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Legendary James Brown's protégée Martha High teams up with mighty Japanese Osaka Monaural to pay homage to "JB's Funky Divas" in her new album "Tribute to My Soul Sisters".

Original Funky Diva Martha High has been an integral part of James Brown's life and career for more than 30 years. She was his backing vocalist, hair stylist, payroll master and his always loyal and reliable confidant.

The idea for this project was hatched back in 2014, when Martha was visiting producer DJ Pari, head honcho of the Soulpower organization and manager of soul legends like The Impressions, Lyn Collins and Marva Whitney. While reminiscing about tours with her fellow James Brown veterans, Martha felt that a tribute to the great soul sisters of the JB Revue, better known as "James Brown's Original Funky Divas," was very much needed.

"I looked up to these ladies of soul," says Martha, "Given the opportunity and the pleasure to perform their songs, is my way of saying: thank you, you're not forgotten. To record the music of the Funky Divas, would mean a lot to Mr. Brown. He always wanted the world to know he had powerful women on stage that could hold his crowd while he was off the stage. They were just as powerful and funky as he was."

Without further ado, following DJ Pari's advice, Martha partnered up in Tokyo with one of the hottest names of the new funk renaissance: Japan's Osaka Monaurail. Deeply influenced by the work of James Brown, Bobby Byrd, Curtis Mayfield and with nine albums under their belt, Osaka Monaurail have been leading the international funk scene for more than two decades, appearing at festivals such as Montreal Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival and Womad's, as well as recording and touring with funk legends like Marva Whitney and Fred Wesley.

This unique collaboration gives new life to 13 soulful pearls, masterfully interpreted as only an Original Funky Diva can do. To name a few: "Think (About It)", made famous by the female preacher Lyn Collins, "Mama's Got a Bag of Her Own", Anna King's answer to Brown's "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," "This Is My Story", of which Martha recorded the original version with The Jewels, and the soul classic "Answer to Mother Popcorn" by Vicki Anderson.

Born in Victoria, Virginia, and discovered by rock 'n roll pioneer Bo Diddley, Martha started her career with the soulful, legendary doo-wop group The Four Jewels, with whom she scored the national hit "Opportunity" in 1964. Soon, The Jewels caught the attention of James Brown and joined the James Brown Revue in 1966. The Godfather of Soul recorded and released several songs featuring The Jewels until the group disbanded. Nevertheless, Martha stayed with James Brown and continued to work with him as his personal vocalist for 32 years. She was with him at the Boston Garden during the iconic 1968 gig after Martin Luther King's assassination. She was by his side when he performed at renowned "Rumble in The Jungle" event in Zaire. Mr. Brown produced several of Martha's singles on his own People label such as "Georgy Girl", "Try Me" and "Summertime." Meanwhile Martha launched her solo career in 1979 with the self-titled debut LP for Salsoul Records. Since, she has released five albums under her name and, being one of the "hardest working women in show business", she became one of the leading singers of saxophonist Maceo Parker's legendary funky music machine, working with him for 16 years.

Throughout her career Martha has shared stages worldwide with iconic artists like Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Temptations, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Michael Jackson and George Clinton. Martha has been carrying the torch of soul music for her whole life, like a true soul sister. Now, with this new effort, she is keeping the music of the Funky Divas going, and we are sure that the Godfather of Soul and her faithful audience would appreciate it.

In 2017, the musical term electronic' is nearly obsolete given the ubiquity of computerized processes in producing music. Even so, the prevailing assumption is that musicians working under this broad umbrella must be inspired by concepts equally as electrified as their equipment. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith has demonstrated in her still-blooming discography that this notion couldn't be further from the truth, and that more often than not, rich worlds of synthesized
sound are born from deep reverence of the natural world. Smith (who by no coincidence, cites naturalist David Attenborough as a contemporary muse) has embodied such an appreciation on
The Kid in as direct and sincere a way as possible by sonically charting the phases of life itself.
The album, which punctually follows up her 2016 breakthrough EARS, chronicles four defining cognitive and emotional stages of the human lifespan across four sides of a double LP.
The first side takes us through the confused astonishment of a newborn, unaware of itself, existing in an unwitting nirvana. Smith's music has always woven a youthful thread befitting of the
aforementioned subject. Here she articulates it in signature fashion on the track An Intention,' which serves not only as a soaring spire on The Kid, but on her entire output. There is playfulness here, but it's elevated by an undertone of gravity into something compelling and majestic that is fast becoming Smith's watermark. The emotional focus of side two is the vital but underreported moment in early youth when we cross the threshold into self awareness. The subject is profound enough to fill an entire album, but rarely makes its way into a single track, indicating Smith's ambition to broach subtler and deeper subjects than the average composer. This side offers up another highlight in the form of In The World But Not Of The World' which serves its subject well with epiphanic, climbing strings and decidedly noisy textures over a near-Bollywood low end pulse.

Side three emphasizes a feeling of being confirmed enough in one's own identity to begin giving back to the formative forces of one's upbringing, which is arguably the duty that all great artists
aim to fulfill. This side ends with the exploratory album cut Who I Am & Why I Am Where I Am' recorded in a single take without overdubs on the rare EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer. This humble
piece of sound design serves as a contrast to side four's verdant orchestral moments, all written and arranged for the EU-based Stargaze quartet by Smith herself. This final side represents a
return to pure being, the kind of wisdom and peace that eludes most of us until the autumn of life. On To Feel Your Best' this concept is voiced in the bittersweet refrain one day I'll wake up
and you won't be there' which Smith intended to be a grateful acknowledgement of life rather than a melancholy resentment of loss. The song has both effects depending on the mood of the
listener, and both interpretations are equally moving.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith belongs to an ilk of modern musicians who are defined by their commitment to creating experiential albums despite the singles-oriented habits of modern listeners,
and here she represents her kind proudly. The subjects on The Kid are not simple to convey, and yet through both emotional tone and lyrical content, Smith does just that. There is a similar
gravity to both birth and death, and rarely is that correlation as accurately and enthusiastically mapped as it is here.

Alan Watts, another logical inspiration of Smith's, once expounded that people record themselves to confirm their own existence, and as such, echoes and resonance are reminders that we are alive. You're not there unless you're recorded,' Watts muses, if you shout, and it doesn't come back and echo, it didn't happen.' The Kid speaks to this idea directly. As Kaitlyn Aurelia
Smith explores her existence through music, she guides us in gleefully contemplating our own.

Pittsburgh-born Phillip Ballou's earliest years were spent in the gospel field, after he moved to New York City in the '70s, he teamed up with Bennie Diggs and Arthur Freeman, founding members of The New York Community Choir and singer Arnold McCuller to form the group Revelation. The quartet recorded for RSO Records, scoring some R&B success in the US with tracks like Get Ready For This' and You To Me Are Everything,' touring the Bee Gees among others. Phillip also sang on albums by NYCC recorded for RCA Records and continued with Revelation until 1982.Frequently hired for sessions in and around New York, Phillip teamed up with UK soul music journalist David Nathan (who he'd met in 1974 during Nathan's first US visit) and John Simmons, formerly a member of The Reflections, another New York vocal group to write a series of songs for his own proposed solo record deal. Although a contract did not materialize, one of the songs - Ain't Nothing Like The Love' - got some interest from famed Philadelphia producer Thom Bell who presented it to The O'Jays. Ultimately, the tune was turned down by Kenny Gamble and John Simmons, by then musical director for Stephanie Mills, recorded his own version for a small independent label in 1981.Phillip continued his own musical journey, touring and recording with James Taylor and Todd Rundgren. In addition, Phillip's name graced recordings by George Benson, Billy Ocean, Kashif, Nona Hendryx, Jonathan Butler, Teddy Pendergrass and Melba Moore, in 1981, he began recording with Luther Vandross and became a part of Luther's touring band for many years, as well as singing on productions by Luther on Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and others, continuing his association with him until Luther's 2003 stroke. Phillip returned to his gospel roots in 2004 as Minister of Music at a Brooklyn church and passed away in March 2005, aged 55. Thanks to renewed interest in the John Simmons' 1981 recording on YouTube, David Nathan has uncovered several tracks from the 1978 and 1979 he did with Phillip and John including Phillip Ballou's original version of Ain't Nothing Like The Love,' gaining its first ever worldwide release as a 7' single on Nefer Records in association with Super Disco Edits

The new EP by rRoxymore signals another audacious step forward for one of the most daring artists in the electronic music diaspora. 'Thoughts Of An Introvert Part 1' is born out of introspection, out of the necessity to disconnect from the frenzy of crowds and to create a soundtrack to an inner landscape which exists beyond the reach of government and dogma. In the words of the artist, "it is a sonic diary of sorts, cataloguing the events of a world which has not yet been invented, in the form of three mesmerizing dance tracks free of nostalgia and the expectations of style."

The spatial afro futurist funk of 'Prodrome' finds rRoxymore balancing darkness and optimism as only she can. The title track, 'Thoughts Of An Introvert' is instantly familiar and carries a soothing utopian spirit, so needed today. Mycetozoa, the closing track is bouncing, drum driven and mad, a celebration of rRoxymore's complex musical mind, offset by irresistibly banging toms and rolling rimshot patterns. It is a track which is at once melancholic, happy, vulnerable, and full of hope. Everything seems possible on the dancefloor this music was written for.

Terence Fixmer reached worldwide recognition with the release of his debut album Muscle Machine on DJ Hell's seminal International Deejay Gigolos imprint in 1999. The album opened a whole new genre by combining Electro, Industrial, EBM and Techno into a more dance floor-focused EBM style, simply called 'Techno Body Music'. The French producer and live act has consistently explored and redefined the boundaries of modern Techno -and he is not slowing down. Dance Of The Comets is the second release on the newly relaunched NovaMutelabel. NovaMuteis the seminal techno label that has been home to Plastikman, Speedy J, Juan Atkins, Luke Slater, Joey Beltramand more. NovaMute, born again, recently released Cognitive Resonance by Nicolas Bougaïeffand will release the forthcoming EP by Charlotte De Witte. Terence Fixmer'ssound deftly avoids repetition by developing soundscapes which maintain musical depth and integrity. He above all preserves an original style, an increasingly experimental, simultaneously ruthless and instantly recognizable aesthetic.

Two years after his last outing on Get Physical, Roland Leesker returns to the label of which he is Managing Director with a brilliant new track that comes with a remix from Cardopusher. Leesker has only put out a select few releases over the last 15 years-both solo and as DJ Carrera and R&R with none other than Ricardo Villalobos-but he has a truly fully formed sound. This tune has been doing serious damage in the clubs for a while now and makes you wonder why Leesker doesn't release more! Entitled 'Thunderstorm' it is seven minutes plus of moody and dramatic tech with heavy synth clouds, whining machines and turbulent drums all whipping up a storm. Manic keys and heavy chords come in and out as fizzing textures all make it a real synapse firing affair that is designed to arrest the attention of huge crowds, and it sure will do that. Venezuelan born Cardopusher has a diverse and experimental sound that takes him from techno to electro to acid to rave to house on labels like Super Rhythm Trax, Zone and BNR. Here he masterfully cooks up another frenzied track with spraying acid, heavy, marching and industrial drums and a real sense of rave energy that will dazzle as much as delight in any set. Finally, Leesker offers up his own 'Dschinn mix' providing even more raw energy. Angry drum rolls, stomping kicks and huge hi hats all piled up and force you onto action. It's a superbly metallic, in your face track to wake up a crowd in the late night hours. With this EP, Get Physical's sensational 2017 keeps on getting better.

Earth Patterns is a new journey into sound by London based Australian born musician Ben Davidson, best known for his disco tinged house singles as Ben Sun, that were championed by the likes of Gerd Janson and Larry Heard.

The Earth Patterns concept presents a more expanded instrumental sound with live rhythm sequencing and synth work, sitting alongside Vangelis Katsoulis, Lars Bartkuhn and Soichi Terada on Alex Bradley's Utopia Records.

Davidson joins the dots between Detroit by way of Tokyo techno on 'Sunflower' to Dream II Science deepness on 'Horus Rising' and some worldly organic rhythms for a modernist and dare we say it Utopian sound on 'After The Rain'.
The analogue sound from his London studio comes through on the gentle and harmonic B-side opener 'Transit Pan', perhaps the start of a journey beyond the dance floor for the producer.

Artwork and liner notes by Davidson himself, all pressed by bespoke pressing plant The Vinyl Factory on heavyweight vinyl.

Veranda Culture is the new project from Melbourne artist and DJ, Francis Inferno Orchestra The new album, his second full length LP, follows on from his most recent release, the club-ready 'Oasis and Time', The next step in James' musical journey sees the producer shift-direction with the tranquil and beautiful Veranda Culture, balancing New Age ambience, percussive pulse rides and echoing synths for an album that unfurls with a calming patience and soothing confidence throughout.Recorded over a period of three years between Melbourne and London, FIO began making Veranda Culture after discovering the debut album of Greek-born, Sausalito-based composer Iasos - the New Age masterpiece 'Inter-Dimensional Music' LP — in Melbourne's Liquorice Pie record store. The album is filled with quietly twitching rattles and bells, gurgling talking drums, and snippets of trickling water and bird songs collected through field recordings, creating a bed of sound that is hard to pin down but effortless to absorb as a whole.

Record Kicks proudly presents "A little taste of Soul" / Unwind Yourelf" a little appetizer of the much awaited new album by James Brown's protégée Martha High produced and recorded in Tokyo by mighty Osaka Monaurail. This 45 vinyl is limited to 500 copies worldwide and anticipates Martha High's forthcoming new album "Tribute to my soul Sisters".

The "funky diva" Martha High has been an integral part of James Brown's life and career for more than 30 years. After a lifetime spent shoulder to shoulder with the Godfather of Soul, she flew to Tokyo and teamed up with Japanese funk ambassadors Osaka Monaurail to pay homage to the great Soul Sisters of the JB Revue.

Born in Victoria, Virginia and discovered by rock and roll pioneer Bo Diddley, Martha took off her career with soul band The Jewels, with whom she scored the national hit 'Opportunity" in 1964. Soon The Jewels caught the attention of James Brown in the same year the group joined the "James Brown Revue". Martha stayed with James Brown and continued to work with him as his personal vocalist for 32 years. Mr.Brown produced several Martha's singles on his own label "People" such as "Georgy Girl", "Try Me" and "Summertime",meanwhile Martha launched her solo career in 1979 with the self-titled debut LP for "Salsoul Records". Since then she released five albums under her name and, being one of the "hardest working ladies in the show business", she became as well the lead singer of the legendary funky music machine Maceo Parker. Throughout her career Martha shared stages worldwide with some iconic artists like Little Richard, Jerry lee Lewis, The Temptations, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Michael Jackson and George Clinton to name a few.

Andre Bratten was born in Oslo and grew up in a suburb of the Norwegian capital, which borders on the deep, dark Scandinavian forest. Like most kids in the late 1990s, he was bitten by the hiphop bug, but he also got turned on by the Led Zeppelin records he picked out from his father's record collection. He's broadminded enough to be into everything from the Norwegian electronica masters Røyksopp to Metro Area, Sigur Rós, Eno, Cluster and Weather Report. Currently dwelling in the heart of the city, his efforts with the synthesizer coincided with a huge boom in Norwegian electronic music, his productions recently came to the attention of Norwegian 'cosmic disco' mogul Prins Thomas and his Full Pupp colony. Andre's tracks share the exploratory vibe of the 80s synth pop pioneers, and misfit electronic pop musicians like John Foxx, who were forced learning to sculpt new sounds with new tools. Yet he updates those sounds to a contemporary rhythm matrix, in parallel with the dayglo analogue dance music of Lindstrøm, Todd Terje and Prins Thomas himself - and he just happens to share the central Oslo studio space used by that glorious trinity. But Andre has always known his own mind and was never going to be content with being just another anonymous insect in the logpile. So his debut album, Be A Man You Ant, is a string individual statement, his 'I am Spartacus!' moment. It computes almost infinite variations on the sounds he could extract from a single modular synthesizer - 'the limitations are inspiring', he says. So you'll find squelchy bugs in the bassbin, weird analogue squeegee smears, bright drum machine splats and the occasional significant pause. The spaces in his music are at least as important as what fills it.

On Arise , Zara McFarlane returns to a buoyant UK jazz scene with a head-turning third album. Exploring the musical possibilities of British-Jamaican identity, it's a cultural exchange that's born of London's current musical climate. Released on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings, it sees her working with much-feted drummer and producer Moses Boyd. Both rose through London's Tomorrow's Warriors programme, a finishing school for many young vanguards of the live, ascendant jazz scene springing up across the UK capital. Sharing Caribbean family heritages, it's a product of their joint exploration of the meeting points between jazz and the rhythms of Jamaica, reggae, Kumina, calypso and nyabinghi, shaded with hints of the psychedelic.

Zara's breakthrough 2012 track, a jazz cover of Junior Murvin's 'Police and Thieves', provided a jumping off point to further explore the blurred, colourful territory in between jazz and roots-reggae. Covering Nora Dean's 'Peace Begins Within', she breathes a syncopated groove into a soulful, reggae classic. A beautifully poised version of the Congos' Fisherman teases out the poignant lyrical content of the 1977 classic. Meanwhile new, original compositions from Zara, like 'Fussin' and Fightin'' and 'Freedom Chain', combine a deep, reverberating bass with a steady-stepping roots rhythm. Album opener 'Ode To Kumina' touches on the kumina tradition brought to Jamaica by indentured labourers from The Congo in the later part of the 19th Century. Part of Zara's deeper research into her Caribbean heritage, it alludes to a deep-rooted culture encompassing music, dance and religion.

Similarly, 'Silhouette' arose from that same research, in this case, however, it was about how records and documents often get lost in Jamaica. It kind of came out of the idea of black history and blackness and feeling like you're trying to find yourself,' she explains. Trying to be proud of your history and who you are. And never forgetting the things that brought you to where you are.' Alongside drummer Moses Boyd on production, the album features a stellar line up of some of the key players on the London scene Binker Golding on tenor sax, Peter Edwards on piano, Shirley Tetteh on guitar, Nathaniel Cross on Trombone and an unusually restrained turn on Clarinet from Shabaka Hutchings.
Shared between all of them is a tendency to find the common points between different musical ilks: from US hard bop jazz, to dub and London-rooted hybrids and permutations, the band on Arise reflect the musical diversity of their home. Boosted by new platforms, like East London showcase Church of Sound and a newly-refreshed Jazz Café, the record surfs the momentum currently propelling jazz-influenced music in the UK.

For Zara, Jamaica's musical legacy is deeply intertwined with her sense of the place itself. Spending whole summers in the hills of Jamaica, it's the sounds and smells which she most vividly associates with her stays there. In particular the local sound systems which were an everyday feature of the local area, be it in shops or bars, each of the small local shacks would have a sound system where they'd play music through the day and evening.

From where my nan used to live, in Cauldwell there's a sound system almost opposite her house,' she says. So you feel this boom of the bass, and then all the smells of the hills and the greenery of Hanover. When you land in Jamaica and you go to walk off of the plane, the heat and the smells hit you and it feels like home away from home for me. When I hear Jamaican music, these are the senses that come.'

Phonica Records Special Editions in association with Play It Again Sam is delighted to present the incredible Quiet Village remix of Agnes Obel's 'Stretch Your Eyes', lifted from the Danish born, Berlin based singer songwriter's critically acclaimed 3rd studio album 'Citizen of Glass' .

Obel was at an early age guided into music by the influence of her parents, who would play and listen to a blend of the classical greats, folk music and contemporary pop. She learnt to play piano as a child but it was her move to Berlin in 2006 that prompted her to take her music to the next level. Her debut Philharmonics was released in 2010, a quiet phenomenon that spent seven consecutive weeks at number 1 and sold in excess of 100,000 copies in her homeland alone. The release of 'Aventine' in 2013 cemented her status as a household name across Europe and as an icon to piano players throughout the world.

Quiet Village are the British duo of long-time record-collector and DJ Joel Martin and Matt Edwards, the house and techno producer known as Radio Slave and the head of the Rekids label. They came to our attention with a series of highly sought after twelves on the DJ Harvey-related Whatever We Want label from New York, alongside excellent remixes of The Osmonds, Toby Tobias, Black Devil Disco Club and Francois K before releasing their acclaimed album on K7 Records in 2008. After a break from using the Quite Village name, the duo are back with a bang and recently graced the Phonica White label with a fantastic techno 12' 'Social Music' / 'Change'.

Needless to say, Quiet Village were the first producers Phonica thought of when looking for remixes for this project and their slow, dark, dub-heavy atmospheric groove perfectly compliments Agnes's vocal, with echoes of Massive Attack's timeless 'Teardrops' coming to mind. It's one of the finest remixes we've heard in recent memory and we're proud to present it as a limited 12' on the Special Editions label.

At the third New Interplanetary Melodies' astral journey stopover, it was mandatory to catch an Italian project deeply inspired by the Sun Ra visionary realm, expressing contemporary trials of hybridising jazz with artful electronica. So Ra Toth and The Brigantes' Orchestra landed on vinyl grooves for the label, after having previously appeared on the likes of Mathematics and Berceuse Heroique. Behind the sound, we find the elusive and unpredictable genius of the well-respected producer Marcello Napoletano. NIM received the distorted sound signal from Napoletano taken over by the Egyptian deity born from the lips of Ra. Who knows if those noises were coming from a parallel dimension, outer space, or some otherworldly sphere... Submerged in dark bottom waters, the stormy waves of the 'Acid Sea' are made of convulsive afro-flavoured percussion with sharp synths looming out like the ivories of some freakish abyssal creatures.

'Eagles & Butterflies has taken storm in electronic wonderland' - Boiler Room Arpeggiator was originally titled '14 minutes of Arps' and its exactly that. Its one of the simplest tracks I'v ever made with probably only 8 layers that your weaves in and out the whole way through, really love the subtleness of this track where at the same time it is also a beast! Oyeme is maybe the E&B sound people are familiar with, big marimba melodies, fat sub and rolling hats with a big break, love this one Prophet was originally just an experiment when i purchased a prophet 6, its a little crazy and pretty full on, love the funky bass in the one from the SH 101. All the parts for this where recorded in a few takes live and two whole track was made in 2 hours!
U.K.-born, L.A.-based producer/DJ, Chris Barratt - aka - Eagles & Butterflies breaks all boundaries across the electronic music spectrum. His productions flow seamlessly through Downtempo, Techno, House and beyond, with releases on Innervisions, Bedrock, Exit Strategy, Sapiens and his own imprint Art Imitating Life. From remixing Underworld, RY X, Agoria, Moby, Andhim and Ludovico Einaudi, Eagles & Butterflies is the newest toast of the underground. His live sets have electrified stages around the world at events such as Circoloco, Awakenings, Mosaic By Maceo, Coachella, Junction 2, Lightning In A Bottle, Sacred Ground, Secret Garden Party, Tomorrowland and many more. With support from dance music heavyweights such as Dixon, Ame, DJ Tennis, John Digweed, Maceo Plex, E&B was also named one of Mixmag's Breakthrough Acts this year, was featured numerous times in DJ Magazine and was plucked for a guest mix on Pete Tong's BBC Radio show. Upcoming releases on Agoria's fresh imprint Sapiens, Art Imitating Life 003, features on Nic Fanculli's debut LP, a collab with John Digweed and a remix for RY X, the Eagle has most certainly landed.

New Yorks' Matuss returns with the eighth release on her Absence Seizure imprint this September, comprising three originals from the Ukrainian born artist.

Julia Matuss, better known as simply Matuss has been steadily carving out a name for herself over the past decade, initially finding her feet as a prominent DJ in the Ukrainian scene she grew up in before a move to New York saw thing progress and the launch of her Absence Seizure imprint shortly followed. Now eight releases deep the imprint has piqued the interested of DJ's such as D'Julz, DJ Deep, Derek Plaslaiko, TWR72 and Beaner.

Taking the lead on the package is 'Fairy Dust' setting the scene via warbling Rhodes chords, raw dub sweeps and a pulsating low-end drive before a spaced out, sinuous resonant synth lead ebbs and flows throughout the focal point of the composition.

'Baelfire' follows and strips things back to raw percussive feel, employing thunderous claps, a weighty kicks and sweeping filtered sample as the foundation before the latter half of the record works in a frenzied acid-tinged hook. 'Faramant' then closes the package with an amalgamation of organic percussion, natural bass licks and glitchy percussive chimes which all subtly evolve and retract throughout.

An Australian classic rereleased for the first time ever. Born in 1993 when euphoria was still cool Sweetness and Light is the original rave anthem. Dreamy and breakbeaty this has aged like your best bottle of wine. Brought to you by icons of the scene Itch-E & Scratch-E AKA Paul Mac and Andy Rantzen, between them they have remixed the likes of INXS, Severed Heads, LCD Soundsystem, Kylie Minogue, The Presets and Sia.
In 1994 it came 21st in Triple J's Hottest 100 followed by the honours of an ARIA award for Best Dance Release in 1995. In his infamous acceptance speech Paul Mac announced "We'd like to thank all of Sydney's ecstasy dealers, without whom this award would not be possible".
On the b-side we have Motorik's newest festival act For Life remixing Sweetness into 21st century tempos. Perfect to break between your house and techno this 130bpm heavy hitter blew off the dust from the original to shine again.
Brought to you by your favourite party techno label Motorik who cares more about concept then a budget, this is an opportunity which couldn't be passed down. Sweetness and Light represented warehouse culture in the 90s, it was the resistance to authority, the acceptance of all and the beginning of underground dance music as we know it today.

New York's P. Leone is back with the second release on his newly launched E-MISSIONS imprint featuring Work Them Records founder Spencer Parker on remix duties.Born and raised in Brooklyn, where he discovered the legendary Storm Rave parties run by Frankie Bones and Adam X, P. Leone cut his teeth DJing in the Lower East side of Manhattan before making techno himself. Before long the producer dropped his first two releases on Work Them Records, joining a roster spanning Radio Slave, Spencer Parker, Young Male, Anetha and Physical Therapy. E-MISSIONS was then launched in early 2017, acting as a platform for co-founders P. Leone and CAIAZZO with more exciting artists soon to be announced.'Discipline Signals' is dark and robust from start to finish, with 'Functions of Discipline 1' inaugurating the package with resonating kicks, trippy elements and industrial synths. 'Functions of Discipline 2' follows a similar aesthetic but heads into a deeper direction with its cavernous atmospherics and glitch inspired effects, making way for 'Laced' with its sinister drones and tantalising melodies. Spencer Parker then remixes 'Laced', concluding matters with rugged drums, energetic hi-hats and a rumbling low-end.

Rich La Bonte is a musician, writer and editor from upstate New York born in 1946. At age 11 he figured out how to record a piano backwards with his first tape deck and discovered Monk, Mingus and Art Blakey. In 1965 Rich moved to Ithaca, bought an electric guitar and started singing in garage rock band the huns. After the band dissolved, he moved to NYC and played bass and sang in the original cast production of the musical Godspell. In the late 70s La Bonte moved to Hollywood with Shari Famous, released a a few 7' singles as Dada2, and started fLAtDiSk Records, a vinyl subsidiary of Dave Gibson's Moxie Record Company.

Rich released his debut solo album 'Mayan Canals' in 1981. The seven songs were recorded between 1973 and 1980 while living in New York, Pennsylvania and Hollywood. Influenced by everything from Apple Records to Zappa, the album veers from oozy psychedelia to synthesized breezy folk. Vocally Rich sounds like a cross between Tom Verlaine and Lou Reed. Some tracks feature an EMS Synthi A synthesizer, known to generate the sci-fi sounds from Dr. Who. Other songs utilize feedback from a Maestro Fuzztone box into a TEAC 4-track SimulSync tape recorder. Lyrically La Bonte tackles themes of dying celestial bodies, the birth of his daughter, and a critique of Bowie's character in The Man Who Fell To Earth. Included on this reissue are two bonus tracks originally released on the double A side 7' single Chance Circumstance/Drums Along The Maple Wood, a tribute to Irwin Chusid, the eminent WFMU DJ, with vocals by Shari Famous.

All songs have been remastered from original tapes by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The jacket features a replica of the original jacket with a Mayan figure screen printed using the original rubber stamps from Rich's archives. Each copy includes a 6-page xeroxed booklet with lyrics, never before seen photos, and liner notes by Rich La Bonte.

The 3rd record from Pi Electronics is by the Rotterdam based, Thessaloniki born producer, Damcase. PI03 includes five original tracks of punky electro and techno, flavoured with Damcase s riffs and noisy aesthetic. Sharp percussions, along with distorted grooves and broken beats, as well as some experimentation with voltage control techniques. The label reveals new colours on its palette, though not shifting away from its character.

Newcastle-born, Mexico-based Man Power debuts on Optimo Trax with two psychasonic missives cut extra loud for optimum sound system performance.
We asked Man Power for some words about this release and he told us -
"Both tracks sound different, but they're both from the same place in as much as they represent a conscious effort by me to strip back some of unnecessary niceties in my music and really sharpen my focus on what makes people dance without crossing the fine line of what makes me sound like me."