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3XL’s first new release in 2025 by Italian trio Cortex of Light is a synapse-tickling dose of classic FSOL-era world-building that takes in gloopy trance cooked down with sub-heavy, vaporous dub, mutant acid, breakbeat rave, Artificial Intelligence and a Mark Fell-style algorithmic brainmelt.

You'll know if you've spent any time following Piezo's output that the Milan-based producer and Ansia boss has a knack for lysergically enhancing any club template he sets his sights on. With releases on Idle Hands, Wisdom Teeth, Loefah's 81 and most recently Dekmantel, Luca Mucci has blottered up dubstep, hard drum, 2-step and minimal techno, here re-convening with fellow Milanese journeymen Aitch and primordial OOze/xàr num as Cortex of Light to blur those edges even further

'ILLUMINOTECNICA' isn't the trio's first release, but it's their most substantial and easily most developed. If 2024's 'Aeon Is A Child At Play With Colored Balls' showed off their aptitude for threading their luminous soundscapes into a horizontal soundtrack, then this album is a proper chance for Cortex of Light to show off their versatility in a different setting, matching dancefloor hallucinations with expertly sculpted sound design.

Psilocybin-tainted soundscapes scrape into breathy flute sounds and chest-thumping bass drops on the opener, haunted by a vision of electronic music that's been contrived in back rooms, squats and outdoor raves for decades at this point. Like so much of the rest of the 3XL catalog, there's a drive and coherence here that comes from classic dub techno and chill-out room fodder (think The Black Dog or Pentatonik), but always infused with something that dates it to the present era, be it a tactile sliver of Visible Cloaks-style neo-new age ambience, or a sort of mescaline-dipped take on Photek's bass-heavy, meticulously hazed 'Solaris' period downtempo gear, chopped 'n screwed into the uncanny.

Sneaker Social Club welcome a veritable supergroup of bass heavyweights in the form of Legion. Made up of Trends, Boylan, P Jam and D.O.K., this four strong collective first came to light with the We Are Many 12" on Artikal Music in 2021, and now they regroup for another four-strong payload of soundsystem pressure that embraces the darkness in devastating fashion.

The Sister Abigail EP leads with 'Rastaman', an ice-cold half-step drop that summons the spirit of early dubstep in its raw minimalism, eerie atmospherics and snarling low-end wobble. Without an ounce of fat, it's a lean workout of drums and bass that finds catharsis in simplicity without compromising on high definition detail. 'Souls' locks into a jerky groove to set the dance off at acute angles, nudging the textures up a notch without disturbing the spartan mood of the release. 'Sister Abigail' pushes the underlying malevolence of the Legion sound to the forefront with dissonant sheet-metal tones while packing the rhythm section into a tight, vicious formation of gnashing, chrome-plated teeth. 'Play That Vibe' seals the deal on the EP with a hard-thumping, propulsive groove that calls to mind the techy development of dubstep in the 2010s — a taut, tracky throwdown to keep the intensity on a rolling boil.

Drawing on the grounding principles of OG dubstep with a sharp line in crisp, modernist production and a ruthless economy of arrangement on display, Legion prove many cooks can still result in a potent, brutally focused broth.

Repress of the KGB002... that was never repressed since 1998.

One legendary tubular Tribe speedaz tune... and one more Dub-Techno tribal 69DB pure style (in the vibe of the Trax or the Drop bass 23...)

The Toolbox Killerz 23 was never out so far because we really wanted this one to be the KGB002, as KGB is part of our history for those who knows...

We did dig some cool old flyers and pictures and did a patchwork printed sleeves with some souvenirs :)

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Mastered by Stefan ZMK and cut by Simon The Exchange.

Tunes have been re-calibrated to regular tempo (as it was a live the tempo was moving, somehow...)

ENJOY !

Albion Collective’s new dance-driven catalogue, Gold, opens its doors to a neck-snapping three-track EP limited to a vinyl edition of 100 from a brand-new name in dubstep, Adel Force. The name may be brand-new, but you’ve heard the Estonian producer’s celebrated talents across countless labels, soundsystems and DJ sets under the 15-year-strong moniker Bisweed. Now ready to metamorphose into the next phase of his artistic journey, Adel Force brings you the Twirl EP on Albion Gold.

Dropping the needle onto each Albion Collective release reveals a labyrinth of unique, experimental dubstep styles lauded for both their success in DJ sets and original sonic visions. Holding these pillars of pioneering creativity close to its heart, the new branch of Albion Collective intensifies its focus on moving people. No song could better exemplify the Gold catalogue’s dancefloor-igniting mission statement than Adel Force’s full-throttle opening track, Is This What You Want.

The Twirl EP vinyl, like all of the Gold releases to follow, is hand-stamped, numbered, and features a gold embossed logo. Following the DIY, hand-painted aesthetic, splashes of gold make each sleeve as distinct and unique as the music it cloaks. Albion Collective are proud to work with Adel Force on their debut release and bring you Twirl, the first EP of the Gold catalogue.

Secretsundaze’s 9FINITY imprint make it a hat trick of releases with label favourite DJ Life’s ‘Forbidden Space’ EP.

The four track release from the Naarm/Melbourne native is a techy excursion that subtly meshes elements of minimal with modern UK bass dynamics, informed by the Australian’s psychedelic production style.

‘Utility’ sparks the ignition with a bass-driven peak time beast that morphs through syncopated grooves and punchy drops, the A2 ‘Electrolyte’ takes a hedonistic turn where resonant tones spiral across a rolling 4×4 drum groove.

‘Breathe’ steers us onto the B-side with dubbed out subs and percussive layers fusing up across this impeccable roller. ‘Stay Playful’ takes on a early-tech house feel with tribal drums and hypnotic echoes that venture on throughout the night. Digital bonus track ‘Love Sensation’ draws UK-Garage influences combined with lush pads and quirky vocal snippets drifting amid the tops.

Another big one from the 9FINITY crew, with plenty more in the clip for the year ahead…

'I Choose You' 3 Winans Brothers Feat. Karen Clark Sheard remixed By Louie Vega is the very reason house music is known around the world as A SPIRITUAL THING! House and Gospel have shared a dance floor from the very start thanks to pioneers like Louie Vega who harness the joy and inspiration of Gospel with the motivational energy of House. Never was this more evident than in the 1st project Louie Vega and 3 Winans Brothers Featuring The Clark Sisters came together for in 2015, DANCE which was a world renowned sensation and the catalyst for 'I Choose You'.

'I Choose You' is the result of a combined 20+Grammy Award Winning artists THE WINANS BROTHERS & KAREN CLARK including our very own Louie Vega's Grammy win bringing forth music that not only stands out but is an undeniably exceptional sound that will undoubtedly reaching past the top of the charts to blaze a path for music that celebrates being thankful for the life we are given! The 3 Winans Brothers, Bebe, Marvin and Carvin, have come together yet again with their love for writing, singing, and performing music with 'I Choose You'. Karen Clark Sheard having laid down new vocals produced by Bebe Winans himself coupled with the additional Winans soulful vocals completely enhance the reaffirming message 'I CHOOSE YOU... the POWER of HIS Love, I could NEVER deny it'.

Louie Vega has once again delivered the ultimate composition and arrangements to complement the beauty that lives in the message of 'I Choose You' and brilliantly elevates the powerful voices of the Winans and Karen Clark Sheard that bring that very deep sentiment of hope and light forward. For music with a message as enlightened as the one in 'I Choose You' Louie enlisted Axel Tosca of Elements of Life band, the Cuban born pianist with an intense passion to bring any keyboard to life who transfers that energy into this exceptional piece. Every single harmony, each key, all seamlessly aligned with in various mixes with engineer Yas Inoue of Vega Records on the boards so that 'I Choose You' can be enjoyed by those looking to fuel packed dance floor or their own individual playlists. The icing on the cake are the new vocals by Karen Clark Sheard, where she is testifying and ad-libbing powerful messages to the world! 'I Choose You' 3 Winans Brothers Feat. Karen Clark Sheard remixed by Louie Vega drop at all vinyl outlets ....AND be on the look out for future performance dates in your country and city.... this message is going world wide!

When you’re running a label, a demo occasionally comes across your desk that makes you reconsider everything you thought your label was all about. For Balmat, such was the case with this stunning album from Stephen Vitiello, Brendan Canty, and Hahn Rowe. It sounds like nothing we’ve released so far—and that very otherness opened up a whole new world of possibilities for us.

Fans of ambient, experimental electronic music, and sound art will be familiar with Vitiello, a New York native, long based in Virginia, who has collaborated with a cross-generational list of greats: Taylor Deupree, Steve Roden, Lawrence English, Tetsu Inoue, Nam June Paik, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Pauline Oliveros, and many more. On labels like 12k, Room40, and Sub Rosa, he has explored a wide range of minimalism, microsound, lowercase, ambient, improv, and other styles. But this album is something different. It may begin in ambient-adjacent territory, but it quickly veers off, and it just keeps zigzagging, taking on elements of krautrock, post-punk, dub, and the groove-heavy interplay of groups like Natural Information Society and 75 Dollar Bill.

This stylistic turn is thanks in large part to Vitiello’s choice of collaborators. “We’re coming from three different schools,” Vitiello says: “sound art, art rock, and punk rock.”

Active since the early 1980s, Rowe—a violinist, guitarist, and producer/engineer—has played with, or manned the boards for, a frankly jaw-dropping list of musicians: Herbie Hancock, Gil Scott-Heron, the Last Poets, Roy Ayers, John Zorn, Glenn Branca, Swans, Live Skull, Brian Eno, David Byrne, Anohni, R.E.M., Yoko Ono, and many more. But he might be most closely associated with Hugo Largo, a one-of-a-kind New York quartet—two basses, vocals, and Rowe’s violin—that in the late 1980s helped lay the groundwork for what would eventually become known as post-rock.

Canty, of course, is the legendary drummer of Fugazi, the visionary DC post-hardcore group, as well as Rites of Spring before them, and, currently, the Messthetics, a Dischord-signed instrumental trio with guitarist Anthony Pirog and Fugazi bassist Joe Lally.

Vitiello’s trio first collaborated on First, a 17-minute piece released on the Longform Editions label in 2023. Second picks up where the freeform drift of First left off, channeling the trio’s exploratory energies into more intentionally structured tracks and—in a real first for Balmat—some almost shockingly muscular grooves. “Sometimes my projects are more conceptually driven,” Vitiello says, “but I think this was more musically geared. I just wanted to open up the references and bring in an incredible drummer, bring in some melodies, and I’m sort of the center.” But his collaborators, he stresses, are “vastly creative in making anything I might suggest better.”

Like its predecessor, Second took shape in phases, shifting between improvisation and collage. Vitiello laid down the skeleton of the music at home, sketching out initial ideas on Rhodes keyboard and acoustic and electric guitar; he then fed the parts through samplers and his modular system, recording 10- or 20-minute jams. Once he had edited them into more structured forms, he hit the studio with Canty, who added not just drums but also bass and piano; finally, Vitiello took the results of those sessions to Rowe, who played violin, viola, electric bass, and 12-string acoustic and bowed electric guitar, and assisted in some of the final structuring and mixdown.

A few more surprises along the way: Reanimator’s Don Godwin, the studio engineer where Vitiello recorded with Canty, contributed what he calls “resonant dustpan”; and none other than Animal Collective’s Geologist, who just happened to be in the studio that day, sits in on hurdy gurdy on “Mrphgtrs1,” the album’s gorgeous, stunningly atmospheric drone closer. “I love these chance encounters,” Vitiello says. “Somebody I admire, a group I admire—that was an unexpected gift.”

An unexpected gift is a great way of describing Second as a whole: three veteran musicians venturing outside their usual zones and finding a new collaborative language together. The results can’t be neatly slotted into any given genre; they belong not to any given category, but to the spirit of conversation itself.

The second instalment of the remixes from J:Kenzo's 'Taygeta Code' sees two absolute heavyweight producers from the world of Drum & Bass collide on this 2 track EP.

Kid Drama brings through dub techno funk and soul in his remix of 'Guilty' encompassing the beautiful drifting groove matched with dirty filtered mids.

On the flip the legend DJ Trace drops a harder sinister edge to the tribal stepper 'Token Image' keeping the dubbed out licks and hypnotic percussion whilst adding nasty gritty synth lines harking back to his signature sound.

Psycho Bummer is thrilled to present our latest release from QUAAD, a leading figure in Seattle’s emerging jungle scene and, in our opinion, one of the finest tracker enthusiasts out there.

Made on an Amiga 1200 with Octamed, QUAAD's “PAULA EP” is a nod to the Amiga's revolutionary sound chip of the same name, as well as a love letter to the primitive sampling techniques and demoscene aesthetics that the Amiga is famous for.

PAULA’s characteristic grime and grit is evident on tracks like EP opener “King Russ”, which cuts up a gorgeously degraded smooth-jazz sample across lethal amen chops and brutal subs. Likewise, the absurdly heavy drop of “Gone Postal” is offset by QUAAD’s particular sense of humor, striking a balance between caricature and dancefloor devastation. “Erb Man Dub” and “Van Nuys Crew” round out the EP, the later switching up the intensity for a more laid back R&B vibe, hinting at QUAAD’s versatility.

Function Records has been blessed by the bassline talents of IP, John and Fiona Cunningham, showcasing their impressive skills. I had the pleasure of meeting IP at an education and bass feedback session at Planet Wax.
Choosing the first four tracks for their debut EP was challenging because they have so many bangers!
1) Nowadays, many track names suggest a connection to Jungle or reggae/dub sound systems, but they often deliver squeaky noises when the track drops. That's not the case with "Foundation Ting"; it hits you with all the elements you'd expect from Jungle music and continues to evolve impressively throughout the arrangement.
2) "Look Around" has garnered significant attention because it's one of those warm tracks that always gets a rewind. The bassline tells a story, and the breakdown and second drop are genuinely next-level.
3) "One Step" is the first track I received from IP. It's a heavy, dubbed-out jungle tune that builds into a midsection reminiscent of Spirit.
4 "Can't' Know That" is 8 minutes 37 of dirt. What a journey!

Sa Pa's trademark fantastical and thickly textured sound twisted in four new directions, closely treasured and finally released: some of his most delicate and hypnotic work, and fathoms deep. Switch on your sub or find one to borrow!

The first release on Short Span, a new label from Matthew Kent, co-runner of the label Mana before this, and who ran mix music platform Blowing Up The Workshop before that.

A series of longer, dubbed out, ambient and flowing tracks. techno, minimal, bass and groove. Chosen and cut to drop the needle on and just let play for a while. For warming up, coming down, never leaving the house.

Mastered by Miles.

Photography by Will Bankhead, layout by Bene Pooley.

Cool Up Records presents Music is the Right Way, their latest 7-inch vinyl release. A unique featuring of two soulful singers of the label, Paulinho and Payoh SoulRebel. In this song, these tasteful singers show their skills with determination, resulting a positive song with a crafted result.

Music is the Right way bring a strong message about the importance of music in our lives. Paulinho invites Payoh to join this wonderful tribute to music and how important is to be creative and express your feelings through music. Cool Up provides a Deep Roots track with a solid one drop, sweet vocal harmonies and interesting piano arrangements.

As usual, this release includes a notable dub version on the B-side, highlighting Cool Up's cleverly produced work, resulting in a great final product.

The design is another example of Mr. John Vanilla's unmatched skill. It keeps the look of the earlier singles and shows off his great work again.

Certainly, Reggae collectors will enjoy Music is the Right Way. It's the eight 7-inch release from Cool Up Records, which keeps active releasing music on vinyl.

Black Loops is an endlessly creative producer who has brought constant invention to house music since his first release over a decade ago. His widescreen sounds take their cue from funk, soul and disco and are underpinned by a love of 90’s grooves. They appeal to DJs and dancers alike which explains his constant demand for DJ sets around the world as well as his music being played and supported by the biggest names in the scene. After many years of vital 12"s and remixes, he now draws on everything he has learned and raises his levels with a fully realised debut full length album dropping 9th May, 2025.

Ahead of the LP we present the Experience EP which sees Jimpster and Black Loops himself deliver Dub versions of two of the LP’s highlights; Electrical and Experience. Jimpster kicks off with a stripped back, rolling Italo-inspired groover with touches of modular synth sequences, string stabs and dubbed out vocals. Black Loops follows with his own version keeping the funk factor intact with guitar licks, synth blips and extra fat, moog bassline.

Flip over for the original of Experience featuring Marlena Dae with it’s distinctly 90’s, Vogue-era Madge mood. Black Loops then proceeds to take it to the club on his Dancefloor Dub, stripping out the vocals and working up a punchy, minimal groove for the dancers. Closing out the release we have an exclusive original, not included on the LP entitled Inmasoul. Jazzy, deep beats are the order of the day here, making for a perfect warm up track to set the mood.

South Londons’ indomitable Medlar delivers an ambitious new album

The long-time underground favourite has collaborated with the likes of Dele Sosimi, Rebekah Reid, Deevoenay, Finn Peters, Sam Virdie, Afla Sackey and Arnau Obiols on an album that finds him taking his production to new levels.
From roots playing illegal raves in the South West to building up a cultured catalogue that bounces between house and garage, Medlar has long been part of the underground conversation. He has dropped a previous album and many innovative remixes and edits for the likes of Billy Cobham and Shirley Lites, worked in the studio and on stage with Afro legend Dele Sosimi and most recently released an album under his own name that collected myriad different sonic sketches from the past 15 years.

Islands is an altogether different proposition that comes after establishing himself as a mix engineer and producer of other people's music. In that time, Medlar has honed his skills, learnt new tricks and grown more able to express himself in sound. The result is an album that explores a more electronic palette inspired by '80s fusion sounds whilst maintaining a loose, organic flow through his use of live instrumentation. “The idea for the LP was for a collection of music which could sit alone as club tracks, but would work equally well as part of a whole. The name Islands came from this, as there's some connecting ideas but the tracks sit independently in their own little sonic worlds. I took a lot of inspiration from early 80’s electronic music produced during early years of MIDI technology… proto house, jazz fusion, electronic disco and experimental ambient. I wanted to juxtapose some of these methods with more contemporary production and make something that's ultimately quite fun!” says Medlar of the record which could easily soundtrack a summer road trip.

Across 11 tracks, he blends old-school techniques like a fusion of live instruments, FM synthesis and MIDI triggered vocal samples with more contemporary touches such as punchy, club-friendly drums and dub inspired, speaker-wobbling low end. The result is less reliant on samples than his previous works and makes for a perfect blend of retro authenticity and future freshness.

"Donald Duck, kill Minnie!" These words, ordered with urgency against a circular series of drum strikes and manipulated guitar/electronic textures, come over three fourths of the way through the album known as SYR 5 (aka "Olive's Horn"). While the words and sounds taken on their own may shock, their appearance within this collaborative effort between Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth, Body/Head, solo efforts), Ikue Mori (DNA, solo) and DJ Olive (We, solo) by this point in the album are not surprising. Taken on whole, SYR 5 sees its creators' respective histories forged in the 80s downtown noise scene, No Wave zone and Marclay-inspired club collide head on to create the audio equivalent of a slow-playing J.G. Ballard novel. Starting from the album's initial impressions where shimmering tones are interrupted by the sounds of winding clocks and bird calls before giving way to a cinematic sweeps of percussion, alien samples and blown out wasteland subs, the listener is constantly taken on a guided journey through a waking dream state where anything is possible. It is a world where dub samples, gurling beats and plaintive vocals (as only Gordon can deliver) fit together like the final locking puzzle pieces, the only elements needed to fully grasp a new reality. Re-appearing on vinyl for the first time in 25 years, these sounds have proven to be jaw-droppingly timeless. - Cory Rayborn, 2025

Chitown's DJ SLUGO, self proclaimed "king of ghetto house" drops this 7 track album of "some of the best ghetto house music coming out of Chicago!" If hip house and Miami bass had a bastard lovechild it might sound just like this. Released in time for Record Store Day 2025

On its 40-year anniversary, this crossover dancefloor gem gets a re-issue AND a brand-new remix from Scandinavian superstar OPOLOPO courtesy of the musical melittologists over at A's & Bee's. His remix drops a bassline of all basslines over the Philadelphia quartets rare 1985 mid-tempo groover, giving it a fresh lease of life for the dancefloors of 2025. This is a charity release, and the label will, as ever, donate proceeds to BBKA, who will use the funds to help educate people about the importance of our flying friends, and how to help in their well-being. Limited edition press in a Dylan Kendle designed A's & Bee's sleeve.

Definitive Recordings is proud to announce the reissue of deep house classic "Liferaft" by Juicy Fruit (aka Meredith Ledger), fully remastered and set to breathe new life into one of the 90s' most iconic releases. Originally dropped in 1993, this EP features the original as well as remixes by John Acquaviva and The Stickmen.

The standout title track, "Liferaft", is a rich and soulful deep house gem, built around a captivating piano house theme that harks back to the golden era of house music. The track's groove is driven by a classic house beat and a funky, rhythmic guitar lick that perfectly complements its melodic core. The fresh remaster brings new clarity to its timeless warmth, elevating it for modern sound systems while keeping the vintage charm intact.

House music legend John Acquaviva takes the funky guitar lick and pushes it further into the groove, layering it with a robust and simplistic bassline. His remix evolves into a deep yet vibrant soundscape, showcasing Acquaviva's signature house influence.

The "The Stickmen Dub" intensifies the original's foundation by supplementing it with a hypnotic organ sound. This remix enriches the track with subtle but powerful layers, creating a mood that's both dancefloor-ready and deeply immersive.

Definitive Recordings is excited to share this release with long-time fans and newcomers alike. Whether you're a die-hard house aficionado or just discovering the classics, the "Liferaft" EP is a must-have addition to any collection.

DJ Support: Erol Alkan, Kenneth Bager, Leo Mas, FFan, Sean Johnston (ALFOS), Max Essa, Coyote, Ban Ban Ton Ton, Chris Coco

Hell Yeah series File Under Balearic Gabba continues its mission to bring some vital, previously digital-only Balearic Gabba weaponry to vinyl for the first time. This second volume has artwork by Planet Luke and features Wallace next to new school stars SIRS and Pedro Bertho.

Tartan Records label head and British talent Wallace opens up with a remix of Sewell And The Gong's 'Better Words' that has been a real summer hit for label head Marco Gallerani.

The original came on Jason Boardman's fine Before I Die label and is one of those jams that transcends genre and wins over techno heads, Adriatic beach groovers and festival main stages alike. It is 'proper Balearic Gabba' says Marco with its tropical percussion, humid pads and watery droplets all adding lush atmosphere to the dubby drums. The chords and reedy leads are beautifully delicate but get floors in a blissed-out, loved-up trance.

SIRS is an artist on fire right now and already impressed on this label with his remix of Aura Safari which is one of the year's standout Balearic house jams. He has a new single on the way for Hell Yeah but first flips label mate My Friend Dario's 'Tellaro' into a wobbly, psyched-out dub disco and breakbeat chugger. The zippy synths and shimmering keys are underpinned with a taught bassline and playful vocals that bring great fun and irresistible party vibes to any set.

Hell Yeah mainstay Verdo then has his 'Boulevardier' remixed by Pedro Bertho, a rising talent from Brazil with a steamy South American style. This one is a modern beach classic that unites both young and old heads with its frayed analogue drums and snappy percussion joining the dots between 80s Chicago house, new age and Balearic with its big piano chords and phased bass all getting hands the air.

Five Green Moons is the brand new project from the legendary Justin Robertson and here he drops the first fruits of that project with the incredible Moon 1.

This isn't Justin at his house controls. This is Justin delving into his roots and digging around through the likes of P.I.L, Gang Of Four, On-U-Sound, Current 93, Coil, Sabres Of Paradise and all manner of post punk echoes and basement electronics. As the man himself puts it - Moon 1 is a haunted ballroom full of memories. The sound of a dystopian disco. An object on a wonky orbit. A spectral visitation. And it is alive.

Joni Void, the artistic persona of Montréal-based French-British producer Jean Néant (he/them) returns to songcraft on their warmest and most welcoming record yet, where the acclaimed sampledelic sound collagist chills out with an emotionally resonant song cycle tinged by downtempo, lo-fi, avant-pop, and trip-hop. Guests include Haco, Ytamo, Sook-Yin Lee, Pink Navel and N NAO. Every Life Is A Light expands on Void's recent stylistic turn towards more languorous and mellow lo-fi production, foreshadowed by the drifting looseness and ambient bricolage of their preceding experimental sound-art record. This transitional sensibility now shapes more defined song structures and styles, with loops are given time and space to unspool, and rhythms shot through the softer-focus lens of trip-hop and dub. Every Life Is A Light swaps the twitchy insistence of Void's acclaimed early albums for a newfound lightness and suppleness, still imbued with all the restlessness, sonic detailing, and emotional resonance that made their name. The neurotic brokenmachine kinetics of earlier Void, summarized by Sasha Geffen as "drawing despair and wonder from within the vast unfeeling of digital communication" in an 8.0 Pitchfork review, may be chilling out, but Void is becoming an ever better conjurer of hauntological feeling. Every Life Is A Light summons this in a comparatively buoyant, benevolent, head-nodding journey more open to tenderness and modest joys. Perhaps it's the sound of Void at greater peace with themselves and the world, despite the bittersweet cost: even as it channels grief, memorializing comrades and companions recently deceased, this album wants light. Void's raw materials continue to draw heavily from samples (their own Walkman cassette fieldrecordings and songs by others) and from a wide community of musical guests. Vocalists Haco on "Time Zone" and Ytamo on "Cloud Level" help levitate what could be lost tracks from a mid-90s Too Pure Records compilation of skewed-lounge electronica. Canadian musician Sook-Yin Lee sings on lead single "Vertigo," a sinewy 80bpm tape-loop and bassline groove propelled by psychedelically-layered lyrics that eventually turn the song in on itself entirely, like Grace Jones' "Nightclubbing" covered by Animal Collective. One of Void's greatest hip-hop loves is the Ruby Yacht collective; charter member Pink Navel drops some brilliant verses on "Story Board." The album's two minimal tracks, an extended piano loop set to a slow beat and shimmering electronics on "Muffin-A Song For My Cat" and the languid sampled bass riff and breakbeat of "Event Flow," are perhaps most overtly `lofi chill.' Indeed the whole album could be said to sit adjacent to those viral (if not already AI-generated) genre trends, which maybe begs the question on a lot of our minds: can specificity and authenticity of musical materials still be heard, still meaningfully signify substance and difference, still matter? Perhaps a question that fades in comparison to the career break Void could catch by landing on generic streaming playlists. More likely, these tracks remain too off-kilter, too genuinely lo-fi and ineffable, and too disqualified by the status of its peasant rights-holders, to catch the algos. Context remains the poor cousin of content. Meanwhile Void marches on, as a tireless organizer of local music events, bouncing around and often living in DIY venue, depending on the latest apartment eviction. With an ubiquitous polaroid camera in tow, they also document each communal happening with a single shot (and often a blinding flash bulb): a memory and metaphor for lives illuminated preciously, singularly, `imperfectly' in the moment. Dozens of these polaroids adorn the album's back cover and inner sleeve art in grid-like montages, as a fitting analog for the careful construction, grainy intimate materiality, and ephemeral feeling of these songs. Every Life Is A Light is Joni Void's most coherent and congenial record while relinquishing none of their experimentalist acumen as a producer or emotional attunement as a composer. Instead these qualities flourish, on an album that lights a humble flame for the fragile promise of homespun creative collaboration as unalienated labour and therapeutic communion, making an enchantingly idiosyncratic contribution to downtempo sample music along the way. Thanks for listening.

Robot84 is a master of blending Italo disco and Balearic house into perfectly escapist sounds for grown-up dancefloors and now he returns with Promo Vol 5, another vital drop in his celebrated limited edition vinyl series. This one has four more standout tracks including the lead 'Let's Do It' (Vocal) and its dub counterpart, 'Let's Do It' (Dub) alongside the Balearic-inspired 'Beats From the Far East' (which has already been hammered by the likes of Bill Brewster, Chris Coco and Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy) and the more calming sonic waters of the blissful 'Ambient Love'.

Prince Istari in the 4th Grade of the Riddim Dub School brings a one drop tune on the first side called ‚Gone Too Soon‘. Prince Istari plays here the opening acustic guitar solo. then the tunes flaps into heavy spring reverbation in a drum and bass style just to swing back into a melodic part with some uplifting melancholic mallets solo. On the flipside 'Lost You In A Club‘ a melodica solo and lover rock influenced
disco dub tune will pick you up into gentle rub-a-dub. heavy ibanez hd-1000 harmonizer dubbing on this one!

The hornsman instrumental has a long legacy in the realms of reggae music. Don Drummond, Tommy McCook, Vin Gordon, Rico Rodriguez, Eddie Tan Tan. The list players behind this tradition could go on and on. The notes they played across eras from ska to rock steady to the deepest dubwise steppers bellow through the wind and the wire like a Warrior Charge ….

…It is within this tradition that Ital Counselor’s next weighty contribution to the musical world of QUALITY reggae fits…

…From the very first sonorous note emanating from the mighty Soothsayer’s Horn Section the listener can tell the Dub Organiser means business. That’s right. Once again, the Ital Counselor teams up with Chris Lane of Fashion Records for a cantankerous churning steppers meant to burn out all weak heart sound who try come test.

As evidenced from this 12”s namesake, the humble Soul Dragon Temple of Tone Sound System and IC partners in crime out of Philadelphia, USA, the Soul Dragon Anthem breaths some serious fire. The hard hard rhythm churns relentlessly while the bassline rolls like Dragon’s breath calling all in the dance to spring heel skank straight through all four cuts.

The Dub Organiser stirs a cauldron of dense dub at points conjuring aspects of Lee Perry’s classic Black Ark sound while maintaining his own distinctive spin on the mystical mixing arts. Shards of sound echo and delay. Mr. Lane takes the bassline to aquatic depths as the DRAGON DIVES DEEP……Cut 1…Cut 2…Cut 3…Cut 4…

This one is dedicated to all home town hi-fi’s forwarding reggae and sound system culture outernationally. So without further ado, all soundman and woman worth your salt it is time to DROP the needle on this track. Watch the Dragon FLY and let the Dub Organiser and the Soothsayer Horn’s “Soul Dragon Anthem” BREATH FIRE through your SPEAKER BOX!!!!!!

In the late 1980s, as techno and house made its way around Europe, mutating as it hopped from city to city, one young DJ from Curacao made a mistake that would inspire a brand new sound. While he was performing at Den Haag's Club Voltage, DJ Moortje accidentally dropped a dancehall track at 45RPM rather than 33, and let it play out. Thirsty for a hi-NRG sound, the crowd loved the squeaky vocals and rapid beat, and bubbling (or bubbling house) was born.For the next couple of decades, bubbling was a crucial part of Holland's Afro-diasporic club landscape. And as a new generation of wide-eyed young DJs and producers began to take the reins, it evolved accordingly. In the late-2000s, Den Haag-based teenage prodigy Guillermo Schuurman followed in the footsteps of his uncle DJ Chippie (one of the genre's co-founders) and cousins DJ Daycard, DJ Master-D, Stiko Jnr and DJ Justme, and began performing and writing beats. Using Fruityloops, he fused familiar bubbling rhythms with rap and R&B samples, trance synths and electro house wobbles, and his tracks quickly became a regular fixture on the Dutch circuit."Bubbling Inside" is a collection of Schuurman's most essential cuts from the era (2007-2009), with a couple of newer productions added for context. Crafted solely for the dance, most of these tracks were never properly released and have been painstakingly hunted down and collected by the Nyege Nyege Tapes together with Sascha Roth from Pantropical in Rotterdam and De Schuurman himself. Hearing them together highlights just how forward thinking the young producer was, steering a Dutch institution into the future.2008's 'First One' is a proto-Berghain belter, with booming bass-heavy kicks underpinning the kind of cheeky melodies that remain the calling card of the genre. 'Pier Je Bil!!' ratchets up the tempo, twisting bubbling's syncopated dancehall kicks into a rapid-fire club clatter and decorating them with steel-pan melodies. Elsewhere, 2019's 'Domina' shows how Schuurman's production style has developed as he mutates trap percussion, dubstep bass and eerie synth textures, while retaining the DNA of bubbling. "Bubbling Inside" is a testament to the evolution of the bubbling genre, as witnessed by one of its most visionary producers.

In the late 1980s, as techno and house made its way around Europe, mutating as it hopped from city to city, one young DJ from Curacao made a mistake that would inspire a brand new sound. While he was performing at Den Haag's Club Voltage, DJ Moortje accidentally dropped a dancehall track at 45RPM rather than 33, and let it play out. Thirsty for a hi-NRG sound, the crowd loved the squeaky vocals and rapid beat, and bubbling (or bubbling house) was born.For the next couple of decades, bubbling was a crucial part of Holland's Afro-diasporic club landscape. And as a new generation of wide-eyed young DJs and producers began to take the reins, it evolved accordingly. In the late-2000s, Den Haag-based teenage prodigy Guillermo Schuurman followed in the footsteps of his uncle DJ Chippie (one of the genre's co-founders) and cousins DJ Daycard, DJ Master-D, Stiko Jnr and DJ Justme, and began performing and writing beats. Using Fruityloops, he fused familiar bubbling rhythms with rap and R&B samples, trance synths and electro house wobbles, and his tracks quickly became a regular fixture on the Dutch circuit."Bubbling Inside" is a collection of Schuurman's most essential cuts from the era (2007-2009), with a couple of newer productions added for context. Crafted solely for the dance, most of these tracks were never properly released and have been painstakingly hunted down and collected by the Nyege Nyege Tapes together with Sascha Roth from Pantropical in Rotterdam and De Schuurman himself. Hearing them together highlights just how forward thinking the young producer was, steering a Dutch institution into the future.2008's 'First One' is a proto-Berghain belter, with booming bass-heavy kicks underpinning the kind of cheeky melodies that remain the calling card of the genre. 'Pier Je Bil!!' ratchets up the tempo, twisting bubbling's syncopated dancehall kicks into a rapid-fire club clatter and decorating them with steel-pan melodies. Elsewhere, 2019's 'Domina' shows how Schuurman's production style has developed as he mutates trap percussion, dubstep bass and eerie synth textures, while retaining the DNA of bubbling. "Bubbling Inside" is a testament to the evolution of the bubbling genre, as witnessed by one of its most visionary producers.

Volume 1 of this expertly curated project of 90s Italian House - put together by Don Carlos.

If Paradise was half as nice… by Fabio De Luca.

Googling “paradise house”, the first results to pop up are an endless list of European b&b’s with whitewashed lime façades, all of them promising “…an unmatched travel experience a few steps from the sea”. Next, a little further down, are the institutional websites of a few select semi-luxury retirement homes (no photos shown, but lots of stock images of smiling nurses with reassuring looks). To find the “paradise house” we’re after, we have to scroll even further down. Much further down.

It feels like yesterday, and at the same time it seems like a million years ago. The Eighties had just ended, and it was still unclear what to expect from the Nineties. Mobile phones that were not the size of a briefcase and did not cost as much as a car? A frightening economic crisis? The guitar-rock revival?! Certainly, the best place to observe that moment of transition was the dancefloor. Truly epochal transformations were happening there. From America, within a short distance one from the other, two revolutionary new musical styles had arrived: the first one sounded a bit like an “on a budget” version of the best Seventies disco-music – Philly sound made with a set of piano-bar keyboards! – the other was even more sparse, futuristic and extraterrestrial. It was a music with a quite distinct “physical” component, which at the same time, to be fully grasped, seemed to call for the knotty theories of certain French post-modern philosophers: Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Paul Virilio... Both those genres – we would learn shortly after – were born in the black communities of Chicago and Detroit, although listening to those vinyl 12” (often wrapped in generic white covers, and with little indication in the label) you could not easily guess whether behind them there was a black boy from somewhere in the Usa, or a girl from Berlin, or a pale kid from a Cornish coastal town.

Quickly, similar sounds began to show up from all corners of Europe. A thousand variations of the same intuition: leaner, less lean, happier, slightly less intoxicated, more broken, slower, faster, much faster... Boom! From the dancefloors – the London ones at least, whose chronicles we eagerly read every month in the pages of The Face and i-D – came tales of a new generation of clubbers who had completely stopped “dressing up” to go dancing; of hot tempered hooligans bursting into tears and hugging everyone under the strobe lights as the notes of Strings of Life rose up through the fumes of dry ice (certain “smiling” pills were also involved, sure). At this point, however, we must move on to Switzerland.

In Switzerland, in the quiet and diligent town of Lugano, between the 1980s and 1990s there was a club called “Morandi”. Its hot night was on Wednesdays, when the audience also came from Milan, Como, Varese and Zurich. Legend goes that, one night, none less than Prince and Sheila E were spotted hiding among the sofas, on a day-off of the Italian dates of the Nude Tour… The Wednesday resident and superstar was an Italian dj with an exotic name: Don Carlos. The soundtrack he devised was a mixture of Chicago, Detroit, the most progressive R&B and certain forgotten classics of old disco music: practically, what the Paradise Garage in New York might have sounded like had it not closed in 1987. In between, Don Carlos also managed to squeeze in some tracks he had worked on in his studio on Lago Maggiore. One in particular: a track that was rather slow compared to the BPM in fashion at the time, but which was a perfect bridge between house and R&B. The title was Alone: Don Carlos would explain years later that it had to be intended both in the English meaning of “by itself” and like the Italian word meaning “halo”. That wasn’t the only double entendre about the song, anyway. Its own very deep nature was, indeed, double. On the one hand, Alone was built around an angelic keyboard pattern and a romantic piano riff that took you straight to heaven; on the other, it showcased enough electronic squelches (plus a sax part that sounded like it had been dissolved by acid rain) to pigeonhole the tune into the “junk modernity” section, aka the hallmark of all the most innovative sounds of the time: music that sounded like it was hand-crafted from the scraps of glittering overground pop.

No one knows who was the first to call it “paradise house”, nor when it happened. Alternative definitions on the same topic one happened to hear included “ambient house”, “dream house”, “Mediterranean progressive”… but of course none were as good (and alluring) as “paradise house”. What is certain is that such inclination for sounds that were in equal measure angelic and neurotic, romantic and unaffective, quickly became the trademark of the second generation of Italian house. Music that seemed shyly equidistant from all the rhythmic and electronic revolutions that had happened up to that moment (“Music perfectly adept at going nowhere slowly” as noted by English journalist Craig McLean in a legendary field report for Blah Blah Blah magazine). Music that to a inattentive ear might have sounded as anonymous as a snapshot of a random group of passers-by at 10AM in the centre of any major city, but perfectly described the (slow) awakening in the real world after the universal love binge of the so-called Second Summer of Love.

For a brief but unforgettable season, in Italy “paradise house” was the official soundtrack of interminable weekends spent inside the car, darting from one club to another, cutting the peninsula from North to centre, from East to West coast in pursuit of the latest after-hours disco, trading kilometres per hour with beats per minute: practically, a new New Year’s Eve every Friday and Saturday night. This too was no small transformation, as well as a shock for an adult Italy that was encountering for the first time – thanks to its sons and daughters – the wild side of industrial modernity. The clubbers of the so-called “fuoriorario” scene were the balls gone mad in the pinball machine most feared by newspapers, magazines and TV pundits. What they did each and every weekend, apart from going crazy to the sound of the current white labels, was linking distant geographical points and non-places (thank you Marc Augé!) – old dance halls, farmhouses and business centres – transformed for one night into house music heaven. As Marco D’Eramo wrote in his 1995 essay on Chicago, Il maiale e il grattacielo: “Four-wheeled capitalism distorts our age-old image of the city, it allows the suburbs to be connected to each other, whereas before they were connected only by the centre (…) It makes possible a metropolitan area without a metropolis, without a city centre, without downtown. The periphery is no longer a periphery of any centre, but is self-centred”.

“Paradise house” perfectly understood all of this and turned it into a sort of cyber-blues that didn’t even need words, and unexpectedly brought back a drop of melancholic (post?)-humanity within a world that by then – as we would wholly realise in the decades to come – was fully inhuman and heartless. A world where we were all alone, and surrounded by a sinister yellowish halo, like a neon at the end of its life cycle. But, for one night at least, happy.

Veyl is pleased to welcome Harlem back to the label with a new 8 track LP titled Cage. The Stockholm-based duo of Martin Thomasson and Johan Skugge last appeared on the imprint with 2021’s, Bait, and the project now returns diving deeper in to their infectious cocktail of menacing electronics.

Bringing with them a vast body of work, ranging from dub to minimal techno, with Harlem the pair fuse electro, no wave, post-punk, disco, proto-body, dub, hip-hop, and grime, creating a unique sound that cannot be categorized. Cage opens with “Shut Your Body”, a muscular piece which drills into the surface, setting the stage for what’s to come. Next up is “Fantasy Scan” a dance floor ready jam that picks up the pace and lures us into the pleasure dome. “Blow by Blow” brings a nihilistic energy to a fictional scenario that takes its cues from the past while remaining firmly in the now.

“Kiss The Steel” continues on the slow burning path, dropping us into a dream like state, blurring the lines of reality and plunging us into a surrealist nightmare or reverie? “Dummy Up” comes roaring back, injecting a dose of electro and body that sounds like a soundtrack to your favorite cult gathering. With “Sleuth”, we hear the repetitive grind of a man at work, searching for the unknown, unlocking new mysteries along the way. As we head toward the finale, “Contact High” brings back a seductive dance, ready to movie bodies and stir emotions. Closing things out is “Wiggle Walker”, returning us to a drifter’s journey, a wanderer’s melody that carries us to the end, or is it just the beginning?

A1. WISER THAN BEFORE
This track new Jungle sound with a new rock synth keeping with the Jungle breaks with a nice kick to boot. Vocals by Black Slate.

A2. PEACE & LOVE
This track captures the reggae vibez with a one drop with Jungle breaks n rock synths. This choon is so appropriate for the times we're in. Vocals by Echo

AA1. WHO ARE WE
This track capturing the reggae vibez with a one drop n rock synths... A proppa festival choon. Vocals by Steven Marley

AA2. POWER
This formidable track captures the essence of reggae with rock synths n vocals by Matthew Bento.

Producer: NASTYRCK

A brand new collaboration between established saxophonist and flautist Sarah Tobias and veteran Jamaican producer, drummer and one-time member of the Cimarons.

`The Reggae Panther’ is a cover version of one of the most distinctive instrumentals and melodies of all time.

Dropping in a jazzy reggae style backed with a raw-to-the-bone stripped-down dub cut, mixed by Dougie Wardrop.

Vin Gordon, also known as Don Drummond Jr, is a celebrated trombonist from Jamaica who now drops a second 12" on Finnish Dub & Sound International with the Dubsetters. It carries on the good work of their first outing with rootsy and organic reggae rhythms topped with the signature smooth sounds of Gordon's melodies up top. After the original version of 'Get On The Groove', the B-side keeps things sweet with a Groove Dub that is as deep as they come and stacked with echo and reverb for that lovely authentic sound and then closing it out is 'Groove 78 Style' which is more percussive, splashy and cavernous with some deft studio effects added in.

Although many a vibe has shifted since the days of dubbing NNF001 one at a time on the floor of a Koreatown bachelor apartment in February of 2004, using stolen photocopies and tie-dyeing J-cards with wine, the label’s essential premise has not. Then, as now, the vision was to elevate and enshrine outsiders, foragers, hidden gems, and hybrid sounds on cheap tapes or affordable records, to be savoured and shared in the here and now. 399 catalogue titles later, the centre still holds.

To toast the label’s 20th anniversary and 400th release, we commissioned a gold roll call of alumni and affiliates: Alley Of The Sun. Named in homage to the Malibu mystic music fountainhead, skewed through a smoggy sideways lens, the 16-song, 90-minute, double LP suite spans every shade of NNF’s Pacific palette: rainforest ceremony, skyway motorik, Tascam rapture, silhouette shoegaze, basement vapour, astral ascension, jazz shadows, 5th world tropics, lucid dream drone, desert quests, prophecy electronics, ritual wreckage.

Equal parts snapshot, tapestry, and time capsule, the compilation reflects the breadth of NNF’s two-decade exploration and evolution, from simple soil to a sea of dunes. True undergrounds have no set sound or fixed polarity, only flashes of transient magic and forking paths, to be cherished and championed for as long as the candle lasts.

Second drop of dubbed-out club experiments, soundscapes and up-tempo beats from the dark side by Doc Sleep and Delta Rain Dance

Stretch and Enjoy returns to the AKO Arcade Series with two soulful jungle grooves.

Share your dub is a groove that rolls and then the amen drops with edits and deep subs but doesn't lose that soulful element and keeps moving on the dance floor.

Hold On is a soulful jungle banger that just rolls and rolls which takes you on a journey with sweet vocals, melodic pads, rolling breaks, and deep bass lines. One for the movers and groovers.

RSD 2024

First time ever release on vinyl format. 180 GRAM BLACK VINYL. After The Sabres of Paradise split in 1995 Andrew Weatherall underwent one of many reinventions. He began working with Keith Tenniswood as Two Lone Swordsmen which released several records on the Warp label, set up a new electronic imprint under the Rotters Golf Club banner and fully explored new DJ personas departing from his house-based sets into dub, electronica and rockabilly. Renowned for unconventional sets where he’d raise the roof dropping an unexpected but exactly right track into the mix, he’d push the audience to new heights by introducing them to music they’d never even thought of exploring. The experiments went down especially well in Japan where he’d tour playing solo sets as well as performing alongside pioneers like Underworld, Adrian Sherwood and The Orb. In 2003 his new label, Rotters Golf Club, was approached by the Italian fashion house Emigliano Zegna to create some music to help launch their first foray into Japan. Andrew always had a keen eye for quality and agreed to provide some music. At the time it wasn’t envisaged as an album. He’d just grabbed some tracks he and Keith had been working on, polished them up and swapped them for a small advance and a large raid on their Bond Street store. He then let them get on with the release and turned his attention to the next TLS album proper. This was Double Gone Chapel where rock and psychobilly were mixed in with electronica and controversially Andrew added his own vocals. The Zegna album ‘Still My World’ was sidelined by a live band and a whole new direction. Andrew’s untimely death refocused attention on his historical recordings and ‘Still My World’, previously only released on CD in Japan, now sees the light of day in the rest of the world.

**AVAILABLE ON VERY LIMITED CLEAR PURPLE VINYL / 100 COPIES ONLY** - This is the 1995 remix version of the album - Never before released on vinyl - Remastered and cut to lacquer - Same front cover as the original though the back has been altered - The inner sleeve contains liner notes explaining the genesis of the remix - FFO: MC5, The Stooges, The Saints Living Eyes was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales during a break in the band’s 1978 tour of Britain and Europe. Relations between members were falling apart and Sire had dropped the band prior to the start of recording. Their breakup soon followed. Initial releases of the album were cut from a tape dub of trial mixes as the band never received an official master. In 1994 the original tapes were retrieved from Rockfield and remixed in Australia for a CD only release. This is the first time the remix version has been released on vinyl. It has been remaster and cut to lacquer.

**AVAILABLE ON VERY LIMITED CLEAR PURPLE VINYL / 100 COPIES ONLY** - This is the 1995 remix version of the album - Never before released on vinyl - Remastered and cut to lacquer - Same front cover as the original though the back has been altered - The inner sleeve contains liner notes explaining the genesis of the remix - FFO: MC5, The Stooges, The Saints Living Eyes was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales during a break in the band’s 1978 tour of Britain and Europe. Relations between members were falling apart and Sire had dropped the band prior to the start of recording. Their breakup soon followed. Initial releases of the album were cut from a tape dub of trial mixes as the band never received an official master. In 1994 the original tapes were retrieved from Rockfield and remixed in Australia for a CD only release. This is the first time the remix version has been released on vinyl. It has been remaster and cut to lacquer.

This one is highly recommended for fans of Khruangbin, Lord Echo, Leon Bridges or Fat Freddy's Drop.

Open is the sixth studio album from acclaimed composer, producer, filmmaker and multi-instrumentalist, Kutiman. It is an addictive & irresistible twelve-track trip taking in elements of classic soul, Middle Eastern psychedelia, Afrobeat, Thai funk, jazz fusion, cosmic library soundscapes and more.

The uptempo “Vanishing Point” opens proceedings, recalling both Abstract Orchestra’s 2017 Dilla tribute and the lounge OST/library music flips of Tosca and DJ Vadim fame.

My Everything introduces prominent guest & frequent Kutiman collaborator, Dekel, whose soul-pop vocals coupled with jangly acoustic guitar riffs tip to contemporary indie artists such as Michael Kiwanuka and SAULT. “A Day Off passes through” Anatolian psych and Khruangbin-esque Thai funk whilst the afrobeat/jazz fusion “Confetti” pays tribute to Kutiman’s other namesake, Fela Kuti.

Dekel rejoins for the beatdown, lilting dub-soul “Believe In You” with hints of Lord Echo and the sun-inflected New Zealand dub-soul sound. The Tuareg-leaning guitar lines on “Canoe” travel across the Saharan desert easterly towards Sudan and Ethiopia by the end, whilst meditative and Coltrane-adjacent album closer “Ripples” provides a final moment of reflection from a truly global excursion of soundscapes.

A next salvo of big people dubwise out of the ITAL COUNSELOR stable comes on this, the label’s first foray into the 7” format.

This relick of the legendary Black Brothers 1970s dub plate is perfectly crafted for dropping at the deepest of sound system sessions or right on your home hi-fi for some front room skanking. This is in no small part due to the pedigree of artists who contributed to its creation.

Hughie Izachaar first started in the reggae business as part of obscure UK band, Black Brothers, during the heady days of the late 70s and early 80s. Only known to have recorded two legendary dub plates, the band never committed their music to plastic. A multi-instrumentalist versed in the art of playing the melodica and guitar as well as singing, Izachaar went on to join the band, The Original Rockers, with whom he recorded the underground classic, “Mountain Rock.” Into the 90s and through the 2000s he has been heard across a number of 7”, 10”s, 12”s, and LPs on labels such as Reggae on Top, Jah Warrior, Inner Sanctuary, and King Earthquake.

On this release, he is reunited with the equally esteemed Jah Warrior who was responsible for Hughie’s high water mark showcase, “Can’t Take the Pressure” in 1998. Jah Warrior’s usual hard and strident steppers vibrations are in attendance here.

Uniquely, this 7” represents the first time Hughie and Jah Warrior have been combined with the third ingredient in this musical stew. Another long-time music industry journey man, Gil “Tuff Scout” Cang, augments the sound with additional production and remixing. A veteran of Studio One, Riz Records, and Tuff Scout, not to mention innumerable soul, acid jazz, and pop productions, Gil adds that “little way different” touch that has become a defining character of ITAL COUNSELOR productions.

As the saying goes: If you don’t know, get to know. Neither your ears, your skanking feet, or your soul will be disappointed!

Formed in 2019, Lawne is the result of a meeting of minds between old friends and self confessed music nerds Joe Nicklin and Joe Martin. Their sound draws upon myriad influences with dub, electronics, hip hop, psych, jazz, post-punk and Afrobeat all somehow ingrained within the mix.

It's something that evolved during at a time of change for both of them, as Joe Nicklin explains:

"The start of this project coincided with me moving onto a canal boat, which was a hugely rewarding time of my life but not without its challenges. You can hear some of my boating vents coming through in the lyrics of Beta Pan and Ame Tova.

Another challenge during this time was trying to figure out a way of still playing and recording drums that wasn't going to break the bank. I decided to start renting a tiny storage space near Caledonian Road in North London, that I would convert into a makeshift studio and soon learned that corrugated iron sheets aren't the best walls for a drum booth. My friend cut me some curtains and a few egg boxes later we were able to insulate the thing, sort of.

These limitations meant that we had to keep recordings pretty simple and I feel like this set the tone for the whole record. Whether it was digging out my childhood bass guitar for Joe to play, squeezing every last drop out of Logic presets or mumbling into a SM57 for the first time, we made do with what we had and I'm proud of the charming thing we were able to create. I felt like I was learning on the job at times for this album and I'm grateful for what it has taught me, whilst being excited for what we can do next. As I was moving off the water and out of my lockup, the album masters were also starting to trickle through. A fitting close to that chapter of my life and the making of our first album."

Joe Martin reflects more on how their unique sound came about:

"It's interesting thinking back to the sound we were exploring when we first started writing together, and how different much of the record is to that original sound. We didn't set out a clear musical direction and that meant we were rarely constrained stylistically, we could shift between genres and feels and grooves, take inspiration from the new and the old and it still sat comfortably with what we were trying to do. I think the eight tracks we landed on illustrates that nicely.

The record's named after the self storage unit we used as a studio for many years, there's something quite poetic about parting ways with the space within weeks of the album coming out; a final homage to the place it all started."