Michelle – Blackout Uprising

Review: Michelle, hailing from Uruguay, is known as a maestro of all your electronic needs: electro, techno, house, or anything relatively industrial. Her latest album Blackout Uprising'arrives on DJ Masda's Cabaret Recordings imprint, and perfectly showcases Michelle's haunting yet groovy sound. 'Morph Trance' sets the tone of the double LP, as spooky organ chords diffuse through mesmerising hi-hats and a crooning synth line, bringing to life a techno banger straight from Count Dracula's castle. Next up is 'Hannover', which exudes a dark electro mist as vocals from Slipknot's 'Duality' nest throughout the track. On side two, 'Wind' and 'Voodo' chug and drone with panned, creeping synth lines and uncanny pitch slides respectively. Side three simply consists of 'Niet'': a track full of indiscernible vocals yet ironically is clearly a peak-time dancefloor filler. The final side starts with 'Down Down the River'. Not to be confused with some nursery rhyme, this tracks marks the wind down of an intense yet great album from Michelle, before 'New Place' marks the end of the project with eerie bells, charming the listener to play the record all over again.