Innervisions Germany Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Innervisions bosses Frank Wiedemann and Kristian Beyer return as Ame, and present their first full length entitled Dream House - described as a home listening styled journey. The German duo spent three years working on the LP and it features collaborations with legends of German electronic music such as Roedelius and Gudrun Gut, as well as Bolivian singer David Lemaitre and Jens Kuross - who was a member of Wiedemann's other venture The Howling, with Ry Cuming. Highlights include their dramatic collaboration with Matthew Herbert "The Line", the upbeat disco number "Blind Eye" (featuring Planningtorock), the chill balearica of "Positivland" and the evocative/melodic dreamscape of "No War".

Review: There's something unavoidably magnetic about the intersection between ambition and self-awareness and this release, by Charonne, Nemo Vachez, Umberto and T Oceans, knows exactly how to tap into that tension. With each track, there's an undeniable undercurrent of both vulnerability and swaggeriproducers twisting minimal beats into something far deeper, dragging you through shadows with a mix of melancholy and movement. You feel the weight of their collective sound but also their defiant lightness, straddling the line between introspective and dancefloor-driven music. It's a textured, driving release with an ever-present air of mystery.

Review: Who doesn't love a picture disc? Sure, they might be a nostalgic hit of old school teenage record collecting joy but why not. This one from Laser Media is a Depeche Mode 7" featuring a pair of the moody miserablists' darker cuts. 'The Sweetest Condition' has snarling, dark vocals of noir beats and spangled guitar lines that make for emo-electronica par excellence. On the flip is the all too short 'It Doesn't Matter Two,' a song from the 1986 album Black Celebration that sounds like a live version here with crowds whoops coming next to the melancholic keys and pained, tortured vocals.

Review: Berlin producer Ede returns after their 2023 Innervisions debut 'Poptroit', this time for another melodic techno forward-facer. With a papillary front cover - resembling the suckers of an octopus or the polyps of a fantasy coral - we doubt the trypophobics out there will be at ease with this one. That is, at least until they hear the soothing progressives of 'I Am Wavy' and 'Odyssey', which build through and cleanse classic acid, rave and bleep motifs. The latter track has an incredible vocal breakdown, saturating and processing its stabs and chirp-hits just right.

Review: Multi-instrumentalist Jimi Jules got plenty of acclaim, and rightly so, for this 2022 album, which now sees a reissue on coloured vinyl. Executively produced by Innervisison label head Dixon, the album includes some of the most hammered tracks of the year it was released in - see 'My City's On Fire,' the superb 'Der Aufstand,' the dancefloor hit 'Burning' and 'Clinomania,' featuring Joy Tyson and renowned drummer Nathan Curran who has worked with the likes of Lily Allen and even Elton John. It's a melodically rich album that works at home as well as in the club and the album's artwork is designed by none other than the legendary Trevor 'Underdog' Jackson.

Review: Shiffer and Paul Brenning's latest collaboration is a masterclass in restraint and groove. The tracks here unfold slowly, each element carefully placed, allowing the deep, rumbling bass and crisp percussion to speak for themselves. There's a warmth to the production, with subtle melodies peeking through the smooth rhythms, creating a hypnotic effect that pulls you in. The vibe is steady yet unpredictable, and you can feel the influence of house, techno, and everything in between. It's an understated but impressive exploration of sound.

Review: Innervisions is one of those house labels that has become synonymies with a certain lifestyle. It has a distinctive sound - emotional, synth-laced house, always with an artful edge. It always offers up well-crafted sounds, never more so than in its on going Secret Weapons series. This 16th volume is a bumper collection across four slabs of wax that takes in the deep, dramatic, rising tension of Ivory's 'Could You Feel The Love?', the more grizzled broken beats of David Kochs & John Falke and Hardt Antoine's slow burning synth house epic 'Inside Your Mind' as well as much more besides.