DJ Blackwidow - "North Star"

Very good, creative electronica (9/10) This album was composed January 2006 - August 2006. I was on a creative high after finishing up the BlackJaq CD with my collaborator. I really went into this CD with an idea to create a more straightforward electronica sound. I kept some of the ethnic influences and added elements of space music and chanting (listen for Catholic and Ba'hai faith chants). If Leaving Town was a more personal album, then this one is more broad in it's mission. Some aspects are cold, while others seem personal, yet at a distant. The song, Jupiter, was originally composed in October 2005 and was originally written to be a new track on the original BlackJaq Cafe CD. The song, Again, features my BlackJaq collaborator, DJ Jax and this song is actually a special remix created exclusively for this release. The song 2012 was my highest and longest charting song on AcidPlanet. It was also the most reviewed and downloaded song I've ever released on the site. This is the first time this album has been released in its entirety. Thank you for your support of my music. This album is dedicated to my dad. He was the one who inspired the title song. Copyright 2007 BlackJaq Studios

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Straightforward electronica of superb quality. Calm downtempo tunes sit next door to nu jazz flavored tracks, followed by disturbing sounds of breakbeat. Despite the diversity of used styles and techniques, all these songs have one thing in common - the highest quality. Pure pleasure for ears - do not miss this one!

[mirror @ archive.org] | [Myspace]

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Embolism - "This Means Fucking War!"

Speedcore classic (7/10) Early Embolism speedcore action! 6 tracks built on an Amiga 500. released 15 December 1995 Written and produced by a 14-year old Ryan Leeman in his bedroom on an Amiga 500 running through a small television speaker, whilst bunking off school in mid-1995. Originally released on 12" vinyl December 1995. A speedcore classic written by then 14-year old Ryan Leeman, one of the pioneers of hardcore techno, recording for the famous label Bloody Fist Records. It is not a secret that hardcore techno is not my favorite genre of electronic music, because of its repetitiveness, monotony and overuse of irritating sampled speeches. Yet this album is another proof that with enough talent, one can write great tunes in each and every style. Only the final track Pillow Talk suffer from these weaknesses. All the rest is great - original, creative and catchy (in the wicked "hardcore techno" sense of this word), while still being fast, aggressive and uncompromising. And it was made by a 14-year old kid on an Amiga 500 computer. Wow. The album is available on Bandcamp for 6 Australian dollars in a variety of formats, including a FLAC version. You can also listen to the full album before making a decision on purchase.

Various Artists - "Newcastle Sampler"

Interesting hardcore techno compilation (6/10)

All Tracks Built In Newcastle, Australia Published By Len & Jen Music (ASCAP) Distributed By Soundbase Music Germany Newcastle Sampler is a compilation released by the label Bastard Loud Records, presenting several acts from the Newcastle hardcore techno scene, recording for the famous label Bloody Fist Records. This is an interesting album, offering quality tunes, and although I personally dig only two tracks out of six, the compilation remains a great insight into the history of hardcore techno. My favorites are Nasenbluten - Treadmill and Disassembler - Ants. They are fast, aggressive, disturbing, but without being too repetitive and without overuse of speech samples - two weaknesses of so many hardcore techno tunes. The other four do not fit my taste, being haunted by the said flaws. They represent the type of hardcore techno, which is totally boring for me, despite its aggressiveness and high tempos. Still, they should appeal to hardcore hardcore techno fans out there. If you happen to be one, you can safely add some points to my 6/10 rating. I guess this album is very rare now, but if you happen to run into it somewhere along the links, be sure to check it out, if you are a fan of hardcore techno. And do not forget to visit the official Bandcamp website of Bloody Fist Records, where you can listen to and buy some other releases from this label.

scal.g - "Open World"

Calm electronic music with rock influences - very good! (8/10) Calm electronic music with rock influences. Many tracks remind me of Moby, but I don't say they are just copies. Rather than that, both artists have similar approach to creating their music and they both use the same pieces of puzzle - just place them in a different way to compose a different picture. In brief: very good album for both electronica and rock fans. [mirror @ archive.org] | [Myspace] SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS If you like this album and you can afford it, consider supporting the artist by making a donation on this page - use the button "Donate" in the upper left corner.

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