Buscar:release the magic

The life of the solo electronic artist is equal parts privilege and loneliness. You hurtle across the sky to spend a few hours in a dark club, behind the decks or on stage at the microphone. A brief grasp at transcendence, then the lights are on. Afterwards, you chat with friends you made last month, last year, or an hour ago. Back on the train, the plane. A couple weeks of this, then home. Repeat. It was against this backdrop that Ana Roxanne and DJ Python (Brian Piñeyro) struck up a singular friendship and collaboration, culminating in the shared musical language of their new project, Natural Wonder Beauty Concept. Brian and Ana met in New York City in the winter of 2020. They’d respectively put out critically acclaimed albums but due to extenuating global circumstances, the real-world implications of those records were yet to be seen. Ana’s debut LP, Because of a Flower, released in fall 2020, trades in both ethereality and directness, stretching timeless pop and R&B forms into shimmering ambient magic. When the Bay Area-born, Mills-trained artist sings, on record or live, time slows down and we enter a languorous yet ecstatic present. The second album from Queens-based deep reggaeton innovator DJ Python, Mas Amable, also subverts easy temporality. Released in spring 2020, Mas Amable floats in liminal space—not quite a dance record, a downtempo record, nor an ambient record—unfurling at a wistful pace, naturally suited for a strange period when each day felt the same yet wildly different.

The Italians Antonio De Oto (A-TWEED) and Valerio Ebert (OLTREFUTURO) are the names beyond Echinopsis EP, the next release on Haus Of Beats. Three tracks with slow yet heavy tribal rhythms, dark, acid and hypnotic. Two deluxe remixes complete the EP, one by the master of rare rhythms, Toulouse Low Trax, working his usual magic, the second by the label associate Odøn, upping the tempo with a fiery electro take.

Active in the mid-80’s and heavily influenced by the British post-punk dissonant style and the Belgian cold-wave melancholic atmosphere, The Ultimate Dreamers resurrected during the COVID lock-down, releasing a selection of good old demo songs on their “Live Happily While Waiting For Death” release. A dynamic impulse that brought them not only back on stage but also into the studio to work on new material. The magic is back!

The Ultimate Dreamers feel stronger than ever and enjoy uniting past, present and future on this exciting “Echoing Reverie” album, on which they reach a subtle balance between light and darkness: a poignant cold wave fusion of futuristic danceable dream pop with a retro noisy post-punk attitude with surrealistic introspective cynical lyrics dealing with fleeting life, melancholic solitude and other inner demons..

The new songs intelligently merge nostalgic cold wave chills and alluring poignant vocals with carrying basslines and irresistible danceable beats to become “less is more” addictive tunes that capture you in no time. If you like bands such as New Order, The Cure, Minimal Compact, Trisomie 21 or yet Section 25, “Echoing Reverie” comes highly recommended for a timeless dusk sonic experience at the crossroads of darkness and brightness.

See the magic operate and let The Ultimate Dreamers carry you in their echoing reverie…

Step into the world of KVR and enter a musical landscape of fusion, jazz and electronica. We briefly introduce the band members to you. On keys Niels Broos, who you know from Jameszoo, Binkbeats and his own albums. On bass Dries Laheye, who just released his solo debut Deining, and who you know from STUFF. and Selah Sue. Lander Gyselinck on drums completes the trio, who you can also know from STUFF. and from Labtrio, Lander & Adriaan and Pourriture Noble (his project together with Zwangere Guy).

Over mountain and valley, these blond-haired sound magicians together land down in the deep caverns of the beat and there they sculpt air and electricity with the unforeseeably danceable.

On May 19, their debut album "Spam Vol.I" will be released, which can nicely join Thundercat, Hudson Mohawke, The Comet Is Coming and Jameszoo in the record bin.

Repress!

After the enormous support received in previous releases, we believe that the time has come to give our music a bit of color and this time we have opted for green, the color of our natural habitat ... "La Jungla de Andalucía"

Sekret Chadow surprises us again and shows us the most sentimental side of him with his "I Love You Mommy" We can already imagine what this artist would be thinking about when creating this beautiful musical composition, a true tribute to one of the most important people in our life, without a doubt a track created with a lot of love, loaded with arpeggiated melodies, vocals, basses. and powerful breaks that create perfect harmony. Close your eyes and let yourself be hypnotized by the magic of his music.

Baymont Bross joins our family and we could not start in a better way than presenting this beautiful version of one of his greatest hits throughout his career "Enjoy Yourself" Do you remember those infinite closings at Carpas Yerbabuena? Are you one of those who danced in Mangueta Beach until dawn? Surely you once danced to this track and now we can relive those wonderful moments with this vocal version created on the occasion of the 10th anniversary and extended for this occasion. Welcome to the monkey family.

Adam Vyt brings us his track "Don´t Give Up" a message of strength and encouragement for the times. A track with piano melodies followed by an elegant line of atmospheres and basses, vocals and a powerful base with airs of Uk Garage, a mixture of styles that already define this artist. This track was previously released in digital version by the "Distorsion Records" label, making it one of the best tracks in Beatport's Top100. Never give up...!!!!

Case82 is back with us and this time with another of his most powerful tracks "Pump This Party" and that's how it is ... the party's pump .... !!!
Once again this Dutch artist shows us that his strength is pure Old School, a mixture of powerful bases, vocals, stabs and wonderful melodies with violins and piano to which he is already accustomed. This is "Lost in The Jungle"

12" + 7" !

Mind Maze is, amazingly, Trees Speak’s fifth album to be released on Soul Jazz Records in the space of little over two years– an output matched only by the intensity of their music created during this short time.

The first pressing only of the album comes with a bonus seven-inch single containing two tracks that are not available on vinyl anywhere else.
As with all their previous releases, ‘Mind Maze’ is a mind-boggling tightrope walk across an array of musical influences that seamlessly create the unique present-day world of Trees Speak.

The band’s sound is characterized by a combination of German krautrock motoric-beat rhythms, angular New York post-punk attitude, 60s spy soundtracks, psych, rock, jazz, and 70s synthesizers and vocoders. There is also a cosmic spatial awareness to their sound; both personal inner space and galactic outer space, as well as a wilful pushing of sonic boundaries.

Trees Speak are a musical duo based in Tucson, Arizona, composed of Daniel Martin Diaz and Damian Diaz. Their music is heavily influenced by the cosmic magic of the natural desert landscapes of Arizona, creating a unique and captivating sound that is both experimental and innovative.

Here you will find the myriad sounds of 1970s German electronic music (everything from Can to Cluster, Popul Vuh to Tangerine Dream); 1980s New York post-punk and synthcore (from No Wave to Suicide); John Barry’s 1960s movies, John Carpenter’s 1970s horror. You will also hear the influences of French and Italian progressive rock (Magma, Goblin) as well as cosmic, new age and experimental space soundscapes …. an almost endless list of diverse influences that ebb and flow like an ocean of sound, in the process creating a truly unique soundscape that Trees Speak have made wholly their own.

The name Trees Speak reflects their interest in the concept of using future technologies to store information and data in trees and plants, with the idea that trees communicate collectively. This interest in nature and technology, combined with their passion for experimentation, has led Trees Speak to create a truly one-of-a-kind listening experience that is both unique and engaging.

If you ever wanted to hear Can, Neu!, Destroy All Monsters, Pere Ubu, electric eels, John Cage, Liquid Liquid, Tangerine Dream, Suicide, Laurie Spiegel, Art Ensemble of Chicago, John Barry, Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company, Sun Ra, Stockhausen, John Carpenter, Electro-Acoustic and Musique Concrete and Mars in one band - then this is it! Trees Speak are a band that defies categorization and offer an eclectic listening experience, both exciting and memorable.

The two bonus tracks (‘Seraphim’ and ‘Orpheus’) included with the album give us a further window into the complex mind maze of the group - two stunning acoustic tracks that explore a distinct early 70s sound of Yes, Argent and other progressive rock accolytes.

Global pointing Brazilian jazz trio releases their new album Agôra, that sparkles with electric funk and Herbie-esque eclecticism. It features a myriad of guest vocalists and musicians including Brazilians Xênia França and Zé Leônidas, Jembaa Groove's Ghanaian singer Eric Owusu and South African artists Bongani Givethanks & Mpho Nkuzo

Re-wiring the concept of 'fusion' for 2023, Agôra is Brazilian trio Caixa Cubo's resurgent new record with the title referring to 'now', based upon the intuitive and fluid nature of the trio's method, and this inspired recording. With shoots to black music culture, from Brazil to Brooklyn, Ghana and South Africa, Agôra is the group's ninth album yet is their first where they've invited guests, mainly singers, onto each track and follows their last, Angela from 2020, released on Heavenly Records, which won a BBC 6 Music Album of the Year (Huey Morgan's selection) granting them much deserved international recognition.

The core musical elements of Caixa Cubo are Henrique Gomide (keys), João Fideles (drums) and Noa Stroeter (bass), all from São Paulo, Brazil and where they met as teenagers and would continue their friendship and musical bond at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Netherlands. Now all in their mid thirties, João and Noa live back in the city where it all started but Henrique has settled in Cologne, Germany where the recording of Agôra took place, over the course of 3 days, at the home cum studio of Chris 'Dusty' Doepke, their friend and owner of the label they signed to, Jazz & Milk.

In line with all their creations where flow and energy provide the magic, allowing what the moment provides, the album shines not only for its virtuosity but for its minimalism, the depth of space, and for the first time, the ability to figure in and outside of the jazz fold, as the trio decided, for the first time, to bring in singers and add a new aesthetic to their sound.

"Agôra is a wake-up call to reality, a reminder that the infinite possibilities of technological progress should not disconnect us from the earth, from eye-to-eye relationships, and from moments lived in person" the band are keen to point out. "And that we must not be consumed by greed, for all we truly possess.... is the NOW."

Turning hope and metaphor into music, the debut single Sábado, an electrified future- jazz-fizz reflects perfectly the spontaneity that permeated the entire recording of the album. "When we got to the studio, we had no idea what we were going to record. We started playing a groove, kind of inspired by Gilberto Gil's 80s albums, and our drummer João started singing this funny song 'Sábado Barrigudão' (Big Belly Saturday) alongside the bass groove and that was that". Inspired by their city of birth, São Paulo, it features long time collaborator and vocalist Zé Leônidas, with cuicas, tamborim, agogo and shakers providing the most obvious Brazilian affect from the album.

Dreams is the band's first foray into R'n'B melding the group's simple and sporadic instrumentation of drums, keys and bass into a Jill Scott inspired song that could have been born in Brooklyn yet sung by Brazilian singer and Grammy nominated Xênia França and Zé Leônidas in both English and Portuguese. Xênia recently performed online for hip-to-it website Colors and it's her latest collaboration with Caixa Cubo, having first met in 2009 for a series of live performances.

South African artists Bongani Givethanks & Mpho Nkuzo come to the record with a wholly different approach on Ndiyakhangela, providing spoken word and vocal refrains on top of an Afro-Brazilian percussion jam with a delivery and verse in Xhosa, Zula and Ndebele. Asase is the album opener and features vocals of Eric Owusu who is part of highlife pioneer Pat Thomas's live band and most recently, co-leader of Jembaa Groove, an Afro-soul band from Berlin. It's a synth wig out with djembe grooves and offers a brand new take on Afro-soul-jazz.

Other contributions come from Cologne based jazz singer Rebekka Ziegler (Oblique Sunshine), São Paulo based guitarist Eduardo Camargo (Caio & Eric) and trumpet player Matthias Schriefl on Kismeti, a gorgeous and rolling number that ebbs and flows, exemplifying the group's effortless ability to craft a sound energised by a belief in one-self and the idea of having faith without the need to look at each other for verification.

As drummer and percussionist João Fideles perfectly surmised upon arriving for the recording session, "What drums do you have? Whatever you have, I'll use it". Agôra is testament to nearly 20 years of camaraderie, friendship and most importantly, trust.

On April 7th electronic luminary Nathan Fake presents the new longplayer ‘Crystal Vision’ on his own Cambria Instruments imprint, which features collaborations with Clark and Wizard Apprentice.

This is music for music’s sake – recorded without angles, agendas and themes – so Fake was free to simply continue honing his craft and express himself non-literally. Aptly titled, there’s a clarity of execution and ambition, and a peak effectiveness to the record that just sounds right.

Continuing to set a personal bar higher and topping his own best, the mark of master craftsperson is everywhere, but that doesn’t mean it’s polished; There’s plenty of rawness evident, with spiky sonics keeping ears on high alert – full of endorphin-flooded rave energy.

Following a short, scene-setting ‘Arrival’ – a simple major chord arpeggio played on a Jupiter 6 which sounds like curtains opening at dawn, things begin apace with ‘The Grass’, which hurtles like a precision-tuned bullet train through Arctic tundra. The undulating effect of compression is emphasised by the classic techno trope where 2 rhythms jar yet interlock, creating an exquisitely disorientating strobe-like flutter. On the track’s guest, Fake comments, “I fell in love with Wizard Apprentice's ‘I Am Invisible’ and felt our musical styles were similar. Their vocals are smooth and clear and sharp at the same time. They’re like a calm within the storm.”

Inspired by Italo disco but sounding wholly alien and futuristic, ‘Vimana’’s fizzing buzzsaw arpeggiated bassline, popping snares and bright whirling melody are equally an electro trance melange, with an effervescent major chord Arp that kicks in midway.

Reminiscent of what used to be called ‘funky techno’ but with sparklier sounds, ‘Boss Core’ blinds like sunshine bouncing off ice. Using his trusty Boss DR550 drum machine, and inspired by Autechre's ‘Vose In’, the track peaks by reaching that melancholic/euphoric axis for which he is loved.

With chugging slow breakbeats not a million miles from Board Of Canada or trip hop, ‘Crystal Vision’ rolls along, with the melody opening up, revealing more hidden notes as it progresses, building into a fractal, kaleidoscopic mosaic.

An emotional outpouring with serotonin surging through the circuitry, classic breakbeats and layers of lazers, ‘Bibled’ has all the hallmarks of a classic. This is a bonafide festival-set closing, hugging-your-mates, moment – or, with its guitar solo, “a power ballad” – as Nathan calls it.

A minimalistic moment of calm midway through the album, ‘CMD’’s gently comforting dreamscape is conjured with FM stacked and detuned sine waves which are left to breathe, whilst the chunky Chicagoan house jack of ‘Hawk’ brings to mind classic Relief records, but even more detuned and wibbly, and laden with synths.

As the title suggests, ‘Amen 96’ is in Fake’s own words, “me having a go at jungle. I grew up listening to it, and I remember as a teenager it sounded like the most intense and otherworldly music ever. It still does. This track is an experiment to see how my melodic style works against amen breaks”. Closer to the braindance end of the spectrum than ‘proper’ jungle (and all the more interesting for it), Fake channels the spirit of Squarepusher but makes it his own, brimming with melodious twinkle.

A collaboration with Nathan’s close friend and genuine musical hero Clark. ‘Outsider’ finds this dream team alchemising pure gold that’s bigger than the sum of their parts. Skittering, intense, far-reaching end epic, the pair close proceedings on a grandly dramatic note. In 2020 Nathan released the album ‘Blizzards’, which was described by The Quietus as “his best work”, and “his best LP yet” yet by Resident Advisor. The equally well received ‘Blizzards Remixes’ EP which featured Afrodeutsche and Irene Dresel followed in 2021, as did a nationwide UK tour.

An in-demand remixer, Fake has added his magic to tracks by Radiohead, Clark, Perc, Jon Hopkins, GoGo Penguin, Dominik Eulberg, Christian Löffler and Damian Lazarus, working for labels including Ninja Tune, Domino, Warp, Blue Note and Kompakt.

GREETINGS returns with release numero five ‘Look Within’. Stepping up to the mic for the first time, his original vocals up the sauce factor with dreamy hooks that will have you singing along into your wildest dancefloor fantasy.

The EP kicks off with A1 ‘Look Within’ – an evocative tribute to the magic of discovering the dancefloor, with commanding lyrics centred around discovery and inhibition. A2 ‘Come and Go (Dirty Talk Mix)’ expresses the ecstasy of meeting someone on the dancefloor and finding passion among the grooves. To be played when the dancefloor is just right and ready (il bon tempo), consider it your next club serenade. B1 ‘Won’t You Believe’ weaves an epic acid bass line into a ground-shaking chugger, that will whip any crowd intona frenzy – to be used responsibly!

B2 ‘When I Dream at Night’ is a cosmic closer, taking you on a journey into forbidden nocturnal yearnings as GREETINGS dreams of a certain someone, unable to shake them from his mind, lost in a memory of melody.

500 copies

Wow, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the support with Dynamite Cuts since 2017 when I opened a Pandora’s box of 7” gems. When I thought about starting DC, I had a list of around 100 album tracks I wished I had as a 7” 45. Now 5 years (2022) later my list of 7” delights have become true. In the late 80s, I picked up the Frank Strazzeri “After the Rain” LP, which totally blew me away. Now, all these years later, these three magical choons have the honour of being my 100th release.

These titles are first time on 7” vinyl and all cut @ 45 rpm. An unmissable, perfect Jazz funk release

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!

SAISEI founder Junki Inoue continues his vital archival work uncovering the riches of Japan’s distinctive electronic music scene and bringing them to new audiences around the world.
The PMA EP compiles four dynamic tracks recorded around 30 years ago by the duo of Shigeru Nakamura (drums/vocals) and Mikio Kato (synths) aka B-2DEP’T.

Nakamura and Kato’s first album as B-2DEP’T, Products Plus, appeared on cassette in 1993 on Trigger Records, the predecessor label to Transonic (given a retrospective on SAIS004). Its bright yellow and blue retro-futurist artwork – which is echoed in the design for this reissue on SAISEI – matched the sounds held within: inventive, out-of-the-box dance music blending overseas influences with an idiosyncratic Japanese sensibility.
Two tracks from Products Plus appear on this EP, All tracks re-edited by Junki Inoue and regular collaborator Yuzo Iwata for vinyl extended play and available now for the first time on vinyl. ‘Clockwork Giant Panda’ appearing in a version co-produced with Yoshinori Sunahara (ex - Denki Groove), merges a breezy US house groove and bassline with twinkling, almost parodic Japanese keys that act as a kind of meta commentary on Western perceptions of Japan (a concept pioneered by Yellow Magic Orchestra). The two parts of ‘BSMH’, or Body Sonic Mental Health from ‘Products Plus’, were originally remixed by Daishi Hisakawa of Tanzmuzik, who draws on darker sounds from Europe and the UK: restless Depeche Mode synth harmonies spiral above a pacy EBM pulse, with robot vocals intoning the titular slogan. The package is completed by the unreleased track ‘PMA’, whose driving, bass-heavy mood falls somewhere between Sheffield bleep and the ambient techno of early Biosphere.

SAISEI is a Japanese word which translates to ‘reproduction’ and ‘to play’ (as in playing records). Japanese culture is widely known for its traditional nature just as much as it is for being forward into the future and this label’s concept does justice to exactly that. Having started digging for records as early as 16 years old, Inoue delved into productions from 1990s Japan to uncover these native gems. SAISEI’s core concept is to recapture and reintroduce unique pieces of Japanese electronic music onto vinyl, to an audience it never reached before as most of this music was only released in Japan.

From an aspiring b-boy to working with luminaries Billy Porter, Joss Stone, Kimberly Davis and Teni Tinks, The Shapeshifters, Simon Marlin announces the release of his brand-new studio album “Let Loose”.

Wrapped in a defining optimistic mood and colourful palette, “Let Loose” plays with the friction between musical persona and influence, delivering a masterclass in Simon’s flourishing depth of integrity as a producer and admiration to those that exert their enduring influence upon him.

“I'm a facilitator of talent. I'm blessed that over the years I've managed to put a team of people together - as a producer, that's what I do, very much in the old school sense like a Quincy Jones or Gamble & Huff, they’re the guys I try to emulate - and make something magic out of nothing, but do it in a contemporary way. That’s what really floats my boat, and that's what this whole project is about.” Simon Marlin – The Shapeshifters

Across the latest and long-awaited studio album “Let Loose” The Shapeshifters pledge rhythmic allegiance to the golden era disco records and their spellbinding qualities; embracing the tension often found between tradition and future to craft a euphoric, certifiable body of work presented to the devoted audience he deserves. The Shapeshifters exemplify a scene in rude health one that is now switching on an ever-younger fan base, and with Marlin being the beating heart of it it’s easy to see why The Shapeshifters are more in demand in the clubs than ever.

The twelve-track album is illuminated with vocal collaborations including the recently released and debut collaboration with the Grammy, Tony and Emmy Award-winning Billy Porter.

Layers of rushing strings, flares of brass and hedonistic grooves provide refreshing dancefloor power dynamics and deliver a liberating, triumphant and inherently uplifting record.

Taking an impeccably smooth course through disco-infused house, The Shapeshifters continue the rich relationship with Glitterbox and its record label; one that has yielded instant classics that epitomise the label’s ethos for preserving disco’s mission to uplift and empower.

2022 Repress !

Isle Of Jura starts life with an official reissue of the highly sought after 'Fire In My Heart' 12" by Escape From New York. BIG TIP!

Originally released in 1984 'Fire In My Heart' fuses elements of disco, funk and new wave to create a mystical masterpiece. 'Won't Be Your Fool' has more obvious 80's leanings and the 12" closes with the Instrumental Dub of 'Fire In My Heart', stripping back the vocals and letting the bassline work its magic. Completely re-mastered for 2016 and distributed worldwide by Rush Hour.

“Special delivery for Magic Carpet!” quirky newcomer Lucho delivers a collection of mesmerising booty-shakers for the cult-label’s tenth release.

Following a head-turning debut on New York’s Decatur Records in 2021, this EP is brimming with luscious harmonies and generously proportioned basslines that would make your grandpa blush. Family friendly but suitably naughty – this record is the full package.

For their sixth instalment, Lowlife Cartel follow up to their last two compilations (“Pimps Improvisations” in 2018 and “Omnia Vanitas” in 2020) with a new six-track VA named “Kodoku”; a vortical release, both bold and forward-looking, while fully geared for the club environment. Taking its title from a poisonous magic from the medieval Japanese era obtained by placing several venomous insects in a jar and letting them kill one another until only one survives, “Kodoku” - which interestingly also translates as “solitude” - features a cast of producers old and new to the fold including Saverio Celestri, the faceless △, Prince de Takicardie, Tundramane & Ko$te, Solar Alliance and Shampoo.

A staple element of the Lowlife Cartel bunch, Saverio Celestri paves the way and dishes out one of his signature jagged, EBM-informed weapons in “Sundays”. Through this hotchpotch of acid-steeped bass entangled with a frantic newbeat-ish swing and razor-sharp synthwaves, the Italian producer shows off the raw and playful facets of his craft to optimal effect. Unknown contributor △ clocks in with “Crachats de Lune”, a proper ominous banger going straight for the jugular with its clever mix of dusty, drum-laden churn, processed vox stabs and sci-fi-indebted laser bursts flashing by unrelentingly. Tailored for hi-octane action at the defunct Boccaccio or Hacienda, Prince de Takicardie “Jam’on’Acid (House Mix)” blows the winds of euphoria across the club like it was done in 1995. Vibing to a pulsating mix of rabid snares, 303-vehicled charges and mangled vocal samples on a classic free rave tip, throwback material that packs a punch.

Flip it over and here is North-American duo Tundramane & Ko$te shifting the scope to Memphis chopped-and-screwed in true hardcore fashion. Straight-out aggression, “Brick To The Face” lives up to its title, so expect leaving the place with a few teeth out your mouth and a good concussion, though more side effects could appear over repeated listens. A radical U-turn from the previous, Ute.- related triplet Solar Alliance - alias Ekkel, Oprofessionell and Mikkel Rev - bring their dashing trance touch to the comp with “Quest for Kiba”, an uptemp maelstrom for the senses, swirling and whirling up until space and time make no damn sense any more. Topping off that versatile tour de force, Japanese producer Shampoo adds his delectably sensuous spin on the record with the lush, sample-heavy lo-fi appeal of “四季ノ歌”. Unpolished feelgood vibes, sun- streaked soulfulness and deft-handed MPC wizardry are on the menu for this ultimate ride and jolly finale.

Four Flies Records is proud to present its brand new imprint Edizioni Della Notte, which expands the label's musical range. The sound of Edizioni Della Notte is a sound of twilight atmospheres and moonlit nights, traversing genres from disco-funk to soft rock, jazz-fusion and city pop. It's the music that creeps out of smoky nightclubs and car cassette radios, breaking the silence of empty streets and offering an escape from metropolitan reality into cosmic-exotic dreamlands.

Quite fittingly, the first official release on Edizioni Della Notte is called By Night. It's the debut EP of Scerida, a solo project of musician and singer-songwriter Daniela Resconi, and a perfect match for the sound that the new imprint intends to represent.

Its four tracks explore the idea of night as a time of ecstasy and torment, as a land of freedom and imagination but also of delusion, as an accomplice, a friend and an enemy described through feelings and mental states that range from expectation and euphoria to disillusionment and resignation.

Resconi, who hails from Brescia, northern Italy, formerly released music under the moniker Cara and as part of the duo The Loud Vice. Her new alias Scerida, which combines the French term chérie with the Spanish word querida, signals both a revolution and an evolution. "Scerida is a dive into the exotic side of my imagination, into mischevious thoughts, into a crazy night where I lost and found myself again," she explains. "She is still me, Daniela, but she keeps her eyes wide open on this restless, troubled world to write songs that try to ward off the horror vacui of everyday life."

By Night celebrates the dark hours as magical and mesmerizing, even when mysterious or dangerous. It evokes images and scenarios cinematically – a taxi passing by and fading into the distance, ice-cold Martinis during a party, whirlwinds of emotion, psychedelic sunrises and neon sunsets – through a stream of consciousness filled with noir-inflected pop, lo-fi vibes, slow hypnotic rhythms, suspended grooves and swelling atmospheres.

The one that almost got away… A track that many thought would be destined to remain on only the most select of DJs USBs, Kieran Hebden finally clears the sample on one of the most talked about tracks of last year ‘Looking At Your Pager’. Released on yellow vinyl with a full picture sleeve and backed with another massive KH earworm from the vaults ‘Only Human’.

Flipping the script on 3LW’s 2000 R&B heater ‘No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)’, Four Tet, under his KH alias, works that untouchable magic on the sample in true Hebden fashion. Taking that peachy vocal snippet and looping it up to the high heavens with a chest rumbling, wobbler of a bass synth and skippy garage beat you’re treated to a Four Tet warper of gargantuan proportions, finally officially released via Ministry of Sound Recordings under the title ‘Looking At Your Pager’.

In Kieran’s own words, "This track was made in the summer last year just before my first festival set in a long time. I wanted something new to play that would feel universal, positive and futuristic and this is what I came up with.

"Since then I think more people have asked me about this track than for anything else I've ever made and I've had amazing times playing it to the best crowds you could ask for. It took quite a while to get approval for the vocal sample but it finally happened recently and now the music is out in the world for everyone."

(Late Nite Tuff Guy & Farley 'Jackmaster' Funk Remixes)

An ‘80s dance classic from the legend John Rocca, gets a fresh new take from Aussie edit king Late Nite Tuff Guy alongside a remastered reissue of Chicago house royalty Farley 'Jackmaster' Funk’s 1987 Hot House Piano Remix.

The main man behind jazz funk favourites, Freeez, John Rocca took to the studio in ’84 and whipped up an electro-fied steamer in the form of ‘I Want It To Be Real’. Tantalizing synthwork, beefed up basslines, gated snares and pure ‘80s vocals, it’s a melting pot of influences with a catchiness that caused a serious stir.

This special double header of remixes kicks off with a brand new mix from Late Nite Tuff Guy. He builds up the brilliance with masterful effect, keeping the vocal in the back pocket till the final frontier whilst adding in some buttery new synth magic and deft filtering to the mix.

On the flip, Chicago house don Farley 'Jackmaster' Funk’s 1987 remix homes in on those blissful piano and vocal stabs for a dubbed out ‘Hot House Piano Mix’. Spiritual keys laid down with passion that will be sure to get any dancefloor hot under the collar.

DJ Feedback:

OPTIMO/ JD TWITCH
Nice! The Farley mix is an all time classic. Lovely version from LNTG.

GERD JANSON
I have love for this.

GRAEME PARK/ THE HACIENDA
I vividly remember playing this record the day it was released while working at Selectadisc in Nottingham like it was yesterday. I played it the same night at The Garage club not long after I started DJing there. It brings back some great memories and this superb remix is just wonderful. Its made me get all bleary eyed and tingly. Absolutely tremendous stuff.

AXEL BOMAN
Love this

KAI ALCE / NDATL
This is a HOT EDIT from Late Nite Tuff Guy!

A LOVE FROM OUTER SPACE/ SEAN JOHNSON
Killer - love it

NORM TALLEY
I love this!

CROSSTOWN REBELS
Nice one!!

JACQUES RENAULT / LETS PLAY HOUSE
LOVE the classic Farley piano mix and the LNTG version is a fun take too!

OSUNLADE/ YORUBA
LOVE THIS!!

DANIELE BALDELLI
Love this classic, and now more love for both new remixes

DANNY TENNAGLIA
I really like this remix

DANNY KRIVIT/ BODY & SOUL
Nice

DJ KEMIT/ ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
An incredible beefed up edit of an international dance floor classic. 10/10

HELENA STAR / NTS
Amazing record, those chords!!

LOUISE CHEN/ NTS
I’d love to play this.

ERIC DUNCAN/ RUB N TUG
This ones cool.

MAKE A DANCE / BEN
Yes yes yes pease love the original so much.

HOT TODDY/ CRAZY P
The Farley mix is a total winner which is a new one on me, LNTG mix is pretty tasty also

TERRY FARLEY
Yes please. A big early House lesson for me BITD

SUB CLUB HARRI
Realy diigin this.

GROOVE ARMADA / TOM FINDLAY
Love this, production is so good!

How do you breathe new life into a treasured, classic track? Answer: let Danny Krivit loose on it!

Who better to inaugurate our Mr Bongo Edit Series than one of the bosses of the art of the edit. More than just simple re-touches or loops to make the track easier to mix, Danny works his magic by employing all those years of studying and working with music as a remixer, producer and DJ. He has been honing his craft since the art form began and he seems to have a natural intuition for what works on the dancefloor.

When we asked Danny if he would be interested in reworking some tracks from Mr Bongo's back catalogue we knew the edits would be special, but Danny has outdone himself with these beauties, and arguably they are more than just edits.

By sheer chance, Danny had already worked on a rough personal mix of Sabu Martinez's 'Hotel Alyssa-Sousse, Tunisia’, a track taken from the treasured 'Afro Temple' album originally released in 1973. Danny just needed to freshen and tighten it up to a standard he was happy with, and the result is pure Latin fire.

The Belgian / Dutch orchestra leader Nico Gomez's 'Lupita' from 1971 is an undisputed banger, this underground Latin-crossover favourite has been causing mayhem on dancefloors for years. Here Danny takes it into another sphere adding extra drama and build-ups, adding and overlaying fresh percussion which sounds like it could have been taken from lost outtakes. Even those who may have heard 'Lupita' countless times, are sure to be impressed by the new lease of life that Danny has breathed into it.

2 huge tracks and 2 killer edits from a master of the craft.

Red Hot Chili Peppers announce their brand new studio album, Return of the Dream Canteen which will be released October 14th on Warner Records. The surprise announcement was dropped at Denver’s Empower Field to rapturous response as the North American leg of their critically and commercially acclaimed global stadium tour kicked off.

The news of Return of the Dream Canteen's imminent release marks the band’s second album of 2022, hot on the heels of the platinum-selling chart topper Unlimited Love which was released in April debuting at #1 in the UK. It will also be the band's second Rick Rubin produced album of 2022, and reinforces their reputation as a band at their absolute peak, riding the crest of an undeniable creative wave.

Continuing to win over audiences across the generations, the band performed a run of sold-out UK/EU dates earlier this year, including two nights at London Stadium. "A scorching European touch-down from the California legends" – CLASH

We went in search of ourselves as the band that we have somehow always been. Just for the fun of it we jammed and learned some old songs. Before long we started the mysterious process of building new songs. A beautiful bit of chemistry meddling that had befriended us hundreds of times along the way. Once we found that slip stream of sound and vision, we just kept mining. With time turned into an elastic waist band of oversized underwear, we had no reason to stop writing and rocking. It felt like a dream. When all was said and done, our moody love for each other and the magic of music had gifted us with more songs than we knew what to do with. Well we figured it out. 2 double albums released back to back. The second of which is easily as meaningful as the first or should that be reversed. 'Return of the Dream Canteen' is everything we are and ever dreamed of being. It’s packed. Made with the blood of our hearts, yours truly, the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

For the 7th release Theory Of Swing welcomes the French duo Groove Boys Project to join the catalogue with their “The Manhattan Soul EP “. Lucas and Alexandre are two talented and devoted guys towards the 90’s house sound. In collaboration with some of their mates Rawaï and Dusty Fingers they created this pure NY house 4 tracker EP that respect at full the concept of the label. “Bring back that magic feel “ .

Written and Produced in the Parisian "Studio 937"and Mastered from St. David at "TOW Records Studio".

The first release of the new label Surfaced Trax submerges into deep waters, delivering three sonically rich compositions aimed at late-night peak-times and early-morning sun rising hours.

The 'Liquid Terrain EP' was produced by Parallax Deep and remixed by Christopher Ledger. And while "Liquid" takes the listener through minimalized yet funky arrangements of precise drum programming and steady grooves, "Terrain", on the other hand, explores the in-between palettes of the electro & acid genres with plenty of rhythmic experimentation and wonky modulations.

On the remix duties, the Italian wizard Christopher Ledger works his magic on "Liquid", turning it into a highly textured, deeply atmospheric, slightly acidic breakbeat monster.

Stunning and tonally fitting collage artwork by Joagi.

2022 Repress
Dear Friends,

25 years of KOMPAKT is no reason to get hysterical. Then again, it's a nice occasion to have a laid back look at the situation in electronic music today. Minimal techno in all it's varieties is now established as the worlds best dance music, as you may know. So far, so good. What's next Nothing. Dance on!

I've gain two essential insights with the passage of time. First off, that music which over the years only knew 'faster, better, stronger' and 'forwards ever - backwards never' can constantly repeat, quote and loop itself without killing itself. A music that suspends the meaning of time and eventually can set a parallel, better universe of fantasy against the twisted grimaces of reality. Again and again.

And secondly, that getting older living in/with this music is a quite relative term to which ideally a serenity of age can ring a bell. This shows that 25 years after 1993 so many protagonists, enthusiasts, DJs, musicians, relentlessly rave fighters - with all personal advancement - are still there and still celebrate, play or produce this/theirs music; and compete themselves and their music just with that.

Two such heroes of the neat and tidy bass drum culture are with no doubt T.RAUMSCHMIERE aka MARCO HAAS and REINHARD VOIGT. From day one, those two figureheads have given live-techno the glam of stage-diving rock 'n' roll, long before vodka and beer prevailed as alternative lube for ecstatic dancefloors.

Even better they both now raise the glass at the longest techno-bar in the world named KOMPAKT EXTRA/SPEICHER. With DREI MILLIONEN KO¨LSCH, Reinhard Voigt continues to establish his savvy 'way into sound', which he's pursued for a few years now on his many releases. He's turning genre cliche´s into a very personal take with his defiant mix of the deepness of a lonesome cowboy and his implicit faith in the dancefloor and gives the music a very personal touch of ennnoblement of the faith in itself. Technos dignity shall be inviolable.

For me, AUGEN ZU by T.RAUMSCHMIERE is one of the most beautiful masterpieces of bass-heavy 'Umta Umta' techno. A few strikingly brilliant vocal lines from the master himself, put through the machines and combined with a relentlessly sequencer that says it all. This cheers my heart and we will always need such tracks to remind us of ourselves. And to forget about ourselves. Smash hits of unreason! Or the prettiest declaration of love to a music which gets its magical moments from what's happening between the bass drum-beats. But only by this when the bassdrum remains linear and will do so forever. Both Marco Haas and Reinhard Voigt know that. Because after techno comes always techno.

Wolfgang Voigt - May, 2018 Wolfgang Voigt - May, 2018

25 Jahre KOMPAKT sind kein Grund sich aufzuregen. Aber dennoch ein schöner Anlass, einen gelassenen Blick auf die Lage der elektronischen Musik zu werfen. Denn der globale Minimal-Techno, in seinen unterschiedlichen Spielarten, hat sich bekanntlich längst als beste Tanzmusik der Welt etabliert. Recht so. Was nun Gar nichts. Weitertanzen.

Zwei essentielle Erkenntnisse haben sich bei mir im Laufe der Zeit durchgesetzt: Erstens - dass eine Musik, die über Jahre nur ein »Höher, Schneller, Weiter« oder ein »Forwards Ever - Backwards Never« kannte, sich ständig wiederholen, selbst zitieren und loopen kann, ohne daran zu ersticken. Die Bedeutung von Zeit und Vergänglichkeit im besten Sinne außer Kraft setzen und der hässlichen Fratze der Realität eine parallele, bessere Welt der Fantasie entgegensetzen kann. Immer wieder.

Und zweitens: dass »Altern in/mit dieser Musik« ein sehr relativer Begriff ist, dem bestenfalls Altersgelassenheit etwas sagt, Alter. Das zeigt sich immer wieder im schönsten Sinne, wenn 25 Jahre nach 1993 so viele Akteure, Enthusiasten, DJs, Musikanten, unkaputtbare Kampfraver, bei aller persönlichen Weiterentwicklung, immer noch da sind und immer noch diese/ihre Musik abfeiern, auflegen oder eben produzieren und sich und ihr Tun auch nur daran messen lassen müssen.

Zwei solche Recken der gepflegten Bassdrumkultur sind zweifelsohne T.RAUMSCHMIERE aka MARCO HAAS und REINHARD VOIGT. Zwei Rampensäue der ersten Stunde, die Live-Techno den Glam des Rock'n'Roll Stagedivings gegeben haben, lange bevor Vodka und Bier sich als alternative Gleitmittel eines ektatischen Dancefloors in der Breite durchgesetzt hatten.

Umso schöner, dass sich eben diese Beiden mal wieder an der längsten Techno-Theke der Welt, genannt KOMPAKT EXTRA/SPEICHER über die beiden Seiten einer Schallplatte hinweg musikalisch zuprosten. Mit dem Track DREI MILLIONEN KÖLSCH setzt REINHARD VOIGT seinen smarten »way into sound« fort, den er schon seit ein paar Jahren auf diversen Veröffentlichungen konsequent verfolgt. Mit einer trotzigen Mischung aus lonesome cowboyhafter Deepness und dem unbedingten Bekenntnis zum Dancefloor schafft er es, den Klischees des Techno eine sehr persönliche Note der Veredelung des Glaubens an sich selbst zu geben. Die Würde des Techno ist unantastbar.

Der Track AUGEN ZU von T.RAUMSCHMIERE ist für mich eines der schönsten Meisterstücke in der Tradition des oktavbassgeschwängerten Umta-Umta Techno. Einige wenige markant brilliante Textzeilen, vom Meister selbst in deutscher Sprache durch die Maschinen geschickt, gepaart mit einem Sequenzer der keine Gefangenen macht, lassen keine Fragen offen. Da geht mir Herz und Rucksack auf. Solche Tracks werden wir immer brauchen, um uns an uns selbst zu erinnern. Um uns immer wieder selbst zu vergessen. Smash-Hits der Unvernunft! Oder die schönste Liebeserklärung an eine Musik, die ihre magischsten Momente immer aus dem gezogen hat, was zwischen den Bassdrumschlägen passiert. Das funktioniert aber nur, wenn die Bassdrum gerade ist und es für immer bleibt. Und Marco Haas und Reinhard Voigt wissen das. Denn nach Techno kommt immer noch Techno.

Wolfgang Voigt, Mai 2018