Virtually J :: Autocracy Mage (Mahorka)

These are fine-tuned and energetic tracks for the dance floor, floor-standing speakers or headphone commutes in the dead of night.

Packed to the edges with old-school and new-school techno characteristics

Mahorka steps into pseudo-club friendly terrain with Virtually J’s Autocracy Mage—but not entirely. This intentional sidetracking of style only further cultivates the Bulgaria-based imprints role in releasing varied electronics and its sub-genre strains. Here we find Virtually J (from the coastal city of Varna, also in Bulgaria) redefine fractured breaks, acid and rhythm-based grooves that tread a fine line between abstract techno and post-industrial layers. Thirteen tracks with enough bite to encapsulate itself, these rugged beats are spread far and wide, crisped to a fine crunch, and rummage through empty warehouse rooms at 3am. There are a few more clinical Plastikman-sounding technoid bits and Clark-like production values where larger than life sounds implode with an upbeat perspective. One can see (and hear) that Virtually J honed his skills since his last LP in 2001 (no typo there). These are fine-tuned and energetic tracks for the dance floor, floor-standing speakers or headphone commutes in the dead of night. Highlights take shape with “Wooden Table of wishes,” “Run Sequence,” “Tribunal,” “Nazka (live),” and “Taygeta” if we were to pick just a handful. Autocracy Mage is a fully primed album packed to the edges with old-school and new-school techno characteristics.

Autocracy Mage is available on Mahorka. [Bandcamp]