Satte acht Jahre ist es her, daß MICHAEL MAYER sein Debut-Album 'Touch' veröffentlichte, doch niemand wird Kompakts Labelchef in der Zwischenzeit mangelnde Präsenz attestieren wollen: der Terminkalender bleibt zum Bersten befüllt mit DJ-Gigs und Remix-Aufträgen. Deshalb erfreut es Kompakt umso mehr das neue Album MANTASY vorstellen zu dürfen, ein langersehntes, dringend notwendiges Update des Mayer'schen Klangkosmos und ein essentielles 2012er Release für das Label.
RAWAX IS PROUD TO WELCOME MR. K-ALEXI SHELBY TO THE FAMILY!
Mr. K Alexi Shelby
Like a moth drawn to a flame, there is something utterly infectious about the music of Mr.K Alexi Shelby, better known as K-Alexi one of the founding fathers of house music direct from his home city of Chicago. Since the late 1980s, he has pioneered the true house sound, leading to a DH and production career spanning over 20 years, including collaborations with artists ranging from The Pet Shop Boys to Derrick May and from Larry Heard and Felix da Housecat to Will Smith, as well as gigs across the globe.
An impressionable young teenager, Mr.K Alexi Shelby developed friendships with Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy whilst attending seminal venues like The Warehouse and The Music Box in the mid 1980s. Being here at this embryonic stage of dance music culture, there were no rules or precedents, so K Alexi drew on a rich musical heritage that had seen him grow up in the 70s and 80s listening to Stevie Wonder, Prince, Curtis Mayfield and David Huff. Those roots continue to influence his music to this day.
It was under the moniker Risque III that Essence Of A Dream was released in 1987, firmly establishing the name of Mr.K Alexi Shelby amongst the most prominent of all house producers at the time. Moreover, those early tracks are still recognized to be the quintessential Chicago house sound. The rumbling and dark bass, smooth strings, incredible percussion and the spoken word poetic and erotic lyrical flow became the trademark for classic Chicago house and the template for everything else that followed. To reiterate, there was no template before this. This was the beginning.
This initial success has lead to Mr.K Alexi Shelby working with the leading names across the electronic music world and beyond. Collaborations and remixes for Chicago peers like Mike Dunn, Mr. Lee and Marshall Jefferson merely served as the springboard for Alexi to work with the best in the electronic scene, from Derrick May to Paul Johnson ,Ron Trent Dave Angel to Felix ad House Kat. Furthermore, his talents have also lead to him working with The Pet Shop Boys and Will Smith.
On top of this, his tracks have appeared on compilations by artists varying from Laurent Garnier to DJ Hell, who used It's Me 2010 contribution to the Body Language series for Get Physical Music. Produced under the Club M.C.M. moniker, the 1991 EP It's Me/Club M.C.M. has been a frequent selection for compilations for 20 years and is rightly regarded as a true underground techno classic.
Welcome reisssue for monster soul-funk LP 'Disconnection', one of the most obscure and sought-after releases from top 70s disco label, Prelude. Ridiculously expensive and hard-to-find in the original, this album is stuffed full with killer tracks spanning warm, soulful disco, high-stepping groove and boogie-heavy funk all written and produced by Robert Holmes. Standouts include the jazzy free-style 'Dead On The Case', later reworked for the mysterious French Skyline project, cool jazz-funk groover 'Bay City', recently edited by none other than Balearic maestro Lexx, and the floor-friendly chunky funk workout 'Cash Money'. However no track is a filler on this superb album which fully deserves its 'holy grail' status with collectors. Essential!
Digitalism has done a mix for the legendary K7! DJ Kicks series. And it is not a lie, on the contrary, it is nothing short of the truth to say, this is a dream come true for two young fellows from Germany. Twelve years ago, when they originally met, two record store workers in Hamburg, admiringly selling the DJ Kicks series to their customers adoring not just the event of each release, the dexterity of the mix but most importantly the protagonists behind each release, the artist, the DJ, the mixer. Their favourites over the last two decades are Tiga's ("His mix was a great essence of edgy and cold electro-techno."), Trevor Jackson's Playgroup ("More really playful stuff.") and Erlend Oye ("Cause he sung over a lot of stuff and had some favs like Jürgen Paape, the collab with Morgan Geist and Avenue D (2D2F) on it.").
Played and Supported by Chris Liebing, DVS1, Marcel Fengler, Inigo Kennedy, Bas Mooy, Oscar Mulero, Truncate, Markus Suckut and more. Kike Pravda presents his first release on his own label called 'Senoid Recordings', including a remix of Ben Sims. The vinyl starts with the track 'Exalt' .It includes a Roland 909 very processed, aggressive and distorted sound until the end, accompanied by a sequence of a dark bassline and dynamic,which Kike Pravda takes it to the limit of its frequencies in constant evolution.A track that makes it the letter of introduction of Senoid. In B side, Ben Sims remix 'Scared' to the most pure style of Mr Ben. Hi-hats unstoppable, unmistakable grooves, giving back to the sounds of the original, essential for its most faithful followers. Closes the record the original version of 'Scared', a continuous arpeggio with an accompaniment of a 909 ride pure, brilliant, subtle.Scared evolves from beginning to end, with touches of dark, analogic, atmospheres and glitches, which turns it into a space trip.
Played and Supported by Kenny Larkin, Laurent Garnier, Adam X, Speedy J, Norman Nodge, DVS1, Pig & Dan, Perc, Max_M, Jonas Kopp, Freddy K, Kirk Degiorgio and more.
Cannibald Do you remember something about an LP of the 90s signed by Leo Anibaldi Yes! it's the label of Leo Anibaldi. Until three years ago his releases were on vinyl. Then he continued in digital format until now. Now it's time to release again a special vinyl!
Well, the ìdeep, raw and realî series has come to an end with volume 4, but Quintessentials
keep these lovely compilations coming. The ìthank you freaksî series is about hot tunes from
hot producers. And part 1 is offering a lot of them: Andy Ash, Uncle Deep, Chicago Damn
and Marcos Cabral! Quite essential!
5 KING'S "Love & Then Sum" : 5 KING'S is five motherfuckers and this one from Chicago shows once again his very natural heritage/memory of Ron Hardy. Taking you into a more than 11 minutes deep house classic blend, classy, spiritual and dj friendly. Once again, core and essence of house music in its purest form ; continuity of & by the pioneers.
Tracklisting:
For their Summer Of Seven tracks Iso68 have, as usual, recorded many live instruments. We hear drums, guitar, keys, and brass, mixed into two tight tracks which unfold their addiction not at first glance. But after several plays the two pieces by Florian Zimmer (who also plays with the bands Saroos and Jersey) and Thomas Leboeg (member of Hamburgs Popband Kante) become essential beauties.
2008 was a heady time for the third wave (or was it the fourth?) of deep house, and this is a tune from Swedish Markus Enochson that was hugely popular at the time, with big dawgs like Dixon, Dean Da Costa and Jimpster all finding ways to work it into their sets. 'These Won't Put Me Down' pairs supple and broad bass with zippy synths that energise and enliven the mix without getting too main room. If you really like things pair back to the most sultry, candlelit essential,s then the Charles Webster Dub is one of his many classics. Marku& Enochson & The Subliminal Kid then combine for a second rework which layers in some filtered vocals for that woozy, blurry late-night vibe.
Altercat proudly presents the definitive reissue of one of the crown jewels of South American jazz. Essentially the brainchild of Argentinian jazz's leading figure Jorge López Ruiz, the project Viejas Raíces marked López Ruiz's departure from the traditional forms of jazz. The trio that recorded this album, consisting of López Ruiz joined by his life-long friend drummer Pocho Lapouble and gifted Chilean pianist Matías Pizarro, created a thrilling blend of jazz and Uruguayan candombe, surrounded by an undeniable cinematic feel spurred by López Ruiz's long experience in the soundtrack field. When read as one element, the cleverly chosen combination of group name and album title (in English: 'Old Roots of the Colonies of the River Plate') readily hints at the kind of sounds the listener will be challenged with when diving into this LP.
Recorded in 1976 in the wake of the "Proceso de Reorganización Nacional", the bloodiest period of dictatorship in Argentina, the album was initially frowned upon by critics and public alike, both still firmly rooted in jazz traditionalism and obviously not ready for the new ideas that musicians like López Ruiz were experimenting with. Despite being a commercial flop upon its release, the album has been enjoying a growing reputation over the last two decades, acclaimed by jazz enthusiasts who value it from a different historical perspective and embrace its experimentation during this revolutionary period of change.
Forty-five years after its release, the album receives the Altercat treatment with a much deserved deluxe reissue, with sound direct from the master tapes and an accompanying 12-page booklet with previously unpublished pictures and bilingual liner notes telling everything you ever wanted to know about the album and those who made it possible.
Some clean, remixed, re-edited tracks by Amplified orchestra. Quite obscure material, essential stuff and a must have for all the italo / cosmic disco heads & CBS.nu addicts, fans of Lindstrom & Thomas, Clone, Environ, Rong music, Idjut boys... actually for everyone who is always on the search for fresh tunes, new or old!
months after the last Uturn output it's time for some news. The project C-MEM delivers this great debut contribution to the selective catalog of the Uturn label, the rude dark brother of Kanzleramt. The project fits perfectly with the small but like-minded Uturn label family. It's functional chord-techno without any intellectual concepts or advancements but with deep production skills and effective pure essentials.
