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First Word Records is extremely proud to welcome the legendary New Sector Movements to the label, and the first new release from this moniker in 15 years! A 5-track EP for 'These Times', comprised of street soul, hip hop, jazz and bruk-tinged vibes.

Founded, headed and produced by DJ & musician IG Culture (CoOp Presents / LCSM), this all-new quasi-group project also features the vocal talents of Allysha Joy, Mike City and Natalie May with additional accompaniment from Wonky Logic, Wayne Francis, Alex Phountzi and the NSM Fusion Starship!

New Sector Movements (aka NSM) were the first out the gate at the dawn of the original broken beat movement, releasing their first single 'Groove Now / New Goya' on the People label in 1997, then releasing several singles and EPs through to the late noughties, and dropping a classic album on Virgin entitled 'Download This'. The previous incarnation featured several other artists from the bruk foundation era, including Kaidi Tatham, Izzy Dunn, Julie Dexter and Eska Mtungwazi amongst others.

Awarded a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' at the 2019 Worldwide Awards, NSM's IG Culture is a hugely pioneering prolific artist in the UK music scene. His catalogue of releases over the years has seen numerous aliases, collaborations, remixes and productions. Appearing on the scene in 1990 as part of Dodge City Productions, to producing several solo albums throughout the noughties, to recent years with his hugely-acclaimed cosmic jazz outfit LCSM (Likwid Continual Space Motion), additionally to co-running the CoOp Presents label, continuing the legacy of the award-winning club night whilst showcasing new artists, IG Culture has been omnipresent at every corner of British black music for three decades deep, influencing many a sound.

This is all additionally to projects like NameBrandSound, Likwid Biskit, Da One Away and Son of Scientist to name just a few. His work has appeared on releases by Roots Manuva, Young Disciples, Les Nubians and Monday Michiru, while remix work over the years has included Gang Starr, Femi Kuti, José James, Miraa May, Slum Village, Digital Underground, Luniz, Naughty By Nature, Airto Moreira & Flora Purim.

As a DJ, he's shut down dances all over the world, recently at places like Fabric, We Out Here festival and Summer Dance Forever in Amsterdam, as well as regularly rocking the airwaves on Worldwide FM and combining the two at BBC 6 Music's All Points East stage in the Summer. IG Culture also founded Selectors Assemble; a collective of forward thinking DJs and producers.

So, as we head towards Winter 2022, New Sector Movements has returned (but don't call it a comeback!). After a turbulent few years in the world, it seemed a poignant moment to reinvigorate the soul, and reflect upon 'These Times'. Here we have five brand new tracks, each illustrating a pertinent mood and attitude representing the current climate. Allysha Joy leads the vocal on EP opener 'These Times', a sumptuous slice of street soul with a deeply infectious horn hook. 'Stand' is next - uptempo boom bap for the dancers, this one featuring the soulful pipes of Mike City. 'Hope' is a midtempo jazz-funk dub again feature vocal licks from Allysha, and introducing the mysterious NSM Fusion Starship into the fold. 'H.E.A.T.' picks up the pace with some infectious jazz-bruk business, this one lead by Natalie May on the vocals, who explains "heat = movement, motion". And finally 'Bless' with closes the set on a four-four riddim with bruk sensibilites, inviting Mike City back with an uplifting vocal requesting we "bless the people just trying to make it".

An essential EP of cross-genre vibes to resonate cross-generations, New Sector Movements do not ramp. IG Culture and crew proceed to give you what you need for 'These Times'.

'These Times' is released on vinyl and digital worldwide via First Word Records late February 2023.

repress, blue marbled limited version

The label imprint of the beloved Berlin based club Paloma delivers its eighth release, and it was created by none other than a vogueing encyclopedia of musical and club culture knowledge (plus a cherished Paloma resident DJ). The disco professor: Daniel Wang.
It is his first original production under his own name in many years, and you can easily tell that this is not a tool to join in with dancefloor conformity (after all, his first album was called Idealism for a reason). Daniel Wang had already evolved from innocently enthusiastic sampling to synth wizardry during the heyday of his legendary Balihu label, and while studying the masters, he became one himself.
DSDN is an ode to nocturnal Berlin and its party community, a city that never left the centre of international attention for its vital and influential scene. Daniel Wang is a part of it since twenty years, and he was influenced by what he experienced as much as he left his mark on many nights, both as a DJ, and as a producer.
Of course, this release follows the traditional structure of a Disco EP by using a main tune DSDN with complementing dubs and instrumentals. Four to be exact, because four is the magic number with this format. DSDN reflects the internationality of the clubs across town in English and German words and pays homage to all the districts, and it effortlessly manages to unite sounds of both 80s NYC and Italo disco, 90s NYC and Italo house, synthpop and rap before it became too successful, balearic vibes before they became a mere excuse, and then it just majestically unfolds into both a charming summer hit and a complex opus magnum, but all an aural sunbeam that blows a kiss to those who emerge from recent sensations in clubs, bars, parks, and streets. Alone or together, happy or sad, resolute or irresolute, tired or energized, or all at once.

”Look up, into the light” she said, while the camera shutter clicked. ”Like this? Does it look holy?” His neck felt stiff. Her reply: ”Yes, just like that. What do you mean holy? Like religious? ”No, more like trying to look very far, somewhere beyond what we can see.” ”Okay, stand still, I’m going to come close to you now. The light hits your face great.” *click, click, click.

He noticed her fingernails. They were not polished. Natural. Even somewhat rugged, as if something wore out the fingers slightly. What had these hands held besides the camera? What made the edges of her fingernails drift off?

He thought it’s weird to look straight into the camera. The photographer had closed her left eye, the one not looking into the lens. Then it opened, she looked up, perusing the surroundings, then she closed her eye again, then looked up, closed, looking up, very quickly. It all seemed very professional. Maybe she calculated the light, making sure it’s close to perfect. ”What will these photos look like?” – the thought popped into his head briefly. It was liberating to think it wouldn’t matter.

”What’s that song playing?” he asked. ”Wait a sec, Ol’ Dirty Bastard?” she replied. ”Oh yeah, right. But the sample?” ”Hey, could you look up again, like that. No, lower.”

New directions: ”Look out from the window, turn left.” ”My left or yours?” ”Yours, I always try to think from the direction of my model.” How professional! This is a good shoot, so natural. Should I worry about how the photos look like? No, I don’t want to. His thoughts bounced around. What would the story be like? It’s a big newspaper, everyone will read it. Maybe someone drinks coffee and eats a stroopwafel while they do it. Will they place the waffle on top of the mug for a brief while, so that it gets hot and the syrup melts a little? Then it feels wet, and you can bend the cookie.

She broke his train of thought off midway through: ”Now turn right, but look left, and slightly up, but don’t turn your face right.” ”Umm, like this? Sounds like a set of pilates instructions.” she laughed ”You do pilates?” ”Yeah, it’s hard sometimes. Have you tried?” ”No”, she said. ”I’m not good for sports that are done in groups.” ”Yeah, but in pilates you can just be inside your mind, drowning in your private thoughts.”

”What are you thinking in pilates?” she asked, taking more photos. ”Well, mostly just which way is right. And which left.” *click, click.

At the beginning of the eighties reggae music became increasingly in tune with what was happening in Kingston’s dance halls… probably more so than at any time since the sound system operators had started to make their own shuffle and boogie recordings in the late fifties. The international audience and the critics were too busy looking for a new Bob Marley to appreciate what was happening downtown and failed to acknowledge that this was a return to the real, raw roots of the music. Brash, confident, young record producers who were totally in tune with the youth audience stepped forward and seized the moment…

Oswald ‘Ossie’ Thomas began his apprenticeship in the music business at the age of
fourteen and served his time as a record salesman for Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee and Winston ‘Niney The Observer’ Holness before moving on to Miss Sonia Pottinger’s Tip Top Records.

“I ended up working in three record stores on Orange Street from 1976 to 1981… Yeah man! Me deh ‘pon me bicycle till I buy my motorcycle! Them days records were coming out left, right and centre… every day!” Ossie Thomas.

It was during his time with Miss Pottinger that Ossie began to produce records for
himself and in 1979 Ossie and Phillip Morgan began the Black Solidarity label based deep in the Kingston ghetto on Delamere Avenue. Phillip initially inspired Ossie to start the label and soon Triston Palma, Phillip Frazer and “a youth named Gary Robertson” joined in although Gary later left for Canada.

The Soul Syndicate rehearsed in the Delamere Avenue area and Tony Chin gave Ossie a cut of a rhythm that he used for Triston Palma’s ‘A Class Girl’… the label’s inaugural release. The record was a sizeable success and paved the way for hit after hit after hit on Black Solidarity. Ossie worked with just about everybody who was anybody during this critical period of the music’s development including vocalists Robert Ffrench, Little John, Sugar Minott, Frankie Paul and most notably Triston Palma.

For this release we have compiled some of the version sides to those releases. Dub still being an integral part of the Reggae Sound System Sound. So sit back and listen to what Black Solidarity, one of the most important and often overlooked labels were bringing to the dance, dubwise, back in those heady 1980’s times.

With grateful thanks to: Paul Coote, Nick Hodgson & Hasse Huss

Summertime sounds abound on the sixth Drum Chums disc, which comes lovingly dubbed and diced by our friendly Fruit Merchant Hidden Spheres.

Known globally for his free-flowing DJ sets, halcyon house hits and mastery of melody, Tom's been at the top of his game for time now - just check those releases on Rhythm Section and Scissor & Thread - and it's a pleasure to carry his drum sticks for this one. Cracking open his vault of top secret DJ tweaks, Spheres explores sweltering proto-house, tropical disco lilt and deepest waters across three floor-ready cuts.

The Fruit Merchant plucks something ripe from the Kalimba Tree on the A side, starting the party properly with joyous Afro-house jam 'Stolen'. Carnival-friendly drums and a Boyd Jarvis bassline wind up your waist while the call-and-response vocals and exuberant brass send hands and heads skywards before the track transitions into an utterly ecstatic sax-led breakdown. This is magic.

For the B-side, Hidden Spheres treats us to a couple of deep digs from his time in Australia, both originating in the Aboriginal community.
Emerging from the astral vibrations of a didgeri-drone, 'You Better Dance' casually locks into an irresistible 105bpm groove, strolling through the echo-laced dub space as its poetic vocal speaks to your soul.
Balearic-paced and cosmic-minded, this one plays perfectly next to those I-Level 12's.

For finale 'Together', Spheres shifts back into proto-house mode, locking a hypnotic piano riff into some militant snare rolls to lay the foundation for the impassioned vocal. Delivering the occasional diversion into more mournful territories, Spheres reminds us why deep house deity DJ Sprinkles always takes his calls.

100% Drum Fun Guaranteed.

Die von Kritikern gefeierte Singer-Songwriterin und globale Pop-Ikone P!NK veröffentlicht am 17. Februar 2023 ihr mit Spannung erwartetes neunten Studioalbums "TRUSTFALL" via RCA Records. "TRUSTFALL" ist ihr erstes Studioalbum seit dem 2019 erschienenen Longplayer "Hurts 2B Human" und markiert eine aufregende Rückkehr der gefeierten Künstlerin zur Musik. Auf dem Album befindet sich natürlich auch die erste Singleauskopplung "Never Gonna Not Dance Again", ein catchy Pop-Track, der von den GRAMMY-Preisträgern Max Martin und Shellback produziert wurde, die den Song auch gemeinsam mit P!NK geschrieben haben. "TRUSTFALL" ist das perfekte musikalische Warm-Up für P!NKs große "Summer Carnival"-Tour im Sommer 2023 durch sieben deutsche Stadien.

In a blizzard of delirious sonics and twis’ up samples extracted from the annals of dancehall and ragga, Seekersinternational return to Sneaker Social Club to double down on the manifesto they laid out with the original RaggaPreservationSociety EP way back in 2016.

As ever, the SKRS magic lies in their ability to convey a deep affection and serious dedication for the source material while simultaneously getting shamelessly weird with it, taking the mutant tendencies of dancehall’s wildest instrumentals and injecting some added cosmic sauce into the mix. On this new record, they’re also embracing the volatile potential of junglist breaks - always intrinsically linked to Jamaican music at the point of inception, especially in the rough and ready daze of ragga jungle.

‘No Parasites (Lickshot)’ is a fierce mission statement, raining down mayhem without ever slipping into familiar modes - the emphasis is on the ragga, the jungle is there as a piquant flavour in the stew, but as ever the SKRS sound remains entirely out on its own. In contrast, ‘CaughtUp (HeartBreaks)’ almost edges closer to hardcore structures, but something keeps slipping in to run the interference, hovering just beyond perception for that all important woozy feeling.

‘2GoldChain (DriveUCrazy)’ is cut up enough to be another interstellar voyage, but here SKRS keep the music back in the mix and let a tapestry of chat lead out front as though capturing a casual street level chaos - bewildering and familiar in equal measure. ‘OriginaloftheOriginal’ completes the set with an earth-shattering script flip once more, coming on like square wave grime and half-speed breakbeat set to emotional stun. If it takes a minute to make sense, that’s because you’re hearing something entirely new.

Die von Kritikern gefeierte Singer-Songwriterin und globale Pop-Ikone P!NK veröffentlicht am 17. Februar 2023 ihr mit Spannung erwartetes neunten Studioalbums "TRUSTFALL" via RCA Records. "TRUSTFALL" ist ihr erstes Studioalbum seit dem 2019 erschienenen Longplayer "Hurts 2B Human" und markiert eine aufregende Rückkehr der gefeierten Künstlerin zur Musik. Auf dem Album befindet sich natürlich auch die erste Singleauskopplung "Never Gonna Not Dance Again", ein catchy Pop-Track, der von den GRAMMY-Preisträgern Max Martin und Shellback produziert wurde, die den Song auch gemeinsam mit P!NK geschrieben haben. "TRUSTFALL" ist das perfekte musikalische Warm-Up für P!NKs große "Summer Carnival"-Tour im Sommer 2023 durch sieben deutsche Stadien.

WAX series of 12+1 London (TPO) first artist doesn't need introduction, Alex Arnout, for those still do not know this iconic music selector from U.K., he started his DJ career in Spain, and in the humble surroundings of many a local bar. The nineties were spent learning the basic skills so often lacking in today's break-through 'DJs'. Eventually catching the ear of someone that mattered, Arnout began playing more familiar outposts like DC:10 and Pin Up in Ibiza, Dance Valley in Amsterdam and CircoLoco in London, for whom he has been resident for the last few years. This is just the beginning of more than 20 years of history. Higher Orbit is his last work, an EP including three original tracks, 'What I Mean', 'Aabstrkt Mind' and the main hit 'Higher Orbit' also remixed by the head-honcho of the imprint U Z Z V.

Orlando Voorn is back on Heist after his 2022 ‘Heist mastercuts’ EP and comes in with a heavy dose of soulful machine funk. ‘Heist mastercuts part 2’ has the techno & house veteran showing his eclectic style with the vocal cut ‘Soundsystem’, Midwest inspired sample jam ‘High’ and his Boo Williams collaborative drum workout ‘909’.

On the first Heist mastercuts, Orlando dove deep into his archives and presented a collection of old and new tracks, showing us that his music has aged well and reminding us that he’s a producer still on the top of his game. He kept busy in 2022 with releases on our own label Transient Nature, Kompakt, a handful of Bandcamp only tracks, and a self-released album. Somehow, he found the time to work on his follow up ep on Heist and managed to completely blow us away with the music.

The EP kicks off with Soundsystem: a masterclass in simplicity. A steady and minimalistic groove guides you through the track, where silky vocals and woozy chords take you on a trip through Orlando’s sonic universe. Orlando moves into freak mode with a trippy lead and dubbed-out keys to add some playfulness to an already outstanding track.

‘High’ is Orlando’s take on what could easily be an old Andrés track. Here, he samples a female vocal (I get high, I get high, I get high), and cleverly adds his own vocals to add depth and originality to the track. The percussion on high grooves in an effortless way and underlines the feel of this track: It’s fun, cool and incredibly funky. There’s a bit of Dam Swindle sauce on the mix to make sure this track hits the right spot on any dancefloor.

On the flip, there’s ‘Day by day’: A classic Orlando Voorn cut with a live bassline, plenty of chopped samples and a Rhodes loop that could have come straight from a B-roll of a ‘First Choice’ recording session. The b-side ends with a collab with Orlando’s close friend Emil and legendary Chicago producer Boo Williams. The producers take a monologue from Boo Williams about working the 909 and deliver a drum workout -yes with the 909- that keeps on building energy, showing exactly what Boo is talking about.

The digital package also includes an instrumental mix of Soundsytem and an alternative mix to 909, just for good measure. This is the first artist release in our 10 years of Heist anniversary year and this EP perfectly encapsulates the Heist Sound: varied, deep, soulful, and banging.

Yours sincerely,
Maarten & Lars

BASSIST/COMPOSER PETROS KLAMPANIS LOOKS TO PAST AND FUTURE AS HE TRANSFORMS TRADITIONAL GREEK MUSIC WITH TORA COLLECTIVE

Unique instrumentation bridges Greek folkloric and modern jazz worlds, with Klampanis (bass, artistic direction), Areti Ketime (vocals), Thomas Konstantinou (oud, laouto), Giorgos Kotsinis (clarinet), Kristjan Randalu (piano), Ziv Ravitz (drums, electronics, co-production) and more.

Following up his acclaimed recent outings Rooftop Stories and Irrationalities, bassist and composer Petros Klampanis creates one of his most inventive musical settings to date with Tora Collective, his sixth album as a leader. For Klampanis, who grew up in Athens, Greece
surrounded by the confluence of Mediterranean and Balkan folk cultures, making music has always meant navigating cultural crossroads. With Tora Collective (“Tora”=“Now”) he puts traditional Greek music at the centre, even as he presents it from a bold new angle.

In addition to the two new originals “Disoriented” and “South By Southeast,” Klampanis and his compact hybrid jazz/Greek folk ensemble interpret popular Greek songs such as “Xehorismata,” “Sybethera,” “Hariklaki” and “Menexedes ke Zoumboulia.” These songs, Klampanis asserts, are “not just part of Greek cultural heritage or a fragment of the past, but also as part of the future: they live into the present, breathe into the ‘here and now,’ while constantly evolving in a dynamic state and in dialogue with contemporary music.”

“For me it’s a personal thing,” he says. “I want to reflect on what Greek music and culture offer the world. How can music from the Aegean to Epirus and from the Ionian Islands to Crete, meet and speak to the hearts and minds of musicians and audiences from different parts of the world, different traditions and backgrounds?”

To that end, Tora Collective draws on regional characteristics, as Klampanis explains: “Every region has a strong identity. In Epirus the clarinet is more prominent and the music has this slow, groovy, meditative vibe. The islands are lighter sounding, Macedonia is groovier, faster tempos and energetic dances. Music from Asia Minor or Istanbul is more sophisticated. Greeks often refer to Istanbul as ‘Poli,’ from Constantinopoli, so the songs from there are called ‘Politika.’”

There is magic in the clear and consistent voice of Areti Ketime throughout Tora Collective, as can also be said for the supremely voice-like articulation of Giorgos Kotsinis on clarinet. Ziv Ravitz, on drums and electronics, also plays a pivotal role as coproducer: “He added so much in the orchestration,” says Klampanis. “His knowledge of electronics, all these non-acoustic sounds and keyboards, treatments of the acoustic instruments, it’s all because of Ziv. He brought a new perspective on the whole thing.”

The string element in Tora Collective is also strong: in addition to Klampanis’ bass there is Thomas Konstantinou on oud and the traditional Greek laouto, as well as Kristjan Randalu (the pianist in Klampanis’ Irrationalities trio) providing an anchor and bringing Klampanis’ inventive arrangements into harmonic focus. Additional guests appear: Alexandros Arkadopoulos on clarinet for “Disoriented,” Laura Robles on percussion for “South by Southeast” and trumpeters Sebastian Studnitzky and Andreas Polyzogopoulos on “Milo Mou ke Mandarini” and “Hariklaki,” respectively. (“Milo Mou” is slated as a post-release bonus track.)

Using traditional Greek music to discover a common new voice, the project aims to build dialogue, spark creativity, cultivate respect for the past, pave a path forward, discover a new musical storytelling powerful enough to reach and touch audiences in many countries. This is an experiment that bridges worlds: the east and the west, the traditional and the modern, the nostalgic and the forward-looking, using the power of music and improvisation.

Some 30 years after first putting on a slab of vinyl in front of an audience Belgian DJ mainstay Red D presents his debut album called ‘Fantasize Then Realize’ under his Red Basics guise. An experienced and versatile DJ if ever there is one, it was logical that his album takes in a wealth of influences from around the house and techno block and features some of his best musical friends and inspirations. From his ‘go to’ singer Lady Linn, to his musical friend and partner in FCL San Soda via Belgian stronghold Lefto, to his Detroit buddy Reggie Dokes: these are the people Red D has been working with and learning from for years on end.

The music ranges from the dreamy beatless title track to the sleazy spoken word ‘Just Like Hercules’ up to the Larry Heard-inspired deepness ‘Compelled’ and including the melancholy of ‘The Larkin’.

Locked down during the first months of the Covid 19 madness Red D had no more ‘I’m too busy to get into the studio’ excuses and all the inspiration gathered during the countless hours of DJ’ing and listening to records in the last 30 years simply poured out. Making track after track was daily (and nightly) business and after a while the idea of a full album simply came naturally. The next lockdowns were spent fine-tuning the tracks, coming up with lyrics and finalizing the tracklist.

The result is ‘Fantasize Then Realize’, Red D’s debut album and a testament to his sound and attitude.



DJ FEEDBACK:

Mousse T:”22 Shoulders, hell yeah!”
Laurent Garnier: “Thanks a lot for these tracks. There’s some lovelyyyyyyy deeeeeepness in there. Love it.”
Levon Vincent: “I gave the LP a listen, nice one! I thought ‘Devious Monday’ was captivating and I liked the work with Classy Lassy as well. Congrats!”
Ka§par:"When a guys knows what he's doing, it sounds like it's real. Great tracks, loving it more and more the further we go."
Roberto Rodriguez: "Classy album! Red D quality!"
Nacho Marco: "Loving it, hard to pick a favorite. Thanks!!"
Kong: "Big up Bart, well done. Belgium = house = Red D!!"
Melon: "House music represent! Love it, feel it & gonna drop it. Great stuff :)"
Simon Caldwell: "Some really special house music on this album. Many thanks!!"
OOFT!: "Yes! This sounds amazing! Authentic underground house music just the way I like it :)"
Massimiliano Pagliara: "Nice tunes!"
Tomaz: "We all knew Bart knows where it's at but this is ridiculously good. Hard to pick a fave. The collabs are great, so are the ‘solo’ tracks. I picked the single with Lien as fave because that'll hopefully draw the deserved attention to the rest of the album. Top marks !"
Juliano: "Congrats for your album Bart ! love the deepness of the tracks and the authenticity you brought. Thank you"
Harri: "Liking these a lot, will play and support."
Alex Barck: "That's a great piece of work"
Quintessentials: "All around fantastic album! Congrats!"
Lauer: "Respect, amigo!"
Darko Esser: "Beautiful album, congrats mate great work!"

Following up on the success of House Of Riviera released in 2019, Mona Musique releases House Of Riviera Volume 2 curated by label head Nick V, a compilation that pays homage to forgotten gems of the classic Italian House scene, circa 1991-1994. 9 tracks from the artists and record labels that were central to this seminal era of House music, including two never released cuts from Ricky Montanari, Davide Ruberto and Ivan Iacobucci.

In the early 1990s, Italy hosted one of the most prolific scenes in the burgeoning world of House music. Whilst the majority of Europe was only just beginning to digest the arrival of this new musical genre born in the US, Italian clubs, DJs and labels were hot on the heels of their counterparts in the already established scenes of New York and London. The clubs of the Adriatic coast, also known as the Italian Riviera, were full every weekend, hosting the major US and UK Djs of the time, but also seasoned resident DJs that had been honing their trade since the early 80s. By the early 90s, Italian House music was regularly exported around the world with labels such as UMM, MBG, Flying, Palmares, DFC, Oversky, Zippy, D:Vision, Irma - and its sublabels Antima and Calypso, releasing tracks inspired by the original New York House and Garage sound, but with a very different, unique and emotional take. This was the specific aesthetic that was to become the House sound of the Riviera, the soundtrack to the golden era of Italian House music.

With all releases between 1992 and 1994, House Of Riviera Vol. 2 unites a selection of 9 tracks that encapsulates the atmosphere, the energy and creativity that reigned during that era. Including 2 previously unreleased tracks from Ricky Montanari and Davide Ruberto, and Ivan Iacobucci, both in the vaults since 1992, the compilation spans the different shades of the genre : from classic deep vocal house by Ricky Montanari and Sound Set, to the more dubbier late night dance floor cuts by Workin’ Happily and Night Communication, with Mental Detector and More Heavy Soul bringing some well chosen disco samples to their contributions, without forgetting the characteristic deep Italian dream house style by Green Baize. Artists featured are iconic producers and DJs from the day : Ricky Montanari & Davide Ruberto, Alex Neri & Marco Baroni, Ivan Iacobucci, Workin’ Happily and More Heavy Soul.

Four DJ cuts from the crates of Tom Bolas!

DOUBLE BLACK LP : 2 x 140 G Black Vinyl , Sleeve & 2 x Heavy Weight Printed Inner with UV Gloss Finish

Legendary electronic music duo Orbital return Early 2023 with new album “Optical Delusion”, the Hartnoll brothers first studio album since 2018’s Monster’s Exist. Recorded in Orbital’s Brighton studio, “Optical Delusion” includes contributions from Sleaford Mods, Penelope Isles, Anna B Savage, The Little Pest, Dina Ipavic, Coppe, and perhaps most surprisingly, The Medieval Baebes.
Earlier this year, Orbital celebrated their storied history with “30 Something” which, unlike other Best Of’s, contains reworks, remakes, remixes and re-imaginings of landmark Orbital tracks including “Chime”, “Belfast”, “Halcyon”, “Satan”, and “The Box”

SHORT BIOG:

“A human being experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest of humanity – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison…”

You many have seen this quote attributed to Albert Einstein on social media, the archetypal Smartest Guy Ever apparently having an out-of-character religious epiphany. It certainly leapt out at Paul Hartnoll of Orbital who spotted it in Michael Pollan’s 2018 book How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression and Transcendence.

“As soon as I saw ‘optical delusion’ I thought Oh hey, that’s the album title,” says Paul. “It just seemed to say so much about how people construct their own realities, how we see patterns that aren’t there, how we see what we want to see.

“But it’s actually a misquote. He never quite said that. In the German original what he’s really saying is that human experience is as relative as physics. Wouldn’t it be good if we could accept that, and find a kind of universal theory of everything for the human race? Then you look at everything from history to art to your Twitter feed and you think yeah, that’s what we’re all trying to do all of the time…”

Hence ‘Optical Delusion’, the tenth original Orbital album and the latest in a burst of renewed post-pandemic creativity for two brothers who’ve stayed at the top of their game longer than anyone from the post-1988 Class of Acid House.

Now with ‘Optical Delusion’ the Hartnolls dig deeper into the unquiet psyche of our increasingly surreal and disordered world. Sketched out partly during lockdown but fully recorded in the uncertain After Times, the album summons up conflicting emotions and sometimes beguiling images from years when the science fiction doomsdays that the Hartnolls watched on TV as kids finally came true. There are mesmeric tracks with names like ‘The New Abnormal’ and ‘Requiem For The Pre-Apocalypse’ and ‘Day One’. But there are also straight-up bangers and ethereal cosmic dreams, abstract sound wars and deeply human songs of separation and loss.

And it all starts with a bang. Lead single ‘Dirty Rat’, an outright Fall-meets-Front-242 class rant with vocals by Sleaford Mods mob orator Jason Williamson, harks right back to the Hartnolls’ days of politicised anarcho-squatpunk. It began as a remix swap (Orbital did the Sleafords’ ‘I Don’t Rate You’) and morphed into a comic, brutal, bass-driven harangue not so much against our rulers but at the petty, mean-spirited, frightened, Mail-reading voters who put them there: the people who are “blaming everyone in hospital/blaming everyone at the bottom of the English Channel/blaming everyone who doesn’t look like a fried animal.”

Also key to the album is opening track ‘Ringa Ringa (The Old Pandemic Folk Song)’ which returns to an Orbital truism, that time always becomes a loop. This chugging, cyclical Orbital groove gives way to an unnerving past-meets-present timeslip fit for ‘Sapphire And Steel’ as goth maenads The Mediaeval Baebes materialise to sing ‘Ring O’Roses’ – the innocent nursery rhyme whose roots are in the Black Death.

“I’ve always liked folk music and mediaeval sounds,” says Paul, himself an occasional Morris dancer. “I had the basis of that track and I wanted to spin it off somehow.” Trawling his archives he stumbled on The Mediaeval Baebes’ version of ‘Ring O’Roses’ “and my hackles just went up. I was like, my God, this is the original pandemic folk song.”

?his being Orbital, there are collaborations galore on the album, the roles once played by Alison Goldfrapp, Lady Leshurr or David Gray now filled by new talents. London singer-songwriter Anna B Savage contributes a compellingly fragile, Anohni-like vocal to ‘Home’, in which nature reclaims the scorched and vacant mega-cities. ‘Day One’ is a pulsing techno track featuring the singer Dina Ipavic. Paul got in touch with her after working on a score for a sculpture show of giant robotic installations by his friend Giles Walker during the pandemic. First Paul cut up his own score and Ipavic’s vocals on the track The Crane, which appears on the deluxe version of the album. Then he thought, Why not work with her for real? The result is school of ‘Belfast’, a bassy dreamscape with vocalised clouds billowing above.

The pensive ‘Are You ?live?’ adds to the Orbital product range of existential questions (‘Are We Here?’, ‘Where Is It Going?’) in collaboration Bella Union signings Penelope Isles, AKA brother and sister act Lily and Jack Wolter. “They’re our studio mates, they work upstairs!” says Paul happily. “And they’ve both got amazing voices.”


But Orbital are Orbital and never far from the dancefloor. “Eventually the more abrasive bits came back into the fold…” ‘You Are The Frequency’, first of two tracks to feature mysterious vocalist The Little Pest, surrounds the listener with warped voices ordering you to the dancefloor (Phil: “we wanted the idea that the music is kind of absorbing you”). And the second, the sinister ‘What A Surprise’, traps you in a paranoid electronic hall of mirrors.

In another nod to Orbital’s resurgent past the cover artwork once again comes from fine art painter John Greenwood, creator of fantastical grotesques for the covers of ‘Snivilisation’, ‘In Sides’ and Orbital’s most recent album, 2018’s ‘Monsters Exist’. Orbital had just had a slick Mark Farrow cover for ‘30 Something’ – this is a return to the overripe and bulbous techno-organic constructions that somehow express Orbital’s own uncontrollably fertile sound.

There are gaps in the future that Orbital are desperate to fill too; there will be tours and festivals and rooms and fields full of people. Those long paralysed months when we had little to look forward to but a Zoom DJ set made Paul and Phil appreciate the things that make life worth living.

2 x Solid White LP, 5mm spine Sleeve UV Gloss Finish, 2x Heavy Weight Printed Inner Sleeve UV Gloss finish, marketing sticker.

Legendary electronic music duo Orbital return Early 2023 with new album “Optical Delusion”, the Hartnoll brothers first studio album since 2018’s Monster’s Exist. Recorded in Orbital’s Brighton studio, “Optical Delusion” includes contributions from Sleaford Mods, Penelope Isles, Anna B Savage, The Little Pest, Dina Ipavic, Coppe, and perhaps most surprisingly, The Medieval Baebes.
Earlier this year, Orbital celebrated their storied history with “30 Something” which, unlike other Best Of’s, contains reworks, remakes, remixes and re-imaginings of landmark Orbital tracks including “Chime”, “Belfast”, “Halcyon”, “Satan”, and “The Box”

SHORT BIOG:

“A human being experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest of humanity – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison…”

You many have seen this quote attributed to Albert Einstein on social media, the archetypal Smartest Guy Ever apparently having an out-of-character religious epiphany. It certainly leapt out at Paul Hartnoll of Orbital who spotted it in Michael Pollan’s 2018 book How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression and Transcendence.

“As soon as I saw ‘optical delusion’ I thought Oh hey, that’s the album title,” says Paul. “It just seemed to say so much about how people construct their own realities, how we see patterns that aren’t there, how we see what we want to see.

“But it’s actually a misquote. He never quite said that. In the German original what he’s really saying is that human experience is as relative as physics. Wouldn’t it be good if we could accept that, and find a kind of universal theory of everything for the human race? Then you look at everything from history to art to your Twitter feed and you think yeah, that’s what we’re all trying to do all of the time…”

Hence ‘Optical Delusion’, the tenth original Orbital album and the latest in a burst of renewed post-pandemic creativity for two brothers who’ve stayed at the top of their game longer than anyone from the post-1988 Class of Acid House.

Now with ‘Optical Delusion’ the Hartnolls dig deeper into the unquiet psyche of our increasingly surreal and disordered world. Sketched out partly during lockdown but fully recorded in the uncertain After Times, the album summons up conflicting emotions and sometimes beguiling images from years when the science fiction doomsdays that the Hartnolls watched on TV as kids finally came true. There are mesmeric tracks with names like ‘The New Abnormal’ and ‘Requiem For The Pre-Apocalypse’ and ‘Day One’. But there are also straight-up bangers and ethereal cosmic dreams, abstract sound wars and deeply human songs of separation and loss.

And it all starts with a bang. Lead single ‘Dirty Rat’, an outright Fall-meets-Front-242 class rant with vocals by Sleaford Mods mob orator Jason Williamson, harks right back to the Hartnolls’ days of politicised anarcho-squatpunk. It began as a remix swap (Orbital did the Sleafords’ ‘I Don’t Rate You’) and morphed into a comic, brutal, bass-driven harangue not so much against our rulers but at the petty, mean-spirited, frightened, Mail-reading voters who put them there: the people who are “blaming everyone in hospital/blaming everyone at the bottom of the English Channel/blaming everyone who doesn’t look like a fried animal.”

Also key to the album is opening track ‘Ringa Ringa (The Old Pandemic Folk Song)’ which returns to an Orbital truism, that time always becomes a loop. This chugging, cyclical Orbital groove gives way to an unnerving past-meets-present timeslip fit for ‘Sapphire And Steel’ as goth maenads The Mediaeval Baebes materialise to sing ‘Ring O’Roses’ – the innocent nursery rhyme whose roots are in the Black Death.

“I’ve always liked folk music and mediaeval sounds,” says Paul, himself an occasional Morris dancer. “I had the basis of that track and I wanted to spin it off somehow.” Trawling his archives he stumbled on The Mediaeval Baebes’ version of ‘Ring O’Roses’ “and my hackles just went up. I was like, my God, this is the original pandemic folk song.”

?his being Orbital, there are collaborations galore on the album, the roles once played by Alison Goldfrapp, Lady Leshurr or David Gray now filled by new talents. London singer-songwriter Anna B Savage contributes a compellingly fragile, Anohni-like vocal to ‘Home’, in which nature reclaims the scorched and vacant mega-cities. ‘Day One’ is a pulsing techno track featuring the singer Dina Ipavic. Paul got in touch with her after working on a score for a sculpture show of giant robotic installations by his friend Giles Walker during the pandemic. First Paul cut up his own score and Ipavic’s vocals on the track The Crane, which appears on the deluxe version of the album. Then he thought, Why not work with her for real? The result is school of ‘Belfast’, a bassy dreamscape with vocalised clouds billowing above.

The pensive ‘Are You ?live?’ adds to the Orbital product range of existential questions (‘Are We Here?’, ‘Where Is It Going?’) in collaboration Bella Union signings Penelope Isles, AKA brother and sister act Lily and Jack Wolter. “They’re our studio mates, they work upstairs!” says Paul happily. “And they’ve both got amazing voices.”


But Orbital are Orbital and never far from the dancefloor. “Eventually the more abrasive bits came back into the fold…” ‘You Are The Frequency’, first of two tracks to feature mysterious vocalist The Little Pest, surrounds the listener with warped voices ordering you to the dancefloor (Phil: “we wanted the idea that the music is kind of absorbing you”). And the second, the sinister ‘What A Surprise’, traps you in a paranoid electronic hall of mirrors.

In another nod to Orbital’s resurgent past the cover artwork once again comes from fine art painter John Greenwood, creator of fantastical grotesques for the covers of ‘Snivilisation’, ‘In Sides’ and Orbital’s most recent album, 2018’s ‘Monsters Exist’. Orbital had just had a slick Mark Farrow cover for ‘30 Something’ – this is a return to the overripe and bulbous techno-organic constructions that somehow express Orbital’s own uncontrollably fertile sound.

There are gaps in the future that Orbital are desperate to fill too; there will be tours and festivals and rooms and fields full of people. Those long paralysed months when we had little to look forward to but a Zoom DJ set made Paul and Phil appreciate the things that make life worth living.

By now Nicola Loporchio aka Nico Lahs has a discography that has become respected and sought after among DJs and music lovers in dance music across the globe.

Whether it be deep, atmospheric, jackin' or jazz-flecked deep house, it's all firmly rooted in house music tradition, something that Nico Lahs masters with ease.
With releases on labels like Moods & Grooves, Delusions Of Grandeur, Ovum, HotMix, Adeem plus many more, he shows no sign in slowing down either.

Ancestors Call is a musical story told in two parts. Filled with melodic and spiritual deep house, sitting somewhere between classic deep house and the spiritual end of house royalty Ron Trent's output.

Just like his previous releases Nico is a producer that has both the confidence to blend late night deep house vibes with soulful dance floor magic. It's house music that is very honest.

Part 2 dives deeper and adds additional layers of melody that tie the whole release firmly together. With Nico Lahs talented songwriting, his evolution is endless and bright...

Ancestors Call is something you listen to from start to finish, each song building a musically expansive story.

Ramrock on the cutting edge

Should 'The Great Encyclopaedia of Musical Genres' be at a loss for a word to describe the music of Ghent-based Ramkot, they wouldn't have to look far. 'Ramrock'; done. It's how the solidly carefree rocking Ghent triumvirate themselves describe the music with which they have been selling clubs, concert halls and festivals spicy maws since 2018. With two EPs to their credit, 'Ramkot' (2019) and 'What Exactly Are You Looking For' (2021), and a giglist that you can only be in awe of, the laureates of De Nieuwe Lichting 2021 thought it was high time to stamp their awe-inspiring sound on a first album.

Le nouveau Ramkot est arrivé: with 'In Between Borderlines', Ramkot delivers a debut full of particularly solid, yet danceable, 'ram rock' and bangs its way through the wall of sound to a - no doubt - very exciting future.

'In Between Borderlines' is the apotheosis of two years of rock hard work. Idea. Elaborating. Polishing. And there's the diamond. Ramkot is not the band to sit still and wait for the time to put their music on tape. The time is always ripe.

For 'In Between Borderlines', Ramkot dove into the studio for a year - at different times - where they canned eight songs, all with the familiar Ramkot signature: hard and cutting, melodic and danceable and now and then gleefully deviating from the usual path.

The two advance singles 'Exactly What You Wanted' and 'I Can't Slow Down' already beautifully indicated the tenor of 'In Between Borderlines': the back straight and firmly in line, ready to continue on the successful and - above all - very eager momentum. And did the music hit its mark? Absolutely. Studio Brussels, Willy and KINK were immediately on board. With a spot in De Afrekening, Catch Of The Day (Studio Brussel) and Daily Drop (KINK) as a result.

It is sometimes said that three is a magic number. It is. A three-piece band reduces music to its essence and cuts harder live than a Japanese chef's knife. Whereas during the recording process Ramkot was tempted to also get to work with synths, live they invariably opt for the more pared-down versions of their songs that - just like on the album - grab the audience by the neck and show them every corner of the room. And it is this playing live that has certainly not hurt the band in recent years. On the contrary, it made Ramkot more natural, tightened the reins and gave the band an even more distinctive look. 'In Between Borderlines' is brimming with the pleasure of playing, the desire and eagerness to go flat out until 'everything is broken'.

Ramkot never gets stuck. On 'In Between Borderlines' this manifests itself in multi-layered songs with tentacles in solid riffs, occasionally borrowing from other genres. Does a song have a ragtime feel to it? Or is there a hint of 'despacito'? The band is not afraid to blend some exotic influences with abrasive guitars and sulky drums. Extra flavour makes the dish more interesting. And as for 'In Between Borderlines', the starter, main course and dessert are immediately on the table. It may be finished in one sitting.

Ramrock on the cutting edge

Should 'The Great Encyclopaedia of Musical Genres' be at a loss for a word to describe the music of Ghent-based Ramkot, they wouldn't have to look far. 'Ramrock'; done. It's how the solidly carefree rocking Ghent triumvirate themselves describe the music with which they have been selling clubs, concert halls and festivals spicy maws since 2018. With two EPs to their credit, 'Ramkot' (2019) and 'What Exactly Are You Looking For' (2021), and a giglist that you can only be in awe of, the laureates of De Nieuwe Lichting 2021 thought it was high time to stamp their awe-inspiring sound on a first album.

Le nouveau Ramkot est arrivé: with 'In Between Borderlines', Ramkot delivers a debut full of particularly solid, yet danceable, 'ram rock' and bangs its way through the wall of sound to a - no doubt - very exciting future.

'In Between Borderlines' is the apotheosis of two years of rock hard work. Idea. Elaborating. Polishing. And there's the diamond. Ramkot is not the band to sit still and wait for the time to put their music on tape. The time is always ripe.

For 'In Between Borderlines', Ramkot dove into the studio for a year - at different times - where they canned eight songs, all with the familiar Ramkot signature: hard and cutting, melodic and danceable and now and then gleefully deviating from the usual path.

The two advance singles 'Exactly What You Wanted' and 'I Can't Slow Down' already beautifully indicated the tenor of 'In Between Borderlines': the back straight and firmly in line, ready to continue on the successful and - above all - very eager momentum. And did the music hit its mark? Absolutely. Studio Brussels, Willy and KINK were immediately on board. With a spot in De Afrekening, Catch Of The Day (Studio Brussel) and Daily Drop (KINK) as a result.

It is sometimes said that three is a magic number. It is. A three-piece band reduces music to its essence and cuts harder live than a Japanese chef's knife. Whereas during the recording process Ramkot was tempted to also get to work with synths, live they invariably opt for the more pared-down versions of their songs that - just like on the album - grab the audience by the neck and show them every corner of the room. And it is this playing live that has certainly not hurt the band in recent years. On the contrary, it made Ramkot more natural, tightened the reins and gave the band an even more distinctive look. 'In Between Borderlines' is brimming with the pleasure of playing, the desire and eagerness to go flat out until 'everything is broken'.

Ramkot never gets stuck. On 'In Between Borderlines' this manifests itself in multi-layered songs with tentacles in solid riffs, occasionally borrowing from other genres. Does a song have a ragtime feel to it? Or is there a hint of 'despacito'? The band is not afraid to blend some exotic influences with abrasive guitars and sulky drums. Extra flavour makes the dish more interesting. And as for 'In Between Borderlines', the starter, main course and dessert are immediately on the table. It may be finished in one sitting.

Ramrock on the cutting edge

Should 'The Great Encyclopaedia of Musical Genres' be at a loss for a word to describe the music of Ghent-based Ramkot, they wouldn't have to look far. 'Ramrock'; done. It's how the solidly carefree rocking Ghent triumvirate themselves describe the music with which they have been selling clubs, concert halls and festivals spicy maws since 2018. With two EPs to their credit, 'Ramkot' (2019) and 'What Exactly Are You Looking For' (2021), and a giglist that you can only be in awe of, the laureates of De Nieuwe Lichting 2021 thought it was high time to stamp their awe-inspiring sound on a first album.

Le nouveau Ramkot est arrivé: with 'In Between Borderlines', Ramkot delivers a debut full of particularly solid, yet danceable, 'ram rock' and bangs its way through the wall of sound to a - no doubt - very exciting future.

'In Between Borderlines' is the apotheosis of two years of rock hard work. Idea. Elaborating. Polishing. And there's the diamond. Ramkot is not the band to sit still and wait for the time to put their music on tape. The time is always ripe.

For 'In Between Borderlines', Ramkot dove into the studio for a year - at different times - where they canned eight songs, all with the familiar Ramkot signature: hard and cutting, melodic and danceable and now and then gleefully deviating from the usual path.

The two advance singles 'Exactly What You Wanted' and 'I Can't Slow Down' already beautifully indicated the tenor of 'In Between Borderlines': the back straight and firmly in line, ready to continue on the successful and - above all - very eager momentum. And did the music hit its mark? Absolutely. Studio Brussels, Willy and KINK were immediately on board. With a spot in De Afrekening, Catch Of The Day (Studio Brussel) and Daily Drop (KINK) as a result.

It is sometimes said that three is a magic number. It is. A three-piece band reduces music to its essence and cuts harder live than a Japanese chef's knife. Whereas during the recording process Ramkot was tempted to also get to work with synths, live they invariably opt for the more pared-down versions of their songs that - just like on the album - grab the audience by the neck and show them every corner of the room. And it is this playing live that has certainly not hurt the band in recent years. On the contrary, it made Ramkot more natural, tightened the reins and gave the band an even more distinctive look. 'In Between Borderlines' is brimming with the pleasure of playing, the desire and eagerness to go flat out until 'everything is broken'.

Ramkot never gets stuck. On 'In Between Borderlines' this manifests itself in multi-layered songs with tentacles in solid riffs, occasionally borrowing from other genres. Does a song have a ragtime feel to it? Or is there a hint of 'despacito'? The band is not afraid to blend some exotic influences with abrasive guitars and sulky drums. Extra flavour makes the dish more interesting. And as for 'In Between Borderlines', the starter, main course and dessert are immediately on the table. It may be finished in one sitting.

Pals FM: Floor Materials Vol.2 is the second dance music compilation from WALLS AND PALS. The aim is to share various ideas of dance floors instead of lingering on a certain genre or style, and while being DJ Friendly, it also serves as an exchange ground where production techniques of artists co-exist. All four tracks in Vol.2 correspond with the common purpose of bringing out ‘Floor Materials’, keeping distinct identity from each musician. In ‘Cofrica’, rapper and producer Simo of Y2K92 injects his long-time affection of Detroit flavor into a minimalistic form. Conversely, DOTT from the Thai label More Rice brings intricate and complex rhythms centered around the step sequencer in ‘Antibody Movement’, walking a fine line between House and Techno while the essence of Tech House is preserved . And in ‘Pump It Up’, ACIDWORK demonstrates what the outcome would be when Electro runs through digital instruments and samplers. Last but not least, Seo John, who put out his first EP DIVE last year from the label GODDEZZ, follows up with ‘miQro’, creating a different side of Trance that is more adequate for clubs or concrete spaces rather than outdoor raves or festivals. In the same manner with the preceding release Pals FM: Floor Materials Vol.1, Vol.2 is a compilation executed by fellow Asian musicians across the region. Beyond the reopened borders, and just like the excitement and stimulus at unusual events, this compilation serves to contribute to the dancefloor as an interesting ‘Material’ than simply as a ‘Tool’.

On Origins Chris Bartels takes on the role of singer-songwriter for the first time under his Elskavon moniker, unveiling a voice that wouldn't sound out of place next to vocal-forward artists like Justin Vernon, Jónsi, or Baths, who master the balance between conventional songcraft and bold, idiosyncratic experimentation. Origins is vast yet intimate, fluttering yet cohesive, tattered yet clean, a little like rainfall during sunlight. Shedding the ambient-classical confines of his previous output, the album's opener and title track, offers a swirling mosaic of acoustic textures that recall the beloved duo The Books, laced with warped vocal utterances flitting in and out of a club-friendly beat. "Origins" is followed by the equally danceable "Coastline," which drives home the smiling melodies and intricate sound-design that form the spine of Origins, keeping Bartels' voice in a largely decorative and impressionistic role up to this point. "Blossom and the Void" dissolves the introductory tension as Bartels comes out lyrically swinging, his digitized voice chanting widely over the mutated New Wave-esque anthem. Here, Bartels shows his instinct for dynamics by rising to bombast and quickly dispelling it, making steep yet grace- ful descents into skillfully delicate sound-design. Throughout Origins, the patient glacial aesthetic of his previous work is still discernible-- there are wordless, expansive panoramas that stretch out patiently for minutes at a time and smartly resist the impulse to pack each moment with a persona made even more impactful when Bartels chooses to wield it. At other times, his spokesmanship is woven discreetly into a larger tapestry, like on "See Out Loud" (and its ambient reprise) where Bartels' voice shimmers from a distance, covering the scene in diffuse splendor. "There is so much warping, mangling, re-sampling, reversing and pitching," Bartels says of his intricate vocal manipulations. "I printed a lot of the vocal recordings onto a tape machine from the `60s, first at one speed, and then I'd halve, or double the speed going back into my comput- er," he elaborates, illustrating how this kind of analog processing freed him from his habits. "Sometimes I'd do this multiple times on one recording or layer-- it gave me such a unique and unexpected sound. At this point, I threw away any inhibition on what type of vocals to have, or not have, on the album." This newfound freedom is palpable in the peaks of soaring grandeur that dot the emotional landscape of Origins. "All These Years" cathartically reaches one such summit in its second half after laying a path of gently plodding indie-IDM in its first. The cinematic vignette "Dreymur Aftur" provides pause for reflection amid its brisk procession of string plucks and rhythmic synthesizer while marching wordlessly into album-closer "This Won't Last Forever." Here at the end, Bartels' guitar playing is laid bare in the mix, skeletally framing a single ribbon of his voice as it unfurls into the atmosphere. Though the track isn't expressly lyrical, its starkness still exemplifies the new leaf of vulnerability Bartels has turned over on Origins, an album that documents his hard-won evolution from musician, to producer, to composer_ and finally_ his confident arrival in the role of songwriter.

Nach der erfolgreichen "The Stadium Tour" von MÖTLEY
CRÜE mit DEF LEPPARD, bei der sie in diesem Jahr vor
über einer Million Fans in Nordamerika gespielt haben,
kündigt BMG die Veröffentlichung des limitierten Box-Sets
"Crücial Crüe: The Studio Albums 1981-1989" mit den
ersten fünf Platin-Alben von MÖTLEY CRÜE auf farbigem
Vinyl an: "Too Fast For Love" (weiß/schwarz Splatter),
"Shout At The Devil" (gelb/schwarz Splatter), "Theatre Of
Pain" (pink/schwarz Splatter), "Girls, Girls, Girls"
(cyanblau/schwarz Splatter) und "Dr. Feelgood" (Coke
Bottle Green/Oxblood Splatte). Die 5LP Box kommt in
einem edlen schwarzen Schuber

Funkadelic have created an enduring legacy, and the power of their impact is visceral in Detroit. Their records not only played with genre, but possessed a diabolical sense of humour that led to music domination by the late 70s with Parliament, Funkadelic, Parlet, Bootsy's Rubber Band and the Brides Of Funkenstein all releasing albums the same year for two years in a row.

The music itself is beyond stereotype, but equally huge is that they were a black band not allowing themselves to be limited by anyone else's notions of who they could be, having a massive impact on the next generation of Detroit music, Detroit Techno.

But more than just Techno, it is a freedom of thinking that extends beyond boxes, so we included all sorts of today's generation of Detroit musicians and producers to show the wide range of music that was Funkadelic and how these ideas are still contemporary, they endure and inspire.

Repress !

The long-awaited reissue of the best ever album of rare Eastern and psychedelic Jazz music by this famous Hungarian guitarist
Gabor Szabo, originally released in 1968. For the first time as extended edition with 2 bonus tracks: radio versions of Fire Dance
/ Ferris Wheel from the 1969 7” single 7”. Deluxe 8-sided Digipak CD and Gatefold Vinyl come with long, exclusively written
inner notes by the famous researcher and biographer Douglas Payne. Remastered by Martin Bowes at Cage Studios (UK).
Gabor Szabo was one of the most original guitarists to emerge in the 1960s, mixing his Hungarian folk music heritage with a deep
love of jazz and crafting a distinctive, largely self-taught sound. Born in Budapest, on March 8, 1936, Szabo was inspired by a Roy
Rogers cowboy movie to begin playing guitar when he was 14 and often played in dinner clubs and covert jam sessions while still
living in his hometown. He escaped from his country at age 20 on the eve of the Communist uprising and eventually made his way
to America, settling with his family in California.
He attended Berklee College (1958-1960) and in 1961 joined Chico Hamilton's innovative quintet featuring Charles Lloyd. Urged
by Hamilton, Szabo crafted a most distinctive sound; as agile on intricate, nearly-free runs as he was able to sound inspired during
melodic passages. Szabo left the Hamilton group in 1965 to leave his mark on the pop-jazz of the Gary McFarland quintet and the
energy music of Charles Lloyd's fiery and underrated quartet featuring Ron Carter and Tony Williams.
Szabo initiated a solo career in 1966, recording the exceptional album, Spellbinder, which yielded many inspired moments and
"Gypsy Queen," the song Santana turned into a huge hit in 1970. Szabo formed an innovative quintet (1967-1969) featuring the
brilliant, classically trained guitarist Jimmy Stewart and recorded many notable albums during the late '60s. The emergence of
rock music (especially George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix) found Szabo experimenting with feedback and more
commercially oriented forms of jazz.
During the '70s, Szabo regularly performed along the West Coast, hypnotizing audiences with his enchanting, spellbinding style.
From 1970, he locked into a commercial groove, even though records like Mizrab occasionally revealed his seamless jazz, pop,
Gypsy, Indian, and Asian fusions. Szabo had revisited his homeland several times during the '70s, finding opportunities to perform
brilliantly with native talents. He was hospitalized during his final visit and died in 1982, just short of his 46th birthday.

repressed !

Firmly entrenched in techno's haziest alcoves, every new record from Denise Rabe is as punishingly hypnotic an experience as it aims to penetrate the deepest laid of your cerebral zones. Having plied her trade on Arts' sub-division Arts Collective before moving on to establish her own dedicated label, Rabe, in 2017, the Berlin-based DJ and producer steps up with her much anticipated debut platter for Stroboscopic Artefacts, as she takes the helm for the fifth sortie of the Totem series. True to her love for all things droney and psychoactive, this time Rabe has us descending into rugged, hostile sonic terrains with just a headlamp and the thick mantle of darkness for closest companions. Ahead’s a demented safari across nightmare-prone visions and thunderstruck vistas.

Hosing off the loud, churning 909 kicks and passive-aggressive machine talk straightaway, 'Manifesto' sets the tone for the warehouse-sized hammering to come. Evil-minded swashes of hyper-delayed percs and criss-crossing chimes lash out in successive waves, further subjugating the dancers as bars fly by. A more spacious and atmospheric number, B-side opener 'Clouds' heads for quieter high-altitude spheres as the dubbed-out drums beat an off-kilter, leftfield friendly pulse and ominous synth stabs and pads envelop the listener in entrancing textural folds and interplays. Back to floor-ready dynamics, the adrenaline booster 'Don't Leave' caps it off on a truly mind-bending tip. Primed for unrelenting peak time action with its angry buzzard-like drones, pacey 4/4 swing and refined palette of eerie circuit noises and click-y minimalism, this one's a high-impact steamroller, sure to get maximum response when things start getting muscular.

From the team that brought you Eastenderz, a greatly anticipated sub-label has been launched titled ‘Belief’.

Continue to expect consistent groove-driven tracks, made for the dancefloor. Highlighting the freshest of talents, alongside producers who have been on the radar for a while.

We belief.

Repress !

The long-awaited reissue of the best ever album of rare Eastern and psychedelic Jazz music by this famous Hungarian guitarist
Gabor Szabo, originally released in 1968. For the first time as extended edition with 2 bonus tracks: radio versions of Fire Dance
/ Ferris Wheel from the 1969 7” single 7”. Deluxe 8-sided Digipak CD and Gatefold Vinyl come with long, exclusively written
inner notes by the famous researcher and biographer Douglas Payne. Remastered by Martin Bowes at Cage Studios (UK).
Gabor Szabo was one of the most original guitarists to emerge in the 1960s, mixing his Hungarian folk music heritage with a deep
love of jazz and crafting a distinctive, largely self-taught sound. Born in Budapest, on March 8, 1936, Szabo was inspired by a Roy
Rogers cowboy movie to begin playing guitar when he was 14 and often played in dinner clubs and covert jam sessions while still
living in his hometown. He escaped from his country at age 20 on the eve of the Communist uprising and eventually made his way
to America, settling with his family in California.
He attended Berklee College (1958-1960) and in 1961 joined Chico Hamilton's innovative quintet featuring Charles Lloyd. Urged
by Hamilton, Szabo crafted a most distinctive sound; as agile on intricate, nearly-free runs as he was able to sound inspired during
melodic passages. Szabo left the Hamilton group in 1965 to leave his mark on the pop-jazz of the Gary McFarland quintet and the
energy music of Charles Lloyd's fiery and underrated quartet featuring Ron Carter and Tony Williams.
Szabo initiated a solo career in 1966, recording the exceptional album, Spellbinder, which yielded many inspired moments and
"Gypsy Queen," the song Santana turned into a huge hit in 1970. Szabo formed an innovative quintet (1967-1969) featuring the
brilliant, classically trained guitarist Jimmy Stewart and recorded many notable albums during the late '60s. The emergence of
rock music (especially George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix) found Szabo experimenting with feedback and more
commercially oriented forms of jazz.
During the '70s, Szabo regularly performed along the West Coast, hypnotizing audiences with his enchanting, spellbinding style.
From 1970, he locked into a commercial groove, even though records like Mizrab occasionally revealed his seamless jazz, pop,
Gypsy, Indian, and Asian fusions. Szabo had revisited his homeland several times during the '70s, finding opportunities to perform
brilliantly with native talents. He was hospitalized during his final visit and died in 1982, just short of his 46th birthday.

Kelman Duran introduces LA’s Holodec to his Scorpio Red label with a debut album of flickering R&B torchsongs and ambient trap-soul that aches in a very special way. RIYL Dawuna, Burial, Junior Boys, MssingNo, claire rousay, Joy O, Triad God, Sampha…

The smouldering ’All Dogs Come From Wolves’ is a definitive statement by a quietly gifted artist who operates inside the long shadow of late ‘90s US R&B and the space where it intersects ambient, neo-classical, and the weightless bass interzones of contemporary UK club music. Bare boned and bathed in a dusky Californian half-light, the album’s 11 songs feel unnervingly stark yet full of tongue-tip sensuality, making a virtue of negative space and atmosphere with a lo-fi soundtrack-like quality that evokes the idea of nostalgic reflection as the route to the future; “a reminder to look to the past to remember where you’re from, to see where you’re going.”

Holodec's been assembling rugged dancefloor constructions for years now, teetering between 2-step, jungle, nu-rnb, and vaporous ambient forms, but rarely has he been as pointed or full-bodied as he is on ‘All Dogs Come From Wolves’. It's an album that can't possibly be cleaved from the place where it comes from, documenting LA's immigrant experience (Holodec is Asian-American), and finding thematic common ground with Space Afrika's "Honest Labour", absorbing prismatic reflections of footwork, rnb and hip-hop instead of trip-hop and dub techno.

Holodec croons soulfully over muted piano motifs on 'Tiles', evoking the spirit of Sampha or Dawuna, but with a gaseous glamor that's unmistakably Californian. The mood carries into 'The Wild', utilising wistful pads and saturated noise but refusing to let his music sink into the background. If you feel yourself drifting, there's inevitably a voice, a womp, or a stifled drum sound to drag you back into its presence. 'Bounce' is rhythmically heavy, but still somehow smudged around the edges; beats don't so much pump as fray, the closer you listen the more you hear it falling out of time and just out of space. It's more like a memory of neon-hued dance forms than a replication of the thing itself.

Even at the album’s rudest, the flinty jungle drums of ‘Black Market’ still remain desiccated, just out-of-reach, suggesting not telling, in a way that makes the album’s other highlights such as the vaporous R&B voice note of ‘And My Angel Dies Too’ or the shivering baroque figures of ‘Spirit’ so unusually seductive with their nuanced grasp of inference and a reserve of humility.

AMBER ARCADES ist das Pseudonym von Annelotte de Graaf, der niederländischen Singer/Songwriterin, die zwei EPs und einige von der Kritik gefeierte Alben aufgenommen hat, von denen das zweite, "European Heartbreak", durch "hints of Lindi Ortega and early Saint Etienne, breezy, dreamy pop more personal than political" (The Guardian) glänzt. AMBER ARCADES verlor kürzlich für einen Moment den Glauben an die Musik, gewann ihn dann aber wieder zurück und liefert nun ihr bisher atemberaubendstes Album ab: "Barefoot On Diamond Road", das am 10. Februar 2023 erscheinen wird - ihre erste Veröffentlichung auf Fire Records. Die erste Single "Just Like Me" ist ein offenkundig tanzbarer und triumphaler Song, der durch seine Stop/Start-Struktur eine beunruhigende und unvorhersehbare Schärfe in das Geschehen bringt. "There's a clear distinction from my last record ,European Heartbreak', which had a complete narrative. This record is completely the opposite" erklärt die Niederländerin in einem Statement zum neuen Album. Eingetaucht in eine alles verzehrende Wall of Sound ist "Barefoot On Diamond Road" wie MY BLOODY VALENTINE in akustischer Form; es sollte eigentlich nicht funktionieren, aber tut es trotzdem. Es ist eine Gegenüberstellung von Texturen, von sprunghaften, unruhigen Dancefloor-Beats bis hin zu symphonischer Kosmik, ein barocker Pop-Teppich, der mit Celli und Harfen bestückt ist, mit einer klagenden Steelguitar, die in der Ferne widerhallt. Die Schlagzeug- und Perkussions-Arrangements von Matt Chamberlain (PEARL JAM, BOWIE, DYLAN, ADELE, LORDE, SPRINGSTEEN, COHEN...) verleihen dem Ganzen zusätzliche Textur. Es ist ein Album von einnehmender Reife, gefüllt mit Zeitlupen und epischen Steigerungen, die es mit all der Dramatik in schwindelerregende Höhen heben - man denke an THE GUN CLUB, die sich mit PORTISHEAD zurücklehnen, alles könnte passieren, es ist ein imaginärer Film... und PJ HARVEY lauert im Schatten. AMBER ARCADES neues Album "Barefoot On Diamond Road" markiert eindeutig eine neue Phase im Schaffen der hochangesehenen Musikerin. "Wistful, glowing dream pop" The Guardian

Blue Vinyl

Das Werk einer der meistausgezeichneten Künstlerinnen aller Zeiten lebt in dieser 1-LP-Vinyl, Whitney, weiter.Das GRAMMY-nominierte zweite Studioalbum der Künstlerin erreichte 10-fachen Platin-Status und wurde mit einem Diamanten ausgezeichnet, was der Künstlerin zu ihrem Superstarstatus verhalf, da sie die erste schwarze Künstlerin war, die drei Diamanten-Albumzertifizierungen erhielt. "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", "Didn't We Almost Have it All", "So Emotional" und "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" wurden allesamt zu Billboard Top 10 Singles und bescherten ihr - zusammen mit den früheren Erfolgshits - sieben aufeinanderfolgende #1 Singles.

American dancehall vocalist Sluggy Ranks was part of a growing dancehall movement in the '90s which emphasized cultural roots and positive messages instead of "slack" artists' obsessions with sex and violence. Ranks was born in Kingston and grew up in its Ray Town section, attending the same primary school as Wayne Wonder. Ranks began his singing career in the mid- to late '80s, coming to the U.S. to record the beginning of a series of Jamaican hit singles that included "95% Black 5% White" and his signature song, "Ghetto Youth Bust." Ranks later re-recorded both songs for his full-length 1994 album, Ghetto Youth Bust, which was produced by King Jammy and issued in the U.S. on Profile Records. While the majority of Ranks' most significant output through the '90s was largely issued on singles (and thus not very accessible to most American listeners), he also cut albums like Just Call Sluggy and 1999's My Time.

Now coming out on vinyl BBE is pleased to announce the 12” release of The Lyman Woodard Organisation - 'Creative Musicians', featuring remixes by Waajeed and Henrik Schwarz. Originally released as a digital EP from the album 'Strata Records – The Sound of Detroit – Reimagined by Jazzanova', 'Creative Musicians' and its remixes now come to you on deep grooved vinyl. The vocalist for these sessions is Sean Haefeli, who originally hails from Indianapolis, and brings a relaxed urgency to his contributions, sounding like a young Gil Scott-Heron. Leveraging his 20 plus year friendship with legendary Detroit DJ/Producer extraordinaire, Waajeed, Amir enlists him for a special four-to-the-floor mix that not only keeps that organic vibe but also adds a unique contemporary Detroit flavour! Henrik Schwarz needs little introduction to fans of eclectic electronic sounds. For over thirty years, his amazing body of work has packed dancefloors worldwide. Henrik takes ‘Creative Musicians’ in a slightly different direction, retaining many of Jazzanova’s original elements while adding his signature sound to the mix, providing another dance floor scorcher! And just to give you proper context, we have included the cult-classic, much-loved original version of ‘Creative Musicians’ by the Lyman Woodard Organization. ‘Strata Records - The Sound of Detroit - Reimagined by Jazzanova’ is no ‘covers’ album, rather a brand-new celebration of the iconic imprint, as Jazzanova’s take on Lyman Woodard Organization’s musical manifesto ‘Creative Musicians’ makes clear from its Afrobeat-inspired horn arrangements, drum track, and syncopated tempo.

Funkadelic’s eleventh studio LP, released in 1979, was more militant in tone than its predecessor 'One Nation Under A Groove' which described a Funk utopia. In contrast, ‘Uncle Jam Wants You’ stated mandate was to “rescue dance music from the blahs”. The album features a 15-minute version of what was to become the Funkadelic’s last hit single ‘(Not Just) Knee Deep’, an edited version of which made no.1 in the US R&B chart. This was Funkadelic’s first album since 1972 not to feature a cover design by artist Pedro Bell (although he did contribute the interior design). A reference to the “Uncle Sam Wants You!” US Army recruitment poster, the sleeve depicts George Clinton aka Dr Funkenstein in a Huey Newton Black Panthers pose. ‘Uncle Jam Wants You’ and Funkadelic-Parliament had a huge influence on Prince, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Bill Laswell, Tupac Shakar, De La Soul and many more across all musical genres. George Clinton’s genius Funk & Style will continue to be an influence for many more years to come... FUNKADELIC Masterminded by the larger-than-life figure of George Clinton, Funkadelic was a key component of his influential P-Funk empire. Funkadelic’s unique combination of Rock, Psychedelia, R&B & Soul led to the band crossing over to the pop mainstream & gaining a vast international following, becoming one of the most important & influential groups in music. On 6 May 1997, Parliament / Funkadelic were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame by Prince. To commemorate six decades of thrilling & delighting fans, George Clinton returned to the stage in 2022 for a series of concerts. To celebrate, Charly have reissued Funkadelic’s classic four albums ‘Hardcore Jollies’; ‘One Nation Under A Groove’; ‘Uncle Jam Wants You’; & ‘The Electric Spanking Of War Babies’ (originally released by Warner Bros during a golden period for the band between 1976-1981). Each album will be available as deluxe gatefold Digi-Sleeve CDs in PVC wallets + obi-strip & facsimile-edition gatefold LPs on 180-gram black vinyl & limited edition 180-gram colored vinyl + 1970s-style obi-strip in a protective PVC sleeve. “They played a HUGE role in creating the future of music.” PRINCE

Debut release for Black Truffle on GAMM with an EP of underground Euro disco / boogie, high energy disco-jazz and leftfield Euro folk-funk-jazz.

This truly diverse EP goes in all directions so the best thing is to just listen, dance and let yourself get swept away...Black Truffle styleee!

Paul Wise aka Placid is the driving force behind ‘We’re Going Deep’ – a thriving online community and record label that keeps you coming back for more. Born out of a lifelong affair with the many shades of electronic rhythm and an obsession for collecting records since 1988, Paul is known and respected by many in the realms of underground House and Techno. Renowned for making hips and feet move at parties, clubs and fields across the UK and beyond over the last few decades.
As a label owner, his mission couldn’t be clearer - releasing new music for heads of all persuasions. Fresh cuts aimed squarely at the dance floor, front room or even just your headphones. Rather than staying too hung up on the past, he continues to serve up the freshest in Acid, Electro, Techno, Deep House alongside sweet slices of Electronica.
Sticking to the format of 4 superlative cuts from equally talented producers, the quality remains unquestionably consistent on Volume 8 of his various artist series. Kicking off A1 in style with a family affair from Acid House aficionado Affie Yusef and his daughter Leila, ‘Dublovr’ is a Class A slice of pure late night chug that rides clockwork rhythms to a rolling bassline. As dubbed out synths ring out to lift you skywards – eerie sweeping undertones add another dimension. Tried and tested since the summer season, the added layer of a TB-303 brings everything nicely to a head. Not to be outdone, Bristol based Electro emissary Zobol delivers a pure slice of machinist joy on A2 ‘Sense The Consesus’, showing his ability to finesse and balance uplifting melodies with warm synthesis on this finest of jams.
Over on the flipside, Maltese producer Acidulant takes up the reins with the hushed tones of ‘The View of Her Shade’ on B1 – a thoughtful excursion into electro hinterland that’s a textbook lesson in making more with less. Last but not least, mysterious I Love Acid affiliate Type-303 turns out an exquisite IDM inflected serving of woozy broken Electronica on the mysterious ‘Knowhere’. Steeped in rippling melodies and aquatic

Finally the two main protagonists of the current live electronic movement and founders of our fair label Carl Cox and Christopher Coe have stepped up to the plate with this truly innovative and uncompromisingly live collection of techno tunes that defy categorization and are certain to land us fair and square on the dancefloors of the underground clubs of the world!

What can we say.. This EP just bangs! Improvised, recorded live and straight to 2 track in one day, this 4 tracker comes straight from the machines of Carl and Christopher’s collaborative studio in Australia and onto wax!

It is with great delight that we can present this collaboration straight after the release of Carl’s first solo album in 10 years.

This is a statement of definition from the boys, they have planted their feet firmly in the live scene with this edgy, experimental and jackin’ collection of beats!

The mindset is real.

After a couple of solo EPs to start the label, FAC-3 is comprised of four different artists, each with their own unique sound. Although a mix of up-and-coming and established producers, old and new music, there’s a common thread running through the EP.

First up, Justin Zerbst’s Waverider is an atmospheric nod to Detroit. Unearthed from a 90’s DAT, it’s built around some heavily modulated chords and 808 percussion which carry the track through to its string-laden climax.

Italian mainstay Luca Piermattei’s Venice is distinct end-of-night fare. Haunting pads sit atop a deftly-programmed bass which provides most of the movement over a tight drum groove.

While the A side has a undoubted warmth to it, the B dials things back and ups the intensity with two techier cuts. UK producer Skelter’s first release is a spacious acid groove, with the bassline taking centre stage amidst a nervy backdrop of percussive textures and reverb hits.

Finally, Brisbane’s Loif rounds things off with the simmering Digiburra; a dense, electro-tinged breakbeat aimed squarely at the dancefloor.

Paketo Wilson's Praise Him is a cult roots album that is hard to find on the seance hand market. When you do, it will cost you a small fortune, so this reissue will be music to the ears of fans old and new. He proved it back in 1982 with Trevor Davis under the Child of God label in just one day. It has hints of lovers' rock over the nice reggae rhythms with vocals that touch on classic themes of peace, love and unity, the trials of ghetto life and losing those close. Bobby Ellis and Headley Bennett bring mystical horns to most tunes and help make them all the more spiritual. This is positive and heartwarming reggae from a top songwriter.

For this uniquely personal retrospective spread over twelve vinyl discs, Sven Väth takes us back to the early days of his DJ career. On What I Used To Play we meet great pioneers of electronic music, gifted percussionists, obscure wave bands, and innovative producers of a bygone 'new electronic' era. Rough beats and irresistible grooves from the identification stage of house, techno, and acid remind us not just how far electronic music has evolved over the past four decades, but how great it was to dance to EBM, techno, and house for the very first time.

If there is one protagonist of the electronic music scene who has remained curious, innovative and at the very cutting edge of music for over four decades, it's Sven Väth. His multi-layered artist albums and Sound of the Season mix compilations have been defining the genre for over two decades, and even today, he is constantly on the lookout for the next top tune to add to the highlights of his next set. At least, that's the case when he's not producing them himself as an artist or remixer. "Actually, it's always been part of my DNA to think ahead," and nothing had been further from his mind than looking back at his past, but when in spring of 2020 the international DJ circuit had to be scaled down to virtually zero, the 'restless traveler' suddenly had time. Time to stop and reflect on "how it actually was back then, at the very beginning of my career..."

"It was a great trip and with every track, beautiful memories came flooding back".
In the London apartment, he had just moved into, Sven has set up a "little music room", where he cocooned himself for several days, "to look way back for the first time and review my musical journey through the eighties, so to speak."

The interim result was six thematically oriented playlists with a grand total of 120 tracks from 'early 80s' to 'Balearic late 80s', together with excursions into afrobeat, European new wave, and EBM sounds and a few epochal techno/house tracks from the USA in between. From these 'Best of Sven Väth's favorites', the project What I Used To Play crystallized. Sven remembers how the Cocoon team reacted to his proposal: "They found the idea of making a compilation out of it MEGA from the beginning and everyone said 'Sven, go for it', but then, of course, the work really started, namely, to clear the rights and to get clean sounding masters of the up to 40-year-old tracks. There was also disappointment, of course. We couldn't clear certain titles because the rights holders in the USA had fallen out with each other or simply disappeared from the scene. In short, it wasn't easy, but now I can safely say we got the most important tracks."

Finally, after two years of research, curation, design, and administrative fine-tuning, the "little retrospective" from 1981 to 1990 is available. The exquisitely packaged, and three-kilo heavy box set is not only physically impressive, WIUTP is also the definitive record of Sven Väth's musical development. On each of the twenty-four sides of vinyl, you can trace track by track, what influenced him during which phase, and how he took off as a DJ from his parents' Queen's Pub straight into the spotlight at Dorian Gray. There and at Vogue (later OMEN), Sven became the style-defining player in the DJ booth that he still is today.




1981 - 1990: Future Sounds of Now

In the early eighties, the crowd in clubs like Vogue and Dorian Gray danced to what nowadays we call 'dance classics' - mainly disco, funk, soul, and chart pop. It was up to a new generation of DJs, including Sven Väth, the youngest protagonist in the Rhine-Main area at the time, to create their own club-ready music mix. Good new tracks and potential floor-fillers were rarities that had to be sought out and found, in order to prove oneself worthy.
Without MP3s, internet streaming, or other digital download possibilities, music didn't just gravitate to the DJ, instead, it had to be tracked down. In well-stocked record stores in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden or even in Amsterdam, London, or New York, Sven and friends sourced the material for countless magical nights. On WIUTP we can follow Sven's very personal journey through this wild, innovative era in which synth-pop, funk, hip-hop, and disco were successively replaced as 'club music' by house, techno, acid, and breakbeat. By the end of the decade, it was clear to see that these once exotic 'fringe' phenomena would soon become 'mass' phenomena.



Early 80s

Dirty Talk by the Italian-American duo Klein & M.B.O. represents the most innovative phase of the Italo-disco genre in the early eighties like no other track. Mario Boncaldo (I) and Tony Carrasco relied entirely on the original synthetic drum and percussion sounds of the Roland TR-808, coupled with the raunchy vocals of Rossana Casale and guitar accents of Davide Piatto. Of course, other tracks from this period were also influential in style, most notably Unit by Logic System, which worked as the perfect soundtrack to the laser lighting system at the legendary Dorian Gray club. With stomping beats and robotic rap interludes, Bostich by Yello also belongs on Sven's eternal playlist - after all, it caught the attention of Afrikaa Bambaataa, who invited the Swiss duo to perform at the Roxy in New York in 1983.



EBM Wave - Mid 80s

From today's point of view, the almost ten-minute-long, downtempo track Giant by Matt Johnson's band project The The, would probably not be considered an obvious club classic. However, a closer (re)listen reveals the rhythmic intricacies of the percussion overdubs by JG Thirlwell (aka Foetus) on Johnson's composition, and it becomes clear why this exceptional piece of music is one of Sven's absolute favorites. Other classics from this phase include Kaw-Liga by the mysterious The Residents, the hypnotic-synthetic Our Darkness by Anne Clark (and David Harrow), and last but not least, the somber, monotonous anthem Where Are You? by 16Bit, one of Sven Väth's projects together with Michael Münzing, Luca Anzilotti from 1986.



US House - Late 80s

You certainly can't talk about Chicago house without mentioning Frankie Knuckles. The resident DJ at the Warehouse not only gave the name to an entire genre, but also produced epochal floor fillers on the Trax label like the timeless Your Love, sung (and moaned) by Jamie Principle. Acid house protagonists Phuture also hail from Chicago, and on We Are Phuture (also released on Trax) we hear the chirping acid sounds of the legendary Roland TB-303 in full effect. Another featured classic is No UFO's by Detroit's Model 500 aka Juan Atkins, who is rightly considered the 'Godfather of Techno' even if the genre-defining track from 1985 still breathes with the spirit of hip-hop and electro from the first breakdance era.





Afrobeat

Le Serpent, by Algerian-born Abdelmadjid Guemguem, is a track that sounds completely different from everything else on WIUTP. Made in 1978, it's a monumental, rousing groove created without bass or synths, just with five congas! Even though Guem sadly passed away in 2021, his immortal, acoustic beats are understood all over the world and will continue to enrich many thousands of DJ sets for years to come. Another classic that not only Sven appreciates beyond measure is Hugh Masekela's Don't Go Lose it, Baby. In addition to being one of the most important jazz pioneers, the trumpeter and freedom fighter from Johannesburg was very experimental, integrating electronic sounds into his music in later years, in a similar vein to Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. Dutch jazz pianist Jasper van't Hof's afrobeat project Pili Pili has also aged well. The trance-like, almost sixteen-minute-long track of the same name, manages to fill a whole side on the seventh of twelve vinyl discs in the WIUTP box.



UK-US-Euro - Late 80s

Time for a change of scene, in the truest sense of the word, and from a musical perspective, this section is like landing on another planet. First up is Andrew Weatherall's classic remix of Primal Scream's Loaded, featuring the iconic Peter Fonda sample (lifted from the 1966 biker film Wild Angels) that came to personify the mood triggered by the British Second Summer of Love in the late eighties: "We wanna be free to do what we wanna do, and we wanna get loaded...". This period also saw the emergence of M/A/R/R/S whose only single, 1987's Pump Up The Volume, became a club classic with support from DJ legend CJ Mackintosh. In this most eclectic of sections, we also encounter New York house and reggae producer Bobby Konders and his seminal Nervous Acid.



Balearic - Late 80s

Those who know him, know that Sven had already lost his heart to the 'magic island' of Ibiza as a teenager, so with that in mind, the WIUTP project couldn't end without a Balearic chapter. Inspired by Manuel Göttsching's E2-E4, the immortal, eponymously titled Sueño Latino belongs in there without question. Equally popular on the island was, and still is Break 4 Love by Raze, which thinking about it, would also fit perfectly into the house chapter. Last, but not least, there's an overdue reunion with Sven Väth himself, in his role as frontman of the successful Frankfurt trio OFF. Together with Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti (later of Snap!) this 'Organization For Fun' created the off-the-wall club hit Electric Salsa in 1986 which incidentally turned into an international chart smash, putting Sven in the enviable position of having to decide between pop stardom and a DJ career. Well, we all know how that decision turned out and the rest, as they say, is history. A not insignificant part of his story is What I Used To Play. Enjoy!

The greatest hits of Nile Rodgers & Chic live at Paradiso on double vinyl. Includes the worldwide classic titles Everybody Dance, I Want Your Love, Upside Down, We Are Family, Le Freak, Good Times and many others. As always with Chic, the sound is excellent and music is just perfect!

Brussel's beat smith DC SALAS is back on the block - the Robert Johnson block that is! His 3rd release for LIVE AT ROBERT JOHNSON is also his 20th official release so far - so we have two things to celebrate spread over Diego Cortez Salas' powerful four-tracks EP called »Voces«.

Let's start with the title track: »Voces« is a call to alarm right from the beginning with its stabbing synth bass line and sirens. Add a couple of drum breaks and a heavy beat - et voilà: You have the first of four tunes to jump up and down to. Et oui, Salas surely knows how to build tension in a track - even in a voiceless track named »Voces«.

Next up is »The Lights« - and oh boy does Salas turn them on! These are quite trippy lights with a sound that could easily come from a twisted didgeridoo … The beat of »The Lights« is (of course) groovy as f*** - excuse our French. So let's turn on »The Lights«!

B-side opener »Metallic Glow« does just that: The track glows in bright metallic from the first second and features plenty of crazy sounds to do a crazy dance. Did we mention the groove? No? Well … just listen.

For »Safe Pace« Diego pulls out beautiful percussive elements and the 303 thus surfing on a not-so-safe pace to be honest: The last track of »Voces« is as fast and demanding as all the others.

DC Salas again managed to build four really solid stompers here to set any dancefloor on fire - without using any voice or vocal - these are REALLY SERIOUS SOUNDS you all should listen and dance to. NOW.

"In the late 1960's, Decca was playing to its strengths – mass marketing classical and easy-listening recordings just as it had been doing since the late 1920's. In April of 1968, Decca entered into a venture that would see its repertoire prominently displayed by non-specialist retailers, and after much resistance, it moved into the world of budget releases, with the beginning of its much loved ‘The World Of’ series in 1968.

The first album set out the series’ stall perfectly, focusing on one of the label’s biggest-selling artists. Its whole raison d’être was to drive sales of the artist’s repertoire: inviting consumers to dip in here and discover more, while the rear sleeve clearly offered the catalogue numbers of the parent albums.

Later, the World Of ’s would also become treasure troves for rarities and one-offs.nitially, the series stayed in the ‘Easy’ territory and by the end of ’69, 54 titles were available. Unsurprisingly, given the label’s heritage, classical repertoire would also become a mainstay.

The first classical LP was one of the early issues:
The World of Johann Strauss. The series treated classical music much like pop: compiling the most popular pieces and presenting them across two sides.

• 180 GRAM HEAVYWEIGHT VINYL • CUT AT ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS
• NEWLY-COMPILED SELECTIONS FROM DECCA’S ILLUSTRIOUS CATALOGUE • Please note: The World of Nothern Soul - previous orders still stand.

ACID KLAUS, the new collaborative solo project from songwriter-producer and Northern England cult leg-end, Adrian Flanagan (The Moonlandingz, International Teachers of Pop, Eccentronic Research Council & lots more) announces his debut concept album co-produced with his music partner in the ERC, Dean Honer titled Step On My Travelator: The Imagined Career Trajectory of Superstar DJ & Dance-Pop Producer, Melvin Harris which will be released on Yard Act"s ZEN F.C. label. The album features contributions from Adrian"s long-time collaborators and friends including actress, Maxine Peake, US musician and video director, Charlotte Kemp Muhl (Ghost of a Sabertooth Tiger), Maria Uzor from Sink Ya Teeth and the Bradford-born pop-noir singer (currently singing in The Specials), Hannah Hu who is joined on lap steel guitar on a track by Richard Hawley. The album is completed by a whole host of fresh and exciting artists (as well as the aforementioned Lieselot Elzinga) - there"s the enigmatic Queen Bee of the Calder Valley, solo artist, Bianca Eddleston who goes under the name Soft Focus and finally from South Wales (and the current talk of the South London scene), the incredible welsh language singer-songwriter, Cat Rin.

In 2002, Dong Hyek Lim arrived on the scene at just 18 years old ‘in a blaze of pianistic glory’ (Gramophone) with a debut album championed by his mentor Martha Argerich, which was awarded the prestigious Diapason d’Or in France. The South Korean virtuoso went on to take third prize in the 15th International Chopin Piano Competition, and recorded a remarkable Chopin album in 2004 including the 3rd Piano Sonata and some Mazurkas. In 2008 followed an album of Bach’s Goldberg Variations coupled with the Bach-Busoni Chaconne. The French magazine Le Monde de la Musique awarded it a ‘Choc’, while Gramophone wrote that: “There’s no question that he’s a very impressive pianist … who gives the sense of profound pleasure in the music … And he’s not afraid to experiment with what he can do in this music … An artist to watch.”
Seven years later, in 2015, following studies with Emmanuel Ax at the Juilliard School in New York, Lim’s artistry had matured and deepened for a long-awaited recital of the 24 Preludes and other works by Chopin – a composer who remains especially close to his heart. This album is now made available on vinyl for the first time.

In 2019, Dong Hyek released a Rachmaninov album with the 2nd Piano Concerto, and the Symphonic Dances in the arrangement for 2 pianos version with Martha Argerich. He also recently recorded 2 piano sonatas by Schubert.

For Dancer Only ist die legendäre Clubnacht von Bill Kealey, dem ebenso trinkfesten wie umtriebigen Sammler und Jäger aus Dublin. Quasi jedes Wochenende ist er mit seinem 7"-Vinylkoffer unterwegs und beglückt die Massen. Da er das schon ein paar Jahrzehnte macht, gehört er zur absoluten Champions League derer, die sich mit Rhythm & Blues der 50er und all seinen Spielarten beschäftigen. Dies ist seine erste Compilation und wir behaupten, dass es eine der Besten ist, die Stag-O-Lee je veröffentlicht hat.

RSD vinyl now available for everybody and now slightly cheaper too!! "Unavailable on vinyl for decades, Select Records presents 2 Hype in an opaque white pressing exclusive to RSD Black Friday. For a certain generation of hip hop fans, just the mention of Kid ‘n Play brings on a wave of nostalgia. The group released three full-lengths between 1988 and 1991 with a focus on positive lyrics and pop friendly production. The success of the group’s music lead to countless House Party films, a Saturday morning cartoon show and even a series of comic books for Marvel (so, technically speaking, are Kid ‘n Play are part of the Marvel Universe?). It all started here on the 1988 full-length 2 Hype which features “Do The Kid 'n Play Kick Step”, the musical accompaniment to their trademark dance, “Rollin’ With Kid ‘n Play” which hit number 11 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and of course Kid's now classic hi-top fade haircut, which measured up to over six inches high at its peak. Producer Hurby “Luv Bug” Azor, instrumental in the success of Salt-N-Pepa, was certainly a factor and the full length went on to chart in the Billboard Top 200 and to RIAA certified gold status."

The only known EP released by Sick Hardcore, a project of Florence based Franco Falsini, the founder of Kaos Records, an important outlet for the Florentine 90s scene. “Digital Justice” is a collection of 4 proto rave dancefloor oriented tracks featuring sample based sounds over heavily percussive patterns of rhythm with an overall darker tone. Sometimes bordering EBM and New-Beat sentiments, yet also touching upon more progressive sounds and breakbeat elements. In addition to the original release's tracklist is a secret unreleased (more contemporary sounding) version of “Clinic Rhythm” which might have been put together by Franco himself more recently – hard to tell, but sure to impact any dancefloor for the better. Generously remastered for big room action.

Techno trailblazer Amelie Lens presents her new EP 'In My Mind' on her own Lenske imprint, containing three explosive techno tracks.

Belgium's Lenske Records presents its next EP from label head Amelie Lens. The release marks a considerable high point of Lens' career, hot on the heels of the launch of her radio show and dropping just before her debut Ibiza residency with sister label EXHALE. 'In My Mind' will mark Amelie's first solo release on the label since 2020 and follows her collaboration with Airod on 'Raver's Heart' EP late last year. The EP also was inspired by electrifying visuals that Amelie takes on the road and showcases at selected gigs.

Title track 'In My Mind' opens proceedings with blasts, bangs and heavy reverbs whilst Amelie's voice swirls above. The build-up gives way to furious claps, and spiking synths that continue to dance around the vocal sample in a ruthless march. The beat is unrelenting with a venomous, pulsing bassline that creates this raw and atmospheric techno cut, while bubbling keys maintain vitality and lightness with their careful arrangement.

Multiple elements come into play for subsequent track 'First Light'. A stripped back kick synchronizes with distorted pads for the opening, soon accompanied by a heavier kick-drum counterpart and lick of acid to inject some sharpness. The true DNA of the track is the programmed claps and dark pads that rise and fall menacingly throughout, as splashes of effects are thrown into the mix.

Final track on the record 'Trippin'' undoubtedly packs a punch. Blasting off with a dominant kick and oscillating spring reverb that swipes through Amelie's wistful vocals, the harder elements gradually succumb to the softness of her voice. The listener's focus is momentarily shifted during an early breakdown before the kick returns with more vigor accompanied by hurried hi-hats and distortion that sends you into a frenzy.

Our first vinyl release of 2023 sees two classic tracks from Groove Park take centre stage. Hit The Bang and Carrousel first came to the fore in 1995 as separate releases and, after a few solid remixes, our Bonzai Classics imprint resurrected both tracks along with top-notch remixes in 2002. 21 years later we bring to you the original versions of both tracks on glorious 12” vinyl. André Strässer and Sharam Jey aka Sharam Nickjey Khososi make up the dynamic duo that is Groove Park. They were also the brains behind massive projects such as 16C+, Three n One and Johnny Shaker to name just a few. The tracks found a unique place in clubland, having a diverse structure that spanned genres flawlessly. The A side features Hit The Bang with its hybrid progressive/techno flow. The relentless bass groove, distinct voices and stabbing synths gave rise to a powerful, energetic and mesmerizing moment that lives on. On the flip, Carrousel takes up the B1 slot opening with that infectious woodblock sequence alongside pumping kick drums. A groovy bassline joins the party as old skool pianos come through. The track reels us in with many twists and turns, from wide, epic progressive parts to energetic trance, all wrapped up in a warm, nostalgic glow. A proper piece of dance music history and a must for the serious collector.

The impact Belfast born duo Bicep have had on Irish music is unmeasurable, capturing the hearts and minds of the next-gen with their future-facing sonics. The pairing started their FMB label in 2012, going on to support a plethora of Irish artists in the process, from Cromby and Hammer to Brassica and Brame & Hamo.

The label's latest record comes from yet another Irish artist. Swoose, a name that should be familiar to any Irish electronic lover, began his career handing out flyers for legendary club Stiff Kitten. From here Swoose went on to become a resident of Shine and AVA Festival, and has released a string of killer records on Shall Not Fade and Lost Palms. Now residing in London, his record on FMB brings the OG Belfast dance music community back together for a fittingly euphoric release.

Title track ‘Breathe’ produces poignant undertones and contemplative thought, meditative breaks channeling the producer's fascination with wild flora and fauna. The track's interior begins to distort our sense of time and self, liquid textures forming over celestial harmonies like psilocybin. ‘Hyphae’ takes a 4/4 approach, while keeping the EP’s emotional personality present. Its pulsating bassline is balanced by far-reaching syths and dancing hi-hats, resting in a unified space of motion and colour.

Rotterdam via Belfast based artist Kessler has been on the tip of everyone's tongue since the return of clubbing. He has released music on Sherelle’s BEAUTIFUL black and LGBTQ+ label and his debut Shall Not Fade release was one of the most celebrated EPs of 2021. Kesslers knackt to create beautiful, other-wordly soundscapes that are both functional and edge on the side of melancholy are unmatched. His flip of title track ‘Breathe’ swaps gentler tones for his signature UK-sound inspired drums and crowd-evaporating atmospherics. The arrangements gentle ebb and flow, maintaining that signature blend of pace and etherealness.

Toronto’s Peach is on hand for the second remix – ‘Hyphae – a stripped-back early-morning groover that mixes psychedelia with flexible percussion. The track gives off a subtly uplifting vibe that blends heads-down club with minimal, punchy aesthetic. Just when you thought it was time to go home too...

Glasgow’s Seated Records return with more archival Scottish New Wave material; this time, in the form of Pop Wallpaper’s disco-not-disco interpretation of the Shuggie Otis classic, “Strawberry Letter 23”. And interpretation is the right word, guitarist Evan Henderson confesses that the lyrics sang by Audrey Redpath on the record were, “err inaccurate due to pre-internet home recording translation”.

The Edinburgh band first released “Strawberry Letter 23” in 1986 as a double A side 12” alongside original song, “Nothing Can Call Me Back". The 1986 record’s sleeve states that the original - “Strawberry Letter 23" has been “re-modelled for special pleasures, namely on the dance floor”. Here the re-model has been re-modelled once more. The track is recontextualised for 2022 playing on a four track 12” that includes an unreleased instrumental demo version of the track, as well as mixes from label founder Pigeon Steve and close friend of the label, Useful Tom.

Wallpaper’s first EP “Over Your Shoulder” was released in 1984. The release received a considerable amount of radio support, not least from Radio 1’s John Peel and Janice Long, which culminated with a live session for Long’s show at the BBC’s studios in London. Released a couple of years later, Strawberry Letter received similar levels of radio play. Despite (much to the band’s confusion) being tracked by Motown UK at one point, Pop Wallpaper did not go on to receive commercial success and eventually went their separate ways.

“Strawberry Letter 23” sits in the singular historical, cultural context of mid-80s Britain. Following the explosion of punk at the end of the 1970s, in the 1980s many British bands began experimenting with new styles and instruments - always keeping an eye firmly on their punk roots. The loose percussion and synthesiser melodies have an almost new-age, balearic mood, while the falsetto vocals of singer Audrey Redpath are an unmistakable embodiment the Post-punk style of the time. The prominent bass-line suggests a reggae or disco inspiration, and bass player Myles Raymond admits that he obsessed over a Sly & Robbie Taxi records compilation around the time the band put the tune together.

This reissue includes an unreleased, unheard instrumental demo-version of the cover, “SL23”. The band recorded the demo during an nighter at Wilf’s Planet studios in Edinburgh, just after Wet Wet Wet had just finished up their own demo for “Wishing I Was Lucky” (Pop Wallpaper all insist they thought it would never be a hit). In this version, we hear the band messing around with drum machines and synths which, in a similar style to Kevin Low and Fiona Carlin on Seated 001, creates a stripped back dance floor work-out that bares almost no resemblance to any version of “Strawberry Letter 23”. In an attempt to emulate the Trevor Horne production style of the time, the band’s drummer Les Cook recalls pushing for more and more reverb on the drums during the session to a reluctant producer Chic Medley, who “eventually obliged, but needed a lot of persuading”. Much to Cook’s disappointment “the reverb was toned down when we got to the final release”.

On the B side, label boss Pigeon Steve delivers a dubbed-out and acid drenched, cosmic rendition of the track with “SL24”, before Useful Tom (son of Pop Wallpaper bass player Myles Raymond) brings the EP to an end with spacey de-construction of fractured vocals and gliding synths on the B2 with “SL25”.

Repress !

Sudi Wachspress returns to Tartelet Records with Dance Planet, a third LP of emotionally-charged house music to welcome us back to the dancefloor. The spirit of true house runs deep in the sound of Space Ghost. Oakland native Sudi Wachspress is intuitively plugged into the romantic, mystical energy of 4/4 club music as a unifying force of empowerment and liberation, carrying the torch from vital forebears like Larry Heard, Alton Miller, and Blaze.

His new album, Dance Planet, carries a greater responsibility to spread spiritual affirmations. As the global dancefloor community emerges from a mentally-taxing recess and confronts their social self like it’s the first day of school, Space Ghost’s message couldn’t be more supportive.

“Don’t be afraid to be yourself, don’t be afraid to let go,” he intones on “Be Yourself.” More than just a beat and a hook, his music is pointedly created to heal and energize. “I’m a big fan of old-school house vocals that have a positive message,” says Space Ghost, “tracks that can perhaps enhance your mood or strengthen your confidence in yourself.”

Wachspress has always represented a beacon of musical uplift, both on his previous Endless Light and Aquarium Nightclub LPs for Tartelet and on his swathes of self-released music and last year’s Free 2 B on Apron. Compared to most house-oriented artists, he places emphasis on the long-player format to create an encircling experience for the listener, smoothing out psychic wrinkles and massaging areas of tension for a fully holistic hit.

ONLY ONE MUSIC presents Sould Class Feat. Tim Fuller - Best Laid Plans EP (ONLY20)

Soul Class is the team of producer Vernon Douglas (Deepen Sound, Fresh Meat, Woodwork) and vocalist/ lyricist Tim Fuller(Classic, Bombay, Nordic Trax).
Together they aim to make house music that is soul-touching and classy in its production style. No frills, no gimmicks-just great house music to dance to for years to come.

Heavily inspired by the Round series on Main Street Records and Prescription/Ron n' Chez, Soul Class keep the vibe alive with a song about searching for love and true friendship.

Their friend, Jay Tripwire adds a future house remix to round things out.

• To celebrate Kent’s 40th birthday (admittedly a month late, due to pressing times), we are releasing our first ever box set of singles. This is due to getting access to the Loma vaults and finding some previously unheard soul gems to augment the best of the soul dance tracks from the esteemed imprint.

• Starting with THE discovery of the soulful ‘20s we present LA soul group the Marvellos, whose ‘It’s Your Love That I Need’ – written by the great Willie Hutch – is a Motownesque dancer whose arrangements and melodies are so stunning we also issued the backing track as its instrumental B-side.

• The Invincibles were another fabulous Los Angeles outfit whose four Loma releases were ballads but two great dance tracks, the sublime ‘Heartstrings’ and the manic ‘Got A Thing Goin’’ showed they could really turn it up when needed.

• Ben Aiken’s ‘Satisfied’ is a stone classic Northern Soul dancer - finding the more subtle ‘If You Should See Her’ and ‘That’s All You Gotta Do’ in the vaults makes the Philly singer the best represented artist of the set.

• New York-based Carl Hall is another singer with a released classic - ‘Mean It Baby’ and a great unissued tape vault find – ‘Like I Told You’. The pair sit well together on their new 45 pressing.

• The Enchanters cut several tracks after they left Garnett Mimms; ‘Just A Little Longer’ is a great Drifters-sounding number which we’ve coupled with the beautiful ‘I’ll Find A Way’ by Bobby Reed.

• ‘See The Silver Moon’ by west coast girl group the Apollas would have wowed them at Wigan. The poptastic number has the perfect stomping dance beat, beloved of the Casino’s patrons. Alas it was not heard until 2012 when researcher and co-compiler Alec Palao unearthed the master tape. We paired it with Larry Laster’s terrific ‘Go For Yourself’ which shares the backing track of fellow Northern monsters ‘Lighten Up Baby’ and ‘Somebody Somewhere (Needs You)’, more than holding its own.

LIMITED EDITION DREAD BLACK VINYL LP, WITH THREE DOUBLE SIDED A4 INSERTS AND DOWNLOAD CODE. HOUSED IN PRINTED OUTER SLEEVE WITH POILYLINED INNER, AND HYPE STICKER. NON-RETURNABLE.
Bruxa Maria are G. Dread: Guitar, Vocals-Dave Cochrane : Bass (Head of David, God, Terminal Cheesecake) - Paul Antony: Drums (Ghold, Test Dept) - Robbie Judkins: Synth noise (Left Hand Cuts off The Right)
Bruxa Maria are back on their third full length; be grateful. “Build Yourself A Shrine And Pray” is 45 minutes of pummelling, punishing fury as unrelenting and all-consuming as your anger at coming up short for the rent.
The new record finds the band just as enraged as their 2016 debut, while continuing to evolve artistically. Bruxa Maria’s huge bass and guitar, frantic drums, and banshee shrieking vocals build tension with few moments of release, the frenzy sometimes dissolving into feedback, static, and synth drones.
Often the riffs have a swagger that makes you want to dance, and in a few places there are flashes of some genuinely pretty melodies and hooks. Those moments all shine through for just an instant before being shredded by the noise and wrath, torn apart flower petals under a line of razor wire.
This is dark music about and against a darkening world, where anger and art are crucial to how we keep on keeping on. You can call it now, this is going to be the best record of 2023.'
(Nate Holdren)

Dropping in January 2023 is the reissue of DJ Shu�lemaster's album EXP, which Tresor Records first released in 2001. This expanded reissue comes as a 3xLP with new artwork by Japanese designer Sk8thing and combines the original CD release tracks with three tracks from the Angel Gate 12" from the same year, including a remix by Surgeon of Experience. Also present is a previously unreleased version of Innervisions, which replaces the assonant synths of the original with a looped vocal sample upfront. Climb and Guiding Light will feature as digital-only tracks.
Tatsuya Kanamori remains a critical component of the Tokyo techno underground scene, initially coming to the fore through the Subvoice label before releases with Tresor, Theory Recordings, and Japanese record labels such as Disq and Reel Musiq. At the moment of the original release, DJ Shu�lemaster considered the record to draw in disparate and latent ideas into a fully encompassing mesh - "I would like to show my thoughts and everything that I am through the album. If it doesn't reflect my ideas and the reasons that I live for, there is no meaning for me to create an album. Therefore, EXP doesn't contain just one theme or concept."
EXP represents an uncompromising and psychedelic slant on techno, with a purist's focus on the dancefloor. It bridges many avenues within the techno genre, from the minimalist, dubby terrains of tracks like P.F.L.P. and Opaqueness, to more fierce percussive works that share a kinship with the sonic movements in Berlin, Detroit and
the UK. Beyond the technical, pared-down techno found in tracks such as EXP and Onto The Body, the album leaps into unpredictable territories frequently. Angel Exit carries mystical UK steppers moods as if it were a long-lost dubplate of The Rootsman. Kanamori delves deep into looping digital grunge in Flowers of Cantarella and Dawn
Purple, these synthetic worlds enveloping and deforming at will. Bold and as fresh as ever, EXP is an unearthed jewel from Tresor's past for new ears.

Paxico Records is pleased to present Forgot About Her, the latest release by LA-based beat maker and producer Sleepyeyes.
“The record retains Sleepy’s trademark smoked out atmosphere but re-contextualizes it for the dance floor in a way that is wholly unique, but also brings to mind burgeoning lo-fi house contemporaries such as DJ Seinfeld, Ross From Friends, and Baltra.” –Earmilk
The results are something staunchly authentic. The recordings on Forgot About Her are honest and intimate as if sent from an old friend. Soft vignettes capture the emotional aftermath of separation. Eagerly alone, Sleepyeyes embraces his sound to hold the hazy memories one may feel from heartbreak’s closure. Its magnetic charm pulls us into a space where flaws become strengths and suffering becomes beauty. The site-specific titles and intimate home-recordings form its compelling and transformative qualities.
With Forgot About Her, Sleepyeyes shares the weight of letting go. It’s a slow-burning process pushed and pulled by tension and release, a movement for moving on.

By now Nicola Loporchio aka Nico Lahs has a discography that has become respected and sought after among DJs and music lovers in dance music across the globe.

Whether it be deep, atmospheric, jackin' or jazz-flecked deep house, it's all firmly rooted in house music tradition, something that Nico Lahs masters with ease.
With releases on labels like Moods & Grooves, Delusions Of Grandeur, Ovum, HotMix, Adeem plus many more, he shows no sign in slowing down either.

Ancestors Call is a musical story told in two parts. Filled with melodic and spiritual deep house, sitting somewhere between classic deep house and the spiritual end of house royalty Ron Trent's output.

Just like his previous releases Nico is a producer that has both the confidence to blend late night deep house vibes with soulful dance floor magic. It's house music that is very honest.

Ancestors Call is something you listen to from start to finish, each song building a musically expansive story.

"Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the bassbins, Mysticisms brings the latest in its Dubplate series. After the success of his first digital dubb excursions on the version, Persian returns with a second 10” of reggae inspired electronics, covering Bass, Breaks, Digidub and now also, Jungle.

Taking no prisoners with the massive opener Survival Dub, Persian marries classic breakbeats and toasting to bouncing, dance floor effect. THE party starter. This is followed by Smoke Mari, a looping steppas of FX and breaks to lay down the Dubplate clash.

As ever the link between rave, breaks and sound system culture is explored, this time with the Roots’n’Lovers opening of There Is No Love giving way to a Junglist drop, before risin’ to a beautiful soul sermon.

Finally, taking it all down, tings wrap with the deep, sampledelic dub of Zatoichi’s Troubles. With a bass to destroy many a speaker, it’s lanquidity morphs from the EP’s hedonism of sound clash styles to a gliding “tokers delight”.

Smoke the Mystery. "

With our Chillhop Raccoon mascot leaving the cozy countryside for the first time and moving to the big city of Chillville, Essentials Spring 2022 is a new chapter. An origin story with endless adventures around every corner. With Spring 2022, we see our favorite mascot settling in, unpacking, making friends, and learning the ways of a new metropolis, one paw at a time.

At 24 songs with nearly 40 musicians, Essentials Spring 2022 marks the 25th seasonal compilation since beginning back in 2016. Lofi and lively, jazzy and laid-back, press play and feel the ground start to blossom and bloom.

Credit 00 is back on track with four monsters in his bag that are almost too dangerous to get unleashed. The Uncanny Valley regular from Leipzig sends us down into the electronic vortex while taking some detours to places that haven't been visited in a long time. Thanks to his DIY attitude and an open mindedness for all kinds of music, you can find traces of jungle, garage, trance or even 90s pop and gabber in this hard rocking machine funk. He's juggling with sounds and genres like no one else. It's just so much fun to listen and dance to these tunes. Indeed, there is no other...

Favorite Recordings proudly present its new series of 7" reissues with the following concept: each side dedicated to one Funky French track coming with its original artwork. You just have to flip it!

On the first side, you'll get the amazing track "Funky Biguine" by West Indies band Crystal. Originally compiled by Charles Maurice on French Disco Boogie Sounds Vol. 2, the original eponymous album still goes for crazy prices. And there's a reason for that: "Funky Biguine" will bring the heat on the dancefloor with its enchanting synth bassline, its West Indies influences and melodious Funk arrangement. Don't miss the synth solo in the end!

On the other side, you'll find a reissue of "Looking For You" by J.E.K.Y.S from the island of Réunion. The song has just started and you're already overwhelmed by the strong bassline and the sirens of this French boogie anthem -despite this one has English lyrics. Originally, you'll find it compiled by Charles Maurice on French Disco Boogie Sounds Vol. 3. Expect lovely harmonic progressions and perhaps a more spacey groove, as in these beautiful bridges leading to chorus where the lyrics blend perfectly with the synthesisers line and Fender Rhodes.

Cutting their teeth as teens in a West Bromwich bedroom, The Sea Urchins were nothing like the heavy metal that seemed to fill every bar in the UK Black Country. Fringe haircuts, perfect trousers, suede jackets and infectious tambourines gave plenty of hints as to their youthful ambition, but nothing could fully prepare you for just how utterly spellbinding these songs would be. Compiling their fanzine-only flexi material with the full complement of singles for Sarah Records, Stardust runs chronologically from late 1986 to the middle of 1989, beginning with the singles split for Clare Wadd’s Kvatch and Matt Haynes’ Sha La La, before hitting the first of what would be an even hundred releases from the new label Wadd and Haynes would form - Sarah.

The song that launched a legendary label and defined a sound, a scene, a place and time; “Pristine Christine” still rings out as immediate and magical today as it did on first listen. What a glorious jangly rush racing around the corners of pop’s history! The band would reach such heights time and again over the course of this three year burst. The melancholy swinging folk of “Everglade” and it’s wonderfully yearning vocal; the organ-fueled british invasion garage rock sing-a-long of “Solace”; the playful psych pop of “A Morning Odyssey”; the acoustic sweep of “Wild Grass Pictures”; the perfectly named “Summershine” leaving you with a ramshackle smile out on the dancefloor. All of it is just so filled with delicate humanity, yet somehow absolutely perfect.

As Bob Stanley said about the shimmering ballad “Please Rain Fall” while bestowing it with NME Single Of The Week (an honor also bestowed upon “Pristine Christine”), “think of some variations on the word marvelous and you’re most of the way there.”

In their time, they might have seemed wildly out of step, but it’s not crazy to say that things could have been very different for the likes of Radiohead, The La’s, and Oasis without The Sea Urchins. Liner notes by Television Personalities legend Dan Treacy.

Orange Vinyl

Cutting their teeth as teens in a West Bromwich bedroom, The Sea Urchins were nothing like the heavy metal that seemed to fill every bar in the UK Black Country. Fringe haircuts, perfect trousers, suede jackets and infectious tambourines gave plenty of hints as to their youthful ambition, but nothing could fully prepare you for just how utterly spellbinding these songs would be. Compiling their fanzine-only flexi material with the full complement of singles for Sarah Records, Stardust runs chronologically from late 1986 to the middle of 1989, beginning with the singles split for Clare Wadd’s Kvatch and Matt Haynes’ Sha La La, before hitting the first of what would be an even hundred releases from the new label Wadd and Haynes would form - Sarah.

The song that launched a legendary label and defined a sound, a scene, a place and time; “Pristine Christine” still rings out as immediate and magical today as it did on first listen. What a glorious jangly rush racing around the corners of pop’s history! The band would reach such heights time and again over the course of this three year burst. The melancholy swinging folk of “Everglade” and it’s wonderfully yearning vocal; the organ-fueled british invasion garage rock sing-a-long of “Solace”; the playful psych pop of “A Morning Odyssey”; the acoustic sweep of “Wild Grass Pictures”; the perfectly named “Summershine” leaving you with a ramshackle smile out on the dancefloor. All of it is just so filled with delicate humanity, yet somehow absolutely perfect.

As Bob Stanley said about the shimmering ballad “Please Rain Fall” while bestowing it with NME Single Of The Week (an honor also bestowed upon “Pristine Christine”), “think of some variations on the word marvelous and you’re most of the way there.”

In their time, they might have seemed wildly out of step, but it’s not crazy to say that things could have been very different for the likes of Radiohead, The La’s, and Oasis without The Sea Urchins. Liner notes by Television Personalities legend Dan Treacy.

THE FRIIMEN MUZIK COMPANY (also known as FRIIMEN) was formed after the Biafran war in 1973-1974 in the town of ABA in the eastern part of Nigeria. Aba was the Number 1 Music Hub in the entire Eastern Region of Nigeria. While bands and artists like ‘Ofege’ and ‘Fela Kuti’ ruled the LAGOS scene, bands like ‘Friimen’ and ‘The Apostles’ were ruling the ABA scene. Before forming the band, most of its members were already working together as freelance session musicians backing up solo artists on several recordings and concerts (or were playing in military bands that gradually became civilian bands because the war had just ended). FRIIMEN members’ credits were numerous and they played, wrote or performed on recordings from well-known acts like The Funkees, The Jets, The Apostles…and countless others. When they started concentrating on writing their own songs, the group instantly took off and became an overnight hit that resulted in them doing multiple successful nationwide tours. FRIIMEN would go on to record three albums: Free Man (1976), We Can Get It On (1978) and Merry Man (1979). All three albums were released on the Aba based label Anodisc Records (THE key label to be on if you wanted your music heard and out there), Anodisc also released hit records by ‘Sweet Unit’ and ‘Voice Of The Cross’ but The Friimen Muzik Company was the label’s signature band. The album we are presenting you today (Free Man from 1976) was recorded at the famous Decca Studios in Lagos and comes swinging right out of the gate with a set of no less than EIGHT monster tunes. Expect nothing less than crazy afrobeat and over the top melodic funk influenced by a wide array of artists (both local and international). Mesmerizing solos, captivating grooves, impeccable sequences that turned many heads…everything you need to get a dancehall into a complete uproar. The musicians’ skills are just plain incredible! FREE MAN is a quintessential record that every serious collector or fan needs to have in his/her collection.

New York City"s tape_hiss makes his debut on Darker Than Wax with A Linear Progression, a deep and meditative dance record born out of the pandemic"s paradigm shift. tape_hiss is an accomplished producer by any measure, with early releases on Love Notes from Brooklyn making his hardware-driven sound known worldwide, and a string of follow up releases on Axe on Wax, Just Jack, Lost Palms, and Echocentric Records solidifying his reputation as one of the deepest in the game.




b 1.2 W 4th Street Ace

From over the hills and far away, the cobblers and their boots are here to stay. The sartorial scallywags return with another collection of kaleidoscopic, Italo-tinged party pleasers.

First off the block, London royalty Super Drama team up with homeboy Kayroy for ‘Something New’, a cut of propulsive glitterball synth-funk, with just the right amount of cowbell. Next up, Italy’s Disco Mortale and Futuristant take us for a tour of the dark side, with cyborg vocoders
and cyberpunk arpeggios painting a vivid dreamscape of neon and steel. ‘Until Forever’ flirts the line between sinful and sincere, abandoning you to the rise of the machines, and a dance-off to the death!

Flip that wax and step on the gas because Gabto reunites with collaborator Kauan Marco for the colossally cool ‘Ki Ko Ho’. These brilliant Brazilians have delivered a bonafide gem, complete with drums that hit you in all the right places, and a killer synthesiser solo – brilliant stuff.

For the cherry on top, Marching Machines bring their intoxicating and hypnotic flavour of Belgian chug and psychedelic dark disco to the table with the festival-ready epic ‘Seraphic’ – molto bene! An electrifyingly eclectic and adventurous collection of toe-tappers and hip snappers, made with love and coming soon to a discoteca near you.

The second single to be pulled from upcoming BBE album ‘Strata Records – The Sound of Detroit – Reimagined By Jazzanova’, ‘Saturday Night Special’ features remixes by Kai Alcé and DJ Amir & Re.decay, as well as The Lyman Woodard Organization’s 1975 original. Possibly the best-known piece of music from the Strata label’s diverse and innovative catalogue, the unique, low-fi, moody, understated aesthetic of ‘Saturday Night Special’ has captured the hearts of music fans and DJs worldwide. “When I first heard the Lyman Woodard Organization ’Saturday Night Special’,” says DJ Amir, “I thought it was a song from a Blaxploitation soundtrack. Once I realized that Lyman was from Detroit, I immediately thought that if there was ever a ’theme song’ for Detroit that ’Saturday Night Special’ would be it. There is such a cinematic vibe to the song full of grit, rawness, and determination that just soaks into your veins. This album/song will always be in my bag of records to survive the apocalypse with!’” When DJ Amir and Jazzanova began work on the ‘Reimagined’ project, breathing new life into the Strata Records archive, this jazz-funk classic was right at the top of the list of ‘musts’ for the band to re-interpret. “I had no idea what direction they were going to go, musically” says Amir. “The original song had been sampled more than a few times, but in my opinion, it was never done tastefully. However, from the first practice session, I knew that they were spot on with the right direction! Their version is the perfect blend of Detroit and Berlin!” Kai Alcé’s ‘NDATL’ remix of ‘Saturday Night Special’ (named, like his label, after his three hometowns of New York, Detroit, ATLanta) brings a sure-footed lightness to Jazzanova’s version of the song, making the absolute most of the track’s stellar horn solos. “After hearing the unreleased Kamasi Washington/Gregory Porter remixes he did, I knew I had to reach out Kai” says Amir. “With this remix, he stretches out the track into a seven minute groove, in the direction of a soulful house/future jazz interpretation.” Alongside his Berlin production partners, Re.decay DJ Amir turns in a low-slung rework of ‘Saturday Night Special’, using as many parts from the Jazzanova version as possible. “We tried to emulate the intro to one of my favourite jazz dance tracks, ‘Expansions’ by Lonnie Liston Smith” says Amir. Mission accomplished.

Alignment is back on Charlotte de Witte's KNTXT label for a fourth time with his Attack EP. It offers four more forward-thinking tracks of trance infused techno.

Berlin-based, Italian-born artist Alignment, whose real name is Francesco Pierfelice, has emerged as a real force in the techno world in recent years. He has had an outstanding array of vital productions, and his sound helps carry forward the diversity and musical identity KNTXT stands for. His sound has smartly evolved since as he continues to pick up new influences. All that comes out on this superb new release.

Says the artist, ‘I am more than happy to contribute with ‘Attack EP’, another release on such a renowned imprint like KNTXT. Charlotte has supported me since day one, and I am hugely grateful to release for the fourth time on her label. Four tracks that are straight to the floor, they are the outcome of touring clubs and festivals again now in 2022. Enjoy this selection and see you soon on the dance-floor!’

Says label boss Charlotte de Witte, ‘Alignment is one of my favourite producers out there. His high energy style and sound always deliver on the dancefloor. I'm very proud and honoured to have him once again on board for another four killer tracks on KNTXT.’

Attack opens up with hammering drums and turbo-charged synths. It is an all powerful track that drills deep and brings a real sense of rave to the club. There is an ever present sense of euphoria to Dream State as the trance synth loops bring real light and emotion to the flat footed and slamming drums. Some steamy vocals add that all important hook and ensure real dance floor destruction. Multiverse brings bouncing techno funk beneath edgy synth stabs and industrial percussion design for soot-black warehouse spaces. Last of all is The Way, another unstoppable and supersized techno offering with hands-in-the air synth designs and drums that just don't quit.

This is another fiery offering of new school techno from Alignment.

Clear Vinyl

Erased Tapes are immensely proud to announce the reissue of the debut album Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light by Bell Orchestre. To honour the album"s original recordings the album is also seeing its first vinyl repress since it was released in 2005. Originally formed in 1999 whilst studying at university, the first music Bell Orchestre made was live scores for contemporary dance performances. A few years later, the studio sessions for Recording A Tape.. took place simultaneously in the same studio as when Arcade Fire were recording their eponymous debut album Funeral. The two Montreal-based bands took turns to record their albums but due to the growing interest in Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre was put on hold as band members Parry and Sarah Neufeld quickly became occupied with Arcade Fire"s busy touring schedule. "The Bell Orchestre album was almost done, but it kind of sat there. We were just sitting on this album that we were really proud of, but we didn"t have anyone to pay attention to it" Parry told Pitchfork in 2005. The album was released to critical acclaim and has since received cult status among fans. Bell Orchestre is a collaborative instrumental group based in Montreal. Its six members come from wildly divergent musical backgrounds, and the unlikely chemistry that results from their collaboration is the very thing that sustains their connection. It"s as if the group as a whole has tapped into a very particular, very distinct energy: like that of an approaching storm. In many ways, Bell Orchestre is the sum of not only its parts, but the sum of its influences and inspirations. Among those influences can be listed such diverse artists as Lee "Scratch" Perry, Arvo Pärt, Charles Mingus, and Talk Talk. But ultimately they work together to create something that none of them has quite heard before. Bell Orchestre has been known to retreat into the woods to make and write music: from a residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts, to the forests of Quebec and Vermont, and back to their hometown of Montreal. The specifics of time and place, the elemental forces at work outside, and those forces that exist inside, all come into play within Bell Orchestre"s musical process. This particular music could be made by no one else at no other time in history. The experience of listening to Bell Orchestre, whether live or recorded, is almost that of experiencing a form of synaesthesia: the result is a collage-like construction of not just sound, but visual elements as well. From a herd of elephants to that approaching storm on the horizon, from a quiet forest in the country to ice forming on a city street, from watching vapour trails disappear in the sky to watching the changing light of dusk through a window. The result then is not so much cinematic as it is evocative: Bell Orchestre have not just written the music to the film - they have created an invisible film that only comes to life in the listening

Black Vinyl

Erased Tapes are immensely proud to announce the reissue of the debut album Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light by Bell Orchestre. To honour the album"s original recordings the album is also seeing its first vinyl repress since it was released in 2005. Originally formed in 1999 whilst studying at university, the first music Bell Orchestre made was live scores for contemporary dance performances. A few years later, the studio sessions for Recording A Tape.. took place simultaneously in the same studio as when Arcade Fire were recording their eponymous debut album Funeral. The two Montreal-based bands took turns to record their albums but due to the growing interest in Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre was put on hold as band members Parry and Sarah Neufeld quickly became occupied with Arcade Fire"s busy touring schedule. "The Bell Orchestre album was almost done, but it kind of sat there. We were just sitting on this album that we were really proud of, but we didn"t have anyone to pay attention to it" Parry told Pitchfork in 2005. The album was released to critical acclaim and has since received cult status among fans. Bell Orchestre is a collaborative instrumental group based in Montreal. Its six members come from wildly divergent musical backgrounds, and the unlikely chemistry that results from their collaboration is the very thing that sustains their connection. It"s as if the group as a whole has tapped into a very particular, very distinct energy: like that of an approaching storm. In many ways, Bell Orchestre is the sum of not only its parts, but the sum of its influences and inspirations. Among those influences can be listed such diverse artists as Lee "Scratch" Perry, Arvo Pärt, Charles Mingus, and Talk Talk. But ultimately they work together to create something that none of them has quite heard before. Bell Orchestre has been known to retreat into the woods to make and write music: from a residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts, to the forests of Quebec and Vermont, and back to their hometown of Montreal. The specifics of time and place, the elemental forces at work outside, and those forces that exist inside, all come into play within Bell Orchestre"s musical process. This particular music could be made by no one else at no other time in history. The experience of listening to Bell Orchestre, whether live or recorded, is almost that of experiencing a form of synaesthesia: the result is a collage-like construction of not just sound, but visual elements as well. From a herd of elephants to that approaching storm on the horizon, from a quiet forest in the country to ice forming on a city street, from watching vapour trails disappear in the sky to watching the changing light of dusk through a window. The result then is not so much cinematic as it is evocative: Bell Orchestre have not just written the music to the film - they have created an invisible film that only comes to life in the listening

Money Mouse Records moves effortlessly into the neon-hued vibes of 80's boogie culture with their latest 7" offering from Nashville's CA$H BONU$. Made up of some familiar faces from Music City's funk and soul movement, Andrew Muller and Nick DeVan are joined by Amber Woodhouse who lends her powerfully silken vocals to the mix. With the addition of Pittsburgh's synthesist maestro, Buscrates, along with Muller's deftly executed production flourishes; this record goes straight to the sweet spot of post-disco lushness. "Got Me Thinkin Tonight" is designed for the late-nite dancefloor aficionados, taking cues from some of the era's greats and shaking things up into something new and heaving. The synth work and beats weave together with Woodhouse's amorous lyrics to create a dancefloor jam that sounds just as at home in 1982 as it does in 2022. That magic is repeated on the B-side with "Joy & Pain" a straight up hustler of a track, with a driving drums and heady arrangements that, again, are meant to get the dancefloor churning. Woodhouse's vocals deliver a sweet soulful emotion that jives perfectly with a groove that would make Rod Temperton proud. And don't forget the heavy drum break at the end. CA$H BONU$ is bringing the boogie heat to your feet for real.

Repress in soon. Recorded in a little bedroom studio out in Durham, North Carolina, Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn's debut LP as Sylvan Esso arrived in 2014 at the juncture of pop and experimental. Even now, years later, the LP remains an urgent and fitting introduction to a push-and-pull that would go on to inform the duo's sound - a thoughtful headiness that also wants you to get out on the dance floor. A blend of analog and digital, Meath and Sanborn were two unexpected puzzle pieces fitting together with singular ease, producing a ten-track LP that was both minimalist and shimmering, with dark undulations rippling beneath the synthy-surface and crystalline quality of Meath's voice. Before all of the international touring and festival headlining and critical acclaim, Sylvan Esso was just a shot-in-the dark of musical chemistry gone right. The original album bio for the self-titled presciently sets the stage for the thesis that has gone on to guide Meath and Sanborn's writing since then: "a collection of vivid addictions concerning suffering and love, darkness and deliverance" arriving as "a necessary pop balm, an album stuffed with songs that don't suffer the longstanding complications of that term." And so, even as the band continues to evolve and becomes amorphous, there's still that argument about what pop can be at its core. This is just the beginning of that conversation captured on tape

Some cities just know how to produce bands by the bucketload. Take Detroit, for instance: we don’t need to rattle through a full list or anything, but safe to say that if your town has given the world the likes of Motown, Derrick May and J Dilla - before we even start to think about The Stooges et al - then you could be forgiven for thinking there must be something in the water round those parts. So whaddya say? Should we get to know two more fine exponents of melodic wonder from the Motor City? Only seems fair. This split LP between citymates The Stools and Toeheads certainly isn’t a letdown as far as the illustrious company of their forebears goes. In fact, it’s a fast-paced thrill ride that oscillates between hip-shaking rock’n’roll swing and bone-shaking hardcore energy. You might already be familiar with The Stools thanks to their ludicrously addictive Feelin’ Fine 7”, which dropped via Drunken Sailor (hey, those guys sound familiar…) early in 2021. If you though that short EP was a good time, wait ‘til you see what they’ve got in store here: right out of the gate, opener Dead Man’s Ford smashes the devil-toed boogie of the MC5 at their slinkiest into the teeth-clenched intensity of Negative Approach (and that’s a pretty decent John Brannon-style roar they deliver too). They maintain this quality and velocity across their side, which is brilliant. There’s no let-up from Toeheads either - their side of this split sounds like someone revved up The Gun Club and aimed fireworks inside their exhaust. This is the sound you always knew you were working towards when you got into this rock’n’roll business; guitars blazing, lungs bursting, a wall of sound collapsing while we all dance in the debris. Does it sound like anything new? Fuck no, but that’s not the point. Much like The Stools, there’s nothing you can say about Toeheads that can’t be summarised with the phrase ‘total exhilaration’. So there you have it. Another compelling case for Detroit as home to the finest sounds around, put forth by two young bands who make playing loud, fast and dumb sound easy. Call it conviction, call it chutzpah… hell, call it talent if you want, I ain’t gonna stop you. But chiefly, call it a fucking good time and put the damn record on. This slays. Will Fitzpatrick.