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Known for his viral video series Sexta dos Crias, Ramon Sucesso is a virtuosic DJ who crushes, reimagines, and rearranges songs to such a degree that the original tracks become virtually unrecognisable. He has turned his controller into a particle accelerator, creating firework-like bursts of classic funk carioca samples, his own productions, mainstream tracks, nonsense TikTok sound bites, and tons of his trademark beat bolha. All contained within an unparalleled, mischievously non-linear rhythmic flow.

‘Ramon’s social network profiles are as outrageously unpredictable as his mixes. He posts interactive emoji games, bountiful fast-food feasts with his family, comments about the Flamengo football team, and videos of him playing FIFA. He has a prolifically restless mind, constantly riffing and improvising; he does whatever it takes to get by, to navigate the reality of life in Brazil and overcome the daunting challenges of the music industry.

‘Sexta dos Crias is the culmination of Ramon’s DJ work. A LP that embodies the newest in funk carioca, a faithful transposition of the bailes to vinyl. Ramon has unpretentiously ushered in a new age of experimentation for the genre – making a daring and unprecedented foray into a territory where extreme and radical sounds abound.’

Here we go with another exclusive release of Passionate Music Label

Part 11 in the Hardcore Classics series

Celebrating a year of Hagan’s critically acclaimed debut, Python Syndicate releases a limited double vinyl edition of Textures - Textures is an homage to global sounds and influences, an expression of his journey of self-discovery and reflection on his British-Ghanaian heritage, and showcases his keen love for collaboration. Recorded between London and Accra, the project draws out a range of Afro-influenced sounds while listing the collaboration of emerging talents across the vibrant landscape of contemporary African music, Aymos, Bryte, Meron T, Ayeisha Raquel, Griffit Vigo and more. Speaking on the album, Hagan says, “Making this album has taken me on a journey of mixed feelings. I’ve spotted areas of development in my production process but also fine-tuned my strengths to produce a well-rounded Hagan sound. The development of the album opened my mind to previously untapped styles and pushed me out of my comfort zones. At its core, the ‘Textures’ LP is about being proud of retaining heritage and culture through music but also exploring dual identities through fusing sounds. Embracing the power of rhythm and collaboration, ‘Textures’ is a fine benchmark for the next.” With support from DJ Mag, Crack, TRENCH, Trippin, Mixmag, GRM Daily, Pan African Music, Rinse FM, BBC 6Music and around previous singles ‘My Love’, ‘Pray For Me’ and ‘Sise Ntweni’, Textures demonstrates exactly why Hagan is widely celebrated and renowned as a fusionist - perfectly blending elements of Amapiano, Afro-house, UK Funky, Jazz, Neo-Soul, Broken beat and all that's in between with ease on the record.

Ska Tek, Ragga Tek... PURE STUFF, long awaited, MIKKIM gets better and better !!!

Repress!

On 22nd October, the Nottingham-raised and highly-praised musician/DJ/producer Matt Cutler, AKA Lone, presents his 8th album – and first in 5 years – ‘Always Inside Your Head’. It marks two major changes, with both a new label and new approach – featuring vocalists for the first time.

This deeply textural and ethereal artwork is situated high above the clouds, amidst the heavens, occupying a stratospheric state where swathes of synthesized vapour and azure rays sound like a literal breath of fresh air.

A varied selection of music influenced the record, but two main influences were Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine. “I wanted to approach a range of different styles, but attack them from their angle in a way, so for example on 'Inlove2' I tried to imagine what a Balearic / acid house tune might sound like if it were produced by Kevin Shields”, comments Lone.

Another key example of Cutler’s strange but successful combination of elements is the halcyon bliss of ‘Echo Paths’, where his trademark fat drums and love for hip hop meet double-time pan pipes, dub effects and dream pop, mixed into a wonderfully lysergic concoction.

This rarefied auditory stratus was previously evident in tracks like ‘Alpha Wheel 4 (Ambient Mix)’ from ‘DJ Kicks’, ‘Under Cherry Blossoms (Minds Eye Reprise)’ from ‘Ambivert Tools, Vol. 2’, ‘Pulsar’ (from ‘Ambivert 4’), and ‘How Can You Tell’ (from ‘Abraxas’), but is now more fully-fledged, broader in scope and even more celestial.

In addition to the above, the LP exists somewhere between trip hop on Mo' Wax, 90s Warp, intelligent drum & bass and ambient house. There are heavier forays too, like ‘Mouth Of God’, where darker clouds emerge, but are pierced like acid lightning with fierce, tearing tech-step bass.

Although still firmly rooted in club culture – here Lone shows a definite leaning towards a song-based sound, with several tracks edging towards the same crossover space as the nineties hits which also inspired him – particularly William Orbit’s production on Madonna's 'Frozen', and Olive's 'You're Not Alone'. This is especially evident on the bright, spacious brilliance of 'Hidden By Horizons', where vocals and synths swirl around one another, with crisp breakbeats and reggae rolls pushing purposefully through the ether.

Despite initially seeming almost entirely sunny of disposition, upon deeper immersion there’s lot more beneath the album’s surface, both in its deep pools of immiscible layered elements, and also thematically. When recording Cutler kept in mind a loose narrative based on birth, death, and our existence in-between.

He then extended this idea to reach what may happen after death, which is reflected in the sequencing: By penultimate track ‘Undaunted’ the life reflected in this longplayer has come to an end, which is then followed by 'Coming In To Being And Passing Away' – an afterlife epilogue, which evokes a transition from this world to the next.

Salty winds whip the surface of the shallow reef and carry voices on the breeze that whisper of DJ Life’s return to Craigie Knowes. Southern Seas is a deep dive of everything that makes DJ Life’s music special - advanced production techniques for all those that want to dip the dancefloor under turbulent waves. Music for the clubs, music for your mind.

Nous'klaer Audio is proud to present a stellar line-up of remixers for Nadia Struiwigh's third album Pax Aurora. DJ Nobu kicks things off with his mind-bending IDM version of Nana. Followed by JakoJako's pulsating hypnotic metamorphosis of Dreaming About Rollercoasters. On the flip, Om Unit turns the healing sounds of Organic into a powerful club tool fusing influences of jungle, dubstep & electronica. The record is completed by Norwegian classical artist Julia Gjertsen, whose layered pianos playfully transform Feroit into a stunning kosmische track.

A nice collection to relax in a warm and cosy musical atmosphere

After a stellar release on Saoirse's label trUst—which caught the attention of DJs like Ben UFO, rRoxymore and dBridge—Ryan Aitchison aka Mella Dee is back on the dials for another outing of quality tech ‘aus fodder.

Rug Cutters Vol. 1 kicks off a slew of upcoming dancefloor weapons from the Warehouse Music boss. Visually underlined by his own original artworks, the EP shows off Mella Dee’s signature flair for whipping up raw, no-nonsense ingredients into irresistibly infectious grooves.

Vol. 1 starts strong with ‘Cutting Snakes (Keep on Moving)’, a track that screams instant classic with its shuffling beat and fat, sassy synthline. A2 track ‘Bumps (You Say)’ dives deep into those bassbin vibrations—it’s big, rude, and dead set on shaking up even the swampiest of dancefloors. Together, these cuts are not messing around.

On the flip, ‘Cutters (They Don't Get It)’ plays with the more futuristic, percussive end of the techno continuum. Drum breaks slither over each other, while a minimal vocal and bass hook locks everything down. Finally, ‘Pay No Mind (Who Am I)’ pulls the EP back to euphoria. This one will have the club cruising to its cocktail of flirty chord stabs and soulful house vocals—you’ll never want to go home.

Luckily, it won’t be long before we get one more tune from Ryan Aitchison—with plenty on the horizon, ‘Rug Cutters Vol. 1’ is also a taste of what’s to come. Stay tuned!

Tape

Vestigios, Aeondelit’s second full length record after recently releasing an EP of shifting club music influenced by postmodern philosopher Leotard on Tel Aviv’s Sadan records, tells a lucid, captivating story of heritage, transformation, vulnerability and healing. It will be released via Berlin-based art platform and record label Unguarded as a digital and tape release with an artwork created by Petra Hermanova, and will be accompanied by limited textile pieces by Diane Esnault. Aeondelit’s music is strongly influenced by the rocky surrounding of his hometown Manizales and fuses electronic sensibilities, ambient streams and avant-percussive rhythms that build his sound identity. Aeondelit's evocative music has previously been released via the Insurgentes imprint, Vienna-based Ashida Park and was recently featured on the 'Unguarded 2 – Entangled' compilation. Cortés describes the meaning of Vestigios as such: “The memories of past generations: the lives that burn within me, are the pillars of who I am. They constitute longings and traps, sin and strength, the temple that breaks down and rebuilds. The different dimensions of consciousness converge in the mind, which constantly tells us who we are, synthesizing and projecting our contradictions. The pain that comes with getting in touch with our vulnerabilities opens the doors to healing through confrontation. This lays the foundation for a more honest relationship with our past, present and future. 'Vestigios' is the bridge between the temporal and the eternal, the crystallized remnant of pain caused by transformation and recognition of the convulsive underworld of our psyche.” Aeondelit, birth name Sergio Cortés, is a Colombian music producer who explores themes related to technology and human condition in sound. He focuses on the creative use of sample manipulation techniques and digital sound synthesis to deepen the idea of a dialogue between computer and human, and how both influence each other. Deep in Colombia's Andes, surrounded by big mountains and the sacred Nevado del Ruiz, Aeondelit has been forging his own sound identity, exploring the intersection points between sparkly experimental club music and melodic ambient electronic. His first release Editing Destiny on the Colombian label Insurgentes was well received by the public and DJs, named one of the best albums of 2020 on Mixmag. His last release on Sadan Records, Anima Minima, was reviewed and premiered on platforms like DJ Mag, THE BRVTALIST and Orb Mag. He is also the co-founder of the independent record label Nvrclose, where his debut album as Æon Series: Dualidad, was released. About Unguarded: Unguarded is a Berlin based experimental electronic music label and art platform. In 2020 long-term collaborators Tim Roth aka Sin Maldita aka 1k Flowers and Phillipp Hülsenbeck founded Unguarded to foster forward thinking artists with a focus on exploring cross-disciplinary collaboration and embarking on sonic adventures. Unguarded was founded in a time of turmoil and uncertainty for artists and music, trying to keep personal connections alive through shared personal and collective experiences between doom and destruction and glistening hope. Amongst their own contributions, Hülsenbeck and Roth gather a collection of genre-defying works by longtime collaborators as well as artists they bonded with in recent years. Their releases constantly escape from definition but through entangling their unique artistic marks, this diversity remains absorbing and compelling throughout their sprawling sonic miasmas. Combining earth-shattering club cuts, equally elegant and bouncy, Unguarded contributes to and connects the experimental music scene in and outside of Berlin. We invite the curious to a deep, tense but rewarding experience.

2023 Repress!
Since 2009’s critically acclaimed Machine Dreams they have not sat still, touring the globe and making some high profile friends along the way.
No one in their right mind would have expected the future of soul music to come from Gothenburg, Sweden. But there it is in the dreamy, rhythmical, shifting, moody rainbow creature that is Little Dragon. It is easy to see why some of the world’s top musical luminaries are falling over themselves to work with them. Stylishly seductive in their own right, their 2007 selftitled debut was filled with classy songwriting and cool production, with the stunning track ‘Twice’ getting played on Grey’s Anatomy and countless adverts since it’s release. Machine Dreams showed a bouncier side, as they flexed their dancing nous and came up with an album that would turn Prince’s head.
Damon Albarn invited them to collaborate on two tracks for last year’s Gorillaz record Plastic Beach, which became album highlights for the critics with Pitchfork describing the songs ‘Empire Ants’ and ‘To Binge’ as “two of the most arresting things here; they’re airy, elusive and amazingly beautiful”.
Little Dragon started 2011 with a headlining tour of the U.S. and a performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in March, thanks to a recommendation from super-fan Questlove of The Roots. In May, the band appeared on the track ‘Just Don’t’ from Raphael Saadiq’s Stone Rollin’, a record some are already calling the album of the year. Then Big Boi and DJ Shadow called to invite the group to work on new music.

Altered Circuits' next release comes by way of Bologna-to-Berlin transplant Jacopo Latini. On the Motherboard EP he combines stubby drums and sultry, efficient basslines with richly hued synth work. Once the cuts get going, a tapestry of melody reveals itself: gated leads are accompanied by burbling arpeggios, momentous chord progressions and bright pads that crawl in and out. The patches often incline to the bright and dreamy but are deployed with restraint; in the same vein, concealed and aloof vocal samples get sprinkled in. These techniques - staples for the artist - add an inscrutable quality to his work's mood. It is dance music that feels direct on the surface yet hides more ambiguous emotions underneath. Being a DJ was Latini's first approach to the electronic genres, and it arguably still is his main inspiration - it even occurs he writes tracks with a specific venue in mind. Since starting over a decade ago, and having meanwhile swapped the local Italian stages for the international ones, he has amassed a ton of analogue gear to help him do so. On this occasion, he plugged in his Roland D-50, Moog Sub 37 and microKorg XL, among other favorites, to take on progressive, trance and tech house. "Motherboard", "High Voltage", "It Comes In The Morning", and "Dual Effect" make for a diverse selection but have indeed the same objective: the club floor.

2023 repress on Translucent Purple double vinyl! A Brand You Can Trust is the classic 2009 debut album from hip-hop supergroup La Coka Nostra feturing House of Pain's Everlast alongside Danny Boy & DJ Lethal with Ill Bill (Non Phixion), and Slaine (Special Teamz). Additional contributions come from such hip hop elite as Snoop Dogg, Cypress Hill, Immortal Technique, Bun B and The Alchemist. A breath of fresh air in the days of contrived airbrushed rap music, Ill Bill explained that, "This record is a no holds barred burst of hardcore hip-hop to the fullest, representing everything we love about this art form but feel is missing from the game right now." "This shit bangs," Slaine added. "We set out to make a boom bap hip-hop record and we did that, but to stop there would be selling it short, because lyrically, musically, and sonically this album doesn't fit in a box." Though similar stylistically to the group's prior 2009 online releases, the debut album features songs grounded more in reality. Subjects touched upon include politics, death, drug addiction, raising a child and terrorism. AllMusic gave four out of five stars. Andrew Kameka of HipHopDX wrote that "the album is a mostly solid effort and exactly what someone would expect from a supergroup of like-minded members known for high-energy music". Adam Kennedy of the BBC while praising some the moments of the album said "it's a tantalising parting taste of potential capabilities, yet until they improve a customer satisfaction hit rate that barely troubles one in three tunes here". Steve Juon of RapReviews gave it a seven out of ten. Thomas Quinlan of Exclaim! said "La Coka Nostra are an interesting collection of collaborators that live up to the hype".

DJ Manny's new album 'Hypnotized' is full of fresh ideas which push the footwork format of 160bpm hyper-rhythmic music in really enjoyable new directions. He builds on the romantic themes of his last album 'Signals In My Head' and evolves them with shades of blue, taking very natural sounding experimentation into new moods and musical colour while never making the album inaccessible. Arguably this is a fine successor to the ground broken by DJ Rashad's 'Double Cup' album, which of course Manny also worked on. 'Hypnotized' solidifies Manny's style, from relaxed r'n'b rollers to moments of romantic distress - like 'WTF Goin On' and the reflective 'You N You (ft. DJ Phil)', to more intense moments like the dubstep inflected 'Ooh Baby' from the vaults, co-produced by DJ Rashad himself. Other tracks like 'Want U Bad' retool Robert Hood style minimal techno whereas dark, nervous belters like 'Turn Me Up' sound like Paul Johnson at his most wild but welded to footwork rhythms and a pumping jump up drum & bass-line. There are also moments of enjoyably hype daftness like the acid and diva head-fuck of 'Opera' or the old school Bukem style jungle homage 'Lost In Da Jungle'. 'Hypnotized' is an album that expands footwork's template with natural ease and outstanding skill.

PRESSED ON "DRIED BLOOD" RED
COLORED VINYL W/OBI
LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES

In the late 90s in Hip Hop, all eyes were on the South - and the Down South sound reigned supreme. Few groups were as hot as Memphis’ Three 6 Mafia. CrazyNDaLazDayz was a regional scorcher when it dropped in 1999, released under the group name Tear Da Club Up Thugs, but essentially a Three 6 Mafia full-length as core Three 6 members DJ Paul, Juicy J and Lord Infamous all contribute to the project. The record went on to be certified Gold and Three 6 Mafia went on to win an Academy Award for their contribution to Hustle & Flow. CrazyNDaLazDayz continues to have an impact to this day. A cut Juicy J first pulled together while still in high school, “Slob On My Knob”, was utilized in A$AP Ferg’s hit “Plain Jane.” In addition, the cut is interpolated into G-Eazy’s most successful cut to date, “No Limit.” Get On Down brings you this often overlooked and definitely in need of being revisited portion of Three 6 Mafia’s legacy.

Welcome to Masters Series - for people who understand that some things just can't be tamed. (Read: these are scratchy, poppy, and rough recordings from busted acetates. Click the listen tab to preview quality. These are cleaned up as best we can get them - if that's not going to work for you, don't order!)

For this limited edition Masters Series release, we enlisted the help of two of the world's heaviest collectors and djs, and champions of the Preservation Project from day one, Supreme la Rock on Side-A, and Skeme Richards on the B-Side.

Both gentlemen tackled reworking and re-editing funky previously unreleased psych songs. Both songs, "Sad Country Boy" on Side A and "Your Mind" on Side B, are by unknown groups and both feature drum breaks intros - perfect for you to cut up, so you're gonna need two copies. We won't be mad at you if you feed the breaks and chop them up either. This one is for the heads.

The story behind The Masters Series

In our hunt for unreleased soul, we occasionally find some incredible gems that are just a bit too beaten to restore to the ears of the general public. Rather than return them to the moldy basements from whence they came, we press them up to share with those who love to share.

First Word Records are very proud to bring you a new album from Don Leisure with Amanda Whiting. 'Beyond The Midnight Sun' expands upon ground first explored on Don Leisure's track 'All Praises Due', which also featured Amanda (with Angel Bat Dawid), and featured on his previous album 'Shaboo Strikes Back'.

This is a full-length project that these two formidable Welsh artists have collaborated on together. To bring you up to speed, Cardiff DJ and beat-maker Don Leisure has been twice nominated for the Welsh Music Prize, with the afore-mentioned album 'Shaboo Strikes Back', and a previous project, 'Steel Zakusi'.

As well as being 50% of Darkhouse Family with Earl Jeffers, he's released music under various monikers on labels such as Metalheadz, International Anthem, Fat City, Earnest Endeavours, Group BraCil and on Rough Trade with another regular collaborator, Gruff Rhys. Other collabs have included Charlotte Church, Om'Mas Keith, DJ Spinna and First Word label-mate Tyler Daley ...

Parallel Minds’ fifth label release is a major landmark for the Toronto-based label. Not only is it their first full length LP, it is also the debut album from co-founder Ciel, who is also making her first solo appearance on the label since its inception.

In 2021, spurred on by a productive creative streak and the economic austerity of pandemic lockdowns, the Xi’an-born and Toronto-based DJ Ciel (real name Cindy Li) applied for grant funding from the government of Canada to write her debut album. Self-proclaimed “DJ first, producer second”, Ciel never thought she would have the self-confidence and desire to write an album. It wasn’t until after spending prolonged time away from clubs & festivals whilst dedicating herself to daily sessions in her studio that she gained the motivation and aspiration to make a musical statement that only an album could express.

Since the start of the covid19 outbreak, Ciel, like many other Chinese diaspora people in the West, had felt a great deal of anxiety and pain at the rise of anti-Chinese sentiment and racism in the media — even in her corner of the dance music industry. Tired of expressing her frustrations fruitlessly online, she felt inspired to channel that into her music, to turn something that was filled with hate into a thing of joy and beauty. It was within this context that Homesick began to take shape.

After researching the rich history of Chinese instruments, a concept began to form around the album in which she could marry her love of sampling and analogue instruments. Using the eight types of traditional Chinese instruments (silk, bamboo, wood, stone, metal, clay, gourd, and hide) as a guideline, Li began writing each track with a focus on one of the eight. She hired traditional Chinese instrumentalists to play the guzheng and the xiao, whilst purchasing and teaching herself the smaller hand drum instruments like the kuaiban (bamboo clappers), and muyu (temple blocks). With the news that she had successfully been granted funding from Canada Arts Council, she wrote, recorded, arranged, and mixed all nine tracks of her album over the first three months of 2022. More than just highlighting Chinese instruments, the music on this album encapsulates so many musical influences from Ciel’s childhood when she began her lifelong love affair with music. True to her style as a DJ, the LP incorporates a diversity of genres she loves, from drum & bass to house, electro to breaks - even downtempo.

What has come out of these sessions is a deeply personal dancefloor record, a true expression of love for Cindy’s culture that came out of a time of relentless chaos, negativity, and uncertainty. Ciel sees her compositions as a distillation of herself — her life experiences, her wide interests and passions, and her often-turbulent emotions. Immersing oneself in the LP feels like listening to the musical confessions of an artist heading towards the peak of their career, who is finally starting to make sense of her artistic identity. What a joy to witness it.
credits

‘Demos/sketches/interludes from the hinterland between records. Drum machines and single take vocal sketches tied together with downtime synth experiments and recordings of local disappearing areas.’ True as it is, Jabu’s strap-line is a somewhat understated take on what also proved to be a transformative experience for them. The follow-up record to their 2020 sophomore LP ‘Sweet Company’ (and the ensuing ‘Versions’), ‘Boiling Wells’ weaves a smudged, group -mind spell. Originally released earlier this year without fanfare as a digital-only release, it now receives the proper release attention it deserves, issued in a neatly packaged vinyl edition of 300 copies. Dreamlike, woozy, raw and in dub, the album documents a blossoming process, and encapsulates a fragment in time - holed up in the country, soaking up the atmosphere in collective isolation, creatively embracing the limitations of a small recording set-up, and finding a new way to work as a band. “My mum had gone away so we’d decided to take the mixing desk and a couple of drum machines out to her house and set it up in the front room. We did it a couple of times to get the bulk of the tunes on 'Boiling Wells' done, one in summer and one boozy one around Christmas. I think we all immediately enjoyed working that way, sat around all together, more of an immediate thing. Jas started to play a lot more guitar, her and Al would write lyrics on the fly or be programming a drum beat in or something. We were all switching around and getting ideas down really quickly, not worrying too much if they were good or not. The music was limited by the stuff we had there, I didn’t bring a big desk so we only had six channels or so, and everything was basically just recorded in as a stereo take so we were more or less stuck with it after we’d laid it down - which was nice too. I don’t think we would’ve changed them anyway; it was the sound of the room and of us doing it together in the moment that was really important.” There has always been a collaborative heart to Jabu, though its nature has shifted and morphed over time. In their earliest incarnation, in after-school jams, Alex Rendall would rap over Amos Childs’ beats, but by the time they began releasing music in 2012, Al had found his singing voice – a sweet, soulful counterpoint to Amos’ increasingly dub-wise, experimental backing. Both are founder members of Bristol’s Young Echo, a collective of friends and musicians first operating loosely together on radio shows, artistic collaborations and events, and later on, running a record label. As expansive as their original remit was, Young Echo has steadily evolved since featuring in The Wire’s 2013 cover feature on Bristol’s new school of post-dubstep bass music. Of late, Seb (aka Vessel) has been working with violinist Rakhi Singh on string arrangements for Jabu, and the upcoming residency at Bermondsey’s MOT will showcase relative newcomers Birthmark and Intel Mercenary alongside the regular crew. Jabu’s debut album proper, ‘Sleep Heavy’, arrived in 2017 courtesy of Blackest Ever Black. A sublime, focused meditation on grief and loss written largely by Amos and Al, it marked the debut of Jasmine Butt (aka Guest), adding a further layer of vocal texture to their palette. ‘Sweet Company’, their first album written as a trio (released via their own do you have peace? label), drifted into lighter, more ethereal introspection. Featuring guest appearances by Sunun and Daniela Dyson, remixes by Equiknoxx’s Time Cow and Young Echo ‘s Ossia teased out the inherent pop and dub sensibilities respectively. Recent times have also seen remixes by kindred spirits Seekers International and Jay Glass Dubs, and a collaboration with the renowned T.S. Eliot Prize-winning dub Poet and musician Roger Robinson on a pair of plaintive, aching 7” singles. Jabu’s broad raft of inspirations can be experienced first -hand on their monthly NTS Radio show ‘Music 4 Lovers’, co -hosted by long-time friend and soul afficionado Andy Payback. A celebration of the endless tapestry of interrelated musical connections, it runs parallel to Jabu’s own reinterpretation of their influences. For ‘Boiling Wells’, Amos remembers a diet of “A.R. Kane, Cocteau Twins, DJ Screw, Southern/Memphis rap mixtapes, early 90’s jungle, Karen Dalton, Sybille Baier, Vashti Bunyan, Svitlana Nianio, a lot of soul, Armand Hammer & Alchemist, Grouper, Bobby Caldwell. Jazz was a constant, Japanese, Polish, Latin, American…”. And from those diverse strands, something new and singular has formed, to line up alongside them. ‘Boiling Wells (Demos ‘19-’22)’ is released by UK newcomer Six of Swords in a limited vinyl edition of 300 copies, pressed on black vinyl housed in full colour 270 gsm matt varnish sleeve and black paper inner, with full download coupon

Detroit based Graphic Artist/ Fashion Designer/ Producer/ and DJ Johnny Malek has quickly fallen into the hearts and minds of the house music community.

Coming off a powerful 2022 with his debut Beatport EP “Hope” hitting number 1 on Beatport followed up with a string of releases including a 4 track organic house EP titled “Tales of Tulum” and two full length albums “How to Pray” and “Memories”.

Keeping his foot on the gas and continuing to dial in his sound in preparation for his Yoruba Records debut Johnny delivers with “I Promise” - A Deep House Anthem with banging afro house drums and an extremely powerful gospel vocal encapsulating the classic sounds of House Music.

Johnny has no plans of slowing down anytime soon as he continues to dive deep into his original sound and style and pushing the boundaries of the next generation of House Music artists and producers.

• Following on from the highly successful first two editions
of Dance Masters featuring the classics mixes from
maestros Shep Pettibone and Arthur Baker the spotlight
turns to another remix legend, John Luongo.
• Boston born, John is one of the truly legendary DJ's and
remixers of the Disco era. John got his break at Epic by
overdubbing percussion from salt shakers and spoons
onto a promo and then passing them back the tape. This
resulted in him being flown to New York, and put in a
studio (of his choice) to mix and produce Melba Moore`s
“You Stepped Into My Life”. From this point everything he
touched was a hit. He went onto remix Disco classics by
Jackie Moore – “This Time Baby”, Dan Hartman “Vertigo
/ Relight My Fire” and Patti Labelle “Music Is My Way Of
Life”.

• John, however was not afraid of remixing artists that
didn’t fit into the disco genre and this attitude is borne out
by the tracklisting of this compilation on which Gladys
Knight and The Pips rub shoulders with ZZ Top and Billy
Idol, and Baltimora appears alongside Bill Nelson and ILevel.
• “…if you played this whole thing, just put it on and
didn’t tell anyone it was me, they’d say ‘boy, what a great
group of songs this is!’” - John Luongo
• The collection is housed in a beautiful lift-off-lid box, with
a 16 page booklet featuring foreword by Arthur Baker, an
in-depth essay written by Alexis Petridis (Rock and Pop
reviewer for The Guardian) and complete with rare photos
from John’s personal collection plus a limited signed insert.

• All tracks remastered by Nick Robbins at Sound
Mastering.
• A 43-track 4CD edition is also available, along with a 2LP
vinyl edition featuring 16 highlights.

Vocal Shades And Tones is a miraculous leftfield library classic from the genius mind of celebrated UK composer/singer/vocal arranger Barbara Moore. It's a heavenly groove-based blend of jazz, Latin, soft-psych, folk-funk and gospel soul. Recorded for the legendary Music De Wolfe in 1972, it's an audacious start-to-finish listen, as dizzying as it is dazzling. It's a perfect snapshot of a musical era, supported by Moore's glorious vocal arrangements. Widely regarded among collectors, DJs, and lounge/easy-listening acolytes as an absolute essential it is viewed as the holy grail by many production music heads, rarely appearing for sale and disappearing in a flash when it does. Indeed, originals now go for over £300 and it's easy to see why. Just one of the reasons why this fresh Be With reissue, part of a wider De Wolfe reissue campaign, is so utterly crucial.

Racing out the gate, the driving "Hot Heels" is a bright, sophisticated scat groove which sounds Brazilian, richly produced as if coming by the hand of Arthur Verocai. Yes, *that* good. It's followed by "It's Gospel" which is, er, a wonderfully slow and deeply soulful gospel treasure. The appropriately monikered "Steam Heat" is a darker, breathy gem, one for salacious crates and one of the record's most infamous tracks. "Fly Away" is pastoral West Coast soft rock, very much in conversation with John Cameron and Keith Mansfield's epochal KPM recording, Voices In Harmony. "His Name Was" is a stop-you-dead-in-your-tracks Beach Boys accapella church-organ stunner, whilst "Swing Over" is another carefree, richly produced sun-dappled smasher. The gentle Bossa and sunshine soul of the aptly-titled "Touch Of Warmth" closes out a virtually perfect A-Side.

The B-Side opens with the easy grace and dramatic build of "Voice Force Nine". The jaunty "Very Fine Fellow" may be the only track to slightly grate so we advise heading to the slower, moody "Shades-Tones", eminently more compelling with sparkling, hypnotic piano throughout, underpinning the gorgeous wordless vocals. Just beautiful. It was sampled by Redman for his Method Man-featuring "Do What Ya Feel" on the great Muddy Waters. We're back in Brazilian territory with the cool, uptempo "I'm Feather" before swooning to the warm, relaxed "Drifting", another total highlight which was famously sampled by Koushik on his legendary remix of Madvillain's "America's Most Blunted (Doom's Verse)". The penultimate track, "Take Off" is a bright, organ lounge groove before this remarkable set is rounded out by the beaty "Fly Paradise". It's so so good, it sounds like Rotary Connection fronted by The Mamas & the Papas. As noted in a recent Guardian article on Moore's life, "there is a plushness and electricity in the tight vocal harmonies that spring out, sung with the precision of cathedral choristers decades before Auto-Tune." Amen.

In the 1960s, Barbara Moore was a member of Top of the Pops’ resident vocal-harmony group, The Ladybirds and sang backing vocals for Dusty Springfield’s TV show. Her own outfit, the Barbara Moore Singers, were regulars on TOTP, singing with Jimi Hendrix when he performed "Hey Joe" live in Lime Grove Studios. An important detail for Moore was the shepherd’s pie she bought Hendrix when she found him alone, looking emaciated, near the BBC canteen. By 1970, she was working as a session singer for De Wolfe and, by 1972, was composing her own tracks for De Wolfe and working within their tight creative strictures. Each short track had to evoke an obvious mood and theme, with no significant key or tempo changes. Her response, this very album, managed to stay between the lines while cohering as an overarching artistic masterpiece.

The audio for Vocal Shades And Tones has been carefully remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

For this special release he provides 8 cuts of advanced techno, from mental and hypnotic to broken and industrial or simply arpeggiated and beatless.

WHEN THE UNCANNY ARISES starts with No Gender Role an elastic mental exercise with metallic and processed components flying over a solid kick and white noise percussive elements add some hypnotic pads and you have a powerful mind and body tool.

Blue follows in a similar approach, clean drum programming, bleepy synth lines and a progressive arrangement constantly evolving and changing Flipping the vinyl, it’s time for the broken rhythms of Feel and understand combining distorted kicks with gummy sequences again administered in a quite wise structure.

Klonger closes the B side with obsessive metallic hits repeating until madness, a powerful industrial beat for the experienced dj’s out there.

The second vinyl slice begins with Negative One, returning to the martial beat combining a precise drum workout with floaty and liquid components, followed by Anonimo coercitivo exploring the deepest side of techno using textures and drones to spice the relentless beat.

Zero opens the C side, providing a solid distorted groove with metallic details and sci fi interstellar bell like sequences, proper futuristic vibes here.

Saying goodbye, the beatless Nothing To fear, an arpeggiated synth solo reminiscent of the old Berlin School of electronics from the seventies.

A touchable proof of his craftsmanship in the studio by one of the key figures in the European techno scene.

Grand River and Sofie Birch are set to unveil their collaborative EP, titled “Our Circadian,” on November 24, through Melantónia.

The two-track release follows Grand River’s final release under the now-discontinued Editions Mego label earlier this year, and Sofie Birch’s two solo albums from 2022. Our Circadian represents the second collaborative release on Melantónia, a platform founded by Hanna Maria & Mattia Onori in 2021, dedicated to music for non-dance environments, featuring early contributions from artists like Polygonia, Plants Army Revolver, and Melantónia co-founders Hanna Maria & Mattia Onori themselves, amongst others.

“Our Circadian” was conceived remotely in 2021 during the lockdown, with the aim of encapsulating two distinct moments of those days – early morning and late afternoon – along with their subtle emotional nuances. The first track of the release – 7PM – conveys dreamy atmospheres that flow into colorful rhythms, recalling the electroacoustic nature of the label’s melancholic sounds. The gloomier 3AM, on the other side of a 7“ record, offers a timeless introspection of a gently intensifying synth sound’s fling.

Grand River, a composer and sound designer, brings her background in linguistics to her work. She draws inspiration from minimalism and ambient music, resulting in atmospheric and rhythmically intricate compositions. Her artistic pursuits traverse the realms of art and electronic music, exploring forms of communication that transcend language, often influenced by nature, scale, and movement. Grand River’s impressive portfolio includes sound installations at 4DSOUND/Monom and Terraforma’s Il Pianeta, as well as performances at prestigious venues like Barbican, Rewire, MUTEK, Le Guess Who?, CTM, Draaimolen, and Atonal’s Kraftwerk. She has also worked on remixes for notable acts like Tangerine Dream. Since 2016, she has curated the label One Instrument, offering a unique creative challenge to artists: creating music using only a single instrument.

Sofie Birch, a celebrated sound artist and producer, is known for her lush ambient releases, art installations, live performances, DJ sets, and her NTS show “Ambient Abracadabra.” Her sonic creations can manipulate space, infuse it with a profound sense of calm, and invite listeners to engage in meditation and introspection through the healing qualities of sound and vibrations. Her music acts as a conduit for understanding the complexities of the mind and body through artistic expression, characterized by a distinct emphasis on stillness, suspension, and sustain. Sofie’s soundscapes open gateways to dream-like states of perception and heightened presence, providing a transcendental journey into an alchemical biosphere. Her extensive repertoire includes performances at renowned events such as Barbican, Roskilde Festival, MUTEK, Unsound, CTM, Rewire, Monom, and Terraforma, as well as award-winning compositions for VR experiences and animated films, in collaboration with artists like Baum & Leahy and animation director Pernille Kjaer.

As Our Circadian takes its final form, it promises a narrative of resilience, creativity, and the indomitable human spirit guided by the artistic mastery of Grand River and Sofie Birch.

The first album on ohne kommerziellen Wert comes from label co-founder Stute. After several appearances with hard-hitting club material on the OHNE EP series, Stute’s debute LP “Petra” demonstrates a beyond-genre approach that shows a different and more introverted side of the Hamburg-based producer. Far from being a collection of stand-alone gems that have accumulated over the years, the 12 stages of “Petra” sound like they were formed in a single cast. It is a personal and intimate journey through a unique man-machine mindset that has been manifested in music and sound.

Stute isn’t new to the game, but he has been producing under the radar for far too long. He started DJing and producing more than 20 years ago and found himself progressively drawn to different genres like Hip Hop, Breakbeat, Drum & Bass and Techno. And all of those experiences culminate in “Petra”, where Stute maneuvers his production skills through a wide range of styles and tempi somewhere between leftfield and rave. Urgent techno coldness, promising downtempo dystopia, restless acid dreams, floating breakbeat pleasure or hopeful leftfield romance – every track represents a different phase of a long-time companionship with music and making music, resulting in “Petra” being filled with conflict and drama as well as bliss and belonging.

Like all of Stute’s releases, his first LP is shaped by a very high level of production paired with a rare sensitivity for harmonies and arrangements. Every sound is made from scratch with analogue equipment – heavy dragging beats surrounded by glistening synths and bleeps built on a pure love for music and hardware. “Petra” sounds unlikely complete: nothing is missing, nothing is overdone. Nevertheless… or maybe because of that, the 12 arrangements offer you enough space to conjure up images of distant worlds or let you turn inwards to dive deep into your inner self.

Nick Leon, Swimful, DJ Znobia. One of the first artists from outside of Africa to sign to Hakuna Kulala, WULFFLUW XCIV brings his borderless productions to the label's ongoing Whitelabel series following a slew of dancefloor agitations from T5UMT5UMU, Menzi & Scratchclart, and others. "Toxica EP" builds on the mutant fusion of 2020's acclaimed "Ngoma Injection", stripping back the woozy psychedelia and chromium ambience and replacing it with pure soundsystem pressure. 'Take a Ride' bends acid techno machinery around rubbery East African rhythms, anchoring block party hedonism with a 4/4 bump that wouldn't be out of place in Kreuzberg and vocal shakes straight from São Paulo. But this isn't a mindless mashup of aesthetics, its a conversation with the world's fringe agitators, using stylistic and rhythmic strokes to highlight commonality, not exclusivity. Hakuna Kulala's own Chrisman appears on 'Tetemeka', and the two producers adapt the syrupy tarraxinha inversions the Congolese engineer perfected on last year's "Makila" full-length. Low, resonant gqom atmospheres underpin the entire track, but WULFFLUW XCIV's squeaky toy synths prevent it from slipping into darkness. Elsewhere 'Kluck' distorts the timeline completely, wedging flute-led Latin American tribal sounds into a riddim vs. trap superstructure, and 'Exp' sublimes speed dembow into delirious trance and minimal techno vapors. The boundaries between dance subgenres are slowly dissolving, and WULFFLUW XCIV's digital-era intermixture sounds like the cyberpunk carnival we're all desperately in need of

Public Possession turns 10. What holds it all together?
Comedy & Rhythm. Find us in between the sun and the moon. Onward, forward, don’t step backward.
The source is everywhere.
• Where (Who) Am I? An angel with an UFO.
• Toot, Toot, Beep, Beep....
• Maintain a child’s mind
• Listen, talk, see
• Archeaology (dig it)
• WOW (curiosity)
• Easy & Diffifficult
• Mix It Up
• Soft Education
• Love Unlimited
We are not doing this alone.
The biggest thank you goes to the P.P. Team & all label artists.
To many more years!!

tom Ravenscroft at 6music amongst others. And now, in true AMO1 creative fashion they are presenting an off-shoot release of that album, one completely reimagined by the man, the myth: Ricardo Villalobos.
Much has been written and talked about when it comes to producer/DJ Ricardo Villalobos over the years.
The mercurial Chilean-German artist has consistently redefined the boundaries of techno and electronica over the past 30-years as a producer, whilst also traversing the world and expanding minds as a DJ who can equally delight as he does challenge.Like a great jazz drummer (he was a percussionist before discovering mixing records), Villalobos has not so much as broken “the rules” of structure as just created his own unique approach. One that is often surprising, ever open-minded, and clearly lead by whatever happens to be inspiring him at any given moment. Watching him work or hearing him play music always feels live and free. He’s an artist. And that is exactly how this (perhaps unlikely) collaborative album has come to light – but then this is Ricardo, so maybe we should all know by now that anything is possible.
Villalobos explains, “In my scientific search for some electroacoustic musical landscapes, the offer of remixing ‘Black Apple Pink Apple’ was just perfect for me… In general, the song writing is so very good and particular, with all the instruments played into a sequencer, so it was very inspiring to strip down these pop songs into my dubby extensions, taking only the drums, bass, and vocals of the song.” Expanding further, “After delivering the first remix, Mo and myself came up with the idea of reimagining the whole album in a new way, mixed simple with other ears and my inspirations, with a new and different point of view of what instruments are important to hold the song to bare itself.”
It says a lot, and somehow captures the essence of Ricardo’s approach to music (and life), that one remix soon evolved into a whole plethora of reimagined works, driven by a creative slipstream and a clear connection to the songs created by A Mountain of One.
Mo Morris provides more insight into his own connection with Villalobos, “I lived in Berlin back in 2002-04 and used to religiously go to dance to Rici at the after (after) hours parties: little, tiny events. And he just used to blow my mind, I hadn’t heard anything like it before (or since). Ultra-modern and forward thinking.”
Mo continues, “A good friend connected to Ibiza happenings introduced me to Ricardo as it transpired that he was a fan of our early material, so I sent him some demo’s when we were in the studio creating ‘Stars Planets Dust Me’ and he loved ‘Black Apple Pink Apple’. The relationship and collaboration grew from there really, and I hope that this release is still at the start of what we can all create together.”
Focussing in on the album at hand – ‘Ricardo Villalobos reimagines: Stars Planets Dust Me’ – we are treated to a concept listen that guides us from dreamy daytime Balearic pop – staying very true to the original songs – all the way through to completely original deep dubby techno excursions. And to Villalobos fans, it will perhaps surprise (and hopefully delight) how light a touch he has provided to the opening tracks, focussing more on enhancing the sonics, and allowing the originals to shine brighter through remastering and mixing down. It’s in these moments that we see Ricardo as a pure music fan, needing not overly change or alter what’s already been created, but simply doing what he can to maximise what’s already there.
What will certainly delight Ricardo fans are the four full ‘klub’ remixes provided of ‘Black Apple Pink Apple’, ‘Make My Love Grow’, ‘Softlanding’ and ‘Dealer’ that each boldly explore the outer regions of the dancefloor in a way that only Villalobos can.
Mo rounds off, “From an electronic and sonics standpoint he’s kind of out there on his own. It’s such a unique sound. Weatherall also had this, and Harvey has that unique flavour, and also people like Nils Frahm and Max Richter have this gift. It’s not an easy thing to produce. Ricardo has his own personal cosmic trademark.”
Indeed he does. Take a trip with him around the stars and planets and see for yourself.

Most of Gen X-ers who grew up in the mid-1980s Indonesia must have seen Soedjarwoto Soemarsono, known with his nom de guerre “Gombloh” performing on a state-run television station, playing some of his biggest hits from that era, pop gems like “Kugadaikan Cintaku (I Pawn Off My Love)”, “Setengah Gila (Half-Crazy).”

But of course, it is not fair to judge Gombloh only from these hits. Dig deeper and you will find buried treasure in his early stuff from Indra Records, and there are many of them.

His album with the band Lemon Tree’s Anno ‘69 (yes, that’s the name of the band) is all remarkable, but what he did for Chandra Records was no less spectacular. How can you go wrong with songs like “Kebyar-Kebyar”, the unofficial national anthem for Indonesia, dan “Berita Cuaca” one of the better epic songs in a catalogue full of epochal songs? These were all long out of print and in our journey to source the original master for these albums we met Bob Djumara of Nirwana Records, the Surabaya, East Java-based label which broke Gombloh into the mainstream in the mid-1980s. Almost all albums Gombloh recorded for his early labels, Indra Records and Chandra Records were critically acclaimed, but commercially they bombed, big time. Nirwana Records came up with an ingenious plan. What if they recorded Gombloh performing live and release it as is. After all, the first song in Gombloh debut record Nadia & Atmospheer is him strumming on his guitar backed by the cheering of a crowd, who could be heard going wild when he hurled that epithet “bastard” at the end of the song

The end result is a brilliant recording which despite being recorded live the sound quality so pristine leading many to doubt the claim of being live. Regardless, Nirwana shipped a decent number of units and Gombloh could buy his first car, a Katana Jeep, with money from the royalty.

One of the best things about Live Gila is its perfect sequencing, beginning with Gombloh’s social commentary on the rich’s debauched lifestyle of preying on young boys and girls, one of the most popular subjects allowed by the censoring machine of the New Order authoritarian government. The second song “Untuk Persada” is a soaring ode to the nation. For this song, Gombloh could be heard drawing his inspiration from The Police, which was undoubtedly popular in the early 1980s, even in a faraway port city like Surabaya.

Listening to this record as a whole (we omitted the last song from the original master tape “Bagimu Negeri” which sounds too jingoistic), we could not help but point to some of similarities it has with Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks. Not a single composition in this record sound indigenous (the Malay-influenced rock of Panbers or Koes Plus come to mind); they all sound modern and effortlessly catchy, and had it not been for the language, this album could be mistaken for a musical output from someone growing up in Laurel Canyon or Southern France.

There are only limited copies of vinyl records in the second-hand market today available for Gombloh music, if at all. For his ardent fans, they have to scavenge for old cassettes to continue to be able to enjoy his music and have to pay top dollar for that. In Indonesia, where he was a superstar in the early 1980s, Gombloh was largely forgotten. With this project, we can only hope that the time is ripe for Gombloh to reemerge and now, more than ever, his music could speak to a bigger audience.

This performance by Waylon Jennings was no April Fool's joke. This was the "new" Waylon, both personally and professionally. He had kicked a 20-year drug habit, split with RCA and signed a new deal with MCA Records. He discovered a passion for songwriting, teamed with legendary producer Jimmy Bowen, and produced some of the best work of his 30-year-plus career. He credited his wife and soul mate, Jessie Colter, for much of his inspiration. This was Waylon's second trip to the ACL stage, but the one that best captures the raw edge and driving urgency that pushed country music way past its Nashville boundaries starting in the mid-1970's. He was described as the leader of the country "Outlaw" movement, which he often dismissed as just another marketing scam, but there's no denying that he turned the music on its head and took it way beyond its rural southern roots. This West Texas boy who worked as a DJ and started his own band at 14, then later played with Buddy Holly, left an indelible mark on the music he loved. He was a class act, this man called Hoss. -Terry Lickona (Producer Austin City Limits®)

Dance Floor Rituals kick things off strong with the first release on the label by a producer that will be no stranger to people in the know.

DJ and producer, Jorge Gamarra, has been crafting his skills for the best part of a decade. You can quickly notice his dedication to interesting sounds and strong baselines whilst listening to DFR’s first release. 4 tracks tailored for dark dance floors and long after hours. Emotional tracks with spiritual feeling and built intuition. The perfect music and artist to kick things off for this new label.

This is not one to be missed. Be quick!

Staff Pick in DJ Mag (print).

Sleek three tracker from Russ Brooker, a unknown quantity who is swiftly to become the name on everybody's lips, the 13threlease on Rua Sound.

"97-98" is every bit as sharp and shattered as any of the legendary tunes released in that storied era, with moody samples and a break so heavily pregnant with funk that it's a palpable relief when the levee breaks and it gives birth to some heavy rolling amens.

"Microfilm" starts off with a proper spy-flick title and immediately lives up to the name, with a cinematic sequence of cosmic cloak and dagger chimes and pads that quickly sprints off into the Pentagon in a brown flared suit with assorted extraterrestrials and the cast of Scooby Doo in hot pursuit – channelling crusty old Droppin' Science jams to great effect.

"Breathe" drops the tempo down to the 140-odd range with earthy rolling percussion, celestial atmospherics and the kind of studious and deliberate polyrhythmic funk wizardry that most producers don't cook up in a lifetime of releases, never mind on their honest-to-god-damn debut.

Repress! With all due respect to New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Miami, the epicenter of the rap universe in 2016 just may be Chicago. With young stars ranging from Chief Keef to Chance The Rapper to Lil Bibby to Vic Mensa, the Windy City continues to push the boundaries of hip-hop music and culture.

The latest artist to emerge from this hotbed of talent is Mick Jenkins, a gifted lyricist who has built a strong buzz online with a series of acclaimed mixtapes. Now, one of those collections will be available in physical format for the first time ever, with a limited-edition vinyl pressing of “The Waters” set to hit stores soon. Originally released online in late 2014, “The Water

Following much love for his EPs, remixes and club sets, the virtuosic DJ/producer Simo Cell’s debut album 'Cuspide des Sirènes' doesn’t disappoint. In fact, it takes things to a whole new level.

With a fantastical menagerie of anthropomorphism, sounds create characters and tools; the mermaid-like Sirens, the mind controlling Octopus and the Magic Conch Shell:

“Have you heard of the legend of 'Cuspide des Sirènes'? This is not a simple tale, but an incredible tapestry woven over many years and through countless wondrous adventures. I will recount the legend as it was recorded in the ancient scrolls.

The album’s story explores the themes of magic, enchantment, charm, and allure, but also personal fears. The protagonist (me) embarks on a quest to find the hidden lake and confront his own demons, in order to understand and master his own power.

The protagonist is armed with a powerful conch shell. As he embarks on his journey, he will encounter Sirens who will teach him various chants. These melodies hold unique powers and grant the main character the strength to confront and overcome any danger that may arise.” Simo Cell

Musically, the LP is a continuation of Simo’s journey that began with the ‘YES.DJ’ EP, with a synthesized/modernized take on noughties hip hop, bass music, trap, ghetto house and ghetto tech – but here he broadens the scope, massively.

Exploring new pathways through magical landscapes, via infused melodies, emo and pop, the sensations are bright and addictive, like a sugar and endorphin cocktail. There’s a screen sheen and video game quality too, sounding like the high-octane score to an action flick from the year 3000, with unimaginably wild SFX.

'Cuspide des Sirènes' is the kind of record to stop someone in their tracks, to ask “what IS this?”, provoking bass face, perplexion, fascination and manic glee, all at once. Not so much organised chaos as intricately-crafted-borderline-unhingement, the album is slightly bonkers, in a very good way. There’s a boundless sense of childlike, unencumbered imagination at play, and an abundance of fun, but there are moments of serious-deep-beat-science for the heads, and introspective passages too.

There’s a lot going on, with detail, layers, flourishes, arrangement, melodies and myriad fresh sounds – but it’s never too much; just a really engrossing listen – the kind that that ruins ones appetite for prosaic, vanilla dance music, rendering such 2D pursuits boring and obsolete.

Ideally, the album is meant to be experienced as a seamless narrative from start to finish, so leave any inhibitions or preconceptions at the door, and let the pied piper of electronic futurism lead you way down the rabbit hole.

Malian and French pair Siraba unveil their much-anticipated self-titled debut LP on Damian Lazarus’ Secret Teachings label, a 10-track odyssey fusing Mali’s rich musical traditions with cutting-edge electronic music.

Malian hunter Boubacar Samake and Damien Vandesande, one half of the French electronic band dOP, have won plenty of plaudits for the early singles taken from their debut album as duo Siraba. Those singles, spanning across the summer months, have found the pair bring the traditional sound of the Wassoulou - a river valley of West Africa - to the electronic world after 20 years of friendship. The music comes with an important underlying message of love and respect and results in spellbinding tracks that move heart, body and soul, finding a perfect home on Secret Teachings - a left-of-centre alternative label to Lazarus’ celebrated and often more club- focused Crosstown Rebels. With the arrival of the full album, the pair exhibit and showcase the emotional breadth and depth of their music, with detailed explorations of organic textures and native sounds merged with future-focused ideas and concepts.

The title track opens with an atmospheric mix of spoken words and spine-tingling chords that bring rich Afro flavours, while ‘Dounoiia’ is a languid groove made from hand drums and pixelated synth leads that cast a fine spell. The slow-blooming ‘Bani’ brings rich Malian blues and melancholic horns, while ‘Komafly’ is a rich mix of acoustic strings and broken beats that transports you to a hot and dusty landscape. A vital component of the sounds of the Wassoulou, the indigenous stringed instrument the Ngoni features again on the rousing ‘Nanse’ as spiritual vocals sung in Bambara rouse the soul.

‘Djandjo’ is another rich infusion of Malian culture with simmering electronics to make for something both ancient sounding yet futuristic, and the hypnotic ‘Ngana Fôlly’ with its rich bass is a song ‘dedicated to those who fight for the well-being of their families, for unity... a song for the people who also fight a great disease, between life and death’. The sublime ‘Toro’ is a wavy groove perfect for sundown - a deep and inviting sound rich in soulful vocals and dreamy melodies, while ‘Tolonawoulile’ is driven by the intense strumming of the Ngoni with busy hand claps and hurried drums and last of all ‘Fo Te Mokobana’ sinks into a heart-warming slow groove with sweeping strings and Malian percussion all overlaid with impassioned vocals.

A rich listening experience, Siraba’s debut album is an immersive journey and absorbing dive into the minds of two artists breaking new grounds while spotlighting native traditions and musical techniques spanning hundreds of years.

Thomass Jackson presents UFO HOUSE.

A fixture in Mexico's thriving electronic scene, the Argentinian import has made a name for himself alongside cohort Iñigo Vontier with a style that seamlessly blends haunted desert disco with gritty acid house and techno.

This EP might be his most cogent formulation yet, a mightily playable set of peak-time DJ-friendly tracks that bring enough mystery and wonkiness to a perfectly club-ready backbone. It's a conspiracy of sound, a cosmic abduction with pulsating rhythms and hypnotic bleeps sure to melt minds on the dance-floor.


DJ Feedback:

Tiefschwarz - "soooo gooood!!"

Roe Deers - "dope EP"

Matt FX - "an absolute tour de force EP. hard to pick a favorite, maybe guadalajara"

Justin Strauss - "great ep"

Kiki - "Cool trax!"

Mawimbi - "really like the acid touch in back in guadalajara"

Jerry Bouthier - "well put together madness yay!"

Phil smart - "Solid bunch of tracks, all great! Can't wait to test out on a dancefloor:)"

Vidis - "Cool stuff as per usual from señor Thomass. Young Woman in Kashmir and Back in Guadalajara are the faves."

Phred Noir - "Alll the tracks are so good, super happy to see Thomass back with sooo good tracks !"

Genish - "Back in Guadalajara for me ! fire"

Ayala (It) - "I'm a Thomas fan from years and years"

Kato - "mad fun”

Fabio Me Llaman Soltero - "Sublime work, always favorito Thomaaaaaazzzz"

• Following on from the highly successful first two editions of
Dance Masters featuring the classics mixes from maestros
Shep Pettibone and Arthur Baker, the spotlight turns to
another remix legend, John Luongo.

• Boston born, John is one of the truly legendary DJ's and
remixers of the Disco era. John got his break at Epic by
overdubbing percussion from salt shakers and spoons onto a
promo and then passing them back the tape. This resulted in
him being flown to New York, and put in a studio (of his
choice) to mix and produce Melba Moore`s “You Stepped
Into My Life”. From this point everything he touched was a
hit. He went onto remix Disco classics by Jackie Moore –
“This Time Baby”, Dan Hartman “Vertigo / Relight My Fire”
and Patti Labelle “Music Is My Way Of Life”.

• However, John was not afraid of remixing artists that didn’t
fit into the disco genre and this attitude is borne out by the
tracklisting of this compilation, on which Gladys Knight and
The Pips rub shoulders with Fine Young Cannibals and
Billy Idol, and Baltimora appears alongside Banararama
and Serge Ponsar.

• “…if you played this whole thing, just put it on and didn’t
tell anyone it was me, they’d say ‘boy, what a great group of
songs this is!’” - John Luongo

• This cut down 16 track essential edition in pressed on 140g
black vinyl and features foreword by Arthur Baker and an indepth essay written by Alexis Petridis (Rock and Pop
reviewer for The Guardian).

• All tracks remastered by Nick Robbins at Sound
Mastering

Action Pact were a punk rock band from Stanwell, an isolated village right under the flight-path of London Heathrow Airport, inspiring this album title-song.àFormed in 1981 by guitarist Wild Planet, bassist & lyricist Dr. Phibes, and the then 15-year-olds drummer Joe Fungus and singer George Cheex, still school-kids when their Heathrow Touchdown EP was released in October 1981. BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel played the single many times and booked them for their first session, recorded February 1982.àSigned to Jungle's Fall Out Records imprint, Action Pact"s label debut Suicide Bag EP went to the top of the British punk chart in July 1982.àFive more singles entered the indie charts including Yet Another Dole Queue Song, and a reworked London Bouncers, along with two albums, 'Mercury Theatre - On The Air' and 'Survival of the Fattest'.àA second John Peel session in '82 and a David Jensen BBC session in '83 were also recorded and broadcast - all collected together here for the first time.

Alex Wilcox drops an expansive eight-tracker for his debut on bbbbbb recors, ‘BANG BANG BANG!’

Alex is a distinctive and quirky DJ/producer and live artist whose unique take on electronic music has welcomed curiosity and intrigue from a wealth of leading talents within techno, electro and leftfield territories.

Fusing his own brand of eclectic club music with a self-described style of DJ sets that come as a ‘genre-less, chaotic whirlwind’, it’s no surprise that his next adventure finds a perfect home on Bjarki’s bbbbbb recors - a label known for entrancing, idiosyncratic future-focused output without limitations from distinctive talents across the globe.

“When I first approached Alex about releasing on bbbbbb, he reminded me, "I sent you those tracks years ago”. I regret overlooking them. That mistake won't happen again. I'm thrilled to include him in the bbbbbb narrative. His music exudes a punk essence and undeniable quality. Alex also has a playful side, which is refreshing. I've grown weary of the prevailing scene. The stereotypical, intense techno DJs are resurfacing, making it even more special to have Alex as part of our label's fresh lineup. His sound aligns seamlessly with the likes of Skrattar, Volruptus, and other artists, solidifying his place within our collective.” - Bjarki.

Entering into the bbbbbb universe stacked with an unconventional eight-track selection of chaotic, fun-fulled and eccentric records built for the dancefloor, through to sonics that could soundtrack even the most unhinged and peculiar of scenarios and situations, Wilcox’s ‘BANG BANG BANG!’ is an exhilarating, endorphin-induced, helter-skelter rush through styles and sounds - showcasing an oddball trip into his mind and welcoming a fun-filled yet impactful selection of productions undeniably at home on the label. As always with bbbbbb, expect the unexpected and enjoy the ride.

Alex Wilcox ‘BANG BANG BANG!’ drops via bbbbbb records on 27th October 2023.

This third release from Rubi Records sees Ashley Tindall—aka Skeptical—stepping out of his usual drum and bass territory and slowing things down with three seriously deep dub-infused bass tracks in the 140-150bpm realm. While not the first time Skeptical has dipped his toes in such waters, these are easily among the finest, most musically mature examples to date. For those drum & bass fans out there unsure about Skeptical branching out into other genres, this EP shows that an open mind and listening without prejudice will reward your ears.

First up is the utterly dub-soaked 75/150bpm track 'Tell Me'. This solid stoner groove takes clear elements of Skeptical's more dub-orientated D&B and adds mesmeric pads and soulful vocal hooks, making it one of the deepest head-nodders in his overall catalogue. This is more a refined track for the 'listener' than for the dance floor, and while you can still easily throw some shapes to it, it's great to just immerse yourself in as a purely audio experience.

Next is the 140bpm 'Tapestry', which is somewhat the darker twin of 'Tell Me'. Again, we have a slow dub-infused head-nodder, but this time more menacing in tone thanks to the finely-judged use of some moody sound modules that Skeptical has tweaked and twisted in his inimitable fashion. This one's the audio equivalent of a restless mind in the depth of night.

The final offering is another 140bpm track – the unsettling beast 'Atomic v1'. It begins with a slow-burn build up of an off-kilter metronomic beat, subtly growling bass and haunting strings. This, in turn, gives way to a distorted rendering of Oppenheimer's famous use of 'Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds' from the Bhagavad Gita, before becoming a sinister slow-motion dubstep rumbler. With its dragging beat and the purposefully off-point main sonic hook running over the top, this is a disorientating and unsettling weapon for the discerning DJ.

This EP continues the fresh direction of Rubi Records, showcasing exceptional, forward-thinking music without borders.

Support: Ben UFO, Joy Orbison, Gilles Pererson, dBridge, Break, DLR, Doc Scott, Mefjus, Kasra, Kings of the Rollers, Alix Perez, Jubei, Dub Phizix, Flight, Tasha, Loxy, Randall, Lens.

Radio Support: BBC Radio 6 Music, Rinse FM, Kool FM

Through 35 hedonistic highlights stretched across three volumes, Music For The Radical Xenomaniac delivers the first ever deep dive into The Netherlands’ colourful house sound of the 90s and the under-celebrated producers and record labels whose music soundtracked a countrywide cultural movement.

Plenty of books and documentaries have celebrated the riotous raves, legendary clubs, high profile DJs and promoters who shaped The Netherlands’ hedonistic house scene throughout the 90s. Music For The Radical Xenomaniac dares to challenge these narratives by shining a light, for the first time, on those who created the scene’s kaleidoscopic, game-changing and globally influential soundtrack.

Leading the charge were a disparate group of key creators who not only forged links with their counterparts in Detroit, Chicago, New York, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom, but also became celebrated figures on the worldwide electronic underground (Eric Nouhan, Aad De Mooy, Orlando Voorn, Stefan Robbers and Steve Rachmad). Alongside key underground imprints (Stealth Records, Basic Energy, ESP, Prime and Outland Records included) and lesser-known producers, these pioneers gave flavour to a radical musical movement via open-mindedness, unheard-of creativity and a genuinely futuristic ethos. All of these artists and labels are represented throughout the series.

So, what defined this hedonistic house sound from The Netherlands? Stylistically, it was varied – as the series so emphatically proves – but was defined by a set of distinctive sonic characteristics: emotive musical motifs, high-frequency synth sounds, mellow basslines, pulsating rhythms and more than a touch of hallucinatory intent.

Volume 2 contains a wealth of notable tracks and slept-on gems. These include Q’s ‘From Within (Body Mix)’, a lesser-known cut from the trio better-known as Quazar (Gert van Veen, R.o.X.Y co-founder Eddy De Clercq and Eric Cycle), Eric Nouhan’s melodic masterpiece ‘Technobility’, which is appearing on vinyl for the first time since 1994, and a rare collaboration between regular production partners Maarten van der Vleuten and Mike Kivits (better known as Aardvarck), which was initially released on a special R&S Records’ offshoot set up by the label’s co-founder, Renaat Renaat Vandepapeliere (Integrity II’s ‘Living In Fantasy’).

Other highlights include Exposure’s ‘Love Quest’, a highly sought-after 1991 track by The Hague-based DJ/producer Maurits Paardekooper, and an ambient-infused Andrew Weatherall favourite originally released by Stealth Records in 1993, Hole In One’s ‘Spiritual Ideas For Virtual Reality’.

Packed full of forward-thinking 90s gems remastered for today’s dance floors by Alden Tyrell, Music For The Radical Xenomaniac Volume 1 is a life-affirming celebration of a distinctly Dutch musical movement, whose rich textures and melodies are still inspiring new generations of DJs and dancers today.

Through 35 hedonistic highlights stretched across three volumes, Music For The Radical Xenomaniac delivers the first ever deep dive into The Netherlands’ colourful house sound of the 90s and the under-celebrated producers and record labels whose music soundtracked a countrywide cultural movement.

Plenty of books and documentaries have celebrated the riotous raves, legendary clubs, high profile DJs and promoters who shaped The Netherlands’ hedonistic house scene throughout the 90s. Music For The Radical Xenomaniac dares to challenge these narratives by shining a light, for the first time, on those who created the scene’s kaleidoscopic, game-changing and globally influential soundtrack.

Leading the charge were a disparate group of key creators who not only forged links with their counterparts in Detroit, Chicago, New York, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom, but also became celebrated figures on the worldwide electronic underground (Eric Nouhan, Aad De Mooy, Orlando Voorn, Stefan Robbers and Steve Rachmad). Alongside key underground imprints (Stealth Records, Basic Energy, ESP, Prime and Outland Records included) and lesser-known producers, these pioneers gave flavour to a radical musical movement via open-mindedness, unheard-of creativity and a genuinely futuristic ethos. All of these artists and labels are represented throughout the series.

So, what defined this hedonistic house sound from The Netherlands? Stylistically, it was varied – as the series so emphatically proves – but was defined by a set of distinctive sonic characteristics: emotive musical motifs, high-frequency synth sounds, mellow basslines, pulsating rhythms and more than a touch of hallucinatory intent.

Volume 3 is packed with in-demand tracks and hard-to-find gems, including a previously CD-only cut from Dutch techno originator Orlando Voorn (1999’s ‘Still’), a genuine rave classic from The Hague by hardcore DJ Charly Lownoise as Fluxland, and a killer cut from prolific producer – and genuinely influential pioneer – Aad De Mooy AKA D-Shake. He’s represented on this volume by Paradise 3001 cut ‘Surfin The Cuban Waves’, which first appeared on ESP Records in 1993.

Other highlights include Direct Movement’s ‘Natural Chemistry’, a sought-after slow house cut produced by Dennis Buné, who had an enormous impact on the Dutch house scene as Jaimy, and ‘Delphi (Rewaxed)’ by NYX, a highly regarded and hard to find single from former new wave and synth-pop producer Bart Barten, and occasional studio partner Hanz Meyer.

Packed full of forward-thinking 90s gems remastered for today’s dance floors by Alden Tyrell, Music For The Radical Xenomaniac Volume 3 is a life-affirming celebration of a distinctly Dutch musical movement, whose rich textures and melodies are still inspiring new generations of DJs and dancers today.

Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express was the phoenix that rose from the ashes of sixties combo The Trinity. Fusing R&B, jazz, soul and funk, keyboard maestro Brian Auger created a new breed of music that took the US and the UK by storm. Auger’s unique experimentation culminated in rhythm-infused jazz funk that united Black and white ’70s audiences. The 6 studio albums that make up Complete Oblivion illustrate the group’s diverse musical influences and progression, from the 1970 self titled debut’s heavy jazz-rock to the jazz fusion, latin and disco tinged Reinforcements from 1975 - this process no doubt powered by the groups’ evolving line up, which included guitarists Jim Mullen and Jack Mills, drummers Robbie McIntosh & Steve Ferrone, bassists Barry Dean and Clive Chaman and vocalist Alex Ligertwood. The musical highlights within Complete Oblivion are many, but particular highlights to mention have to be Total Eclipse (Oblivion Express), Fill Your Head With Laugher (A Better Land), the blistering cover of Eddie Harris’ Freedom Jazz Dance (Second Wind), the Barry Dean composition Whenever You're Ready, the version of Marvin Gaye’s Inner City Blues (Closer To It), Beginning Again (Straight Ahead) and the mind bending keyboard tour de force Brain Damage (Reinforcements). Given the groups legendary status among fellow musicians such as Zucchero and Herbie Hancock, DJ’s like Kenny Dope and Gilles Peterson and Auger’s legion of fans worldwide - that mission was fully accomplished - or to put it another way, in the words of super fans The Beastie Boys: “Those who remain oblivious to the obvious delights of Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express do so at their own risk!”

Seitdem seine Musik in Quentin Tarantinos Film "Django Unchained" sowie auf den Discovery Channel und National Geographic Kanälen zu hören war, kann Bruder Dege nicht länger behaupten, "eines der bestgehüteten Geheimnisse im tiefen Süden" zu sein. Dege ist Musiker, Schriftsteller, Arbeiter und Erbe einer langen Reihe ungewöhnlicher Charaktere, die im Süden der USA geboren und aufgewachsen sind. Wie das verrückte Liebeskind von Son House, Faulkner und Patti Smith hat sich Dege einen krummen Weg ins Gelobte Land gebahnt. Nach seinen beiden früheren gefeierten Soloalben ("Folk Songs Of The American Longhair" von 2009 und "How To Kill A Horse" von 2013) bietet "Scorched Earth Policy" eine Mischung aus neu aufgenommenen Studio-Songs, Demos, Coverversionen und Feldaufnahmen.

Seitdem seine Musik in Quentin Tarantinos Film "Django Unchained" sowie auf den Discovery Channel und National Geographic Kanälen zu hören war, kann Bruder Dege nicht länger behaupten, "eines der bestgehüteten Geheimnisse im tiefen Süden" zu sein. Dege ist Musiker, Schriftsteller, Arbeiter und Erbe einer langen Reihe ungewöhnlicher Charaktere, die im Süden der USA geboren und aufgewachsen sind. Wie das verrückte Liebeskind von Son House, Faulkner und Patti Smith hat sich Dege einen krummen Weg ins Gelobte Land gebahnt. Nach seinen beiden früheren gefeierten Soloalben ("Folk Songs Of The American Longhair" von 2009 und "How To Kill A Horse" von 2013) bietet "Scorched Earth Policy" eine Mischung aus neu aufgenommenen Studio-Songs, Demos, Coverversionen und Feldaufnahmen.

DJ Bone is a Detroit titan. He plays on the decks with high energy and next-level skill that few can match - which is why they call him the Terminator. He pulls no punches in the studio either, crafting all killer no-filler club weaponry as exemplified here by his new album Further. This is top-level techno on his own Subject Detroit label with lashings of machine soul, futuristic ideals and evocative atmospheres. Some cuts sink into deep inner grooves and take you on a mindful trip and some are more wildly expressive, but all of them bang in the club.

Following Laksa’s mind-bending Body Score EP, Jurango joins the re:lax family for their second outing. Enchanting yet explosive, Isle of Crass EP explores driving rhythms, deep textures and heady atmospheres across four high-tempo tracks. The release sees the Bristolian entering new territory, drawing inspiration from Rian Treanor, Djrum and the pulsating energy of Singeli and Nyege Nyege Tapes.

Inspired by Muddy Waters and other blues greats, the South London blues-rock band Killing Floor was formed in 1968 with lead singer and harmonica player Bill Thorndycraft, guitarist Mike Clarke, bassist Stuart McDonald, pianist Lou Martin and percussionist Bas Smith. This self-titled debut set, issued by the independent Spark label (and licensed to Sire for US pressings), was produced with care by former DJ John Edward, based on Chicago blues material, as heard on the cover of Willie Dixon’s ‘You Need Love.’ This is the band at their rawest beginnings, a grittier traditional blues set that contrasts with later work for Larry Page.

New The Hague based recordlabel Otherminds is landing with their first ever release ’Symbolic Language’, from local cosmox.

From day one OTM witnessed his obsession for electronics. Manifested by throwing countless raves, playing otherworldly dj-sets, co-running an atomic studio bunker & label and making mind-bending music. Now it’s time for his solo vinyl debut.

The 5-track EP is a blend between IDM, ambient and techno influenced pieces. A story which symbolizes a deeply shared connection and a transformative period in which the producer expands his palette further into the sonic realm.

South London ne-er-do-wells Meatraffle make huge strides forward with this third album of funky trumpet-laced street pop combining a caustic wit with a tender heart. “The best band in the country bar none!” Fat White Family // “A collective of individuals who refuse to be pigeonholed…..they conjure a rich, imaginative and often simply funny world” The Quietus // “Humorous alt-punk…potent…surreal” CLASH // “Their direct and confrontational attitude has not been seen since punk really grabbed England by the balls” FAR OUT // “Your mind will be liberated” Louder Than War // Meatraffle are thrilled to announce they will be releasing 'Base and Superstructure', their third studio album on Blang Records on 29.09.2023. Recorded during lockdown, produced & mixed by Meatraffle keyboardist Chris OC, Dante Traynor (SWEAT, Fat White Family 'Feet'), additional mixing by Angelica Björnsson (Hi - Texas feat. Wu Tang Clan) and mastered by Dean Honer (Eccentronic Research Council, I Monster, The Moonlandingz), ‘Base and Superstructure’ marks a new sonic departure for the band rightly acknowledged as godfathers of the now infamous South London scene, centred around the Windmill in Brixton. The band will be touring in support of the new album later in the year. Founded in 2014, Meatraffle have toured extensively across the UK and Europe as both a headline act and support to the likes of Fat White Family, Sleaford Mods and Warmduscher. Festival appearances include SXSW, Green Man and Liverpool Psych Fest. In addition to their previous two LPs ('Hi Fi Classics' and 'Bastard Music'), the band have released singles on Dan Carey's Speedy Wunderground and Moshi Moshi, plus numerous remixes including 'Meatraffle on the Moon' by the one and only Andrew Weatherall. The band have also played sessions for Marc Riley (BBC 6Music) plus regular plays from other 6Music DJs including Iggy Pop, Gideon Coe and Amy Lamé. “We were looking for labels for a while, sending out demos to small ‘indie’ labels to which we often had the response, “we really like it but we’re not signing anyone at the moment”, which feels like the new “don’t call us we’ll call you!”... We knew we had a good record so didn’t get knocked back and knew it would be a climb as many of these small and large ‘indie’ or ‘alternative’ labels can be even more conservative than the mainstream, I guess having less money and therefore having to ‘play it safe’. We bumped into Blang one night at The George Tavern and instantly had a good feeling about them…and guess what? They loved the music!” - Meatraffle frontman, Zsa Zsa Sapien. Genre-bending independent label Blang Records is a wildly non-commercial label firmly rooted in the DIY/anything goes attitude of punk and antifolk, and has remained consistent in its commitment to releasing outsider music by the likes of David Cronenberg's Wife, Jack Medley's Secure Men, Brix & The Extricated, Milk Kan, Thomas Truax and many more. Live Dates: 13th July 2023 - Peckham Audio, London w/SLEAZE, Brian Destiny, Neuro Placid (headline show).

South London ne-er-do-wells Meatraffle make huge strides forward with this third album of funky trumpet-laced street pop combining a caustic wit with a tender heart. “The best band in the country bar none!” Fat White Family // “A collective of individuals who refuse to be pigeonholed…..they conjure a rich, imaginative and often simply funny world” The Quietus // “Humorous alt-punk…potent…surreal” CLASH // “Their direct and confrontational attitude has not been seen since punk really grabbed England by the balls” FAR OUT // “Your mind will be liberated” Louder Than War // Meatraffle are thrilled to announce they will be releasing 'Base and Superstructure', their third studio album on Blang Records on 29.09.2023. Recorded during lockdown, produced & mixed by Meatraffle keyboardist Chris OC, Dante Traynor (SWEAT, Fat White Family 'Feet'), additional mixing by Angelica Björnsson (Hi - Texas feat. Wu Tang Clan) and mastered by Dean Honer (Eccentronic Research Council, I Monster, The Moonlandingz), ‘Base and Superstructure’ marks a new sonic departure for the band rightly acknowledged as godfathers of the now infamous South London scene, centred around the Windmill in Brixton. The band will be touring in support of the new album later in the year. Founded in 2014, Meatraffle have toured extensively across the UK and Europe as both a headline act and support to the likes of Fat White Family, Sleaford Mods and Warmduscher. Festival appearances include SXSW, Green Man and Liverpool Psych Fest. In addition to their previous two LPs ('Hi Fi Classics' and 'Bastard Music'), the band have released singles on Dan Carey's Speedy Wunderground and Moshi Moshi, plus numerous remixes including 'Meatraffle on the Moon' by the one and only Andrew Weatherall. The band have also played sessions for Marc Riley (BBC 6Music) plus regular plays from other 6Music DJs including Iggy Pop, Gideon Coe and Amy Lamé. “We were looking for labels for a while, sending out demos to small ‘indie’ labels to which we often had the response, “we really like it but we’re not signing anyone at the moment”, which feels like the new “don’t call us we’ll call you!”... We knew we had a good record so didn’t get knocked back and knew it would be a climb as many of these small and large ‘indie’ or ‘alternative’ labels can be even more conservative than the mainstream, I guess having less money and therefore having to ‘play it safe’. We bumped into Blang one night at The George Tavern and instantly had a good feeling about them…and guess what? They loved the music!” - Meatraffle frontman, Zsa Zsa Sapien. Genre-bending independent label Blang Records is a wildly non-commercial label firmly rooted in the DIY/anything goes attitude of punk and antifolk, and has remained consistent in its commitment to releasing outsider music by the likes of David Cronenberg's Wife, Jack Medley's Secure Men, Brix & The Extricated, Milk Kan, Thomas Truax and many more. Live Dates: 13th July 2023 - Peckham Audio, London w/SLEAZE, Brian Destiny, Neuro Placid (headline show).

2023 Repress

A fully remastered reissue from the original tapes of The Fresh Band's highly sought-after 1984 classic 'Come Back Lover'. Produced by The Strikers' Darryl Gibbs and mixed to maximum effect by the one and only Tony Humphries, this super cool disco boogie floor-burner made it big in the Underground dance clubs of Chicago & New York, receiving heavy rotation from legendary DJs like David Mancuso, Larry Levan and Ron Hardy. This special edition from Best Italy contains for the first time all the four versions mixed by the legendary Tony Humphries: including the astounding Humphries Vocal, Dub, Remix and the rarest Dub Remix which moves towards a deeper, headier groove, with atmospheric echoing vocals and mind-blowing piano breaks.

On October 20, 2023, Anetha will release her third tempetuous compilation on her label Mama told ya entitled MTY-AIR «Mille attaques, les vents contrèrent», just one year after MTY-TERRE «Contre tout, toutes et tous, la terre demeure» and two years after MTY-EAU «L’eau repousse les feux agressifs».

Through air element, the compilation comes up with the collaboration of 22 artists with 20 tracks, divided into 4 vinyls: Once again, Anetha carried away with her a generation of electronic artists from around the world to simply blow our mind.

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ON AIR: After twelve successful releases on Mama told ya, Anetha paraglides in our skies with the stormful MTY-AIR, a volatile new compilation: 4 swirling vinyls, 20 aerodynamics tracks, 1 wind blowing perfume.

Entitled «Mille attaques, les vents contrèrent», it will be the third of a series around the four elements. Capricious yet vigorous, air sweeps out everything on its way. Nothing can save you when you’re in the eye of the cyclone: prepare to fly hard. Alongside our windbreaker artists, skydive into the celestial vastness of sound: Gusts of disturbed techno, squalls of groove, mental tornado, minimal bass hurricane, cloudburst of psytrance… Time to get some fresh air.

Piercing pampero, mad mistral, forceful cierzo are blowing, blazing khamsin, steady sirocco, sharp shamal, dank nor’wester are entwining… Techno winds from all around the world are joining the fight against humanity. This is « Endgame » (B2). Final chapter, twisters and typhoons are cleansing the surface of earth, overthrowing everything on their path. Poor soul, don’t try to confront air’s blast as it will « Facelift » (D2) the shit out of you in less than a second. Take shelter as air is untouchable, unpredictable, unstoppable. Or if you’re brave enough, you’ll jump into the sky, looking for the currents to carry you up, sailing whirlwinds, riding airwaves, on the road to the « Temples of Quantum » (H2). Now jump!

The artwork has been once again entrusted to visual artist Karin Kimel, who worked on MTY-EAU’s artwork. She delivers an aerial scenery where supernal wafts are swirling, embalming our air. Diplomatie Studio took care of the design, mastering was entrusted to Sixbitdeep. And for the second time, with a direct message from earth to Earth, we opted for recycled vinyls.

Keita Sano is a prolific Japanese producer who has released on revered labels such as Mister Saturday Night, Lets Play House, Morris Audio and 1080P. His fusion of dark, distorted, acidic textures and crunchy disco beats gives his produc tions a unique sound which works perfectly for Delusions Of Grandeur and the label is proud to welcome him for his debut DOG EP entitled Love Is Emotion.

The title track comes on like a proverbial runaway train with heavy, pounding beats and bassline forging things ahead while the most twisted, tripped out FX rise and fall creating an absolute juggernaut of a track which takes no prisoners. A decept ively simple DJ tool which is loaded with drama for maximum impact on the more left of centre dance floors.

Up next we have Violet which takes a low-slung deep house approach but with the grit and dirt that Keita always brings to the party. The first half of the track teases with tension-building chords and syncopated bassline which bounces around a massive four on the floor kick drum. Things fall away in the middle of the track to reveal a beautiful, heartwarming piano part, setting the scene before things get truly epic with orchestral strings bringing a touch of the film noir to proceedings.

I’m A Man picks up the pace again for an intense acid work out which pushes the sonic boundaries to the limits with seriously warped FX creating mayhem around a simple, percussive disco groove. As secret weapon DJ tools go, this is right up there.

Closing out this mind-bending release Keita remains in experimental mode on Love Is Emotion offsetting melodic arpeggios and sweet chords with off-kilter sonic madness ensuring things remain dark, dirty and deep.

Summit Fever is a pair of industry veterans who opt to stay out of the spotlight and prefer to let the music speak for itself. Here they emerge from the shadows with a four-tracker entitled ‘Something Forever’ that includes a mesmerizing remix by Larse (Defected, Glitterbox, DFA, Eskimo). Prepare to be taken on an exhilarating journey back in time as they showcase their love for classic ‘90s house that is set to captivate the hearts and ears of house music enthusiasts and reignite the flame of nostalgia.

DJ support: Wolfram, Jimpster, Marcel Vogel, Graeme Park, Souldynamic, Hifi Sean, Androosh, Johannes Albert, Willie Graff, Dave Jarvis, Pastaboys, DJ Harri, Lisa Loud, Jerry Bouthier, Kiko Navarro, Kelvin Andrews, Neil, Diablo, Lex Athens, Rocksteady Disco, Flash Atkins, FSQ, Mr Shiver, Ravanelli Disco Club, Ed Maho

Three 6 Mafia fans canget their hands on Hypnotize Camp Posse's one and only album on limited edition vinyl. Originally released in 2000 only on CD and cassette, Get On Down gives this southern Hip-Hop classic a proper release on vinyl. Featuring all The Hypnotize Minds affiliates DJ Paul, Juicy J, Project Pat, Lord Infamous, Crunchy Black, Gangsta Boo, La Chat, T-Rock, & Koopsta Knicca.

Jim Sharp is certainly making waves right now on a number of different imprints – this time Originals are blessed with a couple of Jim Sharp edits - Biggie’s Things done changed gets freshened up with a tidy edit of the sample source on the flip both locked in at 91bpm with the DJs in mind – doubles essential!

Slacker 85 is the new label from the mind of one of the world’s biggest DJs & most recognised personalities, Seth Troxler. The first release, SLACKER001, brings together Seth and four more artists with their own takes on modern electronic music, to introduce fans to Slacker 85's remit for the oddball, esoteric & diverse sounds that are forthcoming from a wide range of artists and genres.

The label launches with the long awaited release of ‘Pills’, a a low slung acid groove that has been an in-demand staple of Seth's DJ sets around the world over the past year. It will be followed by the effervescent jacking house of ‘Let’s Go’ by Jackmaster – destined to be a mainstay of global dancefloors throughout this summer – before the fast-rising UK talent Ghoulish drops ‘Forever Ugly’, a romantic filter house earworm that harks back to the halcyon era of Fred Falke and Alan Braxe.

Rounding out the first batch is Cesar Merveille’s collaboration with André Baum (People People / Beyondré). ‘The Finish Line’ sees the Cadenza-affiliated Parisian’s building a melodic analog groove while NYC’s Baum invokes classic 80s electropop with his understated vocal.

Lady Tazz’s Mind Medizin imprint drops its third release this April with Linear System’s ‘Simian’ EP.

Hot on the heels of no.name’s recent ‘Unseen’ release, catching the attention of Luke Slater, Ben Sims, Truncate, Shlomi Aber and B.Traits, Mind Medizin continues its upward trajectory with a groovy third instalment. Here, Italian DJ and producer Linear System (Symbolism/Edit Select/Planet Rhythm) takes the reins with his warehouse-ready ‘Simian’ EP.

Sinister pads creep over chugging percussion, alarming bleeps and moody basslines in the loopy ‘Simian’, before rolling low-ends meet eerie analog synths in ‘Unknown Object’ as heavy claps complement crashing cymbals in this other-worldly cut.

The undoubted Queen of British Soul and 2023 Olivier Award winner, Beverley Knight returns with a brand new album The Fifth Chapter - on September 29th on Tag8/BMG. The album Includes the first single “Last One On My Mind” which was ROW on R2 and the follow up “Systematic Overload ” which we expcct to also be a R2 favourite
Zoe Ball will be playing Systematic Overload as a first play on R2 on 17th September. Beverley appears at R2 In The Park on 16.09 with appearances on Vernon Kaye TOMY, Rylan KaRyoke appearance confirmed live and interviews with Graham Norton, and a Chris Evans session on Virgin. Press to include Guardian, Sunday Times, and Attitude.
The Fifth Chapter comes on the back of what has undoubtedly been Beverley’s most successful period ever as the iconic Ms Knight celebrates 30 years making music with several top 10 albums and over a million UK albums sold.
UK national TV appearances will support the album release - we expect Royal Variety, Strictly, Sunday Brunch, The One Show and BBC Breakfast news performances and interviews, while Beverley has already appeared on ITN News, and GoggleBox on the launch of the album.
Beverley will take on her biggest ever UK tour throughout October and November, to over 30,000 people, ending with a headline date at the London Palladium on November 14th. The album brings together some of the greatest contemporary songwriting talent including Diane Warren, Seb Coe, Ollie Green and Andrew Roachford, as well as co-production with the likes of AC Burrell, Jimmy Hogarth, Mitch Allen & Josh Cohen/DJ Waldie, The Fifth Chapter is a spectacular journey through the inspirations that have defined her incredible career.
Beverley has collected numerous awards and accolades including an MBE, three MOBO Awards, numerous Brit and Mercury Music Prize nominations and, most recently, an Olivier Award for her role as Emmeline Pankhurst in the critically acclaimed musical SYLVIA at London's Old Vic Theatre. She also recently appeared as a judge on Starstruck alongside Adam Lambert, and Shania Twain.

A month after the release of his debut album as Tambores En Benirras, 2021’s fabulous Orbe Dotodo, Graham Newby’s life changed forever. After years living with a visual impairment, his sight had deteriorated so much that he was declared “registered blind”. For a man who had spent decades dividing his time between travelling, DJing, running clubs and lengthy sessions in his own studio, it was a genuinely life-changing moment.

It was against this backdrop, and the need to alter his working methods, that Ondas Horizontales, the second Tambores En Benirras album took shape. Inspired by a mixture of daydreaming, visualisation, immersion in other people’s music (escapism that provided mood enhancement, rather than a specific set of ideas) and long periods spent soaking up the sun in Ibiza, the album is the most vividly detailed, sonically colourful, and sun-soaked collection that Newby has released to date.

Newby’s declining sight forced him to stop spending long spells staring at a screen and undoubtedly slowed down the production process. Yet it also allowed him to reconnect with his emotions, appreciate the storytelling and mood-shifting potential of music, and mine mind’s eye memories of places and spaces that have meant much to him over the years.

The results are undeniably stunning. Designed with horizontal listening in mind, the set distils a range of musical and real-life inspirations –or, as he puts it, “ambient soundtracks, cosmic journeys, Balearic rhythms and poolside sessions” – into ten mesmerising and magical tracks; an undulating, slow-motion journey that’s as breath-taking as it is beguiling.

Newby sets the tone with ‘Mi Sueno Vibe En Reverb’, a swelling, slow-burn ambient masterpiece that tiptoes between hope and melancholia, before flitting between imaginary sunset soundtracks (‘Estrellas En Mastella’, where lilting pedal steel sounds, bubbling electronics and shuffling breakbeats catch the ear), kaleidoscopic sun-up beats (the gorgeous warmth of ‘Generadora De Reyos’), enveloping beatless soundscapes (‘Templos Del Sol’, a drowsy drift in becalmed waters under the heat of the mid-afternoon sun), and dubby, loved-up lusciousness (‘Mokono’).

As the album progresses, bobbing and weaving on an ocean of vibrant chords, pulsing melodies and heart-stopping melodies, there’s no sign of Newby’s inspiration waving. ‘Alma Hablando’ channels the spirit of mid-80s ‘worldbeat’ and douses it in layers of Balearic bliss, while ‘Extrensor Entragado’ recalls the head-nodding haziness of his best Gripper productions of old while combining them with the musical equivalent of a humid summer breeze. Then there’s the mood-enhancing joy of the album’s superb title track –a mission statement of sorts – and the life-affirming post trip-hop/Balearic fusion of ‘Un Placer Celestial (Reprise)’, where the influence of his old friend Aim is clearly evident.

A serious sonic step-up from its predecessor and a future Balearic classic in its’ own right, Ondas Horizontales marks the start of a new musical and personal journey for its creator. It is, in his words, not the end of an era, but the start of a new one.