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Critical Music reaches its 100th release in its 15th year, celebrating with the landmark album Fifteen Years Of Underground Sonics. Spanning the broad spectrum of drum & bass that the Critical sound represents, the exceptional 15 album is as bold as it is beautiful and looks to serve the test of time in the D&B history books.

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Kasra Critical

(2x 180 gr LP in a gatefold sleeve with download card) The debut album of Talamanca System, aka Gerd Janson + Mark Barrott + Philipp Lauer. Their past is your future!

On the white island, between Ibiza Town and the infamous fish shack high up on a rock next to a bird sanctuary, you will find the beach of Talamanca. Plagued by too much seaweed, anchored middle-class yachts and joggers, it is also surprisingly the spiritual home of a correspondent post-Balearic group. As luck would have it, a remix request by Mark Barrott bedded the International Feel boss in a trio with Philipp Lauer and Gerd Janson, alias Tuff City Kids. A highly sought-after 12-inch later ("Balanzat"), as well as fantasies of getting together to work on more material, led to a fruitful and effortless studio session on the non-Balearic outskirts of Frankfurt am Main.

The outcome of that meeting forms the homonymous debut album of Talamanca System. A documented vision, or a sunburned imagination of a day and night spent on said island, during a moment in time that probably never was or will be. Still summed up best by dungarees, long hair, yellow sunglasses, espadrilles or that famous picture of people grouped around roofless Amnesia's pyramid well, it is the food of the Balearic gods. But, dear nostalgia, stop right here! Even though Talamanca's debut flies the Balearic flag, it is not about turning back the clock, but rather about a past that could be the future. Dusted, danceable, driving, dreamy and dapper at the same time, this is an album for the club, the car, the beach, the (coke)float and the fountain.

Coined by the colourful and respective talents of the three individuals behind Talamanca, you will hear nine tracks ranging from up to downtempo, piano house smashers that would have deserved the prefix Italo-, percussion rituals captured by a group of Zoo animals on the loose, soundtracks for dusk and dawn, hushed vocals, rites of ambient passages, powerful synth ballads and vamp choirs. If this album were a car, it would be a Citroen 2CV remade by Tesla.

We've said it before and we'll say it again: their past is your future!

Never before reissued, this legendary 1968 EMI recording is a revered Indian jazz rarity, a collectors' holy grail. Raga Jazz Style is an original Indian excursion into Indo-jazz fusion. A one-away recording from the almost unknown Bombay jazz scene, it is among the few jazz LPs to hail from the subcontinent.Closely contemporary with the UK-based explorations of Amancio D'Silva, John Mayer and Joe Harriott, Raga Jazz Style takes the melodic, scale-based raga system of Indian classical music and marries it with a swinging jazz rhythm section assembled by Bollywood's most highly acclaimed musical directors, the soundtrack composing duo Shankar Singh and Jaikishan Panchal.Singh and Panchal were a dominant force in Hindi film music from the late 1940s onwards. Shankar had been trained in classical tabla, while Jaikishan was an expert harmonium player. They worked together on well over a hundred films, and their innovative compositions and orchestral scoring revolutionised the music of the nascent Bollywood industry. Central to their sound was regular collaborator Sebastian D'Souza. From 1952 onwards, D'Souza would work on every Shankar Jaikishan soundtrack, eventually becoming Bollywood's most coveted musical arranger.
Originally from Goa, D'Souza had cut his teeth in the dance-band era, arranging and playing with his uncle's jazz bands in Lahore and Quetta. After Partition, he had moved to Bombay to follow the reliable work provided by the film industry, where Goan musicians had become the mainstay of Bollywood's film studio orchestras. Goans were also the core of Bombay's thriving dance-hall and hotel-based jazz scene, with artists including saxophonist Braz Gonsalves, guitarist Amancio D'Silva and trumpeter Chic Chocolate all working in the city during the post-war years.
The team assembled for Raga Jazz Style were drawn from this inventive and forward-thinking milieu. Pianist Lucilla Pacheco, saxophonist Manohari Singh and guitarist Anibal Castro were all fixtures on the Bombay jazz circuit, while drummer Leslie Godinho is reputed to have taught Joe Morello the 5/4 'Take Five' beat when they jammed together during Dave Brubeck's State Department tour of India. To this jazz backbone was added the sitar of Ustad Rais Khan, scion of long line of classical instrumentalists, and nephew of the renowned sitarist Ustad Vilayat Khan. Bombay's jazz modernists had been experimenting with the fusion of ragas and jazz since the 1950s, long before American or British jazz musicians had tuned in to Indian classical music. But very little of this exciting scene was ever captured on record. Raga Jazz Style offers a rare chance to hear the innovative sounds of the Indian jazz scene, as peerless composers Shankar Jaikishan and arranging supremo D'Souza join with veteran Bombay jazzers to explore classical themes in a jazz setting — eleven ragas to a swinging beat!This is a highly impressive inaugural salvo by Outernational Sounds, using original masters and beautifully rendered facsimile artwork, with 180g vinyl pressed at Pallas, in Germany.

Berlin's own Marco Haas aka T.RAUMSCHMIERE made an irreparable impression globally in the 00's as a sawtoothed, ANTI-rave radical thanks to his immense stage antics and larger-than-life releases on Novamute. Since then, Haas has established himself as a contemporary with emotive, dark ambient tales on his own imprints Shitkatapult/Albumlabel.
KOMPAKT's love affair with Haas goes back to our earliest days. Some of his first tracks were released on KOMPAKT in the form of two raw EP's entitled "Bolzplatz" (KOM021 - 2000) and "Musick" (KOM037 2001). These two formative releases elevated the "Schaffel" sound to raw and shameless places we never could have imagined. The results set a tidal wave in motion that to this day remains one of KOMPAKT's most infamous legacies.
In an off-chance reunion with Haas in his studio, we learnt about what he'd been doing since the "Monstertruckdriver" days. It turned out he's been ever so busy outside of the mainstream working with the likes of Dieter Meier of Yello, Caspar Brötzmann, Andreas Dorau, Fraktus, Ofrin or Barbara Morgenstern and his recent work with Ulli Bomans aka Schieres under the SHRUBBN!! monicker.

On the way out, he passed over his 2015 self-titled album - which proceeded to blow our minds. It was mutually decided that it's time for him to return home.
May 19, 2017, will see KOMPAKT releasing T.RAUMSCHMIERE's new, epic solo full-length HEIMAT. It presents another side of his work which was always there, but never got that much airtime: the artist, the author, the composer with the crystal-clear sound. HEIMAT is a stunning techno album that neither excludes Ambient, nor gets reduced to constant ass kicking. It's perhaps the best recording so far from this man who asks so deeply, so extensively, so much. And at some point even answers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Having previously released on Z.I.P.P.O's Fides imprint, 3KZ now bring their powerful four tracker 'Not From Here' on Balans Records. 3KZ are Z.I.P.P.O and Kalean

The Dutch label Balans Records returns with it's twenty-first instalment to the series that have previously seen releases by Mike Parker, Drafted & ROD among others. This time Darko Esser's imprint presents a collaboration between Z.I.P.P.O and Kalean, under their 3KZ moniker. Having previously released on Z.I.P.P.O's Fides imprint, 3KZ now bring their powerful four tracker 'Not From Here' on Balans Records.

'Not From Here' opens the EP with its flowing grooves & eerie pads to create a beautiful techno track followed by 'Nature Of Motion' that offers an astral like immersion to the listener with its haunting melodic rhythms. On the flipside 'Circles' & 'Times' switch up the vibe in a more intense & playful mood, resulting in a finely balanced EP of atmospheric driving techno.

early supposrt
Luke Slater
'Great, thanks.'

James Ruskin
'Nature Of Motion for me, thanks!!'

Marcel Dettmann
'Thanks.'

Kristian / Ame
'Thanks.'

Rolando
'Wow killer stuff here, all tracks are dope!! Nature of Motion is my fav, great work!'

Dj Pete
'Great Italian Detroit techno.

Etapp Kyle

'Thanks.'



Sigha

'Lovely vibes, full of soul.'



Nuno dos Santos

'Beautiful release!! Love all tracks and thats pretty rare.'



Jeroen Search

'Go 3KZ go! A2 & B2 for me, very cool stuff!'



Ontal

'Thank you!'



Orde Meikle / Slam

'Thanks.'



Eric Cloutier

'Another beast of an EP from 3KZ & its always good to get a Balans promo.'



Kr!z

'Nice one, full support.'



Monika Kruse

'Great floating techno, love it!'



Arnaud Le Texier

'Not From Here & Circles for me, thanks.'



Jeff Rushin

'Cool release.'



Jeff Derringer

'I like it, good stuff!'



Mr. Jones

'Nice vibe on this EP. Like the energy and drive in Times.'



Leghau

'Great release. I really like A1, thank you.'



Robert Lamart

'Nice tracks, thanks!'



Angel Molina

'A side for me here. Great, timeless Mills-esque techno stuff, thanks.'



Mareena / Tresor

'Another winner by 3KZ, thanks guys. Holy shit, that ambient tune!!'



Phone

'Total support.'



Limo

'Love these guys, thanks.'



Joseph Capriati

'Downloading for Joseph Capriati, thanks!



Richie Hawtin

'Downloaded for Richie Hawtin.'

It is already possible to find works signed by Post Scriptum in discographies of well respected labels for quite a sometime. This undoubtedly confirms it's value. "Year Zero" is a first release on Post Scriptum's own label and in a sense it is a manifesto defining it's musical identity. No space here for a sound targeting the current techno mainstream. There is dirt, and the pinch of imperfections, very characteristic of avant-garde electronics and industrial well known for the quite nearby past.
On the A side, there are compositions appearing like shutters from experiments conducted in the secret laboratory.
The rhythm is giving the appropriate weight, while the rest is a musical conglomerate of sounds and synthesis building up a feeling of anxiety.A swarming energy, a modulation, an uncertainty and lurking somewhere danger are surrounding us.
On the flip side are remixes constituting the lighter counterpunch. Motor eurhythmics bringing to life the old good Detroit techno definitely of a dance-floor character, making this material ideal for an interesting set.

Until he was about 20, Texas-born Melvin Sparks was a rhythm & blues guitarist, backing Jackie Wilson, Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye as a member of The Upsetters. But Sparks gave up his seat on The Upsetters' bus in New York City, where a chance introduction to George Benson led him to a place in soul jazz history. Melvin played and recorded with Lou Donaldson, Leon Spencer, Bernard Purdie, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Idris Muhammad, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Charles Earland, Grover Washington Jr., Reuben Wilson and so many more. Even during the quietest years of soul-jazz Melvin stayed relevant through hip-hop and r&b, a quick search at WhoSampled turns up more than 150 samples of his funky chicken scratch. And Melvin's legacy is heard in contemporary soul/funk bands like The New Mastersounds, Soulive and The Greyboy Allstars, all of whom he also guested with several times before his early departure from this realm in 2011.

This release documents Melvin's final band just months before his death. Organist Beau Sasser and drummer Bill Carbone had been working with Sparks for several years, and, despite the power dynamic - they were in their early 30s, Melvin an elder-statesmen of the genre - the unit was sharp, relaxed and performed Melvin's music with a jovial spirit. The trio played the Burlington, VT club Nectar's regularly, but this night featured two "onlys." Per the recommendation of Nectar's agent they used the "Grippo Horns," the only time Sparks used a horn section in the last several years of his life, and they allowed a multitrack recording of the show. Both were strong decisions.

The tracks on this album, lovingly mixed by guitarist, producer and Melvin Sparks fan Eddie Roberts, demonstrate that Melvin played as well in the final months of his life as at any time. Sparks counts "Whip! Whop!" off at what he said The Upsetters called a "showtime tempo," and peppers it, as well as most of the album, with quotes from jazz standards, pop songs and cartoon themes, all woven effortlessly into the bebop-funk dialect he helped create. He unfolds amiable melodies, patiently and methodically, through his several-minute lead on "Breezin'." And Sparks is audibly uplifted by the Grippo Horns helping him perform his 1973 arrangement of "Ain't No Woman" for the first time in decades.

ll Camille, LA hip hop's female perspective.

Ill Camille has been a vital member of the LA music scene for some years. Kendrick Lamar used her vocals prominently for the 'good kid, m.A.A.d city' track 'Sing about me', she has been working with other TDE artists occasionally and spend a lot of time writing for different projects Terrance Martin was involved with.

At the same time Camille was developing her own material with her fellow peers such as MNDSGN, Iman Omari, DJ Battlecat, Like (Pac Div) Georgia Anne Muldrow & SIR who are all featured on her album 'Heirloom' just like TDE co-president Punch. 'Heirloom' productions range from smooth, g-funk esque west coast beats to live & organic soulful beats, working as the perfect backdrop for Camille's powerful, intelligent and thought thru lyrics

The album is deeply personal revolving around the issues that mater in her life from friends and family, her role as a woman and the heirloom of her and her surrounding: 'I feel like everyone are heirlooms of our mothers and fathers. An heirloom is just something that's passed down through a family. We get heirlooms in the form of game, encouragement or wise words. I know everyone has an aunt or uncle that's given them some bars about life in general. I have a village around me that have given me heirlooms in the form of conversations'.

Amine Edge & Dance have become well known for their releases on their own label CUFF. By bringing new sounds to this label, they are building a reputation for some huge anthems, and it looks like their latest has arrived under 'Bad Influence'.A hard hitting beat kicks the track off, while also flitting in with the vocals of SerGy which provide a real different edge to the track.
They have a soulful feeling to it, especially when the track begins to build and whenever it drops down. The vocal chops work well with the deep flowing bass line and hard hitting beat that Amine Edge & Dance have delivered. Bringing this all together with the drum samples and the various synth layers which work into the background of the track, it all seems to just provide a sense of groove, a sense of energy, a real deep underground driver.
Amine Edge & Dance deliver the goods with 'Bad Influence'.

* Atheos is a ferocious new collection from Rotkeller, which sees the Swiss electronic duo (Laurent Schmidhäusler and Federico Sutera) double-down on the brooding energy of their previous releases with a renewed intensity—fusing bold electronic experimentalism to dense, maximalist techno.

* Whether on the slow-burn immensity of opener 'SW', the monolithic, doom-laden expanses of 'Malz' or the spellbinding surge of '17. October', Atheos showcases a dark melodic complexity from the duo—in part brought on by the use of both digital and analog recording techniques.

* While the mesmeric, choral melancholia of EP closer 'Godless'—its eerie and beguiling textures echoing all that has preceded it—offers-up ominously open-ended ending; solidifying Atheos as Rotkeller's most atmospheric and cohesive work to-date.

* As if that wasn't enough, EOMAC (Stroboscopic Artefacts, Killekill, Trilogy Tapes, Bedouin) caps Atheos off in style, with a savage edit of '17. October'. The remix that pushing Rotkeller's original track into new rhythmical directions—the glassy rhythms splintering like shards of light across an eternally eclipsed landscape.

Set for release in both physical and digital formats on May 5th, Atheos marks Rotkeller's first EP for Swiss-based record company Thrènes (which takes its name from the Greek word for funeral lament) and are a label dedicated to the release of tenebrous electronica and techno.

2LP in gatefold with liner notes. 180gr vinyl. Download code included. A new, twenty-track compilation focussing on a twenty-year period (1950-1970) of modern jazz in the little kingdom, featuring the leading players from that era.

Due to the absence of its main players during the heydays of modern jazz, Belgium will not be remembered for a unique jazz sound or an extensive discography. However, the little country produced a number of highly talented musicians who played lead roles on the international jazz scene.
'Let's Get Swinging: Modern Jazz in Belgium 1950-1970' retraces their steps and presents some of their finest works, including guitarist Philip Catherine, saxophonist Jack Sels, multi-instrumentalist Jacques Pelzer and vibraphone player, percussionist and vocalist 'Fats' Sadi Lallemand.^

Al Massrieen: Disco, Funk and modernized Arabic Pop from Egypt

In the beginning of Habibi Funk, our search was focussed on vinyl records. Around a year ago though, we got to the point where we realized that it became substantially harder to discover music, that we enjoyed and hadn't heard before. It became apparent that it was time to start looking for other formats. Cassette tapes were the obvious alternative. These were introduced in the arabic world around the late 1970s. In some countries they took over a bit earlier, in others a bit later, but eventually they pushed the vinyl format out of the market in the 1980s. In Egypt this trend already even started in the late 1970s.

Al Massrieen was one of the first bands I learned about once I discovered the tape format for myself. They were really popular in Egypt in the 1970s and the more of their music I found on either tapes or Arabic pirate mp3 sites, the more I was becoming a fan. Only very few bands from the region can match the band's versatility as well as their strive for innovation. Hany Shenoda is the man behind the Al Massrieen band. He is a reknown figure of the Egyptian music scene and has worked with everyone from Abdel Halim Hafez to Mohamed Mounir. Al Massrieen was his attempt to introduce his ideas of modernizing Egyptian music, heavily encouraged by Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt's only winner of the Nobel Price for literature) after discussing his ideas with him.
Al Massrieen's sound goes from lush disco like 'Sah' to psych rock like 'Horreya' or incredible jazz fused pop on songs such as 'Edba Mn Gded'. I was shocked to realize the band seemed to be hardly known outside Egypt, even though I feel they're at least on the same level as Ahmed Fakroun. An relative obscurity which I largely attribute to the fact that their releases never have been pressed on vinyl (apart from a Greece best of LP which wasn't a strong compilation of the group's songs). One way or another it felt like this band and especially their composer, band leader and overall brain Hany Shenoda was in need to get some recognition outside of Egypt. The release is fully licensed from the band and comes with an extensive booklet with liner notes, interviews and unseen photos.

In April Booka Shade will return with their new album GALVANY STREET. A new beginning in many ways. "We're very proud to have reached a lot with instrumental music. With MOVEMENTS 10 we closed a chapter last year. 2017 is the perfect time for a new start and to mix things up." (Walter Merziger) GALVANY STREET marks the return to their pop roots in collaboration with former Archive singer Craig Walker and a few additional guests like Urdur (GusGus), Australian Yates and Daniel Spencer from London. I was aware of the band before we started working together and really liked everything I had heard. I was introduced to the guys by Martin Eyerer one of the Riverside owners. Martin was really enthusiastic about us meeting as he felt we would have a lot in common musically and he was right. We met up in Riverside and we discussed music we liked past and present and we had very similar tastes. I listened to their back catalogue and was really impressed with how great everything was produced and I loved howmelodically driven everything they did was. (Craig Walker)
The second single from the album is - Numb The Pain , a disco inspired feel good pop song. For the single format Booka Shade created 2 special versions of the song. A much shorter, more instant Single Version and a longer, club friendly Extended Mix, inspired by classic 80s 12inch releases.
Every single from the album will also feature an unreleased exclusive song, again inspired by the traditional idea of a B-Side. In this case it´s the instrumental tech house tune - Fade Away , a hint at Booka Shade´s past. Booka Shade will embark on a European Tour in April to support the release of the new album. For the first time in their career, Booka Shade will be joined on stage by singer Craig Walker. GALVANY STREET is the album we wanted to write for a long time. The collaboration with Craig Walker brings in the perfect kind of vocals to complete the music." (Arno Kammermeier).

2CV is a really hairy, non-french post-disco dynamic duo who likes working with sound waves and big animals. They apparently created the band after some spinning and Gin & Tonic sessions in the living room. They are incredibly talented, nice and professional people. They like horses. Their first EP featured horses too. Freud would have something to say about this. MUGWUMP, the master of trans-genre dance music, is at remixing duties. He is awesome but we don't really know if he likes horses too.

Don't you feel sexier already Go and shag the planet honey. YOU'RE A HORSE, YOU'RE A FUCKING HORSE AND THE WORLD IS YOUR PLAYING FIELD, NOW GO FOR IT, NIGHT DOG LUNATIC,SCORCHED HARMONICS. YOU'RE A HORSE, BEHAVE LIKE ONE.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Little Blue, i like." - Lexx

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

"killer ep guys!!!" - Discodromo

After 3am Recordings' return to 12' in March 2016, which straight into the Juno Deep House Top 10, it's time for label boss Al Bradley to unleash his own 12". The original of Night Owl has been working like a charm - a deep & bass-heavy affair, coming on like Franck Roger or Djebali wearing their slightly more chunky-vibed studio hats (or something.....). Pressed For Time main dude Goshawk, tweaks his remix taking the cue from the original bass into key-led deepness, with added percussion elements & warm vibes ago-go. Fellow 3am geezer Michael Scott takes a real diversion & strips things right back in freaky trippy minimal style, reworking the vibe of the track completely. Closing the 12", fourfourfour heads into Berlin electronic territory, shifting the focus to the main percussive section & coming out with a massively powerful yet stripped back beast of a remix. Serious damage incoming....

After debuting on Mr. G's Phoenix G imprint in 2016 with the Unfamiliar Territory EP, Jayson Wynters makes an appearance on DBA for this, his second release, backed by a Kowton remix.

Jayson Wynters is a DJ that is able to combine many genres in one set and make it work. Wynters was first known as a garage MC in Birmingham, before rising to prominence in the city's underground radio and club scene, where he showcased an impressive knowledge of rare groove and house music. As he got older his taste for music began to mature, his collection began to grow, and he soon began to DJ. Using music as an outlet for expression, whether in the form of DJing or having fun on some drum machines and synths, is one of the most defining features to Wynters. He continues to fuel his passion by keeping an eye on the future rather than the past and striving to remain different.

We're back from hibernation after releasing the third Roundup at the end of 2016 and we're starting off with a new signing. Milan based Parker Madicine joins Heist with some high tech funk with a serious nod to the 'D' and we've got Byron the Aquarius delivering a great jazzy remix. You'll be more likely to find Parker Madicine browsing through boxes of old jazz and soul records than you'll see him showcasing his social media skills. He's a real vinyl junky and moreover a hip hop fanatic and probably loves his synthesizers more than his mother. Apart from promoting funk and soul oriented parties in Milan, he founded CT-HI records, short for 'Contemporary Theories of Hip Hop Influences". A few years back he teamed up a.o. with his buddies Veez-O and Turbojazz to create some Dilla and early 90's inspired hip hop and these influences are clearly present in his EP for Heist. With Heartbreaker, he lays down a dreamy but heavy groove for the first minute or so, arpeggiating its way to the moment where the airy pads make room for a looser than loose groove where synth stabs and bass line dance around each other creating a killer vibe. Zawinul starts in the same manner, rough kick, loose and degraded hi-hats and dreamy Rhodes chords. The tracks build further with some lovely brassy hits and arps, whereas Placebo is the most stripped back but high tempo track, where an airy and delayed bassline does most of the work to set the mood. We're really happy to have Byron the Aquarius reworking one of PM's tracks.

Peter Hunnigale aka Mr Honeyvibes was born in South London on December 12th, 1960. Peter Hunnigale was to develop into one of Britain's most formidable reggae 'Lovers Rock' artist of our time. It was clear at a tender age Peter's main interest was in music and being born of Jamaican parentage, he was exposed and influenced by music of West Indian culture.

Untamed Love is an UFO in Peter Hunnigale's career, recorded at Omega studio (London) and originally released on the Cosmic label in 1986. Some people have no words to describe it. You can call it brit-boogie, rare funk, sick jam, musical bomb, or god jam, whatever it's a typical mid 80's tune with a rhythmic background sound that is captivating and memorable, thanks to heavyweight synth and awesome vocals. The original 12'' vinyl record is still very hard to find and expensive nowadays. If you are about to discover this song, make sure you are sit down when you listen to it because this song will blow you down hey girl I like the way you smile'.

Growing up in Britain meant that Peter Hunnigale was also open to other genres of music and with seeing the popular acts of the day perform on television and hearing the songs on the radio Peter knew what he wanted to be. Peter is also a great musician and did live work with reggae legends such as The Chosen Few, The Pioneers, B.B. Seaton and many others, while earning the respect of their peers as a competent bassist and qualified engineer. He won a Best Newcomer award at the Celebrity Awards in 1987, and won Best British Reggae Album at the British Reggae Industry Awards the same year.

Danilo Braca (danyb) arrived in Brooklyn from his native Rome in 2012. Playing around town, running sound at local venues and slowly allowing these edits--informed by many years working the floors across Europe--to evolve on and off the dancefloors of New York City. Check his web radio TSoNYC - The Sound of New York City.
Busted Vol. 1 kicks off with something very special - a lovingly reworked, top secret, late 70's jam favoured recently by none other than DJ demi-god Harvey
Anyone who's heard him play in the last couple of years will be familiar with the original version of this truly magical 13 minute slo-mo Disco jam - it's a genuine holy grail moment !
Having established that quality is of the upmost importance, Busted continues with a beautiful duo of amended cuts on the flip. The uptempo, playful 'Play Me Hard' works the groove, hard !
while 'Have A Cake' is a gloriously sleazy mid-tempo workout
One hell of a 12" ladies & gentlemen !

Limited to 500 copies with artwork

While unveiling the 'Mutant Tournament' Quartet last year, label boss Nachtbraker was quietly hunting for new music behind the scenes. Being the fine huntsman he is, he came out of the woods with sonic bits and bobs so delectable he had no choice but to spread them out over two brand new quartets. That's right, eight records in total, to be released over the course of the next 18 months. We're delighted to introduce you to Scott Franka, who's at the helm of the first missive. This creative head from Amsterdam has been making music since the tender age of 11, but it wasn't until he adopted his Scott Franka moniker that he really found his groove. His music encompasses influences from dub and dark techno to classic drumpcomputer and synth-heavy house. Franka's style takes cues from Detroit, Chicago and the UK, and yet is also very personal and forward thinking at the same time. 'The Gym' might be his solo debut, but a smattering of releases from the man is on the horizon. The best way to introduce you to Scott Franka's musicality is 'The Gym' on A1. Starting of with sweet, melancholic chords and 808 hats Scott turns your world upside down after the first break. Try to keep your head steady, and get that dirty look of your face.. doesn't work right It's just too good. 'Toenail' is up next, and its undeniable groove and incredible amalgamation of synths and strings make for an absolute early hours melter. Flip over for 'Sorry' to hear Franka knock it out of the ballpark with its heavy breakbeat and UK-style bass. Finally, there's 'Street', a mesmerising groover, rounding things off nicely. The release doesn't only mark its first artist EP, it also marks a new look for the label. Building on the muscular,pheromone-rich theme of the first Quartet, Elsemarijn Bruys developed a fresh concept for both new Quartets with a little help from Scott Franka,

The album was produced by John Congleton (Blondie, Sigur Ros), Greg Saunier of Deerhoof and Xiu Xiu's own Angela Seo.

It features guest appearances by fabled minimalist composer Charlemagne Palestine, L.A. Banjee Ball superstar commentator Enyce Smith, Swans guitar virtuoso Kristof Hahn and legendary drag artist and personal hero of Xiu Xiu, Vaginal Davis.

FORGET was recorded during a period of epic productivity for Xiu Xiu. While writing FORGET, they released the lauded Plays the Music of Twin Peaks, collaborated with Mitski on a song for an upcoming John Cameron Mitchell film, composed music for art installations by Danh Vo, recorded an album with Merzbow and scored an experimental reworking of the Mozart opera, The Magic Flute. All of this frantic, external activity lead to a softly damaged dreaminess and broadened intent that has not been heard before in other Xiu Xiu works.

Standout track, Wondering' is one of the catchiest boogie pop gems in the Xiu Xiu catalog, but like much of FORGET, it still bears an underlying tension that manifests differently in each piece. From the haunted guitar duet of "Petite", the hilariously fraught lyrics of "Get Up," the advanced industrial boxing match of "Jenny GoGo," or the experimental goth explosion of "Faith, Torn Apart", all the songs, in their own ways, build to a roiling boil of a fate in vanishing.

The calligraphy on the cover translates literally to "we forget." It bows to the universality of everything and everyone's inevitable decline and foggy disappearance. Regarding the album title, Xiu Xiu singer Jamie Stewart said, To forget uncontrollably embraces the duality of human frailty. It is a rebirth in blanked out renewal but it also drowns and mutilates our attempt to hold on to what is dear.' FORGET is both the palliative fade out of a traumatic's past but also the trampling pain of a beautiful one's decay.

Xiu Xiu is Shayna Dunkelman, Angela Seo and Jamie "Butch Jenny" Stewart.

This is one of the biggest finds of the millenium for us here at Underground Music. Unreleased music by Grand Master Lenny Dee. Originally produced back in the early 90s, the master DAT has sat in a bottom drawer until it was unearthed by us. It's hard to put in to words the influence Lenny Dee and Caspar Pound had on the dance music scene. Witnessing Lenny Djing back in 1992 influenced the path Underground Music would take for the next 25 years. It's true to say this is very much a vanity project for UM. The fact it has incredible unreleased music on it too is a bonus. We've gone all out on a mind warping 12" printed sleeve with superb vinyl mastering by Shane The Cutter. Shanes work tops off these ground breaking seminal techno tunes from one of the planets finest artists to grace the scene. Limited to 300 copies.

Jerome Meyer AKA Von D is a master craftsman, well-known for releasing dubstep and bass music since 2009. On an increasingly prolific trajectory since last year, recent 12's on Infernal Sounds, Trojan Audio and Scotch Bonnet have signaled his renewed focus on dubwise productions. We are proud to say that Von D's Khaliphonic debut sees him fully committing to reggae and dub - in his words, going back to my musical roots.'

Politricks' is a masterwork, cut from the same living rock as the classic Cuss Cuss riddim, a simply huge bass and drum workout that is truly one for the ages. Politricks is an anthem for now, a call to avoid the dead-end of politics-as-usual and a warning to beware of the lies politicians tell to keep themselves in power - full of promises but changing nothing. Von D says that working with Don Cotti was very natural,' and their easy relationship is audible - the tune fits the vocal like a glove, and Cotti's instantly-recognizable singjay style gives even more gravitas to an already heavy track. The dub version spools out Von D's signature saturated echoes even further, and opens up spectral chambers of reverb that shimmer and glow.

The B side Ygrec' is an equally massive tune, just as compelling if more meditative and mysterious, coming in both one drop and power-steppers mixes for maximum versatility and vibes. Both tunes and their versions feature an incredibly robust, warm, human sound - one that simply can't come from machines alone - live drums, bass, and kete drum among other instruments maintain the tradition of live musicians in dub - to say nothing of expert desk-based mixing and deployment of live analog effects the way the elders intended. Both tunes dial in at 140 making them perfect for roots and dubstep selectors alike.

Von D got his start as a drummer and engineer outside Paris, in the heady days of original jungle. Early releases on Disfigured Dubz, Hench, Boka, Black Acre and the seminal V Recordings, as well as his reggae-oriented Liquid Wicked project, cemented his reputation. Don Cotti is a prolific producer, DJ and MC with releases stretching back to 2006 on labels as varied as Bass Face, Studio Rockers, and Soul Jazz.

Mastered by Lewis at Stardelta. Art & design by Polygon Press.

2x12"

Optimo Music are delighted to present the second full-length from The Golden Filter, "STILL // ALONE".
After relocating to London and playing shows around Europe for a year and a half, self-imposed pariahs Penelope Trappes and Stephen Hindman delved into creating a two-sided existential opus by renting out old studio spaces around the UK and using mostly analog 80's instruments, machines and effects.
An album about being in love with pure solitude, when STILL // Optimo Music are delighted to present the second full-length from The Golden Filter, "STILL // ALONE".
After relocating to London and playing shows around Europe for a year and a half, self-imposed pariahs Penelope Trappes and Stephen Hindman delved into creating a two-sided existential opus by renting out old studio spaces around the UK and using mostly analog 80's instruments, machines and effects.
An album about being in love with pure solitude, when STILL // ALONE is separated into two distinct sides, record one, STILL, is a hypnotic meditation for the nightclub. Wavy patterns of sound and light bounce off of Penelope's literary vocal bursts, layered over the ominous deep synths and arpeggiators, held together only by a strict 4/4 beat. The rhythm, ironically forcing the body to move, however internally focused and mindful, still.
Record two, ALONE, takes the club offline and into the fringes of raw, odd pop.

Ever-prominent drum machine beats rule, while love and loss permeate the four atmospheric goth songs. Music for dancing alone.
"Behind the cotton wool is hidden a pattern... the whole world is a work of art... there is no Shakespeare... no Beethoven... no God; we are the words; we are the music; we are the thing itself." - Virginia Woolf

A bit about the artist: Wahono, real name Harsya Wahono is an artist from Indonesia. He graduated from Berklee School of Music studying Jazz Performance. He had a brief stint in NYC working with the good people at Other Records before they unfortunately closed shop in 2016. He is now back in Indonesia where he runs the label Divisi62. This is his first release and we look forward to many more.

After a first collaboration focusing on the City of Angels, LA legend John Tejada and acid innovator Tin Man (Johannes Auvinen), this time brooding on the latter's home city, and former's birthplace, Vienna. The Austrian capital is known as "the city of music" and the "city of dreams," two broadly aligning concepts that go far in describing this beguiling 12-inch. The four songs were mixed down live to 2 tracks, created in the real world without a daw, or multi tracking, which has really captured the spirit of performance and improvisation. Succeeding "Railjet," a tense drum workout, comes "Bim," referring to the colorful trams that run through Vienna. Here, Auvinen sculpts his 303 into near-pizzicato form. The acid box is accompanied by stately pads making for one of the duo's most memorable tracks yet. The next cut, "Danube Nights," references the mighty, ancient river, the flow motion mirrored by a couple of widescreen acid lines. A pensive lead and some melancholy chords emerge, but the drums roll right along like the water- tough enough for a heaving floor with a hint of fragility for the headphones. The record concludes with the acidic "Prater Allee," named after idyllic, sprawling park on the banks of the Danube. The duo's love letter to Vienna is well-suited for travel, for the dance and for dreaming.

Jacob Long's newest recordings under the Earthen Sea moniker deepen his compelling synthesis of shadowy rhythms and opaque atmospherics, drawing on the most potent qualities of melancholic ambient and dub techno.

An Act Of Love' follows 2015's Ink,' released via Ital's Lovers Rock imprint,
and was inspired by internal tribulations and the experience of exploring an empty nocturnal metropolis. Careful waves of tones drift and decay, beats materialize and pulse across twilit landscapes, a noir mood reigns.

Given Long's background as bassist for revelatory tribal-punk trio Mi Ami, An Act Of Love' showcases a musician in the midst of transcendent redefinition, crafting an immersive language of texture and motion.

From Jacob Long:
This record was made over the course of the most emotionally difficult and stressful year in my life thus far. As such, it is both a reflection of that experience and also something that gave me space to begin working through issues to see a way forward, to a better place both psychically and physically.

An idea that was also central to my thoughts while creating the album was the concept and reality of being out in the city at night, wandering around a large urban area after dark - the contrast of empty streets but with life still going on all around, and the openness and possibilities that can bring. This music was an attempt to capture that feeling.

We welcome our very own Kessell to Pole Group Recordings, being a pivotal part of the Spanish techno scene with his project Exium with Hector Sandoval, he runs his label Granulart curating the repertoire with the best producers out there. Now is time for his debut as a solo artist with this four tracker, including three original tracks and a Reeko remix.

First cut is Cloned motions, a relentless number made of an obsessive sequence that runs over a percussive sea of sharp elements that grow in space with reverberated washes and a continuous arrangement. A mental exercise.

Chains of abstraction goes more bleepy, with a low filtered start that soon is filled with cosmic sinoidal sequences running all over the track while drums mutate and take turns to add an alien groove to the overal feel.

B side track one is for Reeko, remixing Sensorium, opaque kick drums, subtle sequences and white noise drones combine their movements in a dense exercise that fills every possible frequencies in the sound spectrum.

The original mix of Sensorium is based on bell like fm synth lines, lots of reverb, noise crescendos and an hypnotic groove below to keep things movable.

A precission work from the hands of a veteran expert producer.

Art, of any kind, encompasses the unique and distinctive output of its creator: an inimitable human being. It points to a blueprint map of who this creator is, encapsulates their experiences and somehow points to how they arrive at their creation(s). This blueprint, although lending glimmer into one life, connects deeply into an unfathomable amount of other lives - lending an expression and effect. With this in mind, we go on a journey with Dowinowe - the first solo artist release for the Gqom oh! label - on his debut "GQOM004" Dominowe is a 19 year old producer from the Newlands east township of Durban, South Africa who started out making music just for his friends. This release snapshots important themes in his evocative personal journey - expressed in his own very unique style. Releasing on Vinyl in 27th of January 2017, the EP, titled SiyaThakatha', showcases Dominowe's original style in the context of the Durban electronic music scene especially when paced beside Gqom and Sghubu. The listener gets a real sense of his complexity and the variety of styles Dominowe is capable of producing. "SiyaThakatha", the EP name, is translated _black_ _magic,_ or, _we witching - _ which is right at the heart of this release: that listening to these sounds invite you into the universe of an unseen world, putting you in touch with what can only described as invisible energy - a combination of the ideal, the intangible, the unattainable and the other-worldly whilst on journey with a 19year old from Durban whose music is composed of influence and innovation. It is about gqom working its magic on the dance floor for people to move - to the distinctive beats and cultural rhythms. It features four tracks - including one skit outro - as well as three tracks on digital download. The tracks were chosen specifically as a reflection of the variety of styles Dominowe produces and the originality of his productions.

Few artists have created a body of work as rich and varied as Prince. During the '80s, he emerged as one of the most singular talents of the rock & roll era, capable of seamlessly tying together pop, funk, folk, and rock. Not only did he release a series of ground breaking albums, he toured frequently, produced albums and wrote songs for many other artists, and recorded hundreds of songs that still lie unreleased in his vaults. With each album he released, Prince has shown remarkable stylistic growth and musical diversity, constantly experimenting with different sounds, textures, and genres. Occasionally, his music can be maddeningly inconsistent because of this eclecticism, but his experiments frequently succeed, no other contemporary artist can blend so many diverse styles into a cohesive whole.

There's a myth about music critics that says we are frustrated, wannabe performers. Evidence to the contrary: Vivien Goldman. Ever since she migrated from pitching editors on the little-known music of Robert Nesta Marley to becoming one of the foremost chroniclers of the perfect storm of reggae, punk, hiphop and Afro-Beat, the London-born, New York-based Goldman has made documenting music her primary life work. But between 1979-82, Goldman was also a working musician, creating songs that, years later, would be sampled by The Roots and Madlib. These rare girl grooves are now collected for the first time on Resolutionary, courtesy of Staubgold Records.

Resolutionary takes us through Vivien's first three musical formations: first as a member of experimental British New Wavers The Flying Lizards; next as a solo artist, with her single 'Launderette,' featuring postpunk luminaries; and then as half of the Parisian duo Chantage, with Afro-Parisian chanteuse Eve Blouin. Goldman's synthesis of post-colonial rhythms and experimental sounds are threaded together by her canary vocal tones and womanist themes. Her eclectic musical crew included PiL's John Lydon, Keith Levene and Bruce Smith; avant- gardists Steve Beresford and David Toop; The Raincoats' Vicky Aspinall; the mighty Robert Wyatt; Zaire's Jerry Malekani; Manu Dibango's guitarist; and Viv Albertine, then of her good friends, the Slits. The majority of the tracks were produced by dubmaster Adrian Sherwood, and Resolutionary channels the history of a time when the bon-vivant voice of music was in the air, and Vivien Goldman was its eyes, ears, and mouth.

Frans de Waard (born 1965) has been producing music since 1984. First as Kapotte Muziek (a group that fully concentrates on recycling through musique concrete), but throughout the years, he also worked as Beequeen (with Freek Kinkelaar), Goem (with Roel Meelkop & Peter Duimelinks), Zebra (with Roel Meelkop) and various solo projects. Frans de Waard also founded Korm Plastics, Bake Records, My Own Little Label and co-founded Audio.nl and Plinkity Plonk Records. He worked for Staalplaat from 1992 to 2003 and in 2016 published his auto-biography on that subject.

He performed concerts in Europe, UK, USA, Canada, Japan, Russia and also played improvised music with artists like Steven Wilson, Sindre Bjerga, Jos Smolders, Giuseppe Ielasi, Howard Stelzer, Radboud Mens and many others.

cream coloured vinyl, black poly-lined inner sleeve, heavy card outer sleeve, shrink-wrap and external sticker.

Following 2015's 'album of the year' The Habit of a Lifetime (And How To Kick It), ATIC Records is proud to present the next instalment in the AIM & QNC saga. The How It All Got Started Curt Cazal Remix EP boasts two instant classic re-workings from super-producer Curt Cazal (JVC Force, Strong Island), an all-new, Aim produced track, Lyrical Expert, and the all-important, DJ-friendly instrumentals. The EP is presented on delicious C.R.E.A.M. coloured 140g 12" vinyl with sleeve art by AFU.

Marc Antona has been always in the pursuit of new expressions within music as he has continually demonstrated with his work. Following the jazz-infused adventures of the Rattle Snaps EP, he finally returns to his own turf to lay down another crucial exploration of beat science. "Hanging Gardens" is a masterclass in immersive programming, fusing the natural feel of live drums with crisp electronic tones that hover in a spacious mix. It's the perfect angle at which to appreciate the subtlety of sound design that goes into every inch of Marc Antona's productions, teasing elements in and out of the mix so gracefully, it's hard to tell where the joints are. The haunting touches of chords and lingering pad are deployed with poise, the intricate percussion progressively rising and falling throughout to create a truly immersive sonic journey. Where the A side deals with angular rhythms and a shape-shifting atmosphere, "Unrestricted" takes the sound palette of organic and electronic elements and feeds them into a rolling, techno-minded focus. The tribal thrum of the beat fills out an 'in-the room-ambience' while the psychoactive synth flurries speak out the pulse of the machines. It's a combination that makes "Unrestricted" as intimate as it is exotic. In combining these disparate feelings within his tracks, Antona once again brings a human feel to the technology, pushing the music into exciting new realms in the process.

Bruno Patchworks' Hovart is one of the top producers of today's groove music scene. After playing as a bassist and guitarist for various bands, he started producing in the mid-nineties and has kept on mixing today's technologies with the raw spirits of House, Electronic, Disco, Funk, Soul, Reggae & Jazz music's golden years since then.

Following the trail of success left by his various projects as Patchworks, and under many aliases, he's proved his musical ubiquity and unexpectedly stroke in various genres. Many House music diggers would indeed remember that before Favorite Recordings was launched in 2006, Patchworks produced many deep-house tracks on various labels.

On this new EP, he's back as Mr President with 2 new banging titles brilliantly mixing House music atmosphere, with Soul and Disco vibes. He's also teaming up again with Sabba MG on vocals, following to their great Give My Love' efforts, released on EDR Records 3 years ago. As Going to a Go Go' is a fully exclusive work reminiscent of the early House music scene from New-Jersey or Chicago, the nice Disco flavors of Night Time' also come to announce Mr President's upcoming new album in 2017.

Translated from Spanish as 'The Shade', Chip Wickham's debut album La Sombra drops after a 25-year career touring, recording and experimenting across three decades of jazz, funk, soul, hip-hop, Latin and electronica. La Sombra is a monumental record for Chip as it symbolises the moment he stepped out into the light as a director of his creations with freedom to explore his roots, express and tell his version of jazz and pay testament to his heroes Roland Kirk, Yuseef Lateef & Harold McNair.

Now living in Dubai after an intense and productive six years in Madrid, it was Manchester where Chip studied in the late '80s and became enmeshed in the chaotic and thrilling music scenes emanating from one of the world's most culturally prominent cities of the time. Recording and generally 'keeping things real' with Manchester's hip-hop collective Grand Central Records, Rae & Christian, The Pharcyde, Fingathing, Nightmares on Wax, Graham Massey (808 State), Chip was in a city that was undergoing a music revolution with the Haçienda as its temple. Yet it was the headlights of the M62 motorway and not the strobe lights that were lighting Chip's path during his student years ('88-'92). The lure of the jazz and funk clubs of Leeds, where The New Mastersounds were breaking out and building the blocks that would lead them to UK funk royalty status, proved too strong.

In the 1990s Chip continued to refine his craft in the rainy city and the gigs booked were growing in stature. It wasn't long before he was on the road with Roy Ayers and Badly Drawn Boy. Around that time Chip met up with trumpeter Matthew Halsall that was the beginning of a friendship that lasts to this day. Chip was a recording artist on Matthew Halsall's breakout album Sending My Love and continues to work with him, with live dates confirmed in spring 2017. This close connection with Halsall gave rise to other collaborations, such as with Nat Birchall and Go Go Penguin's Rob Turner.

Three decades after his late night excursions to Leeds, Chip found himself recording with Eddie Roberts from The New Mastersounds in Madrid, as part of their new band, The Fire Eaters, which he'd formed soon after he moved to sunny Spain in 2007 - the same year he released the Fried Samba album under his moniker Malena, his electronic Latin band that became a hit at the turn of the century for Freestyle Records. During his time in Spain he connected with the local scene and brought together many of his musicians colleagues from the UK to Spain and it was for a local and well established label, Lovemonk, that he released two 45s blending raw funk and Latin. These new roads and musical leanings led to an invitation to play for the prestigious Craig Charles Fantasy Funk Band. Based on a poll from Craig Charles' top rated BBC6 radio show, Chip was chosen to play alongside the cream of the UK funk & soul scene: James Taylor (JTQ), Snowboy, The Haggis Horns (Mark Ronson), John Turrell (Smooth & Turrell), and Mick Talbot (The Style Council).

La Sombra takes an altogether more rooted direction than Chip's recent collaborative work, with the jazz of the late '60s and early '70s a dominating influence to the recordings. Comprising of seven tracks recorded in Madrid with musicians assembled by Chip from Madrid's jazz scene, it combines contemplative explorations akin to Yusef Lateef's early work on tracks like 'La Sombra' and 'Pushed Too Far'. There's a fiery cover of Camarón de la Isla's classic 'La Leyenda Del Tiempo' and tracks like 'Sling Shot' and 'Red Planet' are locked in a groove harking back to Freddie Hubbard's Blue Note era and Luv N Haight's Nathan Davis.