Cogs, Beans and The Machines – The Tramps Are Alright EP (Powertools909)

The novelty of Cogs Away!’s swear-heavy opening wears off pretty quickly, but you get the impression Cogs – that’s Ant and DDR, by the way – are aware of that, because once you’ve endured the swearing, it only makes the briefest of reappearances in the main body of the tune. Which is a doozy. Set off by the kind of kickdrum that scares pigeons out of rafters, you can almost sense the individual fingerprints of the artists involved: the cranky, determinedly oily low frequencies of DDR, the mad-eyed, OCD melodies we’ve come to expect from the Ant of Hazchem or Acid Jammer. Nevertheless, though there be acid here, Cogs feels like first and foremost a techno project, and unsurprisingly Klammerton with its frequent changes and lots of breaks, sounds like it could have come out on Powertools, while Twathammer will remind you late-90s Cluster. 303 makes a reappearance on the final track Flounce, meanwhile, which sweats in a big coat and stands on the sidelines glaring a thousand-yard stare, like the rest of the EP a tough, solidly constructed tune, built  to last.

Various – Scythe 09 (Scythe Squadron)

Cat no: Scythe 09
Get it from: Stay Up Forever

Tomei Kosoku  – Ant & K.N & DJ Nakahara
BPM: 142
Joined by record store owner DJ Nakahara and inspired by the Tomei Kosoku Toro expressway in Japan (probably), KN delivers a trancey, evocative tune underpinned by Powertools-friendly Ant music. The result is a perfect mix of techno power and hard trance melody, a Trans Europe Express for the harder generation, and the pick of the EP.

2424 – Ben Fraser
BPM: 144
Ben ‘Sabretooth’ Fraser returns with a ripsnorting hard trance track featuring multiple duelling acid lines that build and build to a series of peaks. As ever with Sabretooth tunes, it has a silky feel to it but rocks like a bastard, and that ascending 303 gives it an addictive quality.

Bang Your Bitch – Osmo
BPM: 145
A fat power riff kicks things off and sounds frankly stunning burbling away menacingly until the ‘Bang Your Bitch’ sample appears. The fact that it’s sampled from the Russell Brand film Get Him to the Greek slightly undoes the dark work done by that awesome riff in my opinion, but it’s still a welcome change of pace for the EP.

Chris Liberator, Sterling Moss, Rackitt, D.A.V.E the Drummer, Ant – SUF 100.1 (Stay Up Forever)

Cat no: SUF 100.1
Release date: 02/12/11
Get it from: 909 London

Croydon Girl – Chris Liberator & Sterling Moss with Rackitt
BPM: 145
Heralding a year of celebrations from SUF (and for more details of that check out the new SUF 100 site) comes this EP, the first of four in the 100 series. Croydon Girl is supreme filth, with a Sterling Moss-speciality kick interrupted only by the odd outbreak of spitting hi-hats, a very hefty 303 line right from the off, and the main melodic acid line from 1.19. All in all, as nasty as you’d expect. The vocal is Rackitt expressing her love of Croydon as well ruminating upon her love of ‘fat 303s, fat rigs, fast drugs, fuck you,’ all of which are fine and upstanding pursuits.

The Drums – D.A.V.E the Drummer & Ant **
BPM: 145
Backing it up is The Drums, which is not so crowd-pleasing, but probably the better track in my humble Orion, and wraps up what has been a superb, transitional year for D.A.V.E the Drummer. After a section of layered drums comes all manner of freaky acidness, before more drums. And then more drums!  A drum solo in the break, no less! Imagine an Edinburgh Tattoo trip to the Rio carnival by way of Goa and you’ve got an idea what’s going on in here, and that it all holds together is a tribute to the acid-funking genius of the two talents involved. Great track, awesome EP, roll on the next one.