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Nisantashi Primary School are Vlad, Lucy and Mykhaylo from Kiev. This electronic-pop trio embraces weird sounds and holds omnivorous but clearly discerning appetites for mixing disco, funk and dub grooves. Their debut EP is a mix of snappy and moody synth sounds, vintage-tinged bass lines and gritty rhythms.

The selection of tracks is a showcase of moods and influences: from the feverish and psychedelic "Mr. Fingers" with Fumaça Preta's Alex Figueira on drums, to the nocturnal dancefloor gem Hills'. Hints of dance records from 80's NYC, synth-based disco and krautrock come through, but an eastern european immediacy and faux-débutant approach brings its own flavor to the table.

While dance music from Kiev might seem surprising, what do we really know about this city's energy From the place where so many things are happening these days, maybe it's time to see something else unfold.

The first time I heard of Mattes Schwarz, someone called him 'Stecken-Mattes'. Stecken was a defining, if almost secret, Cologne dance music venue of the 2000s and early 2010s, a minuscule basement without curfew and seemingly any other restrictions, where the up to twelve hour long DJ-sets felt like a tightly knit circle of friends just playing records to each other: The selectors from the night before and the one after reliably sitting right in front of the just over one meter long stretch of the bar that formed its booth, never missing out on a chance to see their mates play, heads nodding and hands clapping through the smoke-filled air, until someone started to sing along, and eventually everyone got up for a few hours of moves on the 15 square meter dancefloor, on a grey Wednesday or Saturday morning at 7 or just as well 10 am.
Mattes Schwarz started DJing in 1982 at age twelve, inspired by, as many West-German kids, the GI-DJs of the roller skating rinks around US army bases. While he got heavily involved in Cologne's BMX scene of the 90s, he never really stopped, and during the main years of being known as Stecken-Mattes and playing there each Friday night, he coincidently lived in Magazine record's homebase, North- Eastern Cologne's old harbour.
One day after Stecken's closure had sent restructuring ripples through the city - I imagine him getting up in the morning and taking a deep breath - he decided to send Magazine a few tracks.
'I Don't Know' is Mattes Schwarz' first release.

New York's P. Leone is back with the second release on his newly launched E-MISSIONS imprint featuring Work Them Records founder Spencer Parker on remix duties.Born and raised in Brooklyn, where he discovered the legendary Storm Rave parties run by Frankie Bones and Adam X, P. Leone cut his teeth DJing in the Lower East side of Manhattan before making techno himself. Before long the producer dropped his first two releases on Work Them Records, joining a roster spanning Radio Slave, Spencer Parker, Young Male, Anetha and Physical Therapy. E-MISSIONS was then launched in early 2017, acting as a platform for co-founders P. Leone and CAIAZZO with more exciting artists soon to be announced.'Discipline Signals' is dark and robust from start to finish, with 'Functions of Discipline 1' inaugurating the package with resonating kicks, trippy elements and industrial synths. 'Functions of Discipline 2' follows a similar aesthetic but heads into a deeper direction with its cavernous atmospherics and glitch inspired effects, making way for 'Laced' with its sinister drones and tantalising melodies. Spencer Parker then remixes 'Laced', concluding matters with rugged drums, energetic hi-hats and a rumbling low-end.

Freshly dressed after a double helping of made to measure goodness, Aficionado size up another summer time smash for the sandal-wearing masses.
Keen to capture the coastal cool of the Wirral peninsula, the label crack out the crystals and summon strange-wave sorceress Brenda Ray for another hit of her interplanetary excellence.
Wandering from new age haze to celestial rays on this tripped out trio, our genre blending genius takes the fourth world into the fifth dimension of psychedelic sound.

Our spiritual journey begins with the chakra cleansing 'Solartude', an out-of-body beauty which bathes us in swirling flute, dreamy chimes and shimmering tape delay before sending us off towards the Orient.
Eastern tones and hushed vocals ride a glistening sequence as this flawless fusion of exotica and dub suggests a medicated Martin Denny stumbling out of Chinatown and into a humid mangrove.

Next stop on the voyage of self discovery is 'Space Dustin', a lunar lullaby for lucid dreamers which sees Brenda spin Fairlight mallets, celestial keys and whispered vocals into an immersive ode to the outer rim. Floating free of space and time, perhaps you too can glimpse the excellent birds.

Over on the flipside and the temperature begins to rise. 'Skip, Hop To Bop' sees Brenda dabbling with dub Techno, setting Basic Channel synths and stirring strings to a skittering rhythm. Dislocated and disoriented we descend into a strange subterranean world of Rothschild parties, Lynchian noir and muffled Techno.
Surrounded by swirling voices, shuffling percussion grabs hold of you and all that remains is to sway.

Officially Aficionado.

The Passport To Paradise gang are in fine form as they serve up four more tripped-out disco edits for the globally-minded savant.
We take sail with the excellent 'Thru Wit' Waitin'', a beefed-up guitar chugger reminiscent of 70s AOR in its steady percussive work and misty sax solo. It's the guitar line that really shines here, lifting the tune into funk transcendence in the bridge.
'Anybody Out There' reaches out to the disco trippers with its northern Italian cosmic kitsch feel: starry-eyed synth pads float above reverb-soaked guitar musings and playful French vocal samples. A particular highlight. On the flip, PTP take things south with a soulful West African shuffler guaranteed to elicit some arresting footwork. The EP leaves us with resounding vibrations from the Far East: 'JP Wave' explores ethereal planes, building up a dense rhythmic fabric punctuated by bass stabs and ornamental chimes. This is a clever bunch of edits for the more discerning selectors and enthusiasts out there- act fast.

Selected East African Recordings From The 1970s & '80s !

"MODEM:39 is booted and connected. Main task: Linking components like friendship, art and communication. This sustainable mixture results in label artist Tommes' first release on solid 180g black gold. The A.R.L.T. EP represents a thoughtfully crafted selection of analog sounds, inspired by classic house music. Tommes, being a part of eastern Germany's underground scene since 20 years, demonstrates his unique style with four timeless tracks. His passion for dubby sounds and chords echoes through the whole EP - solid deepness incoming!
"McDrive" is a bass line driven tune, full of versatile, warm synthie-melodies and catchy percussions. Its length offers great mixing possibilites. Let's get smooth and dreamy on the - StendalSunsetBoulevard'. A beautiful piece for any occasion.
Side B features two more linear and straightforward tracks. "Deeples' hypnotic dub-groove creates a very profound depths. Club approved!
Cheerful house roller - Deemin Goes" glares with atmospheric pads and a punchy bassline - perfectly rounding off an honest Solo-EP. The EP is limited to 300 editions with a handcrafted cover artwork - 50 of them comes in a special black and white edition, 250 copies in decent black artwork."

Shoc Corridor was the London post-punk quartet of Paul O'Carroll (Voice, Synth), Andy Garnham (Synth, Drum), Chris Davis (Guitar, Bass, E-Bow) and Nogi Prass (Synth) named after the Sam Fuller film from 1963. Chris met Nogi shortly after moving to London in 1979 - they started playing music together, fell madly in love, and decided to form a band. They recruited Andy, who had previously played in a band with Stephen Luscombe of Blancmange, and lyricist and vocalist Paul. Their influences were wide reaching: Kraftwerk, Neu, Cabaret Voltaire, Brian Eno, PIL, and Joy Division.

The group recorded a 4-song demo during 1981 in a tiny flat Chris shared with Nogi in Notting Hill. As their collection of instruments grew they set up studio a few blocks away in Andy's flat at 20 All Saints Road. There they re-recorded Sargasso Sea' along with On Reflexion' on a TEAC reel-to-reel 4-track machine. In the summer of '82, the band was booked into Decibel Studios in Stoke Newington for two and a half days with Mark Easton of Shout Records, where they reworked the two songs. The group usually worked through studio experimentation rather than constructing their songs in a conventional way. Their equipment list included a Korg MS-20, Wasp, Pro-One, Roland TR-808, WEM Copicat, guitars, bass, e-bow and an assortment of effects pedals. On Reflexion' began as a Blancmange backing track, since Stephen Luscombe would sometimes use Andy's 4-track, Korg MS-20 and drum machine. Chris has memories of Paul disappearing from time to time to the neighboring graveyard for inspiration, where they had to procure him from to lay down vocals. Their debut 3-song 12' single, A Blind Sign', was released in October 1982 on Shout Records. For this re-issue we've included the original skeletal Sargasso Sea' 4-track demo from 1981. Evocative and dreamy, the music escorts you on a tour of icy landscapes, with Paul's rich vocals guiding the way.

All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. Each EP comes in an exact replica of the original jacket, designed by Chris Davis with artwork by Paul and Jerry Neal. Each copy includes an 8x11' 2-sided insert with liner notes, lyrics and photos designed by Eloise Leigh.

The second release of Dilated Pupils on their own platform DPBEATS.! Techy yet classy vibes.! All beats are ready for the club.!

About DP:
Dilated Pupils is a collective group of likeminded friends home-based in the Netherlands. When forces are joined in one of their many studios each individual brings his own influences and styles to the table. Together they share a distinct flavor in productions and raw one-take jam sessions created with the use of analogue machines and often recorded on tape. Each of them have their own solo productions as well as other collaborations, but when united as Dilated Pupils they prefer to be known jointly as one entity with their own unique and distinguished sound. Since 2014 the group has developed an interesting and widespread discography with releases on labels such as Fear of Flying, Sol Asylum, Mode of Expression, Tabla, Music is Art, Dorcas, Make Sense and Mayak

Ltd. to 999 copies, initial copies on black inside milky clear vinyl,

Cititrax present a split EP by two massive talents, Borusiade and The Sixteen Steps. Borusiade, originally from Bucharest, Romania began as a DJ in the early 2000s and then started producing music in 2005. With a background in classical music, she combined her love of raw electronics, obscure themes and melodic lines to create her own signature sound. She has released on the Cómeme label as well as Corresepondent. Infatuation and Confutation are dark, moody and intense tracks that catch you upon first listen. The flip side of the Promises and Infatuation EP features The Sixteen Steps, the brainchild of George Lanham who cut his musical teeth DJing and running events in the south of England. We have been listening to many of his tracks endlessly for a while now. They've also been a highlight of Veronica Vasicka's DJ sets as of late. Signals From The South and Promises On The Run are both immaculately produced, hypnotic, dance floor killers. They are sparse ebm meets smoky warehouse techno, and offer a wonderful contrast to Borusiade's layered emotive tracks that reminisce of an East Village club in the 1980s. Themes of infatuation, appearances, and anonymity appear throughout this EP from the music itself right through to the cover art.

Limited edition vinyl pressing of 999 copies, first 500 copies are pressed on black inside milky clear vinyl (each record is one of a kind), housed in a matte printed sleeve.

Coloured Vinyl
Iona Fortune is a composer and producer from Glasgow and presents the 'Tao of I' album as her debut release.
Inspired by Eastern Philosophy and slated to be the first in an 8 album series exploring all the symbols of the I Ching, her music is influenced by oriental sounds and features a palette of instruments that includes the Guzheng, Gamelan and Synthi AKS.
The overall effect is a singular and beguiling sound that loosely fits in with the Fourth World concept imagined by Jon Hassell, and indeed Iona Fortune has also contributed a track to Optimo Music's new Fourth World compilation 'Miracle Steps'.
The initial vinyl edition will come on a translucide pressing with inside sleeve and original artwork by Iona Fortune.

* Includes a DIN A2long poster inside the 12" sleeve with edition number and music download code

* Rogue Style 1 EP is an international homage to b-boy culture, where the worlds of breakbeat music and breakdance collide. Sinistarr (USA), Kiat (Singapore), Kabuki (Germany) and HomeSick (Canada) are connected in many ways, now they lay bare their hip-hop roots and give something back with a fresh take through the eyes of drum & bass and juke/footwork. Here is what they have to say:

Sinistarr: "As a teenager I grew up as a b-boy, dancing anywhere I could: schools, parks, festivals, you name it, my crew was there with cardboard and a speaker. I eventually got deeper into DJing and making music and learned to bring a sound that's not just for the crowds and the purists, but also for all the dancers!"

Kiat: "Hip Hop has taught me to keep evolving, to explore new forms in all my art. Progression is the key to evolution. -- I met Sinistarr online thru myspace and we had a musical connection which led to our first collaboration 'Black Diamonds' which is still one of my personal favourite tunes I've been fortunate to be part of it's creation. With Kabuki, i've always been a fan of his work since his 'Makai' alias on No U-Turn, despite meeting him only recently thru the label.I've always known him to be constantly progressing his ideas in his music which I respect alot."

Kabuki: "B-boy culture has always been a strong influence on how I pursued my art, mainly because of its DIY ethos and attitude of perfecting your craft. Incidentally these were also the aspects that drew me to Jungle when I first discovered it in the nineties. -- I'm happy to rub shoulders with Kiat, Sinistarr and HomeSick on this release, as I'm a fan of their music foremost, but also because we became friends through the music."

HomeSick: "I was only a child in the 90s and as a result I feel like my understanding of b-boy culture was experienced second hand thanks to 90s/early 2000s hip hop music. I appreciate the parallels I can see with footwork culture, particularly the similarities to the community mentality of break dancing. -- I know Sinistarr through booking him for our local party night in Alberta, Canada called Percolate. Our city must have left an impression on him because a year later he made the move here from Detroit. Had the pleasure of hosting him as a room mate for a little over half a year, the home was a very potent creative space during this time. Kabuki hit me up a few years ago and we very quickly got to sharing tracks and collaborating together. Mans a master of production and a super important part of the global scene."

The idea for a reminiscence of b-boy culture stem from label owner Booga:

"Why am I interested in this so much I grew up in East Germany and as the movie "Beat Street" premiered in 1985 over here I was age 13 and blown away by the energy, the music, the wit, the style - everything in this movie was better than everyday life in Leipzig. So I started saving for a cassette recorder and taped music shows from West German radio and prepared tapes for school disco gigs to the hope somebody would do the "robot" to Arthur Baker "Breaker's Revenge". Unfortunately that never worked out hahaha. But I was hooked since then and as the wall came down in 1989 I travelled to West Berlin just to buy the Beats, Breaks and Scratches 1-4 vinyl box by Simon Harris. The fascination for breakbeats never stopped and before I discovered Jungle around '94 I was down with the British cut up house thing from the likes of Marrs, Krush and Coldcut as another form of breakbeat music. The "do it yourself" spirit from hip hop culture inspired me to start a local website called breaks.org in 2000 to locally promote the drum and bass scene with emerging producers, djs and mcs for a wider audience and I threw in some interviews with Storm, Kabuki, Rob Playford, Klute and John B. That turnt into a multi author blog called itsyours.info in 2004 which still exists - that is where I had the pleasure to introduce Kiat and Ash in 2007. All these years I was listening and playing drum and bass tunes when the occasional "bboy tune" came up, some were obvious like Alex Reece "B-Boy Flavour", Lemon D "B Boyz", Commix "Change" and some were not so much self-explanatory like Digital & Spirits "Phantom Force" and the remixes by T-Power & Codeine or Fracture's Astrophonica Edit - but I felt the hidden force of breakdancing nevertheless. With the Rogue Style series I have the first class opportunity to ask established and new Defrostatica artists to present a current interpretation of b-boy culture. This is a dream coming true."

Schmer-007 "Smoking is Still Bad for You - Volume 1" is here and contains old school and new cool tracks from all the original Schmer culprits plus some loops from our new friends. Dietrich Schoenemann and Prototype 909 dug their tracks out of their vast archives of unreleased originals. DJ RX-5 and BPMF delivered some hot new Schmers to get us moving again.

For the last 20 years we've all been tormented by the great issues facing mankind and most vexing among them of course was "When will the next Schmer record finally come out" I am happy to say that the answer, my record distributing friend, is NOW!

Prototype 909 demands that you ( redacted ) ... "The Volume"! A track recorded in 1997 and finally getting released for the first time here. Prototype 909 was a "group" from "New York" that made "techno" in the "90s". Since then, the three members of this group all went on to do things. #TrueFacts

Dietrich Schoenemann has been so busy being one of the last men cutting all the records in the world that he hasn't had time to organize his catalog of unreleased gems. I distracted him with the old "look over there" trick and stole "8 Feet" from him while he wasn't looking. ( Hopefully he didn't recognize it while he was mastering it )

The last Schmer vinyl was DJ RX-5 "A Taste for Crap EP" from the then Moscow based very underground DJ Compass Vrubell. Nina Kraviz thought it was so crappy she put a track from it on fabric 91: Nina Kraviz; so I asked Alexey to make some more crap. He did it His Shway and this is the result. ( PS He still has all the patterns for the RX-5 from the original release so remaster, remixes and rereleases are in Schmer's future, HUZZAH!)

BPMF - The original Schmer artist had nothing better to do so he kommt back and gave us this track.

We love to torture the engineer so we just had to include some loops:
Rhizome is the alter-ego of Moscow wunderkind Nikita Zabelin.
Philly based Hero/Victim has been victimizing soundsystems up and down the East Coast with his mad live performances.
The Wise Caucasian is a pseudonym for some super famous London based producer and label owner, or at least that's what he claimed when I picked up his bar tab.

Work Them Records producer P. Leone kick-starts his new Brooklyn-based imprint E-MISSIONS with three animated techno tracks featuring a twisted remix from label co-founder Caiazzo.

Beginning his journey through electronic music upon coming into contact with Sonic Groove record store in New York, P. Leone subsequently discovered the legendary Storm Rave parties run by Frankie Bones and Adam X before quickly immersing himself in underground rave culture. DJing house and experimental music in the Lower East Side of Manhattan before producing his own techno, it wasn't long until Spencer Parker signed two of his releases to Work Them Records label which garnered support from the likes of Slam, Roman Fluegel, The Black Madonna, Rolando, Midland and Axel Boman.

Crunchy kicks and ethereal atmospherics set the mood in 'Coast Atlantic' as echoing stabs heighten in intensity. 'Boil Until Pure' is more of a rolling percussive affair containing a medley of metallic nuances whilst 'Tears' demonstrates infectious chords, claps and vocal coos whilst ghostly pads add to an air of melancholy. Fellow Work Them Records artist Caiazzo then steps up to remix 'Tears' - completely reimagining it into a trippy shadowy cut.

After sending out these tracks last summer and getting great reactions from DJs and dancers alike, Hell Yeah is pleased to finally officially release virtuoso musician Verdo's Little Blue EP, complete with a remix from Lauer. Fully remastered for vinyl, the likes of Lexx, Chris Coco, Soft Rocks, Leo Mas and many more have all be playing these tunes with great results.

The talented Verdo runs the famous Gratis Club in Senigallia on the Italian east coast. It is a place he calls home, and that has really allowed him to hone and sharpen his DJ skills so that now he is a slick, unpredictable and singular DJ with many tricks up his sleeve. Bjorn Torske, DJ Fettburger, Prins Thomas, Kenji Takimi, Glenn Underground and more have all played there in the last decade and Verdo himself is a skilled pianist who has played for Zero7 singer Mozez in the past. He has worked with Hell Yeah before now, as well as releasing on Danny Was A Drag King, and here serves up his biggest bit of dance floor dynamite to date, including his previously digital only cut 'Big Fish' (mixed by DJ Rocca).

Opener 'Little Blue' is a perfectly sunny track with hip swinging claps, bobbling bass and boat party vibes that soothe your soul. Rich with instrumentals and golden synth lines, it's a perfect beat that gets followed up by the retro disco pump of 'Sazerac', another tropical cut with loose drums and rubbery bass to get you up on your toes.

The massive 'Big Fish' then hits hard with its tin pot percussion and wild synths all making you flail your arms like you just don't care. Jumbled jungle vibes and big chords all swell your heart as your feet skip about down low.

Closing out the package is Phillip Lauer (Tuff City Kids), one of the most in demand stars of the day, and his version is a direct house jam with percolating and rugged synths and slapping hits, all demanding you ditch your cocktail and get up and groove.

"all good stuff here! OG for early / mornings and Lauer for peak. really nice release! " Piers - Soft Rocks

"Big fan of Verdo! great tunes here as expected. Sezarac fav at first listen." - Dream Chimney

"Little blue is super nice!!" - Phil South (Golf Channel)

"Yes, some great stuff here. Sezerac and the Lauer mix are really great, perfect sunshine session material." - Chris Coco

"I love Big Fish's keyboards! strong!!! Arigato!!!" - Chida

"Little Blue and Big Fish are fun for sure, def will play em on a rooftop sooooon" - Jacques Renault

"Yeah, feeling Little Blue, heavy rotation this Summer! " - Jason Boardman (Aficionado)

"Little Blue, i like." - Lexx

"This is tremendous. Driving peak time track that you can imagine Joe Claussell really working the dancefloor with." - Andrew Pirie

"killer ep guys!!!" - Discodromo

Written & produced by Roboknob. Mixed by Stefan Goldmann. Mastered by Rashad Becker. Info: We've said it before: techno's vanguard can be found in the East right now. Sofia's quirky techno underground is densifying. Evolving around the Diviat Slon parties (residents: StefaK & Stefan Goldmann), the Beton nights, the indoors offspins of Artmospheric festival and unannounced appearances of KiNK under his Cyrillic guise, raw and rave-infused techno is increasingly defining the city's sound of the small hours. Roboknob are part of this movement, and this is their debut EP. A live hardware duo, Yasen and Stanislav drop rugged, noisy machine jams around the Bulgarian capital and have been regulars at Artmospheric. The EP's tracks have been distilled from their live repertoire and mixed by Stefan Goldmann into sharply defined form with added bite. 'Dexydi' is Greek for acid - the corrosive liquid, not the music. Accordingly, its heavy-handed single-note bass attack will cut through anything. 'Spellbind' is more bouncy with frantic upward movements, distorted percussive fallout and a seasick bass foundation. 'Liulka' handles two layers of time rubbing off of each other: quirky and pushing high in the sky, against the bass drum mechanics down low. A suitable acoustic symbol for Sofia's state of techno.

Visible Cloaks' Reassemblage is a collection of delicately rendered passages of silence and sound that invokes - and invites - consciousness. The foundation of the duo's second album is gently poured upon the ground their musical predecessors explored, using the materials of chance operations, MIDI translation,' and other generative principles that favor inclusive musical environments over the narrowly constrained.

In 2010, Spencer Doran, one part of Visible Cloaks alongside Ryan Carlile, prepared the first volume of Fairlights, Mallets, and Bamboo, a mixtape indicated by Doran as an investigation into fourth-world undercurrents in Japanese ambient and pop music, years 1980 - 1986.' These mixes contextualized the outré orbit of Yellow Magic Orchestra-related solo projects and their abstract, radiant forays as forever futuristic modes of music.

Reassemblage evokes similar musical futures celebrated on the Fairlights mixes, but does so observantly rather than reverently. The title Reassemblage, for example, is taken from a film essay by Trinh T. Minh-ha, which explores the impossibility of ascribing meaning to ethnographic images. The author aims to speak nearby' rather than speak about.' In other words, to embrace lapses of understanding, and realize that the impulse to map direct meaning across a cultural gap often results in further disconnect.

In an effort to speak nearby' rather than speak about,' Visible Cloaks filters and forms source material to become young again. Often the duo strip tonal elements of their specificity or randomize melodies so they become stirring and lucid. Essential patterns emerge, conscious experience heightens. In these moments, the musical language of Reassemblage finds unlimited resonance and presents a path to uninhabited realities.

The origin of this language could be described as translingual or polyglottal, working within the eastern / western feedback loop of influence, Fourth World ambiguity, and the universality of human emotion. Incorporating an international array of virtual instruments to advance the idea of panglobalism through digital simulation, tones and colors cohere into a living, breathing pool of sensorial experience in Visible Cloaks' environs.

Beyond embracing the fluidity of worldly musical influences, Visible Cloaks works fluently between mediums. The contribution of stalwart digital and installation artist Brenna Murphy's dream dimensions to Reassemblage's cover artwork and surrounding videos extends the album's exploration of global headspace into a visual, visceral reality.

Muyei Power or Orchestre Muyei (muyei means 'our country') was one of the top dance bands of the1970s in Sierra Leone. Soundway Records' first collection of music from this West African country ('Muyei Power: Sierra Leone in 1970s USA') is an album of rock-infused, 'afro' music from a group that traveled the world throughout the mid 1970s. Fusing elements of electric Congolese and Nigerian music with fast, syncopated, uptempo modernised arrangements of traditional music, Muyei Power produced a series of unique single-only releases that have been unavailable for 35 years. The rare recordings featured here are a glimpse of a dynamic and powerful band at the very height of its powers.

Even though lyrically Orchestre Muyei focused on traditional themes and songs, the arrangements and formulation of the instrumental side of things still very much reflected the mixed nature of urban Sierra Leone music, exemplified by a small collection of bands that also included Afro National, Sabanoh 75 and Super Combo.



For the early part of 1970s the band toured extensively throughout Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire before making a handful of 45s in local TV and radio studios. The recordings featured here however come from a period of touring the college circuit in California during late 1975 and early 1976. Later that year, as they played the colleges of the east coast, they gave the tracks to the owner of the African Record Centre in Brooklyn, New York. He initially released two of them on his in-house Makossa Records label as 7-inch 45rpm singles in 1976. The tracks from 1975/6 were then not heard of again until 1979/80 when the African Record Centre released many of them on a series of Makossa Records 12's that sounded far superior than the records that had been released a few years earlier.


Orchestre Muyei Power finally split up in 1979 leaving no proper album releases and only a handful of recordings for us to enjoy all these years later.

It was the spring of 2007 when Paul 'Mudd' Murphy and Kevin Pollard announced the arrival of the former's Claremont 56 label with Villa Stavros', a magical frst collaborative 12'. It
seems somewhat ftting, then, that Claremont 56's fnal release of its' frst decade will be N7 Odyssey, the frst collaborative album from Mudd & Pollard. By the time Villa Stavros' came out, the pair had already been regular studio buddies for a couple of years. Initially, Murphy had recruited Pollard - a hugely talented keyboardist and composer - to play on tracks he was working on for Rong Music. One thing naturally led to another, and soon they were joining forces to make music as Murphy's home studio in
Holloway, North London. As the years rolled by, further acclaimed singles followed Villa Stavros' - the bubbly, Rhodes-laden Balearic disco shuffe of Vincent', and the lilting, intergalactic dub disco of Scaffold', most notably - before the duo's other musical commitments began to take precedence. Murphy had his hands full running the Claremont 56 and Leng labels, while Pollard carved out a successful career as a soundtrack composer for both flm and television. Now, the album they set out to make all those years ago is fnally fnished and ready to be
released. N7 Odyssey - titled in tribute to the Holloway studio they recorded in for many years before Murphy moved - draws together freshly re-mastered versions of their previously released singles with a clutch of previously unheard tracks. Built around the duo's own fne musicianship, with Pollard handling synths, keyboards and electric piano, and Murphy guitar, bass and percussion, the album's ten tracks offer a musical journey through their shared love of shuffing grooves, sun-kissed soundscapes and
gentle positivity. Highlights come thick and fast. There's the swirling strings, futtering futes, jammed-out electric pianos and heady female vocals of Far Away', the enchanting new age ambience of December', and the rush-inducing Balearic disco breeze of Mawson's Walk', a former single blessed with sublime horn solos and rising, cinematic strings. Check, too, the head-
nodding beats, fuid electric piano solos and jazzy guitars of Inatin', the gentle Eastern mysticism and vintage ambient house aesthetics of Anura', and the ultra-deep house pulse of N7 Odyssey'. The album fttingly fnishes with a sublime ambient interpretation of Scaffold', arguably the duo's most celebrated track. It may have taken a decade to emerge, fully formed, but Murphy and Pollard have delivered an album that's beguiling, magical, and hugely comforting. Clearly, it's an odyssey worth
taking.

'Soak by James Hadfield, featuring Danny Linton, is one of the main reasons for the launch of Me Me Me and a record I love so much I have done my first rem ix for the label,' explains Man Power. Further remixes from Axel Boman and Bird Of Paradise cement a stellar third release on the burgeoning Me Me Me imprint.
Soak is a distinct and uncategorisable piece of electronic music, with a rich thread of emotion running through it so strongly, it remains within each remix, albeit distilled in different ways. Fellow North Eastern Englishman Bird Of Paradise (Correspondant / HAKT) turns in two differing atmospheric interpretations of the track (one appearing as a digital exclusive), while Studio Barnhus supremo Axel Boman brings his own inimitable style to his rework, and Man Power's delivers a dreamy and forlorn infusion on this magnetic record.
James Hadfield has been releasing music over the last ten years under several guises including Lizards and Elizabeth Collective, although remains an elusive figure in the bubbling underground house and Balearic scene. Soak sees him teaming up with Danny Linton , best known as post dubstep producer Funk Ethics.
Man Power's ear for the more captivating and experimental side of electronic music is being championing through Me Me Me, putting discerning dance floors to the test through its releases. 2017 contributions include Mike Simmonetti, Chida, Fort Romeau, Hammer, Rex The Dog, Daniel Maloso and many more .