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After a short break Samosa Records explodes back on the scene with ‘Earth Wind & Funk’, a deadly four-tracker EP that is sure to get the juices flowing and body moving.

A1 sees New Zealander producer ‘Strange’ make a most welcome return, spinning the funk loom with the ‘Hard Working’ (De Gama Re-Drums). A truly addictive and distinctive bassline sets the pace, tone and feel for this gorgeously constructed track. It has it all; sumptuous vocal, high-end brass and an acid squelch to die for. Dig it, you will.

A2 lands with Frank Virgilio’s ‘Love Is Positivity’ – a melting pot of twisted disco, feel-good scatty rhythm and lifting vocals. The melody is literally dripping with positivity, but also has an almost transcendental vibe secretly going on. The last drops of summer are right here. Enjoy them.

On the B-side, Mosaik Kollektive raise the temperature with the De Gama Re-Drums applied ‘Keep’. A tough, perfectly cooked groove that gets right in your face and makes no apologies for screaming at you. The bass on this unstoppable monster is all-consuming. Rhythm guitar licks blend with soaring strings and that’s the full basket. Sublime meaty goodness.

Closing matters for this incredible EP at B2 is the effervescent Monsieur Van Pratt and Funk De Ibiza. MVP stretches his funky legs to the full here, laying down a solid beat, arpeggio and a bass so tough you could train it to box. Expertly blended with J-pop-esque vocal and shrill church organ. Drop this at midnight and watch the carnage unfold and hands in the air.

Earth, Wind and Funk is the exposure to the elements you absolutely want. A more perfect slice of wax you couldn’t find and one that’s sure to find its way into the record boxes of those who know.

Lyra Valenza set the tone for their first full-length album ‘Low Gear No Pressure’ with an idyllic ambience, which then tumbles into feisty, heartfelt dance workouts. Across eight tracks, the Danish duo explore the pixellated euphoria of their previous ‘Scan, Deliver’ and ‘Nightshade Edition’ EPs with a more focused sensitivity. At the start of 2020, Lyra Valenza had been freshly nominated by music platform SHAPE. With the pandemic in hand, however, plans changed: instead of playing a slew of festivals, the duo spent weeks in a summer house in rural Sjælland, right at Denmark’s North Eastern coast, making early versions of the tracks in this album. ‘Low Gear No Pressure’ refers to the unusual calmness of that time, away from music industry stress and burnout; inspired by friendship. More than previous EPs, the album is shaped by the duo’s live set, which they’ve been performing in Denmark and Europe for many years now. The album breezes through different modes with confidence and ease, tracks morphing fluidly into one another to create a cohesive listening experience. A cool, expansive breakbeat on track two, ‘True Computer’, hints at the psychoactive journey to follow. ‘Truthwork’ plays with arps over a half time groove: subtle synths which reach their final form in ‘Joy Divided’. These agile swells and drops recall peers-in-precision Minor Science and 96 Back. On the flip, ‘Gameshow’ looks back over one shoulder to eurodance, while ‘Life on the Line’ goes out to the soulful junglists, but with a touches of trance in the samplework. On ‘Who Might Win’, the album’s ecstatic hyperactiveness melts into a slo-mo heartbeat, reminding us there’s a chillout room somewhere in the building. And just when we think it’s time to go home, the album gifts us with “one more tune”, and the soaring pop vocals of featured artist Saltmother on ‘Stretch Your Arms’.

2023 Reissue

Berlin based HipHop producer S. Fidelity presents his sophomore and full packaged concept album “Fidelity Radio Club” via Jakarta Records.

Four years after his Jakarta Records debut “A Safe Place to Be Naked” S. Fidelity has matured as a producer and as an artist: working and recording in London, Los Angeles, Paris and Johannesburg while building up his Manolo Purple Studios in Berlin with longtime collaborator, labelmate and soul brother Bluestaeb.

In 2021 S. Fidelity finally returns to the main program with his brand new solo album “Fidelity Radio Club” shaped in form of a genre crossing radio show exploring HipHop, R&B, Jazz, House and Funk in all their depths, creating the multi-layered album he always dreamt to do as he orchestrates a stoking line-up of equally talented friends and fellows like Bluestaeb, Melodiesinfonie, Suff Daddy, K, Le Maestro, Àbáse and many more while still delivering that very personal note every classic producer album needs and comes with. Or as the artist himself would put it: “17 different artists, producers and instrumentalists from all over the world helped me to bring this vision to life.”

According to that the albums 1st single features Singer NDO from Florida, giving life to the hard hitting R&B gem “Mixed Signals” where warm neo soul harmonies meet with classic R&B vibes of early 2000. The song made it to Spotify’s Butter Playlist right away and was picked for Deezer’s “Date Night” Playlist and Apple Music’s New Music Daily as well and received shout outs and further Playlist-placements by music blogs like Stereofox or MOW Mag.

The 2nd single comes as a double single featuring pianist, producer and main protagonist of Berlin’s prog-jazz scene Àbáse on “Me At The Zoo” (reminding its listeners of London’s new wave of jazz around Kamaal Williams or Yussef Dayes) on one side and the energetic, funk influenced disco tune “Something Good” on the other side.

The 3rd and final single “Love International Inc.” then comes with a bumpy up tempo drum beat, which develops into an energetic and jazzy lo-fi house/deep house loop, featuring none other than Zürich’s finest Melodiesinfonie as well as Paris-based Bluestaeb, marking this supergroup’s 2nd appearance and giving a glimpse of what’s yet to come.

Each of the album’s single cuts comes with a visual treatment by HipHop’s favorite photographer Robert Winter and his team (The Ottos), matching sound and artwork accordingly while the record’s amazing and unique artwork comes from the Swiss based creative studio HOMI. The record itself contains a sticker sheet with customized S. Fidelity and “Fidelity Radio Club” stickers as well.

The whole album campaign is further accompanied by the Fidelity Radio Show hosted by S. Fidelity himself, sitting down with his featured guests talking about the music they love and they draw inspiration from – broadcasted via S. Fidelity’s own youtube channel releasing its episodes in between the album’s single drops.

*BLACK FRIDAY RELEASE 2023* 1978 -2013 Home recordings from founding member of The Bats and OG member of The Clean, Robert Scott's "Family Band", Electric Blood. Record Store Day Black Friday 2023 Exclusive variant Transparent black with blood drops 150g vinyl Wide spine jacket with 2 printed Euro sleeves

Nothing in Narciso's (known) background indicated these 10 minutes of tension and release, a soundtrack to some nameless anticipation. Soundtrack, also, to a dance piece on video by choreographer Catarina Miranda produced in 2021.

It is certainly nothing one would expect to hear in one of his regular DJ sets. A long, moody intro appears to chart a difficult journey under heavy clouds, until the drums manifest themselves first as a sort of warning, or preparation, maybe a signal, maybe just warming up for the steady kick drum that follows, a clean 4/4 beat complemented by broken off-rhythms and sparse percussion that seem to run parallel in observation of the main event.

Clouds definitely open up towards the end. Crystalline drops brighten the sonic mood. Quite a unique experiment in Narciso's body of work, undertaken during a period when the DJ and producer, feeling unmotivated, decided to relax from detailed planning and instead allowed himself to flow along with the sounds, expanding possibilities and actually breaking free from previous notions of composition.

»In Words« is the first solo album by the Danish musician, composer, and visual artist Alexander Tillegreen. The album represents a series of varied electronic music pieces while also carrying examples of ongoing work with psychoacoustic phenomena. Composed partly of material taken from his artistic practice as an installation artist and his ongoing interdisciplinary artistic research into psychoacoustic phenomena, Tillegreen investigates subjective sonic perception and the negotiation of language. Particularly, these investigations are done through the use of the phantom word illusion, originally discovered by music psychologist Diana Deutsch. Parts of the album were conceived when Tillegreen was the first artist ever in resident at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics. Triggering the brain’s tendency to interpret language-based auditory illusions as meaningful information and as words within the mind of the listener, Tillegreen’s unique sound works unfold like a kaleidoscope of phonetic mirrors which render possibilities to reflect upon the listener’s own psychological and culturally situated linguistic embeddedness. Gender-distorted voice perception, speech and language borders are all challenged and thematized throughout Tillegreen’s work. The listener’s head and bodily movement drastically affect the listening and the word interpretation. Their psychological subconsciousness, recent events, memories, and expectations as well as the listener’s motion in space all become co-creative and co- composing factors in a reactive and choreographic process of listening. The polyrhythmic seriality of spatialized syllabic structures is accompanied by elements of heavy bass drops, high-frequency tensions, undulating synth lines, and hypnotic effects. Some of the many compositional potentials of the phantom word illusions are exercised and unfolded in selected tracks throughout the album. The notion of language borders is approached from an entirely different and even more “anti-logocentric” perspective on the “eponymous” closing track »Assimilate (in Words)«, where the listener experiences the struggle and collapse of interpersonal communication through conversation. Other parts of the album represent more diverse approaches to abstract electronic music. »In Words« morphs soundscapes into glacial, spherical passages of ambient backdrops, while at other times emphasizes raw tectonic blocks of hyper-panning drones that erupt into high-velocity outlets of energetic, granular fields. Tillegreen is alternating between cyclical, minimalist, hypnotic approaches and complex, glitchy polyrhythmic melodic structures that shift and melt into evocative ambiences. The phantom words and the nature of Tillegreen’s musical visions progressively demand more of the listener’s attention and represent the artist’s ongoing artistic work and scientific research into psychoacoustics and language. While »In Words« is a highly conceptual album, the musical bandwidth is extensive.

George Davis drops part 2 of his ‘Ona’ EP: heavenly house featuring a remix by the legendary Roy Davis Jr.
kickin’ up dust drops part 2 of the ‘Ona’ EP by George Davis. A jazzy bassline, snazzy piano keys and a rhythmical vocal send hips swinging and shoulders shaking in ‘Gomera’, a track which Chicagoan legend Roy Davis Jr. then remixes with a ‘Chitown Vibe’. Squelchy synths and organic percussion enter his version with a stylish swagger, maintaining the keys while moving the vocals to the back of the mix. Next up, ‘Bumpa’ is built for the dancefloor, an infectious groove forming the base for whimsical flute-like melodies, before ‘Soul Journey’ closes out the record with a gorgeous slow-burning vision of sunset shores and distant views.
Following on from his first ‘Ona’ EP which dropped on kickin’ up dust in March, and which won the support of artists like Honey Dijon, Nightmares On Wax, DJ Sneak and many more, George Davis now drops part two in the series. The german label, which initially started in 2021 as a party in the techno capital of Berlin, first turned heads hosting artists with a funkier edge to them such as Maurice Fulton, DJ Deep, and Louie Vega.

Circular patterns morphing through time, loop and ritual form the fabric of Proserpine, the latest work by Leeds-based musician, Teresa Winter. Recorded from a summer to a winter through 2021 and 2022, Proserpine is Winter's most cohesive, focused music to date: confidently revelling in space, fixating on isolated sounds and giving way to satisfying, swirling waves of vocal and electronic buzz. Proserpine is Teresa Winter's debut recording for Glasgow-based label, Night School.

On Proserpine, musical patterns revolve and intersect with each other, transmogrifying the music's narrative. Over-arching themes emerge: continual change, elusiveness. Insubstantiality emerges into concrete reality in the form of recognisable field recordings: the purring of a pet cat, the hum of a live cable. The loops and patterns are sometimes just out of sight, the click and whirl on Child Of Nature is the backdrop to hymnal vocalisations by Winter, who intones spell-like text in conversation with herself. On opener Circles, Winter's vocal is pre-linguistic, detached syllables falling into flowing streams, before Plume's field recordings seem to juxtapose nocturnal and diurnal wildlife. "You said I was a Flower Of The Mountain" sings Winter, as James Joyce's Molly Bloom does but the carpe diem desire in Ulysses is dissipated here, spread out by gauzy, droning organs. Here desire is blown up and out, changed into something undefinable but no less powerful.

Change is at the heart of the album. The Roman goddess Proserpine, herself a reimagined version of the earlier Greek goddess Persephone, is always between: between summer and winter, the land of the living and the underworld, constantly emerging into new states of being. It's a fitting metaphor for Winter's work. Like an Apple feels like it soundtracks this in-between state, long, trailing reverb smudging synth keys and Winter's achingly beautiful vocal performance. The effect is stirring but flitting in and out of perception, sometimes Winter's presence feels of this world, of musical instruments and practises and at others it feels like the music is about to phase into a different plane, a different universe.

While Proserpine references the myths and cults of the classical, pre-Christian era, Winter's restless preoccupation with the mechanics of religion informs the album in other ways. Ritual is present through out, either in the mantra-like vocalisations or even the private rituals we are invited to witness: on Fireworks the listener eave drops into the protagonist's private bonfire. On the stunning Lamento, layers of Choral vocal interlock in celestial patterns that recall catholic mass: it's an overt effect that simulates the ecstasy of religious fervour and also reminds the listener of the use of vocal that runs through Proserpine. Winter's vocals often echo with the euphoria of obliteration, of disintegrating in an awful bliss. It's an effect achieved with finality by the closer New Water as the piece begins with voice before burning up in the atmosphere of elegiac violins and enveloping undertows of whirring synth patterns and ghostly pads. Proserpine is forever turning, changing, always elusive and quietly revelatory.

New York techno luminary Adam X debuts on Pinkman with 4 tabs of extra-strength acid specially designed for peak-time club sets. Opening in typically thunderous fashion, the overdriven kick of A1's aptly-named Laying It On Thick sets a tone that doesn't relent for the duration of the record. No-nonsense and straight to the action, Adam X's distinct approach to crafting dancefloor hits shines throughout as multiple 303 refrains weave through stripped back drum patterns for unforgettably hypnotic results. While A2's Trailing Effect drops the tempo a couple of notches, its head-scrambling acid psychedelia would take any bustling dancefloor on a trip long into the early hours. The three remaining tracks give no let-up, fostering a frenetic energy that just can't be contained. In the game since the very beginning, the Sonic Groove label-head has dedicated years to his craft and they're all on display here with slick, classy productions that punch through the speakers to move bodies and minds.

Emerging from the cold echoes of Reykjavík's underground music scene, ex.girls, previously known as Russian Girls, chart an inspiring journey from inception to international recognition. Founded in 2017 as a personal venture by Guðlaugur Einarsson, the act soon evolved into a vibrant, collaborative platform for kindred spirits bonded by an unyielding passion for music.

The project consists of three: frontman Tatjana Dís on vocals, alongside Guðlaugur Einarsson and Gylfi Sigurðsson. Their kinship took root at their erstwhile studio on Skúlagata in Reykjavík, where this creative sanctum became a melting pot of musical exploration, learning, and leisurely hangouts. Guðlaugur and Tantjana also ride the waves as members of the rock band Skrattar, whose album 'Hellraiser IV' saw Bjarki's experimental bbbbbb recors imprint venture outside strictly electronic music for the first time in 2021.

Despite their penchant for maintaining an enigmatic aura, ex.girls won the ‘Best Icelandic Electronic Music Song’ in 2022 with their anthem, 'Halda Áfram', released during the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic on bbbbbb recors, which translates to “keep on going”, became a beacon of hope during tough times in the Icelandic music scene. Their distinctive sound palette paints with broad strokes of lush arrangements cemented with a lo-fi disposition. It's a soundscape where the rumble of a crunchy bass meets a quirky sprinkle of Nordic humour, a signature style they fondly dub as 'SauerLounge'.

While the group has traditionally embraced a leisurely cadence in unveiling new music, anticipation bubbles as they gear up to their debut album, ‘Verk’. A twelve-track exploration of experimental, conceptual and unorthodox textures and sonics, with sounds and influences spanning rock and nu-wave through to electro, drone and ambient. The result? An absorbing and hypnotic trip, with twists and turns across every track, presenting a debut album that keeps you guessing minute by minute.

To be released in both vinyl and digital formats, the album will also welcome engaging remixes from artists native to Iceland and the broader global stage. In a world of ever-evolving music, ex.girls stand out as a testament to authentic collaboration, raw talent, and the art of electronic storytelling.

ex.girls ‘Verk’ LP drops via bbbbbb recors on 24th November 2023, with remixes to follow in the months ahead.

Legendary international DJ, Keb Darge, fell under the spell of this music when his Japanese girlfriend forced him to go down to a ‘Rockabilly’ night back in 1989. As soon as the DJ dropped the needle on Johnny Burnette’s ‘Rockabilly Boogie’ Keb was mesmerized. He was soon hunting down the hideously rare top tunes and slipping thousands of pounds into specialist collectors like Boz Boorer’s back pocket, when the legendary guitarist was not recording or touring with Morrissey. Of course, Keb was then taking these records and introducing them to new audiences in his DJ sets worldwide.

Although it has taken an age to persuade him, Keb has now applied his perfectionist compiling skills to pick 14 killers to grace this fantastic collection. Ranging from the bopping Glen Glenn’s ‘Blue Jeans and A Boy’s Shirt’ to the almost hillbilly Jimmy Johnson’s ‘All Dressed Up’. This is a must-have compilation not only for those who have been oiling their quiffs for decades, but also those wondering what this “rockabilly” is all about. Keb drops you in at the deep end with no easy-going fillers, and you’ll be glad he did.

Keb has written the sleeve notes and with cover art by the legendary Robin Banks – this album looks as good as it sounds.

Modern Hypnosis mainstay Alex Dickson, aka Pugilist, drops dubstep while upholding that unique Pugilist sound detailed throughout every track.

Designed to wobble your knees, the title track ‘Vintage’ is a satisfying growler that allows subs and wubs, dubbed-out echos and snare rolls to perfectly guide its course. The next track opens with a much-loved vocal sample of Dr Alimantado from the tune ‘Poison Flour’ which gives you a sense of familiarity; however, "Wistful’ is anything but and will have walls shaking in places you didn’t even know shook, with its shattering low-mid bass line and punchy kicks. Wistful is tested, tagged, certified, for sound system use.

On the flip, restraint and subtleness are brought to the plate with the track ‘Be Humble’. While we are reminded by the Upsetters to just be humble, Pugilist couldn’t resist sliding in his signature breaks cheekily in the second half to polish the composition.

Closing off this 4-tracker is a favourite of ours here at Modern Hypnosis. ‘Amethyst’ invites us on a broken-beat / dubstep hybrid trip with that perfect balance of minimalism and dub sound system prowess.

All in all, this is good gear.

As always, large up Pugilist!

The composer behind one of the most sensational breakthroughs in Danish music invites you on a crackling, ever-changing and deeply personal journey. His third album Atmospherics drops after a decade in which Mike Sheridan has searched deeply to find and capture his inner sound.
Films, theatres and art museums have benefited from Mike Sheridan‘s sense of sound and melody for the past 10 years. An album has been a long time coming because, in the wake of his breakthrough at the age of 16, he needed to listen extra closely to his inner sounds.
With Atmospherics, he unfolds the music in a meeting between who he once was and who he is today.
Three years ago, he began to create what is now the album Atmospherics. The term refers to electrical disturbances in the atmosphere, such as during a thunderstorm, which can interact with and distort wireless signals. Here, the title refers to both the sound of the album itself, where computer collages, classical instruments crystal clear melodies and heavy rhythms collide, and to the electronic processing and reworking. But really, he thought it would be a quiet release, almost devoid of melodies. Themes and music slide in and out of each other on the album. There are moments of dub, techno, pop and modern compositional music.
There are sounds and beats that crackle, dissolve, replace each other, or connect with each other in new ways.In this way, Atmospherics can be listened to as a long exhalation from an artist who has dared to hold his breath longer than most.
Atmospherics features both Danish and international guests such as Agnes Aldén (a singer, songwriter and producer from Falun, Sweden), Indra Rios-Moore (a singer, songwriter and arranger, from the Lower East Side of Manhattan), BYLJA and Janus Rasmussen - as well as a host of Sheridan‘s regular musicians.
The artwork for Atmospherics is created by visual artist Nicolai Howalt.

This second release by London based Artist Dying in Beauty, on his own imprint - Rhythm Without Reason, is a venture into Darker, sweeping Techno with Jackin' claps on the A-side, and Deep Dub goodness on the B side that keeps you waiting until it drops.

Mastering by Mattias Fridell.

Music made for Clubs, not for Feeds :).

RWR 2023

KOU is the new project by Apolline Schöser (half of Nina Harker) & Thomas Coquelet.

Apolline & Thomas have been performing since 2022 under the KOU guise with 24 electronic harmoniums. Producing dense layers of tones & overtones. On their debut album KOU steers in another direction. The harmonium appears occasionally, but more prominent are delicate guitar pluckings, distant vocal effects, synths, flutes, piano strokes, a touch of musical magic and Apolline’s jazz not jazz vocals.

As soon as the needle drops it’s clear we are jump-cutting straight to the other side of the mirror. Cats purr, a woman sings as if asleep, drum machines stutter and warp and Alvin Lucier is not 'sitting in a room that is not different to the one you are not in now’. If you’re already confused, join the club. But, it’s the good kind of confused, a bewildering experience akin to the first time hearing the Faust Tapes or watching Inland Empire. Wait though, as pigeons coo and the tape machine clunk-clicks a gorgeous weirdo version of Roger's and Hart’s Blue Moon emerges to let you know this isn’t just dada splurge, there’s a genius pop sensibility at work here too. Side two takes us further into the murk with mournful detuned brass, stoned Joan La Barbara-esque vocalese and a droning Farfisa hymn, before ending with another too-tempting snatch of DIY pop. Some of the references are recognisable. All kinds of 70s/80s European art prog - think early Battiato, Pierot Lunaire’s Gudrun, Lucia Bosè and Gregorio Paniagua's Io Pomodoro etc etc. There’s a strong whiff of 90s us goof-off surrealism too- Bongwater, Siltbreeze, Royal Trux’s Twin infinitives, the damaged folkier side of Alastair Galbraith, Half-Japanese, early Beck even all feel relevant.

Like an oddball group of friends you might meet by chance and end up weirding-out with for days, the minds behind this deliciously odd music allow you to stay for a while in their strange subcultural world. You might not want to live here forever but a short trip, while it lasts, rewires your brain for the better.

Staff Pick in DJ Mag (print).

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

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

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

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

Underground house and disco maestro Mark E makes a welcome return to Delusions following hot on the heels of last years Leaning Into The Light EP. The revered producer has been steadily doing his thing for almost two
decades now, racking up releases on Running Back, Golf Channel and Spectral Sound to name just a few. His sound is a unique, sublime vision of US deep house which transcends the dance floor and he proves his salt once again on the four new tracks that make up this stunning EP.

Title track Enchantment Under The Sea sets the mood with a minimal, low slung drum machine groove laying the foundation for layers of Rhodes and synth chords conjuring up images of a sub-aquatic vision of depth and beauty. Up next we have Zone Tonight, the epitome of a late night city scape driving track utilising heavily saturated drums, subtle acid line, distant piano melody and moody Detroit pads to draw you into its deep confines.

Flipping over we have Vertigo which treads a similar sonic path as Mark effortlessly fuses rich harmonies and entrancing melodies, inviting listeners to lose themselves in its depths. Closing out this blissful journey we have Bodymap which drops the BPM a little more with simple understated drums, melancholic string line and pulsating bassline.

The Zone Tonight EP is a testament to Mark E's unparalleled prowess in crafting immersive, uncompromising and emotive soundscapes for your aural pleasure. He also created the original artwork for this release.

Warehouse find :).

Our man Neil aka Lord of the Isles drops another face-melter for his recently birthed label Dfsant. Don't ask us what that means by the way, we have no idea. Here on the second 12". the laird treats to a further three tracks of sublime techno / house hybrids: the opener "Synth Plus" is a kosmiche throbber with a lick of motor city melodrama, whilst "To Here" comes on like a decidedly less shit-scary Black Merlin, and to close things out we have a slo-mo acid disco cut in the form of "Heyta Hota". Real nice stuff folks.

Famous Last Words is a fully realised expansion of the dystopian futurism that has captivated audiences since CASISDEAD first announced himself in 2013. Over the past decade, he"s dipped in and out of the shadows, blessing fans with cult hits while maintaining his anonymity, shunning media attention and donning various masks; a rejection of the spotlight that"s helped to create folklore around a rapper who"s widely regarded as one of the UK"s most inventive lyricists. Famous Last Words is as much a sci-fi film as it is a rap record, a labyrinth of vice, crime and faded glamour. The listener steps through a portal into a realm narrated by CASISDEAD, whose command of storytelling drops you right into the underground of a city where he is the main character in a shady network of gangsters, girls and drug deals. However, Famous Last Words isn"t a story of bravado or posturing; much of the album deals in themes of loss, regret and paranoia, a persona constantly self-reflecting amongst the madness that surrounds him. The album features a carefully and idiosyncratically curated roll call of collaborators including Pet Shop Boys" Neil Tennant, Connie Constance, Kamio and Desire. The vocalists are immersed in CASISDEAD"s hallmark 80"s-inspired synthpop soundscapes, aided and abetted by a production cast that includes Stranger Things composer Kyle Dixon and producer, composer and Italians Do It Better label founder Johnny Jewel. Meanwhile, actors Ed Skrein and Emma Rigby"s narrative weaves through the record, amplifying the widescreen, cinematic experience.

Weighing in with more of the deadly payloads that make systems weep, Alan Johnson return to Sneaker Social Club to finish what they started on 2022’s The Stillness EP.
Gareth and Tom’s sharp instinct for the fundamentals of crushing half-step pressure remain undiminished on this latest EP. Their sound palette reaches across contrasting strands of music culture, and every bar is teeming with micro details of sound design which give the tracks a living, breathing quality.

Ten Year Tonnage splits the EP open in whipcrack snares, DMZ flutes and a thick bed of sub, constantly shifting and teasing roots drops before opening up the mids and letting the low end snarl.

The chord hook on ‘Shapeshifter’ nudges towards some bold rave shapes, but there’s restraint and poise in the way the sounds get deployed. The Johnson way is one of suffocating space and uneasy tension, which obviously creates the best kind of dancefloor drama. As ‘Muay Size’ ably demonstrates, the likely lads are happy to pare a tune back to a skeletal framework and keep dancers waiting. When the pay-off comes, it’s not what you might expect, and that’s precisely why their sound is fresher than yours.

‘People Of The World’ goes even further out as it staggers and stumbles through skewed jazz samples and snatches of drums being thrown across the room. For all the splaying angles, there’s still a rock solid weight to the tune which proves Alan Johnson are more than comfortable taking things out to a weird fringe without losing their swagger.