Search:dub star

From the mists of 1989 comes The Landlord with this monolithic slab of rave history - 'I Like It'. Instantly recognisable, those widely sampled piano stabs, that bassline.... it's all there. Produced by Canadian super-producer and Big Shot Records label owner Nick Fiorucci this much sought after rave anthem was highly prized and coveted by those in the know back in the day, no-one had any idea as to how huge the record would become as it soundtracked every dancefloor, warehouse, field and loft from '89 onwards, this is it, the real deal! Enter: The Maghreban. One of R&S Records contemporary artists and an unashamed Hardcore / Jungle / Breakbeat enthusiast, he seemed like the perfect remixer. Maghreban's mix is respective of the roots and the legacy of 'I Like It', referencing some of it's later sampled incarnations in a clever and knowing way, a true DJ tool that has been road-tested and checked in clubs across Europe and beyond, his epic 'Revenge Remix' shows a deep understanding of the history of these particular records and how they work on the dancefloor. This one will have people crying for more! Also featured on this special RSD 2019 release is the OG 'Blow-Out Dub', the one that started it all. Classic material from end to end right here. Essential business from Above Board distribution and Nick Fiorucci / Big Shot Records.

The sixth release of Form and Function, is the second one of the Function series. This time it's Qindek who provides his debut EP on the label. 'Reach For The Cosmica' is a lovely journey through Qindek's world. It's the perfect combination of both abstract and functional. The weird meets the wonderful. The package is topped of by Setaoc Mass who does an incredible job remixing Takes A pad.

On the A-side, the first track is 'Climate Shift'. A track that tells a story through dubby elements and chords, backed by a powerful and thumping low end. A movement of continuous energy and subtle but noticeable changes which have an impact on the track as a whole can be seen as the precursor for cosmic endeavors.

Next up is 'Reach For The Cosmica', the second track of this release. It's an epitome of the soundtrack of traveling through space. The minimalist build up tells us about how the journey just started outside of the atmosphere, transitioning into more depth that has been inaugurated by a sound that is the sonic equal of the rocket engine. As the beginning journey develops, there are few sudden bursts of power, together with the presence of the perpetual powers that cause the final move to outer space.

The arrival in outer space brings us to the 3rd part of the release and the first track of the B-side. Setaoc Mass gives the EP it's the concluding boost that gives us that last drop of power before the arrival. Elements of the original are still to be found, whilst given a little twist and a lot more of dancefloor energy. All while keeping the pace up to enter the final chapter of the journey.

'Take A Pad' exactly asks us what we need to do. Finding the ultimate balance between speed while preserving the right amount of power, is how sub-bass is working in harmony with the percussive elements.

Space is calling upon us with delicate voices. A beautiful ending of a classy and well crafted EP by Qindek.

Andrej Lasic (Laseech) is an artist, producer and audio engineer from Štinjan, Pula, Croatia. More intrigued with underground music he started producing music and in 2016 he released his first EP "Grotlo" on Hand Job Recordings and first single "Soulgroove" on famous King Street Sounds.

In 2018 he released his first vinyl single "Remember" on famous Australian deep house label Red Ember Records and singed his first remix for Jan Kincl & Regis Kattie's song 'Florette' on PDV records.
His work support and play world known artists such as Laurent Garnier, Kai Alce, Chez Damier, Scott Grooves, Gari Romalis, Dermarkus Lewis, Mike Huckaby and many more..
By now he had the chance to play on illectricity festival, Slurp! festival, Dimensions and Outlook festival and many other venues and clubs in the region, such as Klub K4 in Ljubljana, Hartera in Rijeka, Podmornica in Zagreb and many more..

From Jazzy, Funky and Soulful to Raw, Groovy, Deep and Acid, Andrej Laseech is considerate to be one of finest Croatian artists from the new generation. 'Can't Get This Feeling' EP represents a deep and meaningful connection between soul, jazz and that classic deep house sound, but also a connection between two artists and friends Andrej Laseech and Jasmina Makota. Syncopated groove, loving jazzy chords with Jasmina's beautiful voice and heart touching lyrics makes this EP a wonderful love story.

Chapter 1: 'The soul within them'
Beneath their rugged skin and scalding flesh, there is a human soul trapped in eternity, burning with excruciating and insatiable energy.

Chapter 2: 'Inside their lair'
In the mountains old as the world itself, warlocks from across the lands has gathered inside their cavernous lair to celebrate and bless the birth of a hundred dragons. As they chant, their mother roar.

Chapter 3: 'They soar through flames'
Up in the endless sky, the hunters are soaring in the flames blasting from their jaws. With scales hot as the sun, flesh like molten iron, the fly in honor of this day of legends.

Chapter 4: 'Hatchlings, hatching'
As the celestial portals align, the hatchlings start to hatch. Catching their first glimpse of starlight and screaming to the eternal void as their tiny wings start to flap.

Supported by:
Deepbass, Ness, Rraph, Svreca, Antonio de Angelis, Arnaud le Texier, Hector Sandoval (Exium), Kwartz, Takaaki Itoh, The Noisemaker, Unam Zetineb, Valentin Corujo (Exium), Vilix, Mattias Fridell, Oscar Mulero, Refracted, DJ Sandrien, Eric Cloutier, Giorgio Gigli, Nihad Tule, Attemporal, Ben Buitendijk, Brendon Moeller (Echologist), Etapp Kyle, Nima Khak, Rasmus Hedlund, Retina.IT, Victor Martinez, Antonio Ruscito, Dubit, Periskop, Shaded Explorer, Warmth, Astronomical Telegram to name a few.

After starting up the infamous Invite's Choice podcast series in 2011, Tim van Paradijs (a.k.a. Invite) notes that the time feels right to contribute to the techno scene in a totally different way. The long cherished wish of starting up a recordlabel under the Invite moniker and thus propagating his view on electonic music is now to be fulfilled.

Phonology is a deep and droning track which lends itself perfectly for building tension. Plenary is a more repetitive track with less of a deep vibe than the A-side track, but nonetheless is a track that manages to form a bridge between deep tracks and more straight forward ones. The EP is concluded by a short, funky and frivolous track dubbed Bisonspoor. All together the first Invite's Choice Records EP is a very versatile and thought through record with three tracks that stand alone and somehow still manage to form one entity.

Belgian talent Ilario Liburni looks to the release of his debut LP, 'Travel So Far', forthcoming on his own label, Invade Records. The eight track affair comes on a double vinyl pack as well as digital form which will follow a month later and proves the man behind it to be a superb producer with plenty to say.

Combining elements of house, minimal and intricate sound design, Ilario also heads up the Cardinal label and first emerged back in 2011 on Monique Musique. Since then he has gone on to release on a number of respected imprints (including Riva Starr's Snatch! And Memoria Recordings), has had his tracks licensed to compilations including Noir's In the House album for Defected and has continued to make a big impression as a DJ around Europe.

The album kicks off with 'Travel So Far', a synthetic and stripped back groove with lots of squelchy sounds, scurrying synths and feathery percussive lines all working their way into your brain. 'Sudden' is another Ricardo Villalobos style track that is elongated, intricate and immersive as it unfolds on soft edged drums. Next up, 'Carrie' is a smooth, dubbed out affair that demonstrates plenty of restraint yet really locks you into its hypnotic groove as static hiss and crackles alongside distant synths colour the spaces left behind.

'Steampunked Sewing Machine' ups the ante a little with a hollowed out drum line rocking back and forth on its heels, and 'Can't Fool Data' starts all waify and minimalistic before getting pulled apart to the sound of whirring machines, and then it drops again; you can imagine dancefloors going wild to its hooky rhythms. 'Jenndrum' is all about the pinging drum kicks and globular toms that make for a peppery groove, 'Pherthothal' toys with a sense of abstract funk and closer 'Schwalbe' is a gloopy, gluey, druggy fusion of slurred synths, hiccupping drums and dark textures that make for involving listening.

This is a genuinely inventive album riddled with fascinating sounds,
a real attention to detail and plenty of otherworldly moods that really stick with you.

Mihail A. Popov is a Russian with two decades in the game behind him, partly under his given name, but half of that time has also seen him work as I Gemin. Now he lands on Deeppa Records with a conceptual EP "built around depth, patience and underground exploration." The aim is to explore all new musical ground and follow newly emerging paths, and the result is a fine four-tracker. 'Like The Star' is a lush, deep nu-disco jam, 'Love Undercover' has a seductive slide to the live-sounding drums and playfulness in the horns, while 'Terra Incognita' brings jazzy chords and a balmy late-night warmth. 'Melancholy' gets more heavy and roughed up with smudged neo-soul and r&b samples, making it a romantic affair. Kid Sublime and 6th Borough Project drop remixes that bring more club-ready grooves and complete a superb EP.

180g Heavy double vinyl LP with liner notes by Tyran Grillo. Limited Japanese Obi for the first pressing. Original artwork by Russell Mills and photography by Jean-Baptiste Mondino.

The third Time Capsule is a body of dub reinterpretations by celebrated producer Bill Laswell of Ethiopian singer Gigi. Curated by Tokyo record collector, music researcher and seasoned reissue supervisor Ken Hidaka, it is the first time Illuminated Audio is pressed to vinyl after its CD release in 2003.

Ejigayehu Shibabaw was born in 1974 in Chagni, northwestern Ethiopia and by pursuing a career as a singer, went against her father’s strict, traditional gender roles. As Gigi, she embraced the same musical freedom she had strived for in her personal life, incorporating the Ethiopian church, funk, hip-hop, West and South African music into her work. She first settled in Nairobi, then Addis Ababa, where she quickly established herself as one of the city’s leading singers. A move to San Francisco in 1998 led to a long and fruitful creative partnership with bassist and producer Bill Laswell.

Around the same time, Chris Blackwell had stepped away from Island Records to start the art house film company and label Palm Pictures. He took an interest in Gigi and together with Laswell, pulled together an all-star cast of musicians for her self-titled US debut album, including Herbie Hancock, Pharoah Sanders and Wayne Shorter. It won international critical acclaim, not just for its musicianship but for making Gigi a “defining voice for the Ethiopian expatriate community”, as journalist Tyran Grillo praises in his Time Capsule liner notes. From the nation-defining 1896 victory over Italian invaders to the quiet revolutionaries who wear simple shemma garments, Grillo believes the themes in Gigi make it “a shower of sunlight on her homeland for those ignorant of its struggles.”

After its success, Blackwell encouraged them to go back into the studio to rethink the album and Illuminated Audio was born. “Anyone can make a voice sound worldly”, Grillo remarks, “but rare are those who can make one sound inner-worldly.” Gigi was clear with Laswell to give her vocals a minor role “because it’s already been done.” Instead her Amharic verse is fleeting, exhaling through the textures like ghostly fragments; soaring yet muted. Yet the album is still titled under her name, an assertion by Laswell of her central role in the album’s creation. Not only was it a fully endorsed project by Gigi, but she would be present throughout its development, giving feedback on half-finished ideas as Laswell played them back in the studio. “It works perfectly”, she reflected after the album’s release. “We wanted to capture the whole spirit of each track, and Bill’s remixes create a different music language that really puts you in a pleasant place”.

This new vocabulary takes its lead from a technical approach that Laswell had been perfecting during a furtive creative period at the turn of the millennium. Much like his ambient interpretations of Miles Davis (Panthalassa, 1998), Bob Marley (Dreams of Freedom, 1997), and Carlos Santana (Divine Light, 2001), Laswell approached Illuminated Audio by returning to the original multitrack masters. Gigi wasn’t just reworked, but recomposed into an expansive lattice of instruments, submerged in a watery ambience of dub and trance undercurrents.

Sonically, this new language that Gigi refers to, is manifested by the original album’s more understated parts being pushed to the fore. Explaining his contrasting methods, Laswell saw Gigi as being “put together in a way that fits”. Contrastingly, in Illuminated Audio, “a lot of things that I featured in the remix weren’t as audible in the original.” Instrumentation laying near-dormant, deep in the mix, are brought to the fore: the acid rock guitar and Wayne Shorter’s saxophone on ‘Tew Ante Sew’, Graham Haynes’ flugelhorn on ‘Nafekeñ’, Laswell’s bass on ‘Kahn’, the melodica in Mengedegna or the floating synths and talking drums in ‘Gud Fella’.

Brought to his attention by mentor DJ Nori, Hidaka describes Illuminated Audio as a “masterful sonic exploration into ethereal ambience and dub” and made sure this reissue also contained a full remaster to give its “deep musicality” much better dynamics and density in the overall sound. Hidaka admits that Laswell's music “is sometimes so out-there, it is often misunderstood” and, indeed, to dub album non-believers this might seem like a prolific producer imposing himself on another artist’s work; eternally developing rearrangements that never quite get to its destination. But that’s missing its true power and triumph. This is more than the reissue of a remix, but “a wholly unique musical entity”, as Hidaka describes. Illuminated Audio refers to the illuminated manuscripts that comprise the major part of Ethiopian art and its new compositions stand in proud solitude as a rare body of reworks that both informs and enhances their originals.

Since starting Bytes in 2019 we’ve fielded a lot of messages along the lines of, “Is this ever going to be released on vinyl?” The bulk of these requests have concerned remixes of artists on Bytes done by Andy Bell (RIDE/Oasis) under his electronic alter-ego GLOK. And on realising that he has done four for us now (Franz Kirmann, Steve Queralt & Michael Smith, Herrmann Kristoffersen and Seagoth), it seemed silly not to compile them all together on a four-track 12” EP. The super limited edition 12” is on black wax and comes in the original Bytes house bag with a vinyl sticker containing all the release info signed by Andy. Edition of 250. No repress.

A1. SOLITARY (GLOK REMIX) - FRANZ KIRMANN

The first remix Andy ever did for Bytes was a radical reworking of ‘Solitary’, the towering ambient closer to Franz Kirmann’s ‘Madrapour’ album, which was released on Bytes in 2019. Andy’s remix is a heartbreaking, melancholic 3am banger. This is one for fans of Four Tet and Jon Hopkins, a slowburner with billowing plumes of distortion that builds towards an ecstatic rush of a finale.

A2. CHALDEAN ORACLE (GLOK REMIX) - STEVE QUERALT & MICHAEL SMITH

In 2023 Andy took ‘Chaldean Oracle’, a track from the collaboration between his RIDE bandmate Steve Queralt and the writer Michael Smith, down the K-Hole, eschewing Michael’s vocal almost entirely and turning in a Detroit dub-techno monster with echoes of Bandulu and Carl Craig in its shimmering melodies, eerie distortion and pounding drums.



B1. GONE GOLD (GLOK REMIX) - HERRMANN KRISTOFFERSEN

‘Gone Gold’ was the title track of the excellent second album by ambient-techno group Herrmann Kristoffersen (2021). Andy taps deep into the dub at the heart of the original, with echoes of John Carpenter's soundtracks and his own extended electronic excursions under the GLOK moniker.



B2. ETERNITY (GLOK REMIX) - SEAGOTH

It was Andy who brought Seagoth to the attention of Bytes when he played ‘Eternity’ on his Soho Radio show in 2020. It all came full circle when Bytes released ‘Eternity’ as a single in 2021, with a stunning remix by Andy in his GLOK guise on the flip. Andy strips the track back to showcase the resonant vocal in all its glory before the blissed-out outro that makes full use of the track’s dancefloor-friendly drum break.

'Double Seven, released by Trojan in late 1973, was the last album Lee 'Scratch' Perry would release on the label for some considerable time, and it was essentially the final album project he put together before establishing his own Black Ark studio. Opening track 'Kentucky Skank' sets the tone with a slow creeper whose frying sounds underscore its role as a praise song to the Colonel's KFC recipes; the cosmic Moog blips come courtesy of Ken Elliott at Camden's Chalk Farm studio, also prominently featured on U-Roy's double-tracked, stereo-panned gambling ode 'Double Six.' David Isaacs' 'Just Enough' was cut a few years prior, which makes it slightly out of phase with the rest of the set, though the enigmatic 'In The Iaah' sounds mightily fresh, with its uncredited chorus said to come courtesy of the Wailers. Perry's own 'Jungle Lion' has hilarious roars from the maestro at the start, strangely grafted atop a reggae re-make of Al Green's 'Love and Happiness.'

'Overall, Double Seven melds the soul, funk, reggae and dub elements that were constant in Perry's work during this phase. His enhanced audio spectrum and endless reference points would keep his music continually apart from that made by his peers.'
—David Katz (excerpt from the liner notes)

Nous'klaer Audio presents Nikos: A central figure and driving force of the Rotterdam nightlife, behind the scenes as well as on stage with powerful, ever-evolving live performances. Four tracks to make your body move, cut loud and going deep. The release marks the start of a new series on the label dubbed Spine. Supporting the head, connecting the brain to the body, a base for movement. The Spine series will focus on flow, while remaining energetic and driving. The sound design is bending and twisting, the solid sub bass will keep you grounded. The release comes in a special sleeve designed by Alice Vink aka Dirtydms.

Paraiso has been doing vital work in Portugal - documenting the underground dance scene's history and pioneers in various mediums while also showcasing equally brilliant artists from newer generations. And they've been doing it for a decade now: we all know that a label dedicated to its local scene through and through is something rare and should be celebrated. This compilation 'X - 10 Years of Underground House Music from a Paradise Called Portugal' is a manifestation of that cross-generational spirit, with ten never-before-heard pieces of music by initiators and legends like The Advent alongside more recent veterans like Roundhouse Kick and Vil or younger talent like Phoebe or Van Der. Things start off with Salbany's 'Trax 10', oozing a techno elegance and irrefutable groove that wonderfully portrays the spirit of the Lisbon sound: raw yet ethereal, disarming in its simplicity while containing rave, romance and rhythmic complexities. Label founders Maria Amor & Shcuro firmly carry on the torch with 'Intracellular', gelled by dubby washes, syncopated drums, infectious rhythmic sense and layered with a melodic vocal motif. Vil's 'Cave' brings in stone-cold tight percussion offset by rich, evocative pads and technoid know-how for days. The Advent steps in with an ode to acid-minimalism, raw and slow-burning, with curious and twisted moments peppered with the skill of an expert. Van Der storms in with a piece of hybrid qualities, impeccably blending a swing onto industrial territories for a hypnotic-yet-banging hands in the air dancefloor moment. Scam Dust (the duo of Tiago and Shcuro, from adjacent generations) picks up on the industrial flavours, adds furious jacking rhythmics and live sonic experimentation that takes us to peak-quality effect and noise manipulation. 'Subvert' follows and goes deeper, as if into the depths of the ocean, with aquatic arpeggios and sparse drums that morph into an 303-driven state of mysterious oceanfloor mania - Roundhouse Kick sending us messages from the South. Violet and her 'Dream Machine' emerge with its mutant noisy motif, delay-drenched percussion and steady beat interrupted by keys, drum variations - and a u-turn to its paranoid loopy beginnings. Phoebe enters the chat and brings sonic sun rays in 'Galaxia 2000', a wide-eyed moment lead by colourful, open synthesisers with gates and filters taking us on a beautiful ride on tense, swingy drum patterns. The tenth track comes from Lisbon's rkeat and is full of closing act ear-candy with its beautifully chiseled, groovy as hell percussion, organic sonics and metallic instruments that seem to announce that the next decade is about to be just as good, if not better than this lovely 2016-2026 stint of boundary and scene-pushing.

For their next release, Phase Group invites you deep into the mind of a singular artist to offer a glimpse of their prolific body of work, zooming in on music composed specifically between 2018 and 2021.

Across 16 tracks, ‘Summa 2018-2021’ by Serbian producer Andria reveals a highly unique approach to sound design and composition, spanning the realms of futuristic IDM, ritual ambient, fourth-world techno and other elusive electronic genres.

Listening to this album in its entirety feels like entering a self-contained sonic world, where animistic and ancestral traditions are refracted through unfamiliar forms of technology. It’s an album which moves effortlessly from moments of deep and contemplative abstraction, as heard in tracks like ‘Sunlessness’, with it's atmosphere of otherworldly field recordings and ancient rites, to propulsive tracks that will guide clubs through ceremonial trance states such as ‘Floating Island’, where industrial kicks underline expressive poly-rhythms, evocative synths and snarling digital glitches.

The release is a gripping and immersive listening experience filled with spellbinding and expertly conjured sounds alongside highly effective moments of dance music that will surely find their way into the sets of the most expressive and fearless DJs. This is one for fans of Coil, Shackleton, Andy Stott and Demdike Stare.

Behind the work is Andrija Čugurović the Belgrade-based artist. A graphic designer by day (and in-house designer here at Phase Group), he dedicates his nights and time away from work and production to Belgrade’s underground electronic scene, digging deep into the worlds of Bass, Techno, Industrial, Ambient, IDM, Experimental and Computer Music.

A regular attendee at spots like Drugstore and the 20/44 boat since a young age, Andrija has honed a deep connection with the music he creates and DJs and that is evidenced in this highly original collection of music. This is his second release on Phase Group, coming after his debut EP ‘o o o o o’ in 2020, the second release on the label.

'Summa 2018-2021’ is available digitally and on high-fidelity C-90 cassette, dubbed at Tapeline UK and distributed by Rubadub.
All tracks composed and produced by Andrija Čugurović.
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi.
Artwork by Andrija Čugurović.

In a blizzard of crushed breaks and dissonant tones, Shelley Parker lands on Sneaker Social Club with her third album, Screed. Taking a forensic approach to noise sculpture and harmonic interference, the UK-based artist maintains a fringe perspective on the legacy of hardcore-derived dance music, extrapolating the renegade spirit of the earliest innovators into unexplored zones where sound art and sound systems collide.

Parker's path through the underground has been informed by her art school background, equally at home in the parallel world of galleries, installations and institutions as she is in the club. This dualistic dimension to her practice charges her music with an outsider spirit that manifests across 10 striking new productions on Screed. Focusing on the sound over an umbrella concept, it's an album that rejects comfortable, functional formulae in favour of original expression.

There are plenty of forthright structures for DJs and dancers to lock onto, from the militaristic techno thrust and tightly clipped breakbeat loop of 'Relentless' to the splayed boom bap guiding the giddy string sequences of 'Stargazer Lily'. The insistent pulse of 'April' meanwhile offers only the faintest of paths to navigate dense thickets of jerky, swinging static and metallic clamour. 'Georgian Wire' closes the record out on dissembled drum licks with a brittle patina - a scooped out closer with the skeletal remains of a rave dialect that's second nature to someone with as much skin in the game as Parker.

In amongst those tracks lies a wide-ranging tapestry of rhythmic, textural and emotional approaches, from head-knocking beatdowns to billowing clouds of dub techno, angular stabs and industrial smudges. On Screed, Parker proves herself to be peerless and purposeful in her quest to find new forms within the well-worn canon of hardcore and rave.

To kick off our 5th year party celebrations the label begins its new set of releases starting with the joined forces of Regal86 and IMOGEN. The artists contribute two tracks each to the four track vinyl alongside remixes of each other's work, meeting at sonic crossroads.

The EP journeys through rave nostalgia filled with warmth and hope for the future, recollecting some favourite memories of the dance floor.

The A side is fast, driving with a sense of longing for the Halcyon Days and the offline times of partying when things felt easier. The release opens with ‘One Night In 1992’, IMOGEN’s nostalgic ode to an earlier rave era, built around a vocal recollection of her mother’s experiences on the dancefloor in the 90’s. Raw, hazy and deeply personal, it sets the tone for a record rooted in memory while remaining firmly in the present. Regal86 follows with ‘Rush’, bringing a different energy to the record. Driven by rolling rhythms, playful movement and a strong sense of groove.

The B side takes a more optimistic turn looking into the future with dubby aquatic pads and euphoric breakdowns, carrying a feeling of forward motion. There is a lightness to the tracks, a sense of joy running beneath NC Station and keeping the momentum locked whilst turning inwards on the final track, IMOGEN’s ‘Midnight At Bret’ rounds out a release that moves naturally between nostalgia, propulsion and the shared language of the dance floor.

As the next release launches, IMOGEN takes wigs on tour for a five year special run of shows starting on release at Tresor for a two club take over following with further cities: London, Milan, Dublin and more.

Live Ones is an LP compilation of refixes and remixes of older material and brand new tracks that have all featured in New Jackson live sets in recent years available on vinyl for the first time.
It features contributions from Rory Sweeney and Rita Lynn and long-term collaborator Richie 'Jape' Egan. Cover photography shot by long time collaborator Rich Gilligan at a New Jackson show in Dublin.
According to New Jackson himself 'This started out as a way to put out new tracks and remixes of older stuff as quickfire digi releases without the pressure of making a cohesive body of work that normally comes with making an album yet ironically I feel this works better as a cohesive vinyl release then my last album proper and features some of my favourite music I've made.'

Yesca is back on Shall Not Fade with ‘Paint on Walls’ 12” EP.

2024’s Yesca EP on SNF - “Mood Loops” - set a high bar, so when we say this record is something special you should take note. Of course if you already know Yesca’s music or have had the pleasure of a Yesca DJ set then you will have already this queued up.

Sweet Spot: Ben Sims, Deetron, Oliver Ho, Vince Watson, Grain (Artwork’s Techno alias). Planet-E, Primate Recordings, Paul Mac & Stimulus Recordings found the sweet spot.

According to the OED the first use of the phrase “Sweet Spot” was in 1976 in reference to tennis rackets and golf swings. It’s where everything hits just right. And that’s what this EP does, hits just right. What strikes me is how descriptive the phrase ‘Sweet Spot’ is. Given enough swings and some luck we all know what it feels like to hit the sweet spot in some regard. Finding the sweet spot regularly though takes time and skill. But being able to hit the sweet spot by design every time, well that’s something different. That’s what makes the greats great.

For us at SNF there’s a consensus that in the lineage of electronic music there have been many moments where artists & labels converged on a sweet spot. One such sweet spot for us is in Techno
around 2003 when at the tail end of Hardgroove tempos began to slow and a groovier more refined tech house infused goodness appeared in the racks from a group of killer techno labels & artists (some mentioned above) that moment before the fuller emergence of the 2nd wave of Tech House in the mid 00’s.

That sound, while often emulated, never quite hit the same for us at least – until Yesca came along. His music has everything that we love about that sweet spot. Raw driving groove, rolling basslines and hip shaking percussion. What’s different on ‘Paint on Walls’ is that Yesca stepped on - he had already found the sweet spot on 2024’s Mood Loop EP - now his sound (or swing) is natural. Repeatable, refined and seemingly effortless. To revisit the tennis and golf analogy, this is the start of a Grand Slam run from an artist ready to etch their name in dance music history. Tiger..... Serena......Yesca.

Run the Tracks:
‘How I Do It (They Wonder)’ - A masterclass in less is more, and a serious DJ tool. Full of groove - slow it down and it will light the touchpaper in a house set - speed it up and you’ve got techno weaponry. Forget gatekeeping, this will make you feel like you just found a 2004 techno white label from the likes of Grain or Ben Sims.

‘I Desire’ - House music that I reckon Deetron would be proud of... Blissed out machine funk, whispered vocals, slick jazzy chords and dubbed out techno stabs are all grounded by Yesca’s impeccable, loopy drum programming. The best tunes always end too soon.

‘Domination’ - The ever rising bass, err, dominates this track and this track will dominate on many a dancefloor, but Yesca's knack for dubbed out swinging synth lines has to get a shout out here too. He turns what would be melodic elements into what feels like part of the percussion. Double Threat. Hands Up and Heads Down business.

‘Paint on Walls’ - It would be a tough call to say Yesca’s saved the best til last with the EP’s eponymous track given what’s come before, but Paint On Walls works all the highlights from the rest of the EP into a latin techno/house infused anthem. Skittering percussion, a hint of Detroit goodness and a deep deep rolling bassline and THAT vocal. In every way hopeful yet resistant, and that is what techno is all about.

Riding high off their Movement Detroit b2b set at the Pyramid stage, Rocksteady Disco right-hand man Eddie Logix and head-honcho Peter Croce finally share a split 12" of some of their choicest edits. Eddie takes the A-side, starting the release with the blistering and tropical "Fire Dance". "Good Time" is up next, a midtempo groover full of talking drum and juju guitar dubness. Mr. PC takes the flip, with the disco-meets-folk-meets-almost-gospel "Brothers & Sisters", which he originally made for his first Movement Detroit set. The slomo sleazy groove of "I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You" rounds out the release. Instant cop!

Without turning anything upside down, the trio has released their second album, gracefully deepening the unique path they have carved out for themselves. It is an album that already stands in stark contrast to the attention-deficit culture of our times. Indeed, whilst music sometimes seeks to concentrate the intensity of its references and artefacts, the trio takes a step back, deploying an intensity that is subtly distributed. Thanks to their progressive instrumental tracks blending elements inherited from dub, jazz, folk and even musique concrète, the trio has never allowed the quality of their music to suffer from their experimentation; at the same time, they have never been afraid to venture off the beaten track to achieve the sound they desire. Every single track of this album cast like fragile bridges over various landscapes that explore cycles and the natural rhythm within. It is up to the listener to tread carefully and not lose their footing and embrace the cinematic movement of this music. The three artists have indeed achieved a musical expression so free that it possesses the power of illusion. We are suddenly swept up in all these illusions, to the point where our memories are in flux. Both haunting and in motion, this trio’s music offers an impregnable mental retreat and an invitation to dance. This album conveys a dreamlike conviction that time, in its relentless flight, might—if only for a moment—be brought to a halt. A halt that awaits you.

Words by Carl Åhnebrink

For over 25 years, David Madson (aka Odd Nosdam) has been stationed away from the light of the mainstream, diligently working the nightshift. Every so often, we awake to find another of his bleary and beautiful missives slung into the waking world – albums whose assemblages of sampled grooves, atmospheres and voices are unified by a hallucinatory sense of melody, like disparate visions strung together through ribbons of sleep-talk. From his earliest days as a member of the seminal group cLOUDDEAD, through his remixes for artists such as Boards of Canada and Black Moth Super Rainbow, Nosdam has been reporting back from his rounds upon the perimeters of culture and consciousness, forging a musical language all of his own.

On Patrol is the second Odd Nosdam LP to be released on The Notwist’s imprint Alien Transistor – following on from the 2019 album Mirrors – and continues a collaborative history that begun with a 2008 remix of The Notwist song, “Sleep”. It’s a love letter to the vinyl format, produced with the aim of optimizing for a single LP. This objective permeated every aspect of the album’s production, from the duration of each side through to the vinyl mastering (Jessica Thompson) and lacquer-cutting (Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin). As we've come to expect, the album is built almost entirely from found sounds, many of which were taken from obscure and second-hand vinyl gathered during Nosdam’s ceaseless crate-digging escapades. Other sources include field recordings made in 2022 at the Catalonia summer home of artist Salvador Dalí, which are baked into the swirling sci-fi glide of “Here to Know (Adéu Mix)”, and a sumptuous clunking bass line courtesy of Organi’s Mike Walti, which runs like an infinite highway through the fuzzy, sunbaked sprawl of “Deepsimple”.

Odd Nosdam’s work has always swept the entire atmospheric spectrum, from rhythmic vigour to levitational beauty. On Patrol is perhaps his finest assimilation of these extremes. “Sgt. Pepsi” is the perfect case in point: a formidable slow groove capsizes into vinyl crackle after a mere minute, before the song resurrects itself through sweeping strings and vocal harmonies, sliding against each other like the overlain romantic denouements to a dozen Hollywood films from the 1940s. Elsewhere, “Get You In (Belong Mix)” drapes shoegaze guitar over a trundling funk backbeat, straddling the physical world and the outer realms, while hushed voices point toward the song's implied themes of cultural cliques, critical consensus and the plight of the eternal outsider: “Sure, I can get you in... these people are my friends, I’m one of them - I belong.”

This is music that both endures and disappears. Odd Nosdam has always wielded a strange relationship with time, scrambling association with any specific era, weaving together numerous tempos simultaneously. There is no master clock. Each track could happily hold up as an infinite loop, yet Nosdam clearly favours the potency of the gone-too-soon, applying the fadeout just as hypnosis starts to crest. Indeed, the songs are both the product of meticulous long-term construction and spontaneity. While the foundations of On Patrol have come together over several years, the recording process involved channeling vibes through a vintage Roland Space Echo and bouncing song fragments back and forth from hard disk to cassette 8-track, gifting a phased permanence to creative decisions made on the fly – a hat-tip to the production processes of Nosdam's longtime hero, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. Like a recurring dream, On Patrol appeals to both the plains of momentary ephemera and the long-established backchannels of the unconscious, equal parts revelation and deja vu.

Text by Jack Chuter
Artwork by Ian Ferguson

Modern Hypnosis is proud to introduce Babaka, the new alias of esteemed German producer Jörg Müller.

Reigniting his passion for physical, visceral sound system music, Jörg uses classic analog gear and a few self-built instruments to create a unique, potent dub sound. While reminiscent of Jörg’s earlier ambient and dub techno styles on his 2019 album Drawn From Memory and 2022’s Groundworks LP on The Moth Club, his new direction has evolved those techniques and primed them for sound system use. His debut release as Babaka showcases four masterful tracks that differ widely from one another while remaining within his new realm.

The opening track, "Exterminating Angel," is a pulsating, supernatural dub experiment featuring a deeply infectious bassline, ghostly key stabs, tight percussive delays and an oddly dramatic vocal sample creating a profound sonic climax before tapering off, allowing you to escape its vacuum and recalibrate. The most skank'n track of the EP, "A Bug in the dark" with its murky half-time swagger feel, bouncy hats, dub saturation and mega sub-driven riff has become an all-time favourite at Modern Hypnosis HQ.

Featuring precise production with decorative atmospherics and swung drums, "Woodsman Blues" has an almost Boxcutter feel to its intro before plunging off the deep end, hitting the dub floorboards, and revealing its true self as a reincarnated, stoned dubstep track. Closing out the release is "Hysteria," a perfectly executed, dark, chugging techno steppa that remains a popular track for many early-access DJs and selectors around the globe.

In the words of Jörg Müller himself:

After my first Album "Heavy Heart”, I tried to push my music more into abstract territory, especially sound-wise, ignoring mixing and mastering rules... this culminated in the eerie, roomy, off-atmosphere on "ground works" on The Moth Club.

After that, my focus shifted further towards freeform electro-acoustic ambient music. I built a couple of instruments myself and released two albums on Shimmering Mood as Kaleidophon. This was during the pandemic as nightlife came to a stop.

In 2023 and 2024, I started to go to dances again. I saw The Bug on his Pressure System, Al Wootton at Meaksuma Festival, Channel One and Iration Steppas on Young Veteran Hifi Soundsystem. Especially impressive were Mark Ernestus, Mark Ainley and Aba Shanti on the infamous sound system at Open Ground in Wuppertal.

This reignited my passion for dub/sound system music; I wanted to make tracks with the physical, visceral quality of sound systems.

First released in a long-out-of-print limited-edition 7" box set, this album, now released on LP and CD, brings together 10 amazing, unreleased Studio One tracks, only ever released as extremely limited-edition hand-etched one-sided dubplates (most of these sold out in less than 2 hours!). Studio One Dub Plate Special brings together all 8 of these exclusive dubplate unreleased cuts, plus two more also never before released alternate cuts. Featuring Alton Ellis, Cedric Brooks, Brentford Road All Stars, Jacob Miller and more! From Alton Ellis' righteous uplifting 'Black People' to Brentford All Stars’ hypnotic cover of War's classic 'The World Is A Ghetto', groovy instrumental cuts from Cedric Brooks and The Soul Brothers, deep cuts from Alton & Zoot, George Phillip and Jacob Miller's wicked alternate cut of Dennis Brown's classic 'Westbound Train', all make Studio One Dub Plate Special a truly unique Studio One release

Big welcome to Time is Now for J Wax for a bit of a statement EP and I am coming out swinging here cos this is a really good record. There’s good, and then there’s this, the kind of good that stays good.

You know that feeling when something’s just right. When flow state becomes clarity. Well listening to this EP from J Wax gives me that feeling. This is proper Goldilocks business. It’s equal parts Gun Fingers and Loved up hugs. Just right.

By now we all know that something very special happens when Speed Garage collides with 1st wave UK Hard House - but - what makes this just right is that J Wax didn’t stop there, just like the Dutch 2nd Wave of Hard House he’s slid onwards into euphoric trance and oh boy am I here for it. In 1997 we got Double99’s Rip Groove and Nalin & Kane’s Beach Ball and for me this EP has as much in common with perfectly formed ‘97 Trance as it does with Speed Garage. Who says you can’t have it all!

We’ve been following J Wax’s output for years. He has been grafting hard. And for me he’s already firmly a part of the long lineage of globally significant Scottish party starting producers and DJ’s. So when we signed this EP to Time is Now I was gassed. Four big tunes. Sick EP. For me it’s crystal. J Wax is now a producer operating in rarefied air.

Run the Tracks….

A1. The dubplate of ’Peaches’ has been causing mayhem for a minute. Gliding in smooth before that big diva vocal screams down the bassline.

A2. J Wax tags in Edinburgh local RUA.DJ. The pair double up on ‘Shift’ for a slice of Trance infused but no-nonsense Speedy G. Reece bass & gun shots + bouncy synthline & ethereal chords. Lose it and yourself.

B1. ‘Soul Movement’ is a big room weapon. Serious levels on this one that leave no doubt - this is a producer at the top of his game, writing high energy weapons to destroy the dance.

B2. ‘Smokin’ is peak time bizness. Harder darker house with a diiirty dirty south vocal chop. This one is heads down & lock in…

Goldilocks.

he Congos possess what all bands look for, that unique distinctive sound that draws the listener in. Alongside the great songs, lead singer Cedric Myton's singing, phasing and falsetto voice makes that just the case.
The Congos were formed by Cedric Myton (b. 1947, St Catherine, Jamaica) around the mid-Seventies when the
Rasta message was central to the reggae sound coming out of Kingston, Jamaica. But he had started out in the
Rocksteady era, when he formed the vocal group 'Tartans', taking lead vocal duties alongside Devon Russell, Prince Lincoln Thompson and Lindbergh Lewis.They cut 'Dance All Night' (1967) and 'Coming On Strong' (1968). The line-Up became The Royal Rasses and from this Cedric moved on to form the Congos on meeting Roydel Johnson, who had previously sang with Ras Michael and the Sons of Negas. Cedric's Rasta roots were firmly in place when he went to work with producer Lee Perry to cut the seminal album 'Heart Of The Congos' at Perry's just built, Black Ark Studios in 1977. Cedric Myton has carried on the mantle, cutting a set of tunes with the help of his good friend Mr Brent Dowe, who had previously sang lead vocals with the Melodians.This is the Dub set to the vocal album released on the Kingston
Sounds label called 'The Congos Feast'(KS008).With such strong songs, rhythms and vocals it always had the chemistry for a great dub set. Hope you agree and enjoy the dub excursion...

The UK Players & Friends Hills and Valleys, Rivers and Streams (A Tribute to Idren Natural) 9 brand new tracks by The UK Players. Voiced by Singers and Poets who knew Idren Natural personally. Recorded and Mixed by Supa Yout’ at Earth Works Studio, Amsterdam. Sleeve artwork and written testimonials from close friends and associates. Idren Natural aka Ras Natural aka InI Oneness, DJ, Singer, Chanter, Musician, was a pivotal player and pillar of UK/European Roots, Reggae, Dub, Sound System Culture. A humble Rastaman who did so much for so many, inasmuch as inspiring, encouraging, and connecting. He selflessly helped those less fortunate than himself. A strong advocate of the culture and philosophy of Rastafari. He was a commanding presence who lit up the stage, giving JAH all the glory. His passing was a great loss to the community. The UK Players Dub Band formed in 1996. They teamed up with Ras Natural/InI Oneness to record their debut 7” single ‘Further’ for Jah Works with Producer Jah Rej. This single gained exposure via Jah Shaka, Abashanti, and King Shiloh Sound Systems, even the famous Radio 1 DJ ‘John Peel’ played it. More recordings with Jah Rej at Seventh Sense Studio led to the debut album ‘Take Heed’. During the halcyon days of InI Oneness & The UK Players (1997-2004) they toured the UK and Europe, clocking up over 250 gigs in that time. Amongst brethren within the Rastafari community, the band became affectionately known as Ras Naturals band. Friends of Natural like Ras Iyah, Tony Roots, Sister Aisha, Wayne McArthur, and Barry Isaacs (among others) performed with them during this time. Members of InI Oneness & The UK Players never split up, throughout the years they branched out into other projects, reconvening for specials and one offs. Following Idren Naturals passing in 2022, the band stepped up to play his memorial show, where the idea formulated of making a tribute album to him. Ben King offered the use of Earth Works studio to help realise the vision. Work began with longtime live sound engineer Supa Yout’ in March 2024. Jah Rej assisted production on a number of these recordings, and sadly passed during the making of it, the last album he worked on. Various vocalists who were close to Natural, submitted vocals across the following year. The album was mixed and dubbed in March ‘25 at Earth Works by Soupa Yout' & Kingsway. Artwork and written memories/testimonials were then assembled. Everyone involved in the creation of this album knew Idren Natural personally. This album shines a spotlight on his spirit. Carrying songs of tribute, and messages for the times. ALPHA DUB: Every time the band played a gig, Natural would insist on starting with a dub. In that tradition, this album is no different. ‘Mandlion’ passing through the studio, headtopped a Melodica cut on it. Dubbed to the max by Supa Yout! NATURAL VIBE: The ‘Forward Fever’ crew from Belgium were one of the first collectives that Natural affiliated with in Europe. Here, Ras Cloud cleverly weaves all of Naturals song titles into the lyrics, creating a song in itself. WORD & FLESH: Fellowdread was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. Now living in Bristol, England, residing with Natural in his last days. His Poetry is rich in inflection, knowledge and wisdom, teachings that spark up the divine. ALL ABOUT LOVE: A pause for contemplation, this one stills the listener. Rootsman Rak’s words warn against complacency, and encourages action. A completely (natural) acoustic track featuring the skilled percussionist Jonah Dan. REMEMBER HIM: Inna Dubplate style, Barry Isaacs toasts to Idren in personal remembrance, reminding us all of the man he was. The track also features snippets of a phone call from Naturals oldest friend ‘Fergie Greenspears’ recounting memories. RISE UP RASTA CHILDREN: The legendary Tony Roots, graces the album with his unique delivery. Natural, The Players, and Tony go back a long way. A song of strength to affirm the soul, and rally against Babylon. Livicated to the one (Natural) SONG FOR THE RIVER MAN: During those halcyon days, many stages were shared with Albaroot, whom the band met whilst on tour in Scotland. Clark Innes (lead singer/songwriter) reminisces about the force of nature that was Natural, times shared, and that knowing, to never meet again. ONE STEP AHEAD: An interpretation of the ‘Look Inside’ riddim by Reuben Addis. Built for Sound System, it is the only track on the album that rolls into a dub. Lyrical Benjie literally entered the studio, rode the riddim without hearing it first, cutting his vocal in one take! A message for the times that sends shivers up your spine. THE PRAYER: Iman Onedub AKA Iman Gebre Iyesus, member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, met Idren Natural at Fairfield House in Bath. Here he seals the album with a recital of the Lord's Prayer in English, with Amharic. His rich textural tones elevated with a one away riddim to carry the listener home.

DPRTNDRP make a long-awaited return to Infernal Sounds with 'Byrnei', a release that's been quietly building anticipation across the 140 scene. Following their acclaimed 'What Ya Mean' EP in 2020, the duo are back with five heavyweight cuts that showcase exactly why they've remained one of dubstep's most respected production outfits for well over a decade.

Opening with the title track, 'Byrnei' wastes no time setting the tone. Rolling with DPRTNDRP's unmistakable swing, weight and groove, it's a certified soundsystem weapon - built to lock dancers into its hypnotic rhythm while delivering devastating low-end pressure.

Next up, 'Jiaozi' shifts into overdrive. A relentless barrage of razor-sharp percussion, cavernous basslines and seismic energy, it's an uncompromising slice of peak-time dubstep designed to hit with maximum impact from the first drop to the last.

'Fury' explores a deeper side of the duo's sound, drawing influence from their dub-focused alias, D-Operation Drop. Rich in space, texture and heavyweight sonics, it perfectly blurs the line between traditional dub and modern 140, combining meditative atmospherics with chest-rattling low-end.

Adding another dimension to the EP, Causa steps in to rework 'Fury', twisting the original into a hypnotic, distorted roller. Layered with his unmistakable wobble-heavy aesthetic, the remix pushes the track into darker territory, delivering an immersive journey of oppressive bass weight and razor-sharp sound design.

Bringing the release to a thunderous close, 'Backfire' is pure, uncompromising pressure. Stripped back, direct and devastatingly effective, it's arguably the heaviest moment on the EP; a no-nonsense soundsystem destroyer that leaves a lasting impression.

From start to finish, 'Byrnei' is a statement of intent. It's a masterclass in weight, groove and precision, reinforcing DPRTNDRP's status as true innovators within the 140 landscape. With five expertly crafted cuts destined for dancefloors and soundsystems worldwide, this is another landmark release from two producers operating firmly at the top of their game.




[d] B2. Fury [Causa Remix]

We release our second record, COPPIES002. Another hand stamped white label EP, collecting tunes from thecommunity, for the community. This time with tracks by Kerr Wilson, Salomo, illousion and APRS. Kerr starts on A1 with his "The Key To My Heart". He showed the first version of the track to Robert around 4 years ago in a memorable summer spent together. We made the promise that this will be pressed on record one day and, here it is! Thanks Kerr! It's a melancholic late-summer tune that makes you tear up and feel like the warm euphoria won't last forever, but it will surely return if you're patient. Salomo follows with a similar moody approach on "Say less (on the DF)", even though we can argue about the meaning of the title ;). illousion builds more tension on the flipside with "Masc or Mask". Entering dubby, rolling terrains with more high intensity drum patterns for later moments of the night. APRS is closing the EP with "I Want to Speak" on B2, maybe the counter argument to Salomos desire of a less noisy dancefloor. He crafted a minimal, loopy trip that drags you down the rabbit hole and won't iet you go til the party is over. COPPIES002 is available on vinyl only with digi download option

After a couple of Echo Labs 45s and an ECR release - the ECHO EDITS sub-label is back once again, with the BREAK CRACKER in 2026

After the last latin flavoured joint on the label, we head to an all out Funk and Jazz party with a couple of cover versions of dancefloor favourites, never on a vinyl 7” before - given an added makeover for a double sided 45 bomb.

“I Want You Forward” takes a big band version of the Jackson 5 monster hit originally released on an LP. After being chopped,looped and layered with sound FX plus JA hype vocals to take it to the next level - this has been a favourite dubplate to start DJ sets with a bang !

“Psychedelic Drummer” is the Horace Silver penned soul-jazz cut that spawned various other vocal and instrumental versions that have been dancefloor favourites in mod clubs and funky jazz sessions over decades. Originally a very short track on a private press LP - it was the massive drums that made this ripe for more exposure with nothing more added - just cut-up, rearranged and extended for club play.

Although best-known these days for serving up blissful Balearic beats, Chris Coco's Coco, Steel & Lovebomb project started life as a platform for his early 90s house productions. Pleasingly, the veteran British producer is now making house again, in this instance in cahoots with long-serving Italian artist DJ Rocca. On side A, they both deliver their own pass on 'Echoes In My Mind', with Rocca's fluid, warm and organic Italian dream house-meets-Balearic house pass being followed by Coco's hybrid deep house/nu-disco take. They jointly explore their love of African musical culture on languid, hazy and mid-tempo B-side 'Mama Sol Mama Africa', where fluttering flutes, warm Rhodes keys and layered percussion catch the ear. That comes backed with a lovely alternative 'dub' full of effects-laden musical details and ear-catching percussion hits.

Pleasurewood return with 'Electric Telepathy', their second full-length LP offering Simla Space Funk, Psych-Library and Vintage-Cinematic Raga-Rock grooves.

This new offering from the band embraces more of their vintage Hindi Cinema soundtrack influences — "Chump Change", "The Hoverfly" and "RAMMM" could easily fit into the middle of an R.D. Burman score, each with their incongruous synthesis of different genres, infectious percussion, classical modes and funk chops.

There is also a slight sweep across a too-slow-to-disco tempo and feel with the moody Johnny Guitar Watson-esque slow burn of "Good Falcon" up to the nonchalant four-to-the-floor of "Last Dance Saloon" with its lyrical warning of digital over-saturation in our social-media saturated world and a foreboding of the mini-monoliths sat in the palms of our hands that in a Kubrickian way threaten to cosmically absorb us all as a species into their individual jet-black abysses.

And then, coming into focus like a sweet slice of disjointed, lo-fi, 8 bit space disco, "Mojave Desert" is a slacker-strut with telephone vocals dub guitars, dry cosmic synths and futurist Farfisa organ driven by an almost Acid-Jazz meets Post-Punk Bass line. The song is autobiographical in its account of an excursion along the 29 Palms Highway reflecting on an escape from the City of Angels not so far away, up into the stark psychedelic desert realm.

There is a lot to unpack in this record and yet more to discover so it will be best to allocate 40 minutes in a comfortable dimly-lit room with eyes closed and maybe a cognac in hand, to have a deep-dive into its well-travelled and esoterically funky grooves.

The third in a series of releases from the Digi Dub archives, Like it Here is a tribute to the poet laureate of Special Brew, the late Iffor Clarkson-Denbigh, who sadly departed us in 2021 to drink in the great park in the stars.

The infectious and futuristic late 90s vocal space dub of the A side finds Iffor waxing lyrically about both the nature of impermanence and the sentient ocean of Solaris over an irresistible bassline and low winding groove. The flip side features a suitably chugging version of the rail riding classic Loveborough Junction and a percussive early 90s acid dub of Heart like a Lion, the original of which dropped on the South East of the Thames collection. None of the tracks are traditional style dubs, but happily exist in the gaps between genres.


Iffor was a well-known multi-instrumentalist and vocalist on the South East London underground scene who lived life to the max without an off switch. He and label owner Lee Berwick truly had a laugh in the studio, producing Purple Boy (the classic ode to drinking in the park), the suitably named Clevor but Stupid album and many other uncategorisable musical wanderings.

“The hope is that Iffor, the dark son of Clenby, is cackling as he cracks another can while looking down on us from the great park in the stars.” Lee Digidub Berwick

Belfast’s Deeply Armed return with a monster of a new single, “Black Ice”, which marries the post-Kraut swagger of prime-era Mondays with an XTRMNTR sense of punked-up malevolence.

If their debut release “The Healing” presented the band at their most benevolent and euphorically optimistic, “Black Ice” is very much its flip; a bass-heavy soundtrack to truth, trust and resurgence led by a hypnotic thousand-yard-stare of a vocal.

As per their established operating strategy, the group have offered the track out to fellow travellers, this time around commissioning Andrew Fearn of Sleaford Mods under his solo guise of extnddntwrk and dub legend Mad Professor to reconstitute it across two thrilling remixes that between them plot the poles of their influences.

Fearn delivers a clatter of trance, walking the line between DIY hypnotics and Messthetics-scale crunk, while Mad Professor cuts an intense live mix that marries dub science with psychedelic alchemy, playing to the black heart of the group’s heavy dub leanings.

This new 12” somehow tracks the arc of the band’s vision perfectly. Positioned somewhere between dance, dub and destructo-punk, they remain infected by some of the most irrepressible covert strains of underground music while offering up their jams as raw material for new visions of now. Watch out though: “Black Ice” is treacherous.

Fall Collection pulls from the vaults. Four tracks, some long out of print, one never
before pressed, all of them worth the dig.

The A-side opens with Ty Tek’s Dirty Fusion, originally released on Gourmet Recordings
in 2005 alongside the Audio Soul Project remix two years later. Both have been
fetching serious money on the secondary market for a reason. This is tech house from
when that phrase still meant something, the walloping cadence, the sci-fi pads, the
seismic synths rolling underneath. You hear it once and it stays with you.

Departed by Wasted Chicago Youth follows. Justin Aulis Long and Mazi Namvar
started from a remix brief and promptly ignored it, building something new from scratch
in a single session. Organs, wailing lead, disco break, 808 subs, a plastic bass line
threading through all of it. Somewhere between an angry Metro Area and a more
psychedelic Jitwam, but really it’s just WCY doing what they do.

Love Thy Enemy by Wasted Chicago Youth appeared on the Chase The Devil EP back
in 2009. The bubbles, shuffles, and wobbling chords hold up, and the vocal samples hit
differently now than they did then.

ASP’s Cloud Dub closes the record. It appeared on Dubs Vol. 2 as a digital release in
2022 and has never been on vinyl, and that’s where the subsonic acid bass line and
the layered string, piano, pad, and organ groove finally get room to breathe. Deep
house the way Chicago made it in the early nineties. Bare, musical, and raw.

Track A1 written by Ty Tek. Remixed by Audio Soul Project
Track A2 written by Justin Aulis Long and Maziar Namvar
Track B1 written by Justin Aulis Long and Mazi Namvar
Track B2 written by Audio Soul Project.
Copyright Control
Fresh Meat Records 2026

The third release on the All City imprint Gurriers, with Rustal and Chaz Moloney coming together for their first release as a duo after years of playing live. The four tracks were started during a six-day session in Chaz’s studio in Friedrichshain, Berlin, and completed together in Dublin. Drawing on a shared love of techno, Pressure Kiss moves through dub, Detroit and raw ’90s influences, with a hypnotic and experimental edge. Opening with the heavy, driving pulse of “Inertia Cycle”, the EP sets the tone for four tracks that keep things stripped back, hypnotic and moving. “Pressure Kiss”, “Born From Oak” and “Head Of The Wolf” continue the journey across two tracks per side.

Jazzing The Morning is a compilation built around a simple idea: bringing together slow-tempo tracks that quietly lived beyond the spotlight, and giving them a space of their own.

Inspired by Dubbyman's Jazzing The Morning sessions, the compilation explores the deeper, slower side of electronic music through six carefully selected tracks by Hanna, Martian Tin Can, Paka Project, Detroit's Filthiest, Seafoam, and Inland Knights & To-Ka Project.

Rather than focusing on genre, Jazzing The Morning follows a shared pace — warm grooves, long blends and music made to be mixed, not rushed.

Pressed on vinyl only.
For those who still listen from start to finish.

2026 Repress

SHDW presents 'Federation Of Rytm IV': a bumper 30-track collection spanning the past, present, and future of techno.

Offering powerful standalone club cuts and a cohesive deep-dive, the expansive VA lands on 24th October 2025.

The fourth edition of SHDW's flagship 'Federation Of Rytm' VA series has been carefully curated by the DJ/ producer and head honcho over more than a year, with close attention to detail given to sequencing. It is a balance of label regulars and debutants that represents the past, present, and future, both sonically and through the generational diversity of the artists involved. There are plenty of surprises along the way while always remaining true to the Mutual Rytm ethos and reflecting the journey of the night from start to finish, whether that's in intimate, sweaty clubs or on big festival stages.

Across 30 tracks in the digital collection and 24 on four sides of wax, the release explores the full breadth of the Mutual Rytm sound. Driving grooves and relentless percussion set the pace, gradually unfolding into hypnotic and atmospheric passages that invite deeper immersion. Pulsating low-end power alternates with eerie minimalism, while bursts of futuristic energy and cavernous kick drums keep the tension high. Elsewhere, dub textures and moments of introspection provide balance, creating a narrative arc that moves fluidly between intensity and release, atmosphere and tension, darkness and light.

The unconscious element to the conscious process.

The practice of dub techno and its tendrils is a fundamental for me, both aesthetically and from an engineering perspective.

I start every recording session with a dub inspired jam, the first piece I ever recorded in 1996 was an effort to recreate Phylyps Trak with only a Korg X3 and an Ibanez PUE5 (borrowed from Gary Howell). It was an awesome introduction to jamming, and the footing stones of noise, delay and saturation were explored with my foot hard on the enthusiasm pedal.

These practice jams are in some sense cathartic, the first step taken again & again, which helps me move forwards each session and additionally helps to 'warm the circuits' both of myself and the machines.

After realising the genius of Basic Channel is akin to the genius of peasant food, using every ingredient with nothing left to waste, (up to and including the oft maligned working noise of the machines themselves), this was a watershed moment for my own subjective progression. No longer tied to just emulation of something inspiring, but taking these learned tools into other areas of music helped to break free from a strong current of influence and also to progress into other areas with the new toolbox.

Dub:

The importance of the dub pioneers should never be understated, in modern music and my own practice. Yet with my initial inspiration being two german dudes issuing extreme techno variants with obscured label designs, who then signposted their listeners to their own inspirations (via their Wackies re-issues or nodded to on their Rhythm & Sound/Burial Mix sub-labels), meant that I started late and travelled backwards.

Learning to notice the live mixing of Mikey Dread or Lee Perry when the faders are bleeding through even when turned down, (echoed in BC's Quadrant Dub), or the brash send effects literally thrown into the mix also taught me that 'rough' mixing can inject a recording with life, uniqueness and the most right wrongness. Looking back Basic Channels very few elements helped me realise that the rules to be understood, are also the best ones to be broken.

Push the mixer into the red.

Amp that noise up from the tape delay cos it sounds sick.

Pseudo side-chain effects cos the kicks are way too loud and the mixer can't sum it nicely.

Spam the send knob into the delay units now, now and now.

Carelessness.

Noise:

Once I wrapped my head around the intrinsic 'noise' element that set those records apart, this became a torchlight into the alt noise movements which I was tentatively exploring at the time, and also is evidently a connection or thread into them.

Whether the Industrial/Post Punk UK scene (This Heat, TG, A Tent, F.E.) or the prolific output of the US Noise scene (Wolf Eyes, Live & Shave in LA, and subsequently following the lineage all the way back to Chrome's Alien Soundtracks), I had finally discovered a connection from techno to this 'free for all' corner of music.

This input from the Noise arena of sound is, in my experience, an all important step for a sonic artist, taking it's roots and extending out from Stockhausen/Pierre Henry and utilised/warped/mangled by thousands of adventurous pioneers ever since, I now see the line separating the high brow and the low brow is actually an artery carrying information from the head to the heart.

Vault is a selection of these jams that precede each of my solo recording sessions, for 30 years I've recorded hundreds of these 'workouts'. They are never intended as serious statements, just moments of naive enjoyment, yet most importantly they are time & space captured as practice.

The objective is always a warm up exercise, but sometimes those exercises turn a different corner, with a certain focus or direction dependent on what random samples are left in my machines from the previous session, instead of conscious choices, these unconscious elements can facilitate those 'positive mistakes' that make a piece of sound retain a different feel or colour and thus become special, or at least special to the creator.

I am quite conscious that the 'record everything' aspect of my ethos has been invaluable in cataloguing and saving these jams, while the attitude of carelessness during this process (after all, it's only a warm up jam) invites more enjoyment than seriousness ever could. Even if you don't feel the piece at the time, record it, because some years later it may well fit, or become relevant in a way you never intended.

-Miles

Crafting another beautiful experience in sensorial delight, fleet.dreams returns to Vinezza with the label’s 3rd offering “A Voice Without Color” - born from an ever-deepening practice of groove-powered depth tech melded with realms of dubwise kineticism, enchanted cognition, and expressive, dreamlike synthesis.

“A Voice Without Color” finds fleet.dreams’ music in its most rave-activated mode yet, crafting 4 pieces of infinitely mixable spectral matter - all part of their own universe beckoning to be heard under the glow of stars in the night sky, or floating amidst the mesmerizing fog & lights pumping out of the system on your favorite dancefloor.

Awash in kaleidoscopic splendor and psychedelic intrigue, “A Voice Without Color” finds kinship in everything from the best of expansive dancefloor kineticism, time dilated wonder, and the vivid reverbations of the natural world floating in the mix. At once quintessential, contemporary, and ubiquitous is fleet.dreams’ own remarkable production technique, each track unfurling in seemingly endless swells of simmering rhythm and hypnotizing atmospherics - new memories of circadian entrancement in their molten essence, designed to blissfully guide you deeper and deeper towards the primordial exhilaration of movement. Undulating with vivid pulsations and clarion calls for the hips and mind echoing across a spiraling gyre, the sprawling waltz of “A Voice Without Color” glides through dazzling chroma and effulgent radiance greater than the sum of its parts.

Painting with bold, prismatic strokes of iridescent friction amidst the listless gray of our increasingly dispassionate timeline, fleet.dreams delivers another EP of style, substance, and vision for the dancers and DJs alike - a future classic of a possible world ready to be activated together.

*words by Kiernan Laveaux

Early support from: Kiernan Laveaux, Daniel Rincón (NAP), Scott Zacharias & Amelia Holt