Flabaire, a seasoned French DJ and producer, has been a mainstay in the electronic music scene for years. As the head of the renowned D.KO Records for a decade and a multi-instrumentalist with the ability to play classics from The Band and Fleetwood Mac, Flabaire's artistry knows no bounds. We're thrilled to welcome him back to our label (his talent previously shone on the « Skylax House Explosion » compilation, curated by DJ Sprinkles and Hardrock Striker). With this latest release, we genuinely believe Flabaire has reached a new height of maturity in his production, delivering what we consider some of the finest deep house we've heard in years. This EP is steeped in the timeless essence of deep house, aligning with the legacy of Black Jazz Consortium (aka Fred P), the late, great Mike Huckaby, and the silky elegance of Soul Capsule. Every track feels meticulously crafted within the same creative framework, creating a cohesive listening experience that's as suited to at-home sessions as it is to the dancefloor. This isn't music designed for quick attention or fleeting trends—it's a powerful moment of deep house reclaiming its voice in a landscape crowded with Instagram “DJs” and shallow hype. The EP opens with A1.Echoes, an evocative track that draws listeners into its lush, immersive soundscape, immediately setting the tone for the record. A2.Eventually continues the journey, layered with smooth textures and a subtle groove that feels both intimate and expansive. On the flip side, B1.Lip Them explores deeper, jazz-infused rhythms, each note purposefully placed, creating a rich, hypnotic atmosphere. Finally, B2.La Haye rounds out the release, offering a dreamy, ambient house vibe that seems to float effortlessly—a testament to Flabaire's refined touch and sophisticated style. Each track flows seamlessly into the next, much like the movement of a jazz record, with even the titles evoking a Pink Floyd-esque sense of introspection. This is ambient house at its finest: real club music made for dancing, socializing, and deep listening. Beyond a simple EP, this record is a statement—a testament to the artistry and authenticity of true deep house.
Theory Of Swing Records and Club U Nite Records are two 90s house devoted Record Label on the market nowadays. When they decide to combine their music taste and collect a bunch of tracks together this is the result.
Collective Grooves Vol. 1 is a V.A. must have split EP .
A side fully dedicated to label boss of Club U Nite Records’s Mellow Man and his side project “ Black Chunes Productions “ for a real elegant Soulful Piano House groover.
B side sees a collaboration between Theory Of Swing main man St. David and his mate from “No Hype DJ’s” project Wildbox.
This side will take you in the beautiful journey of 90s underground Cutting records / Easy Streets nostalgic sound.
Meet Kitchen Plug, the Parisian trio that somehow combines the rebellious energy of punk, the synth-driven chaos of electro, and the charisma of a boy band... except, they don’t really dance (yet).
With their new EP "Nice To Meet You," these self-proclaimed nerds have served up an unpredictable, colorful mix of electronic anthems and rock-infused vibes. It's like if your favorite computer-generated juice suddenly turned into an unstoppable emotional rollercoaster.
Expect cheeky melodies, emotional highs (and occasional lows), and enough playful swagger to make you question why you’re not already in their inner circle of "copains" (that’s French for friends, by the way). Kitchen Plug isn’t just making music; they’re creating a sound so lively and full of attitude that you’ll probably feel like you're getting a bear hug from your favorite nerdy best friend — just with more synths and less homework.
"Nice To Meet You" is the kind of EP that doesn't take itself too seriously, but it’ll still make you feel something. So, what are you waiting for? Plug in, and let's see if they can live up to their own hype. (Spoiler alert: They will.)
2026 Repress
Oscar Mulero keeps busy in his studio facilities as usual. His musical output keeps growing and always wandering into new directions and flavors while preserving his artistic integrity. For this Ep on his very own Pole Group imprint he showcases his combative side after some excursions into more profound and intricate territories.
Poisonality EP is about the wise use of distortion on techno, is about non conforming with the seasonal standards, about investigating new rhythms, new types of arrangements and new boundaries in sound design, always remembering the roots.
Aroma de Falso Amor is the first exercise, exploring the abrasive power of broken distorted beats, overdriven drones and textures and hyper dynamic song structures. The result is a non conventional techno workout, essential to give spice to any set.
Poisonality gives name to the EP and works with asymmetry combined with the right dose of crispiness, creating a super shuffled hi tech jam. Chaotic, hypnotic and mental.
Iris Malicioso opens the B side with an eye on the funkier Detroit tradition combined with the power of the best British influences from the nineties. Here drums and stabs are the main ingredients, interleaving, mutating and constantly evolving. Hi tech funk in its purest expression.
Dos Pequeños Zorros closes the tracklist, again focusing on the dancefloor and keeping the ingredients minimal, continuous and obsessive with a rugged, constantly twisted sequence running over a precise groove, keeping things busy through all the structure
DJ Quik is a giant of West Coast hip-hop. With 1995’s Safe + Sound, he scaled new levels of musical magnificence with his signature new age P-Funk/laconic G-Funk. A quintessential, sun-scorched LA album, this is pretty much essential. Typical for mid-90s albums the original vinyl copies are now rare so here’s the Be With re-issue, complete with “Tanqueray”, the hidden track from the original CD release.
A preternaturally gifted producer/rapper, DJ Quik has produced scores of LA gangsta rap classics. He’s released platinum and gold records of his own, as well as helped craft them for the likes of Tupac, Snoop Dogg, and Dr Dre. Quik has always been quirkier and more interesting than his gangsta rap peers, both musically and lyrically. An old-school funk producer at heart, he’s also incredibly nice on the mic. His raps often deal in boasts, jokes and good times but also cover his beefs, his trials and his trauma. Partying and pain, all mixed up. DJing and producing hype beat tapes from age 14, Quik’s tracks blended the languid funk and rubbery synths of Zapp and George Clinton with a gangsta aesthetic, creating a more danceable foil to Compton’s more typical nihilistic hedonism. Ultimately, his records sound custom engineered to drift out over sun-soaked barbecues.
By the time of his third album DJ Quik was a household name on the West Coast - California’s premier rapper/producer not named Andre Young. Released on Profile in 1995, Safe + Sound was certified gold. Less reliant on samples and more focused on live instruments, it elevated him from producer to fully-fledged composer. This sound — the quick, winding basslines, tinny high hats, smooth instrumental solos, soulful pipes, and Roger Troutman’s talkbox — defined him. This is an album of full-blown masterpieces. Rich soundscapes and masterfully arranged orchestrations with dense layers of sounds, intricate rhythms, and well-balanced songwriting.
The first track proper, “Get At Me” samples Cameo whilst Quik takes aim at the Judases in his life, the horn-laced chorus providing a triumphant feel. On the horizontal “Diggin’ U Out”, the soulful electric piano of Warryn Campbell lays a relaxed groove for Quik to talk over about one of his favourite topics: sex. Title track “Safe + Sound” chronicles Quik’s formative years over a slick instrumental. The moody bass locks a laidback infectious groove, the hook is catchy and Quik’s delivery is in fine form. On the uber-chilled “Somethin’ 4 Tha Mood”, Quik cooks up a breezy, feel good track of sparkly keyboards, syncopated claps, shuffling hi-hats, woozy synths and a floating two-minute flute solo courtesy of Robert “Fonksta” Bacon. Analysing the highs and lows of an average day in the hood, it echoes Cube’s “It Was a Good Day”.
“It’z Your Fantasy” is a silky smooth soundtrack to Quik’s detailed retelling of a sexcapade with a young lady and whilst “Tha Ho In You” is musically perfect for that midsummer family BBQ, its lyrical content is unsurprisingly decidedly less family-friendly. A real highlight, the infamous “Dollaz + Sense” is one of the most ruthless diss tracks of all time. The brutal lyrics ride a laidback West Coast beat, flipping a sample from Young & Company’s “I Like (What You’re Doing To Me)” as Quik fires lyrical shots at his arch Compton nemesis, MC Eiht. On the loping, hazy “Let You Havit”, Quik is again in gangsta mode, with more bars of barbs aimed at Eiht, rhyming over sun-kissed synthy-rollerskate funk.
Some of the finest tracks on Safe + Sound are those designed to de-stress. The evocative “Summer Breeze” is a classic warm-weather jam, anchored by a twangy funk guitar, breezy string arrangement, and a soulful hook delivered by Dionne Knighton. Quik’s nostalgic lyrics are not far from DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince’s “Summertime”, reminiscing over barbecues at the park, young love, and the brevity of halcyon youth. The relaxed and jazzy “Quik’s Groove III” is another highlight, as bass, guitar, piano and flute combine to create a smooth, soulful instrumental.
The swaggering “Shack Up”-sampling “Sucka Free” features a cameo from Playa Hamm, all funky braggadocio and over much too quikly (pun thoroughly intended). The jazz-flavoured “Keep Tha ‘P’ In It”, again featuring Playa Hamm but this time extending the cameo invitations to Hi-C, 2nd II None and Kam, is pure laidback P-Funk. The deep bass and industrial drums make sure the groove hits hard.
“Tanqueray” was originally a hidden track on the CD version of the album, but it’s too good to hide. This wild party samples Brass Construction’s gigantic “Get Up To Get Down” and soars in its drunk-ebullience. An apt way to close this party-driven set.
This 2022 Be With double LP re-issue has been mastered for vinyl by Simon Francis, cut by Pete Norman and pressed at Record Industry. Unusual for the time, Safe + Sound was originally pressed as a double, so all that was missing was the CD’s hidden bonus track “Tanqueray”, so we’ve fixed that. The original vinyl release never got a picture sleeve, so we’ve recreated the original’s promo-style silver-sticker and plain black jacket. A subtle cover for a wonderfully unsubtle record.
DJ Support: Dr. Banana, Secretsundaze, Heels & Souls, Velasco
For their third release, Moonworks look to Italy with a reissue of a hyper-rare underground earworm by Urban Heads, originally from 1998.
Urban Heads’ ‘The Wind’ is a lost Italian gem produced by Federico Scavo which has remained a secret weapon in the bag of a select few tastemaker DJs until fairly recently, with original copies practically impossible to come by. Since producing this record, Federico has gone on to become one of Italy’s best known DJ/Producers, with multiple chart-topping hits under his belt gathering millions of plays.
‘The Wind’ offers two floor-filling mixes of quirky, boisterous, distinctly European house music. Whether you’re playing the disco-infused Cosmic Version or the dancefloor weapon that is the Space Mix Version, we have no doubt that this record’s signature vocoder riff and captivating basslines will remain permanently embedded in the mind of everyone in attendance.
Moonworks have once again worked closely with the original artists to restore and remaster these tracks from the original DAT tapes, as well as revamping the original artwork in their own style.
London-based DJ and producer Steven Julien’s career has always been about contrasts. Across a decade of releases on labels including Eglo and his own Apron Records, as well as club sets around the world, he’s consistently mixed light and dark, soft and heavy, yin and yang. From rough-edged house and techno to laid-back soul and boogie, or meditations on his familial and musical heritage with 2018’s Bloodline LP Julien’s music has always moved between moods, styles and emotions.
That eclecticism also defines Julien’s upcoming instalment in !K7’s iconic DJ-Kicks mix series. Featuring a broad spectrum of artists including Ryuichi Sakamoto, DāM-FunK and Todd Edwards, alongside a selection of his own exclusive productions, Julien takes us on an imagined journey from day to night: from a bucolic afternoon in nature to heady domestic vibes before a big night out, and finally the euphoric embrace of the dancefloor itself.
Julien describes his creative approach to DJing in general, and this mix in particular, as letting his energy and intuition guide him - it’s only on listening back to the finished session that he realised how often he mixes tracks in key, creating smooth transitions from one moment to the next.
That instinctive approach, where seamless mixing becomes second nature, speaks to Julien’s decade of appearances in DJ booths around the world: he cites sets at Ormside Projects in London, Doka and De School in Amsterdam, or Mitsuki in Tokyo as specific inspirations for this mix. Julien describes the feeling he’s tried to capture on tape as an out-of-body energy: just letting loose, and being yourself. “When you get in that position of doing what’s true to you, playing what’s true to you” he says, “people just resonate with that.”
After two collaborative releases on raum…musik — first with Federico Molinari and then Giuliano Lomonte — Alexis Cabrera steps into the spotlight for the 118th release of the label. "Dreaming Of A Silver Future" is a club-ready 3-track EP exploring various shades of Tech House, solidifying his talent for crafting fresh dancefloor groovers brimming with swag.
The title track, 'Dreaming Of A Silver Future' (A1), is the most colourful offer of the EP — a relentless groover immersed in organ chords, synth stabs, addicting vocal samples and a fully pumpin' bassline. 'Your Name On My Arm' (B1) puts its wicked bass and hypnotic vocal samples at the centre of the stage, creating an atmosphere of frantic, slightly wicked vibes drenched in hip-hop swagger. 'Do You Wanna Wonder' (B2) closes the EP in full swing, forefronting yet again its ominous-yet-hypnotic bassline between bouncy drums, shuffly rhythms and quirky vocal samples reminiscent of some sort of hypermodern pop.
"Dreaming Of A Silver Future" continues Cabrera's reputation for delivering groove-heavy music for the hottest dancefloors, showcasing his ability to navigate, with style, the infinite nuances of the Tech House spectrum, all while keeping things undeniably club-focused. And raum…musik, known for its refined curation of underground top-shelf dancefloor records, is the perfect home for this release.
In 1968 Tom Zé; moved from Salvador Bahia to Sao Paulo where he hung out and wrote with his friends Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. Although initially part of theTropicalia movement, Zé was so independent he was determined to forge his own musical path. He started by recording Grande Liquidacao, a hyperactive pop album backed up by two incredible psychedelic rockbands: Os Brazoes and Os Versateis. Tom Zé's material on this album includes traditional Brazilian Tropicalia laced with crazy vocal melodies and samples a multitude of genres from funk to psychedelic rock and bossa nova creating in the process a sort of unheard pop exotica. This is especially apparent on the track šGloria› with its changing tempos, bubbling instrumentation and off-the-wall harmonies. The pace of the album, considering it was the 60™s, is brutal so Zé takes a break between songs to address the listener before resuming his zigzag trajectory. The album also includes the fantastic šParque Industrial› which was later recorded by Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso on the Tropicalia: Panis et Circenses album. Tom Zé was also arguably the creator of the first sampler. In the mid 1980's David Byrne pulled one of his albums out of the samba section of a Rio de Janeiro record store which led him to bringing Zé to worldwide attention by releasing numerous albums on the Luaka Bop label.
Full of bounce and experimentation in equal measure, ‘Triple Transit,’ Braille’s new album for Hotflush is about leaving his Sepalcure project (with Machinedrum) in the rear mirror, moving back to New York and using its energy to fuel new moves, confronting our hyper layered world and overcoming personal difficulties by being creative.
Focused squarely on utilising modular synthesis in sprawling studio sessions, the album covers a wide stylistic range and draws on the artist’s formidable battery of experience to craft a body of work that packs real emotional punch as well as a dancefloor sensibility.
We had a quick chat with him to wet your appetite…
Praveen Sharma aka Braille:
Moving on from Sepalcure
“That period of time when Sepalcure was at its peak was really inspiring. I’m still really in awe and humbled by the fans. It’s always amazing to hear about how music you’ve made has brightened up other people’s lives in some way, but ‘Triple Transit’ is really about transitioning from that period to something new. I’m intentionally not using many vocal samples on this album. That became quite a crutch for Sepalcure and I wanted to try and find ways to evoke those emotions and connect with the audience in other ways.”
The roots of his Bounce
‘Sour Patch Kiss’ and ‘While We’re Free’ are inspired by classic house and some early Detroit stuff. Songs like ‘Big Fun’ (Inner City), ‘I Wanna Be there’ (Model 500) and slowed down ‘Sex on The Beach’ (DJ Assault) have stuck with me since the beginning. I used to listen to this slowed down and doubled version of ‘Sex on The Beach’ on an early Juan Atkins mix cd on REPEAT when I was in high school.
Getting ambient
Triple Transit slows down and transitions through a bit of sadness and eventually acceptance at the end of the album. A lot of the music I’m making these days is trying to recreate that manic feeling so many of us have in 2024. Between social media, ridiculous hustle culture expectations and depressing global and national political events, it’s hard to not feel overwhelmed. I feel like Triple Transit is kind of a parabolic curve from mania to joy to a sober realization that yeah, actually the world is just fucked but somehow we carry on.
"Two-pronged, remix attacks don't come much more exciting and potent than this... as here - thanks to our good friends at Nervous NYC - we're beyond hyped to bring you the legendary Masters At Work and Dave Lee on one single, fully weaponised package.
Putting their own, inimitable spins on Louie Vega's ˙Music Is My Life˙ - which features the unique talents of Unlimited Touch - we're treated to a pair of wonderfully complimentary, but no less idiosyncratic re-rubs from these two stalwarts of the scene.
With a production hand and artistic touch like no other - Masters At Work lead the way here, with their main remix. Characterised by that trademark looseness and deliciously warm, organic approach - their rework is awash with woozy psychedelia and layered so expertly, that getting lost in the music is both gloriously simple and an absolute pleasure. But no true Vega & Dope remix suite, would be complete without a bonafide Dub version. And for ˙Music Is My Life˙ - this sees the dynamite duo take proceedings down a distinctly more mesmeric and mood-laden path… one where the vocal is instead used as a powerful rhythmic weapon, and the star of the show, is a surreptitiously morphing and shape-shifting, delicately acid-laced synth lead.
Next up - having recently switched his attentions to productions under his own namesake - is Z Records' head honcho, Dave Lee. Snapping into life with its crisp and punchy drum work - what Lee's remix does share with that of the Masters is in the over-arching, tripped-out haze which douses proceedings. However - where his remix opts to stick its head well and truly above the parapit, is in it stylistic flavouring. As when it comes to slicing that genre cake, so to split the worlds of Disco and House perfectly down the middle - there's simply no one who does it finer.”
(comes with a poster) The Klein blue horizon, gliding seagulls, a ferry purring between two languid islands, dotted with ultra-white villages and ancient ruins... These idyllic visions run through Glika, the ultimate musical project of Les Cyclades. An exciting electronic odyssey from West to East, from Belgian effervescence to Greek mysticism.
In 2020, confined to the neighborhoods of Yser and Mystère in Brussels, Alex and Ludo dream of Greek islands, of scorching sun on their skin, of salty baths, chilled ouzo and braised octopus. But everywhere, time stands still. Must one necessarily move to travel? To levitate? In the absence of Elsewhere, the Franco-Canadian duo will compose the imaginary soundtrack to their escape.
Glika (which means "sweet" in Greek) perfectly synthesizes the musical influences of Les Cyclades: a cosmic saxophone inherited from Alex’s dub and free jazz past, an architect-pastry chef-botanist from Normandy, and Ludo’s "Balearic" tracks, a musician-performer-wine lover who frequented his first raves in 1995 in Houston, Texas.
From a hedonistic encounter on a friendly terrace in the 19th arrondissement of Paris to their chosen exile in Brussels, these hypersensitive jacks-of-all-trades first danced and mixed records. Before creating their own phantasmagorical sonic territories, where cinema and poetry meet more or less human voices, brass instruments, synthesizers and analogue drum machines.
A searing fragment of Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos's "Eternity and a Day" preludes Glika. Then, on Yser Mystère - the names of the two stations on tram 51 that physically linked Alex and Ludo's psyches during the lockdown - Alex's astral sax balances out the industrial mechanics of a locomotive, against a backdrop of urban soundscapes.
And then a rising bpm dominates Alocasia, with its deep and sensual light foot. So sunny. From one track to another, there are interludes influenced by Xenakis, Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre. Seminal heroes of the Cyclades... But soon, the duo unleash hostilities at the helm of Epigone, their meta-techno anthem. "I know", "You know", echoes Alex.
Laughs of friends, "mouth noises," and "bizarre rhythms" still dominate Parc Fou, while DRAM eyes the minimalist techno of Detroit. So dear to Ludo's heart... And what about PAME, that post-modern Greek epic.Or Glossa, a timeless track that finishes with a fascinating - because diffracted - elegance, this multi-sensory journey through Les Cyclades. Let's close our eyes. Silencio! Hay Banda!
Hyper Records is an original South London jungle label from the early 90’s which was run by DJ Freaky since 1990, releasing early rave inspired tracks all the way through to drum and bass. Around 2000 the label retired and the music packed away on DAT in various boxes.
But thanks to a link from Monita of Skeleton Records, Vinyl Fanatiks managed to track down DJ Freaky who still had the DATS neatly packed away and a label collaboration was formulated.
First release is this 1993 collab by Freaky with Panik featuring the amazing ragga vocals of Sleepy Ranks. This is the true origins of jungle music from London, raw, rolling with heavyweight ragga vocals. A total box ticker for any collector or recent convert.
DJ Elephant Power (Nicolas Baudoux) based in Brussels, Les Octaves de la Musique awarded musician, is returning with his new EP ‘Blowing From Above’ on May 2024 with limited edition vinyls. The abundantly creative producer never tires of exploring the possibility of new sounds and rhythms. This time he delves deep into numerous genres from breakbeat to bass and he added more colours on each track which composed, performed and produced by himself. Mastering was done by Beau of Ten Eight Seven Mastering in UK. This new EP will be the first page of the upcoming album in June 2024.
‘Blowing From Above’ feat Eunsol
Now you entered the city where you can feel the atmosphere of heat with full of energy. Under the welcome sign of breakbeat and bass, you breathe the dopamine of electronic dance deeply. Alongside baseline skyscrapers covering the sound of this city, mysterious Korean words lead you to hyper pop buildings. Across the traffic lights with barking dog and staccato synth arpeggio on the road, you reach the futuristic bridge between jungle and grime.
‘I Got You’
Under the repeated street lights of ‘I Got You’ scratch samples, you are in the car passing through continuous cowbel 808 sounds on the techno road. In front of the funk graffiti wall, a powerful metal guitar sprays the paint with no compromise. Buildings of synth grab you to follow the new banging club anthem.
‘Shades’
Curly hair architect, who is well known for perfectionism of repeated linear, built a new Mantronix satellite laboratory. This is located on the mountain of Detroit and built on the solid ground of analogue synth signals. Filtered synth and bassline are the main columns of the building. In the main lab, the next satellite has been developing on woah woah sound mattress. Visitors can experience zero gravity in the room in the middle of kick and snare which provides perfect unbalance.
‘Infinity’
A colourful new dish is ready for you. You will feel beautifully balanced and harmonious tastes of progressive techno, trap and bass. This astonished dish was sourced the very best of heavy bass and synth melody for well balanced scent with thoughtful contacts. Geomungo, a traditional Korean string instrument, enhances and amplifies stunning ingredients and it makes a highlight with amazing pairings.
Steel Drum covers of Drake, Snoop Dogg & Dr Dre, Claudja Barry, The Game & 50 Cent, A$AP Rocky, Stranger Things Theme, and more. Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, the mysterious steel pan outfit hailing from Hamburg, Germany have amassed a cult following around the globe. With a slew of classic 7”s and three critically acclaimed full length albums, they set a high bar for themselves, one they clearly intend on pushing even higher with this new offering. On their fourth album BRSB, Bacao are back with more of the same, but more of the same with them is inherently different. Covering songs that span genres and range from mega hits to underground album cuts, they make them their own with their unique approach to the traditional steel pans of Trinidad and Tobago. While part of the allure of a new Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band album is finding out what covers they do it is equally intriguing to see what original tunes they cooked upland this record is foul of standout originals. The album opener, “In The Crosshairs” is a rough and tough mid-tempo head nodder while both “Grilled” & “Treasure Quest” pick up the tempo with heavy African Funk in‑fluences on both. Bacao goes deep with “Hazy Memories”, a bass heavy slow burner that walks a line between hypnotic and hype. All these originals stand as testament that the term “cover band” is a shoe that could never fit Bacao. However, in the tradition of steel pan music, they do a heavy amount of covers. This time around there is a big West Coast Hip Hop influence with covers of Game & 50 Cent’s “How We Do”, Dr Dre & Snoop Dogg’s “Nuthin But A G Thang”, and Tupac’s “Got My Mind Made Up” all of which take on new energy and lend themselves to the BRSB steel treatment. Bacao puts another certified dance‑floor filler on their resume with their cover of Claudja Barry’s uber Disco classic “Love For The Sake Of Love” which they flip into a dubbed-out affair aptly changing even the title to “Love For The Sake Of Dub”. Pulling from the contemporary smash hit section of Hip Hop they cover Drake’s “Hotline Bling” and “Love$ick” by Mura Masa & A$AP Rocky. Then they go very unexpected with “Stranger Things Theme” where they take the synth heavy theme song to the hit show and give it a more hypnotizing tone than the original. By the time BRSB is through, Bacao has taken the listener on a journey spanning a myriad of energies, tempos, and moods while keeping it all under one umbrella. For all that, these songs are alive, and they will be taken out of the context of this album and sewn into the fabric of DJ sets around the globe for many years to come. Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band continues building their legacy and pushing the boundaries of steel pan music forward with another rock solid musical offering. Enjoy
Accomplished Spanish artist José Cabrera enters a fresh creative chapter with the new album Le Bateleur. The storytelling and hugely personal record arrives on his own A Harmless Deed label and is a deep dive into the house music he has always loved.
Over the last two decades and under several aliases, Madrid- born Cabrera established himself as a leading techno producer. He has released on influential labels like Fred P's Soul People Music, Tresor, Deeply Rooted and Ron Moreli`s' L.I.E.S. records and co-runs A Harmless Deed with friend Damian Schwartz. As a DJ he has toured Europe, Asia, North and South America and proven himself to be an experimental DJ with a long-standing residency at Tresor in Berlin.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Cabrera felt detached from the techno world so used his time at home to explore new sounds. He has always had a love of house so set work on making a proper house record in the mold of greats who went before. He worked with other musicians and vocalists, made use of an array of Roland drum machines, Juno synths and Casio keys to cook up a raw and authentic sound and drew from a wide range of the back music that has soundtracked his life. The resulting album is packed with life and energy, skits from friends and timeless grooves.
The album opens up with cosmic synths radiating warmth and jazzy melodies then 'Endless Dream' is a steamy house thumper with aching r&b vocal fragments next to swirling pads. It's a passionate house cut followed by 'Live Your Life' feat Jae. This one brings classic piano energy and another gorgeous female vocal that explores dancers to cut loose and live. Following a dusty downbeat skit that features spoken word encouragement from former collaborator Fred P, 'Track For Clau' is hyper-speed future house with bumping kicks and busy synth arps bringing the light.
A prog rock guitar rings out in the cosmos during 'K-Brain Tribute' feat. NBlue and Damian Schwartz, and 'I Thought You Were the One' feat. Jae & Persa layers up booming kicks and claps with a spine tingling vocal and fat bassline. 'RL Stadium 92' taps into classic Chicago house and 'Halftime Report (For Little José)' gets down and dirty with a menacing bassline and dusty 909 sounds. Another US house heavyweight in DJ Qu features on the atmospheric ''Friends and Family Skit' alongside some of Jose associates and 'For Princess L (I Love You)' feat Jae is an exquisite deep house cut with crisp snares and a heart swelling that is loved up and blissed out. Another skit leads into the outro which is a melancholic ambient synth excursion that sends you off feeling utterly calm.
Le Bateleur is another captivating entry into the ever-evolving discography of José Cabrera.
OOO002 - second, vinyl-only release debuts dark, galactic grooves featuring heavy bass lines and experimental elements from artists Chad Andrew and Len Lewis.
A1: “Battle 303”
Inspired by the soundscape of the 90’s techno scene, Battle 303’s punchy bass drums hold you captive as its sine wave bounce lures you into hypnosis with a progressive rhythmic beat. The track’s rolling 303, pyramid’s a myriad of elements before awakening you to the crisp subliminal vocal, just shy of the midway point. Battle 303’s multidimensional fury of movement refuses to slow its pace, inducing pure cardio for both the mind and body, inspiring peak dance performance.
A2: “Area 15”
Area 15 intros the swirling ambiance of dark, atmospheric, easy listening as it gradually accelerates into a journey of the unknown. Utilizing distortion effects, eerie drones and chimes, coupled with the rhythmic pattern of arpeggiated synths brings about a sense of intrigue that lends the listener the flexibility to determine their personal musical trajectory and experience.
B1: Battle 303 (Len Lewis S!th Remix)
Battle 303 (Len Lewis S!th Remix) is an introspective, sonic journey that slings you through a brooding origin story of tribal, galactic funk that echoes iconic samplings spanning over 5 decades seamlessly merged into one futuristic bop. Maintaining it’s old school, breakbeat roots with a driven, heavy bassline, claps and snares, Lewis remains true to his S!th style, by altering path and speed with his signature, unexpected musical transitions, highlighted by timely breaks and experimental elements. Be prepared to move and groove as this track reaches hyperspeed early on, stimulating intense movement and journey from start to finish.
B2: Battle 303 (Len Lewis G.H.M. Remix)
Battle 303 (Len Lewis G.H.M. Remix) leads with traditional, minimal components and a suspenseful bassline, laced with piercing elements and garbled synth vocals, creating a sense of awareness and urgency that gradually builds in intensity before throwing you into punchy, sinister darkness.
This groove, set against the backdrop of deep space and all its musical element oddities, mimics the drive of the original 303’s rolling bass line while seamlessly exploring Lewis’ S!thstylings of metallic synth scales and spooky drone effects, keeping you captivated as you strut the dance floor
On his new album Layers, Khalab acknowledges and celebrates the encounters that have shaped his ever evolving musical vision. The record, out on September 29th with his own Hyperjazz Records, represents the culmination of a creative journey that began with his Eunoto EP (Black Acre Records, 2015), evolved with the Afro-Futuristic soundscapes of 2018's highly acclaimed album Black Noise 2084 (On The Corner Records/!K7), and has since developed further through a series of experiences and deep musical collaborations. Layers summons all the alchemy of Khalab's live performances, and embodies the transcendental power of music making as a collective art form.
An astral plane of our own making where thoughts, love, and desires of the inner mind abound with irreverence - ripe with connection & perspective beyond constraints of time, set, and setting.
Azu Tiwaline exists within the wonders of these interstitial worlds, diving deeper towards inner sanctums of mystic imagination, sublime intrigue, & profound understanding on her second full length LP “The Fifth Dream”.
Released again through her beloved partnership with I.O.T Records, “The Fifth Dream” finds Azu painting an expansive vision towards unified multitudes, mercurial realities, & abundant inner sanctums.
Where her first album “Draw Me a Silence” was a loving ode to her family & upbringing in the form of an elegant diptych, “The Fifth Dream" is the enactment of actualizing her roots into new routes, taking her multifaceted identity into new means of communication towards herself, the world, & the cosmic unknowns that surround her.
Throughout The Fifth Dream’s 54-minute runtime, we hear all elements of the uniquely transcendental sound that Azu is beloved for worldwide. “Antennae Opening”, “Blowing Flow”, & “Amen Dub” embody her talents for tectonic, dubwise soundscapes that channel the innately maternal elements of bassweight into bold & abstracted pulsations, indebted to the most psychedelic & body activating ends of dubstep.
Still attuned to the spatial awareness of dub sonics but giving way to the hypnotic syncopation & synaptic frequencies of techno, “Reptilian Waves”, “Long Hypnosis”, & “Mei Long” bring forth her spectacular expertise for entheogenic rave rhythms - guiding us warmly towards trance-inducing hyper states of dance & delight. Fluctuating between an adventurous velocity and enveloping stasis, the expansive abyssal planes of “Golden Dawn”, “Night in Palm Tree”, & “Canope Imaginaire” conjures a wondrously invigorating rhythmic enlightenment & celestial comprehension - simultaneously moving us forward, inwards, & outwards through Azu’s uniquely omnidirectional & kaleidoscopic musical visions.
Adorned with sampled field recordings of her deeply inspiring home in the desert of El Djerid in South Tunisia, Azu opens a portal into the synergistic inner sanctums of being, self, and the world around us that’s essential to her work as an artist - from the macro levels of humanity’s naturally intimate connection to the Earth we share, down to each of our own micro levels of culture, ancestry, and belonging. All of this is alchemized through a combination of timeless Saharan knowledge & modern cybernetic tools, creating new dimensions of bewitching, euphonious sonic energy. This is music that gives back as much as the listener wants to give themselves unto it - detailed and layered, orbiting a steady core as ethereal swirls and intonations of the natural world embrace us warmly within a spellbinding journey.
8 of the album’s 9 tracks feature a deep level of collaboration from innovative Franco-Iranian percussionist Cinna Peyghamy. Cinna’s use of Tombak, the principle drum of Iranian music throughout time, is beautifully sonorous - channeling the passion of centuries of Southwest Asian rhythm & expression into his own personalized flourishes, with Azu adding her own electrifying frequencies & undiluted artistic freedom to their shared interplay. This profoundly communicative diasporic essence is transmuted between Azu & Cinna, their expression, & the listener. Both are music lovers, intimately connected to their respected Iranian and Tunisian cultures - concurrently acknowledging the wisdom of their resonant pasts, while proudly bringing the sounds of their heritage into the present & future.
“The Fifth Dream” embodies a cosmic anodyne for those feeling caught in between life’s abyssal inbetweens, whilst aiming for a consonant awareness of where our home truly lies in the swells of life’s spiritual maelstrom. This dream belongs at once to none & to many, that of a common language unified in concentric depth - finding beauty in all aspects of our world, and ultimately, within oneself.
Carved out from between the cracks of life over a 2 year period, Low Flung presents his eighth full length album ‘The Wheel’. Together, the 11 tracks provide a space to process and sit with difficult change. This takes the form of microscopic minimalist landscapes. Presented in both audio and physical form as micro grooves on a 12” vinyl.
At times the sound wanders and walks, other times it remains still, clear and precise. The omni-present artifacts found in ‘The Wheel’ are left to breathe a different life during each listen. Drones act like familiar trails losing their path as space transforms like a breeze over a table of sand. Hyper focused spores evolve around blurred waves of time. Electronic tones are captured flowing to the rhythm of a decaying natural world.
‘The Wheel’ is a patchwork of sonic experiments made using modular synthesis, fixed architecture synthesis, Buchla Music Easel (replica), outboard effects, cassette manipulation techniques, samplers and field recordings taken along the texturally rich and historically questionable eastern coastline of Australia.
The tracks have been composed with a materiality that embraces the acoustics of different listening environments. Much like mood, this means each listening experience is unique due to the natural acoustics of your listening space. The sounds on this album embrace this phenomena, creating a rich, visceral listening experience that slowly scratches away at discrete moments of time
Rather than attempting to traverse new sonic fields of experimentation in ‘The Wheel’, the album touches on the various spaces Danny has explored over the past ten years as an Audio Visual artist. Although technically eighth, it would be more fitting to say this album draws a clear line from ‘Blow Waves (2018)’ to ‘Outside The Circle (2020)’ to become the third and final chapter in the expanded non linear, unintentional landscape series. Serendipitous that each was conceived over 2 year periods of time.
While the key focus is sitting with difficult change, this album is also a celebration of any moment you might find yourself in. Good, bad, easy or hard, this album is an attempt to help with feeling content wherever you are along your path. With each cycle a new context.
Last summer saw youANDmedelivered his “Diva 2022” mix of "PPPPP" a track that would ignite dancefloors across Ibiza and become one of the smashes of the summer in the process. The label was always certain the record was a hit and the response that followed justified their faith.
The track went on to be championed across the globe by the likes of Ame, Dixon, Matthias Tanzman and Pete Tong (Radio 1) leaving a succession of dancefloors demolished in its wake. Fast forward to 2023 and the Cult brings in a smorgasbord of house music’sfinest to breathe fresh verve into what is rapidly becoming a future house classic.First, comes the unmistakable dancefloor call of the “Diva” mix, with its fierce retro vocal and contagiously looping house sound. Its raw undeniable groove shook dancefloors for a reason the first time around and here it is to do the damage all over again. Next, house music legend Ian Pooley hops on board to serve up a delicious slab of fat analogue deepness.
A rework for the real house heads, it drenches the original vocals in reverb and creates a tough sub-laden groove bound to work deeper floors. House music’s producer of the moment Cinthie delivers a red-hot reinterpretation that ups the bpm count and zones in on the drums. The Berlin-based producer creates a colossal house-breaks crossover that is bound to tear apart dancefloors. Reese subs fill out the lows while organs deliver the original rave flavour and take the track into orbit.
Finally, Tel Aviv’s Yotam Avni turns out a remix that delivers shades of the pure old-school house with piano stabs sitting alongside deep chords before he puts his tougher-edged modern techno stamp onto it. Rhythm Cult is on a roll now returning with one of the most hyped tracks of 2022. This package delivers the goods with fresh remixes for 2023 from some of the best in the industry who are now added to the label's impressive roster.
Next up on BPitch's sub label UFO Inc is a hyperactive package of sonic oddities from Alex Wilcox. Having arrived in Berlin by way of Dallas, Texas, Alex continues to build a name for his truly eccentric production style and genre-defying DJ sets.
123 is an ascending spiral into the weirder corners of electronic music by a producer who is unafraid to let the wheels come off. Deranged, delirious, and surreal, it's an essential package of eccentric techno.
Purple Disco Machine unleashes ‘playbox’ the thrilling next chapter of his disco-house odyssey.
The Dresden based disco megastar leads a rallying call to his disco army of super fans across the globe, with the release of his new single ‘Playbox’, a vibrant, high energy, disco-house treat that marks yet another exciting chapter of his sophomore album release.
With three extraordinary singles having made their way into the ether, Purple Disco Machine has kept his fans grooving throughout this past year - providing a huge ray of sunshine as we need it most. Already a globally renowned producer, Purple Disco Machine has quickly become a household name with the success of his international hit singles ‘Hypnotized feat. Sophie and the Giants’ (an anthem the world over having been streamed over 250 million times) and more recently ‘Fireworks feat. Moss Kena & The Knocks’ (with over 35 million streams to date).
‘Playbox’ is accompanied by an extraordinary video illustrated and animated by Juppi Juppsen, and Mathias Lemaitre Sgard, who created a vibrant homage to classic science-fiction, cyberpunk, retro-futurism spiced up with disco influences for ‘Playbox’. In the clip, Tino, in the form of a space superhero, and his female droid search for an ancient artefact which is said to hold the essence of music and, therefore, possess unimaginable power.
With just shy of 900 million streams across his catalogue to date, and over 9 million monthly listeners on Spotify, Purple Disco Machine continues to live up to the hype of #2 Beatport Artist of All Time. With a succession of notable remixes for Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson, Foals, Calvin Harris, Fatboy Slim, Sir Elton John, Royal Blood, Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande, Duke Dumont, and Diplo & SIDEPIECE, coupled with his own dominating originals ‘Body Funk’, ‘Dished (Male Stripper)’, and ‘Devil In Me feat Duane Harden & Joe Killington’ from his debut album Soulmatic, Purple Disco Machine continues to innovate and elevate at every turn.
INTOXTC is the first EP under Ash Luk's post Minimal Violence alias,Infinity Division. Like a phoenix rising, he continues his ascent through amelodic dystopia simultaneously channeling nostalgia and violence. No stranger to Never Sleep after our //ZOO release and playing live shows for the club night for many years. 'Visions' has ID howling over eerie pop lubed melodies, jungle breaks which all come together to form a new age in crossover music. Sounding like nobody else and completely blows the doors off the"Hyperpop" stigma associated with this kind of bravery. 'Thirteen' shows the club some trance fever dreams whilst 'Something Dreamy' breaks the whole fourth wall in its unashamed hands in the arrangement and palette. Leading the charge is 'T-INT' - a HUGE orchestral noise rhythmic workout and shows the sheer volume that this producer can materialise. Leftfield break up a mosh pit in NYC's CBGB and find Ian Curtis still dancing.
On their 3rd album Casper Van De Velde and Hendrik Lasure, the two SpongeBobs of Belgian jazz, enter Cortizona and take you on board of their newly discovered musical spectrum: Rollercoastin' between extreme emotions Casper and Hendrik slide through 90's Euro-optimism on synths, frantic drum rolls, lost piano sounds and sample wizardry: blending Spanish guitars, voices of singing ladies, slow mo clarinets and the patterns of a percussion robot.
'Holiday' is the result of a residency in Ravenna, Italy, in October 2021, where musique concrète, replica sounds and frenetic hyperpop textures sneaked into the musical world of schntzl. Sculpting a world of friction, hypodermic joyful changes, sad euphoria and good old plain fun.
RIYL: Matmos in a jazz mood, free vibin PC Music, Enya on XTC, improvising Valentina Magaletti, moody SOPHIE, BadBadNotGood going GoodGoodNotBad and other excellent music.
yet is a slippery word in English. Amorphous, these three letters in dierent contexts can define contrast or emphasis, set a place in time, show an expectation that something will occur or, paradoxically, that it is likely to stop.
It is this mercurial nature that makes yet the perfect title for Tresor’s latest compilation: the label follows on from the more explorative sections of 2021’s landmark Tresor 30 boxed set with a compilation, featuring 13 artists making music that resists easy definition.
Every track hints at and borrows from the familiar yet none follow the expected path: halfway through Deserto, Nandele & A-Tweed dramatically reveal a very dierent sonic landscape that was initially suggested; DJ Sotofett collaborates with Sri Lankan artist Kavadi with results that are unlike anything in the Norwegian producer’s catalogue as yet.
Further invention can be found as Jean Redondo’s Hypersonic moves across spaces inhabited by digital hardcore and hyperpop before swerving o-road and into a futuristic hip-hop section; on No Longer Human, Ireen Amnes takes a dierent path at the crossroads melding hyperpop, trance, and sci-fi soundtrack atmospherics, Significant Other heads towards UK Bass and Dubstep, and France’s Willis Anne skims by the outskirts of footwork with a piece that is almost completely uncategorisable.
Yet more sonic experimentation comes from E-Saggila, Nadia Struiwigh, NVST, Solid Blake, and Viikatory who oer unique takes on the well-established electro blueprint, while Ryan James Ford, and Nit. both find ways to blend elements normally found in ambient pieces with those heard on a dancefloor.
The feel of the compilation is yet again reflected in the enigmatic artwork by Malik Arbab, where shapes and colours suggest animals and plants but in a world that appears to be transient and constantly evolving.
Lord knows we have put out some rare R&B records here at Real Gone Music, but this one may take the cake! Mary Mundy’s 1980 album for the obscure Image label goes for hundreds of bucks if you can find it at all (which, as of this writing, you can’t). Loaded with bassheavy, disco-soul grooves over which Mundy’s voice floats like
a butterfly and stings like a bee, Mother Nature lives up to the collector hype. That Mundy’s discography consists of this album and a few scattered singles just adds to the mystique of this intriguing one-off, which sees its first reissue in any format here. Remastered for vinyl by Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision. We’re only making 1000 copies and you better not tarry…pink vinyl pressing!
Angelo is an LP, named after a car, featuring nine songs Brijean have crafted and carried with them through a period of profound change, loss, and relocation. It finds percussionist/singer Brijean Murphy and multi-instrumentalist/producer Doug Stuart processing the impossible the only way they know how: through rhythm and movement. The months surrounding the acclaimed release of Feelings, their full-length Ghostly International debut in 2021 which celebrated tender self-reflection and new possibilities, rang bittersweet with the absence of touring and the sudden passing of Murphy’s father and both of Stuart’s parents. In a haze of heartache, the duo left the
Bay Area to be near family, resetting in four cities in under two years. Their to-go rig became their traveling studio and these tracks, along with Angelo, became their few constants. Whereas Feelings formed over collaborative jams with friends, Angelo’s sessions presented Murphy and Stuart a chance to record at their most intimate, “to get us out of our grief and into our bodies,” says Murphy. They explored new moods and styles, reaching for effervescent dance tempos and technicolor backdrops, vibrant hues in contrast to their more somber human experiences. Angelo beams with positivity and creative renewal — a resourceful, collective answer to “what happens now?”
Angelo the car is a 1981 Toyota Celica they got off Craigslist during their first stint in Los Angeles, where Murphy and Stuart have since settled. “Such a bro-y, ‘80s dude car, it’s been super fun to drive around in a new town,” Murphy says. “He’s older than us, he’s a classic, he’s got a story.” It is a spiritual vehicle with a cinematic appeal, first dropping them off in an alleyway for the scene-setting intro, “Which Way To The Club.” The question is quickly resolved by “Take A Trip” as a cruising bassline mingles with crowd sounds, hand-claps, cuíca hiccups, whip-cracks, even a horse neigh. Brijean have found some club on this cross-dimensional trip — the kind of
imagined space or chamber within one’s self capable of “shifting a fraction of who you are,” says Murphy. They wrote the track with the simple intention to be “as free as we could be,” adds Stuart, likening the flip on the B section to a realm unlocked: ”What if the world changed completely? You open the door to a new room.”
Next is “Shy Guy,” a motivational anthem for the wallflowers among us. Murphy sets up the daydream: “We are in junior high, we’re on the dance floor, what’s going down, who is dancing, who is not, how are we gonna make them dance?” The narrator, the MC, hypes up the room as conga-driven rhythms bounce between languid synth and guitar lines. “Show me how to move...I feel something...I know you feel it too,” Murphy sings sweetly, calling back to the opening lines of Feelings, and this time the audience chants it back. It is easy to picture Brijean performing this one — something they only got to do a handful of times until more recently, opening shows for Khruangbin and Washed Out, an experience they found informative. Murphy explains, “It was inspiring to be out there and let loose more. To see how people can expand their expression on stage gave me more liberty with how I viewed my musicianship. My role for so long was to be a backup percussionist, so why would I ever leave the drums, you know? But then after playing all these runs, you see these artists and realize you can, you have permission.”
“Angelo” and “Ooo La La” deliver the danciest stretch in Brijean’s catalog to date. The title track adopts a deep house pulse replete with strings, hi-hats, and kicks. The latter opts for a funkier groove that foregoes verses in favor of warbled hums and extended breakdowns. What follows is perhaps the duo’s dreamiest run, a comedown initiated with the honey-hued interlude “Colors” drifting into “Where Do We Go?”, a tropicália reverie where Murphy contemplates the passage of time and space.
It all culminates in “Caldwell’s Way,” a fond farewell to their Bay Area community — “a part of my life that I knew couldn’t come back,” says Murphy. Above shimmering organ sounds, lush strings, and the birdcall of their former neighborhood, she wistfully articulates the uncertainty of moving on by remembering the characters dear to them. There’s the wisdom of their neighbor, Santos, who refused payment when helping them move out: “I’d rather have 100 friends than 100 dollars.” And the song’s namesake, Benjamin Caldwell Brown, a friend and club night cohort for many years. “I’m only miles away, maybe I’m just feeling lonely,” the line resigns to warm nostalgia, and “Nostalgia” runs the closing credits to this healing and transportive collection.
Staran Wake is a collaborative project by Andrew Bunsell and Tom Relleen. After several years creating music in various groups together, followed by countless hazy late night recording sessions at each other’s studios and crisper afternoons producing the results, the British duo’s musical vision materialised with this self-titled instrumental album, taking nearly 4 years to complete.
This collection of pieces is composed with a wide range of instruments and combines multiple dark, experimental genres to form a rather lavish and unique proposition. It is imprinted with intense turgid textures, interweaving the hyper-tactile characteristics of analogue sound with field recording elements and sound effects.
Although the project’s name suggests a rather celestial concept (‘an’ means moon in one of the early protolanguages), the music actually explores the intimate feelings of transient space and otherness. It uses subtle build-ups of tension and repetitive progressions to shape an impression of distended time and space. More than a mere treat for the ears, it’s a multi-layered album that invites reflection.
All tracks composed, performed and recorded by Andrew Bunsell and Tom Relleen at Dalston Studios, Space Studios and The Bunker, London, UK
Arranged, produced and mixed by Andrew Bunsell and Tom Relleen at The Bunker, London, UK
Mixed and mastered by Marta Salogni at Studio Zona, London, UK
Two years after their previous effort, regular as clockwork, Swiss throbbing synth pop duo Veil Of Light is back with a new album and what can we say? These guys keep on getting better and better.
If you have followed the Zurich-based outfit over the past few years, you must have noticed the constant moving towards 80’s FM new wave and synthpop tones – without losing their electro/body music outline – that have marked the band’s parable, especially since their latest Landslide LP.
Sundancing is their sixth full-length and it stays the course, bringing what we’ve just said to the next step. Nine new dancy and bright tunes with emotional depth that blend lush instrumentation and robust rhythms, guided by funky and rubbery basslines. Syncopated rhythm sections match suburban cool synths in the lead single Apricot Kiss and Hypersleep, while Raindancing and Tonight summon a sinuosity long gone since the mid Eighties. The musical backdrop here serves as the fundament for emotional vocals delivering lyrics dealing with the fragility of love, joy and loneliness.
There’s some subtle addictiveness to these songs, one that will gently grab you by the collar of your coat and stick the refrains from Sundancing inside your head for good.
Veil Of Light might make it look easy to keep it neat without being minimalist, intimate without being depressing, romantic in the most true sense of the word, but we know that’s possibly the hardest thing to do.
Feedback Moves kicks off 2023 with a new record by @xcrswx and Lolina. @xcrswx are Crystabel Riley (drum-/human-skin) and Seymour Wright (saxophone), they released ‘Call Time/Hard Out’ on Feedback Moves in 2020. Lolina is an electronic and digital musician, who has previously released music as Inga Copeland and was a member of the band Hype Williams.
Their collaborative relationship stems back to 2020. Lolina invited @xcrswx to contribute new work to a radio residency on NTS. They made 3 pieces played across 3 episodes. After these were broadcast, further ideas were exchanged which led to a collaborative audio-visual piece, streamed on Cafe Oto’s website in February 2021. They also performed as a trio live at Café OTO in 2022.
The artists now present a split 10” vinyl. @xcrswx weave the above-mentioned pieces into a 10 minute piece titled ‘FIXES’. The duo strip their sound to bare components. Beginning with the sound of fireworks, the pair then work through stuttered snare shots and warbled, interplaying saxophone.
Lolina presents ‘FM’; some of her strangest and most subtle work to date. Echoing and furthering the abstract turntablism found on previous records ‘Who Is Experimental Music?’ and ‘Fast Fashion’. We hear found sounds, close and distant, rhythmically gathered and dissolved in a swirl of dub tone and timbre.
Tracks have had early play on NTS Radio, Clydebuilt Radio and are expected to be played on BBC Radio 3’s ‘Late Junction’ and ‘Freeness’ show’s.
Rich Aucoin is announcing his next album entitled Synthetic - The record is a rare Quadruple Album with its 4 seasons/LPs being staggered in 6 month intervals over the next 2 years
The album, which began at The National Music Centre in Calgary, Alberta in March 2020, houses one of the world's most extensive collections of rare and historic synthesizers. There, Aucoin was doing the Artist In Residence program and recorded 51 synthesizers to begin the project. The project was paused with the start of the pandemic and Aucoin shifted back into film scoring and worked
on the critically- acclaimed and short- listed New Yorker - Films of the Year documentary, No Ordinary Man, about the trans- masculine jazz musician Billy Tipton.This record is a good demonstration of Aucoin's scoring potential as well as it's a quadruple instrumental album; a huge contrast to United States, Aucoin's previous, and most vocal heavy album to date. Lyrics just take me so long to write that I just want to take a couple years to make other kinds of albums before going back to lyrical music as I can write instrumental music much faster. This first fulllength features Aucoin as the solo musician playing some 37 synthesizers including: Arp 2600s, the Supertramp owned Elka Rhapsody 610 String Machine, Formanta Polivoks, Novatron T550, Oxford Synthesizer Company Oscar, Selmer Clavioline CM 8 and the legendary TONTO which the first release off the record
was made on.
Tracks: Tonto / Hypernormalization / Algorithm / Future / Buchla / Esc / 456 /
Space Western / Return
How do you follow up an EP like Champion Sound? By going even darker and harder, that’s how! And that is exactly what Q project did with this incredible EP. In 1993 the burgeoning jungle sound was coming into its own, and this EP encapsulates that perfectly. The sound is very dark yet still has great musicality and a sound that is clearly defined as jungle music today. This is one of the most sought after records from the Q Project back catalogue and with just a quick listen you’ll hear why.
Club / DJ Support
Jay Cunning, Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Liquid, Hyper On Experience, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Paul Bradley, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Jimmy J, Doughboy, Lowercase, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others
Rikers Island is yet another very sought after slice of wax from Q Project, this time with the aid of his long time collaborator, Dj Spinback. This track, with it’s two different versions, will cater to pretty much any jungle raver. The ‘On The Run Mix’ is the darker of the two and today would most definitely be called the ‘VIP Mix’ for sure, but this is from a time where artists and producers where still inventing the music. Then the ‘Dream Mix’ is the more atmospheric version, the one that you would drop when the crowd isn’t as dark or you wanted to lift them back up some, and this track does that perfectly.
Club / DJ Support
Jay Cunning, Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Liquid, Hyper On Experience, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Paul Bradley, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Jimmy J, Doughboy, Lowercase, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others
Biosphere is the main recording name of Geir Jenssen (born 30 May 1962),(1) a Norwegian musician who has released a notable catalogue of ambient electronic music. He is well known for his works on ambient techno and arctic themed pieces, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources. His 1997 album Substrata was voted by the users of the Hyperreal website in 2001 as the best all-time classic ambient album.
Patashnik was originally released by R&S Records/Apollo in 1994. It was number 1 in NME´s Independent Chart in March 1994 and reached number 50 in the UK official album chart.
The track Novelty Waves was used in Michel Gondry's Levi's 501 Jeans "Drugstore" spot, and holds - according to the Guinness World Records 2004, the record for "Most awards won by a TV commercial".
One reason why Jenssen's work stands out from the flood of early '90s ambient/techno releases is his strong sense of the quirkily creepy -- not in an Aphex Twin mode, but in his own particular way. The contrasting samples of a child quaveringly saying, "We had a dream last night," followed by a rougher sample saying, "We had the same dream," gives opening number "Phantasm" an unsettling feeling. Intensified by the, on the one hand, pretty, on the other, disturbing music, buried synth strings and a soft pulse accentuated by clattering noises deep in the mix, it kicks off the striking Patashnik very well. Though not as openly dark as acts like Lull, for instance, Biosphere still has an edge which isn't just melancholic, it's downright ominous at point. There's the slow crawl of "Startoucher," for instance, with its buried vocal snippets and deep bass drone, or the blend of the space signal atmospheres of "Mir" into the low, brooding intro to "The Shield." Not everything is so shadowy, though, Patashnik is primarily a relax and chill listening experience, but not without its gentle high points. "Novelty Waves," which became a crossover single in some quarters, has a good dancefloor sharpness to it even as Jenssen slyly sneaks in odd drones and samples through the mix. The opening snippet talking about an extraterrestrial disc jockey on "SETI Project" is good for a smile, as well as acting as a sharp lead-in to a fast rhythm track. Mostly, though, things continue on a deliciously unnerving pace throughout, gentle enough to go down easy but still just off enough to ensure you can't call this new age folderol for the rave generation.
Baby Buddha is David Javelosa and musical partner Charles Hornaday playing instruments and providing their own whacked-out vocals. Baby Buddha really was less of a band than a project; a side project in fact, for some members of another group, Los Microwaves. Baby Buddha would eventually record and release an album, 1981's provocatively-titled Music for Teenage Sex on Robbie Fields' L.A.-based Posh Boy label.
Happily, the project's guiding creative light, David Javelosa has recently seen to a vinyl reissue of the now-40-year-old record, mystifyingly retitled Music for Teenage Sects. Definitely among the stranger releases of the new wave era, Music for Teenage Sex/Sects could perhaps only have been created when and where it was made. But on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, the music sounds as weirdly wonderful as ever. "We Are Not" sounds like Human League stuck in a car with The Residents. And their cover of "All Shook Up" sounds like a musical kin to those inscrutable eyeball guys too; it wouldn't be out of place on Meet the Residents. "Little Things" is a house-of-mirrors, scary track, with spoken-word vocals by Los Microwaves' Meg Brazill and label head Fields.
The album cover is slightly different as well: it displays a bedroom scene like the original LP, but with the young female model absent. The new release (on Javelosa's own Hyperspace Communications label) is pressed on beautiful translucent blue vinyl and comes in a gatefold sleeve with a lively collage of photos, buttons, gig posters. Limited to 500 copies.This playfully titled release features David Javelosa (on synth and vocals) along with Meg Brazill (on bass and vocals) plus drummer Todd "Rosa" Rosencrans. Side One features five studio tracks, none of which were included on the band's 1981 Posh Boy LP, Life After Breakfast. Three of these tracks were recorded in '82; there's no information regarding the provenance of the other two songs. The records' second side collects five live recordings, capturing Los Microwaves onstage in New York City (The Peppermint Lounge) and Boston as well as at San Francisco's own I-Beam, a venue that often played host to the band. Those tracks date form roughly the same ear, 1980-83. Sonically the songs variously recall Blondie, Flying Lizards, Gang of Four and a far less dour Human League. Importantly, the band rocks, even when it's employing a spare drum kit, solid but elemental bass, and monophonic analog synthesizers. The stripped down aesthetics of the group – necessitated by its minimalist instrumental approach – are nonetheless thrilling. Even if you weren't there in 1980, this'll take you back.
Jessy Lanza has always made music that perfectly suits the mood - whether it's the heads-down trance of the dancefloor or that hazy, post-club bliss. It's no surprise for an artist that takes electronic music's most intoxicating sensibilities and effortlessly reimagines them as experimental pop and R&B. The Canadian singer, producer and DJ from Hamilton, Ontario, has trodden an inspiring path which led to 2013's boldly minimalist debut Pull My Hair Back, released on revered UK label Hyperdub. Gorgeously complex follow-ups Oh No - shortlisted for Canada's prestigious Polaris Prize - and 2020's All the Time crowned her as a singular talent in the left-of-pop sphere. It's with this genre-bending approach that Jessy Lanza presents her entry for the DJ-Kicks series - a sprawling, club-indebted odyssey that draws you in closer and closer with each listen. Recorded this summer, the mix is an incisive snapshot of her emotional landscape during the past 18 months. In 2020, with nothing but a van, a few personal belongings and her musical gear, Lanza and her partner relocated from New York City to the Bay Area to ride out the pandemic. A change of scenery, buoyed by the slower pace of their new home, gave her a fresh perspective during a worldwide screeching halt. Jessy Lanza's DJ-Kicks mix also arrives as a divine stroke of timing. As the world slowly starts to re-open, it's a portal into the ecstatic energy of the dancefloor; an emblem of genuine healing - both personal and communal - that transports listeners to a state of pure euphoria.
Since he started producing music, Berlin-based American sound artist Jake Muir has been obsessed with sampling. His 2018 album "Lady's Mantle" was based on manipulated chunks of vintage Californian surf rock, and its follow-up, 2020's midnight symphony "The Hum Of Your Veiled Voice" was sourced from a wide variety of old records, and inspired by the work of experimental turntablists like Marina Rosenfeld, Janek Schaefer and Philip Jeck.
On "Mana", Muir looks back to a misunderstood musical movement. Around 1995, a group of New York producers and DJs - including DJ Olive, DJ Spooky and Spectre - pioneered a genre-dissolving sound by unifying hip-hop techniques with ideas pulled from dub, jungle, ambient music and industrial noise. Badged "illbient", it was a short-lived genre that felt like a high-minded psychedelic cousin of the UK's trip-hop.
Muir uses illbient as the springboard for "Mana", utilizing a selection of samples to inform his frothy drones and foreboding atmospheres. He ushers the material into 2021 by diverting it through his own contemporary worldview, attempting to recreate the hyperreal fantasy histories of Japanese RPGs (think "Dark Souls" and "Final Fantasy") and nod to sensual, tactile soundscapes of European industrial labels Staalplaat and Soleilmoon. The result is a magickal, sensory journey that's as physical as it is representational.
If the illbient producers were encouraging a burgeoning experimental music landscape to emphasize the tactile feeling of turntablism and sample manipulation, Muir is doing the same with "Mana". Each track heaves and breathes not just with his cultural reference points, but with layered, complicated emotions. We can hear joy, sadness, desire and anguish, obscured by disintegrating noise, hallucinogenic harmonies and sub-aquatic bass. It's electronic music that's rooted not in technology, but in touch.
Barren wastelands, a distant moon.
Far screeches: gloomy rituals.
Piercing cries.
The deepest indigo, a desolate and rude imagery.
Yoga-darśana : this is a den of iniquity.
Hyperlacrimae’s savage sound shows the Italian duo’s roots in industrial music with the addition of a strong dark-infused oniric attitude.
Straddling post-industrial sounds and a personal style with tribal and catacombic features.
A sort of mystical and distorted ritual, a wild dance with an ancient and primordial flavour.
The LP oscillates between a raw intense dynamism - fully demonstrated by “Kobra”, the album’s climax, “Kogawa No Gotsu” and “Blood Ties” - and a sense of perdition, evinced in reflective acts like “Incubus” and the outro “Korekore-Matakawa”. There’s also room for the distressing atmosphere of “In My Poison”, a contemporary example of obscure Industrial’s heaviest face.
The remixers Shrouds, Impure Secretion, Scarpa participate with three reinterpretations of great impact.
Recorded and Produced by Erminio Granata & Carmine Laurenza
Vocals by Carmine Laurenza
Mastered by Hyperlacrimae at Red Dungeon (Naples)
Artworks and Photos by Nullam Rem Natam (Athens)
Design and Layout by Erminio Granata
