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12"
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KOM EX131EP
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Kompakt Extra is kicking off the new year in style with a fantastic new double header by Raxon. This Egypt-born, Barcelonese powerhouse has left his scent marks all over the place in recent years. He has developed an instantly recognizable sound and that's no small feat in these times shaped by so much formulaic dullness. "Your Fault" sees the Catalan hot shot in an exuberant disco mood. Mind bending chord progressions foiled with Raxon's trademark vocal stutters guarantee for wonderfully twisted hands in the air moments. With "Beskar" the listener is entering Star Wars nerd territory. Musically speaking, this is a stealthy, funky as hell trance-not-trance juggernaut. 2024 is off to a good start.
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12"
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COR 174EP
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Next up is an overdue reunion with a familiar face. After his outstanding contribution to Cocoon Compilation S and his first solo EP on Cocoon Recordings, Raxon is back with a more than equally fascinating sound. The Egyptian-born and now Barcelona-based artist is back on it again, delivering two tracks that will take you on a journey through the depths of robotic soundscapes. Intricate beats, hypnotic synthesizer melodies, deep bassline grooves, and distinctive EFX sounds create Raxon's very special signature sound. Straight drum programming paired with chirping percussions takes you away to embark on a travel through space and time while distinctive claps poke through a futuristic nebula of floating and shifting sequences. The twisted melody of "Robotalia" carries you to a parallel dimension of machine sound and if you listen closely, you can hear the robots' screwing and sawing. Warping bleeps and mechanical effects complete the robotic feeling. Raxon's understanding of structures and architectural abilities are reflected through the arrangement, slowly increasing to ecstasy. "Kryptonite" scores with alien soundscapes. Stuttering vocals are the questions, while futuristic and dramatic chord stabs are the direct answer. A straight, radiant sound appears as an electronic trombone from outer space, offensively supporting the driving bassline. The symbiotic interplay between the euphoric synthesizer hook line and the relentless beat with pushing sharp hi-hats visualize powerful images in one's mind's eye. Suddenly the beat stagnates and results in a morphing break going head over heels developing a start-stop pitch effect that not only builds up tremendous tension but also bears an increased risk of melting your brain.
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12"
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KOM EX124EP
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Egypt-born Barcelona resident Ahmed Raxon has proven himself to be one of the most consistent DJ producers of his generation. His ability to make big room techno funky and highly entertaining has landed him releases on some of techno's finest powerhouses like Cocoon, Drumcode, or Ellum. His new double header for Speicher again ticks all the right boxes. "Slip Mode" is a robotic workout with that trademark irresistible Raxon drive. "Nu Waze" is more of a cheeky affair, combining an Arab quarter tone hook with an ultra-funky back beat that would make "Phunk Phenomena"-era Armand Van Helden proud.
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2LP
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KOM 433LP
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Over the past decade, Egyptian-born, Barcelona-based DJ and techno producer Raxon, known to friends and family as Ahmed Raxon, has popped out a steady stream of twelve-inch singles, precision-tooled, for labels like Cocoon, Drumcode, Diynamic, Truesoul, and Ellum Audio. An alumni of Kompakt's Speicher series, with Sound Of Mind, Raxon has produced a long-awaited debut album that's ready and aching both for the dancefloor and the boudoir, traversing the heat of the club and the warmth of the home. "The idea of an album has always floated around in my head for the past few years," Raxon confirms, "but it was never the right moment in my mind." Instead, he's been insistently pursuing his vision of deep, elegant techno, taking him from early DJ gigs in Dubai, including the legendary audio tonic night, then relocating to Europe on the recommendation of Herman Cattaneo, all the while allowing his experiences to inform and transmute his producer's thumbprint. He's an architect by training (though he gave architecture up for electronic music), which might explain why Raxon productions are so sturdy and well-designed; but remember also that architecture is a field filled with brave experimentation, something Raxon definitely draws on throughout Sound Of Mind. Like many albums from 2020 and 2021, Raxon's debut developed partly thanks to the unique social situation the planet has found itself caught within. "In the beginning of 2020 I started working on a few tracks with the album in mind," he recalls, "with no idea of what's to come in the next few months. As catastrophic as the situation was/is, I found myself in the studio; in a way the lockdown gave me that creative freedom in the studio, [to] try to tell my story through sound." Raxon's productions pay subtle homage, perhaps, to his formative listening experiences in the late nineties. It's no retro trip, but there's plenty of variety here, and a few moments that'll tickle the collective memory -- see the prowling pulsations of the opening "Majestic", the alien breakbeat action of "Vice" and "Journey Mode", where the interstellar tones feel like Foul Play or Steve Gurley, the leaking gas and woozy keys that make "Droid Solo" so subtly destabilizing, or the strobe light drones that sputter and flare throughout "El Multiverse", where dappled organ tones fight it out with interdimensional transmissions, all sucked into the vortex of a late-night techno mantra. Beautifully sculpted, Sound Of Mind feels consummate, an elegant set that pulls Raxon's vision into its sharpest focus. Includes download.
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12"
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DIYNAMIC 107EP
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Is now still now or has that already passed? Raxon's Destiny EP is the beating rhythm of nightlife, the perpetual motion that keeps dancers on the floor for hours on end. Add a pinch of strobe light, and you have the recipe for those glorious moments where you look at your friends' grinning faces, clenching your fists, unable to believe the purity of this moment -- a moment out of time.
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12"
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KOM EX107EP
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Born in Egypt, bred in Dubai, and now situated in the electronic music hub of Barcelona, Raxon makes his Speicher debut with this double-header that falls into line just past his breakthrough Destiny EP on Diynamic (2018). "The Ancient" could be taken as a twisted modern version of Yazoo's "Superstition" -- subtle and bold this track bridges on the sexier side of electro-strasse with a gleaming dagger of nu-wave sophistication. His roots as one of the Middle East's biggest DJs shines through the "Dark Light". Mysterious minimal rhythms propelled with a sinister synth hook drives this track.
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12"
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ELL 038EP
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Egypt-born, Barcelona-based DJ and producer Raxon was a resident at Audio Tonic events in Dubai and has performed all over the world, from Creamfields to Watergate to the Amsterdam Dance Event, in addition to guesting on John Digweed's radio show. The steely and direct "Majoris" opens this 12" with driving drums and slithering synth sounds; building to a big energetic peak with plenty of effects and filters, it is futuristic and abstract and full of the sort of tension for which Ellum Audio is known. The stellar "Sin Control" is much darker and more brooding, with a paranoid lead synth pinning surrounded by spaceship sounds and whirring machines.
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