June: 8 electro releases you need to hear this month

Various 'Ombra International 002' (Ombra International 002)

Ombra International is a vinyl-only imprint from New York-born, Berlin-based Luca Venezia, better known as Curses. For the imprint’s second release, Venezia has persuaded Cannibal Ink, Dawn Again and K-Effect to join him on an EP of experimental goodness. ‘Intro’ gets the ball rolling with dreamy synth chimes and a catch of a movie sample, before Curses kicks the EP off proper with a downtempo cut of electroclash ‘Nue Dimension’, which sees the New Yorker wrap guttural basslines around guitar licks before they make way for the track’s chugging groove. K-Effect’s ‘Semantic’ follows a similarly chuggy timbre via the medium stuttering arps and low-slung drums, as emotive strings and swirling atmospherics add even more fuel to the nostalgic fire. Cannibal Ink’s ‘La Haine’ is a more mellow affair led by subtle synths, echoing guitar chords and crunchy percussion, before Dawn Again’s ‘Burning Jungles’ rounds off the package on an acid tip as he combines squelching 303 basslines with noodling synths and raw, dynamic rhythms.

7/10