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Payfone bring a double header of NYC styled heat for the inaugural release on their newly launched Otis Recordings. Marrying modern boogie and classic R&B, with cosmic leanings and Balearic touches, Payfone manage to keep all the essence of the early days whilst bringing a contemporary swagger to the floor.

Each element in 'I Was In New York' gets the space it deserves. Palm muted guitars and sashaying synth echoes flutter over the top of a strutting slap bass courtesy of Giulio Granchelli. A simplicity that sings - simultaneously giving your mind the space it needs to drift off into a daydream of sunsets over cityscapes. Introspective, meditative and innocent, Dayna Talley's spoken word vocals lull listeners into memories of tranquil times. Set to be one of 2019's standout songs, its refreshingly original and sure to cut through the noise.

The B side, 'A Prayer For Maya Angelou' takes a Balearic boat out across calming seas. Gravitating around a metallic, pulsating synth, modulated to bounce at points and brood at others, mystic flurries drift in the distance, as pads wash across the horizon. Len Xiang's melancholic tale reverberates throughout, with those sweet sax sounds from Billy Brooks Paul and a spring reverbed guitar riffing off into the ocean - elevating this into pure paradise.

On Pedro Vian's second album, the now Amsterdam-based artist opens up a new sonic chapter of his life, running through depths of emotions and feelings, traversing moments of euphoria, fury, serenity, hope and love. Recorded between 2014 and 2018, the self titled LP opens with a melodic flourish, drops down through mournful vocal driven pieces and lands on fast moving synths across a set of 12 deeply personal tracks.

A follow up to Vian's 2016 acclaimed debut album 'Beautiful Things You Left Us For Memories' - supported by Pitchfork, RA, XLR8R, Ransom Note, The Quietus, NTS - this sophomore LP shows the breadth and maturity of Vian's sound, falling in between the cracks of downtempo electronica, ambient and post rock. Pedro discloses: 'I have tried to be sincere, transparent and pure. During the recording process I have avoided artificiality. I do not like the overproduction of music. I like to feel the naturalness and the essence of the beat of the instruments. I like to look inside until I find something real with which to communicate'.

'Pedro Vian' arrives on Vian's own Modern Obscure Music imprint, home to like-minded artists such as Jamal Moss, Gavin Russom, Tevo Howard, Ivy Barkakati, Eterna and Sau Poler. Vian initially cut his teeth in the Barcelona scene, first as part of the duo Aster with JMII on Hivern Discs and Jamal Moss' Mathematics then as a solo producer on his own Modern Obscure Music, MM Discos and Spring Theory.

Editorial venture to France for ED025 with four expertly edited, blissful gems from Parisian producer, Chevals.

The A side hits with two hazy cuts of sun drenched disco house. 'Left Behind' swells with filtered tales of lost love radiating a bittersweet warmth. Rich bass melodies and clipped funk guitars shine through as thoughts drift away across glistening seas. 'Eye Of Love' is served up next, equally as impassioned with buzzing synths, basking Spanish guitars and joy-filled chords and congas give a sense of desert islands where day-to-day life is only a figment of the imagination.

Flip it over and 'The Line' hits with a pumped up, soulful bassline that solos and sidewinds with brazen hats as its accomplice. Squelching keys and deft Rhodes touches add luscious harmonies to leave listeners lulled by its masterful flow.

Last up, 'Time' takes a pensive, eyes closed trip - delicate vocals, summery synth lines and glimmering samples washing away the worries as they wander over the airwaves.

Soundway Records present a special summer tribute double a-side 12" with two tracks from African musicians that both passed away within a couple of months of each other at the end of 2013 / start of 2014. Both tracks are perfect smooth summer tropical DJ fodder for the dancefloor.

On the first side South African singer Shaluza Max's massive Mashkandi / house anthem from 2002 gets a first release on vinyl. This track was a huge hit in South Africa and around the world on its release. With a soaring Zulu vocal and big sound it's a fitting reminder of a very talented musician who worked as a very well respected producer, composer and arranger who died tragically young at the age of 47 in January of 2014.

On the flip we drop a fairly unknown track from the mid 1980s from one of the biggest names in African music, Tabu Ley Rochereau. With a kind of almost balearic proto-house congolese pop cut with drum machines, and trademark sweet congo horn section, Hafi Deo is a beautiful track that fell into obscurity by perhaps being too smooth for the world music crowd in the mid 80s. Tabu Ley passed away in November 2013 in his late 70s with over 250 albums and 3000 songs to his name. A true pioneer of the congolese soukous sound, he was also one of the most influential African musicians of his generation.

Lowell Dunbar and Robert Shakespeare are the renowned Jamaican rhythm section that has worked with a range of international stars, including Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Joan Armatrading, Garland Jeffries and countless others. They first came to know each other in the early 1970s, when both were based in rival bands playing in clubs on Kingston's Red Hills Road and started working together at Channel One studio in the mid-1970s, when Sly was musical arranger for the Revolutionaries house band and Robbie the main bassist for Bunny Lee's Aggrovators. After a stint of international touring in Peter Tosh's Word, Sound and Power band, which exposed them to the tastes and markets of overseas audiences, the pair joined forces more concertedly with their Taxi label, producing hits with Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Sugar Minott and the Wailing Souls. At the same time, as the driving force behind the Compass Point All Stars, they brought Grace Jones to prominence worldwide and made Gwen Guthrie a star through reggaefied disco, and then brought Black Uhuru into the top spot in the wake of Bob Marley's passing. Then, when Jamaican music went digital with the 'Sleng Teng' craze of the mid-1980s, Sly and Robbie made the shift in that direction too, becoming among the most prominent producers as the 80s gave way to the 90s. Dubs For Tubs: A Tribute To King Tubby is a digital dub salute to the King issued shortly after his terrible murder; it is mostly comprised of synthesizer re-cuts of classic Jamaican rhythms, with 'Dub For Joy' being a tough re-working of the Heptones' 'Love Me Girl' and 'Dub To Make You Move And Groove' a take on their 'Party Time'; Dennis Brown's 'Here I Come' is here mutated to 'Dub For Roots People' and his 'Here I Come' anthem shifted into the spongy 'Dub For All Seasons.' An intriguing offshoot of 'Sleng Teng' is among the other highlights.

For the first release of 2019, the ever-consistent Play It Say It turns to an established producer who is launching an anonymous new alias. The music speaks of someone with a love of raw, analogue sounding house and techno with machine made soul.

First out of the blocks is the brilliant and adventuring 'Don't Believe The Hype'. Built around expertly programmed drums that remain restless throughout, it has dynamic synths and acid twitches, moments of serenity and chord-based optimism all stitched in along the way. It's the sort of expansive, cinematic track that envelops the whole club and oozes class and production know how.

On the flip, 'One Night Forever' is a totally different but equally unique proposition: it has fizzing synth lines bringing a dystopian feel to dark bass and razor sharp hi hats. Broken drums amp up the energy levels, and the warped synths pump the party. This is a busy, urgent cut of fantastically realised future music that brings plenty of freshness to the dance floor.

Whoever this artist is, they have a genuinely unique perspective and more than enough skills to realise their bold and brave new ideas.

Rich NxT's 'The Brigade' EP was a 2018 cross over highlight. Thematically linked to its predecessor, 'Hard To Be' stands as the unofficial follow up.

Rich's last outing for the influential imprint was large by any standards, spreading far beyond the FUSE dancefloors finding support from many places. Led by EP track 'Serious', which was heralded as one of the tunes of 2018 by Mixmag in their mid-year review, it got love from Seth Troxler and the Martinez Brothers at Circoloco, alongside heavy rinsing of 'Brigade' and 'Eight' by all the FUSE residents.

The 'Hard To Be' EP comes as another on-point three-track work from Rich that channels the same versatile spirit. 'Wah' is an uplifting slice of original house, mirroring the accessibility and fun of 'Serious' with a catchy riff that runs throughout. The track created an enormous buzz on the IOM group with hundreds of comments and I.D requests pouring in throughout the year, and soundtracked parties everywhere from Fuse's raves at Studio 338 terrace in London, Sonus festival and The Martinez Brother's Cuttin' Headz at ADE. 'Interrobang' is head-nodding brilliance as twisted bass and sampled attitude characterise the seven-minute peak time banger. 'On The Rocks' rounds out the EP as punchy kicks and buttery smooth bass mark this work of grooving minimalism, echoing the spirit of Fuse029's 'Eight'.

And so closes this chapter of Rich's impressive body of work. In the process it's proved what we already knew all along; his knack for providing fail-safe dancefloor ammunition for the Fuse faithful and beyond, remains as strong as ever.

Enigmatic Berlin label MASK return in 2019 with a vinyl only release consisting of four eccentric cuts entitled 'Hunter'. The mysterious German label maintains its reputation of providing quality, esoteric music by anonymous artists with a focus on analogue sound design and modulated oddities. 'Hunter' is the result of the first take of a live recording coming from a duo who have been playing together for over a decade. The A1 kicks off with lo-fi drum programming, emphatic leads and stabbing bass shoots before the A2 throws down sharp 303 bleeps, angelic pads and resonating kicks creating a euphoric ambience throughout. On the flip uplifting synth work, shuffling percussion and crunchy oscillations take the focus until chugged out experimentation becomes ever present in the final track as it harmoniously balances sweeping elements, growling tones and sonic obscurities.

'Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited' is
Mercury Rev's committed and affectionate
resurrection of an album that anticipated by three
decades their own pivotal expedition through
transcendental America, 1998's 'Deserter's Songs'.
From their recording lair in New York's Catskill
Mountains, the founding core of Jonathan
Donahue and Grasshopper with Jesse Chandler
(previously in the Texas group Midlake) honour
Gentry's foresight and creative triumph with
spacious invention and hallucinatory flair.
Gentry's stories and original resolve are brought to
new vocal life and empowerment by a vocal cast
from across modern rock and its alternative paths:
among them, Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval; Laetitia
Sadier, formerly of Stereolab; Marissa Nadler;
Margo Price, the fiery new country star with a
punk rock heart; and Norway's Susanne Sundfør,
who cuts through 'Tobacco Road' with arctic-Nico
poise. Phoebe Bridgers, whose first record was a
softly stunning 2015 single for Ryan Adams' PAX
AM label, hovers through the acid-western
suspense of Gentry's 'Jessye Lisabeth' with floating
calm, like a comforting angel.

As a first listen it was 2 am, 46° in a village Portugal, in a Convent, after a good night out. That moment stroke me from being magic, the energy was perfect, we were laughing and relaxing amongst friends. That listen was pushing the magic further because of the surprises it has all along the journey. A first groaning A simple rhythm Soft realms Noisy Round sounds Type machine sounds, of a sampled hi hat that never reveals, cut cut cut cut. Just because it's fun to not reveal it. And put that fist cut part of the upcoming timber that is not 'yet' one. It's like if the drum pack was used the wrong way, which is a great way. Flipping. (=to flip something) Belp has this ability to bring the most horrible samples in front, and turn over your mind to enjoy what first sounds like 'horrible'. Facade. 'Crocodile' is flipping it over. Rhythmically vibrating, ears are wide open, full attention. I'm into the non-repetition. Track 'Crocodile's call reminds me of the call in 'Klabb' by Deena Abdelwahed as well as within its playful change of tempo, of notes. Who cares The album is like a randomly composed pack. It is not random. It's flipping something, and I like that disturbance, it's what I want to hear. It is alive, through composition, arrangements, falsely randomised, non-arranged, it is a trick; it is the drunk clown playing 'endless preparations for a ceremony' and 'catch'. Not bothering about anything reveals a deep understanding of music and of arts, a crafted album in details. It is years of listening, it is years of challenging ones ears, and putting it all together in this piece.

Fresh off their latest VA, The Press Group hand the reins over to up-and-coming Ukrainian producer Sasha Zlykh, here delivering his debut 12" effort. Clocking in with a quartet of club-oriented weapons and off-road house-y pumpers that shall bring dancefloors to a slow but steady simmer, the Kyiv-based producer blends in an avalanche of breaks-strewn rhythms, bleepy melodies and reshuffled UK bass patterns to create his own distinctive hybrids, halfway straight dance functionality and non-formulaic experimentality.

As playful in essence as it is serious in its execution, 'Lie To Your Mom' EP starts off with the title-cut, which works a wonky swagger that proves all the more infectious as bars fly by. Engineering a finely-woven mix of off-kilter drum programming, raucous analogue belches and volatile harp stabs distorted to the max, the track's shadowy intro is eventually offset by overlapping tides of luminous pads, released as one lets the light break through a vampire den. 'RnB Ritual' follows up close in the vein, meshing a brooding late-night-ish atmosphere with playful percussive mechs and sustained rhythmic accidents.

Flip sides and you'll be treated to a choice pair of remixes from in-house groove traders Rupert Marnie and Youthman. First in line, Marnie turns 'Lie To Your Mum' into a straight jacking and shuffling Chicagoan chugger. Going deeper into soulful terrains and lavishly-textured expanses, TPG's main operator exploits the whole melodic potential of Zlykh's original, bringing its anthemic power to further completion beautifully. More on the dubby end of things, Youthman adds his uniquely vibey touch to the main cut, deftly navigating betwixt a classic deep house kinda vibe, post-rave'y electronics and a Basic Channel-esque sound spectrum, which all in all should have people instinctively clapping their hands as their mind begins to sink into a weirdly introspective sense of euphoria.

FSL007 drops from Corkwegian, Berlin-based producer and dj Ellen King AKA ELLLL.
ELLLL has always brought a different cut to bass ans techno music and with Febreeze it sets out into the further realms of breaks, jungle and euphoric rhythms alongside a bass driven tech-house uk funky joint from College Driver G.E.O. Corp.

Febreeze keeps my house clean, I even like the advert where someone is absolutely chuffed getting their nose into a carpet or there old dirty shoes cause basically febreeze had sorted
it all out. Febreeze after this has new meaning to me now. Its that large sound break coming into a sweaty basement club, its the euphoric sounds being supplied to a Sunrise before
deciding to go to bed or stay up.
This is the image ELLLL brings to mind when I listen to the two mixes of her fresh sounding cuts from her latest creation Febreeze.

To kick off 2019 Haven are setting their sights on the farthest reaches of the resurgence in EBM. New Zealand based hardware warrior Body Beat Ritual grew up in the UK exposed to the body music of the 80s and 90s and his experiments in industrial-tinged dance tracks inspired by the likes of Front Line Assembly, Ministry, Subpoena The Past, Nitzer Ebb, and Revolting Cocks were made in complete isolation from, and with no awareness of, the EBM resurgence in Europe's clubland.

This EP represents the first of Body Beat Rituals explorations into this sound. The A1 starts the EP with 'Instinct Primitive' - a certified body moving slammer featuring haunting screams, samples ruminating schizophrenia, a funky bass-line and drum rolls aplenty. The A2 welcomes Poland's VTSS to Haven for the first time with a bouncy gabber kick and distorted tones on her tough remix of 'Instinct Primitive'. The B1 begins the flip with the hectic drum workout, cutting bass and synth programming and political samples of 'Crash Report', followed by the destructive drums and scratchy timbre of Blush Response's remix on the B2. Not one to be missed for fans of dance-floor focused, gnarled industrial techno and EBM!

This project is conceptually based around George Orwell's classic novel, 1984, backed with a remix from Perlon trio Wareika.
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The original mix of 'Thought Crime' opens the package with murky atmospheric textures, skippy hat patterns and shuffled organic drums grooves driving the composition before the focal stages see the introduction of eerie piano chords, spoken word vocal samples and acid tinged bass which ebbs and flows within the depths. 'No Fear' follows next, laying focus on a bumpy drum groove, modulating synth swells, ethereal tension building pads and a snaking sub bass groove to create a dynamically unfolding, hypnotic cut.

Perlon's Wareika step up to rework 'Thought Crime' opens the flip-side, as always from this trio shining light on chuggy bass grooves and jazz tinged ever-unfolding drums whilst stirring in the original's eerie voices and choppy pianos to create a frenzied, dynamic feel throughout. 'Since 1984' next to round out the release, an interlude of sorts featuring a bubbling arpeggio, dreamy piano melodies and an amalgamation of swirling, dubbed out echoes spiralling amongst muted kicks.

Released on CD by Aurora Borealis back in 2010, we're overjoyed to finally see this on vinyl.
- limited edition of 300 copies - 180g black vinyl - reverse board heavyweight sleeve - includes download code and printed insert - mastered for vinyl by James Plotkin - cut at The Carvery, London
An ode to the Lovecraftian lore of Shub Niggurath, 'Black Goat of the Woods' was conceived as "the soundtrack from some lost low budget horror movie, rediscovered on an old and faded VHS cassette found mouldering in a deserted house in the depths of the woods".
The one man project of J.R Moore, Black Mountain Transmitter has released several albums, all to great critical acclaim, and the quality of his work speaks volumes. The original AB 'Black Goat of The Woods' CD version was the first official release and a reissue of the long sold out and much sought after limited CDr.
On describing the recording, Moore said: "The music was certainly very much influenced by that certain breed of 70s horror films. Things like the soundtrack to the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", Giuliano Sorgini's atmospheres in "Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue"; Carl Zittrer's soundscapes in "Deranged", "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things" and "Dead Of Night", and of course people like Fabio Frizzi in Italian horror and the BBCs Radiophonic Workshop's electronic sounds in something like "The Stone Tape" and countless creepy old TV productions..."
An excellent, macabre and psychedelic release that spans electronica, soundtracks and experimental genres in its 40 minute playing time, 'Black Goat of the Woods' pays perfect homage to the dark denizen of the nocturnal glades, and is a true paean to backwoods horror.

* Walton kicks off 2019 for Tectonic with 4 cuts of pirate radio infused dancefloor orientated DJ tools. 'Inside EP' follows on from Walton's exceptional 'Black Lotus' LP, which dropped on Tectonic last summer, gaining widespread acclaim - even rated as The Guardian's 'Contemporay Album Of The Month'!

* What we have here is 4 tracks that all sit around the 130bpm mark, providing grime sonics to a techno compatible form. Built for those who don't really give a f**k if you call it techno, grime or bass blah blah so long as it bangs in the dance and moves those feet.

* Sampling snippets of MC's chatting between tracks, each track takes a mostly functional approach, building raw elements in a simple but effective fashion. 'Bullet #2' sets the scene, kicking off with a radio style wheel up - before dropping into rolling 4/4 square wave power moves. 'Inside' follows the mood, building towards a more rolling technoid construct. 'More Cowbell' bangs out like an old 4/4 grime anthem with a contemporary production sonic, while 'Gunshot Clap'
closes out the EP, with its swooping square wave stabs and background shouts from behind the mic.

Left Ear are issuing two previously unreleased Full-Length versions of Space Farm's mid 90's Egyptian inspired tracks. Both, 'The Dawn of Birds' and 'Camels in Desert Air' were initially cut short to allow for additional remixes on the original release. For their 2019 issue, Left Ear have decided to focus only on these downtempo original songs allowing the heavy percussion and synth workouts to shine through on a loud 45RPM press.

Space Farm is the story of three friends Darrin, Bill and Waleed their love for 80's NY culture, Egyptian music and a cross continental business plan that never materialised. Darrin and Bill grew up in North New Jersey only a few miles from NY city and met while studying in '90. Bill spent his formative years listening to the emerging sounds of 80's left-leaning New York radio stations, while Darrin immersed himself in the DJ and B-Boy culture. Fast-forward to '94 and the two found themselves living in Boulder, Colorado. By this time the tag-team had started producing music and would look to their NJ roots for a group name, deciding on the title 'Space Farm' after a kooky local petting farm they often cracked jokes about. Armed with an open mind and a bunch of old studio gear the duo began producing music inspired by 80's NY, however after a budding friendship began with Egyptian native Waleed they were inspired to start experimenting with Egyptian and Arabic sounds. After hearing their output Waleed pushed for the release of an Egyptian inspired record saying 'it would sell like crazy in Egypt', that 'he would bring it back to Egypt on his next visit and get it to all the right people that need to hear it'. The record got done but, due to circumstances beyond their control it never made it over to Egypt. The duo performed live a few times in Boulder before finally returning to NJ. Darrin recalls playing their final party in Boulder in which the Space Farm record was played from start to finish, 'Some joker ran up to us while we were playing and kept signalling to up the tempo we were like F Off! raver boy'.

The first part of various artists samplers featuring numerous gems from the Big Shot archives.

From the vaults of seminal Canadian house label Big Shot we're proud to present a fully legitimate and remastered selection of classics and obscurities from the labels enviable catalogue and the masterful crew of Nick Fiorucci, Komix & co. Leaning on the late 80's and early 90's output of the label and featuring cuts from some of the first releases. Amy Jackson, whose sultry 1989 jam 'Let Me Loose' is a class example of the deepest vocal House done right kicks off proceedings, followed by Jillian Mendez's classic 'Don't Know What You're Missing', another '89 vocal burner punctuated by classic piano's and synth lines. These tracks are the real deal! On the b-side we are treated to In-Dex's classic 'Give Me A Sign', a perfect blend of Freestyle attitude and early House atmosphere that hits the spot just right. Finishing this essential collection of tracks is Dionne's tough and classy 'Come Get My Lovin', another classic Komix production that rolls nice with stepping drum machines and smooth organ riffs. All in all - this EP is an old school House heads dream right here, essential cuts from end to end.

Keep an eye out for more high quality Big Shot reissues, all remastered from the original source materials and with the full involvement of the rights holders. A collaboration between Above Board distribution and Big Shot records, Canada. Remastered by Optimum Mastering, Bristol UK. 2018.

For Fans Of... Durand Jones, Leon Bridges, Otis Redding, Al Green, Son Little.. Limited Honey Yellow Vinyl orders are for Indie stores only, stock is very limited and orders may well be cut. Fresh, sweet soul from Akron's Wesley Bright & The Honeytones. After going through some changes in both personnel and sound, Wesley and the guys have found their groove. This tune represents a new direction for the band, produced by Colemine Records' in-house producer Leroi Conroy at their Loveland, OH studio, these tunes are rough and tough, yet super sweet as well. Maybe that because lead singer Wesley Bright is also a beekeeper. That's right. He's a sweet soul singer that makes honey. You can't make that up.

* 180g Vinyl cut at D&M including CD and DOWNLOAD CODE! *

** played by Steve Barker, BBC Radio Lancashire, ON THE WIRE, 1.12.2018 **

*** interview and exclusive mix etc radio, WNUR FM, Chicago, 4.1.2019 ***

** interview & airplay of the whole album @ OE1, ORF - Zeitton Extended 3rd of february 2019 **

In his latest composition, DOLOMITE DUB, the Vienna-based South Tyrolean sound artist Ulrich Troyer presents his perceptions of a several-day high alpine hike across the Dolomites transformed into a soundscape.

The more than 40 minute track DOLOMITE DUB leads the listeners through this landscape of heights transgressing different moods - in which autobiographical memories flash up as well.

Subsequently to the experimental dub trilogySongs for Williamand the EPDeadlock Versions, a cooperation with Vin Gordon and Didi Kern, DOLOMITE DUB features besides Didi Kern on drums & percussion, Susanna Gartmayer on contra-alto clarinet and Juergen Berlakovich on bass, both long-time ensemble members of the joint project "The Vegetable Orchestra".