Cerca:her fr

Charlotte de Witte takes charge of her KNTXT label's 15th release with the new Universal Consciousness EP. It comes after Amazingblaze - Venture EP and features four more powerful and psychedelic techno cuts.

Charlotte is soon to be playing her biggest ever KNTXT party in mid April. It shall take place in her hometown of Ghent and see her play a historic 10 hour set to a vast crowd of people who shall go on an all night long journey. Also in April, Charlotte returns to London’s iconic Printworks for the first time in five years, this time with her KNTXT concept and once again is set to raise the roof. While staying busy on the road, she continues to curate the Apple Music x KNTXT page while cooking up ever fresh sounds in the studio. This latest EP is another subtle evolution in her signature style.

Says Charlotte of the EP, "following up on my latest Asura EP in September, I decided to delve a bit deeper in the world of psychedelia. All the tracks of the EP are psy inspired, some more than others. I’ve been playing these tracks for a while now in the clubs. It’s been a real pleasure to see the crowd’s reaction and see the amount of track ID requests online. This one is from me to you, I hope you enjoy my Universal Consciousness EP!"

Opener 'Satori' is dark and heavy. The chunky, raw drums hit hard and flat as the squelchy acid synths pan about the mix. An enchanting middle eastern vocal wail brings an extra trance-inducing element that is sure to lock in the hearts and minds of the crowd. The super 'Kali' is a slick and high speed piece that shows the love relation between psy trance and techno. The video game style synths peel off the groove next to alien sound effects, and the subtly evolving acid line burrows deep into your brain.

Then comes the dynamic, bouncy and acid laced-title cut ‘Universal Consciousness’. It's a fulsome tune with rubbery kicks and visceral 303 loops that will melt the mind as dancers fall into its hypnotic and tripped out spell. Last of all is 'Ahimsa' with its bright, lashing acid synths and hammering kick drums. It's the perfect mix of physical groove and psyched-out synth work, and is perfect for both sweaty basements and vast main rooms alike. When the mystical flutes come in, it takes things to another level entirely.

This is another all consuming EP of innovative techno from Charlotte de Witte.

Debut album from Alex Ho out of Los Angeles.

In his foundational essay on Los Angeles, L.A. Glows, the essayist Lawrence Weschler speaks on the city's uncanny, immediately recognizable light; "The late-afternoon light of Los Angeles—golden pink off the bay through the smog and onto the palm fronds." Weschler traces the city's mysterious refracted light from the iconic paintings of David Hockney through the city's frequent portrayal on film and TV, noting its ability to put residents into a state of "egoless bliss."

Similarly, Alex Ho's new album for Music From Memory, 'Move Through It', radiates with the unmistakable LA glow. While the Pasadena native's studio work is just now coming to light, Ho has long been a fixture in the Los Angeles dance music scene, throwing what are perhaps the city's most musically expansive warehouse events and carving out a singular voice as a DJ, as heard on his brilliant Moony Habits show for NTS. The eight-track record, however, lands in a more contemplative zone, better suited for a golden hour drive than a night out.

Though it's his first record, 'Move Through It' is the accomplished work of a fully-formed artist, produced patiently between 2017 and 2020 with help from friends including Baba Stiltz, Phil Cho, Damon Palermo and John Jones. "Mark," the Koanic track conclusion side A, is an arpeggiated slow burn reminiscent of Pino Donaggio's brilliant score for Brian De Palma's 1984 film Body Double. Ho's stunning, pure falsetto soars above gentle melodies. "Miss Suzuki," the piece that originally caught the ear of MFM's Jamie Tiller and Tako, opens the record with a blue, cinematic sway. Ho's facility for poignant melodies—easily conveyed through saxophone, vibes, various keyboards and his own voice—shines on "College Crest Drive," as well as the title track. The lyrical "Move Through It" and the restrained and beautiful closing cut, "TYFC," are abetted by glimmering Kraut guitar figures courtesy of John Jones.

While Ho's rhythms and melodies paint a crystal-clear musical vision, the music's emotional centre is more elusive, indicative of a yearning feeling synonymous with the City Of Angels. Hitting these hazy and subtle notes, Move Through It falls within a canon of sun-addled records spanning from Herb Alpert's "Rotation" to Dam-Funk's Private Life trilogy as Garrett. An immersive and concise statement, Alex Ho's 'Move Through It' is as warm and uncanny as the city that inspired it, a definitive LA album.

Hailing from downtown Los Angeles, Nuklear Prophet, aka Erik Villalpando, is heavily influenced by West Coast Hip Hop and Electro. Winning multiple DJ awards, including 3x World Records DJ Competition under his DJ Dope-E alias, Villalpando cites his inspiration as coming from some of the most influential Los Angeles DJs of his childhood, including Tony G, DJ Joe Cooley, Julio G, and DJ Aladdin.

With releases on Urban Connections, Abseits Recordings, Diffuse Reality and Bass Agenda Recordings as Nuklear Prophet, the LA-based DJ/producer readies his full-length album 'Prophecies 11:21' for Utrecht-based U-Trax. Formed of an eclectic and energetic collection of gems mined from his overwhelming archive, the album takes in genres such as Electro, Hip Hop, Footwork, Juke, and beyond.
Leading the release is the 808 luminary Egyptian Lover's remix of 'L.A. Rockz', featured on the recently released 'L.A. Rockz' EP, kicking off the LP with his trademark 808-infused sound. A nod to Detroit-flavoured Electro is presented via the dark and brooding tracks 'Nuklear Prophet' and 'Compton', with the lighter atmospherics of the genre covered on 'Solar Winds'. The pounding electro killer '808 Plague' sounds like it came straight from the sewers of The Hague.
'Everlastin' Bass', 'Back Up Off My Tip', and 'The Train Ride To Coconino' offer Footwork inspired bangers, with the latter previously featured on the Legowelt curated U-Trax compilation 'U R Here!' earlier this year.
Moving across a spectrum of tempos, styles, and moods across the album, exemplified on the sluggish trip-hop of 'The Mars Goblin', Nuklear Prophet expertly touches on a range of bass-driven genres, displaying his widespread influences and knack for hard-hitting production throughout.

a 01: L.A. Rockz (Egyptian Lover Remix) feat. Krazy Dee & Nasim

Straight from the immense shelves of the Full Time Production warehouse, here's a new must-have gem for the italo disco lovers.

Released for the first time in 1980 , eponymous album "Kano " is
remastered for vinyl for the first time since then and is given an
incredible new life through this version pressed on limited edition
hand-numbered vinyl that is deep in grooves and inspiration.

The first successful pioneer and ambassadors of the newly-minted "italo disco", Stefano Pulga and Luciano Ninzatti formed the core of Kano forging a consistent and memorable sound maintened throughout.

This is the sound of an army of buzzing, mini-computers and
thickly-slapped bass guitars igniting neon squares across dancefloors worldwide. As such, it sort of straddles the line between italo disco and synth funk.

Each of the six songs provides 6 to 7 minutes of danceable delights with lengthy instrumental stretches perfect for nightclubs. With vocals that are a mix of natural, falsetto and robotic, this is an album for boys, girls and androids alike. The best of the bunch open and close the set, with "It's a War" marrying a downright deadly bass line with a furiously funky organ and apocalyptic screeching synths and "I'm Ready" providing a veritable celebration of this new sound that would go on to be a big hit in two different decades. "I'm ready" was not only the beginning of Italo Disco but also a starting point for Hip Hop because that track became a classic for breakdance.

"Now Baby Now" provides further thrilling proof of the success of this
sound. The positively boppy "Ahjia" hails its all-encompassing power
with a jubilant refrain of "everything is music!", while the
mostly-instrumental "Cosmic Voyager" acts as an adventurous, triumphant soundtrack for a hero spacecraft. "Super Extra Sexy Sign", meanwhile, grooves through the Zodiac signs in entertaining fashion.

All of this adds up to a very fun listen and a very impressive debut
finally repressed and remastered on limited edition hand-numbered vinyl and out next December 10!

Limited Edition - Transparent Blue Vinyl

‘Cranes In The Sky,’ was originally written by Beyonce’s baby sister Solange alongside Raphael Saadiq, for her album back in 2016 that was cited by Rolling Stone as one of the most important 500 records of all time. The words exploring a fearless journey inward, pulling up the root of a problem, and the first glimpse of blue sky after the storm has passed.

Fast forward to 2022 - Ross Allen and Andy Thompson’s Foundation Music Productions enlist the expertise of Baltimore club legend, Dj Oji, together with Tracy Hamlin (Pieces Of A Dream), to take Solange’s breakout delivery to the dancefloor. Soulful vocals will heal you, while the mid-tempo moments will mellow the masses, and UK Funky grooves will keep the shuffle moving along way into the early hours. Three remixes come in the form of the ethereal DJ Pope Funkhut Reprise, a signature Joe Goddard groover and the Star One. KDA. Meltdown Dub.


Press:

Gazza Premiere

House Salad Music Premiere

Madoras Premiere

Music Is 4 Lovers Review

Le Visiteur Review

Hot House Picks

Faith In The Defected Basement - Livestream play


DJ Feedback:

FRANCOIS K
Yes! I played the vocal version the other day again.

KAI ALCE
Dope re-interpretation from Baltimore stalwarts OJI, POPE & Tracy!

GREG WILSON
What's not to like? Love the orig Solange jam!

DANNY KRIVIT
Nice, I like a lot of DJ Oji.

SOUL CLAP/ ELI GOLDSTEIN
Fire right here

DAZ I KUE/ BUGZ IN THE ATTIC
Yea I love this one…cool vibes.

THATMANMONKZ
Oh yeah, love the Solange original, and I’m a big Oji fan! That reprise version might come in very useful for the right set!

TERRY FARLEY/ FAITH
Got to be contender for single of the month with that story x

HOT TODDY
Simply beautiful.

CRAIG SMITH/ 6TH BOROUGH PROJECT
Loved the original of this from Solange a few years back, this is a real nice interpretation of it. Liking the reprise and Dub, handy tools

CHARLES WEBSTER
Nice soulful groover. Like this.

FISH GOO DEEP/ GREG DOWLING
Lovely re imagining of one of my favourite tracks of all time

FRANK BOOKER
Love this package. Reprise mix is the one for me. Very cool!

NICK V/ LA MONA
Thanks a lot I actually prefer the dub version :)

JIMPSTER/ FREERANGE
Killer groove on this and really nice to hear a housed up version of Cranes which is such a stunning song in it’s OG form. Def something I’d like to play out.

FELIX JOY/ SWU.FM
Yes ! I flippin love a good reprise mix and this one is doing it for me. Love the original version by Solange and this is a really great rework!

STEVE PARRY / FOR SASHA
Really Smoove love it.

GROOVE ARMADA/ TOM FINDLAY
THIS IS LOVELY!!

RALPH SESSION/ HALF ASSED RECORDS
Wow the dubstrumental really gives it new life.

QUENTIN HARRIS
I love this package.

GRAME PARK/ THE HACIENDA
This is tremendous

HECTOR ROMERO/ DEF MIX
Good to see this one got picked up. I’ve played this a few times since 2018 but will get it back in rotation. Glad to see this song is getting some traction. I look forward to the unreleased versions.

ANDY BUCHAN
What a sun-dappled slice of beauty! Full support on this, what a gorgeous EP. And those drums are ace, really propulsive.

DANIELLE MOORE/ CRAZY P
Yeah I really like this. I mean I love the original but theres something quite interesting about this. Nice yeah x

MARC MEISNERE/ SOL POWER SOUND
Yes please! Can’t wait to play this one!

STEFANO TUCCI/ HELL YEAH
This is one of the best best vocal of recent times, I love It, the crescendo towards half of the track is nothing but gorgeous!

TREVOR FING/ GRAFITTI KINGS
Love these remixes.

MAX P/ HELL YEAH
Yeah, full pack is what I needed !

HORSE MEAT DISCO/ SEVERINO
Really into this!

SEAN JOHNSTON/ ALFOS
I wouldn't play it, but it's a beautiful piece of work

GRAEME PARK/ THE HACIENDA
I’m gonna enjoy playing this its lovely.

NICK V/ LA MONA
Thanks a lot I actually prefer the dub version :)

TREVOR FUNG/ GRAFITTI KINGS
Love this !!

QUENTIN HARRIS
Being a fan of the Original I love everything about this.

ALAN DIXON/ MIDNIGHT MAGIC
Killer!!!!

DAVE JARVIS/ FAITH
This is amazing! Absolutely love xx

NICK V/ LA MONA
This is a fantastic track!

MAX P/ HELL YEAH
Oh yeaahhhh

RICK GILL/ OUTLAWS YACHT CLUB
Beautiful soulful house. Quality production and top draw vocals.

MICKEY JUKES/ 1BTN
Ooof! Such a strong record to step to but i love this. Classy production, vocals are killer. All round winner!

TOMMY TURBO JAZZ/ JAXX MEDICINE
I was a fan of the OG but I really needed this cut!!

RUSSELL FORMAN/ PIKES/ HARRYS KEBABS
This is great .... I'm writing an article on the Coney Island Boardwalk house parties atm.

JIM LISTER/ 1BTN
Loving the reprise and the dub!I'm a big fan of the Solange original, so it's nice to hear a new angle on it

CHRIS DE BEURRE/ THE EAGLE
Gorgeous vocal! And such a deep production - really like this! Infectious x

DAIRMONT/ ROOM WITH A VIEW
Amazing track. Loving it!

STEVE PARRY/ FOR SASHA
Beautiful super smooth.

LES CROASDAILE/ FREIGHT ISLAND
Tune this, reminds of Southport weekender!

Like every record Superchunk has made over the last thirty-some years, Wild Loneliness is unskippably excellent and infectious. It’s a blend of stripped-down and lush, electric and acoustic, highs and lows, and I love it all. On Wild Loneliness I hear echoes of Come Pick Me Up, Here’s to Shutting Up, and Majesty Shredding. After the (ahem, completely justifiable) anger of What a Time to Be Alive, this new record is less about what we’ve lost in these harrowing times and more about what we have to be thankful for. (I know something about gratitude.

I’ve been a huge Superchunk fan since the 1990s, around the same time I first found my way to poetry, so the fact that I’m writing these words feels like a minor miracle.) On Wild Loneliness, it feels like the band is refocusing on possibility, and possibility is built into the songs themselves, in the sweet surprises tucked inside them. I say all the time that what makes a good poem the “secret ingredient” is surprise. Perhaps the same is

true of songs. Like when the sax comes in on the title track, played by Wye Oak’s Andy Stack, adding a completely new texture to the song. Or when Owen Pallett’s strings come in on “This Night.” But my favorite surprise on Wild Loneliness is when the harmonies of Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley of Teenage Fanclub kick in on “Endless Summer.”

It’s as perfect a pop song as you’ll ever hear sweet, bright, flat-out gorgeous and yet it grapples with the depressing reality of climate change: “Is this the year the leaves don’t lose their color / and hummingbirds, they don’t come back to hover / I don’t mean to be a giant bummer but / I’m not ready / for an endless summer, no / I’m not ready for an endless summer.” I love how the music acts as a kind of counterweight to the lyrics.

Because of COVID, Mac, Laura, Jim, and Jon each recorded separately, but a silver lining is that this method made other long-distance contributions possible, from R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, Sharon Van Etten, Franklin Bruno, and Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura, among others. Some of the songs for the record were written before the pandemic hit, but others, like “Wild Loneliness,” were written from and about isolation.

I’ve been thinking of songs as memory machines. Every time we play a record, we remember when we heard it before, and where we were, and who we were. Music crystallizes memories so well: listening to “Detroit Has a Skyline,” suddenly I’m shout1singing along with it at a show in Detroit twenty years ago; listening to Overflows,” I’m transported back to whisper-singing a slowed-down version of it to my young son, that year it was his most-requested lullaby.

Wild Loneliness is becoming part of my life, part of my memories, too. And it will be part of yours. I can picture people in 20, 50, or 100 years listening to this record and marveling at what these artists created together beauty, possibility, surprise during this alarming (and alarmingly isolated) time. But why wait? Let’s marvel now. - Maggie Smith

Jamal Moss, Takeshi Kouzuki, FLML and Mituo Shiomi take part in “Tracks From The Alley Vol. II", a Various Artists four-tracker E.P. which follows the imprint of the previous release of the Bologna based underground music label ALLEY VERSION. Here the jackin' and acid house/techno sonic palette is diverted in a raw, immersive and screwy signature.Rough vibes for freaky minds. Limited 12" vinyl.

Matir Gaan is a collaboration between young Bengali migrant, Mohammed After Hussain and Italian electronic artist, Andrea Rusconi (aka Paq). The resulting album delightfully combines the ancient folk songs of Md After's homeland with Paq's cosmic synth exotica.

Mohammed After Hussain escaped Bangladesh in 2015 and arrived in Italy in 2017 after a long and dangerous journey across the Mediterranean from the violence he found in Libya. In Italy he found safety and hospitality as an asylum seeker in Rimini's Associazione Ardea, where Andrea is involved with 'Ardea Recordings' - a project aiming to create an archive of songs, stories and sounds by some of the people who spent some time with Ardea's refugee programme.

Md After was invited to sing and play the folk and village songs he knew on the harmonium and pakhawaj (two headed drum) while Andrea immersed himself in the songs providing a bed of warm Crumar synth and Veena drones to create a finished album of totally uniquela renditions of the mystic Baul folk songs known so well by people across the Bangla speaking regions of India.

The Bauls are a famous group of wandering minstrels from the region of Bengal whose culture is derived from the teachings of the early Sufi mystics and Hindu Fakhirs. The Baul devotees are considered to be mad, or possessed, with the love of God. While transcending religion the Baul compositions celebrate celestial and earthly love and expound the key philosophy of “Deha tatta” or truth in the body, epitomised by the aphorism “whatever is in the universe is in the body”. They reach for divinity here in this world and they seek to access it through music and dance. They seek spirituality in the music, they live fo r the music, wandering from village to village offering ecstatic sound waves in exchange for sustenance. Their presence remains an important part of village life in Bangladesh, and this is why Md After knows the songs despite the fact he would not consider himself part of the Baul ascetic tradition.

We hope you'll enjoy this wonderfully psychedelic album, with its unique interpretations of these ancient mystic songs from the earth.

Comes with a printed inner sleeve featuring sleeve notes and lyric translations by Brian P. Heilman

Surrealism is more than an artistic style - it is an artistic
movement. In this sense, Lydia's third OAM was created
during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lydia adapts her
own surrealism, which is re§ected in the artistic language
with the cover symbolized by the Las Pozas and the tracks
Excile and Uncontrol on the vinyl. She musically explains the
inner con§ict between rational choices and wild reverie in a
di¨cult time. Ben Sims rounds out the theme. Giving Lydia
another supporter from her personal favorite producer's box
for OAM.

Kölsch returns to his first home and Kompakt’s eternal Speicher series following a remarkably productive past 18 months that included his 4th full length opus “Now Here No Where”, a double single on his own IPSO imprint and remixes for the likes of Joe Goddard, Douglas Greed and Agoria.

Expect the unexpected this round from our man with the hat with the squelching “Woohman”. He rolls back the clock and brings back a spirit of RAVE, delivered in the way we adore his signature style most. The flip side “Speicherband” feels for us here at Kompakt like an homage of sorts to one of our founding father’s Wolfgang Voigt. The minimal churn of a technofied bass drum pounds forth, as a troop of horns call forth the return of unadulterated gatherings to the once empty dance floors across the globe.

Kölsch kehrt wieder zurück in die alte Heimat KOMPAKT und zu unserer ewig jungen Speicher-Serie, nachdem er in den letzten 18 Monaten außerordentlich produktiv war und sein viertes Album "Now Here No Where", die digitale Single “Hold/Clear” auf seinem eigenen IPSO Label und Remixe für Leute wie Joe Goddard, Douglas Greed und Agoria veröffentlicht hatte.

Mit dem druckvollen "Woohman" geht es los und hier klingt unser Mann mit dem Hut getreu dem Motto: “Erwarte das Unerwartete”. Er dreht die Zeit zurück und bringt den Spirit des RAVE zurück, und zwar auf seine ganz eigene und unverwechselbare Art und Weise, die wir so an ihm lieben. Die Flipside "Speicherband" fühlt sich für uns hier bei Kompakt wie eine Art Hommage an einen unserer Gründungsväter Wolfgang Voigt an. Dieses minimalistische Dröhnen einer Techno-Bassdrum, dazu ein Satz Bläser, der die Menschen zur Rückkehr auf die einst verwaisten Tanzflächen der Welt herbei ruft.

Favorite Recordings proudly presents the new 12" of Magic Source. The all-star group around producer Björn Wagner (known also for his cosmic and tropical-flavoured disco music as Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band and The Mighty Mocambos) creates here a hypnotic four-on-thefloor sound that is both earthy and spaced out and all their own.
Recorded on 16 track analogue tape with inexpensive vintage gear, the crew explores the more unusual facets of disco music off the beaten track in favour of more otherwordly and international stylings. In their music, one could hear echoes from lost tropical disco records, cinematic flavors from library soundtracks and a healthy dose of DIY garage funk rawness.
On A side, "Riviera Drive" is an extended Mediterranean disco groove based on hypnotic percussions and soulful horn themes that alternate with trippy keyboard excursions. The tune is equally at ease on the dancefloor as in a chill-out zone, but of course, prefers to be in its natural habitat in a classic car somewhere between Nice and Monaco.
On the flip, Tom Tom Club's "Genius Of Love" is reimagined as a jazzy yacht soul instrumental with an echoed flute taking the lead. You'll also find a shorter Radio Edit of "Rivieria
Drive".

Exploring hybrid music styles and outernational, borderless musical influences, DJ soFa’s Elsewhere compilation series continues with a sixth instalment, and the second to appear on Kalahari Oyster Cult.

Always ahead of the tide, the Kalahari Oyster is a fine specimen when it comes to the discipline of next-level sound-snooping. Meticulously curated by Belgian sonic globetrotter soFa, Elsewhere XX showcases a dozen outstanding tunes, each dwelling in their own personal space between the imaginary worlds of post-kraut, DIY synth-punk and odd-pop ballads.

Melting these genres with contemporary club music is the mission here. Doused in a thick fog of arcane machine talk, tribal rhythms and cosmic synths, Elsewhere XX is an invitation to escape the hall of LED-backlit mirrors that we’ve so mistakenly come to call our “reality”.

Gathering artists from all corners of the globe – including Radio Hito, Anatolian Weapons, Eylul Deniz, Dame Area and Electronic Body Girl – soFa’s curation lays the groundwork for a unique and thoroughly immersive listening and dancing experience. Through a carefully selected suite of like-minded, yet diverse joints, we run the gamut from distorted funk (“Anita”, “Confiture") and cross-pollinated electroid blueprints (“Walk Away”, “An Abhainn Mhor") to oddball synthpop (“Credo” & Twin Peaks cover "She Can't Die"), reverb-soaked audio safaris (“Fifty Fifty (Anatolian Weapons Dub)") and static-filled postpunk (“Umani”).

soFa's Elsewhere series started in 2017 and this is the sixth compilation to date. Shifting focus with every new instalment, the compilations have previously appeared on labels likes Music For Dreams, Emotional Response and Crevette Records.

Kerri Chandler’s Kaoz Theory kicks off 2022 with Mr. ID’s Language Of Jazz EP, featuring two remixes from the label boss himself alongside two original cuts.

2021 saw Kerri Chandler’s Kaoz Theory continue to move from strength to strength, unveiling material from the likes of Dutch rising star Chris Stussy and of course Kerri himself, here we see the imprint wrap things up with a new addition to the roster, Casablanca, Morocco-based artist Mr. ID.

Up first on the release is ‘Track ID1’, a collaboration between Mr. ID and Youssef Grirane featuring Rita Mdn. It’s a unique six-minute journey through jazzy pianos and organ licks, intricate organic percussion and mesmeric, textural atmospheres. Kerri gives it the remix treatment in style extracting all of the jazziness of the original and retwisting things with the classic Chandler authentic house feel. Next, Chandler employs his revered 623 alias for the ‘623 Again Mix’ version which strips things back to low-slung drums, bumpy stabs and emotive piano lines.

The flip side houses ‘Track ID1’ in all its original glory before ‘Track ID2’ closes out proceedings seeing Mr. ID join forces with Younes Akhraz, rhythmically shifting to a jazzy 4/4 drum groove while wandering keys and warm subs fuel the mystical vibe.

DJ Feedback:

Sasha – Tasty

Laurent Garnier – Love the whole EP

Jimpster – Jazzed up piano house heaven! Love It!

Lea Lisa – Lovely remix by Kerri

Mr. V – Kerri delivers the goods once again!!!

Anja Schneider – Great. Love It.

Archie Hamilton – Nice

Andrew Treagust - Man that's some crazy production – really like it!

Mike W - absolutely classic release. how on earth could you go wrong? the world needs more piano!

Fish Go Deep - All tracks sounding great here. ID1 is a lovely warm groove and Kerri's remixes inject a little dancefloor bump to proceedings.

Daniel Troberg – incredible music

Kiki Navarro – excellent single, loving all the mixes special ID1 and the Kerri Chandler Main Remix

Ben Lovett – Remix mastery from Chandler – wonderful meeting of piano and drum – fire.

Sergio – Excellent example of classic house with personality

Hector Samper – Amazing EP!!!

SAXON GO FULL CARPE DIEM WITH THEIR LATEST STUDIO RELEASE

Saxon, those seminal British Heavy Metal Heroes hailing from Barnsley, UK, will release Carpe Diem on February 4th 2022 through Silver Lining Music. Ten titanic tracks bristling with still-clad riffery and proud intent, Carpe Diem is the statement which reminds heavy metal fans worldwide who the true masters of British Metal are, drawing on a variety of ingredients from their career to forge what is Saxon’s most dynamic release in many a year.

"It all starts with the riff,” says frontman and co-founder Biff Byford, "if the riff speaks to me, then we’re on our way. It’s a very intense album, and that’s all down to the fact that the essence of a great metal song is the riff that starts it, and this album has loads of them."

From the title track’s roll-back attack to the incessant speed and power of “Super Nova”, this is Saxon at their purest and most definitive, aggressively parading the pure metal flag and imploring fans old and new to gather and celebrate the very best of both Saxon and the genre itself. “All for One” has the stomp and pure power of a “Princess of the Night” while “The Pilgrimage” is classic “Crusader”-era Saxon. Produced by Andy Sneap (Judas Priest, Exodus, Accept and Richie Faulkner) at Backstage Recording Studios in Derbyshire with Byford with Sneap mixing and mastering, Carpe Diem strikes the ear as one of the most essential British Metal statements of the last few years, one which will ignite the joy in stalwart supporters and attract a whole new legion to the Saxon fold.
“I love that sort of fast metal. I love Princess of the Night and 20,000 FT and I try and bring that style of Saxon into the music now but in a bit more modern style” affirms Byford “but it’s the same five guys playing it and singing it, so I think we don’t really sound like an old band on records because we’re not really sitting back on our past success. We’re always trying to make a great album.”
“We want every album we make to go platinum,” says Byford defiantly. "We never make an album that we don’t expect to be fantastic because there are no laurels around here, only a commitment to the best songs and riffs we can write.” Saxon have certainly made sure to Seize the Day; be sure you join them.

One of my first record releases was on Traum Schallplatten in 2007. I was living in Berlin and Traum was at its peak launching acts like Extrawelt, Dominik Eulberg, Gabriel Anada, Minilogue, Fairmont… The era of melodic minimal…

The release of Luftlust hit the big DJ's like Sven Väth etc. And I was truly overwhelmed by the support. But the version on the 12" was actually pitched up 5 BPM. And in the end the mastering was not in my personal preference. Watering my feel of it, once or twice a year people actually ask me to do a remaster. Over the years it has been a track circulating the web and playlists, haunting me.

Last year I dug in the past and actually wrote a masters exam in philosophy about being a youngster in the techno scene and how to keep up creativity while working with record labels. Somewhere in that process I decided to face the old ghost and make it happen. Time was ready for the re-release of Luftlust, on my terms on my own label Kranglan Broadcast.

Justus Köhncke Remix
For a time frame of a decade I have asked Kompakt veteran and Whirlpool Productions legend Justus Köhncke to do a remix on my Kranglan imprint. Herr Köhncke to me (and to everyone who has followed Kompakt) is one of a kind! A punk soul, dead serious while smiling, always putting hooks and fragments out of music history on Kompakt sound plates with precise grace… The last years he have replied he's been busy in the studio with Can member Irmin Schmidt, working on soundtracks but... suddenly one day when I wrote the man he said "I love Luftlust, send me the stems".

Listening to Justus interpretation I was blown away… like riding a cabrio through the German landscape of fields and deciduous forests a sunny day in late May! And wait for that outro bridge at 5:56! Like being hugged by the warm mother autumn.

Özgur Can Remix
Anjuna Deep cofounder Özgur Can and I have known each other since high school. Özgur was the first DJ I ever booked to one of my early raves in the forests of Nacka. From releasing our first records with our common buddy Petter on Peter Van Halls label 'Deep' we have walked a parallel path in life, Özgur with a wider span of releases and 100's of nights at sweaty dance floors. No one does the deep driven heartfull arpeggios like Özgur. They swell and they swirl. A true Music lover and true talent!

Lust
Time has flewn since 2007, and that winter break in Barcelona 2006 hanging out with James Holden and the Border gang at Razmataz… the weekend when I actually started working on Luftlust…

Working on a re-release of Luftlust I just got hit by lust to work a version of it from the position where I am at, the 2021 me. I went with lust and it just happened a late summer night in Stockholm being by myself for a brief moment doing what I love the most, making music.

Luftlust Original 120BPM Version
And at last the never released original version of the title track. Correct tempo as it was written. Mastered by Andreas Lubich aka Lupo, the very person to master this type of music if you take a brief glimpse at his back folder! Finally!

I love this project, and I love making it happen at Kranglan Broadcast. Bringing together thoughts and people you have thought of bringing together for a long time. Lust KLN014 is here.

Few groups arrive as fully formed as EPMD did. This dropped as the third single from the album of the same name, and further cemented their distinctive aesthetic: Slow rhyming, trading lines rather than the rappers being confined to their own verses, and backings that were ruthlessly funky and simple at the same time.

They’d go on to be labelmates with Public Enemy when Def Jam picked up their contract in 1990, and to compare and contrast the two is illuminating. While PE at that time were making waves with the Bomb Squad’s breathless, kitchen sink approach to production, EPMD were equally adored for taking the opposite approach.

Here, there’s a sprinkle of drums from Kool & The Gang’s oft-sampled ‘Jungle Boogie’, paired with a very recognisable portion of Eric Clapton’s ‘I Shot the Sheriff’. And that’s pretty much it – the two samples are linked, looped and left to their own devices. Such was Erick and Parrish’s confidence in their own rhyming ability and strong voices, no further embellishment was needed.

That confidence extends to the subject matter. While their debut album and later projects were heavy with concepts – the ‘Jane’ series – and notable guest verses, this was the third straight single of pure brag rap. Two MC’s, one beat, a whole heap of lyrics about how good they were. It’s something you can’t do unless you truly are special, and this duo most certainly were.

Paired with the classic instrumental version, which didn’t make it to the US 7” releases – it’s only on a hard-to-track-down French 7” pressing from 1989 – this this is a timely reminder of how breathtakingly perfect hip-hop can be.