Beats Vinyl New Releases - News

Dispatch Dubplate starts 2023 as it means to go on, with this impressive second Dubplate release from Loxy and Resound. Fuelled by the success of their sold-out debut release for the label in 2021, the pair set to work on more music for Dispatch almost immediately after.

Three deeply textural and progressive deep cuts, from the masters of that minimal sound that maintains maximum impact. Percussive and atmospheric in their own trademark style, Loxy and Resound do what they do best for another standout Dispatch Dubplate.

The release also features the well-loved collaboration with Skeptical "Lik Walls" making a vinyl outing for the first time.



c B1 Loxy & Resound - Mordu vinyl exlusive

Debut album by Ani Zinc, member of the Spanish experimental duo Diseño Corbusier and co-founder of the iconic record label Auxilio de Cientos. - First time reissue of this much sought-after record on the highly collectable Spanish experimental label Auxilio de Cientos. Formed in 1981, NEO ZELANDA was the way of expression of a woman, Ani Zinc, who since then began to experiment with vocal music, manipulated tapes or sound collages. As a child, radio had been her only contact with music. She received her first shock listening to 'Remember Love', the repetitive song by Yoko Ono. She later found out about Llorenç Barber, Spanish experimental music pioneer. After recording a single ("Paso Hambre") and several cassettes ("Radio-Sabotage", "Ese Lenguaje"), which helped her to gain international recognition, and the inclusion of her work in various contemporary cultural centers (Juan March Foundation, among others), her first LP saw the light of day in 1986 on her own label, Auxilio de Cientos (also home to Diseño Corbusier, pioneer Belgian EBM/Industrial band The Klinik, and the amazing compilations "Pas De Deux" and "Terra Incognita"). "Mix Zelanea" brings together part of her experimental work with voices and sound effects ('Si Esto Es Amor' or 'Il Drama'), together with new compositions, in which she is accompanied by some friends and welcomes the use of conventional instruments such as drum machines, keyboards, etc, resulting a richer and more diverse outcome ('Alemana Mix', 'Extenso Mundo Brillante', etc).

SLINK and Daytimers are pleased to present the “Phiriya” EP by Enayet, their first collaborative release. Enayet is a Dhaka-raised, NYC-based artist and co-founder of the SLINK club night and label. “Phiriya” is his second release after 2021’s “Chokkor” EP.

Music for the Moon and the Trees by classical guitarist Morgan Szymanski and experimental musician Tommy Perman is the result of a long-held wish that the two childhood friends would get the chance to create an album together. It's a meditative album; a gentle thing of serene beauty and quiet innovation.

DBA enlist four techno powerhouses for the latest in the 0.5 series of various artists compilers. First up and needing no introduction is Sunil Sharpe with Goddhead, a fiery broken techno stepper. Following on are Dublin based up and coming talents Minos and Moving Still, who collaborate here on a huge kick drum driven cut. Meanwhile on the flip Ruaridh TVO of Broken20 fame takes things deeper with a whirring, spitting fireball entitled 'Wer' and Glasgow's Fear-E sums up proceedings with 'Moving Target', one of his trademark acid efforts.

Dispatch Dubplate continues to celebrate the best in unreleased dubs and in-demand tracks from the world of drum and bass with the next edition of this prestigious series, brought to you by Zero T and Black Barrel. Fans of the label will be familiar with these two label favourites, both responsible for several classic album releases for Dispatch and countless well-received EPs.

Leading the release is the VIP of "Sonic Bionic" from Zero T. The original has been in heavy rotation since release in 2021, and this VIP has been a secret weapon in Zero T's sets of late. When Ant TC1 suggested a VIP treatment for this track, Zero T decided to take the vibe back a couple of years from the
original's nod to the Full Cycle sound of 1998, to a more '96 vibe. A classic stripped-back Sandman break and a call-andresponse bassline, are joined by a halftime intro and breakdown, for a further nod to the dark Wu-Tang-style hip-hop influences of the original.

The DLR Remix of Black Barrel's "Fabric" makes up the next track in this split release. The original from 2019 will be well known to many. This DLR Remix adds that trademark funk to this classic roller.

Completing the digital release is an incredible collab from both artists, a soulful vocal leads "Deep Inside" as Zero T and Black Barrel flex their liquid credentials. Building on Black Barrel's original melody with techno-influenced, looped-out vibes - deep by name, deep by nature.

The vinyl exclusive track for the limited edition heavyweight release is Black Barrel's own VIP of "Fabric". Another secret weapon, this rework includes added weight and intensity - building on the original's glitched funk.

"Delacave started making music in a very intimate space, a bedroom, discovering and gathering all the imagination necessary for their slow gestation to initiate Gloomy Wave. In this fourth album, Liliane Chansard and Seb Normal intermingle their melodies even more, their harmonies sound and dissonance, and their voices adjust. Feverishness becomes strength. The different elements are linked in a blurred gap between coloured impressionism and black baroque. They take us on a journey through the great nowhere on disparate grounds where the efforts that cannot be avoided are never in vain. The strength of lack, the wisdom of emptiness and loss, and the intensity of friendships and discoveries never perish and are always renewed.
"Everynight is a Moonrising" Destinies are linked for a while and then they drift apart. Every atom of our beings is nature. And every night, dark and impenetrable, suddenly lights up under the white, clear, uncertain and detached lights of unknown planets and systems. If every bit of matter can become a home, the heart and the mind deliver in emotion the secrets of the whole world."

The 2nd Split EP is in continuity with the 1st. An EP of 3 tracks / side,
produced by an artist or group of artists. The idea is to "Increase" the
music through genres and bpm to gain power on each independent side.

Nookie is one of the most well respected old school artists in our scene, and one who has been a huge part of it since day one. His talent is unbridled and unmatched, and this can be seen from this selection of his very earliest recordings. This box set contains the bulk of his early work before he signed with Moving Shadow and Reinforced, and brings together many of his rarer and much sought after classics.

Praedormitium was inspired by the warm glow and fuzzy logic of hypnagogic states - the realms of consciousness between sleep and waking. These threshold states are characterised by particular images, sounds, and cognitive effects. Both Philip K Dick and Salvador Dali drew upon them for inspiration.

Praedormitium is the third part of a loose trilogy of albums that Polypores (Stephen James Buckley) has recorded for Castles in Space. Following in the garlanded pathways of Flora (2019) and the universally acclaimed Azure (2020), the expectations for Praedormitium are running extremely high. Stephen continues the odyssey he started on Flora and refined on Azure to deliver an album not only full of his usual depth and invention, but built to exist within that enclave of melody and optimism that typifies the Castles in Space catalogue. The album spins a dizzying 12 track suite of inspirational modular synthesizer pieces built from Stephen’s instinctive and seemingly limitless free flowing creativity.

He writes, “In my third album for Castles In Space, I felt that I should pursue the themes of the previous two by exploring an imaginal place - and decided that the place between wakefulness and sleep was an ideal location. If the previous two albums were Earth and Water, then this album is Ether. The album was recorded around Christmas 2020. The twinkling lights and frosted ground lent an unexpected air of yearning and melancholy to the music, an emotive thread running through it which, despite being unintended, must have been lurking in my subconscious somewhere and brought out through induction of these states through various means. Like the previous albums, it is very much a journey. Only this time you wake up at the end…”

The incredibly rewarding partnership with artist Nick Taylor is also continued on this release as Nick (as he did with his artwork for Flora and Azure), translates Stephen’s cosmic wonderment into breathtaking landscapes, trippy symbolism and arcane wisdom. The music and artwork complement each other perfectly, being two elements of the same thing and born from a restless, seeking desire to blow your mind.

Stephen James Buckley (Polypores) paints music with modular synthesizers, drawing influence from ambient, new age, and experimental electronics. His music soars, bubbles, crackles, and soothes, in ever-shifting, immersive cosmic landscapes, hyperreal dream environments and sonic sculptures. Defining a specific area of synthesizer based music as very much his own, his popularity has resulted in a brace of sold-out releases on labels such as Ian Boddy’s DiN, Polytechnic Youth, Behind The Sky, Miracle Pond Records, Frequency Domain, Woodford Halse, Golden Ratio Frequencies, and Concréte Tapes.

Uncut magazine described his 2022 album Hyperincandescent as "intensely absorbing, ever shifting through static squiggles, warm blooms of texture, bioluminescent glimmers, and rattling chimes... like a dance of fireflies in the dark".

Polypores will be promoting Praedormitium at live shows at Bedford Esquires on the 11th February (With Warrington Runcorn New Town Development Plan and Field Lines Cartographer) and at The Cumberland Arms in Newcastle on 25th February (with Field Lines Cartographer).

We're delighted to fire up the Metalheadz Platinum machine for the first time in over 2 years, also accompanied by a brand-new face designed by Belin - a Spanish urban artist, surrealist and innovator who we're honoured to have connected to the label.

The music comes from Subfusion, a perhaps unfamiliar name but one which consists of two individuals with over 30 years of jungle and old skool history combined. Those deep roots shine through on the 'Second Phaze EP', a collection of four circa 130bpm rave-infused killers that deeply impressed us here at Metalheadz HQ.

Reptile Mob is a newly launched, vinyl-only sub-label of the well-regarded GLBDOM imprint. It kicks off with a five-track various artists release that pays homage to the garage sound. 'Don't Know It' by Highrise opens up with a distantly 90s vibe, then Sky Joose shows his class on 'On The Shores' with its hard-edged bassline and full-throttle drums. Johnny U-Tah works some re-pitched and time-stretched vocals to perfection on 'Voices In My Head', with further gems from The Thunderkats whose 'Melatron' is a piano-laced bumper and last of all Jay Ward's 'Everything That I Need' brims with vocal lushness. A top draw start for sure.

Tugging at the heart strings with his new release, Cartridge shows why he is one of the most highly rated producers in the game. This is a sublimely deep yet diverse EP which showcases Cartridge's musical side. Sometimes melancholic on tracks like Abandon and Voyage. Poignant and touching with Valentines Ting. The title track Sweetheart is not only melody driven, it's also a proven party mover. Each of the tracks tells their own story and as an overall release they come together to make something greater than the sum of their parts. This is Cartridge stepping his game up to the top level.

Lobster mainstay and breakbeat wizard Coco Bryce follows up last year's Deep Into The Jungle EP and a wicked label-artist clothing collaboration with four varying cuts of 160 energy; spanning half-time chops, devastatingly beautiful jungle and lounge-bar breakbeat aesthetics.

Eagle-eared listeners will have listened to these already through the Dutch producers Balamii Radio show, where he has welcomed fellow label regular Amy Dabbs and footwork-jungle flag flyer Sherrelle recently. Through various aliases and musical projects Coco Bryce has always had an infatuation for bass-heavy sound, and the last couple of years have seen him settle quite nicely into one of jungles finest contemporaries alongside the likes of Sully and Tim Reaper.

‘D.L.P’ showcases this wicked ‘n’ rough energy brilliantly; old-school movie samples add a degree of depth and emotion to whiplash breaks and eerie pads before ‘Velocity Of Love’ takes us on a romance-induced trip through arcade-style keys and driving percussive beats. An explosion of love and lust in the club.

‘Twenty One Lies' swaps the club setting for a dimly lit bar in Peckham; jazz influence shines across this energetic yet home-listening ready cut of breaks, before ‘Wuthering Heights’ half-time identity transports us to the roof of the building, peering through the concrete jungle as dark turns to light.

Very Limited GREEN SKULL Vinyl.
Standing in a Greyhound Bus station, wearing a Sylvester t-shirt and huge duct-tape-covered glasses, Baltimore ’s Dan Deacon doesn't invoke the image of a composer to the other bus riders. The two suitcases he loads under the bus, which accompany him from city to city, hold the sweat-and-grime-soaked electronics that he uses to craft his raging, maxed-out party music and light show. After 12 tours and 300+ shows in little over 2 years, the gear is beaten and battered, but the show and the energy it produces is anything but.

Dan Deacon has garnered a reputation in the underground as an intense performer and classic showman. The table top full of pedals, a sine wave generator, vocoder and casio blasting through the PA, joined by a makeshift light board with various bulbs and green skull strobe light, make his all out dance-til-you-drop performance a complete experience.

But it isn't all fancy feet and bouncy beats. Deacon is a classically trained composer with a Masters degree in electro-acoustic composition. He has released 7 albums from 2003 to 2006, but those self-produced recordings do not contain the vocal-based experimental pop that he has fine-tuned in live performance. His latest full length, Spiderman of the Rings is the first album bridging the gap between party performer and genuine composer. A mixture of his live show dance anthems, intricate instrumentals and humorous monologues, Spiderman of the Rings establishes Dan Deacon as a new type of entertainer in the contemporary underground.

Repress

New music from dgoHn (John Cunnane) is always exciting, this LP especially so. After a recent release on Astrophonica, a self released collection of tracks in 2018 and 3 singles on Love Love since the inception of their partnership in 2016, John comes back to Love Love with the big album. Conceived in the Essex heartland, 'Undesignated Proximate' contains 12 all-killer mega fresh cuts of the kind of boundlessly creative material that we have come to know him for, marking the most comprehensive collection yet of dgoHn's music.

With a meddlesome level of experimentation and a knack for pumping out truly futuristic rhythms, John's ideas are utterly compelling, effortlessly peddling some of the most refreshing sounds to be found in the drum and bass / drumfunk / jungle worlds over a quarter of a century since the birth of the style. Not constrained by genre however his resolute chops, rich sound worlds and melodic structures form very real pieces of music, full of character and feeling. The production here is tighter than ever and while the tracks are technically adept, they drip in pure personality and raw energy. These are tracks made with a brain and a heart.

Likenesses to great Jazz drummers are just as appropriate to his music as they are his contemporaries in braindance or drum and bass and his noisier influences often bleed through. 'Stachybotrys' sees dgoHn's drums at their most frantic and tracks like this, as well as 'Invisible Sandwich' and 'Ninnyhammer' are rinsers of the highest calibre. The depth of these compositions are a complete antidote to mundanity and while the mainstay of the productions on the album are fully sound system-ready, cuts like 'Electryon', 'Puppet' and 'Windy' are so smooth they could almost be considered ambient.

10 years on from the classic album "Some Shit Saaink" made with friend Bob (Macc) on Subtle Audio/Rephlex, John"s music has garnered many notable fans including Aphex Twin, Skee Mask, DJ Food, Thom Yorke, Ben UFO, Lee Gamble and Tom
Ravenscroft finding a firm place in the hearts of many. 'Undesignated Proximate' is a timeless collection of music that sets a high bar for what can be achieved with a computer and some nifty ideas.

All Tracks by John Cunnane
Mastered by Robert Macchiochi
Artwork by Colin McCallister

Hoshina Anniversary hails from the westside of Tokyo and a place called Hachioj. His musical inspirations though come from an otherworldly place of rhythm, hyper-real melody and off-grid rhythm. This HakkyouShisou album on the mighty US label Constellation Tatsu is a fluid experiment which draws on experimental dance, jazz fusion, electronica and Japanese heritage. The sound design throughout is shiny and futuristic, particularly on the busy melodic patterns and loopy synth madness of 'Karoushi' which sounds like a computer left to its own devices after too much sugar. 'Dakuten' is a tripped out dub with sequenced progressions and lumpy drums, and 'Dareka No Rettoukan Wo Nomikomu' sounds like a house cut from Detroit's Omar S.

Berlin-based producer Rampue has not released an album in 14 (in words: fourteen) years. Between 2008 and 2020 he toured the world and worked mainly on his live sets in the meantime. So now only a worldwide pandemic had the power to prevent the traveling musician from continuing this hustle and bustle and eventually share a new record with the public. Corona was what brought this standstill and the otherwise well- traveled individual experiences cabin-fever during lockdown. Hence, the new Rampue album "Tragweite" came into existence in February 2021, which portrays the artist's desire for experimentation.
Inspired by a modular synthesizer (Buchla), Rampue has seemingly put himself into a kind of trance, in which he lets the machines work and combines randomly created sounds with airy structures such as low drums or simple grooves. Rampue accomplished to break free by using random sounds as a new impulse and a way out of a creative crisis, which stemmed both from the enforced home isolation and from the self-perceived paralysis. The result is literally unique, as many of the sound products cannot be reconstructed and are preserved in album form for the general public.
Listening to "Tragweite" one gets the impression that the dialectical relationship between chaos and order, further supported by its production, is the defining theme of the album. After an initially perceived chaos, a delicate order, which is determined by structuring drum patterns and basslines, takes over throughout the course of the album.
Later, it frays and loses itself again in sounds and tones created mechanically However, it never seems arbitrary, but willful and skillfully staged. For instance, "Furo?" begins with apparent arrhythmia. The combination of bass and subtle percussion, however, gives this arrhythmia a shape, guiding the track which gradually becomes more and more driving without losing its original playfulness.
Although one might be inclined to think of genres such as Downtempo or Ambient at the beginning in the further course of the album results in such a diverse sound and rhythmic landscape that one willingly questions one's own perception of music while listening and finally throws every type of categorization overboard joyfully. The listening experience is too intoxicating and enlightening to stick to simple genre boundaries. The musical spectrum ranges from straight arrangements that live entirely without a drum foundation ("Fu?r Dich") to almost meditative sound collages ("Regengesicht") to the four-to-the-floor banger "Kembang" which adds a grimmer note with a certain industrial appeal to the overall rather melancholic-progressive curation. "Direct Faden" on the other hand, surprises with its simple guitar-based foundation on which the omnipresent synth snippets and pads are allowed to let off steam towards the end of the record. The track that most closely combines the progressive production style with a danceable club atmosphere is probably "Phobia". Wafting, partly breaking away synthesizer sounds rise higher and higher, while the driving mixture of bass and drums consistently march forward.
Rampue breaks with his old, musical habits as "Tragweite" creates the impression of improvisation and jam character without getting lost. Rampue takes his listeners on a journey that is stirring and moving, sometimes demanding or even a bit disturbing, yet always one thing: incredibly exciting.

Constellation Tatsu has been mad busy of late with a great series of tapes dropping at the start of 2023. Next up is Strategy aka Portlander Paul Dickow with his new album Graffiti In Space, which is perfectly titled. If finds him making a widescreen and wide-eyed exploration of dub techno's outermost galaxies. He foments a unique style all his own with the empty iciness of 'Remote Dub', the frosted-over darkness of 'Fountain Of Youth' and watery liquid dub of 'Daydream Space Graffiti'. Things get psychedelic on 'Message From Ouroboros', more playful and bubbly on 'In Space No One Can See You Your Screen' and uplifting on 'Surface Worlds.' A fine record.

Tarotplane's new tape on Constellation Tatsu comes after many years of research and correspondence. They find him seeking to recreate the unique sound of the late great legend that is Manuel Gottsching. As such, his Aeonium album is a truly psychedelic treasure that fuses some magical moments from Krautrock as well as plenty of new and innovative sounds in between. It has twinkling cosmic melodies and sleek synth lines that are in constant flux. This one comes with great cover art in the form of a silkscreen from 1972 by Gernot Bubenik that captures the melting colours of the music.

Not much is really known about the production process behind the sprawling works of Japanese composer Yosuke Tokunaga, nor about the artist himself.

Whatever the process may be, its outcome yields unique soundscapes that lunge and retreat in near mechanical movement, while warm volleys of low flung claps and thumps disperse over a bed of textural hums and lingering chords.

At times, Yosuke’s work manages to somehow form an atmosphere that can both feel airy and yet dense simultaneously; it is this juxtaposed mélange of sonic fabric that is at the core of his unique creations, and once again it is beautifully displayed on Yosuke’s latest outing, »8 Quadrants«, where he continues his unique practice of figuratively interpreting language through a sequence of delicate sonic sculptures.

»8 Quadrants« follows 2021’s »9 Mezzotints« and will be available digitally, as well as on vinyl, via the Berlin based Vaagner label, and its offshoot Vaknar.

We finally made it: BEWITH100LP! And what better way for a re-issue label to celebrate such a landmark catalogue number than to give it to a record of new music. We couldn’t resist when the artist is Official Be With Family Member Kenny Dickenson and when the music is his lovely, lovely score to French-Vietnamese artist Mai Hua's 2020 documentary film “Les Rivières”. If you enjoy the more minimal, intimate piano of the likes of Nils Frahm or John Carroll Kirby’s solo work, you’re certain to fall for this beautiful album.

Taking six years to make, Mai’s film explores what happened when she brought her dying grandmother to France, pulling together four generations of women from the same family. Kenny’s score accompanies all the pretty things, sad things, dirty, beautiful, happy, broken and reborn moments of these women’s experiences.

The whole score is built around delicate, sparkling piano motifs. At times they’re joined by cello and complemented with ambient chords and other flourishes. It’s a very particular palette that Kenny and Mai established early on, as Kenny explains: “We had agreed on a particular sonic aesthetic early on in the process - to use specific and relatively minimal instrumentation, reflecting the intimacy of the picture. So piano and cello were quite prominent in instructing a sense of space and immediacy. Until I had to get the junkyard percussion out… ”

When it comes to describing the end results, Kenny’s happy to wear his influences on his sleeve:

“When the director and I sat down for the creative meetings early in the process, we watched ‘Wolf Children’, a Japanese animation film by Mamoru Hosoda. The amazing soundtrack by Masakatsu Takagi was a launching point for me and thereafter I leaned into more modern classical composers - Reich, Sakamoto, Glass as well as Jon Hassell’s Fourth World output. Richard Reed Parry’s ‘Music for Heart and Breath’ was a good early touchstone for me and Mark Hollis’ sparse, considered and deliberate approach was a constant presence. Also labels like Ghostly, ASIP and the ubiquitous Erased Tapes should probably get a nod here too…”

We’d even suggest there’s the occasional Yann Tiersen moment in there too.

Out of sheer necessity the collaboration between Kenny and Mai continued beyond this initial creative direction. With Kenny speaking neither French nor Vietnamese, Mai acted as translator, a process that naturally lead to discussing the film beyond just what was being said in the footage. Mai herself explains just how successful this relationship felt to her: “Music plays a very important role in all my work, particularly in Les Rivières. I cried every time Kenny sent me a new composition. I felt understood in a way that words cannot describe. It was absolutely magical and I am so happy if this music can make your soul vibrate too.”

Kenny composed much of the music in London, at the same time that Mai was shooting and editing. As the film took shape and the music also evolved, another challenge presented itself when Kenny relocated to Los Angeles part way through, resulting in Arnulf Lindners beautiful cello taking on new shapes- multi sampled, played and manipulated by Kenny into new compositions.

What Kenny has put together for the film score release is definitely a “soundtrack LP”, with the music arranged to work as a proper album in its own right that should be listened to from start to finish. Indeed the album also includes a new piece “Pour Marthe” that Kenny composed in memory of Mai’s grandmother who died after the film was finished.

Kenny’s personal highlight is also ours: “When I listen back to the album as a whole now, I never want part II of the Trilogy (Belles Larmes) to end. I have fond memories of recording it and I love how the dynamic of the piece gradually evolves from falling on the ‘1 and the 3’ to the ‘1 and the 2’. It’s so short and sweet, I keep wanting it to last for longer. But it’s kind of perfect as it is.”

Pretty much our sentiment for the album as a whole.

Running a record label means we often get asked advice about pressing a record. In this case the music was too good not to offer to release it ourselves. To Kenny, having the Les Rivières score on vinyl also feels like the final part of the project.

“It’s a beautiful thing to have it on vinyl. It’s quite an intimate soundtrack so there’s something really perfect about being able to listen to it on that format. When I was a kid, my Uncle Pat who used to work at Woolworths would visit and bring random records from their record department over to us. I can remember listening to “Theme From Exodus” by Ernest Gold. I had no idea what it was about but the imagery it conjured up when listening to that record was just mind blowing to me at that age. Soundtracks can have their own life on vinyl I think, and removed from their original context is this unique format for reinvention. So I’m excited that people who haven’t (and have for that matter) seen the film can have that experience.”

This might not be a re-issue, but the Les Rivières film score album has still been given the full Be With treatment. The vinyl has been mastered by Simon Francis (under Kenny’s ever-watchful eye/ear, of course), cut by Pete Norman and pressed at Record Industry. The sleeve follows the film’s poster and other promotional material, including Lucile Gomez’s almost magical illustration.

We’re under no illusions that many people reading this will have seen “Les Rivières”, but that doesn’t really matter when it comes to listening to the score. Just on its own, Kenny’s music still captures the robustness and the delicacy of lives lived.

With the cosmic-disco-drenched Burning Feeling, Steve Moore’s high-gloss Lovelock project conjured one of the most slept-on albums of last decade. Chunky, neon-lit synths and crashing, spacey guitars ride chugging Italo basslines and smooth-yet-shuddering drums to thrilling effect. Finally appearing on vinyl for the first time, 10 years after its original release, the album’s been freshly remastered (overseen by Steve, of course), pressed as a double LP and dressed in some stylish new black and gold artwork. This is the sound of “Big Room Smooth”.

Be With was well aware of Lovelock by way of the rather ace “Don’t Turn Away (From My Love)” from the 2008 compilation Cosmic Balearic Beats on Eskimo Recordings. Yes, we had the 12", but as shameless vinyl snobs we totally missed the full CD-only album that followed. Whilst working on the vinyl release of his KPM album Analog Sensitivity, Steve brought up Burning Feeling and how disappointed he was that it never had a vinyl release. We got the hint and didn’t need much persuading after finally hearing the whole album.

So where does Lovelock sit on the Steve Moore sonic spectrum? According to Steve “Lovelock is an outlet for me to explore my more pop-oriented ideas, whether it’s disco, lounge, soft rock or whatever I try next. When I started the project in 2006 I was listening to a lot of Italo disco so it felt natural to explore those sounds”. Even the “Lovelock” name itself is a nod to Italian genre film actor Ray Lovelock.

As well as the spacier end of disco, Steve was also listening to Laura Brannigan, Abba/Frida, S.O.S. Band, Alan Parsons and Jan Hammer at the time. These influences shine through. To those who think they detect a hint of irony, Steve’s happy to confirm that “I definitely have a sense of humor, but my love for the styles of music I reference is sincere, and I think that translates to the listener. Lovelock definitely isn’t a joke project, but it is meant to be fun”.

Burning Feeling was written and recorded in Nyack, NY between 2006 and 2008. For the gear-heads, Steve’s arsenal at the time included his trusty Sequential Pro-One and Prophet 600, a Korg Polysix, his Yamaha DX7II FD, a Moog Little Phatt and his Fender Jazz Bass and Strat. He posted the first Lovelock track on MySpace (yep!) in 2007 and the initial reaction was great. A couple of tracks made it onto some compilations and, after a few years of failed negotiations, the album eventually came out on CD in 2012 on Internasjonal, the label run by Prins Thomas and Kai Fraeger (who by genuine coincidence also runs Be With primo distributor Word And Sound). The album got good reviews, mostly in Europe and the UK, but not a whole lot of action in Steve’s native US. This double vinyl release should fix that.

The monumental, MDMA-rich title track opens the album and sets the mood. The fizzing, dramatic synth riff refrain intoxicates, before cavernous slo-mo house drums enter the party to devastating effect. It’s followed by the hypnotic, prog-Balearic mood piece “The Fog”. Dizzying synths never detract from the overall smoothness; this is vital, classy cosmic disco. Flip for the epic, Pink Floyd-on-pingers languid space-funk of “Don’t Turn Away (From My Love)”. A gorgeous bassline, warm keys, pulsing synths and smooth drums, all wrapped around yearning, claustrophobic vocals, it’s simply astonishing. The beautiful, faintly creepy synth-prog of “South Beach Sunrise” closes out the first record, with swathes of lush keys and horns. Nods to Tangerine Dream and that melody has a distinctly Angelo Badalamenti/Twin Peaks vibe.

The second record sets out soaring over a space-age island with the synth nexus that is “New Age Of Christ”, a melodic take on soundtrack Italo. The Chromeo-championed “Maybe Tonight” bubbles up through, swirling into a spiralling blast of sun-kissed, feel-good Balearo-pop. Swarming synth melodies, warm vocals and earnest guitar solos, make it one of the album’s most immediate hits. The mysterious “Barbara” graces the enormous power-pop-meets-Italo jam “Love Reaction” before closer “Deco District” luxuriates in what Matt Anniss described as a “grandiose combination of poodle-perm campery and rush-inducing arpeggiated synthesizer lines”. Who are we to disagree?

Steve worked with Be With’s audio engineering ace Simon Francis to remaster Burning Feeling from the original mixes especially for this double vinyl release. Steve says Simon nailed it “with no muss or fuss”. Steve also commissioned new artwork from designer Kane Banner. The results are a fresh take on the original CD cover that goes even deeper on the 80s serial-killer romance novel vibe. Just right for this killer album.

Digging out those original Burning Feeling mixes got Steve well and truly back in the Lovelock mood. As well as knocking out some lockdown remixes for fun, he’s also been working on new material that definitely deserves a vinyl release of its own.

Emak Bakia - a long out of print Muslimgauze masterpiece from 1994. Re-mastered and with new stunning artwork available on limited pic disc or gold vinyl.

Limited 12" from Pete Cannon - 4 tracks produced on the Amiga 1200!

Travelling extensively across Asia and Africa between 1974-1985 to study music, Roberto made many field recordings and collected many instruments on his travels which he would then combine with synthesizers and electronics back in Italy. BIG TIP!

The name of Rupert Parkes needs no introduction. Known mainly for his productions as Photek (although he also had a number of other aliases), he is widely regarded as the single most talented producer in the history of Jungle and Drum & Bass. The sheer stylistic breadth of his output is staggering, not to mention the way in which he developed his unique style of breakbeat engineering to levels that, even now some 25 years later, leave many producers in bewildered awe! Rupert was also an integral part of the Odysee story. He gave generously of his time to help the development of the early Source Direct sound, and this Phase 1 release that he gave to Tilla for Odysee played a very important role in raising the profile of the label.

Four previously unreleased tracks from the legendary Sky Joose. Recorded between 1995 - 2000 and recently rescued from the original DAT tapes.

A double-LP comp of timeless house classics including Raze 'Break

Remastered Vinyl re-issue of the 1994 double album by experimental electronica group The Future Sound of London. With time, it has become their best-known album and is considered to be an important and influential classic of avant-garde electronic music.

After two stunning releases on Exit Records in 2018 and 2020, 2022 marks Itoa’s third offering to dBridge’s esteemed catalogue.

With his ‘Oh No’ EP, the London artist follows hypnotic loops into a treasure trove of 160 and bass bangers that are sure to keep their cool even as they set dancefloors on fire.

From the slouchy, wall-melting fuzz of ‘We Want’, to the breakneck claustrophobia of Girlboss Microplastix, the release keeps the body at its core: in Itoa’s words, “trying to make music that makes me want to move when surrounded by uncertainty and possible collapse.” Fierce, but subtle: funky, and still ice cold.

For the title track, Itoa incorporates spicy vocal grit from Japanese vocalist Nakamura Minami / なかむらみなみ, a rapper with affiliations to iconic Tokyo-based imprint Trekkie Trax. ‘Oh No’ takes jacking acid to new levels, unleashing an infectious 303 workout not just for the feet, but the shoulders too. Go ahead and whip your hair to this one—then take a sweat break before ‘Fonda U’ continues to tear up the tracklist with crisp wubs and a drumbeat that just won’t quit.

On the flip, ‘Girlboss Microplastix’ and ‘Catch Eyes’ hit a perfect combo of neurofunk hypnosis and raise-yer-gunfingaz fuel. Who said a 303 couldn’t tag team a reese bass… Jump-up, footwork, bassline and braindance all make their cameos here and the results are delicious—fine dining for the UK heads.

Icelandic collective Sweaty Records turn to exciting producer, live act, and visual artist jadzia for their sixth release as the core member makes her label debut with her four-track ‘Connection’ EP.

Showcasing a hidden corner of Iceland’s electronic scene with a mission to ‘shed light on music that has been lurking in the shadows of the Reykjavík underground’, Sweaty Records is a label helmed by some of the country’s most exciting DJs, producers and live acts. Spread between the capital and further afield in Berlin, the collective has made an immediate impact with music from Volruptus, Kuldaboli and more across their first six releases - with gifted talent Kolbrún Klara, aka jadzia, the next to showcase her sound.

Combining her love of sound design with striking visual projects and live performances as one half of duo Polar Attraction with Kosmodod, Klara has steadily crafted her identity after making her production debut under the alias in late 2019. Following material on International Chrome, Ganzfeld, none/such and Dancefloor Impact Research, with supporters including Helena Hauff, Dax J, Dave Clarke and Steffi, she makes her first outing on the label with a kaleidoscopic ride through expansive sonics on ‘Connection’.

Welcoming a quartet of robust electro offerings, ‘Connection’ is a thrilling journey into the mind of a talent on the rise, serving up no-nonsense dancefloor cuts drenched in subtle nuances and shadowy compositions. ‘Virtual Network’ harnesses skittering breaks and ominous synths with intermittent pockets of rest to push and pull listeners in multiple directions, before ‘Impact Event’ shows no rest-bite and launches into a cavalcade of warping bass, spiralling sci-fi electronics and eerie atmospheres, all guided by the track’s relentless and hypnotising melodies. On the flip, ‘Solar Cells’ draws from traditional influences for a slick trip balancing light and dark, with hazy textures and celestial melodies grounded by the production’s unrelenting and snaking low-ends, before closing the show in emphatic fashion with an off-kilter, glitchy and lacerating trip in the form of ‘Habitat’.

Repress of the praised Fogata X !!

Hollie Kenniff's second LP for Western Vinyl, We All Have Places That We Miss, is a gallery of cloudlike synths, seraphic strings, and humming guitars, all coaxed into cohesion by Hollie's own wordless singing. The album's 2021 precursor, The Quiet Drift, landed on Bandcamp's Best Ambient list alongside the description "Drawing on the deep tones of drone, dream pop harmonies, and new age's bright tranquility, Kenniff evokes the forests, lakes and rivers of her past and present surroundings with a zen patience." Here on Places_ she strides even further into reminiscence, seeking and commemorating the fondly tragic ache of half-remembered locales lost to time: A grandparent's dim living room from an ambiguous decade; a lonely clearing beside a trail we can't remember if we walked or just dreamt; the calming light of a movie that aired years before we were born though our feelings insist we were there with the characters. We All Have Places That We Miss transmutes such glimmers into a palpable sonic kingdom that can be revisited at will, recalling the pedal-board ambience of Windy & Carl, Adam Wiltzie, and Liz Harris.

As one of the three co-founders of Washington D.C. production and DJ trio Black Rave Culture, James Bangura is no stranger to situating electronic music within its most purposeful and potent contexts. With this new duo of tracks, however, Bangura taps into a deep, personal internality, metabolising visceral experiences and personal transitions into unexplored phases of his musical life.

The bass-forward “Harrar” is a complex organism which operates on two planes: a sweat-drenched 150pm symphony of synth pulses, fidgety percussion, shimmies and distorted vocals, that falls into lockstep with a
meditative, dubby bass tone that calmly swells and recedes. Emerging out of Bangura’s high intensity hardware jam sessions with friends and collaborators, both the depth and energetic fizz of “Harrar”’ are signified by its name, borrowed from Harrar Coffee & Roastery--a beloved Ethiopian coffee house and community meeting place in Washington D.C. that radiates warmth and familiarity.

“Witness Dub” occupies less of the senses, exploring a state of liminality through a contemplative deep house signature. Having emerged from an extended period of active duty in the military, Bangura had to navigate civilian life for the first time, causing him to process multiple culture shocks that stretched across culture, language, communication and identity. “Witness Dub” finds Bangura at this crossroad, juxtaposing the steady propulsion of kicks and drums with pensive minor key chords, as he begins to explore the other side of the self, letting the energy guide the music.

This Jimmy J & Cru-l-t Box Set has already surpassed all expectations. The first run sold out in under 6 days, which is appropriate considering 6 Days is one of the biggest anthems from this legendary duo, and is featured on this box set as a Pete Cannon remix. Joining Pete on remix duties are NRG, Sunshine Productions, Liquid, Dope Ammo, Luna-C, IOTB and Sunny & Deck Hussy. Plus a selection of represses and brand new tunes which show Jimmy J & Cru-l-t have returned to music at the top of their game!