Because of their mix of hellified gangster shit and progressive compositions, I once jokingly called Clipping "Deathrow Tull." Well, it's not a joke anymore. While Clipping's last few projects have been record-long concepts like classic prog rock, their cyberpunk-infused new album Dead Channel Sky is mixtape-like, a carefully curated collection in which every track is a love letter to a possible present. It sounds crisp and classic at the same time. When something strikes us as retrospective and futuristic at the same time, it's a reminder of how slipshod our present moment truly is. Juxtaposing high-tech, corporate command-and-control systems (the "cyber") with the lo-fi, D.I.Y. underground (the "punk"), cyberpunk proper starts in 1982 and ends in 1999, from Blade Runner to The Matrix. Concurrently, hip-hop matured, went through its Golden Era, then melted into further forms: it went from from Fab 5 Freddy to Public Enemy to Missy Elliott. While other genres flirted with it, hip-hop was fickle and fey. Rap and rock birthed mutant offspring maligned by most, and hip-hop's relations with electronica rarely fared any better. What if someone explicitly merged hip-hop and cyberpunk - those twin suns of the '80s and '90s - into one set and sound? After all, both movements are the result of hacking the haunted leftovers of a war-torn culture that's long since moved on. On Dead Channel Sky, Clipping texture-map the twin histories of hip-hop and cyberpunk onto an alternate present where Rammellzee and Bambaataa are the superheroes of old; where Cybotron and Mantronix are the reigning legends; where Egyptian Lover and Freestyle are debated endlessly, and Ultramag and Public Enemy are the undeniable forefathers; where the lost movements of 1980s and the 1990s are still happening: rave, trip-hop, hip-house, acid house, drum & bass, big beat-the detritus of a different timeline, the survivors of armed audio warfare. Clipping are no strangers to sci-fi: two of their records were nominated for Hugo Awards (one of science fiction's top literary prizes), and a novella spun-off from their music was nominated for a third. On Dead Channel Sky, Clipping's co-conspirators include everyone from the guitarist Nels Cline, to their labelmates Cartel Madras, rapper/actor Tia Nomore, and wordsmith Aesop Rock. Diggs is known for intricate lyrics and rapid-fire rapping, and the tracks that Snipes and Hutson build in the background are no less complex. All of the above serves to give us a glimpse of an adjacent possible present, where hip-hop and cyberpunk are one culture. Binary stars are often perceived as one object when viewed with the naked eye. Like those twin sun systems, it'll take some special equipment and some discerning attention to pull the stars apart on this record. As Diggs barks on the fire-starting "Change the Channel": Everything is very important!
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- A1: Sunrise (Featuring Deadbundy & Chemical Codex)
- A2: Night Funk
- A3: Moment Of Joy
- A4: Chill On A Lotus
- B1: Jazz Addict, Pt 2
- B2: Howling 2 You
- B3: Walker
- B4: Eeels
- B5: Early Morning
- C1: Gaff
- C2: Jazz Addict, Pt 3
- C3: Jazz Addict, Pt 4
- C4: Cogburn
- D1: Jubilee (Featuring Q-Tik)
- D2: Natalie (Featuring Deadbundy & Chemical Codex)
- D3: Rooftop
- D4: Afiona
After forming a friendship with Japanese hip-hop talent DJ Motive, Hell Yeah is releasing his previously CD-only album Sunset Sunrise. After initially being released as a promo to support the 7 inch lead single 'Sunrise,' it now comes on 2 x 12 inch for the first time with fresh mastering by Justin Drake. DJ Motive hails from Gifu, a small and charming city 30 minutes from Nagoya. From there he has built up a cult following for his blend of Latin, jazz and hip-hop beats over a number of albums and EPs in the last 20 years. He is also the producer behind the DeadBundy outfit that was previously remixed by countryman Calm on this label's Calm Reworks EP back in 2020. Thanks to a link from Calm, Hell Yeah founder Marco first hooked up with Motive in the pre-Covid days, twice playing his Alffo event in Gifu and hanging out to chat music. One of the many things that came up was a CD of Sunset Sunrise which has remained on firm rotation on Marco's stereo ever since and is a worldly trip into sample-heavy sounds, indie rock, hip-hop and jazz. Opener 'Sunrise' ft. Deadbundy & Chemical Codex opens with drums that lap like gentle waves on a beach as thoughtful strings and filtered vocals add to the sense of bliss. From there, DJ Motive lays down lazy broken beats and twinkling melodies that take your head above the clouds amongst lush pads and nostalgic samples. 'Chill On A Lotus' sounds like a damaged old tape as vocals, chords and strings all get smudged and smeared into a heavenly ambient soundscape, and there are plenty of loose mixes of dusty drums and jazzy keys, 'Howling 2 You' is a fusion of jazz drums and Balearic energy that slowly sweeps you off your feet and 'Walker' has squelch synth bass and heat damaged keys.
This escapist trip carries on through more broken beats and yacht rock, inquisitive jazz interludes and sunset grooves that all come with a heavy sense of inward reflection. The fragments of vocal are like half-remembered dreams, and the hooks remind of a forgotten lover while the louche beats move things forward with subtle optimism. Sunset Sunrise takes you through a full day in the life of DJ Motive and it makes for a vibrant collage of sound that reveals something new with every listen.
OCTOTRAX comes to life through a double LP. A debut that lays the foundation for a catalogue driven by exploration and evolution, revealing a snapshot of what has and will be.
A collection of works, each a facet of the same stone, expressed with progressive arrangements and trance essences.
Emerging from a time of rediscovery, this is the result of a pursuit to birth something enduring. More than a definitive statement, it captures a moment of clarity and renewal, a step toward the future with purpose.
octobo is to be written ALL IN SMALL!
Mastered and Cut by Graeme "Grazz" Durham at The Exchange
The third internatonal release by the legendary Malian singer and guitarist is many fan's favourite. 'The Source' established Ali Farka Touré on the internatonal stage and paved the way for his legendary collaboraton with Ry Cooder on the GRAMMY award winning album 'Talking Timbuktu'.
Available for the frst tme on vinyl, the album has been re-mixed from the original master tapes and includes a previously unreleased track from the same sessions.
The album is presented in a gatefold sleeve containing double 180g vinyl and large format 28 page booklet with lyrics.
'The Source' features Farka Touré's frst recordings with his home town band Group Asco, with vocalist Afel Bocoum and percussionists Hamma Sankare (calabash) and Oumar Touré (congas). Touré's trademark acoustc and electric guitar (as well his njarka violin) playing are highlighted on some of his best loved and most sophistcated compositons.
The father of the desert blues unleashes a set of driving small group performances, intmate love songs, mesmerising guitar solos and two unique duets with the great American bluesman Taj Mahal.
Recovered DATs is a collection of lost tracks from the legendary producer Masterplan and they all pack a raw UKG punch. They were once assumed to be gone forever but were happily found on some original Sony DAT tapes and have since been carefully extracted. They were made with all the gear of the day such as the Roland JV-1080, Emu Proteus 1 & 2000 and Korg M1 so offer proper authentic sounds of the sort that define true UK garage. 'Dub General' is our favourite with its clipped vocal sample and restless chord stabs daring about the mix.
Love Raid is first in a series of cassette-only mixtapes with the cult WFMU show and blog Bodega Pop collecting assorted digs from across New York's bodegas and cell-phone stores. This first edition is focused on leftfield, novelty, and protest 45s from across the Arabic world recorded between 1960 & 1974.
"A series of random discoveries in the mid-1990s led me to abandon American and British pop and focus on non-English-language music, predominantly Arabic, for the next two decades.
Feeding my ears required biking down to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, or hopping on the subway to Steinway Street in Queens, where I would pop into a handful of the local bodegas and immigrant-run cell-phone stores, some of which offered music from North Africa and the Middle East on cassettes and compact discs.
When CDs spiralled into obsolescence in the mid-2010s, I reluctantly made the switch to vinyl, concentrating on 45s and intentionally filling holes not well represented in the digital era – more artists than not hadn't made the transition from analog in the 1980s. This meant focusing on singles by a lot of artists I'd not heard of, and it quickly became evident just how much of the era – from approximately 1960 to 1974, when 7" records were all but abandoned in Egypt and Lebanon – had been forgotten.
What also became evident was the breadth of popular music issued by even hegemonic titan Sono Cairo. The consensus is that state radio and music publishing ignored traditional folk, shaabi, and other lowbrow pop in favor of the exalted art song we associate with Oum Kalthoum, Abdel Halim Hafez, and Farid al-Atrash.
While this active neglect of the broadest Arabic pop spectrum is mostly true, I accumulated a not inconsequential number of what I can only describe as "novelty" records by mostly one- and two-hit wonders. From catchy gimmicks like the "doktor, ya habibi" of Maha's "Doktor" and the "boom boom boom" of twins Thunai Badr's "Love Raid," to the Monty Python-level silliness of Sayed Mandoline's fake Italian crooning and maniacal laughter in "I Present to You the Mandolin," these were sounds I was genuinely surprised to hear.
Even more remarkable were the songs recorded in English: Karim Shukry's celebratory "Ramadan" and Motyaba & Nada's civil-rights plea "No Black No White" are two of my favorites, and thus included in the present collection.
The tracks compiled here are often as beautiful as they are beguiling, but while the intention was to absolutely put together a solid listen, it was also my hope to slightly expand our understanding of Arabic music of this period beyond not just the usual suspects, but also subjects – and treatment of same."
--Gary Sullivan.
From an artist in their seventies, you probably wouldn’t expect to hear an album like this. But Brazilian drumming legend Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti has been experimenting and innovating for the last half a century. As one third of cult Rio jazz-funk trio Azymuth, Mamão was at the root of the group’s ‘samba doido’ (crazy samba) philosophy, which warped the traditional samba compass with jazz influences and space age electronics. Even with his lesser known jovem guardua group The Youngsters, Mamão was experimenting with tapes and delays to create unique, ahead-of-its-time sounds, way back in the sixties. More recently Mamão recorded an album with hip-hop royalty Madlib under the shared moniker ‘Jackson Conti’.
With his first album in over twenty years, and the first to be released on vinyl since his 1984 classic The Human Factor, Mamão shares his zany carioca character across eleven tracks of rootsy electronic samba and tripped out jazz, beats and dance music. Featuring Alex Malheiros and Kiko Continentino on a number of tracks, the Azymuth lifeblood runs deep, but venturing into the modern discotheque (as Mamão would call it), Poison Fruit also experiments with sounds more commonly associated with house and techno, with the help of London based producer Daniel Maunick (aka Dokta Venom).
Take a bite of Mamão’s psychoactive Papaya and join the maestro on a weird and wonderful stroll through the Brazilian jungle.
United by a love for the music of Mamão and Azymuth, the CD and digital edition also feature the previously released remixes and dubs from some of today’s most forward-thinking producers with a penchant for percussion, including IG Culture, the 22a crew, Max Graef and Glenn Astro.
Emotional Especial returns to the music of Peter Reilly aka Persian, with a second EP diving into his extensive catalogue to celebrate this cult artist and evaluate his recent decision to retire from music production.
For over 20 years Reilly has been an exemplary electronic producer, a producer’s producer, a DJs producer, releasing over 50 EPs that crossed genres, from Breaks to Digidub, Electro to Garage, House to Jungle and on and on.
If this release is to act as an epitaph, then its exploration of Reilly’s wonderful programming, sampling and understanding of emotions is laid bare. Spread across a series of self-released edits hidden within limited run EPs, Questions appeared as something akin to beats interludes, across numerous releases over the last 10 years.
Bringing the best versions together on one EP, Questions 1, 2, 5, 3 and 7 have been re-edited, extended and sequenced into a continuous mix especially for this finale. Starting with the ambient breaks of Questions 1, this is a Balearic beginning where bubbling acid meets haunting refrain, before segueing effortlessly into the sunrise breaks of Questions 2. A nod to Carl Craig’s classic Incognito remix, the solo keys add a touch of jazz to a glide by shooting melody.
Side 2 rises. Question 5 heralds a half stepper Dub bassline riding the Amen breaks, the now familiar Brando sample, a wormhole in your brain that ties the EP together, joining the dots as strings float skywards, allowing Questions 3 break it all back down. Herbie Handcock inspired Funk Boogie beat, shouts out to his own Existence To Resistance label, leads to the pure ambient closing of Questions 7. A showcase again of Persian’s multi-genre dexterity and maybe, just maybe brings an influential music chapter to a close.
- A1: Teardrops (Don't Stop The Music)
- A2: Getaway Flat Madison Mc Ferrin
- B1: Quiero
- B2: Métamorphosas Flat Natalie Slade
- C1: Olympe Flat Ndrk, Yacine Dessouki
- C2: I Feel Good
- C3: Heart To Heart Flat Sts, Sacha Rudy
- D1: Sunshine Flat Dominique Fils-Aimé
- D2: I Love You More Than Myself Flat Rome Fortune
- D3: Spacer Feat Noemie, Mowg
Electronic music has never been solely about the music itself or its fame. It has been a fight, a totem. Every week it becomes a universal communion, a celebration, a reconciliation with both ourselves and others. No frontiers, no territories, no certainties other than being as authentic as possible.
As a musician and producer, after five albums, I clearly know that my proposition will always be about diversity more than a single crafted sound. This is how I am: multifaceted, nourished by social human exchanges and my encounters in science, art, and technology. I have one life and different bodies. I can be physical and digital, technological and organic, house, techno, and soul. This album is about shedding light in a vertical period where the fight for truth and visibility becomes crucial, where Blockchain might become our right to vote. It's about making complex things sound simpler, joining the dots. A proposition more than a promise: Unshadow.
The metamorphosis is happening; embracing all generations on the same song with Nile Rodgers and Madison McFerrin! Embracing the diversity of backgrounds, styles, and geography, from Sacha Rudy to Dominique Fils-Aimé (Canada), through Natalie Sade (Australia). As a citizen of the world, having traveled endlessly for 30 years now, I know how lucky I have been to experience and experiment with various situations. If this album can simply share some of the joy I have received and spread some goodwill and white magic to the listener, I will be the happiest seeing the light that chases away the shadow.
After a Classic/Defected release and a string of edit projects/remix work Snips returns to his own Barbershop Records for his latest release "Blasphemy", a project drawing solely on Gospel samples from Snips' personal collection. Barbershop sticks with the theme of re-imagining the past to create something new while continually offering an alternative to todays mainstream. With Gospel music being the least commodified of its contemporaries yet the most essential element of them all, it would seem the perfect sample source for a Barbershop release and a sonically perfect fit for Snips' brand of Hip Hop, Soul & House inspired beats. From future club friendly anthems like "Feed The People" and "Feel The Spirit" to the true school Boom Bap sensibilities of "Pattersons Pilgrims" and "Never Waltz Alone" this release has all bases covered.
2025 Repress
Running Back’s Double Copy subsidiary for house music history returns with four musical masterpieces from Chicago, London and an international cast from Italy on its first various artist sampler.
Originally released on Roy Davis Jr.’s Undaground Therapy outlet, Destination Heaven by the enigmatic Earth Boys project delivers a piece of cloud-nine-deep-house that was a staple at Frankfurt’s Wild Pitch Club and during the early days of its successor Robert Johnson. Produced by Cloudy Eyes and Cole Brooks, we unfortunately have never heard from the duo again. Luckily, Family of Few have been a little bit more productive. Also known as Mind Readers, Kevin Elliot and Billy ‚Jack“ Williams produced some of the more tender moments on Detroits 430 West label. Intervoles is amongst the most peculiar and catchy tracks that slow-burning dance floors can hope for.
The flip side turns the attention to the conclusions that Europe drew from its US-role-models. Released in 1992 on Rena Records with the involvement of New York’s JoVonn (a distinct genius of deep grooves himself), the keyboard skills of Pierre Audetat and the production work of I. Betti, M. Clemente and W. Brown, Dummy Head is one of a kind. Swirly echoes, dubby textures and a heavy bass line mate on the Edit Mix of I Have Been Wanting You to create one of the very first examples of fully formed dub-house.
Similar pioneering properties can be ascribed to the work of Rob Mello. We don’t have enough room here to list all his merits, but rest assured that the UK’s house scene wouldn’t be the same without him (Luxury Service Records, Classic et al). Under the Karim guise, Mello delivered a unique stroke of genius. Distilling the essence of deep house, while looking far into the future, In My Mind is many things at once: broken beat, electro, house with embracing chords, and – if you will – a warm-up banger. and does, what all the tracks in here do: turning heads then, turning heads now. Hardcore Deep House!
Nail is one of UK house music's most vital contributors. His raw sound pioneered a new style of tech house in the 90s and here he reappears under a different alias, AM Vibe. 'Vibe With Me' kicks off with nice loose drums and perc and jazzy keys adding the warmth and soul. 'I'm So High' brings some loopy and filtered fun and phased vocals for a sleazy feel, then 'Dried Fruit' gets more upbeat with lush synth swirls and effortlessly cool drums and rich r&b vocal samples. 'Powder' closes out with some thumping kicks and more tender vocal stabs. As always, this is brilliantly heartfelt and effective tackle from Nail.
With an intrigue for a particular niche of old UK hardcore which takes cues from Sheffield bleep ambience, heady rave futurism and soft, almost new age synth pads, Blank Mind presents ‘Lost Paradise: Blissed Out Hardcore 91-94’. Though the records gathered for the compilation span a short three-year period and bridge the gap between scenes, the collection manages to find a sweet spot where the influence of Warp’s Artificial Intelligence, back room chill out sonics and the nascent jungle boom meet with elements of Italian piano house and slower breakbeat cuts.
Opting to focus on atmosphere to highlight shared connections; in this case the duality of often serene and calming soundscapes with frenzied breaks and bass (see Hedgehog Affair’s ‘Parameters’ and Luxury’s ‘Twirl’ respectively); Lost Paradise is a formidable collection of tracks plucked from a thriving time for British dance music experimentation. The general themes of ascension and escapism channelled through digital samplers are also inescapably linked to a turbulent time in politics, beginning in the post-Thatcher years and culminating in the year the harshest anti-rave Criminal Justice Act came into force.
Initially building the compilation around DJ Mayhem’s track ‘Inesse’, Blank Mind label founder Sam Purcell and Amsterdam based producer Tammo Hesselink began a process of swapping favourites and deep cuts to spread across this 2x12” doublepack. The compilation avoids any obvious centrepieces through masterful sequencing, allowing for moments of refrain and tempo changes in a way that helps add to their overall vision of what this music is and can be; “We wanted to frame hardcore in a different light, looking at this idea of ecstasy through the traditional meaning of the word and exploring that symbolism”. By drawing from what some might consider the softer edges of the movement, the pair offer a look into the relevance of these tracks in the contemporary era, where the past years have seen both an explosion in popularity of old ambient/new-age music and a certified jungle revival.
Having shared stages with artists like Efterklang and Ólafur Arnalds, Samson has long felt like an outsider, caught between being “too experimental” for some and “too indie” for others. His struggle to fit into a defined space has deeply influenced his music. After the pandemic derailed a major indie record deal, Samson grew disillusioned with the industry, reflecting on how his search for belonging had often been met with barriers.
His new album “Songs of Beginning & Belonging” are reflections on these experiences. Moving away from the themes of home and displacement that coloured his earlier works, the new album reflects a sense of inner peace and renewal. It is a delicate, meditative collection that underscores Samson’s growth as an artist and a person, driven by a desire to move past old wounds and start anew.
“Songs of Beginning & Belonging” is an album that feels at once delicately sparse, at times even symphonic, but is tied together by a repeated and palpable feeling of quiet liberation - a determination for things to move forward rather than reflecting back on what’s come before.
Recorded between November 2022 and May 2024 in Will’s former studio, a secluded spot on the River Tejo in Almada, which he shared with Casper Clausen of Efterklang), the album was made specifically for Dauw, who had asked Will to create a piece of music for them. The album was, as always, largely recorded using his 1970's 'Uher 4200' tape machine, plus a small collection of other tape machines that wind their way in and out of the recordings and shape in it in a beautifully singular way.
Dear Friends, Shouldn’t we all take a moment to reect on ourselves from time to time, break away from habits, and venture down new paths? Simon Hinter, widely recognised as a house producer with releases on renowned labels such as Freerange, Quintessentials, and Kerri Chandler’s Madhouse Records, is now daring to explore something new with us, while embracing something old: Drum’n’Bass is his great old love, now rekindled with his Confusion EP.
Unsurprisingly, this comes with intense emotions, and the four tracks of the EP oscillate between profound euphoria and melancholia. You can sense both, the beginning and the end of a party night at the same time. These tracks, however, defy the current listening habits shaped by the need for instant grati¬cation. Instead, they are an ode to the loop. Here, the mind is invited to engage, to actively listen and perceptually complete the experience. We hope you enjoy this rollercoaster of emotions! Sincerly yours, Brombért P.S.: The physical release comes with handcrafted, screen-printed artwork by the fabulous graphic artist Zatina Kessl
Born less than an hour from Chicago but now based in Detroit, Rick Wade cut his DJ teeth in Michigan's Nectarine Ballroom in the 80s and early 90s, at the same time as a certain Jeff Mills was also making giant strides at the venue. Wade's sound is more rooted in deep house but, as this four tracker demonstrates, there's a cosmic spirituality and otherworldliness to his music that it shares with the best of UR and other notable Detroit greats. We kick off with 'Groove Tool', powered by a beautifully pliable, funky bassline and embellished with floating chords and subtle bell sounds way up in the high frequency range. 'Pimp Prophecy' boasts a little more disco swagger, with its niggling guitar riff and some excellent bongo bashing. 'Jazzy Tears' revolves around a sturdy kick and a processed, timestretched vocal refrain, played off against jazzy guitar chords and strings ascending to the heavens. 'Ooo Ahh' is probably the catchiest of the lot, with a shuffling beat undercarriage and an infectious hook, all wrapped up - as all four tracks are - in some understated but still lush musicality. 'Deep Incantations' indeed.
Since launching her own club night, “Motivation,” back in 2018, B.AI has played a key role in bringing the underground’s club sounds to her home country, China. While introducing some of the scene's most exciting artists to her local audiences, she emerged as one to look out for as well: first as a DJ and quickly thereafter as a producer. Her original takes – a sensitive, highly personal approach to melody and a knack for playing with expectations – crystallized in a slew of A+ releases and a couple of international tours. This trajectory, shaped by taking matters into her own hands and self-empowerment, now sees a logical next step, with the inception of a label that will also operate under the “Motivation” banner and features her own “Hope” EP as its first release.
Sparkling mallets, with synth-pop quality catchiness, open the title track. Rather than further evolving, their two-bar arrangement gets looped over and again, serving as the foundation for a slick FM bass rhythm and a variety of hooks. Although these incline to the bright, the overall vibe is melancholic. In vintage B.AI style, the aptly titled “Hope” is more ambiguous than its patches suggest. Similarly, the vocal this type of palette would call for ultimately comes in the form of aloof, covert musings. A bit buried in the mix, they are most efficient – just like the tension that keeps brooding underneath the surface.
“Murderbot Diaries 1991” turbocharges four-to-the-floor synthetic drums with an arpeggiated rolling bass. The blue note melody on top feels sequenced via a pocket calculator, and the dissonant, electroclash-reminiscent stabs that follow might sound even more angular. The tune is frantic, sinister – and perhaps above all tongue in cheek. It reaches fever pitch with the arrival of a tubular bell theme between the two breaks.
“Once”’s slomo cutoff modulation on the 16th note mid-bass instantly creates a sultry atmosphere that meshes greatly with the pastel cool of the gently delayed DX7 leads. The energy drifts between effortless control and uncertain outcome. These contrasts are amplified as the drums alternate amidst moderation and beat-repeat rendered havoc.
On “Only We Know,” a progressive sine lead lays out the central motif. Yet as briskly as it appears, it makes way for detuned, gliding square waves taking on the same theme. This outlines the track’s structure: as slightly morphed repetitions keep getting introduced almost haphazardly, a dreamlike, mesmerizing ambience unfolds. Techy drum rhythms and a 101-type bass make sure everything stays fuelled. Within the ingenious tapestry of melodies and new twists, it never loses touch with the dance floor. It illustrates B.AI’s club savvy neatly and is therefore a perfect closer for this EP.
- A4: Where They At (Ft Dj Twan)
- A6: I’ll Write The Hook
- B1: Trust Me
- B5: Talaban
- A1: Kill Da Dj (Ft Bobby Skillz & Sinjin Hawke)
- A2: Trax Da Prophet
- A3: I Want U To Ghost
- A5: House Of Werkz
- A7: We Can Go
- A8: Round 1
- B2: Tha Wolf
- B3: It’s Mine!!
- B4: I Bet U Think This Track Is About U!!
- B6: It Never Rains (Ft Dj Twan)
- B7: Day And Night Time
Anyone with a passing interest in footwork and juke will know of Traxman. Corky Strong has a long history of deep involvement in Chicago house, first releasing on the legendary Dance Mania label in the mid nineties, and since then splitting his productions between ghetto house, juke and footwork, releasing alongside Steve Poindexter and Fast Eddie and the late DJ Deeon and DJ Rashad, including an seemingly endless supply of self-released juke edits of whatever direction his deep knowledge of Black American music takes him. The third volume of 'Da Mind Of Traxman' is his first since 2014. In the intervening years he's kept things rolling, DJing regularly, releasing lots of music, becoming a grandfather and being a mentor for younger artists coming up in the scene.
This new album was crafted with the help of fellow Planet Mu artist Sinjin Hawke, who took on A&R duties to collate the best from hundreds of tracks dating back to 2005. Sinjin holds Traxman's status in high regard; "This album series is important and holds real documentarian value—working on it feels like the modern equivalent of curating a piece of Miles Davis’s catalog in the '60s and '70s." Volume 3 showcases Traxman's uncanny ability to take old music into the future without losing the feeling and energy of his samples and influences. He knows how to add a hi-definition modern chassis with the skill of someone who deeply and intuitively understands the craft of dance music. These are some of the purest, most innovative ideations of Chicago footwork.
a A1 Kill Da DJ (ft. Bobby Skillz & Sinjin Hawke) explicit
[d] A4 Where They At (ft. DJ Twan) [explicit]
[f] A6 I’ll Write The Hook [explicit]
[i] B1 Trust Me [explicit]
[m] B5 Talaban [explicit]
The first-ever vinyl reissue of the classic 1986 debut album from perennial pop icon and pin-up Samantha Fox. The only British female solo artist to score three Top Ten hits on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1980s, Samantha made her name as the nation’s favourite Page Three girl before launching an enviable music career.
Touch Me features four hit singles: the international smash ‘Touch Me (I Want Your Body)’ (#3 UK and #4 US), ‘Do Ya Do Ya (Wanna Please Me)’ (#10 UK), ‘Hold On Tight’ and ‘I’m All You Need’. Immediately establishing Samantha’s signature pop-rock sound, on its original release the album hit #17 in the UK, going silver, before reaching #24 in the US with a gold certification. Pressed on striking black vinyl with white and pink splatters to complement the original aesthetic, this edition boasts painstakingly rebuilt artwork and a newly designed inner bag featuring full lyrics. A strictly limited-edition picture disc is also available. Touch Me is reissued alongside Samantha’s self-titled second album and 1989’s I Wanna Have Some Fun.
Phonomena are back and this time joined by Haste on a mission to Andromeda with 4 Hardcore Jungle tracks ready to do damage on the dancefloor.
Kicking off with a remix of Paul Renegade’s Multiverse from London based Jungle veteran Haste that has been floating around on dub for a little while. Taking the tempo of the original up a notch this is the perfect track to start the EP with its Mentasm fuelled mayhem.
Rage and Renegade then drop their first track on wax together with Best Served Cold, taking a sample from a 92 classic then twisting it up with some distorted bass before switching things up as the track progresses. This was made over a bunch of Saturday nights late in 2024 and continues the vibes from the first two records.
At the end of side A there’s some scratch samples for DJs to battle with, pitched to the perfect tempo to use with Hardcore and Jungle.
First up on the flip DJ Rage drops a bass heavy breakbeat workout with Ready To Roll. This was made to contrast with Haste’s remix, a bit more laid back at first but slowly building up to a euphoric tear out towards the end.
Paul Renegade closes out the EP with Dark Carnival, a trip to the underworld with haunted samples and effects that drops into some full on bass, no letting up here with more Hardcore pressure to rattle your speakers!
Coming on ice blue translucent vinyl with hand stamped labels, these Kniteforce exclusive versions come with in an Ice Blue (single colour) label or Electric (double colour). These special editions are limited to 30 copies each.




















