A family affair since the early days, WOLF Music have been shining a light on the scenes and sounds the duo are ingrained in. Staying true to form and rolling deep for WOLFEP065, the spotlight turns to a selection of familiar faces and new recruits for a four track VA EP that’s strictly for the groovers.
WOLF OG, man like Medlar kicks it off in signature style with 'Bandit', a heads-down, techno-tinged trip. Machine music with the soul of south London. Next, professor of the dark arts, Manuel Darquart, conjures up the aptly named 'Euphoria' a deep, ‘90s leaning house excursion, synth wizardry and all, that works just as well as a sunset cruiser, as it does an end of the night closer.
On the flip, two long time listeners, first time callers, with a double dose of debuts on the label. Jon Sable takes the B1 with 'Infinite Care', offering up that trademark strong and Sable, In Dust We Trust flavour. Deep, emotive, intricate house with a nod to the worlds of Bruk and Chicago house melded together with that NZ feel.
Closing it out, debut number two comes in the form of rising star moon who lays down a beatsy, broken earworm ‘Handmade’ featuring some dreamy bars from Tamu.
Full crew, through and through – this one hits different!
Cerca:füse
UK rising star Alisha joins the Eastenderz family for her first EP on the label. Expertly translating her ability to read a dancefloor’s demands, she’s created four classy cuts of top tier tackle that sit perfectly within the Eastenderz sound.
‘Visions’ opens, a heads-down roller centered around a hypnotic bassline and deft synth touches, before ‘Hallucinate’ hits with a driving slice of late-night power. On the B side, a twisted melting pot of punchy grooves, synth contortions and tripped out vocals via ‘Burnen’.
The full frontal ‘Offenn’ closes out proceedings - swung, slick and stylish with a pumping bassline and wiggly textures to keep the crowd entranced.
DJ Support :
East End Dubs, Enzo Siragusa, Toman, Seb Zito, Joey Daniel, Okain
Ever get the feeling you’re being manipulated? Ever get the feeling you’re manipulating things? Somewhere between these two questions exists this seismic slab of dark post-disco drama from Leipzig duo New Hook: ‘Manipulation’.
The original version of ‘Manipulation’ has recently been released on Underground Pacific album ‘The Only Good Wave Is A New One’. But there’s more to story… Now redeveloped and reworked, ‘Manipulation’ has been manipulated into this epic club missile on Riotvan. Electrified and strident in its swagger, this new version maintains the duo’s sultry, provocative vocal but carries much more dancefloor weight. Every bit as sharp and to the point as the name New Hook suggests, it’s also been blessed with an equally forthright twist from dark disco don Curses who brings a little added funk to the bassline, manipulating the already manipulated ‘Manipulation’ with his own unique flare.
Now it’s time for your turn to manipulate it in the mix…
Clear Vinyl
The debut album from Samuel Coates, AKA Setaoc Mass, crystallises the expansive, left-field vision that's been brewing in his techno-focused discography. Now, downtempo, drum & bass and electro-influenced soundscapes come through strong, as the Manchester-born, Berlin-residing artist combines a decade of dance floor experience and a lifetime of wide-ranging music tastes. The album's 14 tracks transcend the dance with rhythmic and tonal adventure. The urgency of Coates' techno records remains, though now suspended in an unbound space that switches between unpredictable body music and eyes closed moments of escape. Timeless melodies recall the golden era of UK electronica, while ultra-modern production drives the record's microscopic details home. A lovingly crafted collection of the tracks that have been kept for when the time is right. It's the sound of Samuel Coates, then Setaoc Mass - vulnerable but visceral music that demands your full attention.
London producer Yosh continues his hot streak of putting out a twelve inch a month with typically breaksy, UK focused EP on Distant Horizons that further earmarks the emerging artist as one of the producers to watch in 2021.
Following releases on Time Is Now and an announcement on Desert Sound Colony’s Holding Hands sub-label, Yosh serves up four steppers that navigate us from the doors of the club to front left of the speaker. ‘Don’t Say’ is a fast cut of subby breakbeat-garage; the producer’s knack for emotionally stimulating vocal samples and peak-time basslines moving into the frame.
‘All That Acid’ gives squirming acid lines and stripped-back percussion, mutating the breaksy, UK energy into something more electro focused, and in doing so provides what could be the score for an old racing video game, before ‘Choose One’ takes us back into familiar Yosh territory with a cut of dreamy garage, with the odd dubby wobble for good measure.
We finish on a personal note with ‘Home’, a cut that epitomises that good feeling that can only come with returning to a place of comfort; relaxed atmospherics and 2-step rhythms providing the perfect warm up number.
Following on from his debut album ºs on AD93, conceptual artist Aboutface presents a new vaporous LP– a vital climate emergency-themed project which utilises poetry collected from his dreams alongside glaciology research and sound recordings captured during polar expeditions c/o the Alfred Wegener Institute – a centre for polar and marine research. Featuring long term Violin collaborator Taro and dream prose reciter Leyla Pillai, the album explores a surreal and abstract intersection between the collective dream realm and the disappearing polar cryosphere, evoking the interconnectivity between environmental change and the collective subconscious.
A self-release, all profits will go towards Extinction Rebellion’s legal fund to help provide counsel to those protesting against contributors to the climate emergency. Limited to 300 Eco renewable-energy recycled gatefold vinyl produced with Deepgrooves, NL. Downloads and streaming limited to one of Earth’s revolution of the Sun only– an ephemeral release for an ephemeral existence.
Through the alias Trascend∆nce, coined in 2021, Riccardo Buccirossi obtains an alchemical mixture of techno, electro and acid, which are precisely the strands from which he draws inspiration for the debut album of Havalon Records founded by Alessandro Di Fulvio and Jacopo. In "Formula", a title in line with the alchemical world, he unrolls a red-hot metal spiral on a soft and malleable beat that melts like butter under the desert sun. "Reaction" moves on similar coordinates through TB-303 barbed wire and bleepy squares in the background.
Finally, the left setting of "Creation" is followed by "Havok" which summarizes the Detroit lesson by intertwining it with vibrant and virtuous acid veins.
James Asher is known for his individual and and distinctive approach to creating tribal drum music. He has had multiple library album releases for Bruton Music, Dewolfe, Abaco, Southern, Girasound and this year KPM/EMI with the album Global Village Percussion. He combines a confident grasp of fusion and worldbeat with a crystal clear audio production style. For the first time since Asher`s best selling releases « Feet In the Soil » and « Shaman Drums », Sleepers Records are delighted to be the first purveyors of his work in vinyl form, with six dazzling tracks which are earthy, grounded and compelling.
Mastered by Gwyn Mathias @ GBdb
Having crested the west coast modular-ambient wave in just a few releases - including 2018's Sharing Waves on the influential LA experimental imprint Leaving Records - Sean Hellfritsch has swapped the mossy analog synth improvisations of his prior output for refined melodic arrangements dressed in sprightly dawn-of-digital textures. Big Earth Energy plumbs the depths of Hellfritsch's multimedia mind and naturalist heart, spinning an impressionistic narrative world off of cultural touchstones like the PC game MYST, and the work of Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi. Inspired by the aforementioned, and guided by Hellfritsch's experience as an animator and filmmaker, Big Earth Energy is the soundtrack to a hypothetical video game with a pointedly ecological premise, and a twist of psychedelic charm. In Hellfritsch's imagined virtual journey, the player assumes the perspective of a treefrog sixty-five-million years ago, hopping epochs with each new level, forming a comprehensive picture of the massive changes the planet has gone through over the eons. The ultimate goal of the game is not to amass resources, defeat enemies, or gain power, but to fully witness the unfolding of one of the biggest systems of energy imaginable - or as the album's creator puts it - "to explore the incomprehensibly vast energetic expression and mystery that is Earth." Big Earth Energy is steeped in exploratory RPG intrigue, possibility, and contemplation, lovingly overlaid with Miyazaki-an sentiments and aesthetics. The through-composed, organic, meandering synthesis heard on previous Cool Maritime albums has been fully replaced by meticulous polygonal arrangements that recall the computerized sheen of late 80s work by composers like Hiroshi Yoshimura, and Yoichiro Yoshikawa - using true-to-period gear no less. Even given its referentiality, Big Earth Energy comes off as forward-facing where so much reminiscent music remains fixed to a bygone moment in pop culture. Hellfritsch has created a musical world where the endless verdancy of the biosphere finds its parallel in the golden age of early 1990s video games, and late 80s Japanese environmental music, all while pointing to a hopeful planetary and artistic future that vindicates the motives of all of these muses.
Julian Jeweil returns to Drumcode for his first EP in two years with the inspired six-tracker ‘Boreal’ split across two records.
The Frenchman has been a vital member of the extended Drumcode family since 2017 when he debuted with the fantastic ‘Rolling’ EP. Since then, highlights have included playing main stage at Drumcode Festival and dropping the critically acclaimed ‘Transmissions’ album in 2019.
Part II opens with ‘Cosmos’, a peak-time belter that sees Jeweil do what he does best; deliver functional, powerful techno with a trippy extra-terrestrial edge.
One the B side, ‘System’ is a jacking slice of heat, led by shuffling beats and a persistent vox designed primed for sweaty dancefloor moments. Part II rounds out with ‘Minuit’, a polished driving cut with a sleek melodic core that reinforces the Frenchman’s breadth in the studio.
100 Limited vinyl copies
It those times of a promised civilization collapse, truth revelations, questionings, and afflictions, spiritual ascension can
come as fundamental to avoid falling into the abysses. Psychotria isn't a release with the pretense to be of help for this, but this musical meeting of the versatile producer Cyberlife and the vibes explorer TrübTone appears as an attempt of bringing response to the eternal metaphysical question on why things are, as a liberating truth for the
mind. By this psychedelic exploration of music that breaks codes to go deeper in the sound, made of seven affirmed tracks, this release mixes together some elements of this complex puzzle that only transcendence reaches to complete.
Hospital Records proudly present the debut solo album from drum & bass icon Grafix. ‘Half Life’ is an introspective glimpse into the influences and sonic development of the Bristol-based producer, who over the years has established himself as a pinnacle of the dance music world. Grafix’s first ever studio longplayer as a solo artist consists of 14 hotly-anticipated pulse pounding anthems, featuring killer collaborations from the likes of Metrik, Lauren L’aimant, Reiki Ruawai and Chrissie Huntley in his hit singles ‘Somewhere’, ‘Feel Alive’ and ‘Skyline’.
High-octane dancefloor energiser ‘Skyline’ sees drum & bass titans Grafix and Metrik collide for a third time on this futuristic drum & bass cut infused with pure uplifting soundscapes. Enter a world of powerhouse synthesis, relentless basslines and Metrik’s very own vocal performance. This is just the follow up you needed from the mammoth success with the duo’s previous collaborations ‘Overdrive’ and ‘Parallel’.
Grafix draws upon his love for rave culture on the acid heavy ‘Blast Out’ - a no-holds-barred drum & bass system shocker. Skittery vocal chops, shredding bass hits and minimal-funk drums show the side of Grafix well known for tearing up the dance - never afraid to drop a wild card.
From the hypnotic and distorted energies on the likes of ‘CTRL’ and album title track ‘Half Life’, to the forward-facing vibes on LP numbers such as ‘Accelerate’ and ‘The Chance’, the versatile flavours supplied by Grafix throughout are a testament to his years of experience in the studio.
Other album highlights include two tracks with the immensely talented Lauren L’aimant who boasts previous releases on staple dance imprints including Anjunadeep, Colorize and Protocol Recordings. ‘Watch The Sky’ is an anthemic stepper home to Lauren’s spine-tingling vocals and Grafix’s catchy synth hooks. ‘Feel Alive’ captures the pair’s undeniable ability to strike up a euphorically cutting-edge dance music banger.
The ‘Half Life’ LP also features the previously released tracks ‘Radiance’ as well as radio hit ‘Somewhere’ featuring New Zealand’s very own Reiki Ruawai. Both tracks of which are no stranger to worldwide drum & bass listeners.
Grafix’s debut album marks a signature milestone within his musical journey as a solo artist and his achievements so far only scratch the surface. The first single ‘Somewhere (feat. Reiki Ruawai)’ to drop from his album racked up global airwave support with an impressive number of plays from radio tastemakers including Danny Howard, René LaVice, Mollie Collins, the George FM crew in New Zealand and of course, Fred V. With regular support from big hitters including Sub Focus, Wilkinson, Friction, Camo & Krooked and more, Grafix’s music continues to talk for itself when racking up countless DJ spins as well as consistent landings across pinnacle industry platforms such as UKF. Keep an eye out for Grafix at Snowbombing, Hospitality On The Beach Albania and more throughout 2022!
"We Are Power", Galaxian's first album in over a decade, cuts a new path. On this Foul-Up and Shipwrec joint release, Kastner presents a rumination on the confrontation and power clash between humankind, nature, the spiritual and mechanistic industrial growth societies. What is authentic power? What is granted power? What is innate natural power? How is power accessed, wielded, utilised, felt? On this album the blistering beats and razor-edged rhythms that characterise the Glaswegian's productions have been softened, the menace melted, the angst soothed (well almost.) Across eleven tracks, distinct audio vistas are surveyed. The human form takes centre stage from the opening monologue of "Out of Balance" with the entire record searching for balance between humankind, nature, orthodox culture & the machine. At times the machine wins. "We Are Power" is a corruption of voice, samples chopped, sliced and fed into controllers and sequencers to produce a dense decibel wall. That wall grows ever higher in the terrifying drone of "Anatomy of a Modern Lie." At other points, a perfect symmetry between artist and tool is found. The racing interchanges and pulses of "Universal Truths" give rise to dawning reprises and warmth. For those after an electro fix, Galaxian abides. The speed snares of "Messianic Delusions" or dripping drums of "Fields of Meaning" are soaked in the history of machine music, yet they are grander in their delivery and more nuanced in their composition. Fresh territories are explored, the playful solar dreams of "Without Form" or the cinematic grandeur of "In Reverse". This album is unmistakable Galaxian, it marks a high-point and brings with it a culmination of intense expression.
Noha is back on Panick Panick! with a new EP. This release sees the Italian producer at the top of his game, delivering three sonically diverse dancefloor weapons rich in detail. The Midnight Zone EP is full of slick sound designs, ethereal atmospheres drenched in warped pads, heavy beats and sci-fi soundscapes, guaranteed to please those looking for bolder creations.
“These tracks have been played by a selected group of friends and me over the past few years. It finally seemed the right moment to share them with the world.” Noha
The fast rising FUTURA imprint from Leon, releases its new release from Mexican DJ Producer Mike.D with stellar remixes from Len Lewis and Do Or Die to complete the package .
Salomon Records founder Mike.D hails from Juarez Chihuahua, and is considered one of the new generation talents of DJs and producers from northern Mexico. His music selection and mixing abilities have given him the opportunity to play at the legendary Mexican venue Hardpop for many years. As a producer he’s released on labels like Kanja Records, Kina Music, The Lab, Dream Culture and more which has cemented his place in the scene. His music is regularly supported and played by the likes of Arapu, Sepp, Cosmjn, Maher Daniel, Mihai Pol, Sublee, YokoO and more.
For his debut release on Futura, he drops 2 originals the first of which is the title track ‘Mente Trascendente’. An edgy minimal deep tech house track with a grooving electronic bassline, deep atmospheric pads, classy beat pattern all combining to create an elegant 8 minute journey. The second on the package is Len Lewis’s remix of ‘Mente Trascendente’. Len Lewis released his first track back in ‘93 on Jumpin & Pumpin, which then led to records on the likes of the legendary Swag. Lewis’ designated name for his sound is, SiTH, Sinister Tech House, claiming its mysterious name after a Mixmag reviewer used this description for his music many years ago. His remix fits this name perfectly, powerful low bassline drives the track effortlessly, and smooth breakdown combining with eerie incidentals and pads, treated vocal cuts providing the signature hook for the track. This is a remix that’s perfect for the heads in the scene.
Next up we have ‘Sendero Interno’. The original mix is a pure minimal work out right from the outset. The stripped back and delicate beats use popping sounds for filling the frequencies, and work perfectly against the backdrop of the brooding pads and synths make this an classy introspective underground track, which is everything the Futura label is about. To round things off we have the final remix which comes from My Own Jupiter DJ Producer, Do Or Die. Well known for producer techno and electro the fast rising producer, delivers an acid house sci-fi esq work out on this remix with punching beats cutting through the mix, whilst retaining the brooding synths and samples from the original and adding in some special vocal cuts to keep this remix unique and perfect for the floor.
- A1: Lost Souls Of Saturn & Tokimonsta - Revision Of The Past
- A2: Moodymann - Keep On Coming Feat. Cd
- B1: Luciano - Mantra For Lizzie
- C1: Jamie Jones - Laser Lass
- C2: Carl Craig - Forever Free
- D1: Deichkind - Autonom (Dixon Edit)
- D2: Adam Beyer - Break It Up
- D3: Tale Of Us - Nova Two
- E1: Dj Tennis - Atlanta
- E2: Mano Le Tough - As If To Say
- F1: Kerri Chandler - You
- F2: Butch - Raindrops Feat. Kemelion
- G1: Damian Lazarus - The Future Feat. Robert Owens
- G2: Sama' Abdulhadi - Reverie
- H1: Seth Troxler - Lumartes
- H2: Margaret Dygas - Wishing Well
- I1: Rampa - The Church
- I2: Tini - What If, Then What? Feat. Amiture
- J1: Red Axes - Calib
- J2: Bedouin - Up In Flames
CircoLoco Records is proud to present the Monday Dreamin’ Vinyl Box Set, a 5-LP collection releasing on May 20, 2022.
Featuring heavy-hitting releases from visionaries of every era of CircoLoco’s 20-year party history, including Carl Craig, tINI, Kerri Chandler, Rampa, Sama' Abdulhadi, and other icons, the acclaimed debut compilation album from CircoLoco Records is presented in matte full color sleeves with box artwork designed by TOILETPAPER.
With support from DJ’s worldwide and accolades including back-to-back Essential New Tune awards from BBC Radio 1’s Pete Tong for Seth Troxler’s “Lumartes,” and DJ Tennis’ “Atlanta,” Monday Dreamin’ has already carved out a unique place in the world of dance music having been featured in the digital world of Los Santos in Rockstar Games’ blockbuster Grand Theft Auto Online: Los Santos Tuners which also featured Monday Dreamin’ artist Moodymann as a new character in the world.
Monday Dreamin’ is the first project from the pioneering partnership between global club culture icons CircoLoco and the creators of some of the world’s most popular and critically acclaimed video games, Rockstar Games, a partnership aimed at elevating and supporting dance music through the collective power of the two entertainment brands.
- A1: Yaw - Where Will You Be
- A2: Flying Lotus Feat. Andreya Triana - Tea Leaf Dancers**
- A3: Les Sins - Grind**
- B1: Noir & Haze - Around (Solomun Vox)**
- B2: Julien Dyne Feat. Mara Tk - Stained Glass Fresh Frozen
- B3: Jitwam - Keepyourbusinesstoyourself
- C1: Dopehead - Guttah Guttah
- C2: Talc - Robot's Return (Modern Sleepover Part 2)**
- C3: Peter Digital Orchestra - Jeux De Langues**
- C4: Jai Paul - Btstu**
- D1: Beady Belle - When My Anger Starts To Cry**
- D2: Daniel Bortz - Cuz You're The One**
- D3: Joeski Feat. Jesánte - How Do I Go On**
- E1: Nightmares On Wax - Les Nuits
- E2: Slf & Merkin - Tag Team Triangle**
- E3: Lady Alma - It's House Music ** Moodymann Edit
- F1: Tirogo - Disco Maniac
- F2: Kings Of Tomorrow Feat. April - Fall For You (Sandy Rivera's Classic Mix)**
- F3: Soulful Session, Lynn Lockamy - Hostile Takeover
NO.2 on the groove charts!
Following a year that saw the 50th entry in the long-running series released to wide acclaim, DJ-Kicks returns in 2016 another landmark edition. Iconic Detroit DJ and producer Moodymann is at the helm for his first ever multi-artist DJ mix compilation. Born Kenny Dixon Jr., Moodymann is a one-of-a-kind electronic music icon, hailing from, and wholly synonymous with the Motor City. He is an outspoken, impossibly charismatic artist who has been putting a distinctive and soulful stamp on house and techno since the early 90s. Melting together jazz, funk, soul, blues and rock in captivating ways, he is responsible for some of electronic music's most definitive tracks, EPs and LPs on labels like Planet E, Peacefrog and his own KDJ and Mahogani Music imprints. As able to serve up the sweetest and most sensual sounds as he is the darkest and most depraved grooves, his own unique voice and stream of conscious musings infuse expertly sought-out samples for music that is decisively alive and authentic.
Across 75 minutes and 30 tracks, Moodymann does not disappoint: despite being a notorious vinyl fetishist, Dixon's aim is to present music of quality, not to one-up fellow collectors. Rather than serving up ridiculously rare or hard-to-find records, he instead focuses on creating a libidinous, blues-drenched mood that takes in heart-breaking soul, gorgeous hip-hop and love-fuelled house. In addition to cuts from his own creative circle, the mix features 11 exclusive Moodymann edits. Like everything Kenny Dixon Jr. touches, DJ-Kicks showcases the taste, skill, and soul of a dance music original.
Son of Chi returns to Astral Industries, alongside Spanish artist Clara Brea, for the collaborative release of AI-29. A product of fate, chance experiments, but most of all, sensitive artistry - ’The Wetland Remixes’ exists as a confluence of two kindred musical spirits, a wayfaring epic that draws together a rich archive of ecological field recordings, live instrumentation and higher inspirations.
Ahead of Hanyo’s concert at Calma (Madrid) at the end of 2019, the curators organised a special dinner and arranged the meeting of Clara and Hanyo. As Hanyo recalls,“It was like stereochemistry. There was an instant match and understanding, and basically we decided in a split second to exchange recordings and to collaborate on future live and studio experiments.”
The auspicious meeting of the two ignited a remote exchange of materials and ideas, as the world descended into a series of pandemic-related lockdowns. The first of said recordings included the stems of Clara’s ‘Wetland Project’ - a site-specific audiovisual project originally produced for Eufonic Festival (Spain), using field recordings from the Ebro Delta nature reserve (one of the most threatened regions of climate change on the Iberian peninsula).
From this initial impetus, Hanyo began working on the first sketches of the album back in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Just like their meeting in Madrid, the project developed naturally and spontaneously with extraordinary ease. Later, Hanyo started adding field recordings from the Magic Cave and Wetlands of the ‘Kallikatsou’ (Patmos, Greece) as well as organic and acoustic overdubs, featuring bass, drums, percussion, guitars, oud, piano, hammond organ, wurlitzer, flutes, bells, and mouth harp.
In the distance, the sound of birds peak through the effervescent wash of the wetland soundscapes. The pass of running water flows deeper into a land full of secrets never told. On the strike of dusk, the silhouettes of shapely trunks and foliage melt slowly into the impenetrable darkness. As darkness passes, light emerges, with exquisite moments of tranquility that seemingly emerge from nothingness.
Beneath the shimmering veneer of textures, wildlife and melodies, one may hear the deeper references of ’The Wetland Remixes’. With credit to Clara’s input, for Hanyo the album process became a kind of refuge, and ultimately inspired the return to the core of Abstract Sound - what the Sufis call“Saut-i Sarmad.”Such references allude to the spiritual quality embedded in the music - the autonomous process of self-expression, the great mystery. Hanyo: “An ambience like this cannot be created by routine. There is no blueprint. The music has to find you. It’s like a blessing if it happens. You should not interfere, just observe and be impressed...”
Deep, luscious mind trips as per the classic Chi sound, ‘The Wetland Remixes’ beautifully correlates the interconnecting dots of geography, ecology, and mythology’s forgotten lore.
Three years after he released the incredible New Experience EP (picking up plaudits from Bill Brewster, Tim Sweeney, Laurent Garnier, Horse Meat Disco, Leo Mas & 6Music’s Tom Ravenscroft, among many more), Tokyo’s Kota Motomura returns to Hobbes Music for his debut LP, Pay It Forward. This is the first vinyl release on Hobbes Music since the much-loved ‘Aranath’ EP by Leonidas & Hobbes last Spring. While the label maintains the level of quality control for which it has become recognised, the artist continues to subvert electronic and dance music norms in his iconoclastic way on this extraordinary record.
He’s a mysterious character with an ear for idiosyncratic music that runs the gamut from ambient, exotica and jazz to disco, house and techno via post punk, new wave and funk. It’s highly original and all adds up to a confection perhaps best described as ‘Balearic’.
Album opener Paradise is a certified jazz-funk JAM. Destined for dance floors worldwide, this one’s been dropping well with DJs, Motomura demonstrating his piano chops alongside Mutsumi Takeuchi’s sax. Tropical pushes the boat in a more rhythmic direction, some pretty wild drum programming laced with more sounds of the, um, tropics, before mad vocal yelps suggest something yet more tribal. To Be Free initially resembles early 90s progressive house (pulsing bassline, synth-driven melodies), before the arrival of some new wave guitar licks a la classic Talking Heads/David Byrne and ooh ooh vocal chants take it to another dimension altogether.
B-side opener Emotion features Takeuchi again (on flute this time) and more vocal chants before things take a dramatic turn, threatening to open up into a full fanfare before calming and then bursting into wild life again with the exhortation that “C’mon, everybody dancing!” Rhythm flirts with an energy and pace more akin to a techno record: drums, drums, more drums plus a fair few yelps and chants - the kind of DJ tool that will send a simmering dance floor wild in the right hands. Flower closes things in a more melancholy style, familiar to fans of ‘Aboy’ from the New Experience EP, with plaintive acoustic guitar (performed by Akichi), birdsong and big piano chords.
Support from Bill Brewster, Leo Mas, Al Kent, Red Rack’em, Nick The Record, Phil Mison, Phat Phil Cooper, KZA, Sean Johnston (ALFOS), S/A/M, Dribbler, Joe Muggs, Monolith Cocktail and more…
‘Gonna review in MÜ mag... very fine stuff!’ JOE MUGGS
‘Will be reviewed on the blog’ MONOLITH COCKTAIL
BILL BREWSTER played Flower on the DJ History podcast #641 (25.3.22)
'I really like this album, Flower and Paradise are my favourite' LEO MAS
‘I like Paradise’ AL KENT
‘Woo this is tasty. DEFO playing on my next radio show. The label’s A&R is defo getting better and better. HM has been putting out some dope stuff and this one seems really good quality’ RED RACK’EM
‘Paradise and Flower sounding good’ NICK THE RECORD
‘Tunes sound great!’ PHIL MISON
‘Going to include Paradise and Flower on my Sunday Ibiza global radio show PHAT PHIL COOPER (Nu Northern Soul)
‘Very nice album with influences from many different genres. I especially like To Be Free with nice synths and guitar cutting, and Flower, which is a chill vibe’ KZA (Mule Musiq, Endless Flight)
'100% correct about the ALFOS potential of To Be Free!' SEAN JOHNSTON (A Love From Outer Space)
'Stunning, will fit perfectly with the vibe of my radio show’ S/A/M (Music For Dreams, DK; Playa Del Sol, Ibiza)
'Stellar work, i'll make a bet that Flowers is a Balaeric classic this summer' DRIBBLER (Breakfast Club, Ibiza)
‘It's cool in a nice smelling psycho sense, it was a very DEEP sound that I couldn't produce. Congrats!’ ALTZ (Altzmusica)
‘Paradise is my jam, it's deep, sunny and never boring. I'm interested to see how this will work on the dance floor. Overall a great album with solid composition and impressive use of live instruments!’ SOBRIETY (fka Chloé Juliette)
'Very tidy selection' ASTROJAZZ (Kelburn Garden Party, Wee Dub, Samedia Shebeen, Disco Makossa)
‘This is a lovely release. Follows on from New Experience in the best way possible. It's got lots of vibes going on but holds together as a cohesive piece of work. Love it’ JAMIE THOMSON (La Cheetah, Glasgow)
‘To Be Free is a track i could imagine Andy Weatherall playing in one of his sets at A Love From Outer Space’ KIRSTIE PATON aka She-Bang Rave Unit (Threads Radio, Radio Magnetic)
Part 4 of the PH Scales series from UK 90's mastermind Ron Wells. Here under his Jack Smooth alias. Mighty fine timeless acidic tracks




















