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in the past ten years lots of little and big stories happened in the music culture. house literally disappeared almost from the scene in order to come back as strong as never before. 

minimal morphed back into techno while leaving the question mark why the term minimal ever got invented. some originators like frankie knuckles or romanthony passed away, while others like larry heard just stopped to perform. 

in-between countless new artists appeared, twisted dance music with new perspectives on the old, and released their fresh ideas on even more countless labels out there in the void called music market. 

one of the rare platforms that stayed solid as a rock in all these years is mule musiq, the tokyo based label that spreads miscellaneous sound vibes that long from jazz to disco, house, and unobtrusive ambient since 2004. 

with a versatile artist roster consisting of producers such as henrik schwarz, lawrence, dj sprinkles, dj jus-ed, kuniyuki, eddie c, roedelius, or new kids on the blog like barnt or lord of the isles the japan based record company developed a status of her own for being one of the most free spirited organisations in contemporary music. 

'if the music is good, any kind of music is welcome. i don't like labels which release one style music.' 

mule musiq's mastermind toshiya kawasaki once said in a rare interview. now he celebrates a ten years of freedom jubilee with the sixth instalment of his famed 'i'm starting to feel ok' compilation serial.  a real massive international anniversary celebration that is ventilating all what happened in the past ten years in order to form something that travels right into the future. and that is where mule musiq tries to be since a decade to tell some unheard musical stories that stay for good even when the future is long past.

50 Cent... was soll man zu dieser Rap-Ikone noch sagen 30 Millionen verkaufte Alben, #1 Hip Hop Künstler in den 'Billboard Artists of the 2000's', Grammy-Gewinner, Schauspieler in Filmen mit Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone und Bruce Willis (just to name a few...) und Geschäftsmann mit eigenen Klamottenmarken, Videospielen, Düften, Kopfhörern und Gesundheitsdrinks. Der Mann, weiß was er will und was er tut. Nachzuhören auch auf seinem neuen Album, für das er nach 12 Jahren bei Shady/Aftermath/Interscope zusammen mit seinem G-Unit Label zu Caroline International wechselt.

For his debut release on PRSPCT Fragz promised us 3 heavy bangers and the man definitely delivered.
On the A side of this multi colored piece of vinyl we have the track: Something Sinister. A brutal Drum & Bass collaboration between Fragz and Sinister Souls proving once again that Snares can be at least as powerful as kick drums. Tons of energy in this track and a massive drive!
On the flip we have Go Psycho. The title fits the track perfectly. The track makes you do just that. Pure Hardcore Drum & Bass party power for the people!

7 years after the last Zhark Vinyl Release, Heavyweight Techno Nihilist & Labelhead kareem opens up another
chapter of advanced technoid NOIZCORE with his 11th full length EP on Zhark.
After a few years of silence kareem had just reemerged with releases on Foundation Sonore (FS 01) ,
PORTO RONCO on Death of Rave or MESMER on Zhark Digital but is now threatening to inspire more
uncompromising percussive hostility. Let this just be the beginning:
Whereas Side A emphasis on a very distinguished DANCE FLOOR groove concept of Machine Funk embedded
in metal Layers Side B leaves room for a less formatted approach building up tension which is leading to a free
firezone of depravity.
While methodic differentiations can be discovered on each side, the listener is continously confrontated
with haunting sonic extremism.

On the back of an exciting debut album in 2012 that saw him perform live at Sonar festival and later with his band at Vienna's Volkstheatre, before disseminating music on Permanent Vacation, Suol and Connaisseur Recordings, enigmatic Basque Country producer El_Txef_A returns with his sophomore longplayer 'We Walked Home Together'.
El_Txef_A (pronounced 'Elchefa') has crafted a work that just like its journey-conjuring title, charts a shifting palette of sounds and moods, exemplifying its creator Aitor Etxebarria's breadth of skill.
Produced entirely in Aitor's homeland of the mountainous Basque Country, the album showcases the talents of not just its creator who producers, sings and plays piano on the record, but also some of the Spanish region's most outstanding musicians.
Local artist Biskonti is one contributor, whose vocals coat a brooding bed of rough-cut drums on the ice-cold slice of electronica 'I'm Going to Paint You', while Hannot lends his pipes to the moving 'You Left Us In This Physical World' that sweep over a delicately crafted brew of guitars and keys. Both Basque vocalists featured on El_Txef_A's debut 'Slow Dancing in a Burning Room'. Sublime title track 'We Walked Home Together' turns into a family affair, with Aitor's brother Hibai playing the grand piano.
A graduate at 2013's Red Bull Music Academy in Madrid, El_Txef_A has an impressive array of sonic strings to his bow and the Detroit techno inspired 'Claim of Planet Earth' deliciously rubs shoulders with the album's single, the alternative slice of pop 'The Love We Lost' featuring DFA's Woofly.
Elsewhere, Aitor paints a dream-like soundscape with the sublime shoegaze-inspired trip '0730' that seamlessly bleeds into 'Every Day Is Blue Monday', with its atmosphere-heavy swirl of subtle acid lines, floating synths and evocative vocals delivered by Suol records contributor Meggy.
An artist whose music is inextricably connected with his homeland, the album concludes with the stirring 'Mugarrirantz' sung in the native tongue of Euskera by country folk band Napora Iria. It's proof that El_Txef_A is equally adept at doffing his cap to tradition as moving a dancefloor with his inspired brand of electronica.

Kyle Hall back on Hyperdub for our 10th Anniversary - Yes please. In fact this is more or less a long delayed EP from the vaults, recorded around the same time as his 2010 'Kaychunk' EP ... which just goes to show how ahead of the curve the young Detroit producer is. Starting with 'Girl U So Strong', the track riffs on a distorted arpeggiating bassline, seasick organ and a dubbed out voice, and a flicking metronomic note, starting slowly before shuffling drums give the track some rhythmic focus. Soon a warm melody builds over some happy arpeggios, and the whole track feels like a product of brilliant spontaneous energy. 'Take Me Away' works an 8 bit bassline, bleeps and throbs into an off beat shuffle over a pulsing bass drum, loose and happy, dosed with sunshine and space.

Crazy Acid Techno Nutters. Just about sums it up really.

#3 Live Act of 2013 at Resident Advisor, one of the most in demand remixers around, a total of 156 gigs in 2013, releases for Rush Hour, Ovum, Macro; booked out months in advance from Berghain to Ibiza to the main electronic festivals ... KiNK: Arguably the world of dance music has not witnessed anyone else rising so clearly from bottom to top just by the centrifugal force of sheer talent. Being based in Sofia, Bulgaria, without a support network, a campaign or any media hype, his music alone - live and in the studio - created a momentum whose end we have yet to see. Lenin said: 'Communism is Soviet power + electrification of the whole country.' Hardly did Lenin suspect what an inspired take on these words could do: post-socialist techno. A child of 80's late socialism, KiNK grew up on the home computers Bulgaria's IT scientists had created by backwards-engineering Western technology. Fueled by nuclear energy on the edge of desaster, a whole generation of kids was trained to hack. Dance music gradually dripping in through early dial-up internet connections, the acoustic fingerprints of distant parties put Eastern producers from KiNK to Nina Kraviz to Vakula under a spell. Yet KiNK spent years of backwards-engineering the sounds of Detroit, Chicago and early Warp.

Fatima Al Qadiri is a multidisciplinary artist and musician from Kuwait. In just a few years, she has quickly built a reputation as a conceptual artist, exploring themes informed both by her own background and global pop culture, through a number of highly acclaimed EPs, multimedia projects and writings. She is also a founding member of the production team Future Brown. Fatima's debut album is called 'Asiatisch', and as the track titles suggest, the record provides a simulated road trip through an imagined China. Musically, the album is an homage to that quietly influential sub-strain of grime, often loosely termed 'sinogrime' due to its preoccupation with Asian motifs and melodies, pioneered by the likes of Wiley and Jammer at the beginning of the 2000s in East London. 'Asiatisch' is a provocation which asks more questions than it answers. The title is the German word for Asian. Unlike its title, however, the music on 'Asiatisch' revolves around the fantasies of East Asia as refracted through pulpy Western pop culture, in particular Hollywood, literary fiction, music, cartoons and advertising. Fatima asks what is meant by the term 'Asian' in a digital age of viral interchange and the hi-speed trading of cultural bytes; the concept of 'shanzhai' proves pivotal, a term whose meaning stems from a wild, out of control zone of banditry, but which has come to be used to refer to the Chinese counterfeiting of Western brands and goods. While a number of producers have made takes on 'sinogrime' over the last few years, 'Asiatisch' is really the first record that attempts to articulate this weird complex of sonic interchanges between the West and China. With the exception of the opening track, 'Shanzhai', a haunting cover of 'Nothing Compares to You' with nonsensical Mandarin lyrics, and the shimmering 'Loading Beijing', 'Wudang' and 'Jade Stairs' which sample and distort classical Chinese poetry staging an epic confrontation between China's ancient soul and the onslaught of the industrial factory machine, most of the tracks blend mallets, bells, gongs, flutes, steel drums and choral atmospherics with the searing synth-brass and the skittering drums of grime, playing melodies that are inflected as much by classic R&B as to synthetic versions of traditional Chinese music. On "Dragon Tattoo" for example, stereotypical iconography of imagined China is slotted into a threatening, robotic R&B format. The carefree pirating of Western brands blurs into a soft-synth pirating of Chinese musical signs.'Asiatisch' is wrapped in pristine artwork by Babak Radboy from Shanzhai Biennial, and the music was given a 3D sheen by in demand mixer Lexxx. Proclaiming both its love of both ancient and imagined China, 'Asiatisch' is a rare album that is both icily beautiful and conceptually layered.

Right after the tremdendous irritation caused by Pommes 001 has reached its peak, here comes - surprise surprise: pommes002 ! This time reviving the worst or the best 90ies club music had to offer. The A-Side belongs to Daniel Nentwig aka one half of The Working Elite, one third of the now defunct Extraproduktionen and Whitest Boy Alive's Keyboard-Wizard. He's wearing his brandnew D'Lonely Al sweater and presents "We can have it all" , a well hung slice of sparkeling proto house that could have fit very well on a KissFM Mastermix by Tony Humphries! Next up we have the pleasure to present to you the debut release of Cologne based Skateboard Pro Jeremy Reinhard aka Jeremaier, who teamed up with Paco Guedes and no other than Arj Snoek (whose track People Know had been and still is a true milestone for the Terre De Pommes possee!) . "Goldnugget " is something like the alternative college radio version of Show Me Love by Robin S! Good vibes galore-- - Just like Robin Hood - Terre Des Pommes takes it from the rich and gives it to the poor.. Probably the only explanation for the Trance Acid Remix of tech house outlaw Phillip Lauer.. Panflutes anyone

KRAKE is an annual Berlin based festival for challenging electronic music. Krake means - octo- pus' and the festival is organised in a comparable way: reaching out to selected locations during one week presenting the best in electronic music whatever style it is. The festival is not huge, not expensive, does not have big sponsoring deals or four different colour are passes. It's just a good and so far successful try to bring back the focus on artists who dare to step off the beaten tracks.
KRAKE 002 contains mostly exclusive tracks of artists who played at the Krake festival in 2013. The A-side starts with a dark ambient drone by DÄMMERN, followed by a pop-fueled two-step hit by PHON.O. Next in line is Irishman EOMAC with a warm and deep IDM track already char- ted by none less than Thom Yorke of Radiohead, followed by - Resolution', a little melancholic stepper by BILL YOUNGMAN.
The B-side is being opened with a techno track by grandmaster MONOLAKE in his most typical dubby percussive style. For the next track FRANK BRETSCHNEIDER reduces the sounds to the max again to deliver a percussive track as minimalistic as can be. Legendary techno producer CRISTIAN VOGEL, known for his constant search for new values, closes the compilation with an avantgarde piece of noise and drones.
Outstanding, we'd say!

The last time Fennesz released an album on Austrian label Mego it was 2001 and the name of that release was 'Endless Summer'. Now, in 2014 Editions Mego is extremely proud to release the conceptual follow up that landmark of abstract pop. Eschewing the more drone orientated works of 'Black Sea', 'Bécs' returns to the more florid pop mechanisms as deployed on Endless Summer. ' Bécs is not just an album or a series of songs, it's a world to inhabit, a landscape ripe with sounds, songs and that esteemed Fennesz signature. A singular work by a singular artist.

MF DOOM is the man in the iron mask. The most mysterious figure in hip-hop has also become one of the most popular, supplying beats and rhymes for Gorillaz, De La Soul, Madlib, Danger Mouse, and Wu-Tang Clan, and drawing praise from heavyweights like Just Blaze, Nas, and Mos Def. Since 2002, DOOM has released numerous volumes of Special Herbs, one of the longest-running instrumental series in hip-hop history. Now, volumes three and four of the acclaimed series are available on vinyl for the first time in years. With obscure loops and dusty samples galore, Special Herbs Vol. 3 & 4 is a must-have for any DOOM fan or hip-hop head. Also includes a limited-edition bonus 7', featuring two beats from DOOM's days as a member of 90s hip-hop trio KMD.

Their release on Kompakt at the tail end of last year was a big record for me and this follow-up has been getting incredible reactions in my sets. We're excited to bring it to you on Systematic as our #99 and keep a look out for the limited white transparent vinyl. Enjoy." - Marc Romboy

Monika Kruse - 'Rainer and Namito are two of the nicest guys in this business plus good producers! Well done again! Will play all.'

Kiki - 'Machine funk freakout! Should be a big one, as the last one!'

Huxley - 'Zick is a flipping MONSTER!! AHHH YESSSSS!!!!'

Claude VonStroke - 'it's a great record. I've been playing it for like 10months already.'

ZDS (Zombie Disco Squad) - 'Zack sounds like a chilled out Vitalic. I like it and will be giving it a spin.'

Sinden - 'These are fun tracks, also really liked their Kompakt release. Can't wait to play these.'

Tom Findlay (Groove Armada) - 'Well I absolutely love both cuts.....its everything you'd ever want from a Systematic release and more.'

Justin Martin - 'Zack definitely sounds like a fun track to me.. Looking forward to trying this one!'

Dutch DJ, producer and Wolfskuil label boss Darko Esser is to self-release his sophomore album, Anipintiros, in April 2014. The eight track album comes four years after his debut and is his first as Tripeo, the techno leaning alias he has been working under most often in recent times.

Working as Tripeo has reinvigorated Esser, who under his own name has been producing his unique take on electronic music for a decade now. 'It was liberating to have another persona take over,' says the man himself. 'I have been so inspired and productive ever since that I woke up one day with the thought 'I'm ready to do another album' and started straight away that day.'

Tripeo music is aimed squarely at the dancefloor, and there sure are some full blooded cuts on the album, but so to are there concessions to the listening experience, meaning deep, dark passages and more leftfield experiments help tie the whole thing together into one cohesive and coherent whole. 'Like all albums, this is a very personal statement,' explains Esser. 'It's just me trying to translate the overwhelming inspiration I feel right now into sound. That, and making the record as diverse as possible without losing the purist identity of Tripeo.'

That identity shines through right from the off on the album, which has been made using a knowing blend of both soft and hardware. 'Anipintiros #1' is a firmly rooted, rubbery bit of deep techno that works you into hypnosis and comes detailed with plenty of otherworldly ambiances. From there, Tripeo explores gallivanting techno run through with celestial pads on 'Anipintiros #2' and tripped out, ever shape shifting and dusty minimal sounds on 'Anipintiros #3'.

'Anipintiros #4' channels the widescreen and pumping techno of Detroit's finest whilst 'Anipintiros #5' is a more industrial and muscular track of the sorts that would sound perfect in the bowels of Berghain. 'Anipintiros #6' is one of the busier and more kinked techno rhythms with punchy drums and fax machine like melodies, before 'Anipintiros #7' thumps with real menace and 'Anipintiros #8' hums and hisses, spits and stutters like the suitably epic and melodic comedown you need after such a captivating ride.Everything, though is backed with serene synth work and an otherworldly sense of alien spirit that runs through all great techno.

There is plenty to get lost in throughout Anipintiros and it proves once again that Esser is someone able to coax far more feeling out of his machines than most.

DJ FEEDBACK

Early support from Blawan, Rødhåd, James Ruskin, Reeko, Exium, Mike Parker, Ben Sims, Rolando, Pfirter, Craig McWhinney, Cadans, Sandrien, Nuno Dos Santos

SHADELEAF reaches out to the tribes and comes home with a serious crop to see us through !

For their debut V.A selection 'Please Come Correct' Thatmanmonkz has pulled in some serious talent from the fringes of forward-thinking House

Ny*Ak fires the opening beatdown salvo,'U Don't Understand', and cooks up another of those loose, low riding, sample heavy and heady jams, reminiscent of Berlin via early Sound Signature that made last year's EP for Intimate Friends via Rush Hour such an essential!

Next up Cape Town's Jumping Back Slash, who's been making some serious music, fusing elements of S.A House with Kwaito and, well pretty much anything else he can throw into the mix to move your assets.
'Bloodlines' however could just as easily have emanated from 8 Mile, a captivating piece of pure, crisply rendered machine soul back lit with township chants and emotive chords.

Mr 'monkz himself handles B1, and to say this guy's on a roll would be something of an understatement!
Much like Graef and Co, 'imgettintiredofyou' is Deep House that dines out on a diet of Hip Hop, dirty hertz in the low registers and deftly manipulated sample work throughout - killer stuff!

Finally our truly global selection winds up in Moscow as another hotly tipped up-and-comer Lay-Far gives us 'Many-Sided'.
Fans of last year's excellent EP on Fifty Fathoms Deep will know what to expect. Again, a loosely pieced together cut, hinting at West London vibes,and shot through with creative sampling and an undeniable ear for melody and groove that really shines.

Ladies and gentleman, we would like to introduce to you; Nachtbraker (Dutch for Night Hawk). This energetic dude from our hometown might not be a familiar name to you, but don't let that put you off. If you're into the darker shades of deephouse with a serious chunk of funk, have a listen to this. Gute Laune is the track that really captures Nachtbraker's style in all its facets. It starts of modest with basic percussion and a nice bended pad, but when the bassline comes in, every element in the track makes your head bop, ass shake en smile grow. The real kicker is the changeover where the long pads makes way for a set of filtered stabs that give the whole track the energetic vibe it deserves, without going overboard. The whole track just exudes the detailed way Nachtbraker produces his tracks, and we love him for it. Bluebottle is a wholly different animal. This track keeps a lower pace with a crunchy pad and mysterious synth setting the tone. With a lovely ever-changing bassline, a couple of changeovers in the percussion and a clever gate-effect on the pad, don't be surprised if you find yourself humming this tune several hours after the first listen. Last but not least, there's Xantippe. Xantippe is hard to classify because of it's two-faced character. What starts of as an atmospheric broken beat dreamy tune, jumps into a raw burner after the break with a haunting buzzy loop. Bassface-WTF-material for the after hours. Nachtbraker delivers a quality EP that is definitely one for the heads, more than for those in search of peaktime bangers. We're excited to share this solid slice of deephouse that represents everything we started the label for: Great music, no matter where it's from or who made it. Sincerely yours, Lars & Maarten

Following his widely celebrated Macro Habitat EP of last year, Santos returns to Dissonant to deliver another three tracks, laying down detailed rhythms that shimmer with the infectious energy in which the man has made his twenty-year career on. 'Garlic' is a roving thrill-ride that hangs on to the commanding groove as it whips through a dense landscape of sound, constantly moving forward with an energy that speaks to primal instincts. That leaves it to 'Invisible' to get deep in the dub, letting masterfully handled delay and reverb pulse out a spiritually enriching techno mantra. 'Cable' takes a different approach, weaving some colour into the mix. The rolling beat flirts with playful swathes of synthesizer and samples for a wonderfully trippy end result that delights the mind, just as it moves the body.

Hot Casa Records reissues Disco Hi-Life, a real treasure album composed and interpreted by Afro-Soul maestro, Orlando Julius. Comes as delux 180 gramms vinyl with tip on jacket & inserts with interviews & photos. Check!
Following up to the 12inch release (HC07 / 2009), here comes the remastered version of a real mindblower piece from 1976 including four unreleased tracks, all recorded with the best Nigerian musicians, between Ginger Baker' Studio in Lagos and the American Star Studio in West Virginia, USA.
Orlando Julius Aremu Olusanya Ekemode was born in 1943 in Ikole-Ekiti, Nigeria and can be considered as a main figure of the Afro-Soul music history. One of the first African musician to get signed on a 'Major' label (Polydor), he delivered many hit single as a composer and effortlessly performed live as a tenor sax and singer. He worked and met with some of the 'greatest', such as Louis Armstrong, James Brown (for his Nigerian tour with Bootsy Collins), The Crusaders, Gil Scott Heron, or Hugh Masekela.
In the middle of 1975, just after they finished the recording of The Boys Doing It' album with Hugh Masekela, they all flew to Ghana and Lagos. It was holyday and Orlando had also plenty of time to focus on his own songs. He wrote 'Disco Hi-Life' in Yoruba and 'Children of the World' in English. And he immediately planned a recording session including 12 finest musicians, such as the great singer Dora Ifudu Avery, Adelaja Gboyega on keys, Kenneth Okulolo on Bass guitar, Butley Moore on drums, Fela's collaborator Tunde William on Trumpet, and also Ade, who helped sang 'Love Peace & Happiness'.
Originally released by Nigerian label Jofabro in partnership with the UNICEF association for the 'International year of the Child', it was only available in few promotional quantity... here comes the very first official reissue of this dancefloor masterpiece!

Blank Code start 2014 off strong with their latest EP Rituals of Submission, produced by Luis Flores, with remixes by Black Asteroid and DJ Hyperactive. The opening track Discipline starts off with a nice creepy atmosphere supported by a solid kick and just the right amount of percussion to hook you into the tracks core rhythm, which stays consistent while the supporting percussion keeps the intensity of the track in constant motion. Black Asteroid's Discipline remix gives the track a whole new perspective, while staying true to the original's excellent use of classic elements. The straightforward kick and up­beats work perfect with this track's industrial bassline, while cleverly programmed analog synths carry the track with slow triplet rhythms, and quirky stabs that drift off to space.

Luis Flores' second original composition, The Word, follows the same philosophy as Discipline, with many elements coming together to form one solid rhythm. This is a huge sounding track with intricate metal percussion and pitch modulated stabs that form a dark and inciting hook which is overtaken by filtered claps as the track progresses. DJ Hyperactive gets down to business with his remix of The Word and lets his Chicago roots shine through as hats on all fours and hard hitting claps are used to raise the energy sparked by the deep kick and well processed stab.

Freestyle Records is immensely proud to announce the release of this new single from new signing Kalbata & Mixmonster - Prisoner In Love, which is taken from the forthcoming stunning album Congo Beat The Drum.


Kalbata & Mixmonster went into their home studio ago in Tel Aviv, Israel with the purpose of recording a 100% analogue dub album in the spirit of the late King Tubby and the early dancehall era of the late 70's and early 80's. A 16-track tape machine and an old analogue mixing desk were their main instruments, with musicians playing live all throughout the album.


A year after recording the instrumental backing tracks, they travelled to Kingston, Jamaica and started tracking down their favourite singers and deejays from days gone by. The stunning and totally authentic results evoke the heyday of Jamaican music - and on 'Prisoner In Love' legendary vocalist Little John, regarded by some as the first dancehall vocalist, hits just the right feel on this mellow, down tempo number. His voice floats alongside the ethereal piano and on the money drum patterns and deep bass lines perfectly.


On the flip - special guest Kutiman drives the CRB organ on this instrumental version excursion of Prisoner In Love - proper old school JA style!

The third in the Modular Techno series from live analogue artist and Freerotation organiser Steevio.
After 15 years of producing techno live on hardware, in 2009 Steevio began building a dedicated machine on which he could totally improvise an entire techno performance from a blank canvas that far surpassed anything he could do with his previous setup of drum machines and synthesizers. Steevio's modular is 100% analogue; there is no computer involved, there are no memories to save sounds or sequencing patterns, and everything is improvised in real time..
Volumes 1 and 2 of the series were just a taster of what was to come, and were the early experimentations on Steevio's newly built machine. Steevio records everything he does, especially during the intense practice sessions for live gigs. All the music in the series are out-takes from these practice sessions, and the tracks from Volume 3 and the forthcoming Volume 4 all come from a three day period in practice for a recent live gig at Delete, Bournemouth, UK.
Volume 3 continues from where Volume 2 left off but delivered with more confidence and a deeper more hypnotic feel. Steevio continues to develop his skills and fine tunes his unique instrument in this dedicated 'for life' project.

The productions of producer Bunny 'Striker' Lee were so extensive in the early to mid 1970's that labels were created just to handle his ever expanding output.
Three labels that came about during this time when dub was king were Jackpot. Justice and Attack.
Here we look at the Jackpot label and have compiled a collection of some of its finest dub cuts.
Jackpot Records was formed in the early 1970's as a subsidiary of Trojan Records to handle the output from the hitmaker from Jamaica..Bunny 'Striker 'Lee
Bunny was at the birth of dub and worked closely with Dubmaster King Tubby,having his masters stored at Tubbys allowed his rhythms to be worked on by Tubby, whether it was to remix or add vocals to an existing tape,the new interest in the dubbed version would see the next single being worked on for its version side.
We have gathered here what we think are some of the best dubcuts from this label and era..
Hope uou enjoy the set

6th Borough Project are all set to release the follow up to their 2011 debut LP One Night In The Borough at the start of March. A hectic couple of years have been lived out by Graeme Clark and Craig Smith during the making of their Borough 2 Borough LP with Graeme continuing to play week in and week out as Revenge and setting up his new imprint Roar Groove whilst Craig has established the brilliant Fifty Fathoms Deep label. Studio time has been tight to say the least but that hasn't stopped the duo from pulling out all the stops and ensuring that this LP surpasses the already sky-high benchmark set by it's predecessor.

As a taster for the LP we present you with this sampler single containing three gems that'll whet your appetite and leave you gagging for more! Kicking off we have In Your Arms which sees the duo deliver some classic 6BP business with a party-starting house track laced with Philly strings and a heavy dose of soul. Next up things take a slightly darker direction on U Know U with this heads-down track incorporating a crisp, stripped-back beat joined by filtering pads and a distant vocal for company. Flip over for Read My Mind which brings some deep and brooding warehouse vibes to the table. This is the sound of 6th Borough Project doing techno with just a hint of 909 ride adding to the layers of bouncing stabs and off-kilter vocals.

Two pioneering heavyweights unite for this stellar 4 track EP forthcoming on Eglo Records.It's fair to say that the legacy of Dego's musical output can be heard in just about every genre in the contemporary dance music spectrum, from hardcore and drum n bass, to house and of course Broken Beat.Kaidi is of the highly skilled keys player that lent his hand to many of those legendary productions.. recording with Bugz In The Attic, Domu, IG Culture etc not to mention his own releases.
Eglo fulfil a life long goal of bringing the pair together to release a brand new EP of broken beat bullets!

Berlin-based producer and DJ Hubertus Schacht is back on Samuvar 6 with a stunning microdubhouse-track:
'hikari' sports multi-layered soundscapes, is full of little nifty melodies and big mighty chords albeit never losing sight of the dancefloor.
Swinging hi-hats, compelling breaks and a massive drop - embedded in a smoothly floating midtempo-arrangement.
Perfect for the early morning hours when facing the absorbed crowd of usual suspects in a club. And just as perfect for lounging around at home. Headphones, sofa, let the world float by.
On the flipside pavel pokhorovsky, formerly responsible for Samuvar4, presents a convincing track with a calm and concentrated pusher.
timeless record, quality!

More extra-terrestrial, technoid vibrations from the Ill River nucleus.
This latest transmission delivered by the one and only Hakim Murphy; and received through biosynthesized artefacts planted on Earth by the higher civilizations during the Great Experiment.

Reports of strange noises in the sky have been circulating since 2010, posing many questions as to their origin.
Secretly, III Rivers have been communicating with the space beings, securing their place in the interstellar Shangri-la when at last we finally transcend the cosmos.

"Smog" is the initial signal to land - beginning with cascading bleeps and sonars before a buzzing sawtooth assumes first contact. Proceeding to encapsulate all Earthlings with its electromagnetic hum - it's no wonder people are rushing to the top of apartment blocks to try and bootleg this shit on their phones.

"Vortex" is next, taking us right through the wormhole into the domain of machine-elves and humongous multi-headed entities, all eager to show us the porthole to paradise. A blissful bubble of ricocheting snares, delectable synth rubs and celestial goodness awaits.

“Spanking Tables” concludes the set and sees Hakim display his amazing control of percussion and unusual sounds; comfortably easing us in with our new galactic friends. Synthetic toms, drifting pads and sharp hats all converging on our bodies.

Beautiful stuff. Maybe the Maya were just a year too early….

Repress

In this time of age where it seems many are slowing down the BPM on tracks and releases it makes us extra proud and happy to send you another Fast and XTRM Hardcore monster!

All 4 tracks rock out harder than hard and the slowest track on the EP is 190 BPM.. So you boys & girls get the message... This is not for the weak hearted... This is HARD Core!!!

Hope you guys enjoy these releases as much as we do and play it loud and fast just as DROKZ & AKIRA intended it to be played!!

It's not easy making jams that really work the crowd just as well in Bristol as in Berlin. Nor any other city for that matter. It's those crossover artists that really stand out for us with tunes that do so much more than just ride the wave of what's hot. Enter The Organ Grinder and his sick 3track EP for Heist. 'How did I get here", the A1 track, might sound like something you'd ask yourself when you realize you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, but for us, this track is everything but that. This track has the most gritty and rolling percussion we've heard in a long time, a looped key with a hint of sleazy techno and some subs that will easily blow your grandma's porcelain to pieces. Add some odd FM frequency noises and you've got yourself a killer tune. Changes all the time takes a more drawn back approach, aptly characterized in the vox: 'repetition, with tiny changes all the time.' A set of carefully placed stabs. pads and strings along with a great arrangement that keeps you wanting more of that warm but rough groove. The Valley of doom takes you on a journey through the whole B-side with a stripped down, almost dubby techno vibe, nicely countered with The OG's signature slamming and gritty percussion. I hope you will enjoy this record as much as we do. Sincerely yours, Lars & Maarten

Label boss Daniel Solar returns with a new EP and some helping hands from Stee Downes on the mic, Florian Kruse & Nils Nuernberg with the mixer and Berlin homie Mario Aureo on the composition.

The tracks are ranging from disco to house, from mild to wild and should keep the audience from start to finish.

A1 - Daniel Solar - Someday

Someday... somehow... it feels good! Does it point the direction to the promised land Or is it just the hope for a better sexual experience Send a mail to Doctor Solar. Meanwhile have fun on the floor with this peak time piano driver.

A2 - Daniel Solar - Someday (Kruse & Nürnberg Remix)

Pimp my car, pimp my track... More beats, more piano, more more. Try this for hot & spicy or go back to Daniel's version for the original taste.

B1 - Daniel Solar & Mario Aureo - I Do Believe (feat. Stee Downes)

This is the voice of planet... Stee Downes. Dikso couldn't resist and asked him to join them on stage. Together with longtime production partner Mario Aureo he completes a new dream team and with "I Do Believe" they couldn't have started better.

B2 - Daniel Solar - Cookie Dough

And what are we having for dessert A disco-infected mid-tempo groover called cookie dough Thank god you can dance the calories off with it.

After a superlative EP from Chicago's DJ Rahaan, Dublin's Fatty Fatty Phonographics is back with another installment of Pablo and Shoey's 'Rejigs', which have had support from the likes of Hot Toddy, Bicep, Get Down Edits, Leftside Wobble, House of Disco and Rub'N'Tug.

'No Good (Start The Jack) sees them take on Kelly Charles' 'You're No Good', a late 80's New Jersey house bomb and source of the infamous vocal hook from The Prodigy's 'No Good (Start The Dance). After one of the great 80's dance music clichés - an intro where some sassy mama gives her boyfriend shit down an old school telephone line - they go straight for the jugular with that big big hook, spinning the whole thing out for 10 minutes with lots of hypnotic piano loops and large chunks of the great song at the heart of it all. This is one that the crowd will be immediately singing right back at ya at 2am!

'Gonna Get Ya', meanwhile, goes for some Greg Wilson 'Edit The Edit' style shenanigans, taking on Barna Soundmachine's sly, slinky funk loops. The Barna man's original had a whole heap of Diana Ross' vocals from 'I'm Gonna Make You Love Me' at the centre but never let rip with the big hands in the air chorus. The lads have rearranged it here so it's alot less teasin' and alot more ease-in!

The 3rd track is as important to Pablo and Shoey as it is to Moodymann, so 'Funky Rump (Tribute To MCA)' pays tribute to the sadly deceased Beastie Boy by looping up some busy jazz drums from 'Paul's Boutique' and splicing it with a very fitting in concert tribute from the one and only Flava Flav of Public Enemy. The full track, when it eventually arrives, is a relentless clav funk monster that just keeps going and going....

Auf dem Album feiern Künstler wie Angelique Kidjo, uestlove (The Roots), M1 (Dead Prez), tUnE-yArDs, Kronos Quartet, Baloji, Spoek Mathambo, Nneka oder Tony Allen in dreizehn grandiosen Neubearbeitungen Fela Kutis musikalisches Vermächtnis. Außer der Compilation veröffentlicht Knitting Factory Records ebenfalls am 15. Oktober die letzten sechs Titel in der Reissue-Serie von Fela Kutis Gesamtwerk, die im März dieses Jahres mit der Compilation "The Best Of The Black President 2" und der ersten Staffel der CDs begonnen hatte.

After a string of releases on Drumcode Records, Pets Recordings and Hypercolour, Tom Demac has joined forces with Will Samson in a somewhat unlikely pairing for their debut release via AUS. Following on from AUS's celebratory 50th release from Deetron, a surprise re-release of Sei A and another solid EP from Dusky, this release takes the label along a more expansive and less dance floor orientated route. In 2012 Tom Demac established himself as one of the UK's most exciting producers after widespread acclaim for 'Critical Distance Part 2'. He followed up this success in New Release Information 2013 with collaborations and remixes with Glimpse such as 'L-Plates'. On the other hand Will had been touring indie venues with Kurt Vile, Marissa Nadler, Shearwater, Ólafur Arnalds off the back of his newly released LP, 'Balance' - an album of hazy, ambient & intimate tape recordings At the end of 2012 Tom stumbled across Will's album, although on opposite sides of the musical spectrum, the two shared a similar ethos towards their work - passionately creating, but never taking themselves too seriously. Having both experienced the recent and sudden loss of close family members just a few short months apart from each other, it was clear that there were both in need of a cathartic outlet. 'It Grows Again' and 'Chasing Shadows' reflects these experiences with a striking blend of wistful vocals and ambient guitar swells from Will Samson and Tom's distinctive grumbling and weighty bass lines. The final track on the EP is Tom's formula remix which seeks a more 4 to the floor approach, led by punchy beats and groove rather than intricate vocals. Tom Demac will be complementing the build up to the release by playing gigs and live shows across the Netherlands, Germany, Ibiza and the UK.

There are many ways to move forward as an artist. You can reinvent yourself, keep track of fashions, or try bold new things. Tom Trago has spent the best part of 10 years pushing his sound in impressive new directions. Yet on his new album, the well-regarded Amsterdam-based producer has done things slightly differently. This time round, his influences come from much closer to home, and he has admitted to being inspired by the dancefloor-focused style with which he made his name.

Welcome to The Light Fantastic. We're sure you'll enjoy the trip.

Trago is an old hand at this kind of thing. Back in 2009, his debut album, Voyage Direct, impressed with its warm, disco-centric blends of full-throttle deep house and boogie-influenced synthesizer funk. He cast his net wider on 2011's Iris, choosing to work with a wide variety of international collaborators on an album that laid bare his myriad of musical influences.

On the Light Fantastic, he's decided to 'step back to move forwards' with a warm, involving set that puts the simple pleasures of the best dancefloor moments at its heart.

'I tried to go a bit back towards the style I was doing on Voyage Direct, so dancefloor beats with deeper impact,' Trago admits. 'I was trying to male tracks that work on the dancefloor, but also move your heart.'

In some ways, The Light Fantastic is Trago in 'back to basics' mode. Partly inspired by his ever-increasing travels around the world to DJ, it melds together a range of influences - deep house, vintage synthesizers, classic boogie, disco, Chicago jack, acid house, and even a dash of full-throttle rave revivalism on the raw funk of 'The Elite' - on a set that sounds like it was painted in vivid colours by an artist at the top of his game.

'I'm like a professor in a lab, trying to make little ideas work,' Trago enthuses, warming to the theme. 'The tracks are all there in my head, like a puzzle, and I have to make all the pieces fit together.'

The 'back to basics' theme extended to his choice of collaborators. Whereas Iris was notable for featuring an impressive cast list of international singers, musicians and producers, The Light Fantastic is more of a homegrown affair. While plenty of people lent a hand during the recording process, they were trusted locals from the Dutch electronic music scene, rather than outsiders.

'This time, I thought 'whoever walks in the studio can get involved',' he says. 'If they walked in, they could sing, play some synths or do some mixing. A lot of people came to hang out and ended up lending a hand. It's a much more fun way of working than sending your track to somebody across the other side of the World.'

There are many collaborations on The Light Fantastic, but listen out for contributions from Steffi, Ben Westbeech, 'studio neighbour' San Proper, Makam, vocalist Holly Wood and, most surprisingly, a local club owner who just happened to swing by the studio. 'Using my friends was a big part of the process,' Trago admits. 'One of the points of the album was using people who were close to home, part of the family almost.'

It's an approach that definitely paid dividends. Certainly, this celebration of Amsterdam's blossoming electronic music scene adds a little extra frisson of excitement to The Light Fantastic's impressive vibrancy.

By the time the rush-inducing positivity of 'The Wrong Right' gives way to the mutant alien funk of album closer 'Desire', you'll be ready to listen to it all over again. That's the thing with The Light Fantastic - it's a trip you'll want to take again and again.

Once upon a time...in the midst of masked identities, artist pseudonyms and the like, Midnight Shift introduces a creature not even of human form.

Tapirus conjures music reflecting the duality of his soul. On one hand, rough and acidic to tell of the terrain of his past. And on the other, pure ethereal sounds borne of another place. This EP, showcasing 3 songs of the Tapirus alongside a remix by label artist Basic Soul Unit, is just the introduction to his tale.

The wiggly 'Acid Love Story' enters the room with its tight drum programming and infectious bassline commanding attention. A voice speaks of a love lost: 'She left...she left. Dark time ahead. Dark times in my head.' But perhaps the story is not yet over.

'Trying to Make Something of Life' continues the monologue, conveying an acidic almost bitter experience. Freaked out and haunting, this track is literally inspired by the dead. It lays as atribute to losing yet another close companion in life.

On the flipside, 'To Live in the Hearts...' and its remix comes through. Ascending the scales of life, its Asianic influence and soaring chords take one beyond the clouds. Basic Soul Unit's transforms the track helter-skelter, a frantic pace turning the peaceful tune into beautiful art of war.

Second part of this two episode series on Subnet records. Following the same flavour as before... dark textures and mental synth lines driven together by hard drum patterns and groovy percussion. These two ep reflect the creepy and insane behaviour caused by experiments in the field of invisibility applied in the human being. All the tracks were recorded live! Just using analog sequencers, mpc, analog mixer and synths... Directly to a recording device. In the same way as you could record a live set, to keep all the vibe as fresh as possible. 220 copies limited vinyl release.

L/F/D/M is from London and studied art with Dom from Factory Floor, who encouraged him to work on music production. But his musical influences range from jazz, exotica, afrobeat, disco, post punk - you name it.

'I guess all the music you soak up just filters through one way or another. Music production is often about exploiting chance and about decisions made in that moment. I'm always trying to reach that magic point where you can remove yourself from what you're making, and the music starts to trigger an emotion rather than just being blocks of colour on a computer.' - L/F/D/M

Together Old-Skool Acid House Alert! These tracks were recorded by Jordan Fields in Chicago during the late 80's. Just recently re-discovered on reel to reel tapes and as soon as we heard these beauties, we knew the world needs to have these on vinyl! Starting off with 'Among The Kloudz' which is a very raw & mental analog groovin' acid-house track. On the flipside you'll find 'Keepin' It Together", a warm soulful but yet club friendly Mr Fingers, Virgo Four alike track. This EP is for all the true Chicago heads, enjoy!

- Turn Me On' by Jay W. McGee is the third release in a series of sought after boogie, disco and modern soul re-issues on Légère Recordings. The original 12inch vinyl single appeared on the tiny Canadian Indie label Love Productions in 1980 and is immensely hard to find these days.

- Turn Me On' is an unusual production for its time, grooving along unbelievably deep in a spartanic arrangement, and fuelled by vocals which are not too far away from Sylvester's iconic style of mixing soul, disco, funk and jazz.


Jay W. McGee has a strong opinion about disco music: - When disco came out, it had its own way of reaching people's hearts too. Being in a club, you know, it's escapism, like with soul music. Soul is addressing everyday life problems, disco is about how to forget and enjoy yourself. They each have their own unique place. I saw people railing on doing disco because they didn't understand the seriousness of it,' Jay W. McGee explains about - Turn Me On' when he officially commissioned this re-release: - The discrimination of disco was in reality a discrimination against black music.'

- Your Love', the flipside of this 12inch single, is an exciting ballad on the B-side and a surprise in itself. Both tracks feature a great combination of talents. Wayne Jackson, the trumpet player on - Turn Me On', played on Rick James' album 'Bustin' Out On L Seven', in the late Seventies. Glenn Johanson was the engineer on - Your Love'. He became Eddy Grant's house engineer at his studio in Barbados right after he mixed this tune. But there is also a little drama in the story. When Jay W. McGee returned to the studio where he recorded, "Turn Me On" he found out that the original version of - Turn Me On' was erased by another technician: - Everybody said it could have been a hit, and maybe the guy did it on purpose.' Nevertheless he recorded the song again with a now different arrangement and instrumentation. Maybe that is the reason why the production is so unique and also so different to - Your Love'.

Jay W. McGee could have been a solo artist on Philadelphia International Records, back in 1969, when he met Leon Huff of Gamble & Huff, in Philly for an audition, just before they recorded - Me And Mrs. Jones', - Bad Luck' and - Backstabbers' with Billy Paul, Harold Melvin and The O'Jays. They offered him a contract, but he refused, because he came with his whole group from Flint, Michigan and they wanted to be signed collectively.

Jay W. McGee kept just one of the original 12inches in his home: - Both songs were a profession of love to my wife. We are now married for 34 years.' Now if this ain't love, we don't know....'

*This is the second solo album from Ken Camden who lives and works in Chicago. He also plays in the Implodes sound quartet. *Space travel is the dream of many and the reality of few. Since Yuri Gagarin rst shed the bonds of earth gravity in 1961, only about 500 humans have made the trip beyond the atmosphere. *Ken Camden travels to space while still grounded on terra rma. His vessel of choice is a guitar and some effects with which he journeys on fantastical expeditions and surveys the biggest territory of all, the one between your ears. *The glimmering sound elds he forms could be a soundtrack to an epic 60's science-ction lm, or a long forgotten grade school educational lm strip explaining how humans would be living on Mars early in the 21st century. *Camden's narrative rejects the dominant dystopian view of the future and posits that there are great voyages yet to be made in inner and outer space. *The album forms a gravity-free environment in which the listener is suspended, enhancing an aural excursion to the outer reaches of the musical Kosmos. *Press quotes for Lethargy & Repercussions: 'Transcendence achieved.' Tiny Mix Tapes 'It's an album that, although it's only been recorded once, feels forever embedded in the present tense when you listen to it.' Attn Magazine 'Ken Camden fuses the mystery of Eastern scales with Krautrock and Karl Stockhausen inspired themes, yet his sound remains futuristic.' Bearded 'Awesome record of shimmering, electronically modied solo guitar music. The pulsing, gated rhythms do have a certain (k) / (c) luster that reminds me of Achim Reichel and / or Steve Hillage, but the sound- palette is decidedly contemporary, with endless synchronized delays & comb lterings making the proceeding just so rich & dense.' Keith Fullerton Whitman *Track listing: