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Here’s a brand new Rob Stow four track EP ! His first full EP for 20 years.

Rob was a huge part of the birth of the label back in 2000. During 1998/1999 he ran his own label Gravitation and played live with Jerome Hill under the name Groove Asylum, amassing a bunch of tracks which led to the birth of Don’t as a home to release them for others to play.

Rob knows his onions when it comes to Techno and this record is everything it should be. Hard hitting, expertly produced, minimal with no clutter or pointless frills but instead, just the right amount of lean dance floor funk.

The Technarchist returns to the label with a 2 track 7” of chunky dancefloor Weirdo Techno Funk, overflowing with humour and all the zaps, wobbles and basslines that we love !!

These tracks return to the core sound that defined the label in its earlier years. For fans of Dance Mania, Luke’s Anger, Relief, Sativae and of course, Don’t. Some of you will know The Technarchist from his amazing track ‘Danse Macabre’ on the Don’t compilation album a few years back.

New release in our limited vinyl series! Andy Vaz has been dedicated to his own label Yore Records and deep house releases for years. He is a reliable hub of good vibes and musical taste in Cologne. This can be heard internationally not only as a DJ and shop owner, but also on our limited vinyl release. 'A Collection Of Trax Vol. 1' includes new and previously released material: Let's start the release with classic deep house and a nice piano and vocals on 'Only'. Followed by a brand new track and a musical look back into the background imprint days. A well-balanced atmospheric piece - it doesn't get more minimal than this. On the flip it starts with 'Deutz Motorcity (From The D)' and a touching German intro followed by deep chords. Funky bassline, heavy drums - the final track must be an acid piece in true style.

From 1967-1980, Kansas City's Forte Records captured nearly every iteration of popular Black music; basement beehiver-y from The Ray-Ons and Four Darlings, funky soul from Gene Williams Lee Harris, Louis Chachere, and The Fantastiks, downtempo disco ballads from James W hitney and Sharon Revoal, and the newly independent work of James Brown's former Soul Sister # 1 Marva Whitney. Compiled here are 28 of the label's enduring sides, contextualized with copious photos, ephemera, and essay, all housed in heavy weight gatefold jacket. Who knows how to do "The Hen"?

From 1967-1980, Kansas City's Forte Records captured nearly every iteration of popular Black music; basement beehiver-y from The Ray-Ons and Four Darlings, funky soul from Gene Williams Lee Harris, Louis Chachere, and The Fantastiks, downtempo disco ballads from James W hitney and Sharon Revoal, and the newly independent work of James Brown's former Soul Sister # 1 Marva Whitney. Compiled here are 28 of the label's enduring sides, contextualized with copious photos, ephemera, and essay, all housed in heavy weight gatefold jacket. Who knows how to do "The Hen"?

repressed !

Birthed at the turn of the ‘80s, synth and wave music has remained a constant force over the last four decades, with a recent spike in interest in the sound offering further proof of its’ timeless, out-of-this-world quality. It’s against this backdrop that Dutch DJ Interstellar Funk presents his celebration of the style, “Artificial Dancers – Waves of Synth”.

A bumper compilation bristling with obscure and hard-to-find gems, the set sees the Artificial Dance label founder joining the dots between synthesizer and drum machine-driven tracks in a variety of subtly different styles. It’s the result of hundreds of hours spent digging through dusty old records, tapes, and the Bandcamp accounts of DIY musicians who have been active since the sound’s first boom in the early 1980s.

The 11-track set draws on tracks made and released at different times over the last 40 years, with the earliest cut committed to tape in 1978 and the most recent in 2018. While the tracks date from the ‘80s, ‘90s, noughties and 2010s, the showcased cuts are united by a primitive but futuristic quality that makes dating them difficult. In many cases, it’s hard to tell which tracks were made in the early 1980s and which were conjured up in 21st century studios.

As you’d expect, highlights are plentiful with a number of the most unknown or sought-after cuts appearing on vinyl for the first time. In this category you’ll find the Human League’s odd but inspired early number “4JG”, a near mythical 1982 live version of Liasons Dangereuses’ “Dias Cortas” (previously only available on a VHS video) and Chris and Cosey’s “Hybrid C”, a brilliant mid-’90s cut plucked from their CD-only album “Skimble Skamble”. You’ll also find a rare demo version of Clan of Xymox’s Dutch darkwave classic “Stranger”, which became a club smash across Europe in 1983.

Interstellar Funk has also chosen to showcase tracks by a range of DIY producers and lesser-known artists. These include Californian band Batang Frisco, who self-released a sole private press album in 1986 (their contribution, “Sewing Machine”, is dedicated to founder member Bill DiMichele, who passed away this year), Matthias Schuster’s Im Namen Des Volkes project – which contributes the previously unreleased 2014 track “Alles Ist Gewinn” – and Zahgurim, a short-lived early ‘80s act who reunited in 2018 to record their first new material since 1983.

If that wasn’t enough to set pulses racing, the compilation also showcases a solo track by sadly departed Psyche member Stephen Huss. Nobody is quite sure when Huss recorded “Infinity Sign”, but we can confirm this is the first time that one of his solo productions has ever appeared on vinyl.

Green Vinyl

A bass rumble seems to rearrange your organs like a spiritual doctor, fast techno kicks and a funky as hell percussion line emerge - it's the lucky 13th release on Lisbon's Para?so, this time by local mainstays Shcuro and Vil - the first, label co-founder, the second a longtime friend and impeccable DJ with a range that runs from dubstep to the hardest strains of techno and beyond. The opener track 'Rumble The Funk' evolves with infectious stabs and cut-up vocal and our legs can't seem to stand still. The groove continues on with the A2 'Recoil', a soulful, dubby, relentless ode to techno that feels authentic and purposeful. Emotional tones find their way in via a mysterious, melodic string, introduced in the breakdown. Dubbed out motifs, delay + feedback strokes make a welcome return on the appropriately titled 'Chime Dub' that opens the B side of the record: skippy rhythmic layers and a warm bassline complete the picture, string flourishes give us glimpses of radiant dancefloor revelations. On the B2 the duo's opener track gets the remix treatment by another exciting duo: Blasha & Allatt, who are the women behind the iconic queer techno raves Meat Free. They flip the original's melody into a rapid, dreamy affair, conveying an optimism that perfectly wraps up this solid record by continuing the celebration of collaborative work.

Repress.

Label Release Text:

ATTENTION! Jimmy Patrick Longfort's hit arising from Düsseldorfs cult hang-out Ratinger Hof in 1987 is now officially reissued for the whole universe. All three original tracks got remastered plus TAFS – the Netherlands best kept secret and part of the group Voertuig – produced a pushing, extra groovy instrumental rework of the title track. The 12" is housed in a full cover artwork based on the original with extensive liner notes by Rudi Esch (Electri_city, Die Krupps) on an extra insert.

The title track ATTENTION! is about a young man, waiting in vain for his love's return but instead of a reunion the distance even grows and she leaves him with destination America. For sure this causes a serious and hard to bear heartbreak. Scream it out loud on the dancefloor and dance the pain away!

On rework duty we got Offer Van Kesteren under his Tapedeck Adventures From Space moniker. Slick funk grooves and super galaxy sounds that will heat you up. Burning hot.

Side B starts off with Ma'mbaillé, French lyrics, funky keys and steel drums – a true feelgood song that will make you dance wherever you are. This one is followed by Do You Really Love Me a highlife love song that closes this record properly. Play it again.

Jackie Ross had a storied career that began when the great Sam Cooke recruited her for his SAR label in 1962. After that, she went on to sing with Syl Johnston's band and sign with the notorious Chess label in 1964. It was there she dropped her biggest hit 'Selfish One', which reached number 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, before many more tunes came on the likes of Brunswick and others.

Her 1980 album A New Beginning For was produced by Chicago soul scene mainstay James Van Lear and now gets its first reissue courtesy of P-Vine. It shows the range and depth of emotion Jackie could tap into with a mix of slow motion stirrers and more funky and upbeat numbers.

Bristolian producer Claude Cooper returns with hot new single ‘Stay A While’, inspired by the vinyl discoveries made from months of digging and cataloguing the bulging inventory of Bedminster’s Friendly Records record shop.

‘Stay A While’ introduces some delightful twists to Cooper’s psychedelic-funk sound. Blurring the lines between sampling and performance, lush string flourishes are sliced with 6Ts girl-group vocals and rollicking piano chords resulting in a dreamy, end of night, lights up anthem in-the-making. The track is backed with the insistent ‘Dance Tonight’, a ragged bass-boogie surf-rocker that doesn’t take no for an answer.

Cooper’s irrepressible debut album ‘Myriad Sounds' (Jan ‘22) caught the attention of the UK's press and radio alike. Mojo's four star review described it as “Bristol’s beat scene backdrops late night jams”, Uncut enjoyed the "rugged psych-funk romp" and Louder than War declared "it’s vital and vibrant and exactly what we need to kick start the year”. BBC radio DJs including Cerys Matthews, Gideon Coe, Huw Stephens, Jamie Cullum, Lauren Laverne, Stuart Maconie, Tom Ravenscroft rinsed the singles, with Huey Morgan inviting Cooper to contribute a Block Party Mix for his show.

Bonus round 'More Myriad Sounds' (Apr ‘23) added Brooklyn vocalist Brain Fog to the melange with a bounty of pyretic vocal performances. DJ Mag called it “A fierce, kaleidoscopic trip” while Bandcamp Daily said “This album of cross-genre influences is as likely to get it included in any number of best-of columns, with the theme of serious fun as their common element”.

Behind the release is Friendly Records, the best little record shop in Bristol and now a burgeoning record label. Opened by Tom Friend on North Street in 2016, it’s gone on to become a hub of the local musical community. As well as Claude Cooper, the label has reissued two of Alison Cotton’s albums, 'The Twenty-Three Views' by outernational ambient jazz project Floating World Pictures, and Christian Madden & The Enemy Chorus’s organ heavy ‘The Extra Weight’.

Claude Cooper will return with a new album on Friendly Recordings this year.

Dazzle rolled deep. Very deep. In the 1980s, it wasn't unusual for the Milwaukee-based group to show up at various Midwest night clubs in a caravan of 30-40 cars and vans. Their live following was hard won over a career that spanned 20+ years, many line up changes, and a handful of project names. Friends, family, and fans made the journey with them weekend after weekend, a testimony to both the musical prowess of the group and the tight-knit community that they emerged from.

Donald Smith, band leader, was there the whole time - joined by many of his siblings and friends - first as founder of the Ghetto Players, a early 70's nine-piece which also included siblings Michael, Ronald, and Charles. They played hard funk in the style of early Kool and the Gang, and although they sadly left no recordings, the strength of their live act managed to catch the eye of local Milwaukee R&B music entrepreneur Cobie Joe Payne. Cobie had made a couple of records locally in the early/mid 70s as a singer, including the impossibly weird and amazing rare afro-blues-funk 45 "Sweet Thing", but had never enjoyed national success. When the Ghetto Players disbanded in the early-mid 70s, Donald soon put together a new group, C on the Funk (the 'C' referring to lead vocalist and sibling Charles), under Payne's tutelage. Sister Lorrie Smith came in as the drummer, the line-up being fleshed out by brothers David and Melvin Johnson, and friend Robert Mitchell. After a few years as a strictly live attraction, they drove to Chicago and produced a single, "In the Disco" / "A Place" for Payne's small record label Sweet Thang Records in 1980. Lacking the financial backing needed to supply the local R&B disk jockey's "promotional fees" , this single sadly languished in obscurity, gathering dust inside the local tavern jukeboxes and manilla promo envelopes that comprised Payne's DIY distribution network.

C on the Funk were traveling the Mid West extensively at this point, and making some important friends on the road. Ike Wiley Jr. of the Dazz Band/Kinsman Dazz took particular interest and the band was re-christened Dazzle, partially as a tie-in with Dazz, partially to embrace the new sounds that would distinguish the 70s disco scene from what record collectors and DJs would now refer to as the "Boogie" era. There no doubt was a stigma attached to the word "Disco" as the eighties began, and as we see in this collection C On the Funk's "In the Disco" is remixed and transformed into the psychedelic synth instrumental of Dazzle's "Disco's Out", a title which embodies both the next-step approach Smith and company were pushing for, and humorously comments on the state of black dance music in the early 1980s. The Dazzle recording, done in Chicago in 1982, updated the sound and featured an expanded line up, most notably a second synth player (Charles Washington), and a percussionist/second lead vocalist (Greg McDonald). The added synth textures and deep percussive grooves give the Dazzle recordings an elegant late night vibe that resonate just as well in a good pair of headphones as they do on the dance floor. The trance inducing cough syrup-warble of "Explain" may best exemplify this here. Sadly, a pressing flaw in the 12" halted production and promotion, and the EP and the songs within were lost to the ages. The group, having done a much better line in the live music business, followed that path instead all the way to the early 90s. --bio provided by andy noble

WIREs COLIN NEWMAN reissued auf seinem SWIM Label das Soloalbum "Bastard" aus dem Jahr 1997. Damals von der Presse als richtungsweisendes und bahnbrechendes Album im Elektro/TripHop/Techno-Bereich hoch gelobt, klingt es über 25 Jahre später immer noch grandios und aktuell. Erstmals auf LP (eco vinyl) überhaupt, CD-Version jetzt mit zusätzlicher Disc expanded mit vielen Bonustracks. - Obwohl das Album (das den Titel Bastard trägt) eine große Bandbreite an Stilen aufweist - Deep, Techno, funky Beats, Drum'n'Bass - ist es auch, wenn überhaupt, eine Rückkehr zu Newmans "Rock"-Wurzeln, da mehrere der Tracks Schwaden von E-Gitarren enthalten, die die Rhythmen untermalen. Die Platte fasst Newmans Hör- (und Aufnahme-) Gewohnheiten in den letzten Jahren vor der Veröffentlichung und die eklektische Natur des Swim-Labels zusammen, das er mit seiner Frau Malka Spigel betreibt. Alle Stücke auf Bastard wurden von Colin Newman und Malka Spigel geschrieben und von Immersion produziert. - "The language of Bastard is house, techno, breakbeat, drum and bass, and doubtless post-rock." - Colin Newman 2023 * "A fascinating trip across the musical barriers!" (Modern Dance) *"Scattercore breaks with swathes of electric fuzz... spiritualised infected with the dance virus... droning, blissed out mantras..." (MixMag) -

Come get it! Dynamic Dallas soul singer Bobby Patterson cut some seriously sizzling sides in the mid '60s, including the James Brown rebuttal Mama's Got A New Bag Too " the pugnacious original "Knock Out Power Of Love " and the rambunctious funk of "T.C.B. Or T.Y.A."! Gems from the Jetstar label and originally unissued treasures collected on LP!

"My Thing Is Your Thing: Jetstar Strut From Bobby Patterson" by Bobby Patterson includes the following tracks: "I’m Leroy - I’ll Take Her", "Broadway Ain’t Funky No More", "I’m In Love With You", "The Knock Out Power Of Love" and more.

K'ALEXI alter ego, TONY LOVELESSS returns with the 2nd installment in the REEL-2-REEL series. These 3 tracks of classic funk and disco have been recontextualized to move modern dance floors while retaining their klassic appeal. Limited hand stamped white label!

On this EP Dutch Thai label Animist Records puts a new genre on the map: Asian Tropical Bass. With elements of molam (Lao folkmusic), Thai music, dub, reggae, jungle, reggaeton, funk, acid, rave, hiphop and electro, the label presents its most diverse release so far.

Candy Mountain welcomes Tracing Xircles for the second release on the brand-new studio label ran by Steffi and Virginia. Tracing Xircles is the collaborative venture between Blue Hour and A-JX known for their energetic original blend between Detroit Techno, UK Bass, and IDM.

With their First Contact EP on Candy Mountain they dive even deeper to define this unique sound with 4 beautiful driving abstract yet funky broken dance floor bangers. The EP comes with an amazing remix by UK legend dBridge.

The French deep house label D3 Elements is now a decade old and to mark the occasion it has assembled a superb three part EP series featuring plenty of talents both new and old. The second EP kick off with some Japanese stylings from Koizumi Yukiko and his piano laced bongo workout '526'.

Taelue sets off on a deep and heavy bassline pulse that will make floors march and Nemanja Krstic's 'Aquae Sulis' brings some jazzy chord work and bubbling funk bass for a nice heartfelt vibe. Gnork shuts down with a skittish, stripped back broken beat that makes this another diverse offering.

Jason Grimez is a Cincinnati-based DJ and producer. He has a long history of record collecting, sampling, and creating new sounds with analog gear. Grimez works with some of Cincinnati's finest studio musicians to create raw, soulful, instrumental hip-hop under the moniker Doctor Bionic. The next LP, In The Infinite, is due out 12/01/2023 via Chiefdom Records. Grimez fell in love with music during the golden era of early 90's east coast hip hop - when digging for jazz and funky samples were the backbone of beats. He became comfortable scratching on a pair of 1200s and sampling records with an MPC 3000 in high school. After years of collecting music and working on his sound behind the scenes, he has compiled a huge discography of original songs. In 2015, Grimez started his independent label Chiefdom Records. His studio persona Doctor Bionic was one of the first to see a release on the new imprint. The project features a studio band of session musicians. Grimez is responsible for writing, recording, producing, mixing, and releasing the records. He gathers a group of musicians in his studio, presents a few ideas, and hits record. Due to a rotating cast of musicians and ever-changing inspirations, no two sessions are alike. "There's no set pattern," Grimez explained. "I'll invite some session players and have them jam on a few ideas. Sometimes we'll start with a drum break and add melodies over top. It's mostly improv, and I can always go back and chop it up." One common thread is the fresh, original sounds. "I like to call it Organic Groove," he shared. "I'm inspired by all kinds of music - instrumental hip-hop, soul, classic rock, jazz, you name it. When we get in the studio, all of the pieces add up to a new sound." In The Infinite features some of the best players in the Cincinnati music scene. Cameron Brown played guitar on several tracks. Brian Batchelor-Glader, an award-winning pianist, was also involved. All 12 tracks provide the perfect backdrop for hanging with a group of good friends or cruising in the car. The drums are solid, consistent, and lay an effortless foundation for all kinds of instrumentation. Jazzy trumpet lines, ethereal keyboards, choppy soul guitar licks, and much more. "Do You Remember?" (track 2) heroes a busy, poppy guitar and a head-bobbing bassline. The record scratching and tape-recorded drum tones on "Plastic Art" (track 7) feels like a hip-hop instrumental from the early aughts. From top to bottom, this record has a lot to offer. Pick up a copy of In The Infinite on vinyl or stream the album on 12/01/2023

Lee Burton makes his debut on Up The Stuss with ‘Sinewaves’, a five-track collection of expansive house cuts representing his impactful sound.

With music released via Dorian Paic’s renowned raum…musik through to John Dimas’ Elephant Moon and Berlin’s Taverna Tracks, Greek DJ/producer Lee Burton has been a firm favourite for those in the know, having been embedded within the underground minimal/house scene for the past decade. A constant when it comes to providing ‘secret gems’, with his records in rotation amongst the record bags of leading names across the globe, Burton’s talent as a DJ has also seen him grace legendary parties and institutions from NYC’s ReSolute to Berlin’s Club der Visionaere. Next up, his latest studio voyage brings an impressive label debut on Chris Stussy’s Up The Stuss, opening the imprint’s 2024 schedule in style.

From the acid-electro fusion of opener Sinewaves’ and the breezy tones of ‘Burning’, through to the up-tempo and intoxicating sci-fi sonics of ‘ITICF’ and the modulated, electro-funk of ‘Love Motion’, each track provides a unique slice of Burton’s vast sound palette, crafting an EP that covers all hours of the night. Sprinkle in the digital bonus ‘Oxytocin Overdose’, contrasting squelchy tones and classic chords with that infectious topline, and it’s another must-have record on the imprint.