I'm pursuing Dj Cardo aka Luis Garban since when I discovered his sound by chance in a small record shop in Berlin through Unity Means Power - Cardopusher's second album - on Ad Noiseam's imprint three or four years ago. His way of combining dusty chirping breakcore (from8to64bits) chips with massive dubstep quite similar to that mania affecting some wholesome people like Soundboy, Tes La Rock or Quarta330, could have sketched a sneering smile on my face close to the ones which made Richard James so attractive to so many people, but I cannot confirm such a circumstance as I don't remember any mirrored image of myself in that shop! I'vee been so pleased to find out that even if this guy partially changed stylistical explorations as it seems following the abstract/cosmic directions taken by some dubstep producers and its crossings with ambient and other syncretic syncopes, his sampledelic way of creating miscellaneous tracks featuring that bizarre and eccentric hook Tigerbeat6's team usually dumps proves to be inshrinkable and trustworthy as well. Mechanics of the first two tracks, Antisharkz and Paintbrush, based on the intertwining of good rhythmical crafts with bleepy phunky sounds is quite similar, but if you keep on listening to the album, you'll enjoy Cardopusher istrionic skills as he easily juggles with Latin sketches, dubby techno, sampling, electro, vocals all over it! There are many tracks which could be frequently burned inside your hi-fi system. I'll just list mt favorite ones: on the top of the list, there are tracks such as Juice In Blender, Coppertoned Punch and Idle Talk, whereas Luis blends the highly danceable synth grooves (it's not casual the presence of remixes of the first two of the mentioned songs in the tracklist...to be honest I prefer original versions) with latin and floating ambient elements, the little rascal hip-hop golden sensation evoked by MC Sensational on We Want Ca$h, the funny remixe of Kid606 & Jessie Quattro's Holiday whereas Cardopusher enjoys playing on fills of the four percussive elements of the rhythmical pattern on the intriguing "la-la-la" by the female singer. I'm pretty sure most listenerswill appreciate the elegant style by Cardopusher as even if he generates storms on the pattern, it seems he doesn't lose his composure. My fifteen minutes-lasting coffee&sigarette break for reviewing this nice record is up!

Here we are to talk about three new Enfant Terrible related 7"s releases. The first one is the debut of Sololust. TOTAL LOSS is the title of their first release which came after their participation to 'Kamp Holland'. On this single we have two tracks, on side A the main title is a great melancholic electro minimal with hypnotic sounds and melodic vocal lines. Side B, "Sight Shuffle" is a nice atmospheric instrumental with synth orchestral sounds and upbeat drum beats. The next two singles are out under the Hex Grammofoonplaten sublabel. The first one is titled I SELL MY BLOOD and is a four track EP by the Spanish band Artifecal. They play a sort of minimal synth music with 50s psychobilly / 60s psychedelia influences on "Many Different Faces", "Fly High" and "It's Not Too Late". Try to imagine a slow low-fi version of Hasil Adkins with synth sounds. The Kania Tieffer / Family Jewels split EP is next. With three short tracks for each project the 7" brings to the attention of low-fi experimental sounds the pop extravaganza of Kania Tieffer, who sounds like B-52s on acid thanks to the use of 8bit sounds, catchy guitar lines and post punk influences. Family Jewels sound like shoe-gaze pop played by alien kids with synth toys. You can check the snippets of these three nice releases directly at the label's website.

With many releases on their shoulders Drop Out Orchestra are signing to Mullet Records for a nice new single titled ALL THE TIME WE NEED. The release contains seven versions of the song which has on guest vocals Dominic Ashton of :Kinema: The original version of the tune has all the characteristic of the band's sound: funky guitars, slammin' basslines, warm synth pads and orchestral stabs. The first four versions of the song are the "Radio edit", the longest "Original version", the "Instrumental version" (this bunch don't differ too much only vocals and length are changing) and "All the dub we need" (a nice version with . On the remix side, we have front catchy synth lines and dub effects on vocals). On the remix side Casio Social Club shining their synth bass lines and hard beats giving a warm electronic 80s touch to the song. Faze Action is next and they cut the vocals to essential lines and turn the tune into a dancefloor hit with 4/4 drum beats and solid guitar riffs. Last but not least we have JD73 remixing the song adding more funk thanks to a great rich bouncing bass line and orchestration. Nice also the synth leads.

The last year I reviewed "Bits & Pieces ", the first solo album by Bozzwell that went out for Firm Records. I really dug that album but I've never been able to check the project he has with Nick Eastwood called Hiem. THE ESCAPE FROM DIVISION STREET, their first album released for their own label Startalk International Records, is the perfect occasion to check them. The twelve tracks of the album are a well balanced mix of nu-disco, electro and dance. If you love 4/4 rhythms and hard beats you'll gladly want to find a moment to spin this CD as, since from the opening song "Freaky Nights", you'll realize that the Sheffield duo is able to catch your attention immediately. The opening tune and "Mutual Feeling" are two electro tune with a retro flavor (Holy Ghost! did something similar on their self named album released by DFA recently), while the second one is a great catchy electro dance song that has Phil Oakey (yes, the one and only Human League singer) on guest vocals. "Dj Culture" has the rapper Roots Manuva on vocals and it is a nice mid tempo with syncopated bass lines. "Electricity" is another great tune that will please the lovers of cool melodies and crispy sounds. I also enjoyed the attitude to mix new wave atmospheres with dance sounds and if you already checked the newest Digitalism single and album, you know what I mean. The whole album is full of great moments and beats and it contains also a particular spoken word on "Lemons & Limes" which along with the synth bleeps and pads sounds really cool. THE ESCAPE FROM DIVISION STREET is the first Startalk International Records release but if this is representative the music they'll release, be sure to follow them.

Three years ago I reviewed Dekad's second album "Confidential Tears" and now it's time to check their latest one titled MONOPHONIC. Passed from a trio to a solo project of JB Lacassagne, Dekad didn't lose their distinctive mix of electro e.b.m. and synthpop that was already into "Confidential Tears". On the eleven songs of MONOPHONIC I still hear echoes of late 80s Depeche Mode, Evils Toy or Covenant but JB knows how to tweak things up and he kept these sounds only as reference and sound-wise he opted for analog sounds instead of the cold synth 90s sample based sounds. In this way the bleeps and fat bass lines he used on tracks like "Hands Over Me", "So Sorry" (song enriched by the guest vocals of Lover_XX a.k.a. Sylvie Billy, singer of Foretaste) or the following "What If" (on this one Member U-0176, singer of Celluloide, is on backing vocals) are really making the difference by warming the atmosphere and giving to the whole tracks a crisp sound. We all know that love relationships are hard to deal with but the pain and suffer JB sings about find a comfy place to rest thanks to these sounds.