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White vinyl, picture sleeve, limited pressing of 500 copies, includes Peaking Lights remix

Montaine’s “Mount Nod” is a delicate, shimmering slice of DIY pop music. The lo-fi charm sits on that knife-edge between happy and sad, its repeated “I’m on the bottom line but I’m doing fine” changing meaning as the song goes on, plotting the course of Mr Montaine’s sensitivity. What starts out small gently unfolds into an understated English confidence by the end. On the B side Peaking Lights dive into the mysterious undercurrents beneath the surface of Montaine’s worldview. Like all good remixes it sets the artist in a parallel universe, this one a utopian disco slowscape, complete with bubbling clouds and dayglow fountains. We have to sincerely thank Sam Potter of 00s band Late of the Pier for coming to Be With with the story of February Montaine back in the spring of 2017. When we first heard “Mount Nod” our jaws dropped. We immediately thought of all the people that would love it. Of friends and family, far and wide. Of fans of timeless, soulful pop music everywhere. Championed by Trevor Jackson and Efficient Space, it’s perfect, addicitve pop which generously gifts the listener eternal goosebumps. Three years later, we are absolutely delighted to finally bring this out as the second release in our Be Pop series of 12″s. In Be Pop fashion it’s pressed on white vinyl and this time limited to 500 copies for the World.

THE JUST BROTHERS were Jimmy and Frank Bryant and are best known for their throw-away instrumental 'Sliced Tomatoes' that first graced the scene at Blackpool Mecca. 'Carlena' is a different beast altogether, a powerful slice of gritty up-tempo soul propelled by various members of Motown's Funk Brothers. A collector's item that was first picked up by Wigan Casino DJ Richard Searling on a visit to Soul Bowl circa 1976-7, a trip that also produced the first copy of The Honey Bees' 'Let's Get Back Together', both on the Garrison label, reputedly part-owned by Mike Terry, and both incredibly rare, approaching a combined $5,000 in today's market!
THE HONEY BEES were an in demand, for-hire, backing vocal group working the New York circuit in the mid-Sixties and can be heard, in fine voice, supporting Jack Montgomery (real name Marvin Jones) on his superb Barracuda 45 'Don't Turn Your Back on Me'. Here they deliver their own, much deserved, recording, co-written by Don Mancha and Wigan's adopted son, the late, great Edwin Starr.

2x12"

since long, chilean/swiss producer and dj luciano is a prominent figure in the global electron-ic club music circle. already from a young age on he was exposed to music profoundly, as his father worked as a jukebox repairman and possessed a large record collection.

when he was twelve, his mother gifted him a guitar, that turned luciano shortly into a mem-ber of a school punk rock band. soon after, his passion for electronic music rose. infected by detroit techno and engaged by close friends like producer dandy jack, he started to play rec-ords in local santiago de chile dance clubs and became involved in the minimal techno scene around friends like ricardo villalobos.

when luciano moved back from chile to switzerland in 2000, he established a residency at weetamix club in geneva, started releasing his own productions on labels like mental groove and joining the cocoon team in ibiza to play at the famous monday night at club amnesia.

since then he is a regular on the balearic island, holding residencies at clubs like dc10 or, with his “vagabundos” serial, at ushuaïa. besides playing around the globe with the likes of carl craig, richie hawtin or loco dice, he is releasing groundbreaking minimal techno and house on his label cadenza since 2003, featuring music by artists like nsi, ricardo villalobos, pikaya, reboot, maayan nidam and himself.

his very own music, so far issued on three albums and countless eps, was always ambiguous. there is his club leaning creativity that can dance slightly into pop spheres while never for-getting the power of precise sliced rhythms and subtle bass sensations.

and then there is a calmer luciano, that displays his love for “music to listen at home, done for a spiritual travel, an inner universe and a moment paralyzed in ether”, as he describes it.

on his first ever mule musiq album release “luci neu house”, luciano now delivers meditative journey music full of repetitive patterns that slowly playing tricks on the listeners subcon-sciousness. “i love music that has a dimension more than music designed for the radio or tv format. mu-sic, that is designed to bring you a higher level of energy and creativity.

so, there is no pretentious things in it ... more just sounds and dimension that will lead your head into the fall of jupiter” he reveals about the one-hour long composition “luci neu house”, whose esoteric deepness reminds on the intensely meditative class of his older pro-ductions like “behind my soul” from 2010.

an epic tune cut on vinyl into four 15-minute long pieces, who shift slowly, almost unper-ceived, whilst absorbing the mind of close observers into a micro-sliced world of moving gen-tleness.

maelstrom magnetism against the gravity of time, that also can be found on the additional mule musiq 257 12inch, which functions as a soothing footnote to luciano’s album.

the almost 13 minutes long trip “flags of himalaya” opens with restful percussions that unhur-riedly start to dance with soft string, piano and horn melodies. on the opposite, the nine-minute long “the evasion of the spiritual soldier” grooves laidback with jazzy rhythms and italo leaning melodies.

a perfect tune for slow dance sensations and endless sunset seaside drives. at a total length of almost 90 minutes, all new mule musiq music composed by luciano distributes a mesmer-izing healing spirit, that grounds organically, even if it is totally rooted in the digital, soft-ware driven world of composing music. “check your buddha” tunes, that somehow sound novel during each new listening circle.

To celebrate 40 years since the release of their first ever recording, Soft Cell are set to re-issue their seminal debut EP Mutant Moments.

Originally released as limited run of 2000 7” EPs in October 1980 on the band’s own Big Frock imprint, the release sold out immediately. Apartfrom various unofficial bootlegs, this much-revered and influential slice of electronica has been unavailable on vinyl for nearly four decades.

Soft Cell, aka Marc Almond and Dave Ball, went on to release their debut single proper, Memorabilia, cited as one of the most influential club records ever. This was followed by the multimillion-selling single Tainted Love, which topped the charts in 17 countries worldwide in 1981. The band have released four critically-acclaimed albums, including the genre-defining Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret. After a 17-year hiatus, Soft Cell returned in 2018 for a sold out show at London’s O2 Arena, and are currently working on new material.

This new edition of Mutant Moments is pressed on deluxe 10” clear vinyl to upgrade the sound quality from the original 7”. In addition, the four tracks have been remastered especially for vinyl using the most cutting-edge digital technology available.

Soft Cell’s Dave Ball has personally supervised the remastering process, and comments: ‘A vintage slice of lo-fi Polytechnic synthpop, lovingly remastered for you’.

After releasing their critically acclaimed debut LP “NOW” just last September, The people at Malka Tuti felt it was the time to continue pushing the name SHARI VARI to new realms & territories... A Remix Pack was born. For the remix pack, Malka Tuti chose a few close friends of the family to give new life and new interpre- tations to the now “instant classic” songs by the Hamburg duo.... The Ep begins with Fantastic Twins’s mid tempo, Coil inspired, break-beat groove, slowly building up in emotion with warm pads and 90’s vibe acid lines to- wards an epic catharsis. Benedikt Frey takes it from there, remixing a personal favourite - New York City, turning it into a dark trip- hop inspired journey, cleaning those distinct vocals, echoing Beth Gibbons’s smokey high tones.... On the B-side we find Black Merlin’s 11 minute trippy mid tempo dance floor banger. Cuts and slices from the original vocals of the song Dance Alone, laid carefully on top of a repetitive modular bass line, and sprinkled on top - those out-worldly sounds and FX that makes the track simply HUGE. Last but not least, Düsseldorf’s very own Lucas Croon’s Dub Version, released digitally last year, final- ly sees its day on wax. 90’s Break beat beats, gated vocals and everything else that takes to make a dance floor hit the roof.

“When I was asked to put my hands on the original tracks of Blancmange I was instantly excited. They were one of my favourite Bands when I grew up as a teenager in the 80’s. Listening to their music walking around with my Walkman back then was adventurous. Mainly because I was already in love with the aesthetics of synthesisers and drum machines. But also because it was unusual pop music with an extraordinary energy that made it in the charts. Remixing a favorite Band is challenging but I’ve tried to keep the free spirits and playfulness in my mix that makes Blancmange still so special after all these years” – Roman Flügel

Roman Flügel remixes the cult 1980s classic that is ‘Living On The Ceiling’, and the result is a killer, off-kilter slice of club-focussed machine funk that contains the same wonderfully bizarre cocktail of traits, that Blancmange always boasted in spades. Eerie and schizophrenic but also both bright and triumphant. Also features the original and sought after extended mix.

The first in a new series of ‘London Records Remixed’ releases on 12” and digital. Now at its new home as part of the Because Music Group the London Records catalogue is being revisited by pioneering, contemporary electronic producers.

Who put the dance into Factory Records?”

Be With would like to refer you to FAC 59.

Working with founding member Tony Henry, we’re honoured to present the reissue of 52nd Street’s crucial debut single “Look Into My Eyes”, backed with “Express”. Originally released on Factory Records in Summer 1982, this ultra-rare 12" is a double-sider in the truest sense. Unrivalled Manchester jazz-funk-boogie-soul.

Both “Look Into My Eyes” and “Express” came out of a five day recording session in the spring of 1982 at Revolution Studios in Cheadle Hulme, just outside Manchester. Rob Gretton had just signed the band to Factory, snatching them from under the noses of RCA and WEA Records who had been sniffing around and seemingly ignoring Tony Wilson’s concerns that Factory might not be the right home for a black soul act. Rob clearly thought different.

The band of Tony Henry on guitar and vocals, bass player Derek Johnson, drummer Tony Thompson, lead vocalist Beverley McDonald and John Dennison on keyboards were put in the studio with A Certain Ratio’s drummer Donald Johnson producing the sessions. The band also found themselves with an interesting new member.

The back cover of the finished record credits synth F/X to a mysterious “Be Music”. Turns out that’s Bernard Sumner. Yes, that one. Tony Henry explains that bringing Bernard in was another part of Rob Gretton’s plan, “Barney was a real soul boy at heart and had always wanted to produce and work with black artists… with 52nd Street, he was an honorary member”. The results suggest he fit right in.

“Look Into My Eyes” squeezes so much aural pleasure into one side of a 12" single. A strutting, rich, soul-gliding funk with bass and guitar high in the mix above twisted, bubbling synths. Like Nile and Barney drenched outside the Haçienda that first summer. How can something be this liquid loose whilst sounding so, so tight? The hypnotic, naïve-cum-insouciant vocals from McDonald, backed by her fellas, only add to the track’s charm. Put simply, it sounds like nothing else.

On the flip, “Express” is sheer drama on wax. Tony’s opening lesson in good manners (“Excuse me miss, is this seat taken?”) sees us strapped in for a wild, chaotic, rhythmic ride. All bold keys, synth brass blasts, insistent bells and a galloping groove giving *that rush* atop a bassline to die for. No surprise it was a Frankie Knuckles favourite. Blistering heat.

The 12" was Paul Morley’s single of the week in the NME but his approval did little to get daytime radio play or to sell the record when it was released. It probably didn’t help that, in Tony Henry’s words, Factory were a label “notorious for not promoting their bands, not wanting any communications with the written press and not answering their office phones.” It came and went with none of the fuss that music this good deserved.

But in the near-40 years since they were released, these two tracks have gone on to become cult underground hits for those in the know. Of course that means those original 12"s have gotten rare and pricey. So here’s your chance to own this particular piece of post punk Factory Records funk.

But this record isn’t just a vital slice of Manchester soul history. Tony’s not shy about just how important he thinks the collaboration between 52nd Street and Bernard Sumner was: “this worked out quite well for us in the band but even better for New Order and Factory Records as Sumner studied grooves, rhythms and how to write and construct funk and dance music from 52nd Street and producer Donald Johnson”. You just have to listen to Blue Monday to hear what Bernard did when he started putting what he’d learnt into practice.

“Look Into My Eyes” and “Express” come from a chapter of the history of Factory Records that no-one seems to have gotten around to writing. Working with Tony to reissue the original 12" is the start of putting that right. The story of 52nd Street is more than just a footnote.

The second release of the label Dedicate is created by Kollege Schnürschuh. The producer collective, consisting of Phonk D, Clav Split, Iron and Jogging Jones, presents a cross-section of the past few years on the 12 instrumental tracks.
Shoe School represents true hip hop without too much bling and flashy ice, somewhere between Old and New School.

2019 has sparked a new evolution for the transient broken beats of London’s Itinerant Dubs.
The enigmatic imprint has been running in silo since 2013, providing the final strongholds of the underground with innovative bass aesthetics and an intoxicating electro swarm. In fact, “It’s Magic” opens the A-side with a cold, bruising cut of metallic percussion wrapped around lonesome, dystopian bleeps and form-shifting synths. Minimised and stripped-back to its core functions, guided by bold infusions of breaks. “Oh She Dance” is the duo’s most playful construction yet, mashing up a loose jungle flow with more rigid breakbeat science to form a deathly machine-gun of sonics. Bullets keep spraying across “Salsa On Mars” - a raucous, percussion-heavy slice of dubbed-out house - albeit with a moodier, more introspective groove that takes its ammunition from London’s inimitable jazz arsenal.

Flat White Records launch into 2020 with Meowsn’s, “Stages EP”.

This 7 track slice of genius showcases the Russians trademark style, with every twist and turn more wobbly and pleasing to the ears than the last.

The mysterious talent out of Russia is the second producer from his country to feature on Flat White Records, proving that they have a really good thing going on there.

R&S welcome electronic composer Matthew Puffett AKA Future Beat Alliance with his killer single ’Never Forever’ a sublime slice of broken beat techno that originally had a limited release on his “Patience and Distance” album in 2009. It now comes backed with a first rate remix courtesy of R&S regular Afriqua.

A veteran of the UK electronic scene originally from Oxford but now located in Berlin, Puffett made his name in the late 90s with a string of sought after releases on Void Records under the aliases Mode-M and Soul Electrik before settling on the Future Beat Alliance handle. Notching up releases with the likes of Delsin, Rush Hour and Versatile as well as with the storied Tresor imprint, both as a DJ and an artist. In 2019 Matt started his new imprint Reward System to self release new creations.

Life long friend from Oxford, Mo’ Wax and Unkle maestro James Lavelle reached out in 2012, which led to a further creative chapter in Puffett`s story that culminated with him co-writing & programming on Unkle’s 5th studio album ’The Road Part 1’ as well as some singular work in film and television. “The moving image plays a key creative motive in my process,” Matthew explains. “Sound & picture married together is such a powerful combination that always inspires me every time to make my own version, 'Never Forever' is one of my many attempts to try and
capture that.”

Taking cues from modern cinema masters like Denis Villeneuve, Panos Cosmatos, Steven Soderberg and Jonathon Glazer and their respective composers, Puffett's widescreen sonic craftsmanship alongside his irresistible rhythmic sense are a key part of what makes Future Beat Alliance music so alluring; "I want my tracks to guide the listener on a exit route far from this world”

The consistently innovative Catch Recordings is back with a new EP from Leipzig based producer U+00C5. As always with this label, the music is right from the cutting electronic edge and finds this stylish producer blur the boundaries between ambient, dub and techno in evocative new ways.

Cult favourite U+00C5 is focussed on new musical forms, on modern sounds and redefining the European techno sound. He consistently pushes forwards and is a master of the interplay between hypnotic repetition and otherworldly abstractionism, all while drawing on dark ambient and drone. Once again here the producer who also works as Åmethyst is in fine form across all five tracks.

Atmospheric opener 'Blutdruck' is a deep techno roller that fizzes with a sense of post-industrial dystopia. The shadowy grooves are eventually backlit by subtle chords that bring real warmth and soul. The excellent 'Empfinden' is more high tempo but just as cavernous and absorbing thanks to the rolling rubber drums, distant synth drones and sci-fi motifs that add the all important details which keep your head as engaged as your heel.

The beautiful 'Taumel' is another slice of hypnotic and tunnelling techno embellished with gorgeous ambiance from the outer edges of our galaxy. 'Nichts Ist Wahr' closes things out with suspensory pads giving you the feeling that you are floating in space before the firmly rooted drums rumble on and take you into the next dimension.

This is another fascinating EP of club ready but seriously heady sounds from Catch Recordings.

Back in 2018, Lumière Noire celebrated its first anniversary with a compilation featuring thirteen exclusive tracks by an eclectic group of electronic musicians – a family portrait of sorts. A few months later, a second volume of From Above, compiled by the label's artistic director (and DJ) Chloé, once more brings thirteen established acts together with promising upstarts. The first compilation was the embodiment of the label policy advocating for both artistic excellence and a widening of electronic aesthetics – bopping from deviant house music to adventurous IDM and to the rigor of dancefloor techno, among other electronic explorations. Some of the artists featured are now closely associated with Lumière Noire, while others were more established performers such as Benedikt Frey, Lauer, Jonathan Fitoussi, Il Est Vilaine, Dave e Brun (half of Swayzak) and Frank Agrario, as well as upcoming artists such as C O N T R A (a side project by none other than Iñigo Vontier), Sutja Gutierrez, Théo Muller, Markus Gibb, Bajram Bili, and a sprinkling of UFOs circling the genre (Suuns' Ben Shemie, Drvg Cvltvre, and electro-acoustic combo Lumi). This group photo laid down a number of paths for a label in perpetual evolution.

Since then, the Parisian entity has continued to grow within the international electronic scene, releasing Local Suicide's Leopard Gum EP, Iñigo Vontier's first LP, and planning another slew of releases for 2020. The lineup for this second volume of From Above is once again equally intriguing, offering a crescendo-like track listing over a double LP format, which is a feat of sorts for a "Various Artists" compilation.

Marc Mélias' fascinating, unsettling Permanent Waves gets the proceedings going with a contemplative track that provides a serene opening to the odyssey on which From Above will be taking the listener. Pletnev continues on with the playful, hooky Marco O’Polo, a fundamentally techno track built over a seductive 90s-inspired breakbeat. Douglas Greed (whom Chloé remixed on BPitch a few years back, and had himself remixed track from her album Endless Revisions featuring Ben Shemie’s vocals), supplies Vancouver, a slice of ambiance à la Boards of Canada, supported by a gripping breakbeat. The rhythmic arpeggio of Israeli producer's Middle Sky Bloom makes his contribution a hypnotic, disconcerting slice of dark disco. Thomass Jackson, a safe bet in the new wave of the Latin-American electronic music blowing its sometimes hot, sometimes cold wind, proposes Mithra, a dancefloor incantation to the Antiquity's bull god. With Bells, Goldmoon delivers a track that is both melodic and nostalgic, tinged with rhythmic samples, Moog basses and solar backgrounds. Longtime friend of Chloé, Krikor, who has released two albums on L.I.E.S. Records (Pacific Alley and Saudi), offers a moment of respite with Sally Hardesty (a nod to fans of horror movies), a heavenly and bewitching track that, paradoxically, hints at the highly energetic second half of the compilation. Discovered with Confidences EP released on Lumière Noire, the young French producer Morgan Blanc asserts himself here with Werde Der Du Bist ("Become who you are"), a song with luminous chords and midtempo rhythms to start the second half of the compilation by raising the tension. Galician producer, DJ and designer Cora Novoa continues the rollercoaster's ascent with her Virtual Aesthetics, which once again brings those acid tones – this time without the vertigo. Equally corrosive, but tenser and more percussive, the uncategorizable NSDOS' AL-G attempts to give order to a chaotic electronic world full of violence and danger. Rebeka Warrior (half of the duo Kompromat alongside compatriot Vitalic), takes on a more nostalgic vibe with Ich Komme Zurück, a French/German techno chant evoking a secret dream of a track from a bygone era. Three years after the release by Lumière Noire of Moderna and Theus Mago's stroboscopic Dog Is Calling You, Theus Mago makes a solo comeback with Idealistic Stone, a most acid of club tracks, rattled by the modulations of the inevitable TB 303. French electro-rock saltwarth Yan Wagner's dancefloor alter ego The Populists' Prehistoric Lemurs gives an almost Orientalizing twist to Kraftwerk's techno-pop. To close things off, the collection's last track, the appropriately-named Instant Track by impromptu encounter between Hervé Carvalho (Acid Arab), Jacques Bon (Smallville) and Demian (Kompakt) Acid Love Triangle, releases the pressure with a long, bittersweet reverie that leaves the listener, at the end of these thirteen musical adventures, to rest languorously on an artificial and welcoming shore.

Luz Azul is a group started by LA-based vocal and performance artist Anna Homler (aka Breadwoman) together with musicians Marcos Fernandes and Robert Montoya in 2007. On this record they compose their own mesmerising cosmic universe where the hypnotic speaking in tongue voice of Anna Homler blends mesmerising together with the sound of her found toys intensified by the shamanistic percussion of Marcos and the pulsating electronics of Montoya.

As fellow percussionists and sound artists, Marcos Fernandes and Robert Montoya's collaborations began in 1983 and ran the gamut from ambient to noise, rock to electronica to improvisation. Both were founding members of Trummerflora, a collective of creative musicians based in San Diego from 1999 to 2009.

All three artists were active in the improvised music scene in Southern California and met at Spring Reverb 2006, an annual festival of experimental music curated by the Trummerflra Collective. At the time, Fernandes was experimenting with processed percussion as well as phonography and samples while Montoyawas exploring improvisational possibilities on the computer.

Fernandes and Homler expressed their mutual interest in collaborating but it was not until the fall of 2007 that they performed a series of concerts together. Pleased with the results, they performed together again in the spring of 2008 with the addition of Montoya. There was chemistry and the trio promptly decided to enter the studio to capture their collective magic. The session yielded the music found on Luz Azul.

Anna Homler - voice, pocket theremin, sample sticks, whistles, assorted dry and squeaky objects, greeting cards, wood devil, tiny metals and motors and potato slicer
Marcos Fernandes - percussion & electronics
Robert Montoya - electronics

kill the misery profiteers kill them now


Double slice of UK style Bass. Mick Harris’ Fret lands with a tweaked out dub cut, while KSP lands with a mega slow loping dark hop killer.

It would be fair to say that Leng co-founder Paul “Mudd” Murphy is a born collaborator. Since first donning the Mudd alias at the dawn of the century, Murphy has released numerous collaborative albums and singles with regular collaborators Ben Smith (as Smith & Mudd) and Kevin Pollard (Mudd & Pollard), as well as playing a key role in “super-groups” Paqua and Bison. “Susta”, which marks his first single on Leng since 2009, sees Murphy add some new names to his growing list of collaborators. It was made in cahoots with singer/songwriter David Harks, a regular Satin Jackets collaborator who also appeared on Jack Cutter’s superb “Serpent Strut” cut on Murphy’s Claremont 56 label.

“Susta” is a bubbly, evocative and ear-pleasing chunk of mid-tempo nu-disco pop featuring lead vocals from Jaanika Leino AKA JaneLy – a former X-Factor Finland contestant whose sultry and evocative voice simply soars above Murphy and Harks’ sparkling, life-affirming instrumentation. Rich in twinkling synth solos, rich Clavinet lines, chugging arpeggio lines and eyes-closed piano, “Susta” is a strong song that will squat inside your head and stay there for days.

Our advice is to welcome it in – it’s as joyous and life-affirming a track as Leng has ever released. It’s accompanied by a predictably strong remix by British electronic music veteran Andrew Meecham (Bizarre Inc, Chicken Lips etc.), who dons the now familiar Emperor Machine alias to deliver a dub for the ages. Combining his own analogue and modular electronics with snippets of Leino’s vocal and some of the warmest instrumentation from Murphy and Harks’ original mix (think Clavinet and Rhodes for starters), Meecham offers up an epic slice of electronic dub disco that bubbles away for ten mesmerizing minutes. It’s a superb interpretation of a high quality cut.

Originally released in 2011 as CD and digital exclusives on Ikebe Shakedown's debut self-titled album, "Asa-Sa" and the B-side "Pepper" are both horn-driven, heavy, Afro-influenced slices of funk best-served on the 7" format. 'Ikebe Shakedown' has kept their signature funk, tight horns and impeccable rhythm through several releases including their most recent album "Kings Left Behind" on Colemine Records which made it to #2 on Billboards Jazz chart.

As a long-time friend of the Connected label, Le Croque makes his debut with a superb single that comes with a remix from Themba. At the forefront of the ever-growing Greek afro-house scene and part of The Madorasindahouse team, Le Croque has also released on Open Bar Music and King Street, and DJed alongside such legends as Black Coffee, Adam Port and &Me. For this release he teams up with Berlin via Munich vocalist HRRSN who came to electronic music from soul and R&B and has released on such labels as Stil Vor Talent, Suol and Noir Music. This latest partnership leads to a beautiful deep slice of electronic hypnosis on 'Melancholia.' The track has a driving rhythm that is sparse and simple, with lush keyboard refrains and vocals soaring in the drop. It is the sort of majestic and melodic offering that will make for a fantastic high point in any set, while the dub keeps things even deeper for more intimate moments. Remixer Themba has swiftly risen to prominence over the last few years and is at the forefront of the South African house scene. Here he delivers a sharp and striding groove that is joined by stabbing bass, with fading, string-like notes and dubbed vocal refrains taking things to another level as HRRSN comes into the spotlight and delivers a message from the heart. This is a subtle but celebratory house package packed with plenty of emotion.

New year, new you, new crew! Another rising star from France, Marina Trench, joins the WOLF Music family, following up an inaugural EP on DJ Deep's highly acclaimed Deeply Rooted with this accomplished and diverse four tracker of house goodness.

Absorbed by house music from an early age Marina Trench is already proving herself to be a humble, yet highly talented, force to be reckoned with. Waterside EP is case in point. The title track is summertime ecstasy through and through. Undeniably catchy and packed with a club-ready punch, Trench sets off at pace, revolving the track around a pinging techy bassline as layers of percussion, echoing pads and delicate vocal refrains from Marina herself glide on through. Peak time, earworm business that bangs.

Get up, ‘Get In’. Moving through the downright ethereal to some tough, dancefloor darkness. Sweeping pads and glitching arps ease you in before the breakdown leads to an unleashing of brooding bass chords and reverberating top end counterparts that marry with a mean acid bassline. Tough, tactile and firmly focused on the club.

On the flip, ‘Train Call’ is a chopped jazzy deep house roller. Heavyweight piano stabs intertwine with deft twinkles as crisp hats dance around thumping kicks before ‘Straight’ eases you off into the depths of the night. A sumptuous little slice of deepness - meditative, trance-like calls from the ocean and pensive pianos provide a perfect soundtrack for the early hours.

B-tracks, the duo of Soren Jahan and John Barera, return with their first release together in many years. Unfolding across these six tunes is an extended EP of hard rocking, raw and rough house trax in the immutable b-tracks style – with no weak links. This loop digging, spliff making, track building duo have always been trying to channel the vibe of “real” and “proper” house and techno. B-Tracks are known for very successful and out of print club bombs like ìSpecializeî and ìCome Backî – as well as many headier and more techno oriented tracks. Here, they make their much welcome return to producing together.
Recorded in New York City and Berlin across a period of five years, these musicians were in no hurry to make this record. Rather, as always, they sought to make something timeless and classy that will make a lasting contribution to listeners and dancers. This record is a celebratory occasion, centered around the energy that could only come with two old friends working together, having fun and letting loose. ìWhat a Shameî is the B-Tracks vocal club bomb for 2020, hardwired to go off, catchy and bursting with energy. ìAlwaysî is vintage B-tracks – thumping, goosebump inducing house that expands and contracts. “What You Areî closes out side A with an introspective, yet still bumping slice of music.
On the flip, “Earth” unpacks their refined sense of melody, drama, and groove. ìSend Cashî is a pure beatdown for the DJs, and “Witness” closes out the EP in high style, with a soaring leads and strings, a celestial tune and a perfect end to this chapter. Don’t expect new releases to come very often from this Transatlantic duo, but when they do – it is something to really savor.