track a sense of apocalyptic turmoil, where both good and evil can come as the winner. It has all that made us fall in love with Azier in the first place, but 'Angelene', the next song, is one of the most remarkable pieces of music written by this talented artist. Mixing religious motifs with industrial ambiences, the wooden and organic percussion contrasts with Azier's laments and modulated cry. It's a magnificient diamond shaped like a song.

Songs like 'How to Disappear' and 'Futuresound' reflect Aziers ability to create pop songs filled with details that sound fresh but also are an evident nod to the geniality of the 80s. And 'Shadow of the Sun' is a lovely and powerful electronic ballad, moistened with glowing neons and stirring mirrors, on which Azier sounds like an outcast, rebellious and, at the same time, fragile. 'Yearn Yearn', by the other hand, builds slowly, gathers power with each bridge and chorus (just like lust and desire grow until becoming unbearable), and even though it never really explodes, it has an aura of prowess that only can be found in a lover yearning for his loved one.

The album closes with the weakest tracks on the album, the languid 'Golden Wave' and the progressive 'Sirens of the Citylight', both of which are great songs (the kind some artists would kill for...), but pale in comparison to the boldness and mastery showed by Azier in the previous ones. Nonetheless, these songs add up to this strong first release, one that he must trully be proud of.

With 'Hylas' Thomas Azier ventured into the epic quest of creating a breathtaking album and he is one of those who won. He could have failed, he could have promised and not delivered; but he didn't. He released one of the best albums of the year, so far. But the voyage has taken its toll: he will never be the same again, as he'll definitely be under our radars, keepin us anxious for more releases and making us gasp with every new hint of a new song. But we believe Azier can handle that. Afterall, it's a price any mortal would gladly pay for a bit of immortality, don't you think?

RATE: 10/10

Links
Thomas Azier - Offical website | Facebook | Soundcloud

Todd Terje's (real name Terje Olsen) music has always been a bit goofy.

His warm and summery disco imbued sound is a confusing landscape for an artist born in Norway, where there aren't sunny beaches and hot sweaty nights. Nonetheless, he creates music as if he lived all his childhood in Brazil, Mallorca or Dominican Republic. He became one of Scandinavia's most prominent music producers and DJs thanks to his remixes of old disco tunes, establishing a close partenership with two other sounding names of cosmic-disco: Prins Thomas and Lindström, both Terje's country fellows.

In spite of all his endeavors as a music producer and as remixer, he hasn't been a man working with a schedule on his mind, releasing original songs when he felt the time was right; slowly he set loose some tracks that, over the last ten years, built to his reputation as the "King of Summer Jams" and even though his first release dates from 2004, only now he's ready to take the next step; actually, he recognizes it's been way too long for such a decision, to the point of using the album's title - 'It's Album Time' - as a self joke.

'Inspector Norse' is still his most acclaimed song, but tracks like 'Ragysh', 'Strandbar' and 'Spiral', most of which are long musical strolls through paradise islands, also stirred fans and critics. And his colaboration with Lindström - following Terje's mixing and editing suport in his last album, 'Smalhans' - originated one of last year's Summers hymns: 'Lanzarote'.

Thus, Todd Terje's first album has arrived (via Olsen Records) and it features previously released themes side by side with new ones. And here, he ventures into unknown territories, visiting subgenres that, while not totally unrelated to his previous work, sound surprising and take us - and himself - out of the comfort zone. After a small intro, we're tossed into 'Leisure Suit Preben', a track that could easily find a cozy spot in a Pink Panther movie, with its jazzy elements sugesting a sleuth in the turning case of his lousy career, until an harpsichord shows up and adds complexity to the scene. Next, 'Preben Goes to Acapulco' plays with melody and spiraling synths, distorting them and conveying a dreamlikeness that trully evoques a mexican haven.

'Svensk Sas' goes all the way down into latin landscapes, almost becoming a samba-driven track with fast rhythms and hilarious voice modulations that make us think that Terje might have been hallucinating while composing a song like this one; it's completely over-the-top, in a funny and spectacular way. 'Strandbar', here in a shorter version, is a classic cosmic-disco cut with a lot of things going on in the several layers of its exuberant architecture: piano keys, arpeggios, cowbells... just name it. You'll be sweating in no time while dancing to it; it's guaranteed.

Keeping up with the fast pace comes 'Dynamite Delorean', a highly synthetic track that emblazes all that Terje's been doing in the past, pure 80's madness that will drain every single drop of adrenaline your body's able to produce. The rhythm slows down significantly with 'Johnny & Mary', a Robert Palmer's cover sang by Bryan Ferry, which might as well be the most serious thing Terje's ever done; it's a dreamy and smokey ballad, stollen right from the heart of the 80's, and comes as the most unexpected and wonderful moment of the entire album.

'Alfonso Muskedunder' sounds like thoughtful improvisation, that flashes with high-spirited happiness and goofyness; another jazz experimentation that goes nowhere, actually. Then come both parts of 'Swing Star', two tracks previously released that, once again, catapult us into deep space; while the first part is an amazing voyage into a colourful and difuse gas nebula, the second one is a more restrained planetary incursion.

As the end comes near, 'Oh Joy' is euphoria in pure state, perhaps one of the new jams that better encapsulates Terje's canon laws, sounding trully imense in its danceable and irresistible disco-infused basslines, vibrant arpeggios and larger-than-life synthesizers. A wonderful masterpiece! Finaly, 'Inspector Norse', one of Terje's most well-known tracks, closes the album, making you dance to its boogie inflexions until you can't feel your legs. It's the perfect ending for a breathtaking and jubilant journey.

'It's Album Time' may require a bit of your attention, mainly because, at first, it seems to diverge from what we're used to hear from Terje (he preferred keeping the tracks short instead of stretching them to the nine or twelve minutes mark, as he usually does; he makes careful trips into new soundscapes...). However, after a second listening, you'll start to find this fondness for all-things-joyous that permeates his music, and you discover new details and come to terms with the most obvious evidence: that his goofyness is still the engine of this record. He manages to stay true to himself and, at the same time, find vigor to also stay relevant, even if his first album was long overdue.

RATE: 8/10

Links

Todd Terje - Official website | Facebook | Soundcloud  

This was, probably, one from the most antecipated albums to come out of DFA's uterus this year. The irish DJ and producer Marcus Lambkin, better known as Shit Robot, released his second album, after the 2010 critically acclaimed 'From the Cradle to the Rave'. Four years back, his irreverent music style - something on which DFA label has, in fact, built its catalogue - was well received. He was never a musician for the masses, as his sound is uncomproming, made of long and psychadelic jams, lots of dissonance and a well-dosed amount of madness. He surrounded himself with a host of talented artists (the majority signed to DFA), who gave vocal embodiment to his groovy snares and beats: Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip, Nancy Whang, Juan McLean, planningtorock and James Murphy, just to name a few.

Meanwhile, his new work remained scarce over the next four years, slowly releasing  singles from that first album. Two new tracks, 'Space Race' and 'Teenage Bass' saw daylight in 2012 and then, only in 2013 he hinted at a new album with the exuberant 'Feels Real' and the split EP with Juan MacLean where he introduced us to the single 'We Got a Love'.

The second album, 'We Got a Love', has finaly drop via - obviously - DFA. And, as fans of Shit Robot's first album, we're pleased to realize that not much has changed. It's the perfect follow-up: the disco-coloured arrangements, the relentless beats and snares that flow like long mantras, the imperative handclaps and an inventory full of great vocalists are, once again, combined to generate something that still mesmerizes, in spite of being anything but completely fresh and new.

'The Secret' starts this exciting journey, a jerky and heavily arpeggiated antic where Reggie Watts' words are so distorted that the whole thing sounds like the ramblings of a drunkard. Newcomers Museum of Love add muttered and ethereal vocals to 'Dingbat', while putting an extra effort to the drum work. Sadly, it's a rather flat track, although the modulated effects heighten its strangeness and save it from imediate oblivion. The funkier side of 'Do That Dance', however, comes with greasy basslines and a passionate cowbell, sustaining Nancy Whang's invitation to dance. It just sounds like everyone is having fun and we soon find ourselves following her advices.

By now, the album rises the BPM and really sets itself as a dancefloor winner. Straight from the 80's comes legendary Lidell Townsell, a Chicago house artist whose vocals suit perfectly the pulsing and wonderful 'Do It (Right)'. What a gorgeous house jam! It easily gets infectious and takes control of your synapses. Though Shit Robot is a great funk and nu-disco deliver, he really excells at devising strict and compelling house tunes (his previous album also had its share of these). 'Feels Real' is another massive piece of music, built around simple and repetitive synths and basslines, until an addictive falsetto from Luke Jenner (the frontman of The Rapture) starts escalating into stratospheric levels of hysteria. Pure disco bliss that would make Jimmy Somerville and Sylvester proud. The fast pace continues throughout 'Space Race', one of only two instrumental tracks on the album, and it trully feels like what its title suggests - a frenzied chase around the cosmos, with all the neons and retro special effects you can conjure up.

Things slow down in 'Feels Like', a well-earned rest from all the past commotion. Holly Backler (who sang in some Manuel Tur's and Ron Basejam's songs) has an intense voice and it becomes a central piece of the track, stitching together the housey elements of this slowburning moan. But suddenly Reggie Watts is back with 'We Got a Love', his voice firstly all dressed up in feathers and sequins, and then all butch and groovy. 'Tempest' closes the album, a churning, compulsive and crazy theme with earpiercing effects and an almost Moroder feeling sewn into it just asking to be danced to until you fall flat on the dancefloor, completely dehydrated. Yes, it's that good!

'We Got a Love' has some hits and misses every now and then, but its main objective is fulfilled: to make you have fun. If you like a little bit of irreverence in your music, this record might just be your next best friend. Shit Robot keeps doing what he does best - playing with your mind and body - and even if this is not a cerebral album, it most certainly will tingle your lymbic system in a way that few other can.

RATE: 8/10

Links
Shit Robot - Official website | Facebook | Soundcloud
DFA - Official website | Facebook | Soundcloud

It took just about two years for Toph Taylor, better known by his moniker SOHN, to make some waves around the music scene. However, his musical background is a bit longer than that. Born in London, but currently residing in Vienna, Austria, Taylor soon learned to play piano and guitar, but his evergrowing fondness for the soturn electronic landscapes embeds his music and shapes it into something quite exciting and new.

Since 2012, SOHN released several songs that granted him critical acclaim and prod both professional reviewers and all the other mere mortals' curiosity. His sound is obviously electronic, but it's so layered and textured that even if classifiable as underground and experimental, it menages to miss those conventions and become imediate and enjoyable. Taylor knows how to keep you attentive, switching between moments of haunting beauty and fragility where the piano and acustic elements reign and sudden bursts of noise and electronic cacophony. Such were the elements that made songs like 'Bloodflows' or 'Lessons' standout in the first place and reach broader audiences. For all of you who enjoy The xx, James Blake or Jamie Woon, SOHN will feel like the next natural step.

Meantime, while working on new material of his own, SOHN signed with british label 4AD and also produced a song for the mesmerizing BANKS and remixed artists like Disclosure, Rhye and Lana Del Rey, always with brilliant results. But finally, 'Tremors', his first album, is ready to come out on April. He decided to work overnight on the album to avoid becoming distracted by Vienna's fussiness and, every night, he finished his ordeals and walked home, surrounded by the cold air of the dawn, a glacial tonality that influenced the album's overall mood. Opus Sound has previewed the whole thing and assures you we're in for a treat.

A full vocal album - which showcases Taylor's ability as a songwriter and as a musician -, 'Tremors' enlists old tunes amongst new ones. It all begins with the strange 'Tempest' and 'The Wheel', two songs built around highly fragmented samples that soon morph into candid electronic adventures with oneiric synths and flat beats.

The new single, 'Artifice', is probably the most commercial theme of the bundle, tenaciously grounded on r&b molds but unrestrained when it comes to colouring it with inventive strokes of eletronic dyes. The videoclip for this song is also captivating, showing a rainy street fuss in slow motion. Next comes one of our favourite songs, 'Bloodflows', which starts all candid and smooth, Taylor whispered voice singing about contract killers and love as if in a poem, until it erupts in melodic clamors. One of the older tracks, but still one of the album standouts.

Songs like 'Ransom Notes' show more clearly SOHN's acustic background, while the piano driven 'Paralysed' could be used as soundtrack for a drama movie. 'Fool', on the other hand, starts with an agressive, rough and deep bassline which contrasts with the watery keyboard notes. The soothing vocals and fast paced matrix of 'Lights' and 'Veto' remind us of a Jamie Woon's composition, but Taylor is at his best when he throws it all in our face like he does in 'Lessons', a well-oiled crushing machine made of distorted synths and massive beats that add tension and paint a dark, shadowy atmosphere. Learning is never easy, and as the lyrics utter, one must cope with the mistakes of love and stop making them over and over again. The title track, 'Tremors', closes the album on the same tone, talking about the end of love. The only solace is the slight notion of hope etched in its musical structure.

SOHN surely has a bright future ahead of him and this cohesive and elegant album is a bold statement by someone who wants to share a vision on both the inner and outter world he lives in. 'Tremble' has its weaknesses, one residing in the fact that the old singles are still the best moments but, as a whole, it compells the listener to think, to search for the details, to identify himself with the emotional lyrics and that trully deserves recognition.

RATE: 8/10

Links:

SOHN - Official Website | Facebook | Soundcloud

When one thinks about eletronic music produced in Germany, images of cold, machanical and repetitive techno usually come to mind. Well, for Tensnake (aka as Marco Niermerski) music couldn't be more organic. Having consistently produced brilliant nu-disco and house singles since 2006 - his Coma Cat hit is still quite able to stirr any dancefloor - the german DJ and producer has finaly decided to serve a full album: Glow.

Avoiding to rescue past tunes just for the sake of it, Glow is an "all over the place" album, trying to touch diverse genres that never tread too far from the ones on which Tensnake built his entire career. The synths and the disco vibes are obvisously present along the 16 new songs, but there are light hints of r&b, indie pop, downtempo and even progressive house. Glow is also a heavily colaborative album, where Nile Rodgers, Jacques Lu Cont, Jamie Lidell, Jeremy Glenn and mostly Fiora Cutler (a Berlin based singer whose debut seems to have been on a Robot Koch single) lend their vocals or musical expertise to create a cohesive homage to the 70s and 80s.

After the intro track, First Stong, the album builds on the retro vibes of Love Sublime, a song where Nile Rodgers adds guitar chords and Fiora lightly sings about the inevitable chemistry of love. Pressure is quite unremarkable, even though it has somewhat of an hi-nrg feeling and the collaboration with Jacques Lu Cont and Jamie Lidell is as retro as it can get on Feel of Love. Sure, Stuart Price's frenetic production is nowhere to be seen on the mentioned track, unless one recalls his neonized moniker Zoot Woman, where he rambles on more retro landscapes.

The expansive No Colour and the synthetic Things Left to Say are some of the few instrumental tracks, but Fiora soon resurfaces on Kill the Time, singing as seductively as ever, over a downtempo matrix that soon transforms into a pop song. Jeremy Glenn surely grabs the atention in one of the most brilliant moments of the album, Selfish. Unbashably forged as a retro-house anthem, the song will rise your temperature as soon as it starts to play. Keeping the high production values, Good Enough to Keep is another Fiora and Rodgers driven masterpiece, interlacing pop, balearic and house into a brilliant and seductive musical gem.

While Holla is an experimental piece - or a filler, depends on how you see it -, previously released songs like See Right Through, No Relief and the sexy 58 BPM (all sung by Fiora) are pushed back to the second half of the album, as if Niemerski wanted to give us some excinting new stuff in the album's beginning and reassure us at the end of it that, albeit his sonic explorations, we can still trust him. Last Song closes the loop, an evocative and atmospherical track that floats as a spectre into unconsciousness.

It's a good debut album for Tensnake, but I reckon the expectations and the hype were quite high, so it's impossible not to feel a bit disappointed with the final result, as many tracks seem to be... well, merely good (considering his background and the virtues of the collaborators). Tensnake chose quantity over quality, perhaps, cutitng back on the songs lenght and creating an album that has many good tracks but few highlights. Glow is satisfactory, but chances are you won't recall it in a few months.

RATE: 7/10