Italian duo Agents Of Time have been incredibly busy over the past few years, from releasing a string of classic singles – including their recent single for Afterlife, “The Mirage”, which earned more than five million views on Instagram – to remixing The Weeknd’s “Take My Breath”, which appeared on his recent Dawn FM (Alternative World). But the biggest news is here now – their second album, Universo, is ready. Elevating their trademark melodic techno with an exquisite pop-ness, Universo has found its ideal home with Kompakt, following their Music Made Paradise 2020 debut EP for the label. It’s a meeting of minds that makes perfect sense.

Andrea Di Ceglie and Luigi Tutolo, the two members of Agents Of Time, used their time during the pandemic to work on Universo, an album loosely conceptualised around their ‘personal universo’, a manifestation of the world Di Ceglie and Tutolo built both within and around their studio. This accounts for the sparkle and brightness of Universo – it’s full of personality, vim and vigour, the duo experimenting with their music, exploring its furthest corners. If you come to Universo expecting just another album of melodic techno, get ready to be pleasantly surprised – there’s a whole lot more going on here, and it’s all equally compelling.

After a typically poetic opening gesture – the swirling, synaesthetic, self-titled intro track – expectations are immediately blindsided with the two-step pop of “Fallin’”, sung with gentle clarity by guest Audrey Janssens, a dream of a song that harks back to the glory days of early ‘00s UK garage. “Interstellar Cowboy” is a confident, lithe, disco-fied strut; the gentle minor-key piano of “Liquid Fantasy” spirals into a gorgeously melancholy techno-pop epic, Vicky Who?’s voice rich with yearning. Janssens also reappears on the electro-swirl of “Poison”; “Dream Vision” revisits their single “The Mirage”, soft with sweeping strings, loaded with drama; “Part Of Life” sashays into view with a schaffel-stomp.

This rich variety throws the more dancefloor-focused tracks, like “Ciao”, into even starker relief – they’re more decisive, streamlined, yet rich with detail, chugging, Moroder-esque bass meeting strobe-lit synths that fire melodies out into the firmament. Universo feels texturally dense, but it still breathes, its sounds so tactile you want to reach out and grab them, its tunes so seductive you can’t get them out of your head. Universo is a fiercely beautiful album, brave in its spirit, a perfectly poised meeting-point of pop melody and stylish, lush techno: Agents Of Time in excelsis. More

Italy’s AGENTS OF TIME have long been on the KOMPAKT radar. It started thanks to their exemplary releases on Correspondant and other labels such as Stem, Ellum plus last year’s collaboration with Mathew Jonson (from whom their name is inspired by). Michael Mayer had chance to play with them last summer at one of their Obscura parties and their friendship was cemented. Which leads us now to their five track KOMPAKT debut, entitled MUSIC MADE PARADISE. From our early days of releasing landmark tracks from JUSTUS KÖHNCKE, the label has never been shy of exploring the enigmatic fringes of disco in our own way. AGENTS OF TIME follow these footsteps but head into galactic territory with MUSIC MADE PARADISE. They continue their knack for bridging synth-wave with modern bass rhythms in a means which are purely designed for today’s dance floors. We’re proud to make their label debut with an incredible selection of music from this talented trio. French touch meets Italo chic on Drive Me Crazy. At first, My Heart is A Microchip comes across as a segue track, but opens into cascading synths and a predatory breakbeat to lead its own charge. Under Control is classy Moroder disco brought to the modern age. Aptly titled Interstate 10 is an EP highlight – the percussion lead is infectious and ready for prime time exploration. More

Agents Of Time are proud to present ‘Ordinary Cosmic Dance’, the new EP on their own Obscura imprint. Over three tracks the Bari based trio brandish hypnotic, looping melodies in techno structures with subtle trance references. It arrives a year after the birth of the label, which has since issued music by Hiver, Amandra and The Hacker amongst others. ‘Cosmic Frequencies’ revolves around a syncopated synth line that swells its way through mesmeric percussion and entrancing pads. ‘Dance Impulse’ takes fragments of dub techno and remoulds them into a glitchy dancefloor workout. ‘Ordinary Chaos’ builds low end frequencies juxtaposed with a stripped back melodic lead and staccato bass. More

(incl. DL card) Mathew Jonson and Agents Of Time take their on-stage collaboration into the studio for a new EP on Obscura, 'Repeating Pattern, Numbers and Letters'.
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(remixes by Antigone, Rod, Agents of Time & Kris Wadsworth) Following the release of Amandra's acclaimed Dame de Bahia album last year, Obscura now presents 4 interpretations provide varying takes on Amandra's originals.
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Agents Of Time are proud to present ‘Ordinary Cosmic Dance’, the new EP on their own Obscura imprint. Over three tracks the Bari based trio brandish hypnotic, looping melodies in techno structures with subtle trance references. It arrives a year after the birth of the label, which has since issued music by Hiver, Amandra and The Hacker amongst others. ‘Cosmic Frequencies’ revolves around a syncopated synth line that swells its way through mesmeric percussion and entrancing pads. ‘Dance Impulse’ takes fragments of dub techno and remoulds them into a glitchy dancefloor workout. ‘Ordinary Chaos’ builds low end frequencies juxtaposed with a stripped back melodic lead and staccato bass. More

Italian duo Hiver present the Spiritual Machines EP, their debut on Obscura. 'Inverted Scale' brandishes a hypnotic synth lead that swirls into a formidable energy. The title track is a meditative ambient cut immersed in deep waters, whilst 'Glass Effect? exposes a similar form with radiant sonic properties. On the B side, Orbe turns the title track into a low slung basement workout, whilst Crossing Avenue’s rework of ?RJ45? channels psytrance and rave sentiments.
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(incl track by Agents Of Time, François X, Voiski, The Hacker, Orbe, Abstract Division, Roberto & Amandra) Obscura, the Italian based imprint run by Agents Of Time, present their second release.
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