H-Block (Extended) EP [CLIPP225] By Illusions

Viennese artists Illusions first appeared on our Sounds Like A Good Time volume IV compilation with a Bukem-esque stomper titled “Tonight”, now his debut EP for clipp.art get an extended treatment with a romping mix of 3 additional bangers, featuring moderatly hard house, rave sirens and more 140+ techno thrillers!

Title track “H Block” (148 BPM) energises a flip of the same name by Canadian artist Rubba, reinterpreting the dreamy ambience of that well placed and understated but totally adored riff (a quote “blend of technology and nature”) with the dynamics of a power pumping 4/4 beat and Rubba’s own lo-fi bars slicing deep. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think anyone familiar with the ethereal underlying cut could listen to this one on repeat for 10 hours. Absolute banger. “feelin g00d felin fine” (143 BPM), doesn’t let up the paces, combining hard house aesthetics with dub techno ambience via a Tokyo drift. Coming in as the “slowest” (aka less fast) tune on the EP, “Kinkshaming” (135 BPM) is a midnight arcade rave vehicle: Dark piano stabs, clanging beats and screaming sirens that find the sweet spot between pulse racing exhilaration and ecstatic abandon on the dancefloor. Clocking in at almost 6 and half minutes (the longest track on the release) “Séxualitë” (140 BPM) takes the corners in all the right spots and is a chuggy sweat soaked triumph of techno vitality. Illusions has a Joie de vivre for this type of retro hardstyle - vivace dance music that sparks all kinds of passions inside the enthusiastic rave aficionado. On the extended mix, fans of a distorted bassline will know what’s up with “Turn Up” (141 BPM), and what’s not to love about a track where the instructions come printed on the box?! This one has been a personal fav around our big speakers for some time and is a joy to release into the wild. “Monday Blues” (145 BPM) should scare the cobwebs away from your weekend with a groove that is both gnarly and funky and slamming and jackin’ and really if that’s not enough for you then you probably wouldn’t have even made it to this point. “Move On Up” (141 BPM) closes out this extended edition with pure adrenalized mayhem: rave sirens leading a horde of broken lemming robots to the edge of the rave-core cliff. You have made it to the end of the journey and stand on the precipice of your own destiny after taking a herculean dose of bangin’ music. R U OK? What is beyond? Take a step!