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With I Will Make a Baby in this Damn Economy, Fat Tony embodies the kind of quixotic figure he would rap about; a singular entity who’s motivated, confident, and hungry; a perpetual-motion-machine locked in a staring contest with his country. It’s the latest album in his catalog produced entirely by L.A-based producer Taydex since 2020’s Wake Up. Later that same year Fat Tony released Exotica, and ever since he’s demonstrated he is in his own lane as a professional rapper with the mind of a magician, as quick to conjure an image as pull it out from under you, deftly manoeuvring through so many details and references a listener feels as if they have witnessed the work of an illusionist. He paints these canvases inside of songs that rarely spill past three minutes; they’re pocket-sized diaries replete with acute observations, character studies, microdoses of storytelling, and single-minded ruminations on a topic that bud, blossom, and fade before too long. Fat Tony & Taydex’s I Will Make a Baby in this Damn Economy cements Tony’s status as someone whose albums are not so much lyrically-lyrical as they are picaresque.
As with any Fat Tony project, the bars are tight as ever, but are so fluid for the 34-year-old it’s almost easy to take for granted the details, warmth, and humanity inside his free-associative tales of day-one friends who’ve passed, edgelord grifters who want to spit game, and nights on ketamine. Taydex’s production sprints through disparate yet simpatico styles, dipping its toes into Pi’erre Bourne-esque bass (see lead single “Spectacular”), house (“Loosen Up”), and even hyperpop. Meditations on loss and grief are woven throughout, but Tony throws a few curveballs as well: Consider “Alexis,” which sweetly reflects on a long-term platonic friendship. Taydex finds a Teddy Riley-indebted New Jack Swing groove just deep enough for the feeling to land and underlines the song’s sincere candor. This is the appeal of Fat Tony writ-large: his boisterous voice and genial personality invite you to the party, then you stick around to hear what he’s saying, which is frequently more introspective and complex than one assumes.
Written and recorded in Taydex’s new studio in North Hollywood, Tony says, “We had much more freedom and flexibility in making this album and you can hear it. It felt like a family project.” If the album is comfortable and loose, it is also dense and substantial. The album’s final two tracks contextualize the immediacy of what came before it—the mezcal with ices drank, Paul Wall swangin’ through to drop knowledge, the Polaris Prize-winning rapper Cadence Weapon providing a vibe check. “Make a Baby” accounts for Tony who’s seen everything, and knows he’s met the one to be a father with, and yet chooses to take his time to get it done. Taydex’s beat recalls turn-of-the-century R&B and the millennial promise of an endless good time. Sombre closer “Jasper, TX” is Tony coming to grips with the story of James Byrd, Jr., a Black man from East Texas dragged to his death by three white supremacists in 1998. These songs are not only trademarks of Tony’s fastidious rapping—they are deeply personal examples of his approach to artistry and life itself, where every decision is made in the shadow of history.
It’s here the mission statement of I Will Make a Baby in this Damn Economy comes into focus—you get the sense he means it, he’s ready for it, he’ll fight for it. He’s waiting to take the world at its word.

I could smell the curves of the river beyond the dusk and I saw the last light supine and tranquil upon tide-flats like pieces of broken mirror, then beyond them lights began in the pale clear air, trembling a little like butterflies hovering a long way off. -The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner

This is the third and final instalment of Jeremiah M. Carter’s album triptych, »Vessels«. Following »Rejoice« and »Speak You Also«, all three album’s where conceived within a 6 month period during ferociously exalting creative sessions.

The Emotional turmoil of the early pandemic is as present on »Vessels« as it is in the other two albums, yet the final instalment showcases as more distinctive sense of focus, where the earlier albums saw Jeremiah expel a state of uncertainty and trepidation into an intense, almost spiritual form of musical cleansing, Vessels still bears those same hallmarks, yet comes across with an air of refinement and finality.

Spanning six pieces, each work feels like an integral part of the albums overarching narrative, fervently nestled amid divinity and humility. By its final piece, which also clocks in as the longest in the entire triptych, we are treated to one of Jeremiah’s finest moments, and for a few seconds, it all comes together for one last swansong, forming a sonic distillation of elation and grief, desire and passion. – It’s all here.

Lee Gamble’s UIQ label unveils a second album from Filipina-Australian artist Corin Ileto, deploying a brace of swarming alien chorales and rapturous digital rave noise to explore the idea of sound as a sentient being. Bold and operatic, cinematic and cybernetic.

Named after the iconic choral work by 20th Century avant-garde legend György Ligeti (as immortalised by Stanley Kubrick in 2001), ‘Lux Aeterna' explores the idea of micropolyphony, a term Ligeti described as a complex polyphony "in which harmonies do not change suddenly, but merge into one another." Like Ligeti, Corin isn't primarily concerned with melody or rhythm, but timbre: the colour and quality of sound itself.

Taking its time to unfurl, the album opens with ‘lumen naturae’, winding tonal clouds that eventually latch onto a misshapen hoover sound that curves into the abyss. Corin shows her hand more formally on 'sunta', balancing layered cybernetic drones against ratcheting metallic rhythms and unstable textures. When the track cuts to almost-silence, it reminds us of Akira Rabelais' ghosted 'Spellewauerynsherde' (itself an impressionistic granulation of vocal recordings), before being disrupted by a dynamic kick that shares DNA with club music.

But despite her occasional flirtations with the club, Ileto doesn't appear to have any interest in making functional dance music. Instead, she emphasises momentum and texture. Like a celestial opera, ecstatic trance is reimagined within the context of sacred liturgy – merging hyper-real soundscapes with Gregorian chant and medieval instrumentation. Chrome-plated clangs and growling subs highlight the album’s sci-fi leanings, tapping into a sort of retro-futurism that balances a hi-tech mindset with a feeling of deep vulnerability and alienation.

With the timely reissue of Megalon's highly acclaimed album 'Pandora's Box,' we are now thrilled to present the first of two archival compilations by the London-based electronic production duo.

This compilation meticulously curates handpicked tracks from Megalon's 1993 collection, featuring music from their EPs released on the legendary Plink Plonk label during that year. By delving into these archival tracks, the compilation effortlessly showcases Megalon's signature blend of modern, forward-thinking, and impeccably sleek techno hybrids. Prepare yourself for a diverse range of musical moods that provide a comprehensive 360° sonic experience of Megalon's esteemed catalog, ranging from deep techno meditations to high-octane dancefloor anthems.

Every track included in this compilation has been meticulously sourced from Megalon's original DAT tape archive and expertly remastered by the highly skilled Curvepusher. Furthermore, the artwork and design have been thoughtfully crafted under the watchful eye of Rogan Jeans, the original Plink Plonk Records and Megalon designer, ensuring a visually captivating experience that complements the music perfectly.

The electric eels were the first punk band, full stop. They may not have “started” the genre, but they were the first to tick all the boxes. The eels rejected every 1970s rock convention—professionalism, virtuosity, subject matter, image. Dave E.’s caustic vocals, complete with an aggressive lisp and a head full of snot, would become de rigeur a few years after the group disbanded. Meanwhile, the songs’ focus on car crashes, suicide, neuroses, and generally hating people were as far out of the mainstream as possible. The two eels tracks that do approach the subject of romance couch it in terms of not really caring that much about it (“Jaguar Ride”) or placing it in the context of a grisly murder (“Silver Daggers”). Also consider John Morton’s signature guitar sound, a nails-on-chalkboard tone with brutally free soloing inspired more by Albert Ayler than the blues or aspirations to technical facility. Ditto Dave E.’s clarinet playing and affection for lawnmowers and vacuums during live performance. They were notoriously violent not only among themselves, but towards audiences, police, and anyone unfortunate enough to be around them when things went south. Then of course there are the leather jackets, the clothing festooned with rat traps or safety pins. And no bass player, why bother. There is simply no other “proto” band to have had all these pieces in place circa 1973- 1975. Yet it is a mistake to consider the eels exclusively in such a context. Yes, the eels could and did shock anyone who encountered them, but they also had great songs. While both Dave and John were visionary writers, they also had rhythm guitarist Brian McMahon, a melody and riff machine who wrote many of the band’s signature songs. And they were no one-trick pony. Although much of the band’s material is appropriately high-energy, there is also the downer eels—morbid, harmonically risky, and in full existential crisis. Although it’s not a focus of this compilation, the eels also had a penchant for completely free improvisation. Over the last forty plus years, there have been several electric eels compilations. Spin Age Blasters is quite simply the best one ever assembled, every single key track is here in its best version, properly mastered by John Golden, and sequenced with an eye towards both flow between tracks as well as individation between sides. A true monster of an album.

For the last twenty years, Sami Yenigun has DJed, thrown parties, released records and built community in Washington DC. He lived in and helped produce the underground event space Subterranean A. He's a co-founder of the DC mega party ROAM. He started the label 1432 R alongside Joyce Lim and Dawit Eklund. He's made music for Future Times, World Building, Rhythm Section, and Ghostly International. He’s produced for Dreamcastmoe and jammed with the Lifted crew.

Sami's also an award-winning journalist and Executive Producer of the largest afternoon news broadcast in radio, All Things Considered. He's won a Peabody, a Murrow, A World Press Photo Award and a National Press Club Award for his work, which includes creating a show with the legendary DJs Stretch and Bobbito, serving as editor of NPR's podcast about race, Code Switch, and covering elections, epidemics, insurrections, and of course, music.

It’s a lot, but whether finding a flute that fits, an extra battery for his Marantz, or the energy to make beats after a week of telling stories, Sami's enthusiasm for life, and the people in it, make it work.

The latest record, Elevate, is a testament to that enthusiasm. Four tracks that crackle and pulse with the same electricity that runs through all of what he makes. Just as Sami's interests in his personal and professional life are ranging, so are his tastes for club fare, and you can hear it on this release.

Four views of mother nature: a forest and a mountain range; a wicked city and a well. Traced from house and techno, through a lens and back.

It's a body of work that continues to branch and build. Elevate is a step into Sami's next chapter: Where flutes, stories, queerness and truth curve together.

Circa Groove are squashing their first EP into wax with red-hot house talent Donnie Cosmo, after a successful run of digital releases over the past 3 years.

Donnie's sound has been turning heads and moving dance floors in a special way, with a celebrated EP under Gene on Earth's Limousine Dream. His second vinyl EP will now come into existence under the Circa Groove imprint in the form of a 4-track solo EP.

Commencing the EP is the Track 'Stargazer (Highway Mix)', like Neil deGrasse Tyson this one is seriously intergalactic. The track holds tight and shuffling drums, with no-nonsense synth leads lifting the whole track and making it shimmer. The bassline bubbles and rocks underneath the top end giving the track an unrelenting energy.

Followed on by Wired Nag, this is a track that flexes monstrous sound design to construct a deep and flowing number. Laced with electro pings and undulating synth leads, this is deep and weighty club-ready music with nods to 90s house and electro.

In a similar fashion, on B1 and B2 Donnie has delivered 2 chrome-plated, slamming numbers, likely to cause axial tilt on the dancefloor

Catz ‘n Dogz make a standout debut on Crosstown Rebels with two compelling new house tracks on ‘Can’t Stand’, complete with a remix from leftfield innovator Robag Wruhme.

A pairing whose renowned reputation has been built and shaped across an illustrious career, Polish duo Grzegorz Demiañczuk and Wojciech Tarañczuk, aka Catz’ n Dogz, have been serving up their own diverse and varied take on house for more than fifteen years. Founders of their own Pets Recordings imprint, in that time they have released on esteemed labels, from Diynamic to Defected, Glitterbox to Watergate and more, while playing at almost every major club and festival across the globe. Their fresh in-between sounds and knack for cooking up curious and impactful sounds have made them mainstays of the scene, and that run of stellar releases continues here with a debut appearance on Crosstown Rebels as they link with ZenSoFly for ‘Can’t Stand’ - with longstanding German favourite Robag Wruhme on remix duties.

Opener ‘Can’t Stand’ sees the pair reunite with vocalist ZenSoFly, a talent they’ve worked with on notable hits like ‘Wave.’ Her vocals bring soul and attitude over a tight, rubbery and sleazy house beat, underpinned with a heavy bassline - providing the sort of chunky cut to lock in a dancefloor and make it march in unison. Robag Wruhme has been a Pampa label mainstay and famously curveball producer for many years with his scintillating blend of minimalism, melody and unusual sound sources. That is the case again with this remix, a dark workout that hurries along on snappy drums, detuned vocals and scuzzed up, droning synths to ensure maximum impact.

The EP is closed out with ‘Wake Up’, a widescreen and atmospheric cut packed with detail. The bassline is taught, freaky vocals echo within the mix, and synths spray about to dramatic effect, delivering another full flavour house cut with a dark soul and futuristic designs.

Repress!

Montreal’s eclectic producer CFCF (aka Mike Silver) follows 2019’s effusive corporate jungle opus Liquid Colours with a kaleidoscopic capital-E Electronica album that takes a range of styles from his earliest formative listening years (1997-2000) and throws them in a blender. Elements of jungle, house, UK garage, trance, pop and post-grunge are blended to form a glossy picture of restless youth in an
identity crisis: memoryland.

Inspired as much by Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins as the Chemical Brothers and Basement Jaxx; as much by films like Millennium Mambo, Demonlover, Morvern Callar, Safe and Perfect Blue as late 90’s Prada — CFCF jumps across genres as a means of portraying a breadth of overlapping milieus and identities in this hyperactive Y2K period-piece that both explores and criticizes our own nostalgic impulses. From the opening intro’s announcement of arrival to the final credits, it’s an album as film as RPG, with the listener as its protagonist.

Opener “welcome.WAV” functions as a start-up sound file for the journey ahead: from “Life is Perfecto”, a propulsive breakbeat-dreampop hybrid, to a grotesquely-remixed ultra-French-house version of previously released single “Self Service”, and the recursive, metaphysical garage of “After the After”. Two guest vocalists lend their talents: Montreal neo-shoegaze icons No Joy, fresh off their own genre-defying Y2K exploration Motherhood, laconically lists off advice for aspiring fashion ingenues with bite in the alt-rock-IDM “Model Castings”, while Kero Kero Bonito’s Sarah Bonito sweetly delivers the penultimate “Heaven”, grunge-pop paean to the myth of Icarus.

In CFCF’s words:
“I was feeling fatigued by an overabundance of ‘calming’, productivity-oriented music, and wanted to explore something angsty, messy, and dark, while also applying a pop sheen. I see a loose narrative across the album: your early 20’s, a new city, new people, new temptations and new traps. Losing your sense of self to the whims of your surroundings and trends in music and fashion; the wrong people, and trying to dig yourself out of that hole. There’s a hope of moving forward that glimmers in the last quarter of the album, but it’s out of reach and seems to come at a price. And then the looking back on it later with perspective; or the looking forward to it before with anticipation. As a kid I couldn’t wait to be in my 20’s; in my 30’s it’s bittersweet to look back. That’s the core of memoryland: the gulf between the fantasy, the reality, and the memory, and how we live inside each of those at different points.”

Repress!

Japanese crustpunk and grindcore icon Eri Fuzz-Kristiansen, aka Gallhammer’s Viviankrist, keeps
the curveballs coming on Diagonal with a bloodied mastication of charred noise and and rhythmic
electronics, following up the label’s acclaimed sides by Sote and Not Waving/Jim O’Rourke
Co-released with the metal-minded Ritual Productions label, ‘Cross-Modulation’ is a brutal
testament to the acridly personalised sound that Viviankrist has explored solo since 1995 in Tokyo,
when she performing vocals, sax and SP-202 sampler in her first industrial/noise unit. 23 years
later her music is still sorely raw, yet riddled with a new found poignance and atmospheric unease
that places her music sometimes as close to Kali Malone’s see-sawing dissonance as the power
electronics of Pan Sonic or the possessed pulses of Conrad Schnitzler and Merzbow.
Since the demise of Eri’s main project Gallhammer at the start of this decade, when she moved
from Tokyo to Oslo (home of her husband and bandmate in Sehnsucht, Maniac - also former
vocalist for BM legends Mayhem), she returned to her early Viviankrist alias from 2017 as a place
to express her primitivist-futurist urges, resulting a trio of CDs including the vicious solo strike
of ‘Morgenrøde’ for Cold Spring. Now on ‘Cross-Modulation’ she intuitively tempers that album’s
phosphorous burn with a deadly incisive application of what Black Metal/Techno pioneer Black
Mecha terms “mentation electronics.”
Alloying avant-metal with rhythmic noise, ambient techno and mind-bending drone to a
metallurgic tang, ‘Cross-Modulation’ serves a dense flux of energies in seven parts, piercing a path
thru maelstrom electronics in ‘Eleventh’ to churn up grizzled Vainio-esque rhythms in ‘Blue Iron’,
while the tenderly bruised ambience of ‘Midnight Sun’ provides a bittersweet palette cleanser for
the tart technoid prang of ‘Insects’, a bout of slow gripping psychedelia in ‘Out of Body’, and the
rugged North European pastoralism of ‘Behind Mirror.’

Angel Deradoorian and Kate NV are Decisive Pink - Ticket To Fame is their highly anticipated debut. After teasing the single 'Haffmilch Holiday' the duo amassed a rapturous response, with The Guardian calling it "a space-age-dancefloor swoon that brings to mind Kate Bush's Waking the Witch" and the New York Times highlighting the single as "substantive and thoroughly hypnotic". On their first LP they do not disappoint, calling on Kate NV's experimental pop leanings and Angel Deradoorian's taste for atmosphere and otherworldliness, Decisive Pink have created a playful and abstract album designed for escape and enchantment. Electronic pop at it's finest, the debut points to the fact that life is a puzzle, but you can still get a lot from living it. 'Destiny' is a smart take on the nature of belief, built on a question-and-answer format, where Angel plays a role as the seer, and Kate the enquirer. The poppy beat is reminiscent of Talking Heads' 'The Great Curve', from Remain in Light. There again, it could be a sinister take on Will Powers' 'Kissing with Confidence'. The synth squeaks, squelches and toots sound like the timid affirmation of the initiate. Ticket to Fame is also unashamedly romantic in atmosphere and tone. Romance is to be found in the simple pleasures, such as listening to a blackbird on the instrumental 'Rodeo', where warm synths, a melancholic guitar pattern and hissing rhythm combine with some vocal snippets to form a soothing contemplation. Then there is 'Ode to Boy'; a perfect pop track. The walking into the room of "more than just an ordinary boy" (doubtless "drunk with fire") allows a set of initially different, and shortened synth patterns to build to a glorious affirmation of the power of love. "Perfect pop music" Marc Riley, BBC6 Music And guess what? The vinyl comes in pink!

Naarm alchemists Sleep D's revelatory new synthetic 'Electronic Arts' is ready for circulation.

Having released 4 EPs of mind-altering club tackle since 2019's 'Rebel Force', the duo overcome second album syndrome, boiling down their chaos with a more developed sense of songwriting. Never banging one drum, 'Electronic Arts' mirrors the anything goes mania of their DJ sets, tactfully shifting through different sounds and styles. Tempos intensify and decelerate, at times pushing the threshold to 150 bpm from docile canine dreamscapes to full tilt Space Invaders in AR mind games.

Largely built on road tested material from their live performances, the album is a tangible Butter Sessions gathering, busting out the gate with Martian rave initiation Planet Waves, Outdoor System's polyrhythmic beatdown and the Orb-like hero dose affirmations of Sunrise In The Crater (I Exist). While 'Electronic Arts' is otherwise a self-dependent effort, Punch Drunk is brewed ever more potent by the hypnagogic vocals and lucid trumpet cycles of former futsal team member YL Hooi. Their unified energy incidentally manifests a profound matrix of ambient techno, motorik, Don Cherry and Everything But the Girl.

Also touching on apocalyptic doof and minimal, the album is not exclusively peak time with Maryos Syawish and Corey Kikos' specialty curveballs also playing their part. From Village To Empire finds the duo rooting down in Syawish's heritage with a tapestry of purposefully deployed Iraqi and Syrian ethnographic samples and field recordings, dubbed within range of Muslimgauze and On-U Sound. As minimal techno finale Textile trails off into footsteps wandering back to base camp with a satisfied exhale, one wonders where Sleep D's existential pathfinding could possibly take us next?

Strut presents an exclusive new collaboration between UK jazz keyboardist Greg Foat and Venetian ambient / electronic maestro Gigi Masin on ‘Dolphin’.

Recorded remotely during 2021-2022 the album took shape in the form of mutual compositions, gradually developed and embellished online. Final recording sessions took place at the majestic Chale Abbey Studios on the Isle Of Wight with Moses Boyd (drums), Tom Herbert (bass) and Siobhan Cosgrove (flute, clarinet) adding elements to several pieces. Tracks include the reflective, wistful single ‘Viento Calido’ and drifting ambient piece ‘Sabena’, a beautiful tribute to Gigi’s wife who sadly passed away during 2022.



Greg Foat has recorded prolifically in recent years for Athens Of The North, Jazzman and Strut including acclaimed albums Symphonie Pacifique (2020) and The Mage (2019). Best known for his 1986 ambient masterpiece Wind and as a member of Gaussian Curve, Gigi Masin has enjoyed a revival in recent years through his Calypso album on R&S’s Apollo label and renewed touring. Dolphin represents Greg and Gigi’s first landmark recording collaboration together. “I first heard Gigi’s album Wind in 2016,” remembers Greg. “I was living in Miami and I heard it playing one Summer evening Since then, it has always been in my mind to be able to record together.”

Strut presents an exclusive new collaboration between UK jazz keyboardist Greg Foat and Venetian ambient / electronic maestro Gigi Masin on ‘Dolphin’.

Recorded remotely during 2021-2022 the album took shape in the form of mutual compositions, gradually developed and embellished online. Final recording sessions took place at the majestic Chale Abbey Studios on the Isle Of Wight with Moses Boyd (drums), Tom Herbert (bass) and Siobhan Cosgrove (flute, clarinet) adding elements to several pieces. Tracks include the reflective, wistful single ‘Viento Calido’ and drifting ambient piece ‘Sabena’, a beautiful tribute to Gigi’s wife who sadly passed away during 2022.



Greg Foat has recorded prolifically in recent years for Athens Of The North, Jazzman and Strut including acclaimed albums Symphonie Pacifique (2020) and The Mage (2019). Best known for his 1986 ambient masterpiece Wind and as a member of Gaussian Curve, Gigi Masin has enjoyed a revival in recent years through his Calypso album on R&S’s Apollo label and renewed touring. Dolphin represents Greg and Gigi’s first landmark recording collaboration together. “I first heard Gigi’s album Wind in 2016,” remembers Greg. “I was living in Miami and I heard it playing one Summer evening Since then, it has always been in my mind to be able to record together.”

Angel Deradoorian and Kate NV are Decisive Pink - Ticket To Fame is their highly anticipated debut. After teasing the single 'Haffmilch Holiday' the duo amassed a rapturous response, with The Guardian calling it "a space-age-dancefloor swoon that brings to mind Kate Bush's Waking the Witch" and the New York Times highlighting the single as "substantive and thoroughly hypnotic". On their first LP they do not disappoint, calling on Kate NV's experimental pop leanings and Angel Deradoorian's taste for atmosphere and otherworldliness, Decisive Pink have created a playful and abstract album designed for escape and enchantment. Electronic pop at it's finest, the debut points to the fact that life is a puzzle, but you can still get a lot from living it. 'Destiny' is a smart take on the nature of belief, built on a question-and-answer format, where Angel plays a role as the seer, and Kate the enquirer. The poppy beat is reminiscent of Talking Heads' 'The Great Curve', from Remain in Light. There again, it could be a sinister take on Will Powers' 'Kissing with Confidence'. The synth squeaks, squelches and toots sound like the timid affirmation of the initiate. Ticket to Fame is also unashamedly romantic in atmosphere and tone. Romance is to be found in the simple pleasures, such as listening to a blackbird on the instrumental 'Rodeo', where warm synths, a melancholic guitar pattern and hissing rhythm combine with some vocal snippets to form a soothing contemplation. Then there is 'Ode to Boy'; a perfect pop track. The walking into the room of "more than just an ordinary boy" (doubtless "drunk with fire") allows a set of initially different, and shortened synth patterns to build to a glorious affirmation of the power of love. "Perfect pop music" Marc Riley, BBC6 Music And guess what? The vinyl comes in pink!

Redshape's visits to Running Back are a welcome recurrence and a soothing reminder that techno and house can still come in several shapes and sizes. Related and referring to earlier acid studies on Release Me and to a certain extend on Rise, the masked man continues to find new approaches to the 303 canon with Acid Leak.

True to form, the seasoned producer choses groove over governance, lets batteries leak and strikes a chord or two with old lovers and new votaries of the classic club techno titans of the nineties - strings included.

Wing Wing is an exemplary excursion into the special and unmatched Redshape zone that rejoins rock and dental drillers, while Acid Flow counterpoints the titles track's opulence with a dub version - both hit like a streak. The curveball and icing on the cake is Frantic. Hi-tech-jazz in technique and -soul in attitude, it feels like a late contender to the quintessential Deepest Shade of Techno compilations. Four to the floor!

New signing to Xtra Mile Recordings - Hannah Rose Platt releases her new album 'Deathbed Confessions' on 19th May 2023. 'Deathbed Confessions' is a concept album inspired by classic horror, Rod Serling’s ‘The Twilight Zone’, BBC’s ‘Inside No 9’ and Samuel Pepys’s ‘Balladeer’ and is produced by Ed Harcourt. Available digitally, CD and beautiful gold vinyl, gatefold sleeve with special A3 Print of cover art. 'Deathbed Confessions' is an eclectic collection - sure to intrigue, disturb, and pull on the heartstrings of any listener. A collection of haunting vignettes linked through polarised themes of death, love, the afterlife, murder, regret, the uncanny, and bizarre… “Deathbed Confessions” boasts a wide dynamic curve, featuring the luscious swells of the Budapest Film Orchestra on ‘Inventing the Stars’, Harcourt’s signature piano playing and vocals (featured on the sea-shanty duet ‘The Mermaid and The Sailor’) and classical Ondes-Martenist Charlie Draper on ‘Home for Wayward Dolls’. Hannah Rose Platt is an acclaimed singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and storyteller, who merges the sinister authorial prowess of Nick Cave and Tom Waits, with the gilded Americana of Bobbie Gentry. Track 1 - 'Dead Man On The G Train' - released 24th February 2023 - Single ‘Dead Man on the G Train’ was the first song I wrote for the record and the opening title. I wanted to write little four-minute ‘pulp noir’ mystery thriller, which sets the tone for the rest of the record. Ed and I had such fun recording this track, expect to hear bombastic drums and beastly guitar train sounds. We hope to transport you to 1930s New York, someone’s boarding the G train to Brooklyn and they won’t be getting off… (listen out for the twist!)’ Track 2 - 'Feeding Time For Monsters' - released 29th March 2023 - Single “If a house represents the psyche – what would haunt the rooms of our very own haunted houses? I explore a mix of my own ptsd experiences and personal ghosts in this song. Ed and I wanted to create a sense of chaos and dissociation with woozy vocals and thrashing guitars (and the video animation by William Davies is just astonishing! Check it out!

Another beautiful & booming release from Piezo on his rock solid Ansia imprint, conjuring up 5 tracks of frenetic & kinetic mind/body music that are distinctly his own with a reverent nod to such genres as UKG, grime, techno, gqom & footwork.
Evolving beyond the manufactured nostalgia that populates today's current dance milieu, Piezo takes bass science into the realm of the metaphysical.

“jRj” & “Big Room Technow” emanate metric tons of somatic energy for the club crowd, the former building up momentum on a gqom-infused grime pattern, while the latter is like a tin robot whistling an odd melody inside a peak-time 4/4 banger.
“Sensory Overdraw” is an outstanding UKG curveball with a distinctive metallic bassline and intricate head swimming programming for the headphone listener.
A similar approach is applied to “Cutest Kitty Content”, which teems with bizarre ear-candies, but moves with a different and faster framework. Footwork with outsider insight.
Finally you have the digital exclusive “Zing Zang”, which slows things down but still keep the same balance between mind and body requirements.

The genre references aren't blanketing the tracks as much as they are being manifested through pure passion and love: these tunes are all encompassing bin shakers that knock and sway the lucky participants that are awakened enough to be open to the journey.
This is a rare release where you can see the forest from the trees and yet both can simultaneously be experienced and enjoyed.

Chalke aka Life On Mars aka Forces Of Nature is a bit of a mystical legend in the drum & bass circles. An old school friend of LTJ Bukem, the two of them grew up together in North London and it is down to him that Bukem started to DJ, with Chalke as his original MC!

This is the second release Chalke has done with Vinyl Fanatiks – his first was VFS002 which has long since sold out and already a collectable repress on Discogs.
Chalke was so far ahead of the curve in his production and ability to create tracks that surprisingly these two tunes were written in 1993 and 1994 and pre-date the whole ‘intelligent’ drum and bass movement that took over the globe in the mid-90s!

Both tracks were never released and have sat on DAT for 30 years… until now. ‘Moonbase Alpha’ is a cult track in the drum and bass world as it was played by Bukem during the mid-90s, both in his sets and on his Kiss show. Deep, rolling and beautifully progressive for the era. ‘Quosh Up’ is equally as stunning, musical and rolling… like one of Bukem’s DJ sets during the Good Looking era.

Limited pressing on 180g heavyweight black vinyl, presented in a black inner sleeve with a Vinyl Fanatiks 3mm spined housebag.

Mint Condition would like to dedicate this release to the life of Nathan Coles, who sadly passed away on February 12th 2023. A true tech-house originator and underground party starter, his productions laid down a blueprint for the tech-house sound that has become a global phenomena today. A much lauded DJ & producer, he graced the decks of the best clubs globally. As well as his solo productions, Nathan had multiple collaborative projects, Housey Doingz, Mashupheadz, Two Right Wrongans, Get F@cked, to name but a few, that saw him tackle tech-house, deep house, breaks and electro with such skillful aplomb.

The now highly sought after original appeared on Wiggle in 2000, and for this release Nathan teams up with his longtime Wiggle partner, and legend of the scene, Terry Francis for 2 fierce tech-house jams under their 'Delinquents' alias. A-Side 'Disc' opens with heavy kicks and speaker rattling percussion.The hypnotic 303-line builds, layered synths add to the tension, then comes the drop where infectious chord stabs enter the fray. B-Side - 'Funktional' takes a more stripped back approach, the bass line and percussion delivers a groove capable of destroying any discerning dancefloor. Darker acid and synths riffs build around the melody to deliver a bass heavy roller of the highest order that sounds as fresh, exciting & relevant today as it did over 2 decades ago.

This slab of wax is an essential and key release in the evolution of the UK underground that we hope celebrates Nathan's dedication, musical vision and positive energy. His unique talent leaves behind a legacy that populates legendary labels such as Wiggle, Surreal, The End, Eukahouse, Swag, Eye 4 Sound, 10 Kilo and Plastic City. 'Discfunktional' has been legitimately re-released with the full involvement of Terry Francis and Nathan Coles, lovingly remastered by London's Curve Pusher from the original sources especially for Mint Condition. 100% legit, licensed and released. Dug, remastered, repackaged and brought to you by the caring folks at your favourite reissue label - Mint Condition!

Liberation is the latest evolution by David West, a dedicated underground dweller and traveler with his groups Rat Columns and Rank/Xerox and previously spotted in Lace Curtain and Total Control. Many familiar elements of West's songwriting creep out from the speakers this time around, albeit in a sonically more adventurous and personal manner. Swathed in analogue and FM synths, pinned down by near-funk drum machines, and with a vision expanded into the past and future. While in previous incarnations, West's alienated and fragile vocal has battled with jangling guitars and distortion, Liberation sets free his woes and ruminations into space. Taking inspiration from the heyday of Mute Records, the beginnings of electronic dance music's rudimentary sampling, broken and sound art, Liberation's debut LP is 10 songs of the road, about the nameless ghosts on the highway, accidental lovers, the alienation of the stranger in a strange land, the unbearable weight of freedom.
Beginning with a curveball, Liberation's first vocal sets out the position of the forever-cuckold, the sad lover hanging on: Looking For A Lover combines a Roland 707's loping mid-tempo with creeped-out synth lines as West intones his intentions close to the ear. Continuing in a more baroque manner, Move Me makes astounding use of string samples and space, with esteemed engineer Mikey Young's (Total Control / Eddy Current Suppression Ring) production prowess making for a distilled yet inviting loneliness. Forget is the night-drive centerpiece of the album, a 7 minute that erupts into a nihilistic sub-disco darkness. A constant theme of Liberation is the friction between West's characters: a frustrated love in victim-status paired with a menacing intent. The adorable, fragile stalker in the moonlight, illuminated by Whatever You Want, a
subjugated protagonist offering they have while the city burns. The brightest pop moment of the album has this in abundance: Cold And Blue, a classic synth pop jam to be played on repeat til the end of time, like New Order played by one man in his bedroom, with no drugs for a cushion, coming down the stairs, she looks like a perfect fear and Im a monument to your existence. But West has moments of touching sincerity that speak direct to the listener, as in album highlight Leaves Falling; a sparse string arrangement frames his vocal, "why do I keep falling for you I must just really like to be alone." Liberation is the freedom from attachments, about how sometimes they're what you want most.

Australian vocalist-guitarist Daevid Allen was a part of the highly experimental Canterbury scene, alongside the likes of drummers Robert Wyatt and Pip Pyle, before he relocated to Paris in the late ‘60s, formed Gong and made music that had a rare blend of on the fly creativity and off the wall humour. However, Banana Moon was a solo effort by Allen that saw him reunite with the aforementioned British kindred spirits as well as bassist Archie Legget and vocalist Maggie Bell, among others. The nine songs on the record run from interludes of just under a minute to epic suites that exceed ten, making it clear that Allen, as his work with Gong suggested, gave full vent to his imagination whether he was writing songs with a quasi-Beatles pop appeal or engaging in unrestrained sonic flights of fancy. With lyrical curveballs being thrown on every track, none more so than ‘Fred The Fish And The Chip On His Shoulder’, the music has a wry charm to match the performance skills of the band. This re-mastered version of Banana Moon brings Allen’s uncommon musical vision back in to view and serves as a reminder of the feverish and fearless energy that spurred on an artist whose work has lost none of its seductive shock value.

Veils Of Transformation 1972 - 1980 is a collection of the earliest works of Gregory Kramer, one of the 20th century masters of textural electronic music. This collection is available on CD and cassette with liner notes from Gregory Kramer and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, who first brought this fascinating work to the attention of Important Records.

“Greg is one of the pioneers of electronic music and these pieces are unique opportunities to discover how intricate and dynamic early synthesizers are.” Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith

Kramer developed a musical language focused on continuous transformation of timbre, yielding a continuity of attention. This musical language, formed of timbral change, is a compelling aesthetic in its own right and a source of meditative experience. The four works on this album share a deep sense of order derived not from organizing pitches or rhythms, but from the evolution of timbre itself.

Gregory Kramer (b. 1952) is a pioneering electronic composer, inventor, researcher, teacher and author. In 1975 he co-founded Electronic Musicmobile, a synthesizer ensemble later renamed Electronic Musicmobile, a series of synthesizer concerts in New York from which he formed the Electronic Art Ensemble, a highly regarded all electronic quartet. His work extended to developing synthesizers and related equipment. Kramer also co-founded the not-for-profit arts organization Harvestworks in New York City. He is recognized as the founding figure of the intensely cross-disciplinary field of data sonification. Since 1980, Kramer teaches Buddhist meditation.

The four compositions collected here each represent Kramer’s unique approaches:

The structure of Meditations on 32 Parts of the Body (1978) is derived from the means of its production. Recording 5 people chanting an ancient meditation text, then layering to gradually achieve more than one million voices. The layering was all done using analogue tape recorders. The decomposition of the sound reflects the anomalies of tape machines out of sync, and the build up of artifacts from the audio tape itself, such as uneven response curves and tape hiss, are all engaged as musical materials.

Role (1972) was generated using one complex patch on a large hybrid Buchla 200/100 system. Emerging from a zeitgeist that valued pure synthesis as a combined artistic and technological research. At the time this piece was realized its as exceedingly difficult to produce electronic sounds that were internally complex.

Blue Wave (1980) is built on Kramer’s timbral development technique Veils Of Transformation which allows for disparate timbres to be woven into a continuously developing sound.

Monologue (1977) is a virtuosic performance of a massive patch on a Buchla/Electron Farm hybrid electronic instrument. Built into the patch is a pathway for continuous transformation of voice and voltage-controlled synthesizer. The blunt, raw and sometimes harsh sounds of this piece reflect an attitude prominent among composers that music can, or even should, be difficult, contrary to what’s already been done and, by all means, new.

This project tells an ambivalent story. Lightness on the one hand - a letting go around friendship and love, a rejuvenation in the line of his first EP - and more intense on the other around fatherhood at the end of adolescence which is told, sung like a precocious adult life. Married at 21, then a parent at 24, his twenties are normally synonymous with lightness, carefree living mixed with student life, but he has reversed the space-time curve of his adult life. He started out as a young father. Now he has just separated and is in some ways returning to that adolescence. He explains: "My daughter bridges the gap between all this, musically she inspires me too. She listens to LCD Soundsystem, but also Damso. She's an anchor for me that keeps me from growing old.

This album is a marker of all that. Each song is a step. An album he considers to be a gentle therapy. He started it while he was still in a relationship and finished it when the relationship ended. "It's like I could feel things happening while writing this album". This album and the whole process of creating it is therefore a sometimes dark and often bright path, which Clément likes to call "life".

Green Marbled Vinyl


Following up to his maiden transmission for the label, "Cosmic Silence", issued a year ago, Italian producer Alessandro Cozzolino AKA Cioz resurfaces on Stil vor Talent with his longed-for debut album "Supermassive Whole" - a ten-track cosmic odyssey in sound percolating staple elements of Cioz's palette of choice, from otherworldly techno to Latin-inflected house, via the obvious injection of kosmische and electronica soundscaping.

The lead single "Wachaka" - recorded in collaboration with Cape Town producer Ryan Murgatroyd, exemplifies Cozzolino's electrifying approach to a T. An inch-perfectly balanced mix of Afro-infused polyrhythmic bravura and seesawing synth moves, the track swells with a blazing fire at heart that keeps on sprawling infectiously with each and every bar. Trading the linear buildup for most sensuous levels of syncopation, "Me Monkey" serves up a warmer kind of funk, perfect for getting snug and cozy before an avalanche of seesawing chords up the ante towards space-opera-esque amplitude. All in elusive sinuosity and processed machine talk, "Harakat" dwells the confines of wonky house templates and polyamorous EBM, while "I Always Wanted To..." goes the slo-burning, counterclockwise route, primed for languid moments in the alcove.

"B1" is perhaps the most spitting avatar of the Italian whiz's hybrid rolling-and-pounding rhythmic style, nicely embodying both its quirky, hip-swaying and fanfare-like percussive aspects. The ecstatically bouncy "Do It The Way You Feel" showcases Cioz's more rousing, floor-friendly facet with a killer combo of hi-octane electro dynamics, pop-rock motif'd hooks and slashing breaks taking the controls. The mood also happens to be melancholic at times, such as on the beautifully understated "Is This Real", which bridges the gap betwixt piano-house déjà-vu - here tweaked to distinctively soul-wrenching effect, and a prog buildup glossed under a thick sauce of FX, similar to that of "Sudpol Birgit"'s inflating saturation in the post-prod treatment. Somewhat brushed with balearic shades in mind, "Pace e Amore" follows a more classic curve, slowly veering off onto ambient-laced territories, while "Lost in Space" evokes a certain idea of gravity-defying plenitude through that ever intuitive and subtly arranged collage of tender wistfulness and endless attraction towards the groove, which defines Cozzolino's phraseology so fittingly.

“This music is staggeringly original and innovative, and while it’s possible to locate it in a chain of circumstance that links it to ‘Industrial’ music, P16.D4 indulged in none of the empty cliches associated with the genre, worked incredibly hard, and seem to have been aiming at a form of sound art that was much more profound, varied, subversive, and potentially dangerous. Kuhe In 1/2 Trauer’s accompanying credits indicate their radical approach to making music: lots of improvisation, lots of live electronics, extensive use of tape-loops, some conventional instrumentation, and much that isn’t – like the milk churn on ‘Paris, Morgue’ or the use of baking tray and washing machine elsewhere. Even when guitars, drums or keyboards are used, they’re played very weirdly. It’s not even made clear who was doing what; the main credit is ‘Concept,’ which I assume means that one of the three devised the framework in which the noise would operate itself, and while RLW gets the lion’s share of these credits, a lot of the cuts are evenly divided among the team and I have no doubt that the group operated in a very democratic or libertarian manner. None of this prepares you for the insane and troubling sounds that reach your ears, composed with scant regard for conventional logic and following an exciting, absurdist path, especially in the matter of tape edits and juxtapositions of recordings.” - Ed Pinsent, The Sound Projector.

“Though this German group started out as a the new wave band P.D., by the time of Kuhe in 1/2 Trauer, their first LP under the P16.D4 name from 1984, they had developed far beyond into extremely experimental music similar to other post-industrial artists working with abstract avant-garde soundscapes. There’s a bleak industrial feel to the gritty, lo-fi electronics and tape loops, while the group throws in enough curve balls to keep it interesting. On some pieces, strange, looped choirs bubble out of throbbing pulses and drones of feedback, while others have clanging and clattering, and elements of musique concrète and improvisation blur the boundaries even further. The opening track, “Default Value,” is one of those disorienting pieces with noises flying everywhere, while “Paris Morgue” takes excerpts from one of their old P.D. tracks and messes it up with additional instruments, while the ungainly titled fourth track throws in a heavy texture of percussive noises to create an edgy ambience about to teeter off the edge, and the even darker and more ambient title track takes the tension even further. Arrhythmic and amorphous and capable at moments of becoming quite noisy and abrasive, while at others far more somber and quiet, Kuhe in 1/2 Trauer is quite a fascinating release.” - Rolf Semprebon / AMG

P16.D4 was a German electronic noise music collective, active primarily from 1980 to 1988. P16.D4 embraced tape cut-ups, musique concrète, endless recycling and transformation of previously published material, and many long-distance collaborations with like-minded artists such as DDAA, Vortex Campaign, Nurse With Wound, and Merzbow. Their active participation in the international industrial tape scene yielded collaborative output such as their release Distruct, where bands such as Nurse with Wound, Nocturnal Emissions, Die Tödliche Doris, and The Haters provided the source material. The longest-term collaboration was with the installation and conceptual artist Achim Wollscheid, who used P16.D4 sounds as the basis for LPs he recorded under the name SBOTHI. Ralf Wehowsky, the only constant member of the group, later released solo material under the alias RLW.

Members of P16.D4 were also involved with Selektion, a collective of people involved with sound as well as the visual arts. Selektion published LPs, CDs, books, visual art and design.

The collective worked in a strongly improvised, spontaneous and anti-professional way, using acoustic and electronic instruments, using existing sound fragments, duplicating and alienating them, using repetition, distortion, changes in speed and playing direction. For this they used not only sounds of other artists but also their own material from earlier productions. Late works of the collective are associated with musique concrete.

The inception of 49North marks the beginning of a brand new era for Duncan Forbes; who most emphatically made his mark on the WW scene as one half of legendary duo - Spooky - alongside Charlie May; releasing a string of landmark singles and albums over 3 decades, not to mention timeless remix / production work for International heavyweights like Depeche Mode, M83, Sasha, William Orbit, Mr.G and Apparat.
A1: ‘Burning Bright As Magnesium’
“Heading up this second ‘Distilled & Amplified’, 12” sampler is one of Duncan’s most leg-sweeping, curveball originals to date - 'Burning Bright As Magnesium'... a super tripped-out, Techno head-spinner; powered by an eerie, almost spectral kind of funk.
B1: ‘In The Mansion Of The Gods’ (Mr G’s ‘Home Alone’ Remix)
“And on the flip, we see Duncan’s second ever solo release - 'In The Mansion Of The Gods' - get the rework treatment from close friend Mr G, and his unrivalled brand of analogue magic. And if you haven't heard the Phoenix G man go full-throttle before - you're in for a barn-storming treat.”

Blackploid has become one of Central Processing Unit's stalwarts in the past couple of years. Martin Matiske's project contributed a trio of EPs to the Sheffield label across 2021 and 2022, with each of them showing off the kind of electro chops and production sensibilities that made Blackploid an ideal fit for an imprint which also boasts the likes of Cygnus, Silicon Scally and Bochum Welt among its catalogue.

Now, for CPU's first release of 2023, Matiske levels things up with the debut Blackploid LPEnter Universe. Across these twelve tracks, Matiske leaves us in no doubt that he's a prime mover in the world of modern electronic music.Enter Universedoes not let up from start to finish, delivering a dozen pieces of leftfield electro that draws from the sound's greats while also showcasing an unpredictability and flair that is all of Blackploid's own.

The tone is set from the first frosty chords of opening cut 'Pulsation'. The track traverses the starscape on pitter-patter drums and chirruping synths, a lively and slightly dystopian roller with an adventurous undercurrent reminiscent of classic Rephlex drops. It's a style which Blackploid often draws for throughout the rest ofEnter Universe, albeit with elements added or subtracted at each stage.

Indeed, this album features some of the most unusual production you will hear on any record this year. While the grooves pulse away in a manner reminiscent of Drexciya or Legowelt, Blackploid layers the mixes with a whole cornucopia of synth tones. 'The Mission' boasts a bleep-bloop breakdown that sounds like malfunctioning rotary telephones; 'Silent Room' is a ghoulish jam which harks back to Warp's legendary Artificial Intelligence compilations; 'Automatik' and 'Wormhole' are defined by some brilliantly strange low-ends - you'll be thinking of Mr. Oizo's 'Flat Beat' with the wiggly former, while the gurgling, writhing anti-lead that dictates 'Wormhole' is oddly thrilling and more than befits the track's title.

This inventive approach is also apparent in some of the structural choices onEnter Universe. While the tracks here all keep a steady, dancefloor friendly pulse, several of them surprise you by switching up the approach after a minute or two. 'Pulsation', 'Automatik' and 'The Mission' all feature moments where a new element - extra hi-hats, a synth line entering from leftfield - inject fresh impetus into the tune to keep the listener on their toes.

Blackploid may push the sonic envelope onEnter Universe, but this does not mean there is no room for melody. In particular, the cuts here which most strongly channel 'Computer World'-era Kraftwerk do so by fronting some slyly tuneful work, particularly in the low end of the mix. 'Unidentified' serves up delightfully springy chords, 'Cell Mutation' leads from the bassline, and 'Space Curve' features little cells of melody and counter-melody working together to closeEnter Universeout on a high.

Blackploid's debut LP Enter Universe marries Drexciyan electro and Warp-school electronica with some brilliantly inventive production choices.

Mint Condition - A record label focused on excavating the outer fringes of classic House and Techno. Unreleased mixes, classics and overlooked gems mined from the last 20+ of contemporary dance music are the order of the day. From Chicago, Detroit and New York to London and beyond, Mint Condition have got their expert digging hats on to bring you exclusive heat and those rarer than rare jams that have been on your wants list for years! Dig in....

Back to 2002, the beginning of the new millennium. Tom Churchill's Headspace Recordings label had already been making an impact on the deeper strains of techno emanating from within the UK. With releases from detroit's Sean Deason, CiM, Hanna, Vince Watson and many more, Headspace was already a 'must check' label within record buying and DJ circles. This stellar split EP with NYC's Dennis DeSantis saw the pair remix each others tracks, both turning in very different, but equally complimentary sonic excursions. Churchill's 'Spaces' is surefire deep-space techno boogie of the highest order, swinging and funky and melodic in equal measure. The DeSantis remix of 'Spaces' is also a total winner, a stripped back exercise in expert minimalism, full of feeling and a perfect partner to the original mix. On the flip is Dennis DeSantis' 'Leisure', a sprawling and laconic broken house jam. Brilliant and teasing melodic synth motifs sit atop nagging acidic basslines and space. Again, the remix follows the original and Tom Churchill dials the track down into chasm deep shuffling drums and basslines and dubbed out FX. It's hard to think of an EP where two artists can remix each others music in such a compelling way, and for it to work so well. This is truly an excellent release and it's a real pleasure to see these tracks back on the streets. Sublime, and essential.

'Spaces / Leisure' has been legitimately re-released with the full involvement of Headspace Recordings for 2020 and remastered by London's Curve Pusher from the original sources especially for Mint Condition. 100% legit, licensed and released. Dug, remastered, repackaged and brought to you by the caring folks at your favourite reissue label - Mint Condition!

Mint Condition - A record label focused on excavating the outer fringes of classic House and Techno. Unreleased mixes, classics, overlooked gems and never heard before material, mined from the last 30+ years of contemporary dance music are the order of the day. From Chicago, Detroit and New York to London and beyond. Mint Condition have got their digging hats on to bring you exclusive heat and those rarer than rare jams that have been in your wants list for years. Dig in....

With acclaimed releases on Strictly Rhythm under his belt, much lauded Californian DJ and producer Safar followed up his early success on L.A. based Aqua Boogie. Originally released in 1996, 'Tangerine Train' would become his most sought after release, rightly garnering the attention of the most discerning DJs, record collectors and music heads alike as the eye watering Discogs prices will attest. 4 complimentary mixes of 'Tangerine Train' feature here, so get ready to jump on board.

The 'Absolute Runaway Train Mix' opens proceedings with driving beats and railroad bells. An undulating acid line builds and builds, adding chords that lead to a dramatic breakdown, train FX and strings add to the tension, reaching a mesmeric peak when a killer breakbeat kicks in and the acid line returns. Next up the 'Train Beats Mix' cuts the track back to the percussion and FX for those wanting to get creative in the mix. 'Lost In A Tunnel Of Dub' has all the classic elements of its predecessors, although programmed in a slightly more subtle way, the percussion remains as crisp as ever and a classic organ riff lightens the mood without ever losing the dancefloor energy. Last, but by no means least the 'Last Acid Train To Euphoria Mix' goes on a deeper hypnotic trip, losing the train FX, but adding an ethereal vocal to devastating effect.

Whichever mix you choose to play you can't go wrong, all are worthy of your attention and hard earned cash. The sound design and execution are second to none and what's more your dancefloors will shudder. "Tangerine Train' has been legitimately re-released with the full involvement of Safar, lovingly remastered by London's Curve Pusher from the original DATs especially for Mint Condition. 100% legit, licensed and released. Dug, remastered, repackaged and brought to you by the caring folks at your favourite reissue label -
Mint Condition!

This land runs through Katherine Paul’s blood. And it called to her. In dreams she saw the river, her ancestors, and her home. When the land calls, you listen. And KP found herself far from her ancestral lands during a time of collective trauma, when the world was wounded and in need of healing. In 2020 she made the journey from Portland back to the Skagit River, back to the cedar
trees that stand tall and shrouded in fog, back to the tide flats and the mountains, back to Swinomish.

It is a powerful thing to return to our ancestral lands and often times the journey is not easy. Like the salmon through the currents, like the tide as it crawls to shore this is a story of return. It is the call and response. It is the outstretched arms of the people who came before, welcoming her home. The Land, The Water, The Sky is a celebration of lineage and strength. Even in its deepest moments of loneliness and grief, of frustration over a world wrought with colonial violence and pain, the songs remind us that if we slow down, if we listen to the waves and the wind through the trees, we will remember to breathe.

There is a throughline of story in every song, a remembrance of knowledge and teachings, a gratitude of wisdom passed down and carried. There is a reimagining of Sedna who was offered to the sea, and a beautiful rumination on sacrifice and humanity, and what it means to hold the stories that work to teach us something.

Chord progressions born out of moments of sadness and solitude transform into the islands that sit blue along the horizon. The Salish Sea curves along her homelands, and when the singer is close to this water she is reminded of her grandmother, how she looked out at these same islands, and she’s held by spirit and memory.

The Land, The Water, The Sky rises and falls, in darkness and in light, but even in its most melancholy moments it is never despairing. That is the beauty of returning home. When you stand on ancestral lands it is impossible to be alone. You feel the arms and hands that hold you up, unwilling to let you fall into sorrow or abandonment. In her songs Katherine Paul has channeled that feeling of being held. In every note she has written a love letter to indigenous strength and healing.

There is a joy present here, a fierce blissfulness that comes with walking the trails along the river, feeling the sand and th stones beneath her feet. It is the pride and the certainty that comes with knowing her ancestors walked along the same land, dipped their hands into the water, and ran their fingertips along the same bark of cedar trees.

This is a story of hope, as it details the joy of returning. Katherine Paul’s journey home wasn’t made alone, and the songs are crowded with loved ones and relatives, like a really good party. And as the songs walk us through the land it is important we hover over the images and the beauty, the moments that mark this album as site specific. The power of this land is woven throughout, telling the story of narrow waterways, brush strokes, salmon stinta, and above all healing.

Let it take you. Move through the story and see the land through her eyes, because it is a gift, a welcomed sʔabadəb.*

*The word “gift” in Lushootseed, the language of the Coast Salish people“

BBE Music announces the first-ever re-issue of this sun baked folk/jazz hybrid 45 by Louisiana brothers Will & James Ragar. First released in 1981, this private press 7" showcases Will & James' songwriting skills, refined performance and sophisticated compositions. Remastered by Frank Merritt the re-issue has an analogue warmth that the brothers say sounds even more pleasing than the original. Will & James Ragar began as the Will James Band performing on the popular 'Crawfish Circuit' of Southern Louisiana - this circuit included New Orleans, Thibodaux and Baton Rouge. They played blues, rock and jazz combos, covering everything from James Taylor to Jimi Hendrix. Eventually evolving into an acoustic folk-rock duo by the time they entered the studio in 1980. Both tracks on the 45 were recorded at River City studios in Baton Rouge in 1980. The engineer had the Allman Brothers on his list of recording credits, so they felt they were in excellent company. "Bayou Paradise" was an ode to the beauty of Southern Louisiana. The famous Sunshine bridge over wetlands as the sounds of migrating geese echo overhead on their journey down the Mississippi River flyway. The Atchafalaya river basin flows into the Gulf of Mexico near Lafayette creating a large wetland area and lush lakes connected by endless bayous. Miles and miles of lush swamps with many uninhabited areas just waiting to be explored. "Forever" captures the exhilaration of new love, focusing on its intoxication and ecstasy without looking ahead to the reality of a life on the road. The soulful chorus inspires motion and enthusiasm. The shadow of Woodstock had a defining role against tradition. Things were changing socially. Loving someone forever was always part of the dream but seemingly broken in an age of break-ups and divorce. The optimistic hope that "love will survive" was half dream and half pessimistic glance forward at the social trends of relationships that were to follow. The studio band included Will & James. John Smart on keyboards, he's solo on "Forever" was achieved with the Legendary Analog Prophet synth and saturated the studio with rich layers of its distinctive sound, driving the up-tempo chorus. Dave D'Aubin, a versatile bass player whose resonant tone is very present on both songs. Tommy Jefferson is on drums, an alumnus of the Southern University jazz program, the same place Randy Jackson and Billy Cobham studied. Tommy used a tight higher pitch snare drum on the recording, a sound that would soon become very popular, but at that time was a little ahead of the curve. The session was recorded on analogue tape using the 24-track MCI recorder and mixed down to analogue tape for the single. Will & James added vocal harmonies and soaked up the fidelity during mix-down. The release coincides with the long-awaited re-issue of the brothers' album 'Will & James Ragar One'. This much sort after private press long-player was originally released in 1980 and sold locally in a limited run has now been fully remastered by Frank Merritt. BBE Music presents the album in a glorious gatefold with extensive sleeve notes. This time the vinyl will be pressed over 2 discs to produce the best sound possible.

When Dead Horses burst on the scene with ‘Ballad For Losers’ in 2017 directly from the acid-induced foggy lands of weird Ferrara they fooled everyone from the get-go and now they are back with the aptly titled ‘Sunny Days’. These characters were here to stay, unique, oblique and oblivious. Watching them live reminds you of the highs and lows of life, a train ready to derail at any curve, literally duct taped together, that suddenly arrives on the plateau, shining in the horizon. This is when it’s important to not blink, because mark my words, you might miss the rapture, even just a minute of pure forceful magic, where everything comes together, the peak and the ecstasy hand in hand.
Their new record is once again an incredible mix of primitive-punk, Gun Club marshlands, country sadness and acid-folk that sways from the rays of light of the Vaselines to the dawn comedown of the Meat Puppets.

In ’s words:
A music journalist on the new Dead Horses record would write: a concentrate of early swampy grunge, mixed with the Californian folk psychedelia of the 60s and the folk-blues of the Appalachians, with a tune that even Piero Ciampi may have written.
I am not a music journalist so these are my words: sweet and sad songs and soundscapes that embrace you and transmit human warmth to you. This is what music should be for, to warm you up, to excite you.

Prolific Japanese producer T5UMUT5UMU has built up a reputation in the last few years for his ability not just to recreate club styles but to flip them into almost unrecognizable dancefloor hybrids. "Asyl" follows a blistering run of Bandcamp releases where T5UMUT5UMU has melted together gqom and techno, deconstructed grime and welded dubstep to traditional music from Japan and India. Here, he's operating completely off the grid, pulling raw materials from across the globe and hammering them into confounding shapes and patterns. On its surface, 'Fireball' sounds like a liquid metal approximation of South African gqom, but move in closer and you can make out dubstep bass squelches, trap hats, and industrial techno jet propulsion filling in the gaps with rubberized mortar. 'Desert' is the EP's most lightheaded cut, a psychedelic percussive spiral that curves micro-tuned mbira clangs around bee sting bass, aerated noise blasts and sub-aqueous kicks. It's a hard track to place, but fits in somewhere between Donato Dozzy, Menzi and 33EMYBW, all shifting rhythms and precision-edited sound design. 'Sea of Trees' retains this momentum, pushing the tempo and interspersing woodblock vibrations with syncopated bass drums and goosebump-inducing synths, while closer 'Bottomless Valley' shifts back into a gqom framework, shuffling the expected pulse with a powerful dembow swing, half step subs and Indian-inspired rattles. "Asyl" is a varied but shockingly coherent statement from an enigmatic producer who refuses to confine himself to a single path, and at a time when "cross-genre" is the norm rather than the exception, it's refreshing to witness a producer who's unafraid to truly make stylistic left-turns, rather than simply mash together top-level aesthetics.

Pianist, drummer, composer and producer Hamish Balfour presents jazz funk, soul and electronic music, bridging the gap from classic Blue Note to Warp via Sonar Kollektiv on Running Colours, his electrifying debut album for London's Shapes of Rhythm Records.

Praised by Jazzwise for hissolo flourishes and sidestepping harmonies, Hamish Balfour should be a recognisable face to jazz addicts. The go-to keys player has performed and recorded alongside American jazz drumming legend Harvey Mason, Tenderlonious, The Temptations, Odyssey, Faze Action, Yolanda Charles' Project PH, Bassically, Nim Quartet and Yam Who. Popping up not only in the credits of many sought-after albums, but also Channel 4, ITV and BBCprogrammes for his compositions on various shows.

Over the course of eleven tracks, Balfour folds in and explores his influences, with a wide yet highly cohesive and strong palette of sounds, whilst interacting with high caliber guest vocalists such as spoken word artist and broken beat icon, Lyric L(Seiji,Nathan Haines), London Elektricity and Hospital Records' star vocalist Elsa Esmeralda, award-winning and chart-storming singer-songwriter Belle Humble (Freestylers, Paloma Faith) and soul and house mainstay Andre Espeut (Afriquoi,Simbad,Faze Action).

Responsible for all piano, synths, percussion and production on the album, Balfour's musicality shines through, a reminder of how overdue this debut album as leader is. However, in addition to the incredible vocalists, he's joined by some of the UK's finest jazz musicians: James Copus (trumpet), Pete Matin (bass), Laurie Lowe and Saleem Raman (drums) and Rob Updegraff (guitar).

Elsa Esmeralda implores us 'not to be afraid' on lead single and title track Running Colours. A perfect invitation to get stuck into this many layered album. Balfour compliments Esmeralda's soothing vocals with delicate piano intro before Lowe's bruk-easque drums and lead an irresistible groove bedded in warm synths and guitar licks.

Yes or No showcases Loose Lips legend Lyric L contemplating the uncertainty of love over a swinging mid-tempo jazz funk boogie groove propelled by tight drums and Hammond chords, closing with a flying trumpet solo from Copus, weaving around Balfour's nimble keys.

Wealth, featuring singer/songwriter Belle Humble, displays incredible depth and restraint. Humble delivers the enticing vocal with ease, as it slides over the intricate webs of jazz fusion and electronics.

Mogul is arguably Running Colours' curveball. An eastern-inspired whirlwind of all manner of synths and twisting drums which constantly morph throughout. Guitars and trumpets take turns to solo on a track that feels like a series of questions that we never quite get answers to.

Balfour's ability to merge free wheeling jazz and fusion with timeless electronic production and soulful compositions is also apparent on instrumental pieces such as Reflector 28. Here, we find the musicians upbeat, uplifting, progressive and playful, showcasing the keys whilst the bass underpins the groove.

South Of The Sun is Running Colours' laid-back moment with Roy Ayers-type vibrations as bass and drums sit in the pocket (at least to begin with), whilst a Rhodes weaves its magic. Like many of the album's tracks we take a few twists and turns before returning to our main feel-good motif.

Hamish's long awaited debut is sure to exceed the expectations of those who know him already, whilst introducing a whole new audience to his wealth of talent and originality.

Multi-dimensional future-jazz outfit JK GROUP release a new EP, Rising on La Sape Records. The brainchild of award-winning saxophonist, Joshua Kelly (30/70 collective, PBS Young Elder of Jazz 2019), the band returns to the label with a follow up EP to the mind-bending 2021 release, What's Real?

Where What's Real? served as a platform for wild experimentation, Rising returns to a more considered and familiar format for the band, offering up 4 cohesive tracks that are deep in conception and expression, at once original and fresh. Conceived after recording an as yet unreleased body of work written whilst undergoing chemotherapy, Rising celebrates bandleader Josh's survival and eventual recovery from the intense treatment he received for lymphoma in 2020.

The band stays true to their honed format of jazz traditions melding with influences from electronica and beyond. Like the first release, The Young Ones, Rising sits comfortably in the crossover of raw, live jazz and electronic dance music, whilst also throwing an unexpected curveball to the listener expanding the palate of the bands sound to a pigment never before heard in their music. The EP takes you on an emotional journey throughout the four tracks, best listened to start-to-finish.

With ‘Terrain,’ Joachim Spieth presents the fourth long player on his Affin imprint.
The follow-up album to ‘Ousia’ (2021), ‘Terrain,’ reflects on the human relationship with nature. The album title is a reference to a musical language that layers Spieth’s music production practices and intimacy with nature.
‘Terrain’ was forged in deep solitude.“It’s an interplay of euphoric flashes and introspection” – says Spieth. The eight compositions take the listener into a captivating cascade of sonic textures resembling internal states fluctuations and emotional release. The tension between the organic warmth and static curves broads tones into liquified roars and empty spaces.
Unlike Spieth’s previous albums, ‘Terrain’ holds more intimate gestures and emotional sensibility. Soothing frequencies here are intended to create a state of awareness in the listener. It is a work of conceptual and emotional beauty, evoking a form of spatial imagery that is as grounding as elevating.