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Faitiche releases the album Improvisations And Edits, Tokyo 26.09.2001 on vinyl for the first time. For the original 2002 CD on Soup-Disk and Sub Rosa (Audiosphere), Jan Jelinek and the Japanese trio Computer Soup (Satoru Hori - trumpet, Osamu Okubo - toys & electronics, Kei Ikeda - toys & electronics) presented eight tracks all recorded one afternoon in the trio's living room in Tokyo. They are excerpts from a joint group improvisation that subsequently underwent rudimentary editing, on which Jelinek and Computer Soup worked separately.

Jelinek met the three musicians at his first concert in Japan in 2001, at Tokyo's Yellow club, where Computer Soup performed as the support act. Delighted by their free improvisation on pocket-sized electronic toys, trumpet and oscillators, he arranged to meet Hori, Okubo and Ikeda a few days later for a session at their apartment. The resulting three-hour recording, made on their living room floor, formed the basis for Improvisations and Edits. A few days later, Jelinek returned to Berlin. Over the following months, they separately chose passages from the recording that were then edited and assembled into an album.

Formed in Tokyo in 1996 as a quintet (including Shusaku Hariya and Daisuke Oishi), Computer Soup began by performing with acoustic instruments on the streets of Shibuya. Ikeda und Okubo soon switched instruments, and from then on the group's minimalistic but densely woven sound was defined by electronic toys, oscillators and Satoru Hori's trumpet. Their first album was released in 1997 on the Japanese label Soup Disk. Eight further releases followed.

From the reviews of Improvisations and Edits, Tokyo 26.09.2001 in 2003:

"The mind-blowing first track Straight Life is perhaps the best example of what the album has to offer. Jelinek's trademark smears and washes occupy the midrange, like ghosted images of Joe Zawinul's electric piano floating quietly in the wind. DSP jazz modes are set against a walking bassline (possibly computer generated) and a gently tooted trumpet complete with Harmon mute, a dead ringer for Miles Davis' Prestige-era ballads. The effect is something like a three-dimensional film, with different realities on each layer, images of what jazz was manage to interact with a real-time demonstration of all it could be."
pitchfork, 2003

"Improvisations and Edits is a warm and mellow Ambient release with beautiful glitch fragments, static noise bursts and real trumpet intersections. However, there are times where it is the exact opposite, mainly effect-laden, overdriven and bouncy with a lack of melodies and focus, so be aware of these specific tracks."
ambientexotica, 2003

"Often deliciously dreamy and hazy, Improvisations and Edits is like listening to an exceptional instrumental jazz performance while half-conscious or under some sort of chemical influence. Computerised blips and bleeps, loops and treatments and murky sonic skips curl up around desolate horn notes and scattered instrumental noises that culminate in elegant music."
exclaim.ca, 2003

Glyn Bigga Bush has been producing electronic and sample-based music since the early 90s when he formed Rockers Hi Fi, going on to release numerous albums. Since the turn of the century he has produced and DJ'd as BiggaBush as well as various side projects such as Lightning Head (Sonar Kollektiv), the Dandelion Set (Buried Treasure) and the Magic Drum Orchestral (Tru Thoughts).

Bigga's latest project 'Sunken Foal Stories' represents a departure from much of his other work in that it is not primarily based on beats. Instead, his working method was to go with fascinating samples, accidental juxtapositions and irregular loops - inspired by pioneers of sound such as Faust and the audio experiments of Julian House as well as early stereo test records, soundtracks and library music.

The 21 concise tracks of Sunken Foal Stories link into two 15 minute segments on the LP. Bush explores the random elements created by overlaying disparate samples, where chimes of baroque psychedelia clash with ascending classical strings, or a haunting Eastern European folk song is looped into an eternal cadence of longing. Various voices float over the speakers, lost poets, disturbing therapists, dreaming vampires, chuckling cabaret singers. Sourced almost entirely from charity shops and carboot sales, the source material speaks of a forgotten yet relatively recent period, when stereo was something new and exciting, when home entertainment first came into its own and suburban homes thrilled to the exotic sounds of home organs, primitive beatboxes, LPs bought in unusual holiday destinations and 'glamorous' soundtracks.

It's a pleasure to get behind your friends from around world, in fact that's the motive behind the breadth of the ESP Institute catalogue, but its truly a special feeling to represent your friends and your neighborhood at the same time. Producers Sonns (Alexandre Mouracade) and the mysterious Venice Beach native Tavish Graham are both long time friends of the ESP Institute family, we break bread, we take care of each other, and we cherish our collaborations more than anything, but we're also neighbors. That said, ESP is proud to announce a homegrown endeavor, the debut of Sonns & Tavish. The two have long been stewards of the Los Angeles underground, but after loads of early morning banter and the camaraderie that comes with this smoke'n'strobe life, they've now committed their singular vision to print—two epic cuts that make us proud. Side A's title track Trycksaker is a thumper, a mid-tempo big-drum-laden beast that chugs the whole way through carrying an array of eerie bleeps and fleeting sighs. Side B's Roguish Days pulls together influences from various corners of the pair's DJ repertoire, gelling a wicked breakbeat with a wormy acid bassline and even more exotic sighs, something that might possibly grow into a signature of sorts. This release is ready just in time for the Spring/Summer exploits, and we couldn't be more proud to finally enjoy hearing these heavy-hitters in the club. Tip!

Experimental industrial Bass music. Something unexpected and sometime techno, really worked-out on the sound quality. Meeting of noise a,nd mechaniks. Crazy stuff is so important in our life...

Her Majesty's Ship is proud to present 'This Never Happened', the latest album from hugely talented French-American singer and producer Yan Wagner.

This always inventive and off kilter artist has had many top releases on labels like Kitsune and has worked with the likes of the legendary Arnaud Rebotini and Etienne Daho. He also has a side project, The Populists, is producing the first album of Calypso Valois and wrote the soundtrack for the short film 'Victoria' by Mathilde Marc. Someone who plays events like SXSW and Montreux Jazz Festival, Wagner's playful disco-pop tunes always find their way into the emotions of those who hear them.

For his second album, the artist wondered what to do: surprise everyone with a selection of ballads or serve up the electronic sounds that defined his last effort Forty Eight Hours. The answer lies somewhere in between, with covers of Frank Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood mixed in with fresh and catchy disco production. Unlike the last record produced by Arnaud Rebotini, this record is producer by Yan himself with a triple objective: to favour the first takes, the heat of the sound and to reduce the post- production to a minimum. It makes for something authentic and real, and is an album of artistic self-questioning, tenacious dreaming and overcoming doubt.

Says the artist, "The songs on this record are a series of lies; views of the mind. 'This Never Happened' is a collection of stories that never happened. Ten tracks talking of vain loves, of nocturnal experiences and of life and truth, which are all so short.'

Starting with the retro synths and shiny arpeggios of the title track, ensuing cuts like 'Blacker' are real chuggers with almost de-humanised vocals over the robot beats. 'SlamDunk Cha-Cha' is descended from Bowie with its camp synth wiggles and sung- spoken vocals. Switching up the tempo, slower tracks like 'Grenades' are perfectly glowing and frazzled with their pixelated melodies and cold chords. More upbeat affairs like 'No Love' are like lighter and cheerier versions of Depeche Mode, and the Sinatra cover 'It Was A Very Good Year' is a stirring, synth heavy version that is every bit as tender as the original.

This is a fantastic album of timeless electronic songs and is sure to be one of the standout releases of the year.

Following the completely sold out 'Imagine - A - Nation' and 'Le Fusion' reissues, Anotherday brings you a very special release from the vault of the enigma that is Spencer Kincy, AKA Gemini - we are very proud, and extremely excited to present Gemini's first 4 releases, lovingly re-mastered and packaged together in a very limited box set!

Originally released on Relief Records; the Chicago techno label headed up by Cajmere, these releases were Gemini's introduction into the worlds of house and techno, and contain some of his most vital works.

As one of Chicago's most mysterious and revered characters, the story of Gemini, aka Spencer Kincy has become something of a myth in recent years - blazing a trail throughout the 90's, prolifically releasing over 200 tracks from 1994 to 1999, Spencer's music had shades innovation and soul few of his peers could match. Then, suddenly, at the peak of his career, he disappeared.

As before, this album has been licensed directly from the man himself, and the money made from its exploitation will go directly to him.

This box set is limited to 500 UNITS ONLY - the last Gemini reissues sold out 4 x that amount in weeks, so put in your pre orders before they're gone forever.

Optimo Music is thrilled to release the new album from Jacob Yates. Not only is he one of our all-time favourite artists from Glasgow, but he is one of our favourite artists from anywhere. Criminally unknown except to a few who have been long transfixed by his recordings and performances, we hope this release will open a few more ears to his wondrous musical world.

The Hare, The Moon, The Drone' is the third album from Jacob Yates. This recording finds the band exploring dark hawthorn hedged lanes, moors and suburban, new build estates. There's something more earthy about the songs but the menace and darkness remains. Musically there is a big shift on this album, a field recording of a folk band from a dark, pine filled glen. The opener, The Car sets the scene for the rural side of the album, dank and stone cold. The tracks then shift through the woods, people turn into animals, we pass a sunlit glade, do you hear a love song Cassie Ezeji closes the side sweetly lamenting in Gaelic as the snow falls.

Side two is a more urban affair opening with despair in a bedroom in Belgium, we visit a faith healer and drop in on your lonely mother. Lovatt recounts the story of a karaoke addicted murderer before we finally go home to our new build just outside of town where the pylons tower over Michael and his sister Rachel. It's a journey you can go on, looking out of the window of the bus, glimpses of lives glide by, cards on seats promise to help you. Ding! It's time to get off.

As the buzz surrounding her latest single 'You Gotta Be' continues to spread, UK soul artist, Soulful Emma Louise - S.E.L - celebrates with a vinyl release of this flanked by her new single 'The Sweetest Pain' on the much celebrated Record Store Day on Saturday April 21st 2018.

Having recently featured on TalkRadio's, BadAss Women's Hour with a wonderful accapella and interview, Soulful Emma Louise's cover of Des'ree's wonderfully uplifting song 'You Gotta Be' resonates with authentic old skool hip hop and 90's soul characteristics and is a must for vinyl lovers everywhere.

Making the vinyl release even more special is the flipside's beautiful new recreated version of Dexter Wansel's classic 'The Sweetest Pain', S.E.L's forthcoming new single, which updates the expansive soulful musical message for today's dance floors. Produced by Quantize Record's own Gary Hudgins, this S.E.L double header marks another milestone in S.E.L's on going journey with her first vinyl release.

'Record Store Day' is something really special and I'm so excited to be part of it with the new release. It;s always an amazing day as you connect with fellow music lovers and friends as well as getting the chance to pick up some of the most collectable and distinguished vinyl releases' S.E.L

"The kind of melancholia I'm talking about, by contrast, consists not in giving up on desire, but in refusing to yield. It consists, that is to say, in a refusal to adjust to what current conditions call 'reality' - even if the cost of that refusal is that you feel like an outcast in your own time." (Mark Fisher, Ghosts Of My Life, Zero Books 2014, p. 24) In Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures', the author Mark Fisher outlines - to put it in a big way - a resistant melancholy. This stands in contrast to leftist melancholy resignation', as well as something which Fisher does not talk about: its common masculine counterpart, habitual post-left cynicism - as in seen it all before'. Fisher calls this hauntological melancholy. Haunting, spooks, ghosts and apparitions are an almost constant presence on I Started Wearing Black', the second album by the Cologne-based artist Sonae (pronounced so-nah'). The term hauntology shares a fate with retro-futurism when it comes to inflationary overuse and abuse. It's a conceptual container that looks good and can hold a lot, indeed, too much. Furthermore, hauntology has its peak season behind it, a term on the threshold of its expiration date. Nevertheless, I would like to rehabilitate hauntology and use it properly to characterize I Started Wearing Black', because the term is rarely as compelling to describe music as is the case here. The most recent other example could be Asiatisch' by Fatma Al Qadiri, but with a completely different frame of reference. What are the ghosts of this music It rustles, crackles, ruffles, crunches, rattles, scrapes, sometimes a beat emerges from the constant noise, sometimes an obscure voice mumbles incomprehensibly, sometimes a melancholy piano figure is prevented by this noise from coming too much to the foreground. It definitely is eerie - to bring into play another term used by Fisher in the title of his latest book, The Weird and the Eerie'. In British pop-jargon, eerie first occurred to me more often when referring to particularly leftfield, spooky and... well... ghostly dub, a bass-heavy, echoing noise, from Augustus Pablo to Creation Rebel to Burial. Unlike the Wald & Wagner records by Wolfgang Voigt, Sonae is not a kind of neo-romantic veiling with a tendency for escapist nebula. It is more a noise of latency. The noise signals a latent - not necessarily acute - threat, a latent uneasiness about... yes... about what About a System Immanent Value Defect' That's the name of a track on I Started Wearing Black' where something that sounds like a French Horn (or a foghorn) battles for attention through or against the background noise. An email from Sonae: The piece 'System Immanent Value Defect' should actually be called 'I See Turkey'. I wrote it for my fellow student Elif - she is a pianist and Gezi Park activist from Istanbul. Through her I witnessed the inner conflict and agitation that political circumstances can create: her feelings of guilt when there was an attack, with her safe in Germany as a student, watching the events from afar. It was horrible. When her mother begged her not to come home because she feared for her safety, I felt a cold shiver run down my spine. I started with the piece from this mood, beginning with the piano, then the noise (modulated sinusoidal curves), which reminded me of waves and the then heatedly discussed Mediterranean sea: atmospheric, melancholy motifs. In contrast is the anger, the pressure, represented in corresponding sounds - hopefully audible! - During this time I started to think about world views as they can be found around the globe, in how far they held by societies and their political representation. I realized that I know of no political system that is actually about the people and what would do them good. It's always about positions, power, money. I thought that was a lot more frightening on a global scale than merely viewing Turkey in isolation. That's why the piece is called "System Immanent Value Defect", because our world suffers from precisely that. Everywhere, it's all about the wrong things.' Between the wrong things there are happy moments. In the title track, after 184 seconds of rattling and hissing, a beat is unleashed, like an arrow released from a spanned bow, a beatific relief, if there is such a thing. White Trash Rouge Noir' first meanders along spookily, then after 144 seconds it transforms itself into a distant cousin of Einstu¨rzende Neubauten's Yu¨ Gung', but there is no Big Male Ego to be fed here, and the black in the album title is a completely different type of black from that of the Neubauten. Furthermore, I Started Wearing Black' was finished long before the black dresses were worn at the Golden Globes as a sign of protest against sexual violence. Sonae writes that she herself started wearing black some time ago. Her reasons are so-called personal ones: ... resulting from an individual situation (lovesickness), I started to wear black (gaining weight and feeling ugly).' The political dimension of gaining weight, feeling ugly and therefore dressing in black in I Started Wearing Black' lurks within the noise and never becomes explicit and only rarely manifest - or a manifesto. Sonae writes about the track We Are Here': A piece for minorities... in this case, considering the current pop-feminist discourse, explicitly for women. Female artists have long been saying loud and clear that 'we are here' and 'electronic music is not a boys club!' But this pop-feminist moment should only be seen as one part of the dedication of the piece. It is for minorities, for the oppressed, who didn't belong enough.'

Klaus Walter

7"
*Something fresh out of the Echobus stable in Dublin, Ireland with a tune with a solid
80's vibe using a Casio MT-40 and a Yamaha CS-01 but with a slight nod towards Basic
Channel / Rhythm and Sound.
* Vocals controlled by Lariman, longtime sound system mic man.
* Flip over for a minimalist dub wise excursion from Dan Taliras.

2018 marks our first step into album territory, releasing the sophomore album 'High life' of Heist's very own Detroit Swindle, to be released end of May. This single features the album cut 'Flavourism' with vocals from Seven Davis Jr. Here, the single is presented with remixes by the amazing Pépé Bradock and Boston-to-NYC house duo John Barera & Will Martin.
Flavourism is as much a throwback track to classic Detroit Swindle territory, as it is a look into their contemporary view on soulful deep house. The vibe is set by Seven Davis Jr.'s distinctive vocals, accompanied by warm 'side-chained' pads and a rubbery live synth-bassline. Fans of 'The Wrap Around' will definitely feel a nod to that 2012 classic with those Prophet pads. If you've seen their live performance with Seven Davis Jr. during Dour festival in 2015 or heard their remix for SDJ's track 'Friends' on Classic Music Company, you might already anticipate a collaboration that works like a charm.
When deciding on a remixer for this project, the boys wanted to do something special. Ask someone special. And so it happened that they asked Pépé Bradock: someone who stood at the root of European house music and has pioneered in the genre, carefully curating his own style into something that surpasses genres. Here, he delivers both a stunning and deep interpretation of the original, with added harmonies, a touch of lo-fi and his own signature electronics. On top comes the 'acapella', stripped from all percussion and leaving the vocal and all of Pépé's lovely weirdness.
The single further features US house duo John Barera & Will Martin, who have already released some amazing music on Dolly, or John's own ' Supply records'. Not surprisingly, they deliver a great clubby house cut with some Chicago flavour, dubbing and out the vocal to a basic mantra: 'I'll always keep'.
Keep an eye out for High Life out soon with more collaborations. For now, please enjoy Flavourism.
Best Regards,
Heist Recordings.

Musique Pour La Danse takes a short break from reissuing rare and essential music to bring you a selection of four new and exclusive tracks from the French underground entitled Equipe de Danse. Curated by label co-manager Ed Isar, a DJ and promoter active in the Paris underground since more than a decade, this EP brings together different producers and styles, highlighting the diversity and the creativity currently flowing through the French scene and providing DJs and ravers with quality tunes to work with and dance to.

Automat - Disco Trax
Everyone has a story about how one electronic music experience changed their lives forever, for Ed it was seeing Automat live in Paris in 2006 when he was 18. Automat's Electrospectif LP is still one of the best and most underrated French electro albums of the 21st century. Hearing Disco Trax many years later and realizing this fast-paced banger never got pressed on vinyl was the spark that encouraged Ed to work on this EP. This is irresistible jakbeat with electro and italo influences, timeless and compelling.

Cuften - bgt55ujp0
Cuften is a unique artist from Normandy who prefers being called a musician rather than a producer: he creates and records all his music live on a 100% hardware setup with absolutely no computers involved. With IDM and acid influences as well as a passion for hardcore, his music bridges the gaps between Aphex Twin, Marc Acardipane and Legowelt. This track is a perfect introduction to his world where hard hitting kicks get bodies moving while acid madness gets minds melting and it's actually his first tune ever released on vinyl. Keep an eye out for Purusu, Cuften's own record label which he runs with the help of Ed, a strictly underground affair that is already gathering support from established DJs around the world.

Sina - Faith
This is the very first track by Sina pressed on vinyl and what a belter it is! He is part of the new wave of electronic music activists in Paris with his Subtyl parties that were among the first to encourage today's ravers to side-step the clubs and go party in warehouses half a decade ago. We immediately signed Faith upon hearing it for the first time, spellbound by pounding and dreamy atmosphere, full of dramatic and ecstatic moments. This track exists in a techno universe of its own, as gritty as it is melodic. It never fails to get a reaction from the crowds and has been a staple of Ed's peak time sets lately.

Raymond D Barre - I Don't Know Dave
He's an up and coming producer and live performer from Paris who released a great EP on Nocta Numerica in 2016 and has several projects in the works. Clocking at 108 BPM, this tune is the downtempo cut on the EP. Driven by an 808, structured by FM bass and embellished with some lovely acid touches, this track could be described as 21st century orientalist New Beat or perhaps Egyptian Lover on codeine. Either way, this nod to Belgian vibes and BPM did not go unnoticed by both label managers and this fun and quirky track is often the highlight of downtempo sets.

Points of interest
- Four essential and totally exclusive tracks outside the beaten path and the usual formulas, a great snapshot of the French underground in 2018
- Various Artists, different vibes, something for everyone
- A Musique Pour La Danse release (Frankie Bones, Orlando Voorn, Cron aka Todd Sines, Break The Limits aka Bay B Kane, ..), a label founded and curated by Olivier Ducret of Mental Groove (Miss Kittin, Orbe, Donato Dozzy, Brodinksi...) and Ed Isar (33RPM +8% and Radio Belleville in Paris), releasing forgotten and unforgettable dance music of yesterday and tomorrow.

The latest release on Serotonin brings recently remastered versions of four classic Synapse tracks from the early years of the label together into the "Cosmic Freak Gas Bubble" EP

Side A features two tracks from SER004 "Get the Freaks and Get Some". Side B contains two tracks from SER-002, a split EP with Auto Kine c.

"Cosmic Connecton" is classic Synapse electro-chill, featured
back in the day on the infamous late night German television
series 'Space Night' and related compilatons. This track is a call
to intelligent extraterrestrial seekers of intergalactc FNK. Fse
this as your beacon, broadcastng across the galaxy and bringing the aliens to you.

"The Freak" is an undeniable body mover and was featured on the legendary DJ Assault mix CD "Straight Up Shit Detroit Vol 3". An homage to straight up Detroit funk is exactly what Synapse was going for and with 'The Freak' they clearly hit the target.

Back in the rave days 'Gas" was an electro/breaks cross-over 'hit" in the FSA, getng play in dirty warehouses across the naton in 996. A randomly

selected spoken Japanese vocal clip provides a repetetve, non-sensical hypnotc hook. The sample apparently has something to do with environmentalism and sounds cool. The hybrid style of "Gas" hits a lot of the Serotonin values, from funk to new wave melody to breakbeat rave energy.

Just when you think you've fgured out what Synapse is all about, 'Bubble" presents yet another hybrid. The hypnotc dub techno chords create a dream state in which to lose consciousness of the fact that the infectous beat already has you rocking.

The "Cosmic Freak Gas Bubble" EP from Synapse is one record to have when you need some funk to match any occasion.

- Printed Inner Sleeve and Heavy Weight Outer

The now legendary ' Abbey Road' version of 'the Isness' was the originally conceived version before last minute wholesale changes resulted in new tracks , different mixes and/or edits appearing in a wholly different order for the commercial release of 'the Isness '  in 2002 . The 'Abbey Rd 'version had been initially promo'd to ecstatic reviews, receiving an unprecedented 6/5 stars from Mixmag 'it's like a beam of white light from heaven'. 
This is the first time the Abbey Road version has been officially and commercially available .The band themselves ' the Amorphous Androgynous ' ( a psychedelic supergroup conceptualized and produced by the Future Sound Of London ) are said to have always regretted the last minute changes to the album ,the creation of which took five years from 1996-2001 post production of the FSOL album ' DEAD CITIES' and marks an important chapter in the production duos history and 5 year disappearance where rumours of madness and disbandment were rife among fans of the band only for them to finally appear with this radical new vision and what is now considered something of a psychedelic masterpiece which along with subsequent albums ' Alice In Ultraland ' ( on Harvest Records ) and their 'A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble  ( Exploding In Your Mind )' Dj series ( which chronicle and redefine the history of psychedelia from the 60s to the present ) did much to activate a third wave of global psychedelic sonic revolution .
The Isness is a vast samplerdelic sonic galaxy where a huge range of instruments ( from sitars and numerous eastern instruments to flutes, banjos and conventional rock n roll instrumentation)  and countless musicians are employed ,collaged and twisted using the studio as instrument ( much in the tradition and lineage of the Beatles and other 60s exponents) to form a startling new vision of cosmic space music and to redefine the possibilities of what ' the song ' could be in the new millennia with its by turn : cosmic , wildly surreal , absurdist lyrics on epic songs such as ' the Galaxial Pharmaceutical ' ' the Mello Hippo Disco Show ' ' Divinity ' and many others ! 

The 12' you're about to read a few lines about is a laconic introduction to the music of an elusive new musician on Antinote. Biographical details about him would probably not help comprehend his music and might even seem slightly contradictory with the music itself, as Reigi / Haipa has been produced in Reims - at least, it would have been much more accommodating if the capital of Champagne was located somewhere in-between Sheffield and London...
.
Indeed, at first listen, Slowglide's music seems deeply rooted in a very British history of dance music. Reigi, on the A-side, unfolds a cavernous syncopated kick on which relies a compressed, flangered, smart but somehow handcrafted sound with an extra Kraftwerkian treatment (the obsessive robotic arigato gozaimasu' and the pocket calculator' bleeping melodic line), enlightened by discreet synth waves appearing in the middle of the track.

Haipa, the atmospheric B-side, is an even stronger throwback to a time when Intelligent Dance Music was ruling over electronic music, the likes of Aphex Twin and his fellow Warp-affiliates were about to be crowned kings and Ghost In The Shell was establishing itself as one of the most culturally significant pictures of the late past century.

Slowglide's music is not backward-looking, though. There's something that relevantly resonates with today's diffracted musical landscape, as the French producer gathers and updates bits and pieces from a thirty-andsomething yearlong history of electronic dance music. The result is probably Bass Music', something that one might have been tempted to describe as the future of Dance Music' a few decades ago - to quote these prophetic words written many times. It's probably not, but these two songs are certainly fresh and futuristic.

* Luna-C says this was one of the most challenging EPs he has ever made, because he made a record almost exactly as he would have if it was 1992 again, only with considerably more knowledge. This EP was made almost entirely with hardware, using a real mix desk and all the original synths and modules that the Kniteforce studio used back in the day, along with some new bits picked up over the years. This EP was a deliberate attempt to go back to the roots of the sound, to start again musically.
All four tracks are proper underground in style, deliberately avoiding the common break beats and standard sounds of current 'new' old skool music, to achieve something more authentic. It features all new samples, and no reliance on old tricks or techniques. This one is for the real underground, the real old skool, and the sound of it demonstrates that!

Club / DJ Support
Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Clayfighter, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others

* The Timespan was a regular artist on the famous Kniteforce subsidiary label, Remix Records. One of Luna-C's many aliases, The Timespan has always been on a mission to make simple, effective hardcore. This EP takes that formula and applies the years of knowledge gained since 1994 to make something that sounds...almost the same as it would in 1994. Only better. Full on pianos, running break beats, happy vocals, hip hop snippets and hectic stab patterns, this EP was made almost entirely on hardware rather than software. The result is that it contains not only the ideas of the old skool, but the warm analogue soundscapes from that era. It also features a 'revisit' by label mate Cru-l-t of the Timespan's classic track 'Music' - an updated and rebuilt from the ground up version of that tune.

Club / DJ Support
Billy Bunter, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker and many others

15th release of the strong Barba records! And its FBK who's back featuring a remix by none other than Claude Young - a Detroit heavy-weight who's been particularly selective with his output. Kevin's previous record for Barba, a 2016 twelve titled "Screaming Her Name", also featured a remixes by Terrence Dixon and Plural. Between then and now Kevin managed to put out a track for "The Cast Project" VA and a solo EP for Radio Slave's "Rekids" imprint. As we mentioned earlier, "Eclipse" features two original tracks, the title one and "To A Place I Know". "Eclipse" track is closer to the sound we've come to associate to FBK's productions - equally banging and meditative. This track takes you for a spin with hypnotizing lead synth, distorted acid lines and drums that intensify the vibe as the track progresses. It's dark and moody, but perfect for those moments when the dancefloor is ready to dive really deep. "To A Place I Know" starts on the similar note but as soon as the sampled vocal loop takes the lead it takes the song to a much happier place. Hypnotizing element is still unavoidably present but here the synth line is more subdued and plays a supporting role to the vocals. Something you would play when you need to dive out from the deep and feel some sun on your skin. Finally, Claude Young's remix of "Eclipse" is a fairly different affair, focusing on the meditative aspect of the original quite literally, and taking it to a whole other level. It is an exercise in restraint and patience, with a slowly-rising tension masterfully achieved by a piano line, ambient pads and synth textures subtly exchanging roles throughout the whole length of the song. Simply wonderful. All that, pressed onto a heavy duty 180 gram vinyl and beautifully packaged in an original artwork traditionally featuring local artists

Sonny is a mysterious new Danish musician landing on a brand new Danish label Koldt Bord with a lavish, cosmically-tinged four piece EP that refuses to let you go. The wild narrative and dynamic momentum of "Agoraphobia", the soft lilted and mistiness of "Alone In Ginza", the strange tropic short, sweet skit of "CE" and the journey-like ride into the unknown of "Some Velvet Morning" comprise to create something of its own world. Sitting somewhere between Cinematic Orchestra and fellow Dane Kenneth Bager, this leave you wanting more..

Limited Edition Clear Vinyl

Includes 12' Vinyl and Deluxe CD album, 30 page hard back book

Now that I've been to Nashville,' Kylie Minogue says with audible affection, I understand. It's like some sort of musical ley-line...'

Golden, Kylie's fourteenth studio album, is the result of an intensive working trip to the home of Country music, a city whose influence lingered on long after the pop legend and her team returned to London to finish the record: We definitely brought a bit of Nashville back with us,' she states. The album is a vibrant hybrid, blending Kylie's familiar pop-dance sound with an unmistakeable Tennessee twang. It was Jamie Nelson, Kylie's long-serving A&R man, who first came up with the concept of incorporating a Country element' into Kylie's tried-and-trusted style. That idea sat there for a little while, with Minogue and her team initially unsure about how to bring it to life. Then, when Grammy-winning songwriter Amy Wadge's publisher suggested Kylie should come over to collaborate in Nashville, a city Kylie had previously never visited, something clicked. You know when you're so excited about something,' she recalls, that you repeat it an octave higher and double the decibels I was like that. 'Nashville! Yes! Of course I would!'. I hoped it would help the album to reveal itself. I thought 'If I don't get it in Nashville, I'm not going to get it anywhere.''

Kylie's Nashville trip involved working alongside two key writers, both with homes in the city. One was British-born songwriter Steve McEwan (whose credits include huge Country hits for Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney and Carrie Underwood), and the other was the aforementioned Amy Wadge, another Brit (best known for her mega-selling work with Ed Sheeran). It was then a truly international project: Golden was mainly created with African-German producer Sky Adams and a list of contributors including Jesse Frasure, Eg White, Jon Green, Biff Stannard, Samuel Dixon, Danny Shah and Lindsay Rimes, and there's a duet with English singer Jack Savoretti.

However, the album's agenda-setting lead single Dancing was, significantly, first demoed with Nathan Chapman, the man who guided Taylor Swift's transition from Country starlet to Pop megastar. If anyone knows how to mix those two genres, Chapman does. Nathan was the only actual Nashvillean I worked with. He's got a huge studio in his house, which is probably due to his success with Taylor... there's plenty of platinum discs of her, and others on his walls.' There's something of the spirit of Peggy Lee's Is That All There Is, of Dylan Thomas' Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, even of Liza Minnelli's Cabaret about Dancing, a song which not only opens the album but sets out its stall, providing a microcosm of what is to come. You've got the lyrical edge, that Country feel, mixed with some sampling of the voice and electronic elements, so it does what it says on the label. And I love that it's called 'Dancing', it's immediately accessible and seemingly so obvious, but there's depth within the song.'

The experience of simply being in Nashville was an overwhelming one, before Kylie had even arrived. Once I knew I was going to Nashville, people talked about the place with such enthusiasm. They said without doubt I would love it and, I would come back with songs. They were sending lists of restaurants, coffee shops and bars. It really was a beautiful and genuine response and it felt like I was about to have a life changing experience and in a way, I did.' The reality came as something of a surprise, when she found a far more modern metropolis than the vintage one she'd envisaged. I thought it would be like New Orleans: little houses and bars, with music spilling out onto the street. It reminded me more of Melbourne: apartment blocks going up everywhere! The main strip, Broadway, where the honky tonk bars are, that's where the street was filled with music and it was just amazing.' Mainly, Minogue remembers the heat and humidity. It was 100 degrees. It was like it was raining with no rain.' She also relished the chance to wander around unrecognised, visit a few venerable music bars and soak in the atmosphere. I didn't get to the Grand Ole Opry or the music museums but I managed to go to a couple of the institutions there like The Bluebird Cafe and The Listening Room, and just by being there, through some kind of osmosis, you get this rejuvenated respect for The Song, and the writing of The Song. There's no hoo-hah around it. There's a singer-songwriter there, talking about the song and singing the song, to an audience who are there to listen. Although, I have to confess I was guilty of starting to clap too soon during a long pause at the end of one of the songs. The guy made a bit of a joke out of it and got a laugh from it, but I thought 'Of all people in the audience, no...''

It's probably no coincidence, therefore, that every track on Golden is a Kylie co-write, making it arguably her most personal album to date. The end of 2016 was not a good time for me,' she says, referring to well-documented personal upheavals, so when I started working on the album in 2017, it was, in many ways, a great escape. Making this album was a kind of saviour. I'd been through some turmoil and was quite fragile when I started work on it, but being able to express myself in the studio made quick work of regaining my sense of self. Writing about various aspects of my life, the highs and lows, with a real sense of knowing and of truth. And irony. And joy!'

The songwriting process allowed Kylie to get a few things out of her system. Initially, she admits, it was cathartic, but it also wasn't very good. I think I was writing too literally. But I reached a point where I was writing about the bigger-picture, and that was a breakthrough. It made way for songs like Stop Me From Falling and One Last Kiss. It also meant I had enough distance to write an autobiographical song, like A Lifetime To Repair, with a certain amount of humour. The countdown in that song: 'Six-five-four-three, too many times...'. I don't know if that will be a single, but I can just imagine a girl with framed pictures of past boyfriends, and kind of going 'Oh god, when am I going to get this right'' When she listens back to Golden, Kylie can vividly hear the Nashville in it. It is, she'll agree, probably the first time that a Kylie album has sounded like the place it was made. You wouldn't normally relate my songs to the cities. Can't Get You Out Of My Head sounds more like Outer Space than London. But Shelby '68, for example, was written in London but it was done with Nashville in mind. It's about my Dad's car, and my brother recorded Dad driving it! I don't think I'd have written a number of the songs, including Shelby '68 and Radio On without having had that Nashville experience.'

The latter, she says, is about music being the one to save you.' Throwing herself into the making of the record, she says, crystallised that idea. If there's one love that will always be there for you, it's music. Well, it is for me, anyway.' That song, in particular, carries nostalgic echoes of the golden age of Country, as heard through Medium Wave transistors and tinny home stereos in the distant past. Like any child of the Seventies, Kylie had a basic grounding in Country music, mainly absorbed from older family members. My Step-Grandfather was born in Kentucky and though he lived most of his adult life in Australia, he never stopped listening to his beloved Country artists.' If there's any classic Country singer whose imprint can be heard on Golden, it's Dolly Parton.

Kylie saw Dolly live for the first time at the end of 2016, at the Hollywood Bowl. It was like seeing the light,' she beams. It was incredible. Everyone, whether they know it or not, is a Dolly Parton fan. When I was in Nashville, I did pick up a T-shirt that said 'What Would Dolly Do' Maybe that should be my mantra.' And, whether consciously or otherwise, there's a timbre and trill to Kylie's vocals on Radio On that is distinctly Parton-esque. My delivery is quite different on this album,' she says. A lot of things are 'sung' less. The first time I did that was with Where The Wild Roses Grow. On the day I met Nick Cave, when I recorded my vocals, he said 'Just sing it less. Talk it through, tell the story.' This album wasn't quite to that extreme, but a lot of the songs were done in fewer takes, to just capture the moment and keep imperfections that add to the song. I remember on my last album, a lot of producers were trying to take out literally every vibrato they heard. And that's not natural to my voice. I mean, I can make myself sound like a robot, but it's nice to sound like a human!' Working within the Country genre also gave Kylie permission to write in the Nashville vernacular. Because we were going there, I wasn't afraid to have lines like 'When he's fallen off the wagon we'd still dance to our favourite slow song', 'Ten sheets to the wind, I was all confused', 'I'll take the ride if it's your rodeo'. The challenge of bringing a Country element to the album made the process feel very fresh to me, kind of like starting over. I started to look at writing a different way, singing a different way.'

If ever Kylie lost confidence in the Country-Pop concept, and found herself pondering This is great, but back in the real world - my real world - how will this work', Jamie Nelson was there to badger her into sticking to the path. We found a way to make it a hybrid with what we'll call my 'usual' sound. It had to stay 'pop' enough to stay authentic to me, but country enough to be a new sound for this album. The closer we zoomed in, and the more we honed it, I knew Jamie was right. We sacrificed good songs that weren't right for this album, because we wanted it to be as cohesive as possible. The songs that were hitting the mark were these ones, so we decided to be strong, and that's how we wrapped up the album. What he said, that stuck with me, was that 'I'd hate to get to the end of this and really wish we'd gone for it.'' Having worked with Kylie for so long, Nelson was able to put this latest shift of direction into perspective. He said 'You've traditionally done it throughout your career. You had your PWL time, then you did a complete turn when you went to deConstruction, then another complete turn with Spinning Around, and R&B dance-pop, and then another turn with Can't Get You Out Of My Head, icy synth-pop, and this is another one.' He was right. It felt like the right time to have a change sonically. New label, new stories to tell, and a new decade almost upon me.'

Kylie Minogue will, it's scarcely believable, turn 50 this year. This looming milestone is partly behind the album's title, and title track. I had this line that I wanted to use: 'We're not young, we're not old, we're golden' because I'm asked so often about being my age in this industry. This year, I'll be 50. And I get it, I get the interest, but I don't know how to answer it. And that line, for my personal satisfaction, says it as succinctly as possible. We can't be anyone else, we can't be younger or older than we are, we can only be ourselves. We're golden. And the album title, Golden, reflects all of this. I liked the idea of everyone being golden, shining in their own way. The sun shines in daylight, the moon shines in darkness. Wherever we are in life, we are still golden.' One of the album's shiniest moments is Raining Glitter, an exuberant banger which ventures closest to Kylie's traditional dance-pop comfort zone. Eg White, who is one of the producers and writers and a great character, was talking about disco one day. I said 'I love disco, but you know the brief.' We needed to be going down the Country lane, so to speak. But we managed to bring them both together. When I wrote it, I was thinking about the Jacksons video for Can You Feel It where they're sprinkling glitter over everyone. And I think there's a Donna Summer record that's got that feel to it. I think that's my job: I basically leave a trail of glitter after every show I do anyway.'

Kylie is looking forward to the challenge of incorporating the Golden material into her live shows. Mixing these songs in with my existing catalogue is going to be fun. And it could be fun to do some of those songs with just a guitar. It'll make my acoustic set interesting...'Her incredibly loyal fans - to whom one Golden song, Sincerely Yours, is intended as a love letter' - will, she believes, have no problem with her latest stylistic shift. My audience have been with me on the journey, so I shouldn't be afraid that they won't come with me on this part. I've had fun with it, and I'm sure they will too.'

The time spent making Golden has, Kylie says, been a time of creative and personal renewal. I've met some amazing people, truly inspiring writers and musicians. My passion for music has never gone away, but it's got bigger and stronger.' And if there's an overriding theme to the record, it is one of acceptance. We're all human and it's OK to make mistakes, get it wrong, to want to run, to want to belong, to love, to dream. To be ourselves.'

I was able to both lose and find myself whilst making this album.'

The Pendletons return with their latest EP, Funk Forever, a Jazz flavored boogie affair with soul inspired song-writing that evokes old school vibes while still staying fresh and current. Horn lines, Yamaha dx7 keys and snapping hip hop inspired drum programming topped by sweet singing with heartfelt themes, the group carves out a bold new sound on these 5 solid tracks. Featuring Elive, Potatohead People and Ishtar.

The Pendletons are a long-standing boogie-funk and modern soul project of E da Boss (of Myron and E on Stone's Throw) and Trailer Limon. The group emerged with their very first release in 2010, a 7" inch of "Coming Down/Waiting On You" on the Slept On record label, which set the tone for the group to emerge... it instantly became a cult classic receiving constant play at nights like Sweater Funk and Funkmosphere, and fetching for serious sums among collectors. Most recently, in 2016, they released the EP "Gotta Get Out". The title track caught the ear of renowned DJ Gilles Peterson, who liked it enough to release it on his Brownswood Bubbler compilation.

In 2018 the group is hitting the ground running with a brand new EP out this spring, and a full-length album to follow later later in the year on the renowned Bastard Jazz label. Now armed with a horn section, a vast array of accomplished jazz and funk contributors, and a knack for quality song-writing, the Pendleton's sound has shaped into something fresh and unique, setting it apart from the legions of imitators.

ALEX is a dark, haunting and brooding synthwave record that sets the night on fire, taking you from darkness all the way to the shining lights of Broadway. With hints of cyberpunk, outrun and other 80's inspired retrowave influences, ALEX has developed a true signature sound that is funky, groovy and totally rocking. X takes you on a futuristic, electronic music trip that's filled with nostalgia and suspense. Artist bio: Originating from Edinburgh Scotland, ALEX is a Scottish born electronic music producer, composer and DJ. After spreading his sound to every channel and label possible, ALEX broke through in the most significant way possible. If you get the attention of Playmaker and NewRetroWave in the Synthwave scene, you're doing something right, and ALEX's unique approach to composition and production led to his debut release with NRW, the 'Blood Club' EP. And things haven't slowed for the young producer, with two more EP's and an album since his debut, each showing another side to the artist. After the release of his Drive inspired EP 'Youth', fans of the powerful vocal tracks 'Rebel of the Night' and 'Youth' can get excited for the pair of major budget music videos ALEX has in store, with filming having taken place in Russia and New York City. ALEX grew up listening to the likes of Daft Punk, Justice, Underworld, Chromatics, Deadmau5, absorbing the sounds of Disco, House, Hip-Hop, and Rock, cherry picking his favourite elements to blend into the new retro haze of his own material. He also cites film composers, such as Disasterpiece, John Carpenter, Vangelis, Johan Johansson, and John Williams.

On 30thMarch, Wah Wah 45s will release ORANGE WHIP, the new album by their latest signing, Honeyfeet. The outfit, who have received praise from the likes of The Guardian, have also set festivals alight up and down the country with their unique melange of sounds.

For the last couple of years the Honeyfeet (who name from a line in the Blues Brothers film) have been a conduit for the ideas and expressions of an exotic mixture of Manchester based musicians. This genre-defying band incorporate styles including jazz, folk and hip hop into their music. Someone once called it Folk-Hop and Barrelhouse-pop, and that's just vague enough to make sense.

The band are fronted by Ríoghnach Connolly - also known for her work with Real World artists Afro Celt Sound System and The Breath - "a remarkable singer and flautist who...can ease from Irish traditional influences to soul" (The Guardian). The line up is completed by Rik Warren (vocals/harmonica), Gus Fairbairn (tenor sax), Biff Roxby (trombone/vocals), Ellis Davies (guitar), Lorien Edwards (bass guitar), John Ellis (keyboards) and David Schlechtriemen (drums).

ORANGE WHIP finds the band at their most incredibly diverse. Opening with recent single Sinner (received radio play from the likes of 6 Music and BBC Manchester), which showcases Ríoghnach's extraordinary agile and emotive voice, the album moves with dizzying swagger on songs covering a wide range of subjects. Quickball tells the story of being so infatuated with someone you want to eat them, while Whatever You Do addresses the fear-mongering of the press over folk-hop and oom-pah, and Demons deals with love and redemption on a blast of harmonica-driven country, sung by Rik Warren.

Rik also takes lead vocal on a re-working of Robert Johnson's Love in Vain, a song showing Honeyfeet's more reflective side, his Skip James-esque drawl bringing an eerie quality to the lyrics about a doomed relationship. The band reshape the progression too, swinging the tune slowly and creating a little underground blues club in the midst of the recording.

Elsewhere the band go all New Orleanian on Colonel Hathi's Trunk Juice, a sinister tale inspired by trombonist Biff Roxby's horn riff recalling one of the elephants of The Jungle Book. Further showcasing their virtuosity, on one of the album's best moments - especially the nuanced vocal performance by Ríoghnach, who was raised on Irish folk - on Hunt and Gather the band do their own take on prog-folk, with a flute and cello melody running alongside a brass counterpoint.

Ríoghnach turns in another incredible vocal on the album's final track - future single Meet Me On The Corner. With a pounding beat, it is one of the album's main highlights. Guitar and brass propels Ríoghnach to sing lyrics that could be straight out of the playground, but suggest something deeper, possibly mystical even, in it's demands for a dalliance on the street. It closes the album on a high note, for a band who have that rare ability to distil all their disparate influences, while always sounding like their unique selves.

ORANGE WHIP heralds the sound of a remarkable band going overground.

Solar Phenomena keeps up a busy schedule with the third EP of 2018. This one comes from cult UK artist Duckett who's past collaborations include Tom Demac, Grimes Adhesif and Leif. Recently he has served up solo EPs for labels like Galdoors, UntilMyHeartStops and Wisdom Teeth. Mixing up elements of IDM, techno and ambient, he is a sculptor of timeless tracks that come from another world.

'Could I Pulverise A Leg' opens up the EP with trippy synths falling down the face of the track, with minimal drums and corrugated bass racing below. It's the sound of space travel in turbulent times. 'Cycling Is Crushed Inside A Moment He Forgot' is more sparse, with watery keys and curious melodies drifting about above another barely there groove. It's heavenly, celestial stuff that places you in a microbial world of neon colours and beautifully alien sounds. 'Flex' is more for the club, with broken mechanical drums and fractured vocal sounds all grinding together to make for something truly new and original sounding. 'Risks' then rounds out the EP with edgy ambience and coarse hits, swirling pads and an ominous suspense that keeps you engaged throughout. It rounds out a hugely inventive EP.

* Still Circles announce the release of their debut album, 27:36, available March 30th via Killtone Records.

* Currently at 7 in the chart on the Josh Hannen show Amazing Radio

* Session for Alan Raw BBC Introducing on Sat March 3rd 2018

* Comprised of Natalie Kolowiecki and Jack Donnison, the Bradford based duo bridge the worlds of trip-hop and ambient music: splicing slo-mo beats, grainy atmospherics, haunting melodies and soft-wax drones. Their first single, 'Only Noise' is testament to this - with its manipulated vocals, heavy bass line and lurching percussion, the track's stark surrealism evokes the thrum of their northern English town.

* Upon the surface, 27:36 has the indelible markings of the band's influences: Brian Eno, Poliça, Adrian Sherwood (to name a few) - but the duo never settle into pure pastiche. Instead, they contort the sounds of these artists into something all their own. 27:36 is an alien vision of what pop music could be.

There are some records that manage to sound both of a time and utterly timeless and Bon Voyage Organisation's Jungle Quelle Jungle (a nod to Supertramp's Crisis What Crisis) is one of those albums. Its silken-smooth production, irresistible grooves, funk-tinged guitars, lush soundscapes and general glowing presence could easily lead one to believe that have dug up a lost disco gem from the 1970s. However, behind the disco-pop gleam lies eerie dystopian sci-fi ruminations of a futuristic bent and tones that can often feel as French as they do Asian or African.

This sort of cross-continental exploration is an expansion on BVO's previous two EPs, the man behind the Organisation, Adrien Durand, says. 'I tried to continue the musical expedition between dystopian Science-Fiction Haunted Africa - plus Haitian Vaudou on 'Soleil Dieu' - and futuristic Asia. Addressing, in a double entendre manner, some of the political issues that I am sensitive to.' In fact the jungle in question in the album's title is a metaphorical one and one that creates a vast series of environments for Durand to explore such subjects as world trade, utopian ideals and themes of idols, as well as of time and communication. However, one will need to speak French to decipher such explorations, as well as shake off the natural impulse to move with every glorious beat on its 13 tracks, of which are moved along by Maud Nadal and Agathe Bonitzer's golden vocals.

Durand is a full-time producer based in Paris, working with the likes of Amadou & Mariam, so it makes sense that this record would absolutely sparkle in this department. Durand feeds off the variety of musicians coming and going during recording sessions as well as the rotating members and numbers of people involved with the band but fundamentally he writes all songs on piano first before bringing them to record live. 'We recorded a rhythm section of five - drums, percussion, guitar and myself on bass/synth bass and keyboards - at La Frette which is a studio located in a mansion outside of Paris and fitted with a beautiful 1973 NEVE desk. We only used analogue gear, by taste really, and found it a pretty reliable way of doing things. This simply consists of putting good players together in a room and waiting for the right take to happen.' Two four-day sessions and a 'cooling off' period (to let the recordings settle) soon followed before Durand picked the material back up to give it a final polish.

The resulting album is one loaded with intricacies and idiosyncrasies, something that Durand puts down to his own unique approach. 'I don't consider myself much of a songwriter but I love arranging rhythm sections and I'm pretty proud of the ones on this record.' This applies when it comes to working with such musicians as Inor Sotolongo Zapata, who with Durand used traditional Cuban percussive instruments and explored Haitian rhythms. When Durand expands on some of the ideas and influences that were funnelled into the record, you begin to get a sense of the vastness of the sounds that fill his world, from Trevor Horn's production work on ABC's Lexicon of Love, to the literary work of JG Ballard to the visual flair of the original Blade Runner and even the Tuareg sounds of Tinariwen, due to the fact that his studio neighbours their manager's and he would hear their rhythms bleeding through the walls. You therefore end up with an album that offers tracks such as 'GOMA' that fuses Chinese and African rhythms as well as 'SI D'Adventure' a piece of pop music that is dazzlingly hook-laden.

As a result of this cooking pot of sounds, influences, thoughts and creations, Durand has more of a gumbo approach to making this music than a set-out scientific formula. 'There is no definite recipe for me to like the production of a record,' he says. 'Of course it really sticks out that my work is really influenced by the 1978-1983 period, the golden age and last stand of analogue studios and session musicians.' Whilst Durand adores the traditional and conventional music, he really views this as something bigger and wider. 'I have a taste for the otherworldly vibe from records coming from less sought-after musical scenes, particularly Poland, Haiti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Congo and early Cantonese pop. Languages and the rapport of the people involved in the making of those records really inspires me. I particularly hate the use of the word 'World Music' as a potpourri for everything that doesn't sound quite western enough.'

A - 45 rpm - cozy - Get Used to Me'
An emphatic anthem from the mouth of a young woman with something to prove, this track is a bold first statement, both in production and lyrical content. With this track on wax, Im gonna be around for a while, so you better Get Used to Me!

B1 - 33 rpm - cozy - Useful'
A piece created by someone tired of being underestimated, Useful might come from a place of frustration, but overall its a reclamation of power and agency. You havent been utilizing my ability to its greatest potential'

B2 - 33 rpm - cozy - Hip Hopity'
A funky closing piece to this EP, Hip Hopity just wants you to shake your thang around! Encouraging those of all dance ability to move their body and have a good time with their friends.

cozy is a songwriter, rapper, producer, and musician who currently operates out of Vancouver, British Columbia. Originally hailing from the small village of Cumberland, cozy has small town roots that have heavily influenced her art. With her music, cozy hopes to bring people into her world of experiences and give them as clear a picture of her perspective as she can. Throughout her songs, cozy weaves strong lyrical themes of femininity, sexuality, and reclamation of personal identity within a vulnerable context of self examination.

- Astonishing solo debut by acclaimed cellist and composer Lucy - A daring, non-conformist and deviant approach to composition and instrumentation - One side of filigree, multi-layered autobiographical collage-work, the other of raw and phased cello glissandi - RIYL: Mark Leckey, Alvin Lucier, Beatrice Dillon, Nate Young, Valerio Tricoli, Popol Vuh

Lucy Railton is a prolific performer who has appeared on countless recordings and collaborations with many important figures in contemporary music over the last few years. Paradise 94 is, remarkably, her solo debut - featuring archival, location and studio recordings which serve as a time capsule of all the myriad disciplines and influences that have brought her to this point in time. It both plays up to and shatters expectations of her music, which harnesses a duality of energies - acoustic/electronic, real/imagined, iconic/iconoclastic, pissed-off/romantic; out of place and androgynous - resulting in a visceral emotional insight and rare narrative grasp. Variegated, asymmetric, and located somewhere between her usual fields of exploration, Paradise 94 gives free reign to aspects of her creativity that have previously been subsumed into collaborative processes and interpretations of other composers' work. Here, she's free to probe, sculpt and layer her sounds through a much broader range of techniques and strategies, placing particular focus on non-linear structural arrangements and exploring the way her cello becomes perceptibly synthetic through collaging, rather than FX. At every turn Paradise 94 is bewilderingly unique. The A-side unfolds an oneiric, inception-like sequence traversing temporalities, timbres and tones from what sounds like a spectral ensemble playing on a traffic island in Pinnevik, to bursts of rabbit-in-headlights trance arps emerging from meticulously dissected musique concre`te in The Critical Rush, and a collision of masked vocals, string eruptions and a deeply moving, light-headed Bach rendition in For J.R. On the other hand, Fortified Up on side B tests out a far rawer approach, sampling herself playing the same glissandi over and again, which she layers into a sort of perpetual, sickly motion, the Shepard Tone riffing on the listener's psychoacoustic perceptions before calving off into a cathartic dissonant folk coda in its final throes. In the most classic sense, you can only properly begin to f*ck with something from the inside once you truly know it. Railton's dedicated years of service have more than equipped her with the nous and skill to do just that, gifting us with what will no doubt be looked back on as a raw, exposed and important solo debut in years to come.

Following on from his debut EP on Drumcode earlier this year, Ilario Alicante returns.For the past few years Ilario Alicante has enjoyed something of an unintentional Ibiza kinship with Adam Beyer. When the Swede played his special annual sets on the Amnesia Terrace for Cocoon, for three years out of four, the Italian has been right there playing alongside him, ensuring his talents were on the radar of the Drumcode chief.

Ilario made his first appearance on the label in 2016 with the stirring 'Temporary' featuring on A-Sides Vol.4, before securing his first full-length release with the 'Awakened' EP that dropped earlier this year. 'Figures & Echoes' deepens his contribution to the label with half a dozen powerful cuts.

'Figure of RA' opens the EP, combining a rousing vocal loop, pulsating beats and effective melodic interlude to fantastic effect.
'The Acid Runner' follows and is true to its name, characterised by echoing vocal effects that lead to a piercing 303-line that hits with peak-time power. 'Virgo's Echoes' features a persistent synth line that combining effectively with lush layers of melody to create an atmospheric impact. 'Third Eye' delivers an exhilarating dose of rave thanks to the hypnotizing riff that runs throughout.

In an interview with Jazz Magazine in the early 1970s, Dharma, as a collective voice, outlined their method: 'we try to reach, within free jazz, the same sort of rhythmic cohesion as in Bop, a cohesion based not exactly on tempo, but something which feels like tempo. A kind of underlying pulse'. Evidence of these ideas can be heard immediately on listening to Mr Robinson, the first album by the Dharma Quintet, for whom community living seemed obvious, in order to add to the aforementioned cohesion. Through this, the group members played together on a daily basis, trying out things which were worked on day in, day out. They were also listening to a lot of records, with of course a preference for free jazz, but not forgetting Miles Davis in his electric period, notably for the keyboards of Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea. To which should be added esthetical-political concerns based on a refusal of hierarchy, and a desire to escape from a restrictive academic approach... It was within this framework that Jef Sicard and Gérard Coppéré (saxophones, flute, bass clarinet), Patricio Villarroel (electric and acoustic piano), Michel Gladieux (bass) and Jacques Mahieux (drums) formed the first version of a collective united by structured intentions. Because, within Dharma, individual improvisation cannot be envisaged outside of a clearly designated framework, even non-tempo. The result is a beneficial cohesion, and moments of great beauty born of a collective excitement and giving rise to ambiances which seemed almost possessed. The use of modes could seem to link Mr Robinson to the spiritual jazz of the past but that is without taking into account the fact that the benevolent spirit of Eric Dolphy seems to watch over this album. In France, a similar desire for cohesion could be found in the Cohelmec Ensemble, who had parallel preoccupations, to the point where their bassist, François Méchali, ended up by joining Dharma: there is unfortunately no recorded trace of this, just the memories. As a quintet, with however some personnel changes, Dharma recorded three albums (there is also one as a trio, under the name of Dharma Trio), which are all of fundamental importance (Dharma would also accompany, and to great effect, the songs of Jean-Marie Vivier and Colette Magny). Individually, the members would record with musicians passing through (notably Anthony Ortega, Dave Burrell) and participated in other key groups including Machi Oul and Full Moon Ensemble.

Next to the entire All is an astonishing work by Danish experimental sound quartet We like We, consisting of Katrine Grarup Elbo (violin), Josefine Opsahl (cello), Sara Nigard Rosendal (percussion) and Katinka Fogh Vindelev (voice).

Although classically trained, all four share a desire for exploring, experimenting and shaping a sound of their own, something which is truly present on this album. Both instrumentation and composition feel glued together with an abundant sense of playfulness and vision. The record starts with the beautiful I'm not for More which sets the tone for the 10 pieces, hurling you back and forth in a whirlwind of sound and musical intuitivity.

Genre bending as the record can be, it can be seen as somewhat of a contrasting work - as much of northern folk traditions as of an avant-classical work in the spirit of György Ligeti and Meredith Monk. Forest Sketches, as an example, starts with minimal woodblocks and percussive rattling while slow building violins, cello and vocals pull themselves in through the unknown before bursting into a Pagan sounding wormhole of screams and looped cellos. The piece ends with minimal vocal sound scapes fading away into almost pure silence. It could be mirrored with a merger of both the opening and closing scene of Kubrick's classic movie 2001 - creating the sense of beginning of humanity versus the far future, with abstractation and the unknown.

Next to the entire All is both a mind bending and grounded piece of work fitting naturally next to other Sonic Pieces releases such as Hauschka & Hildur Gudnadottir's Pan Tone or Christoph Berg's Conversations, while adding a northern minimalism. A record as hard to shake off as it is to describe.

Alien Ensemble's trombone man Mathias Goetz caused quite a splash when he released his eponymous debut LP under his Le Millipede moniker back in 2015: The multi-instrumentalist's initial offering was clearly something else, impossible to grasp, a musical vessel beyond genre, beyond style or era, seemingly beyond space and time even, a vessel that carried an almost cosmic kind of song-craft - music with no fixed stamp of origin, though it did somehow feel like an Alien Transistor release. Followed by remix album Mirror Mirror, which comprised reworks by 1115, Protein, LeRoy, Olaf Opal, and Saroos, to name a few, it's now time for album #2: The Sun Has No Money.Let's face it: There's nothing as majestic as the sun. At least not in our world. If it runs out of juice one day, it's game over: The End. Light's out. For everyone. At that point, it wouldn't even matter if you're rich or poor. We're all equal under the sun. Same level. And yeah, this might not be major news, but then again... we're talking about the sun. The sun! Guess it's about time to acknowledge its power and superiority, right In fact, you can feel it on your bicycle: pedaling at night, when it's on duty in other hemispheres, and you're working hard at the dynamo, sweating, you can actually feel how powerful it is. In the end you get off the bike all recharged, a tune on your lips - and somehow feeling like a miniature version of the sun yourself. And whenever you feel like that, that's exactly the right moment to grab a melodica and get to work.Following an initial warm-up round sans electricity, this new album soon begins to glow: Mathias Goetz aka Le Millipede doesn't need pedals, he boosts circulation by single-handedly* playing tons and tons of different instruments - it actually feels like thousands, easily. And thus begins a show that has countless levels to it: There are various sonic illusions... and yet Le Millipede doesn't hide anything: He's also willing to show the inner workings, the actual recording process and everything else. In short: he goes meta. Makes songs about making songs. That's right: why not use all these beautiful means to address the issue of money It's not the sun that casts shadows, all it does is recharge, fuel: growth & thriving, that's the sun's area of responsibility. And yet there came a man whose plan was simple: steal the fruit from your garden, only to sell it right back to you, for money. We can hear the sea gulls crying in the distance, as somebody is throwing breadcrumbs up into the wind that carries their voices...It's not the sun that casts shadows - all it does is radiate light. And yet there came a time when someone blocked those rays of light. Now if you're some kind of Diogenes, you'll simply say, Move at least a little out of the sun.' But if you're a teacher, you'll maybe light up your pipe and use that to lighten up. What matters is that the percussion parts, in this case, resemble some serious musique concréte. The sun doesn't know shadows - all it knows, is itself. And yet somebody entered the picture and built an entire city. A city full of streets, so that houses can cast shadows into these avenues. Plus, there's music in the streets, music originally written inside the walls of said houses.One of those streets is known as the Tin Pan Alley: a place that got its name from a music writer who compared the sound of so many pianos to the banging of tin pans. That sound: that's one side of the road that is this album. Some of these melodies appear to be shadows of earlier tunes, dating back to, say, 1898 or even before that, melodies that were first registered in the Tin Pan Alley publishers' offices back in 1912 or 1917. We actually get to see this Alley at that point in time. We see the ropes, the workings. How things come together, the actual act of creation. Suddenly, we can hear the shadows!
Okay, so one side of this street is America. The US of A. The opposite side: Russia. And smack dab in the middle: Europe. A pothole in the center. All the back-and-forth that occurs between these two poles ultimately depends on the movement of the sun. Night and day, taking turns, commuting in and out of sight. We get to meet Prokofiew's and Scriabin's ghost, among other spirits, reframed and published by Le Millipede's own imaginary label imprint on the historic Tin Pan Alley. Indeed there are moments on this album when Le Millipede seems to be playing Scriabin's clavier a` lumie`res (tastiera per luce), when his performance seems to be based on synesthesia, a wild cross-pollination of colors and sounds. In case you didn't know this: In the States, Prokofiew goes by the name Brian Wilson, and Scriabin's also known as Sun Ra - yet another guy who's usually broke, but gets to spend a lot of time out in the sun. Together, these assorted protagonists ask the people of the Antilles for Mutabor dance-tokens and send postcards to Moondog in Germany, right back into the darkness. On the postcards you can see people dancing the Biguine...Firing foreign fossil fuels from all pipes (Brennelementsteuer!), Le Millipede controls the very center of this hustle and bustle: going as far as to employ some southern Chopped & Screwed styles, he's 100% current and zeitgeisty! Houston, we've got a problem: there's some kind of myriapod, centi- or millipede on the loose! Well, give me another sip of lean, sizzurp, dirty Sprite, and on goes the journey in the Pullman coach. Let's follow the sun! Keep on moving, keep things motorik! Here comes the Trans-Eureka-Express. Cherish the backpacking days! A piercing rhapsody of sound (bohrende Rhapsodie), we'll remember them fondly! And thus things move on, the sun, the days, the earth: rise, set, action, round and round... onwards eternally. The sun: the biggest loop known to mankind. As if it was some kind of sonic Rube Goldberg contraption, time seems to be stretching out while listening to that hmmm. After all: time is a lot (a lot!) more than just money. And yeah, the sun is the real big shot on (or rather: above) Planet Earth. Le Millipede's live line-up also includes Markus & Micha Acher (The Notwist etc.), Nico Sierig (Joasihno), and Manuela Rzytki (G. Rag & die Landlergschwister, Kamerakino etc.).
*sole exception: Evi Keglmaier (Zwirbeldirn, Hochzeitskapelle) plays the viola. Words/sun worship: Pico Be

Exclusive edition imprint, very different from the general style of the TochnoTechno label but still in a techno acid way and includes 4 names of the biggest producers coming from Eastern Europe. We are calling it "Acid Era" in present days so why don't we put out something provocative. We are excited about Tripmastaz' debut on the label who has absolute support by Josh Wink, Dj Sneak, Ricardo Villalobos and many more... Oleg Mass real techno star of Fachwerk Berlin and Koett, rhythm composer and genius from South of Russia who makes the most underground and cool party XoXo. Yulia Niko is dropping last track of her album she has done in 2016 at Brooklyn before moving to Berlin.

We've been big fans of General Ludd from the start and are delighted to finally release something from them. These three tracks were made specifically to be played live during their Panorama Bar debut and it's pretty easy to imagine them rocking the joint!

Superb dark and trippy groovers destined to go straight in the bag of Craig Richards and Ricardo.

Les Adventures de President Bongo is a unique work that will reveal itself over the next seven years, give or take, in the form of 24 LP's.
What is a groove It is something that goes on and on, not changing much seemingly, like the growth rings exposed when you cut and fell a tree. It is no coincidence that tree rings resemble the spiral track of a record: they're both grooves of a sort.

A groove is a routine, a life lived. It may not always seem like much - a cup of bitter coffee, another day spent under the flickering fluorescent lights of an office, an overly long queue at the check-out of a suffocating supermarket. But it is also the scent of slightly burnt meat and birch by a gently flowing stream under a pink sunset, a silver fog clearing without notice to expose a starry sky and its familiar twinkling constellations, an impenetrable smile on a crowded morning train. It is the pattern exposed on the tree stump. A proper groove has ups and downs, it has drama. A good groove is a good story, a transmission into the future.

Out of nowhere, here comes Villee with his debut EP chock full of dancefloor gems. From the very first listen we knew we had something special that we needed to release on Pressed For Time. It's a difficult thing to reference classic tracks and artists without sounding like a carbon copy - however Villee manages this with aplomb. Referencing Larry Heard (check the chords on 'The Inventor'), Cajual records, french house and the DIY free party sound - we think this EP is fantastic! Think warm, analogue, looped up, MPC house with swing and you're on the right track

One of the most unique, ambitious and experimental game soundtracks ever made. Now on vinyl for the very first time.

Similar to the task of condensing Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima's abundance of ideas into a Mega Drive cartridge in 1994, it feels impossible to convey the influences, technical achievements and sheer ambition of their masterpiece into a single paragraph today. By combining automatic composition methods, custom programming languages and a complete sense of artistic freedom, Koshiro and Kawashima transcended their medium and created something so incomparable that it's hard to believe it came from any games console, let alone a 16bit one. Streets of Rage 3 is urgent, demanding and a complete rejection of the notion that video game music is either pedestrian or predictable. We are honoured to be releasing it.

Streets of Rage 3 is presented as a double LP in a heavyweight single pocket sleeve, with accompanying lithographic print featuring artwork from the SEGA archives in Japan. The audio was sourced from original hardware and carefully remastered in collaboration with Yuzo Koshiro, who also supplied exclusive liner notes for this release. On 180g translucent orange vinyl.

DJ Central coming in super hot for the inaugural release of Esoteric Exports. The man of many aliases and releases provides something a little lush, a little light hearted and a whole lotta good. Rather than waste time reading about it, just listen. Here's DJ Central proving once again that he's the man for perfectly layered and arranged sounds.

Led by Saxophonist Rob Mitchell, Abstract Orchestra have been a consistent presence on the u.k. music scene, touring constantly in the promotion of their debut LP "Dilla" and steadily building a loyal and supportive fanbase.Inspired by the legendary live performances of The Roots with Jay-Z and the 40 piece orchestral arrangements by Miguel-Atwood Ferguson of the work of J Dilla, classic arranging techniques underpin modern loop-based structures, breathing new life into familiar material.The band itself is based on the classic jazz big band instrumentation of saxes, trumpets, and trombones and features the cream of the north of England's jazz scene, who collectively have played with Jamiroquai, Corinne Bailey Rae, Mark Ronson, Martha Reeves, John Legend & the Roots, Roots Manuva and Amy Winehouse.

"New Day" is the eagerly anticipated new single and features rapper and J Dilla's brother Illa J on vocals. Supported by a U.K. tour with Illa J throughout February, "New Day" takes the blueprint laid out on last years LP "Dilla" and expands it with Illa J's understated vocal delivery. Radio support anticipated from BBC6's Gilles Peterson who has been an advocate for Abstract Orchestra on both his BBC6 and Worldwide FM shows, as well as Huey Morgan (BBC6), Shawn Lee (Soho) and Dom Servini (Wah Wah 45s). "New day" is the first original work by Abstract Orchestra and builds on the foundations laid on their debut. Flutes and electric piano lay out a gentle pad, propelled forward by Joost Hendrickx's insistent drums. Occasional fragments of saxophones add an urgency to the insouciant groove laid out by the rhythm section as soft trumpets and trombones are gradually added to the flutes. This provides the perfect foil to Illa J's laid-back vocal delivery as he describes a typically relaxed Tuesday morning spent contemplating the day ahead. The B-side is the AO remix which takes the instrumental performances of the A-Side, chopping and fragmenting them and re-framing the original with a slightly harder edge, which should be popular with those DJs and listeners looking for something with a tougher sound.

It's the big 5! Berlin - Frankfurt based label House Is OK is celebrating its five-year long presence and has decided to mark that period with something special Label's story started with a sticker Homeboy printed in his former hometown, Zagreb, saying House Is OK'. Catchy, right It became an underground slogan of the local scene. It didn't take long for people to embrace the idea stating that it's OK to be into melodic, fresh, groovy yet, at times, a bit awkward dance music.
Just around the same time Homeboy's Frankfurt based bro's Oliver Achatz and Janis played with the idea of starting a record label. Guess what the logical choice for the name was
Ten records, dozens of original songs and remixes later House is OK continues to grow.
Literally. What was once a platform for the original three founders is now an international family affair supporting the talented artists from Frankfurt, Stockholm, Alexandria and Orlando. Nurturing the friendly approach this musical family continues to grow.
Looking back at the first five years, not only at the music that connected them all but at the bonds that deepened through the production process, House is OK crew wanted to take
create a proper reminder and thank the ones supporting them throughout the years. A double 12' pack titled Gemišt' seemed like a proper way to do that.
- Gemišt will be released as two separate EPs featuring the original music from Kornél Kovacs, Roman Flügel, Gavri & McQueen, TCB, House Of Life and the label makers themselves. Oliver and Janis deliver tracks under their known names, while Homeboy
introduces his new project with fellow Wilde Renate resident The Swift, called Longhair.
Croatian artist Ugruv Smek marks his yearlong collaboration with the label delivering yet another smashing artwork.
Mark the upcoming February when Gemišt part I' is to be released and while you're at it, move on to March just so you don't miss the Gemišt part II' release. And yeah, in case you're wondering - of course it's both 12' EP release and in digital format. House is OK's got you covered.