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With releases that have been heavily rooted in Glasgow's Southside, Full Dose take things international for the next release and invite Jamaican dancehall artist I Jahbar (SKRS, Duppy Gun) to showcase their talents over two versatile Brollachan productions.

Smokin' is a celebration of marijuana in the truest sense, with I Jahbar's potent delivery perfectly connecting to the bouncy dance floor riddim.

UFO is an altogether different prospect, the spaced out percussive production serves as a blank canvas for I Jahbar to make a call for peace, unity and love to overpower the corrupt forces at large here in 2023.

To close on either side are dubbed out, free-form remixes from Lvchessi, Full Dose's brother in sound."

DJ Support: Danny Howard, Annie Mac, Mistajam, Pete Tong, Charlie Hedges, Kraak & Smaak, Maxinne, Todd Terry, Alex Preston, Full Intention, GW Harrison, DJ Rae, Rudimental, Alaia & Gallo, Illyus & Barrientos, Johan S, David Penn, Sam Divine, Riva Starr, Claptone, Nice7, Dario D’Attis, Mousse T, S-Man, Huxley, KC Lights, Friend Within, Dombresky, Gorgon City, Chris Lake, Format:B, Pirupa, TCTS, Alan Fitzpatrick, Low Steppa, Mat.Joe, Raumakustik, Eskuche


Kicking things off on our next 4-track vinyl sampler series is Toolroom's very own Martin Ikin who returns to the label with ‘Make U Sweat’! He was the Best-selling Tech House artist on Beatport in 2020 and 2021 and has over 1m monthly listeners across streaming platforms. Recent studio collabs have included Noizu and Joshwa and tours have seen him travel far and wide to the US, Brazil, Bali, Ibiza, Italy, Croatia and of course, his hometown of London. This new record is the follow up to 'Oscill8' that dropped in March 2023 and sits in a similar lane, in that it's pure, unadulterated club weaponry! Next up is Italian house legend Flashmob with the frenetic, high-energy club vibe of new cut ‘My Body’. Flashmob's sound, production and go-for-broke DJ sets have changed with the game, embracing the vitality of new house music rather than hankering after sentimental sunsets. His ethic and aesthetic move relentlessly forward, using the old and new to craft unique sonic alchemy from big festivals like Tomorrowland to the intimacy of small clubs on the international circuit. ‘My Body’ is typical of Flashmob's current sound, combining solid drums and some insane synths and fx, alongside an earworm vocal sample that results in yet another memorable club cut from an established master. Canadian Tech House maestro Nathan Barato debuts on Toolroom kicking off the B-side to the vinyl alongside studio partner, Matheo Velez with 'Weapon'. A record that has already caught the attention of the underground elite with Michael Bibi premiering the track at his first appearance back at DC-10 in Ibiza last Summer. Both artists are enjoying great success across key labels such as Viva, Circus, Snatch and RAWthentic. This is an addictive, bumpy club track

that packs a huge punch on the dance floor and actually features Nathan's very own 'Move me… Rock me' vocals! Rounding things off is UK DJ/producer duo, Jenn Getz & Alfie who are residents at Dubai's #1 nightlife destination, Soho Garden, where they warm up for legends such as Sonny Fodera, MK, Claptone, Solardo & Fisher on a weekly basis. In their relatively short 3 year career they have already released on Solotoko, Abode and Toolroom Trax and now debut on Toolroom with 'Vibration'. Both girls are incredibly passionate about house music and are also big advocates for a life centered around well-being and meditation, and the idea of this record was to combine their 2 passions in life, so they proceeded to co-write these original lyrics to accompany the track, which in itself is very inspiring! This is a super cool club record that will excite fans and DJ's alike, welcome to the Toolroom Family, Jenn Getz & Alfie!

Countless radio plays on Radio 1 from Danny Howard, Sarah Storie, Pete Tong Other notable radio plays – Kiss FM, Toolroom Radio, Sirius XM, Data Transmission Radio, Radio 1 Dance Anthems, Radio 1 Party Anthems, Rinse FM, Select Radio, Tomorrowland Radio

Returning to Damian Lazarus’ renowned label for their seventh EP on the label, the Gruuv bosses showcase the latest evolution of their rich and diverse sound, with the dancefloor-driven quartet of hot cuts!

From their early beginnings between Ibiza and their hometown of Leeds to a near twenty-year-long career that has taken them from Space (Ibiza) to Womb (Tokyo), fabric (London) to Zouk (Singapore), UK duo Audiojack have remained and continue to prove themselves as both ever-present dancefloor hit makers, but artists that have helped carry the UK’s evolving house sound. From their initial releases on Leftroom and 2020vision through to their Crosstown Rebels debut in 2016, and then fast-forwarding to recent music on Solid Grooves, Knee Deep In Sound and their own Gruuv imprint, the pair’s unwavering passion for fresh sounds continues to burn bright. Now regulars on Damian Lazarus’ iconic imprint, serving up five EPs, numerous remixes, and their 2021 album ‘Surface Tension’ on the label to date, the end of May welcomes the duo’s latest chapter on Crosstown with their latest EP, ‘Play With My Mind’.

The skippy and vibrant ‘Play With My Mind’ opens the package with an abundance of nostalgia, channelling 90s sonics via the infectious organ melody and hooky vocals at its core, while ‘Casual Verve’ is trippy and loose while delivering a slice of driving funk to the mix. Next, ‘Connect’ provides a vocal-led, garage-dipped cut that keeps the energy levels sizzling before ‘Delirium’ closes the show with a swathe of pure dancefloor ecstasy.

Renowned US producer Maceo Plex releases his highly anticipated third album, ‘’93', a homage to his three-decade journey through the realms of electronic music. Marking both a passion and a prolific career, the maestro presents a tantalising body of work that masterfully blends House, Hip Hop, Global Bass, Techno, Breaks, and Electronica. This audacious fusion delves into historic and modern influences, crafting an audio journey that transcends time, rich in history yet boldly future-facing.

‘’93' is a cross-genre exploration, seamlessly balancing emotion with hard-hitting beats. Maceo Plex collaborates with a stellar lineup of artists, including Diplo for his contribution on ‘You Don’t Have To Wait’ with Cubicolor, Oscar and the Wolf, Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction), Johnny Jewel and Desire, Kirsty Hawkshaw, Mystic Bill, AVNU, Giovanni, Ishi, and Tyler Hill, resulting in a diverse and dynamic musical affair.
This album narrates the story of a highly esteemed artist at a pivotal juncture in his career, consistently evolving towards new directions. Departing from the early deeper house sound that initially defined him, Maceo Plex intentionally ventures into new territory, steering away from his famed melodic and techno direction in recent years. Nevertheless, '93' retains the essence of Maceo Plex's signature style, transcending various sounds and genres in a manner reminiscent of his electrifying DJ sets, meticulously curated for the dancefloor and the crowds.

‘93’ vinyl LP by Maceo Plex is available on Lone Romantic from 17th May 2024.

Key Feedback Quotes:

Pete Tong - Maceo is such a talented producer. A sonic juganaut. An inspiration to so many aspiring music makers. He's a master of analogue and digital in the studio. He's a total 'one of'.
Kolsch - Incredible album!!!!
Artbat - “Very cooooool album!
Gregor Tresher - Wow, now this is what I call an album! Extraordinary stuff, I love it! Big up, Eric!
Hot Since 82 - Nothing short of sensational. My fav producer and DJ who consistantly sets the bar far too high and we all play catch up. Love it.
Rodriguez Jr - Awesome album. LOVE IT. Such a wide spectrum of influences here. Respect!
Laurent Garnier - Very cool. Will play these
Hernan Cattaneo - This is a really good album!
Wehbba - happy to finally see the album coming out, lots of gems, Nasty, Just You and I, Get out Of Here and You're My Desire are my main picks.
Eelke Kleijn - Already listened to the whole album on Spotify. Fantastic. Miles ahead of everyone else. Thanks for sending this, will play many of these for sure.
AFFKT - all tracks are amazing
Ida Engberg - Loooove this release! Stop that and Serpent jazz for me, can't wait to play them. Lone Romantic killing it!
Victor Ruiz - Honestly, you’re a genius! 10/10 productions always.
Pig&Dan - Great to hear new tunes from one of my favorite producers out there
Oliver Huntemann - some real gems on here
Fideles - wow, love it all
Peter Kruder - Love 'em all! Thanks for sending my way!
Yotto - Sick Sick Sick work!
Jody Wisternoff - Insane tracks from Maceo!!!
Terr - Amazing music as always, thx!
Nicolas Masseyeff - Solid release! Full Support!
Paige - Nasty is an absolutely mind-blowing track!!
Braxton - Incredible Album. .
Dense & Pika - Wicked stuff from Maceo.
Eli Brown - Always great music from Maceo Plex.
Anden - Congrats on the album! Love it!
Sergio Muñoz / Fur Coat - Great work from Eric! Congratulations.
La Fleur - So many gems in there, looking forward to having a proper listen from start to end! Thx
Captain Mustache - Big work here from Maceo, congratz!
Alex Kennon - This is a masterpiece!
Timo Maas - Clickbait is a cool track, I like the deep funk.
Martin Eyerer - This is a great album!! I love nasty most, but all great.
Nick Warren - This is such a great album.
Laurent Garnier - Very cool EP. Will play these.
Jonas Rathsman - Stop That sounds interesting

2024 Repress

Straight in the wake of their eponymous debut LP released on the label back in 2016, Weval return to Kompakt this year with their sophomore album, 'The Weight', breaking their pop-mellow, nostalgia-friendly facet further out in the open as they arrive "at this place again were everything felt spontaneous, new and exciting, like we had in the beginning". Orbiting around that ever luminous yet wistful melodic halo that surrounds their music, this second full-length effort sweeps an extra-wide and languidly woven palette of emotions and moods, making for a uniquely ambitious and generously coloured mosaic of sound. If the recording sessions "often started grumpy and emotionless" by Harm and Merijn's own admission, the pair was "surprised by the joy it gave us, which can be compared to the emotions we felt back in the first days of making music together"; subsequently reconnecting with that fresh, naïve feeling of "absolute creative freedom" they were after. The album is also the fruit of a whole new working process for them - more playful and unpredictable - which saw them switch from "guitars lying around to piano, onto our own synths and the most cheap quirky toys synths you can imagine", and involved "recording all of our own samples, voice and almost every instrument out of the box - which for us was a totally new way of working". "We've always wanted a narrative for the album, and finding the right order perhaps took the most effort" they explain; "we felt anxious, felt insanely positive, felt heartbroken again, felt in love again, and there was death, and even suicide around us. It was quite chaotic. As a whole, 'The Weight' breathes with that transformative richness, free of limits and rules, except perhaps to "do quick and not think too much". Amidst this collection of songs and instrumentals that live by Weval's singularly positive take on music - one that can "lift you up, and make you feel hopeful without being necessarily straight out 'happy'" as they define it, the title-track and lead single stays true to the duo's dynamic approach, putting on a fine balance of floor and dream inducing adaptability that sound engineer David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The XX, FKA Twigs, Caribou… etc.) subtly made palpable. There's heavy showers of funk drops pouring from endless bars of thunderstorm clouds and laid-back riffs beating a restrained poolside-party kind of pulse, but also sensual vocals rising from beneath the sheets and rueful polaroid-filtered ambiences to soundtrack all possible moments in life - from the most euphoric to those when music seems the only viable healing potion. More on the post-KLF, BoC-inflected electronica side of things, 'Are You Even Real' takes its listener for a round-trip across the star-studded dome and beyond, before songs like 'Someday' and 'Same Little Thing' head back down to a state of pulsating, earthly organicity, tense and mercurial as get. An arpeggiated slice of piano-strewn kosmische, 'Heaven' is another invitation to an epic-scale odyssey from the inner-spheres into the distant fringes of the outer-world. Weightless and airy, yet texturally dense and widely magnetic overall, Weval second LP is a synthesis of the duo's multi-angle take on electronics: blissed-out, heartening and infinitely free.
Nur zweieinhalb Jahre nach der Veröffentlichung ihres selbstbetitelten Debutalbums finden sich WEVAL zurück "an jenem Ort, an dem sich alles spontan, neu und aufregend anfühlt - so wie als wir anfingen zusammen Musik zu schreiben". An diesem Ort entstand "The Weight", ihr zweiter Longplayer, auf dem Weval sich ganz den Pop-verliebten, Nostalgie-freundlichen Facetten ihres Sounds öffnen. Stetig um den sehnsuchtsvollen Strahlenkranz ihrer Melodien tanzend, legt diese Platte noch vielschichtigere, mit feinster Präzision gewobene Gefühlswelten frei.

Obwohl die Aufnahmesessions nach eigenem Bekunden oftmals "miesepetrig und emotionsarm" begannen, so war das Duo überrascht darüber, wie schnell sich bei der Arbeit jene Freude einstellte, die sie aus ihren künstlerischen Anfangstagen kannten, eine Woge des frischen, naiven Gefühls der "absoluten kreativen Freiheit". Dieses Album ist die Frucht eines verspielteren und unvorhersehbareren Arbeitsprozesses innerhalb der Band, in welchem alles zum Einsatz kam, was ihnen in die Finger kam - von der ollen Gitarre, die in der Studioecke stand, über ein Piano und den bandeigenen Sythesizern und den sonderbarsten Spielzeuginstrumenten, die man sich vorstellen kann. All dies sowie zahlreiche Vocalaufnahmen dienten als alleinige Samplequelle - "was für uns eine völlig neue Arbeitsweise war". "Es war uns wichtig für das Album den perfekten Erzählbogen zu spannen. Die richtige Reihenfolge zu finden war ein extrem aufwendiger Vorgang", erklären Harm und Merjin. "Uns war bange, wir fühlten uns total selbstsicher, uns zerbrach das Herz und wir verliebten uns erneut. Wir waren sogar von Tod und Selbstmord umgeben. Alles war Chaos. Insgesamt atmet "The Weight" die Reichhaltigkeit dieser sich ständig verändernden Gefühlslagen, frei von Einschränkungen und Regeln - außer vielleicht "mach es schnell und zerdenke die Dinge nicht." Inmitten dieser Ansammlung von Songs und Instrumentals, die aus Wevals einzigartiger, von Zuversicht geprägter Herangehensweise entstanden sind - "Musik, die dich hochzieht und Hoffnung spendet, ohne dich notwendigerweise happy zu machen. Der Titeltrack "The Weight" steht exemplarisch für Wevals ambivalenten Ansatz, die feine Balance zwischen Dancefloor und Traumzuständen, perfekt in Szene gesetzt von Soundengineer David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The XX, FKA Twigs, Caribou… etc.).

Der schwer aus gewaltigen Gewitterwolken tropfende Funk, die eine verhaltene Poolparty suggerierenden Riffs, die sinnlichen, geisterhaften Vocals und ein verwaschenes Ambiente, das wie ein Album alter Polaroidaufnahmen alle erdenklichen Momente des Lebens festhält - von den euphorischsten bis hin zu jenen, in denen Musik der einzige Trank ist, der Linderung verheißt. Das post-KLF und Boards of Canada evozierende "Are You Even Real" führt den Hörer auf einen imaginären Flug ins Sternenzelt, während organisch-klingende Songs wie "Someday" oder "Same Little Thing" wie Quecksilber am Boden haften. "Heaven" ist eines jener "kosmische" Stücke mit wilden Arpeggios und Pianosprengseln, die Weval in den vergangenen zwei Jahren zu einer Live-Sensation werden liessen. Wevals Musik ist schwerelos und luftig, aber gleichermassen von dichter Struktur und von einer magnetischen Anziehungskraft. Ihr zweites Album "The Weight" ist eine Synthese aus dem multi-perspektivischem, kaleidoskopischen Verständnis von elektronischer Musik: Herzerwärmend, alles umschmeichelnd und unendlich frei.

‘Diré’, Idrissa Soumaoro new album, comes as a surprise to Malian and international audiences. Composer, singer, guitarist and master of the kamalen n’goni Idrissa Soumaoro presents here a beautiful collection of songs on his third album, Diré, named in honor of the town where he met his wife and where his first daughter, who is no longer with us, was born.
In 1971, after his studies at the INA in Bamako, Idrissa was transferred to Diré to teach music at the lPEG (Pedagogical Institute of General Education). He was 22 years old when he arrived in Diré. Idrissa has always been nostalgic for this beautiful place in the 333 Saints of Timbuktu region. As Idrissa sings in ‘Diré taga’ (Going to Diré), the track that opens the album, the city evokes deep emotions for the artist, as if it were a long-lost friend or lover. Celebrating the memory of the city of Diré leads the artist to retrace stories and lived situations that marked and animated him in years gone by: ‘I really miss the people, the colleagues, the friends and that period. Despite the time that has flown by, I would ardently wish to see Diré again’. Today, at the difficult time Mali is experiencing, remembering the city of Diré in the 1970s also means for the artist not giving up hope for peace: ‘The memory of Diré, a beautiful town in northern Mali, strengthens my hope for peace, union and real independence for the happiness of my people’; as he sings in ‘Sababou’, ‘Without hope, there is no life. Together we will succeed’.
The ten highly original compositions of the album are strongly based upon traditional music of Mali, but Idrissa’s life experiences, travels, education, collaborations and personal musical career have led him to compose and perform music with other influences. As Idrissa quotes: ‘My inspiration generally comes from the donso n'goni, a Bambara instrument played by and for hunters throughout Mali. This is a pentatonic instrument, similar to the blues exported to the USA by black African slaves. I've also spent so much time playing a variety of music that my music also reflects rumba, salsa (as well as Bamanan blues and a few derivatives: jazz, country, soul, rhythm and blues) etc. I have looked for and hope to have found my own form of expression from these influences’.
Throughout the album, his strong, clear voice sings in French, Bambara and English. It rides seamlessly upon a complex rhythmic sea of distinctly West African stringed instrumentation and percussion with accents of flute and balafon. There are keyboards in a few songs, but these, happily, do not dominate the music as we hear so often in today’s music. This album presents the music of a mature artist who has ‘been there, done that’ and returned to celebrate his country, his roots and his dreams in a flawlessly produced collection of songs of love, reassurance, fatherly advice and hope.
The album already has a long history: it was initiated in 2012 by Marc-Antoine ‘Marko’ Moreau, former producer and manager of Amadou and Mariam. Moreau had plans to produce the album and invited Idrissa Soumaoro to start recording in Manjul's studio in Bamako. When Moreau suddenly passed away, work on the album was still missing. The pandemic still added time for the production to continue. With the help of Climax Orchestra, arrangements and orchestrations were finalized in France. At the artist's behest, 'Diré' will finally be presented to the public by Mieruba, the independent label based in Ségou, the home of the blues in Mali. 'Let's stand together so that Mali can flourish': from conception to production and distribution, this is the message that 'Diré' carries.

LTD Color Repress


After a completely sold out first release by Tom Carruthers and Mario Liberti. TCR. is back with one of the secret weapons inside many DJ bags. Heavily supported by Ricardo Villalobos, Tini, Anthea, Arapu, Alexandra, Velasco, Liquid Earth, Bill Patrick, Josh Baker, Lis Sarroca and many others TCR.002 by ‘Unknown Artist’ has been played on some of the top dance-floors around Europe.

The whole EP is a tribute to an Ibizan band from the late eighties and early nineties.

Extremely limited copies, don’t sleep on this one and remember… Pon, Ponte Bien, Pon Selo, Pon Pin Pon, Pon Amor, El Party Que No Pare.

2024 Repress
Alberto Pascual, also known as Ribe is a well seasoned veteran in the Spanish scene. An expert synthesist and modular weirdo, his sound palette is amazing. If you have been so fortunate to enjoy his live PA before these turbulent times, you've got the precision and hypnosis he always provides.

This release has a physical side and a digital one, with four and seven tracks respectively, including two Oscar Mulero remixes.

"Palette" opens the release, a lone kick drum squashed in reverb sets the pace on the first bars while abstract details appear randomly and a continuous sequence grows from below. The tension is kept all over the arrangement, not additional percussive elements, just the few principal elements going back and forth.

"Shapes" has a Basic Channel approach soundwise, texturized techno as its best, exploring the dark corners of sound design, and again all relaying on a linear and mental arrangement.

"Ad Infinitum" is remixed by Oscar Mulero in his first remake, transforming the formerly broken and abstract Ad Infinitum is a danceable intelligent weapon.

Original version of "Ad Infinitum" follows, providing the experimental slice of the EP. Broken rhythms, shuffled components and low rated tempos.

“It’s just too easy to make a standard dance track,” Aphex Twin said of his mindset back in 1992. “You’ve got to put a bit of thought into it to get something a bit different.”

‘Didgeridoo’ was released on the Belgian R&S Records label in 1992, and originally peaked at #55 in the UK singles chart in May of that year. Over the last 32 years the track has become one of the essential Aphex Twin tracks in a gargantuan catalogue that continues to amaze and inspire.

“I wanted to have some tracks to play to finish the raves I used to play in Cornwall, to really kill everybody off so they couldn’t dance,” Richard D James, AKA Aphex, told Select magazine back in the 90s. “Digeridoo came out of that.”

Released as a 4 track EP that also included early Aphex productions (now classics) including the industrial, acidic clang of ‘Flap Head’ and hyperbolic futurism of ‘Isopropanol’, the release cemented a relationship with the R&S label that went on to release the ‘Xylem Tube’ EP and the pivotal album ‘Selected Ambient Works 85-92’ in the same year. The label’s owner & A&R Renaat Vandepapeliere reflected “When I first heard Aphex Twin’s music I said, ‘This is it!’, and everybody else said, ‘You’re crazy!’ …a lot of the hardcore R&S fans dropped us. To them it wasn’t music.”

‘Didgeridoo’ (Expanded Edition) is the first time the EP has been re-issued with extra material. Whilst digging in his DAT archive (allegedly stored in an airtight military ammo box), Richard James revisited the recordings, encoding them through a Nakamichi CR7e cassette deck, using the customised deck with vari-speed to encode at speeds “felt right at the time”. Alongside these CR7e versions, the original mixes have been remastered by Beau Thomas at Ten Eight Seven Mastering, offering a dilated insight into one of electronic music’s most endearing releases.

‘Digeridoo’ (Expanded Edition) by Aphex Twin is available on R&S Records from 31st May 2024.

Glasgow based Seated Records return with more 1980s Scottish Post-Punk / New Wave material. In this 8-track mini compilation the label introduces the work of Stirling band 22 Beaches, offering a deep dive into music recorded between 1980-1984 - the majority of which has never seen the light of day!

22 Beaches formed in Stirling in the late 1970s as an evolution of the short lived group ‘Alone at Last’ - drummer Fred Parson’s and guitarist Stephen Hunter being the two who spanned the divide. Out of the six members of 22 Beaches, many were school friends, and the rest naturally fell together. The band toured extensively and played at a truly diverse set of venues across the UK: from a local swimming pool boiler room, to small nightclubs and university parties, to several fundraisers for the miners strike. Maybe most notably of all, drummer Fred Parsons described playing at what he calls “the Grangemouth International”, organised by local promoter Brian Guthrie and which featured an all-star lineup of 22 Beaches, The Exploited and the first incarnation of The Cocteau Twins. A coach was hired to ship the audience to Grangemouth from Stirling, the cost of which was included in the ticket. The gig then paused halfway through for a 'help yourself' buffet. Young promoters take heed. This is how it's done!

Over the course of the 80s the band released music on three different, and now sought after, various artists compilation cassettes. “What Day Is It?” and “Sadie When She Died” were released on a compilation of local Stirling artists 'The A.N.K.L.E File'. The track from which the current record takes its namesake - “Dust” - was initially released on a compilation-tape for the fanzine 'Another Spark'. And ‘‘Zoo” (also featured on this record) was first released on Glasgow label Pleasantly Surprised via compilation, 'An Hour Of Eloquent Sounds', where 22 Beaches rubbed shoulders with early music from Scottish names Primal Scream, Cocteau Twins, The Wake and Sunset Gun. Unfortunately, 22 Beaches never met the same level of commercial success as these others and decided to retire the project in 1984 - leaving their recordings and demos to gather dust (hehe)…until now!

This compilation, “Dust: recordings 1980-1984” follows the band's journey and the changes in their sound over the years. It moves from the raw, punk energy of early DIY recordings through to the A Certain Ratio style Balearica of their later pieces. The record's opener and title track “Dust” is perhaps the most shining example of the latter. Characterised by the plenitude of sonic space in the mix, “Dust” has an almost dub sensibility that is communicated through centrality of Parsons’ drums, McChord’s percussion, and Fildes’ Bass while the harmonising vocals of Sharkey and McGregor chant over the top to give the track its distinctive psychedelic edge. This is an atmosphere only exacerbated by the lofi quality of the recording which sits the vocals in the same aural realm as much 1960s psych-folk. On “Cartoon Boy”, the band strips things down further. A droning bass line persists through the tape fuzz and is accompanied by the sounds of a sole looping guitar chord sequence and McGregor and Sharkey’s vocals - respectively and carefully dancing around one another before harmonising in the most beautiful way. The result is a haunting and abstract Marine Girls style heartbreaker. ‘That Girl’ again delivers a dub adjacent rhythm section similar to that of “Dust”. However, on this instance crisp guitar chords, a distant, phased organ and blue-eyed soul vocal delivery, produce a track that could easily have been a lost Orange Juice recording from their sessions with Dennis Bovel. On “Somebody Got It Wrong” and “One Of Us” the band employ a more macro approach where a jangling guitar with an almost highlife-influenced tone, vocal ad-libs and syncopated percussion give the music a Talking Heads-esque swagger.

Taken together these tracks illustrate a clear trajectory in the band's sound, moving from from the high energy no-wave quality of early recordings towards a more dub influenced, and stripped-back sound - a sonic trajectory followed by so many bands of the time, not least those emerging from the diaspora of Manchester’s Factory Records.

On “Breathing’’ we hear the beginning of this transition, with the strong influence of the oddball NYC disco styles of Was (Not Was) and ZE records. All of this is meshed together with the residual punk rock energy of 1980s UK. This combination is employed to excellent effect with the addition of the distinctly Scottish (and what the band confirmed to me to be spontaneous) vocal delivery of: “Do you love me? Do you want me?” “Aye!” “Do you love me? Do you need me?” “Naw!”.

On the record’s closing tracks, “Zoo” and “Talent Show”, we hear early examples of the band’s work, playing with their rawest all-in-one-take live energy where Hunter’s spiralling guitar riffs and McGregor's distorted vocal exclamations lead the charge. The band recalls that these initial-forays did not always translate so well into multitrack recording and overdubbing: “the deconstruction took away some of the band's natural feel”. On “Talent Show” the record ends with Sharkey delivering an almost unintelligible spoken word section over the top of the track, making for one final, disorientating, almost manic slice of post-punk.

These tracks from 1980-1984 chart the progress of a unique contribution to the world of Scottish Post-Punk and New Wave, encapsulating not only the musical trajectory of 22 Beaches but also echoing the broader sonic landscape of 1980s UK, a testament to the adaptability and creativity of the UK’s underground music of the time.

At its best, Bristol's scene has been marked out by the artists with an independent spirit. Not just the self-reliant DIY approach to getting the music out there, but a unique, inventive slant on emergent sounds which feed into the city's storied reputation. Flynn & Flora embody that idea, having come up in the nascent Bristol jungle scene while offering something wholly different to their peers in fabled crews like Full Cycle and More Rockers.

The duo were absolutely connected to the wider community, but they followed their own path, and the records reflect that. They're not as widely name checked as the likes of Roni Size, Krust, or Smith & Mighty, but their legacy is just as rich with personality and flair, offering that indefinable twist which sets West Country rhythms apart from the sounds in London or elsewhere. City Road wanted to recognise that fact with a modest 12" which cherry picks four crucial early cuts from Flynn & Flora's archives, before they went on to produce three LPs and a series of 12"s up to the mid 00s.

"We knew as much as anyone else at that particular time," recalls Flynn. "Samples, hip-hop breaks, bass lines. You've got your synth, your drum machine. It's all you needed. So that's what we did."

2024 Repress

2LP gatefold with liner notes, 180gr vinyl. 'Funky Chimes' is a two-hour collection of excellent and unique grooves. It contains 27 of the most interesting yet long forgotten Belgian dance tracks from the seventies.

'Funky Chimes' is a two-hour collection of excellent and unique grooves. It contains 27 of the most interesting yet long forgotten Belgian dance tracks from the seventies, when a generation of extremely gifted and versatile musicians experimented with funk, jazz, latin and other grooves.
'Funky Chimes' is in many ways the logical follow up to 2014's highly acclaimed compilation 'Funky Chicken'. Uncovering a blind spot in Belgium's musical heritage and unearthing a diverse collection of hidden treasures. 'Funky Chicken' has induced a renewed interest in Belgium's rare grooves from the seventies, which until then had never been regarded a genre worth mentioning. Having said that, this second instalment is much more than just a fast sequel or a batch of leftovers. The music's quality matches that of its predecessor, but the treasure hunt was even more adventurous, and the stories behind some of the nuggets even more gripping.

"...too G to take a knee, still I gave you all of me.”

A pivotal force in the early ‘10s NYC rap revival, now LA-based rapper and producer Chuck Strangers steps into the limelight on new solo LP A Forsaken Lover’s Plea.

The album sounds markedly lush, candid rhymes bolstered by a slew of guest producers—including The Alchemist, Animoss and Strangers himself. Chuck’s own production feels current without ditching its previous homeliness, a seamless compliment to his honest, lived-in raps.

A Forsaken Lover’s Plea is laced with guest verses from a collection of fellow New York rap torchbearers, from Pro Era comrade Joey Bada$$ & Flatbush Zombies' Erick the Architect to Queens’ own Remy Banks.

Strangers’ tangled romance with hip-hop is the crux of the project—the culmination of a decade’s unwavering dedication to his craft, with its lofty highs, inevitable lows, and rough lessons of humility, patience, and process.

It’s Chuck’s most comprehensive solo project since Consumers Park, his 2018 debut, and follows The Boys & Girls EP, released May 2023.

A Forsaken Lover’s Plea is available on heavyweight green vinyl, silver tape and CD.

The Issues label keeps up its fine early momentum with a new EP from Pau Roca with a remix from Crue. It is another tasteful 12" that comes on the heels of a deep outing from Dubbyman and an inaugural release featuring fresh versions of Joan Bibiloni by Kiko Navarro & Willie Graff.

Opener 'Daradada' is a spiritual deep house cut with swirling pads and classic vocals drifting next to the jazzy keys. It's expansive and cosmic in design and one that touches the heart on many levels.

'Here Comes The Moon' is another cut that shows off Roca's mastery of astral melodies. His gorgeous chords and delicate keys rise up to the stars as warm, dynamic drums bring the weight down low and spoken words unfurl in a seductive fashion. The Crue remix of 'Daradada' then brings more drive with harder but still organic house drums and hits.

The chords take on a melancholic quality and an elastic bassline pumps the party with a playful sense of energy. Last of all is 'Get Down' which once again sinks you into a beautifully warm and heady world of soft focus chords and late-night synth work.

Commissioned and curated by Flora Yin Wong for her label and publishing house Doyenne, ‘Venus Rising From The Sea’ is a collection of love-themed cover versions featuring Teresa Winter, Susu Laroche, Alex Zhang Hungtai, aya, Maria Minerva, Christina Vantzou, Spivak, Salamanda, clare rousay, Wild Terrier Orchestra, Dania and Flora Yin Wong herself covering songs by The Cure, Robert Wyatt, Mariah Carey, The Cranberries, Pentangle, The Carter Family, Spiritualized, Debussy and more.

‘Venus Rising From The Sea’ takes its cues from the classical deity Aphrodite - whose name literally means “sea foam” - for an ever necessary expression of love in the modern age. The label asked friends and collaborators to interpret “love” in whichever way they saw fit, be it obsession, self-love, unrequited, unconditional, whatever. But despite the open brief, and the vastly different modes of execution, all the artists involved somehow ended up linking hands with a shared determination to smudge the original songs into bleary-eyed, uncanny traces of the originals.

To open, Pentangle's jaunty 'No Love is Sorrow' is puffed into stormy clouds by Teresa Winter, who retains the original’s unmistakable bass twang and teases Jacqui McShee's siren song into a saturated buzz of layered, obfuscated words. Verses twist into verses, lines into echoed-out lines, capturing the song’s boundless yearning, rather than tracing its exact contours. Next, Susu Laroche yields one of the set’s highlights on a brilliantly nuanced, highly impactful version of Nina Simone’s take on folk standard ‘Black is the Colour of My True Love’s Hair’, turning the original’s multi-faceted Appalachian/Scottish routes into a heart-stopping, Nico-esque fuzz we haven’t stopped playing for weeks. Christina Vantzou (the CV ov CV & JAB) is joined by pianist Ezra Fieremans in the absorbingly filmic scenes of ‘Hot Springs’, while Maria Spivak's interpretation of Robert Wyatt's 'Just as You Are' finds her singing Brazilian vocalist Mônica Vasconcelos' words with reverence, smearing them into a hypnagogic fantasy.

Flora Yin Wong takes an inconspicuous approach on her love-letter to Mariah Carey's 'The Roof (Back in Time)', itself a melodramatic interpolation of Mobb Deep's Herbie Hancock-sampling 'Shook Ones, Part II'. The unmistakable piano line is frayed into a granulated gurgle, fleshed out by gauzy cries; Mariah's ecstatic diva logic haunts the edges like a furtive glance, hanging beautifully behind Wong's dense soundscapes. Alex Zhang Hungtai's take on the 1927 standard 'Me and My Shadow' is even more atomised, reduced to a disembodied vocal that oozes around a clattering woodblock.

Always a standout, aya's tribute to The Cure's 'Lovesong' infuses the 1989 classic with the same self-investigatory charm she exhibited on 'im hole', slowing it down to a giddy, infatuated lurch, and replacing the guitars with eerily-tuned oscillations and drums with hollowed-out, electrically charged thuds. "I will always love you," she moans through a wall of static, like some lost “Pop Artificielle” addendum. The album’s biggest surprise is saved for last, however, a cover of The Cranberries' 'No Need To Argue' from Paralaxe Editions boss Dania Shihab. Already a poignant memory of a faded romance, Dania's version is even more glacial, her tender voice gusting over inverted guitars and looping, wordless moans, guiding us ever so gracefully into the nether-world.

‘Venus Rising From The Sea’ is a gooey, emotionally raw set of recollections and affirmations from some of the scene's most open-hearted operatives. In the end, the love that's most evident is the love each of the artists has for their source material, somehow binding loose threads into a rich tapestry that will leave you gasping, perhaps a little tearful too.

Forest Green Vinyl

Seafood Sam is a futuristic artifact. If that description might sound confusing at first, it matches the eclectic dualities found in true originals. With his effortless cool and timeless style, the North Long Beach native defies convention and exact comparison. He's a virtuosic rapper, a stop-you-in-your tracks singer, and a symphonic producer. Welcome to the lavish life of a laid-back transcontinental man of mystery, rolling in old school Cadillacs, eating caviar with a blade in his pocket, and making plays in vintage Pelle Pelle gear. A blaxploitation icon for the Instagram age, blessed with the bars of a `90s legend and 23rd century swagger. Seafood Sam is a true hero of modernity. On his full-length album debut for up-and-coming label drink sum wtr (Kari Faux, Deem Spencer, Aja Monet) debut, Standing on Giant Shoulders, Sam splits the difference between Snoop Dogg and D' Angelo, Curren$y and David Ruffin. The songs reveal a forward-thinking sensibility rooted in ancestral soul. He creates spiritual hymns for the streets that tap into universal ideals and irrepressible groove. In an era plagued by short-term thinking, his ambitions reveal a crate-digging depth of music history and a meticulous ear for detail. The giant shoulders in the album's title refer to James Brown, Bobby Brown, and Miles Davis - the holy trinity who inspired Sam's process. From the Godfather of Soul, Sam took a perfectionist's rigor and focus. The example of Bobby Brown lent an unshakeable confidence and self-belief. While the constant artistic left turns of the trumpeter that birthed Ccool offered an aspirational archetype. The story starts in the glory days of Long Beach hip-hop. As a young child, the G-Funk era soundtracked rides in Sam's father's car. Some of his earliest memories are trying to memorize Snoop's verse on "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang." Beyond gangsta rap, the LBC has historically doubled as a capital of lowrider soul and carwash oldies. At any intersection, you could hear Dogg Food or Brenton Wood, Warren G or Barbara Lynn. This too was absorbed via osmosis. It also just so happened that the art of performance was always in Sam's blood. So at family functions, he and his sister supplied entertainment by singing karaoke renditions of The Isley Brothers. While his Harlem Shake remains a thing of local lore. Long Beach is a culturally diverse mecca of skate parks and gang life, street fashion and tricky dance moves. This is the place that raised Sam on a diet of Wu-Tang and Nelly Furtado, Lil Bow Wow and Allen Iverson. He was the middle ground between his two older brothers: one who gangbanged, the other who graduated with a master's degree from UC-Santa Barbara. But it wasn't until the end of high school that Sam started to take rap seriously. Alongside long-time collaborators like Huey Briss and Reaper Mook, Sam's name began to make waves on the northside of the city, but he was partially distracted by a modeling career that paid the bills and took him all to way to walk in Paris' fashion week. The first turning point arrived with 2018's "Ramsey," a self-produced, slick-talk anthem with over 10,000,000 streams across all platforms. With each subsequent release, Sam showcased his peerless consistency, building buzz both online and in the city streets. Spin hailed his "smooth and unhurried cadences and understated lyricism_ that sounds like nothing else in Long Beach." Clash raved about Sam's "evolution as an artist, cruising through nostalgic production with slick, witty rhymes." The culmination arrives with Standing on Giant Shoulders. It's the evidence of a master, a young sensei in the model of Quincy Jones. All rhymes, singing, production, and arrangements were handled by Sam - with an assist from his close Long Beach kinsman Tom Kendall from the group Soular System. It's hard-edged and lyrical enough for disciples of Larry June and Roc Marciano, but orchestral and melodic enough for fans of Anderson .Paak and H.E.R.