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RAWAX IS PROUD TO WELCOME MR. K-ALEXI SHELBY TO THE FAMILY!
Mr. K Alexi Shelby
Like a moth drawn to a flame, there is something utterly infectious about the music of Mr.K Alexi Shelby, better known as K-Alexi one of the founding fathers of house music direct from his home city of Chicago. Since the late 1980s, he has pioneered the true house sound, leading to a DH and production career spanning over 20 years, including collaborations with artists ranging from The Pet Shop Boys to Derrick May and from Larry Heard and Felix da Housecat to Will Smith, as well as gigs across the globe.
An impressionable young teenager, Mr.K Alexi Shelby developed friendships with Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy whilst attending seminal venues like The Warehouse and The Music Box in the mid 1980s. Being here at this embryonic stage of dance music culture, there were no rules or precedents, so K Alexi drew on a rich musical heritage that had seen him grow up in the 70s and 80s listening to Stevie Wonder, Prince, Curtis Mayfield and David Huff. Those roots continue to influence his music to this day.
It was under the moniker Risque III that Essence Of A Dream was released in 1987, firmly establishing the name of Mr.K Alexi Shelby amongst the most prominent of all house producers at the time. Moreover, those early tracks are still recognized to be the quintessential Chicago house sound. The rumbling and dark bass, smooth strings, incredible percussion and the spoken word poetic and erotic lyrical flow became the trademark for classic Chicago house and the template for everything else that followed. To reiterate, there was no template before this. This was the beginning.
This initial success has lead to Mr.K Alexi Shelby working with the leading names across the electronic music world and beyond. Collaborations and remixes for Chicago peers like Mike Dunn, Mr. Lee and Marshall Jefferson merely served as the springboard for Alexi to work with the best in the electronic scene, from Derrick May to Paul Johnson ,Ron Trent Dave Angel to Felix ad House Kat. Furthermore, his talents have also lead to him working with The Pet Shop Boys and Will Smith.
On top of this, his tracks have appeared on compilations by artists varying from Laurent Garnier to DJ Hell, who used It's Me 2010 contribution to the Body Language series for Get Physical Music. Produced under the Club M.C.M. moniker, the 1991 EP It's Me/Club M.C.M. has been a frequent selection for compilations for 20 years and is rightly regarded as a true underground techno classic.

LIMITED EDITION : first 1000 will be numbered & limited transparent blue vinyl !
Home to E.L.O.'s world hit 'Mr. Blue Sky', Out Of The Blue is a multi-Platinum selling double album by the iconic pop rock band from Birmingham. Renowned for Jeff Lynn's elaborate productions and arrangements, Electric Light Orchestra proved they were able to expand on their success formula of Beatlesque classic rock songs. The album yielded classic E.L.O. songs such as 'Turn To Stone', 'Sweet Talkin' Woman' and 'Wild West Hero', all becoming hits in the UK. A nine-month tour followed its release in 1977 that set new visual standards for stadium rock acts, incorporating a giant space ship, fog machines and laser displays. Music On Vinyl celebrates the European rerelease of Out Of The Blue with a limited run of 1.000 on transparent blue vinyl.

Perc Trax is proud to unveil the 2nd 12' to be taken from Forward Strategy Group's debut album 'Labour Division'. Since its release at the end of May the album has received across the board DJ support and press coverage with a 4/5 review from Resident Advisor and even a full page in the Guardian about FSG and Perc Trax. The album has also had launch parties in Amsterdam and London and has seen the FSG guy's crossover outside of techno to be featured in the wider music press including The Quietus and Stool Pigeon.

This 2nd 12' rounds up some of the most popular tracks from the album giving them the vinyl release they truly deserve. First up is the most popular club track from the album; 'Elegant Mistakes' where raw industrial sounds meet with broken beats that hint back at classic UK hardcore. Completing the a-side is album opener 'Ident', one of the LP's most melodic moments and proof, if it was ever needed of Patrick and Al's wide ranging influences and production skills.

The b-side opens with 'Nihil Novi', an album favourite that appeared on the first Labour Division 12' as remixed by Factory Floor. Now the original mix appears on vinyl and it's echoing, slow-morphing stabs sound as cutting as ever. A DJ favourite since it was initially promo'd, it now sounds even better on vinyl. Closing the EP is a re-edit (sarcastically called a 'radio mix') of 'Metal Image', where a world of atmospherics opens up on top of a slow droning kick drum. A perfect set-opener or mid-set Dj tool it is demonstrates the variety that is on show across 'Labour Division' and is one of many reasons for the albums excellent reception.

With his sophomore album Ghost People appearing on 2011's end of the year charts for the likes of Mixmag (#6), Clash Magazine (#9), DJ Magazine (#9), Data Transmission (Album of the Year), Martyn returns to Brainfeeder to release a follow-up 12' this March.

The 12' leads with "Hello Darkness", previously unreleased and exclusive to the release, Martyn shuffles through a rhythmic bassline and feeling of, indeed, darkness from the very first beat. In typical Martyn fashion, the track skips its way through genre conventions, landing in a flux between 2-step, driving techno and old rave (the latter specifically heard in his ethereal and scaling upper melodies). "Hello Darkness" could lend itself to the rawest, grittiest warehouse, yet simultaneously breeds a subtle feeling of elation and release, and keeps the listener guessing with a variety of quirky sound collages.
It also features a remix of "Bauplan", Night Slugs bosses L-Vis 1990 and Bok Bok bringing the most sinister corners of London into their remix, with a heavy grime lean and a pervading feeling of tension. Erratic samples (sounds of a tweeting bird one moment, the cocking of a gun the next) appear in-between a snap beat, metallic stabs and an apocalyptic build-up of percussion and synths. Pulsing in and out of a highly volatile atmosphere, almost as if the track is alive and breathing, this "Bauplan" almost feels like an unrelated beast until Martyn's melody lines start to unfold halfway through the track.
To finish there is an exclusive remix of "We Are You In The Future", a favourite from the Ghost People LP amongst critics and DJs across the board. Techno's notorious man in the red mask - Redshape - steps up to create a deep and dark Detroit interpretation of Martyn's freewheeling, sci-fi-enhanced joyride. Laced with ominous vocal samples ('It may be an accidental side effect of the drug'), the future takes on a slightly more dystopian feel with Redshape's melancholic strings, unpredictable percussion builds and a lingering, creeping reinterpretation of the track's original melodies. A definitive nod to the epic work of Derrick May and Carl Craig, with a hint of Kenny Larkin's intricate builds.
"By the time the imitators catch up, he'll be light years ahead." DJ Mag

Klectik014 marks Argentinean producer, Pablo Denegri's debut for the Chicago based label. Pablo has emerged in recent years as one of Buenos Aires most dynamic producers and performers in the techno world. His work has been featured on highly regarded labels such as Dumb-Unit and Unfoundsound, and his live set has been featured at many clubs across Europe and South America.

2024 Repress
Following the legendary first two, stoically super minimal records “SOG 1“ and “SOG 2“ that provide ecstasy disguised as boredom on Kompakt Extra/Speicher in 2007, and the outstanding beautifully bizarre “SOG - Abweichung“ on Profan in 2010, we are now listening to “FREMDE HÄNDE“. Like its predecessors, this SOG stands in the tradition of „The Art of Omission“ with Wolfgang Voigt variegating his preference for the bluntly straightforward quaver bass in two different forms. The A-side contains a tonally noncommittal sequence ambling across the keyboard in quantised form, reminiscing of the arpeggiator (accompaniment function) function of early 70ies' and 80ies' synthesizers. On the B-side, daring and thoroughly unquantised quaver rhythms rock around a bass drum that, as the only straight element, tries to keep the whole thing together. The result sounds a little like a delirious Can Live.

Nach den legendären ersten beiden stoisch-superminimalen, als Langeweile getarnten Ekstase-Platten “SOG 1“ und “SOG 2“ auf Kompakt Extra/Speicher in 2007 und der überaus skurril-schönen “SOG - Abweichung“ auf Profan in 2010, hören wir nun “FREMDE HÄNDE“. Auch diese SOG steht natürlich ganz in der Tradition der “Kunst des Weglassens“. Wolfgang Voigt variiert hier seine Vorliebe für den stumpf-geraden Achtelbass auf zwei verschiedene Weisen. Auf der A-Seite haben wir eine tonal unverbindlich über die Tastatur wandernde Sequenz in quantisierter Form, die an die Arpeggiator (Begleitautomatik) Funktion früher 70er und 80er Jahre Syntheziser erinnert. Auf der B-Seite kreist die Achtel-Rhythmik in eher rockigem Sound ganz und gar unquantisiert und rhythmisch gewagt um die Bassdrum, die das Ganze als einzig gerades Element versucht zusammen zu halten. Das klingt ein bisschen wie Can live im Vollrausch.

Far too few labels these days are releasing decent electronic music. Acre Records from Edinburgh, Scotland set out to regress the balance

New album is split across a series of 4 ltd 12" singles.

This is the last ever album from legendary German rock quartet Scorpions. This new x12 trk album will be supported by a three year world tour, including UK dates. Strong press support across specialist mags including Classic Rock & Metal Hammer, with ads, features, interviews & reviews. Database & Ecard mailout. Specialist radio plays across ILR, Kerrang. Student & rock club promo. MTV vid plays across MTV2. National poster & flyer campaigns. Ltd vinyl format (500).

Omar S treats us to a second release in the space of a week, with a much deserved reissue of some 1996 Roy Davis Jnr rawness across the A Side. The Stevie Wonder classic "All I Do" gets chopped up, laid over a killer Chi town beat filled with instantly gratifying raw drum edits and augmented by some evil bass thumps. Relentlessly brilliant and sounds just as fresh some 14 years on. Echoing a current trend this side plays outwards from the inside groove. On the flip Omar S teams up with DJ B Len D for the bongo heavy deep groove of "Da Teys" a track that's characterised by melodic keys which increase with curveball drama as the track progresses.

The new album will be released across a series of 4 limited edition 12" vinyls. This is the 2nd 12 inch From Tronic Jazz The Berlin Sessions. A Guy Called Gerald has spent the last couple of years flitting through shadows, turning up on labels like Perlon, Beatstreet and Sender like a peripatetic prophet of the Berlin underground, seeding the scene with cryptic singles that return to the past to suggest alternate futures. Now he returns to Berlin's Laboratory Instinct label with the follow-up to 2006's Proto Acid: The Berlin Sessions, the album that re-established Gerald as an acid hero and techno auteur. Tronic Jazz: The Berlin Sessions builds upon the foundation established by its predecessor to create an even more powerful statement of intent, one that communicates more persuasively than ever Gerald's vision for techno in its third decade of existence. One immediate difference stands out, this time around. Where Proto Acid offered a seamless mix of 24 cuts, recorded in one epic session, Tronic Jazz collects 13 standalone tracks. That's welcome news to DJs. After so many years of digital anything-goes, you might have forgotten the kind of sounds that are possible with "old" machines: the way a lead stacked against tuned percussion and shrouded in pads can evoke still other sounds, hidden in the mix, or maybe not really there at all. It's a ghostly, suggestive presence, a kind of evocation of infinite possibility within the context of a limited set of inputs. In that sense, Tronic Jazz follows a certain minimalist impulse, but it's far too lush ever to be mistaken for the dread "mnml" of recent years. This stuff is wide-eyed and full of life. When it funks, it funks hard, and when it smoothes out, it can be as intimate as a hand-written note left on a lover's pillow. As "class ic" as Tronic Jazz may be, the album refutes any notion that "class ic" equals "retro," that the ideas have all been expressed before. Tronic Jazz takes the foundations of house and techno as though they were a kind of language, and speaks volumes with them.

Lowfish originally released his 'Burn The Lights Out' LP in 2007 on the US label Satamile but we have found some copies of it in the warehouse. Synth-pop meets breakbeats in an electrifying fusion of emotive melodies and bass-heavy beats across all four sides of the long player with ten then-new tracks and two classics from his Sat.31 EP. They all show that his music, complex yet accessible, evokes images of Blade Runner, Wave Noir, or William Gibson. It is post-modern in approach as it skilfully blends past and present styles to create a sound uniquely his own, seamlessly bridging the gap between eras while pushing the boundaries in his own way.

Dubbed out disco edits made with love, drenched in summer spice and slapped straight on the grill to waft out across the hazy breeze!

From the Latin infused sax power of ‘Doin’ It’, to the Italo tinged synth pop nugget, ‘Pop Lock’ and back round to the sensual boogie gem ‘Right Now’, it’s another must have set of edits from the Labor of Love crew.