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‘Workaround’ is the lucidly playful and ambitious solo debut album by rhythm-obsessive musician and DJ, Beatrice Dillon for PAN. It combines her love of UK club music’s syncopated suss and Afro-Caribbean influences with a gamely experimental approach to modern composition and stylistic fusion, using inventive sampling and luminous mixing techniques adapted from modern pop to express fresh ideas about groove-driven music and perpetuate its form with timeless, future-proofed clarity. Recorded over 2017-19 between studios in London, Berlin and New York, ‘Workaround’ renders a hypnotic series of polymetric permutations at a fixed 150bpm tempo.

Mixing meticulous FM synthesis and harmonics with crisply edited acoustic samples from a wide range of guests including UK Bhangra pioneer Kuljit Bhamra (tabla); Pharoah Sanders Band’s Jonny Lam (pedal steel guitar); techno innovators Laurel Halo (synth/vocal) and Batu (samples); Senegalese Griot Kadialy Kouyaté (Kora), Hemlock’s Untold and new music specialist Lucy Railton (cello); amongst others, Dillon deftly absorbs their distinct instrumental colours and melody into 14 bright and spacious computerised frameworks that suggest immersive, nuanced options for dancers, DJs and domestic play. ‘Workaround’ evolves Dillon’s notions in a coolly unfolding manner that speaks directly to the album’s literary and visual inspirations, ranging from James P. Carse’s book ‘Finite And Infinite Games’ to the abstract drawings of Tomma Abts or Jorinde Voigt as well as painter Bridget Riley’s essays on grids and colour. Operating inside this rooted but mutable theoretical wireframe, Dillon’s ideas come to life as interrelated, efficient patterns in a self-sufficient system.

With a naturally fractal-not-fractional logic, Dillon’s rhythms unfold between unresolved 5/4 tresillo patterns, complex tabla strokes and spark-jumping tics in a fluid, tactile dance of dynamic contrasts between strong/light, sudden/restrained, and bound/free made in reference to the notational instructions of choreographer Rudolf Laban. Working in and around the beat and philosophy, the album’s freehand physics contract and expand between the lissom rolls of Bhamra’s tabla in the first, to a harmonious balance of hard drum angles and swooping FM synth cadence featuring additional synth and vocal from Laurel Halo in ‘Workaround Two’, while the extruded strings of Lucy Railton create a sublime tension at the album’s palatecleansing denouement, triggering a scintillating run of technoid pieces that riff on the kind of swung physics found in Artwork’s seminal ‘Basic G’, or Rian Treanor’s disruptive flux with a singularly tight yet loose motion and infectious joy. Crucially, the album sees Dillon focus on dub music’s pliable emptiness, rather than the moody dematerialisation of reverb and echo. The substance of her music is rematerialised in supple, concise emotional curves
and soberly freed to enact its ideas in balletic plies, rugged parries and sweeping, capoeira-like floor action. Applying deeply canny insight drawn from her years of practice as sound designer, musician and hugely knowledgable/intuitive DJ, ‘Workaround’ can be heard as Dillon’s ingenious solution or key to unlocking to perceptions of stiffness, darkness or grid-locked rigidity in electronic music. And as such it speaks to an ideal of rhythm-based and experimental music ranging from the hypnotic senegalese mbalax of Mark Ernestus’ Ndagga Rhythm Force, through SND and, more currently, the hard drum torque of DJ Plead; to adroitly exert the sensation of weightlessness and freedom in the dance and personal headspace.

Paul Murphy’s Claremont 56 label welcomes a genuine legend of UK music to its roster – Chaz Jankel, the man whose dizzying musicality and love of soul, funk and disco did much to shape the sound of Ian Dury’s Blockheads band in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.

A virtuoso keyboardist with a deep love of Black American music, Jankel’s arrangements and compositional skills were key to the success of their records, the funkiest of which not only became crossover pop hits – see ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’ and ‘Reasons To be Cheerful, Part 3’ in particular – but also saw heavy rotation in now iconic New York clubs including the Paradise Garage and Studio 54.

This continued during the formative years of his solo career, with ‘My Occupation’, ‘Questionnaire’ and ‘Glad To Know You’ (later famously re-edited and dubbed out for nu-disco dancefloors by Todd Terje) all becoming club hits. The great Quincy Jones also covered Jankel’s infectious single ‘Ai No Carrida’, while experimental, club-ready synth-jam ‘3,000,000 Synths’ was also influential during the early years of the electro movement.

For his Claremont 56 bow, Jankel has delivered an all-new workout recorded earlier this year, the simply titled ‘Rhumba Jam’. A typically warm, groovy and rolling affair, it features Jankel delivering infectious, stretched-out Rhodes electric piano solos over toasty bass, clipped guitar licks, warm bass, accordion-style synth motifs and a densely layered Rhumba rhythm. While relaxed and sun-soaked, it also has bags of Balearic dancefloor potential.

Murphy remixes under his now familiar Mudd alias, leaning into the track’s languid Balearic vibe while keeping a firm focus on the dancefloor. Beginning with an enticing mix of metronomic drums and jangly acoustic guitars, Murphy slowly layers up key elements of Jankel’s original – think rubbery bass, rhythmic handclaps, mazy synth sounds and those wonderful, stretched-out solos. It’s a version that pays due reverence to the quality of Jankel’s musicianship, production and arrangement while subtly extending it and reframing it for 21st century Balearic dancefloors.

The album 'Sueno', produced by Kip Hanrahan, was originally released in 1989 and is one of Palmieri's more introspective and harmonically rich projects. The album seamlessly blends salsa and Latin jazz with modern jazz elements and features an outstanding line-up of musicians such as David Sanborn, Brian Lynch and Francisco Aguabella. Tracks such as 'Azucar' (a reinterpreted classic) and 'Just a Little Dream' once again showcase Palmieris genius for composition and improvisation. 'Sueno' has been remastered in excellent quality by Intuition Music for the Master Series, highlighting the album's multi- layered arrangements and rhythmic complexity. This reissue honours Palmieri's musical legacy and underscores the timelessness of his sound

Die Cut Sleeve with download. It’s a strange betweenworld, bookended by sleep and the jolt of being wide awake in a place where you wonder how you got there. You know the feeling… It seems familiar but the colours are, well, unreal. In a high-ceilinged room, a grand piano plays lush melodies as, meanwhile, somewhere, an Alice In Wonderland clock ticks, cellos are bowed, a swarm of something vibrates and the hallucinatory crowd around Rosemary’s Baby babble. An echoey electronic hum builds and falls like a 50s refrigerator passed through and effects board, things run backwards, staccato strings are plucked… and that’s not the half of it. “I’ve never been happy staying in one particular school of musical thought. The fun has been turning things on their heads, to try something you were not supposed to do.” We’re on an immersive and adventurous travelogue with the former member of the legendary Tangerine Dream, Paul Haslinger - this is a man who knows how to build tension, hold moods, illustrate contempt, lies, passion and pleasure; He can create fear, loathing and love - he’s been unlocking the nuances of such emotions in a hugely successful career as a TV and film soundtrack composer (Halt And Catch Fire, Underworld and the Golden Globe-nominated Sleeper Cell). ‘Exit Ghost’ is his long thought out opus, a moment caught in time, flicking through reference points, taking an ethereal excursion that permeates musical genres as it becomes awash with intricate sounds and cross-pollinating rhythms. Built originally from the warmth of his grand piano ‘Exit Ghost’ resonates with purity and power, from an eerie and evocative betweenworld, that’s at once expansive and rolling, then intoxicating and suffocating in equal measures; modern composition at its most uplifting; cerebral, celebratory, intense and beautiful. “The soul searching in connection with this record was extensive. Finding places of resonance, giving a colour to your memories. It was more challenging because it’s not somebody else’s narrative. Finding the core of your own story can be the most difficult task of all.” Created over the span of eight years and filled with literal and personal references, the album itself is a testament to the search - a quest filled with hints, particles and suggestions.

SPFDJ steps up for her long-awaited debut EP, Heel Thyself, out Friday 7th November on Intrepid Skin.

A core figure in grassroots techno circuits, and an internationally lauded DJ, SPFDJ's ascent reflects a passion for music governed by love and grit in equal measure. At once providing a gleefully chaotic two-fingers to dance music's self-serious establishment, whilst also flexing an ever-expanding knowledge of its roots and potentials, her musical armoury is renowned the world over for inspiring debauchery and sweat-soaked hedonism.

As an artist whose journey has been defined by challenging the norms of electronic music, SPFDJ's rebel spirit is recognised locally and globally, but guiding this attitude is a vulnerability to the realities of the music industry, and the rise of conservatism that permeates every aspect of life. And whilst sensitive to the use of buzzwords like community, it's ultimately a respect for the people who keep these scenes alive that motivates her artistry.

In releasing this EP, she taps into a more vulnerable side. The title - a nod to internal healing processes, and a play on words to motivate queers and women to 'boot up for battle' against increasingly oppressive structures - shines a light on some of the values she holds up to electronic music culture. At once playfully chaotic and deeply energising, Heel Thyself spins us through a cyclone of kicks, punches, and noise.

Opener 'Cluster B Intro' is a tempo-twisting barrage of gabber led by a robotic vocal command, setting the scene for pretty much anything to happen. 'That Stiletto Track' kicks in like a tweaked out distortion of 90s trance before spiralling upwards into a storm of heavy breaks. 'F*ckboi' is hot n heavy electro - classic in its structure, but with the added industrial touch of hammerdrill synths and razor sharp percussion. Swinging into a bouncier state, 'The Hot in Psychotic' flings ricocheting rhythms through frantic claps, with a donk to keep things moving. Rounding things off, 'Mindless Counting' flies higher with pummeling drums lifted by a touch of euphoria.

A debut laced with both defiance and self-reckoning, Heel Thyself finds the rebel looking inwards - vulnerable, but sharpened and ready.

Gong Gong Gong aus Peking und Mong Tong aus Taipeh sind gleichgesinnte Duos, die für ihre cineastischen und rohen Klänge bekannt sind und transglobale Melodien mit unwiderstehlichen Grooves verbinden. Auf Mongkok Duel haben sich die Bands zusammengetan, um einen imaginären Soundtrack für einen verlorenen Kung-Fu-Film zu kreieren. Es handelt sich zweifellos um die musikalische Untermalung einer übernatürlichen Geschichte über Ehre, Intrigen und (natürlich) Rache. ,Mongkok Duel" knüpft an die langjährige Rhythm 'n' Drone-Kollaborationsreihe von Gong Gong Gong an und präsentiert die unverwechselbare Ästhetik beider Gruppen, indem es eine gemeinsame Sprache aus zyklischen Motorik-Rhythmen, sich entwickelnden Drones, texturierten Soundeffekten, knurrenden Gitarren und growlenden Bass-Hooks aufbaut. Geschrieben und live aufgenommen in den legendären Proberäumen der President Piano Co. in Mongkok, Hongkong, spielten die Bands auf den Instrumenten und Verstärkern des Studios, die noch aus der Gründungszeit der President Piano Co. im Jahr 1978 stammen. Die Aufnahmetechnik des Studios ist ein einzigartiges System, das vom Eigentümer Lee King Yat entworfen und eingerichtet wurde und dem Album seinen unverwechselbaren Vintage-Sound verleiht, ohne dabei an beeindruckender Klarheit einzubüßen.

Live at Smoke captures master drummer Al Foster in peak form during his final birthday celebration—a weekend of inspired performances at NYC’s Smoke Jazz Club in January 2025. Joined by an all-star quartet featuring Chris Potter, Brad Mehldau, and Joe Martin, Foster leads a group full of fire, grace, and deep swing. Drawn entirely from Saturday and Sunday night sets, this double LP-length live recording is both a celebration and a moving farewell from one of jazz’s great rhythmic voices.

At the beginning of the 1960s, at the Berklee College of Music, Byard Lancaster met some feisty friends: Sonny Sharrock, Dave Burrell and Ted Daniel. It is easy to see why he rapidly became involved in free jazz. Once he was settled in New York, he appeared on Sunny Murray Quintet, recorded under the leadership of the drum crazy colleague of Albert Ayler.



In 1968, the saxophonist and flutist recorded his first album under his own name: It’s Not Up To Us. The following year he came to Paris in the wake of… Sunny Murray. He would come back to France in 1971 (again with Murray) and in 1973 (without Murray for a change). This is when he met Jef Gilson, the pianist and producer who encouraged him to record under his own name again.

On Palm Records (Gilson’s label), he would release four albums: Us, Mother Africa, Exactement and Funny Funky Rib Crib.



A few months after recording “Us”, Lancaster recorded “Mother Africa” along with Clint Jackson III, a trumpeter, partner of Khan Jamal or Noah Howard on other recordings.

On march 8th, 1974, Lancaster and Jackson headed up a group composed of Jean-François Catoire (electric and double bass), Keno Speller (percussion) and Jonathan Dickinson (drums).


Together, they create an immediate impression. From the first seconds of “We The Blessed”, they develop a free jazz which rapidly abandons any virulence under the effect of blues and soul based interventions.

When Gilson’s composition “Mother Africa” begins, listeners are transported into the studio, listening to the musicians setting up: chatting and joking… Then comes the melody: a dozen or so notes of a repeated theme which is accelerated and deformed according to their whims… The jazz played by the association Byard Lancaster / Clint Jackson III is rare: creative AND recreational. “We the blessed”, is apt listening to this again today!

This CD edition contains a bonus track, the magnificent “Love Always” that was originally released on the fourth (and last) volume of the Jef Gilson Anthology series released in 1975.


Recorded on 8th March 1974, it is a beautiful 15-minute-long modal jazz piece. Four notes from the bass (the relentless Jean-François Catoire, who makes up the rhythm section alongside drummer Jonathan Dickinson and percussionist Keno Speller), and the group is up and running!

On piano, Gilson shows the subtle tact of a sideman, leaving the lions’ share of the place to the horns. This allows us to hear the trumpet of Clint Jackson III and the alto (which sometimes sounds almost flute-like) of Byard Lancaster each staking their claim in a long hallucinatory march which moves from moments of direct exaltation to profoundly sensitive collective playing.

Introducing: Temporary Blessings, the new project by stalwart Naarm / Melbourne trumpet player and composer Liam McGorry.

Assembled to realise McGorry's compositions drawing on 1960s Italian & French soundtrack music, Temporary Blessings brings together trusted instrumentalists and fellow travelers from Melbourne's rich enclave of cinematic soul. With Liam at the helm, the group is composed of members of Surprise Chef, Karate Boogaloo, Saskwatch and Let Your Hair Down.

The resulting recordings realise McGorry's sonic visions of film noir, giallo, library music and cinematic soul, captured live in one room with what the maestro describes as "a shared spirit". The recordings, produced by paragon Henry Jenkins, bring together emotive string arrangements, tough horns and a steadfast rhythm section with an acute attention to detail McGorry has developed over years in the saddle.

Liam says: "I find great comfort in collaborating with good friends and playing together in the same room and taking these blessings as they come."

A veteran of Melbourne soul, McGorry's steady hands have touched some of the city's most revered projects over the last 15 years; McGorry-led projects Saskwatch, Dorsal Fins and Ex-Olympian sit aside Sampa The Great, Ella Thompson and Adrian Eagle on Liam's heavy list of credits and collaborators. He has contributed more than his fair share of bricks to the great structure of Melbourne soul, always playing the background, true to his humble nature.

LP available in black or orange and brown splatter vinyl.

Introducing: Temporary Blessings, the new project by stalwart Naarm / Melbourne trumpet player and composer Liam McGorry.

Assembled to realise McGorry's compositions drawing on 1960s Italian & French soundtrack music, Temporary Blessings brings together trusted instrumentalists and fellow travelers from Melbourne's rich enclave of cinematic soul. With Liam at the helm, the group is composed of members of Surprise Chef, Karate Boogaloo, Saskwatch and Let Your Hair Down.

The resulting recordings realise McGorry's sonic visions of film noir, giallo, library music and cinematic soul, captured live in one room with what the maestro describes as "a shared spirit". The recordings, produced by paragon Henry Jenkins, bring together emotive string arrangements, tough horns and a steadfast rhythm section with an acute attention to detail McGorry has developed over years in the saddle.

Liam says: "I find great comfort in collaborating with good friends and playing together in the same room and taking these blessings as they come."

A veteran of Melbourne soul, McGorry's steady hands have touched some of the city's most revered projects over the last 15 years; McGorry-led projects Saskwatch, Dorsal Fins and Ex-Olympian sit aside Sampa The Great, Ella Thompson and Adrian Eagle on Liam's heavy list of credits and collaborators. He has contributed more than his fair share of bricks to the great structure of Melbourne soul, always playing the background, true to his humble nature.

LP available in black or orange and brown splatter vinyl.

US Black Friday 2025 Release. There are very few albums in the psych/punk/hard rock/private presses strata that garner the sort of universal awe and accolades that Fraction’s almighty Moonblood LP does, and even fewer records in the world that could be dubbed ‘Christian Rock’ incur such fierce devotion. Indeed some records just meteorically lift themselves out any genre tag with brilliance and sheer defiance--and Moonblood is surely one of them. Based in LA, Fraction was a ragged collection of working-class musicians--the line-up was ringleader Jim Beach--vocals; Don Swanson--lead guitar, Curt Swanson--drums, Victor Hemme--bass, and Robert Meinel--rhythm guitar. Beach himself describes those early days: “The guys met through various acquaintances that we had in LA. All of us had been in bands before, but were seeking something with more teeth. We had a small studio in an industrial complex in North Hollywood and started practicing sometimes as early as 4:30 AM. We all had day jobs, so we did what we could.”

Amazingly the recording sessions for the album were recorded similarly on the fly, as Beach further states: “The Moonblood recording took place at Whitney’s Studio in Glendale, CA, early in 1971. On a strict budget, these songs were recorded in less than three hours—all of them “one takes.” We played, all 5 of us, simultaneously-- there were no studio effects, no overdubbing or any additional sound effects added. Basically what you hear is considered ‘old school’ recording.”

This workmanlike description in no way prepares one for the pure tortured genius the session wrought. Particularly noteworthy is Beach’s vocals—as commonly stated, the spirit of Jim Morrison is conjured in his deep baritone, which gives way to unparalleled pained howls, at times bathed in delay which trails into the abyss. Fascinatingly enough, Beach cites the much punker Love as his fave LA band over the Doors, and also gives influence-nods to proto-everything rockers The Yardbirds and to Dylan, whose dark word tapestries surely inspired Beach’s lyrics (though lines from The Doors’ “L’America” pop up on the LP) Whatever the case, the man clearly has a vision, as even the stark sleeve concept is Beach’s own. Equally as integral to the Fraction sound is lead guitarist Don Swanson—his blown-out fuzz riffs set a template for what is now commonly known as “stoner rock” or “acid punk,” and his solos consist of jagged, wah-wah-ed shards of notes, with his amplifier clearly pushed to the limit.

Beach says: “Don’s guitar was always my driving force and he did everything he could to keep it over the top. You’d never know that (his sound) was coming from an old, broken down Esquire. Don kept it alive!” The other members contributions shouldn’t be underappreciated though-- drummer Curt Swanson keeps things at a constant simmer, and then boils over when the whole band launches into snarling glory. The band and LP as a whole equals something indescribably intense from start to finish—comparisons to the Detroit late 60s high-energy bands like The Stooges and MC5 abound, as well as the sort of late 60s damaged spirit lurking in biker clubs and disgruntled Vietnam vets. The song cycle on side 1 of the LP in particular cuts to the emotional core, with severely charged dark lyrics like “Extend your thumbs and burn the darkness out of her.” Which brings us to the Christian aspect--it often can confuse listeners. The Fraction/Beach world of religion is complex and perhaps a bit pagan/sinister than most---fire and brimstone, temptation, and the truth-seeker being burned by this hell on earth—or perhaps as Beach himself best put it: “Speaking for myself, as a believer, it’s been a progressive experience since my childhood.

I think we’re all basically driven to live more than religion.” The album was pressed in a run of but a few hundred to little attention in the day, but now inferior bootlegs flood the marketplace, and originals of Moonblood command thousands of dollars. So enjoy this all-inclusive reissue, which also features for the first time on vinyl, 3 lost tracks-- like the more acoustic-minded “prisms” and “dawning light,” as well as the proto-metal choogle of “Intercessor’s Blues.”

The Brokedowns are the coolest punk band in Chicagoland and they're back with 13 new songs of fury and satire. The quartet has steadily grown in popularity and so has their appetite for mockery. We asked them about the record, and they explained the fi­rst track is a musical tribute to QAnon moms taking over the school board. Quite the tone-setter. While not a concept album, there is a thematic protagonist: Alpha Dog Serum X. No, Serum X is not a panacea to a world gone mad, it's a fi­ctional miracle drug endorsed by all the coolest billionaires and influencers. Safe to say, if dorks like Elon and Logan Paul heard this music, they would not get the joke. The Brokedowns fuse heavy rhythms with singalong melodies, and they use those tools like hammer and tongs to blast away at our societal ills. It may sound grim, but no one has more fun with our stupid culture than The Brokedowns, so you may as well get in on the roast.

Beat Machine Records is proud to present the fifteenth chapter of its iconic Swinging Flavors series, starring Ac1d Vicious—a brutalist force in underground jungle and acid rave—backed with a remix from high-speed specialist Samurai Breaks.

“Screamer” is exactly that: a hardware-driven sonic assault that draws from 90s breakbeat chaos and acid techno ferocity. Think distorted amen breaks colliding with tortured 303 riffs, all arranged on glitchy hardware gear with no safety nets. Every snare slices through, every bass stabs deep—it’s raw, unstable, and unapologetically intense.

The B-side flips the script with Samurai Breaks’ signature footwork‐meets-jungle rework. Twitchy, fast-paced and percussively scattered, his remix injects hypermodern energy while preserving the original’s rave DNA. The two tracks together form a high-pressure 7” that captures both the nostalgia of old-school warehouse violence and the momentum of cutting-edge club experiments.

Following artists like DJ Sofa, Ornette Hawkins and naco, to name a few recent ones, Ac1d Vicious marks a new evolution for the Swinging Flavors series—one where tempo and texture are weapons, and the dancefloor is a war zone.

This release continues Beat Machine Records' mission to highlight forward-thinking club music rooted in global underground culture, with a sharp focus on physical formats and hybrid rhythms.


b b1. Screamer Samurai Breaks Remix

With Collective, the Barcelona- and London-based imprint Rhythm Cult once again proves why it stands among the most respected underground platforms in European electronic music. Founded by Paul Loraine, the label has built a reputation for bridging deep musicality, minimal precision, and timeless dancefloor function´, always with an ear for detail and emotional resonance. The first installment of the Collective series gathers a remarkable lineup of producers Jim Rivers, Satoshi Fumi, DCLVIII OFC, Mark Jackus, and Michael Wardemann, each contributing to a shared aesthetic that defines the Rhythm Cult sound: sophisticated, groove-driven, and deeply human. Subtle textures, rolling basslines, and understated movement shape a release that feels equally suited for intimate clubs and open-minded floors. Collective embodies the label’s dedication to quality, authenticity, and artistry, a modern classic in the making from one of the scene’s most consistent and forward-thinking imprints.

We’re happy to announce the “Planetary Shift” EP by our friend O-Wells with an additional remix by Bangkok’s finest Sarayu from More Rice. An EP that combines friendship and a long overdue Ozelot-cosmos release. After we heard “Planetary Shift” a while ago for the first time, we kept insisting on releasing it- Now we’re happily presenting it to you in the form of a 4 track EP.

The record orbits around O-Wells’ signature style: dub-inflected drums, slithering synth lines, and percussive patterns that never sit still. There’s a sleek futurism to these tracks, but they feel worn-in, like spacecraft that have already charted the edges of known space. Across the EP, O-Wells embraces tension and release—rolling low-end pressure that swells, only to dissolve into weightless melodic fragments.

The result is music that feels in constant flux, forever shifting through sonic terrain without losing its pulse. Anchoring the EP is a remix from Sarayu, a key voice from Southeast Asia’s flourishing electronic music scene. Known for threading traditional rhythmic sensibilities into contemporary club frameworks, Sarayu flips O-Wells’ abstract groove into something tactile and urgent. His version turns the track inside out—primal percussion and humid atmospheres pushing the original’s spacious minimalism toward a more grounded, earthy palette. It’s a vital rework that expands the release’s global reach, bridging Frankfurt and Bangkok through the shared language of rhythm and friendship – Overall, the reason why we do what we do.

Delsin's Mantis series welcomes Agonis with a heavy-hitting four-track workout geared towards adventurous dancefloors. As a leading figure in forward-thinking techno, Agonis has helped pioneer a scene that folds multiple tempos, styles and rhythms into a cohesive, dance-focused strain of psychedelic hypnotism. Co-running amenthia recordings from his base in Z?rich, Agonis has long explored the creative potential where elegant, immersive 4/4 and drum & bass intrigue intertwine. On Mantis 18, he carefully adjusts his sound palette to move beyond typical smoky atmospheres towards more forceful, sharply realised tones and textures. Bold synthesis striking out in brooding soundscapes, underpinned by a powerful low-end undercurrent and playful percussion: this recipe is a polite reminder you're engaged in a corner of club music that thrives on fresh approaches, served by one of the scene's key instigators.

Rahaan is a US edit master who can turn his hand to disco, house, soul, funk and r&b all with equal elan. He's been doing it for 20 years but it's still exciting to hear a new one from the legend, and the 11th Street Edits outing is another beguiling one. 'Impure' is a ragged and rugged, low-slung deep house drum track with cat squeals and crashing hits striking a menacing tone. 'Answer The Damn Phone' is a surging cosmic disco sound with driving arps and incongruous vocals before closer 'Intense' brings more raw, physical rhythms to a driving deep house cut.

Another new project coming on Macadam Mambo is the first release of the duo Hun Hun.

Hun Hun are 2 young brothers from Bruxelles who are doing a very special music in an ethno-shamanic-tribal vibe pretty cinematographic. With this first opus, an album of 10 tracks, they bring us on a journey into deep, dark and mysterious atmospheres with natural backgrounds from the forest, beautiful vocals, singular percussions, and rhythms that would easily fit for intro sets at Boccacio in 1988. This album could have been easily released on Crammed Disc in the 80’s, but it has a modern touch from today that makes it a proper gem for Macadam Mambo.

Markus Mattern, a.k.a. Kapillarkraft, lands on Slow Process with ‘Transdermal Patches’, a left-field exploration of vintage electronica.

Mattern, a Bavarian experimental electronic musician and professional drummer, builds this album around a plethora of interesting rhythmic elements. Aquatic timbres ebb and flow around almost-beats from analog drum boxes and Moog synthesizers.

Channeling inspiration from the likes of Kraftwerk, Brian Eno, Morton Subotnik and even early hip hop and electro-funk, some of it could be described as left-field electro, while some is just outright off the wall. An ever-present Roland Space Echo assists in the creation of rattling rhythm patterns and pitch dives, two of the album’s prominent sonic signatures. Atonal droplets and washes of simulated industrial noise yield an abiding sense of foreboding and tension, sitting in contrast to a few brief harmonious moments.

It may not be one for the clubs exactly, but it’s a deftly shaped piece of work, brimming with inventive sounds.

Released November 28th on limited edition “pharmaceutical” boxed cassette and digital formats.

Ground-breaking percussive ambient recordings from Gabrielle Roth & The Mirrors, inducing altered states of consciousness through ecstatic dance. "Selected Works from 1985 to 2005" finally available on Time Capsule

Despite featuring an extraordinary cast of musicians (with credits including Pharoah Sanders, Miles Davis, Sun Ra, Santana and Milton
Nascimento) and selling hundreds of thousands of albums, the music of Gabrielle Roth & The Mirrors remains largely unheard beyond their sphere. Conceived as live, improvised soundtracks to Roth’s transcendental dance workshops, musical acclaim was never on the agenda.Instead, for a passionate dancer and spiritual polyglot like Gabrielle Roth, movement was a means through which to channel a wide spectrum of teaching, from experimental psychology to psychedelic counter-culture. It was from this heady mix that she devised a movement meditation known as 5Rhtyhms, which came to define her life’s work.

As “guide and catalyst”, Roth would dance to inspire the percussion-led instrumentals that would in turn fuel her 5Rhythms workshops, stimulating a secular form of ecstatic dance with roots in Native American shamanic traditions, Afro-Brazilian Candomblé and Yoruba drumming. Using anything from a Sioux pony drum to East African kihembe and Japanese Kabuki drums, Gabrielle’s lawyer-turned-drummer husband Robert Ansell set the foundational rhythms for The Mirrors’ recordings, each of which would then feature a rotating cast of friends and professional musicians.

“The secret of everything we’ve done is that we never told anybody what to play,” Robert shares. “Instead of our albums being a musical vision of one person like me or Gabrielle, they were the musical vision of a whole bunch of people.”At times the recordings have a Middle Eastern flair, at others, West African and spiritual jazz modes come to the fore. Hints of kosmische musik, proto-house and electronic ambience are laced like LSD through the organic rhythmic structures. This was kaleidoscopic ambient music to stir the body and free the mind.

In practice, the task of synthesising these different elements fell to Scott Ansell, Robert’s son and a recording engineer whose credits now include Nile Rogers, Duran Duran, Grace Jones. With meticulous attention to detail he captured and translated the dynamic energy of each drum onto record. Their sessions became legendary, and with access to the best studios in the NYC, The Mirrors sparkled.

Despite being initially overlooked by the burgeoning ‘80s New Age market, which preferred pipes and gongs to The Mirrors’ heavy-grooving drums, Robert Ansell set up Raven Recording to self-release the music, creating a vast sonic archive of sixteen albums over almost forty years. The breadth of Raven’s catalogue is such that curator Pol Valls had to cut an initial selection of sixty-six tracks down to the eleven featured here. What crystallises is a stunning, mind-altering collection which spans, in Pol’s words, “a variety of genres, styles, and vibes within their catalogue, whether it is emotional, esoteric, spiritual, melancholic, hypnotic, dark, or at times a combination of these elements together.”Music for immersive and intimate environments, Gabrielle Roth & The Mirrors were born from the dance. In the hands of the right DJ, at the right time, in the right place, they might just return there.