Joe McBride AKA Synkro has built up a hugely impressive catalogue of releases over the last few years. Via albums and singles for Apollo, Exit Records and his own Synkro Music imprint, the Manchester based producer and sound architect has amassed a dazzling archive of elaborate, emotive and intellectual soundscapes drawing in influences across a spectrum of bass culture and electronica. On the ‘Information’ EP, it’s business as usual, as Synkro deploys four fresh and forward thinking tracks that slither across the genres with ease. From the frantic percussion and dubwise tones of title track ‘Information’ to the absorbing textures and crackling ambience of the beatless opener ‘Cycles’, the attention to detail and the depth of layered sonics across all four tracks afford the listener a truly mesmerising experience. The dusty and dark skank of ‘Signal’ is a real mood piece, whilst ‘Last Breath’ closes the EP drenched in sanguine sentiments. More

Synkro handpicks three great producers to remix tracks from his ‘Images’ album. Claro Intelecto has been releasing consistently on point deep techno and electro since 2003. His remix is perfectly equipped for dancefloors in 2020. Sad City represents R&S offshoot Meda Fury with a trademark hypnotic beatdown workout and Apollo label mate and collaborator Sieren ramps up the emotions for his remix of the title track. More

Following the release of Synkro AKA Joe McBride collection of his formative early works earlier this year, Apollo Recordings is proud to present a brand new EP that draws on the rich heritage of library music. Despite having come up during the dubstep era McBride’s music has always resisted easy classification - ‘Hand In Hand’ sees him shift his musical focus in a yet more cinematic direction. McBride explains : "The record was inspired and influenced by my love of electronic 80's UK library records like the Chappell AV series, Bruton, Soundstage & De Wolfe Music library. There’s a lot of synth work that carries on from my album using my trusted Juno-6 / SH101 / JX8P combo with the addition of drum samples via an old akai S2800 I purchased recently. Most sounds I've made from scratch on hardware based on sounds used in the library records I mentioned above along with a few cheeky samples." Synkro's signature expansive atmospherics are still very much present, but now they have been burnished by soaring synth pads and pulsing drum tracks that call to mind the haunted melancholy of John Carpenter or contemporary such as Legowelt or Andy Stott. Rhythmically ‘Hand In Hand’ sees McBride moving somewhat away from his usual off kilter programming inspired by 2-step and garage, embracing the steady pulse of 4:4 which turns out to be an effortless fit. More

Close your eyes and breathe deeply with this one, as Synkro returns for his third release on Apollo with four new productions of affecting, midnight electronica. Joe McBride's ear for inimitable melodies has always fit his intricate percussion patterns like a glove. On the Lost Here EP, however, the Synkro project has been elevated to a new level with subtle flourishes of pop structure and two standout vocal performances by Robert Manos. Lost Here ascends to the clouds, hovering on cavernous chords that wrap Manos' words in a cocoon of eyes-down emotion as scissoring rhythms flit underneath. Touching down again, In My Arms calls on circadian rhythms and oscillating layers of synthesizer to create a dreamlike environment, isolating Manos' song in an antechamber of space and sound. The B side slinks in with a playful bass riff on Nights of Pleasure, underpinning celestial waves of chimes, tones, and chords before Fading Lights suspends each element in zero-gravity as a pure, heat-treated distillation of the Synkro sound.
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Eight tracks from one of the world's leading up and coming producers.- Two 12" in a picture sleeve. Initially coming from a background in the musically raucous worlds of 2 Step and Garage, Synkro has, over time, developed a sound that is altogether more introspective, more emotive and more emotionally complex. Stepping up here with his second release on legendary Apollo Records, Synkro delivers eight tracks that - while retaining some of the stutter and swing of Garage, are far more rooted in the textural world of ambient music for which Apollo is famed
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**Clear Vinyl** Hot on the heels of his lovely 12" for MOM, Synkro serves three tracks of lush ambient Techno electronics for Styrax. 'Presence' suffuses the A-side with a blissed-out 4/4 roller buoyed by convective Reese bass and kissed by convective, effervescent atmospheres to sooth yer bonce. Flipside, the beatless 'Question' appears shades away from the 4th world cyber-jungle ambience of the recent Oneohtrix Point Never album, swooning to the sounds of simulated fauna and beautiful, widescreen synth pads. 'Memory' completes the set with with a tantalising 2-step reduction, all flickering, mercurial syncopation and plangent keys reminding of John Beltran. More

Synkro-A Man Of Taste. Synkro?s signature of this ep, slinkier double Garage motions, in a deep house vein with pitching R&B voices. Warm, housey keys and whipcracking rhythm syncopations with a lovely sense of restraint. A cracking good story. Does this suit your taste ? More