Suche:sweat x

Fate is a funny old thing. One day in 2011, DJ/producer Tom Trago found himself sharing a train journey with Steven Van Lummel, a DIY musician, artist and co-founder of PIP, an underground nightclub and cultural hub in The Hague. Over the course of a rambling, open-ended conversation, the idea of making music together came up; a few weeks later, Trago travelled to van Lummel’s place – a former industrial unit that was now home to a rotating cast of artists and musicians – and didn’t leave for a month.

Cossetted away from the outside world in van Lummel’s loft, with multi-instrumentalists Janneke Nijhuijs and Wieger Hoogendorp joining them to create a musical four-piece, MEGA WEGA was born. Over the course of four weeks, the quartet embarked on an almost continuous creative session punctuated only by impromptu parties and mixing sessions. Life-long bonds were made and over 70 tracks recorded before the mundanity of day-to-day life came calling.

For one reason or another, the project never saw the light of day, with tracks sat gathering dust on hard drives for the best part of a decade. During the madness and loneliness of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trago rediscovered the tracks. Delighted by what he heard, a collective decision was made to add finishing touches and release the resultant album on van Lummel’s PIP Records imprint. Further instruments and vocals were added over two days at Hoogendorp’s studio, before mutual friend Tom Ruig got on board to mix the album.

So, what can you expect from Haunted, Mega Wega’s debut album? First and foremost, it’s the sound of pure creative expression – the distillation of a freewheeling, no-holds-barred, spontaneous musical journey variously inspired by the do-it-yourself ethos of musical counterculture, shared inspirations and influences, epic jam sessions, distant stars (Wega, sometimes known as Fidis or ‘the harp star’, is one of the brightest in the night sky), imaginary journeys across dusty deserts, and the comradeship of four new friends.

Enchanting and alluring, it’s an album that gleefully denies lazy categorization and ploughs its own eclectic, atmospheric musical furrow in vivid sonic detail. It’s a collective exploration of heady musical eclecticism unified by saucer-eyed vocals, low-slung bass, loose-limbed beats, sweaty percussion workouts and hazy electric piano motifs.

Haunted begins with the woozy and hallucinatory slow-burn soundscape of ‘Get Things Done’ – an effects laden shuffle akin to lying flat on your back tripping under an intense desert sun – and ends with the creepy, mind-mangling post-punk funk of ‘Brain Carpaccio’; in between, you’ll find spaced-out, low-tempo lo-fi soul (‘Move Around’, ‘Haunted’), tactile synth-powered boogie revivalism (‘Make Me Work’), deep and off-kilter opioid jazz (‘Copenhagen’), intoxicating psychedelia (‘Last Night on Earth’), piano-laden dream-pop epics (‘Shake Or Fall’), and Latin-infused, percussion-powered hedonism (‘Chopping Heads’).

Born out of spontaneous collaboration and immersive, almost endless recording sessions, Haunted is an album shot through with imagination and boundless energy, captured for posterity by four friends and collaborators at the top of their game.

Having featured on the Diamonds in the Night series with the epic “Midnight Opera”, it was only a matter of time before Lukas Zeringis, better known as Zakmina, had his own 12” on Bordello A Parigi. Following appearances on Correspondant, Future Boogie and XXX, the Lithuanian born musician arrives with two tracks that break the mould. A speeding rhythm sees “For U” race out of the stocks. Bright strings arc before a generous break and this old-school rave anthem reveals itself in all of its brazen glory. Glowsticks at the ready for this seven minute romp into sweaty ecstasy. The flip is inhabited by a completely different animal. “Take Me Back” comes to life with blissful notes before rasping rhythms give way to a rumbling arpeggiator. Sailing strings are countered by squalid acid undercurrents as Zeringis finds a sweet spot between braindance bleep and soulful electronics. A seriously strong debut.

Established in 2016, Little Giant Records is the Brooklyn-born label founded by Anna Cavazos that specializes in the kind of deep house sounds that belong in the dark and sweaty basements of underground clubs. Anna is a DJ, producer, and vocalist who has played out across the globe for over 15 years mixing and blending the deep house sounds of Chicago, New York, and Berlin. . Her discography includes original compositions, remixes, and collaborations with the likes of Satoshi Tomiie and Eli Escobar.

The EP kicks off with the original of ‘Love Interlude’ - melancholic and piano-heavy with an ultra-deep baseline embellished with warm pads and soulful drums. Anna’s soulful vocal floats above the melody creating an emotional and moving interlude. Next up Matthias Vogt delivers a deep-house masterpiece adding extra keys, drum accents, and a well-placed baseline that is weaved neatly into the vocal hook while Vogt delivers the warm, jazz-flecked vibrations he is well known for.

Up next Rick Wade weighs in with some ever so classy house laced with flashes from the Motor City of Detroit. Warm electro piano, glowing synths, and vocal parts contrast with the deep sub baseline. Closing out this EP Rissa Garcia draws heavily on her New York house inspirations. Organ riffs and a funk-inspired bass line lead the charge dropping in and out between vocal harmonies and subtle synth work. Percussive accents bring it all home making this closing cut one dancefloor destroying, peak-time bomb.

Brazilian Bruno Furlan returns to Hot Creations once again with his ‘La Fiesta’ EP, featuring two scorching house tracks.

One of Brazil’s leading house artists, Bruno Furlan continues to build a dedicated following across the globe, with his current US tour welcoming memorable performances at Club Space in Miami to Club Vinyl in Denver. His return to Hot Creations comes following the success of his ‘Bongoloco’ EP on the label to open 2023, alongside a slew of other releases on the likes of DIRTYBIRD, Club Sweat, Fool’s Gold Records, and his very own Track ID imprint. Delivering two fresh cuts for his fourth outing on Hot Creations Furlan showcases his growing sound once more here with ‘La Fiesta’.

Leading with a spicy fusion of rattling percussions and vibrant bongo drums, the title track ‘La Fiesta’ ignites a Dancefloor frenzy, honouring his roots through rich, pounding beats and impassioned vocals. Next up ‘Give Me That Bass’ is another production built with main stage energy, bringing punchy stabs and alluring calls to get people locked into the groove.

Leading with a spicy fusion of rattling percussions and vibrant bongo drums, the title track ‘La Fiesta’ ignites a Dancefloor frenzy, honouring his roots through rich, pounding beats and impassioned vocals. Next up ‘Give Me That Bass’ is another production built with main stage energy, bringing punchy stabs and alluring calls to get people locked into the groove.

30 years anniversary repress!

It’s been a few years since Vinyl Fanatiks partnered up with DJ Aphrodite, but we are back again… serving up another awesome repress from the Aphrodite back catalogue. And this time we take things back to 1993 with a repress of his collab with Nutty Jim.

Two absolute jungle bangers created back in 1993 and remastered in 2023. Another classic from the Aphrodite back catalogue, produced back in the day on an Amiga. This has that raw low-sample rate vibe and the new masters have been sympathetically tweaked so not to lose that rawness. Drop this on the deck will transport you back to the sweaty raves and illegal parties that took over the UK in the early 90’s… parties that Aphrodite was playing at and drawing inspiration from.

This record comes in a black inner sleeve and presented in a full colour Aphrodite Recordings housebag, designed by Aphrodite himself that features the labels of all his early releases on the rear of the sleeve.

“Maledetta Quella Notte” is the first EP by Il Mago del Gelato, a new band from Milan (IT) with a strong Mediterranean imprint.

This first release runs through funk, afrobeat and jazz, where all the different souls that make up the project converge and blend in a perfect balance.

The EP ranges between more energetic moments, strongly characterized by Afro-beat and Funk influences to introspective atmospheres, where the reminiscence of a warm, sensual jazz rings out loud.

All held together by a full sound, the unique and recognizable mark of the Il Mago del Gelato: vocoder, percussion, 80's synthesizers, roots guitars and a rhythmic section of drum and bass which drags you in a wild and sweaty dance.

Before being a record product, Maledetta Quella Notte is a project human, in which the concept of union, exchange, positive vibes is summarized in six tracks with taste of your favorite ice cream.

Heavenly Recordings release the next two volumes in their series of remixed classics and unreleased versions. ‘Heavenly Remixes 7 & 8’ sees the label going back into the archive, as well as picking off some more recent remixes, and both albums primarily feature either previously unreleased versions or re-workings available for the first time on vinyl and CD.

Heavenly have always seen immense value in the remix, a value way beyond what it might bring commercially. Since their first release in 1990 (where Andrew Weatherall overhauled a one-off single by club kids Sly and Lovechild) Heavenly remixes have been carefully curated and treated as a key part of the A&R process. It’s an opportunity to view an artist through a different prism, to play out a musical ‘what if’ scenario. It’s the kind of exploration that’s happened consistently through the thirty plus years the label has released music.



The ‘Heavenly remixes’ series continues to showcase the very best remixes, versions, meditations, re-rubs and dubs from all around the world of artists right across the roster of the country’s most exciting record label. In most cases, the albums offer the first physical release for a remix, elevating them from streaming playlists to their rightful, spiritual home on super heavy vinyl (or shiny, super-packed compact disc).



‘Heavenly remixes 7’ heads to Belfast, where David Holmes - a producer who first appeared on Heavenly in 1994 amping up the acid on Saint Etienne’s ‘Like A Motorway’ - appears as solo artist and as one third of Unloved, who get a lift right to the heart of a Vauxhall sweatbox by Horse Meat Disco. It draws a line between Amsterdam and Frankfurt as Ludwig A.F. amps up the electronics on Pip Blom’s ‘Keep It Together’. It stops off in a south London studio where super producer Dan Carey plays the desk with Toy, then relocates LA psych rock band Fever The Ghost to an Ibizan shoreline as the sun sets on the horizon. It cements Sheffield’s reputation as the home of modern British techno with the return of true originators Forgemasters. And it pitches up in front of a renegade soundsystem late night at Glastonbury as Erol Alkan’s mighty rework of Con Man gets its third rewind of the night.



‘Heavenly remixes 8’ opens with Space Afrika’s lush, ambient reimagining of the Orielles’ ‘BEAM/S’ before Justin Robertson stretches Amber Arcades’ ‘Turning Light’ into eight minutes of electronic dub. Elsewhere, Baxter Dury’s peerless ‘Miami’ becomes a string-laden electro skank in the hands of French producer Pilooski; Edinburgh’s bedroom techno genius Eyes of Others’ ‘Safehouse’ turns into an East End bathhouse courtesy of disco deviants Decius; Ashley Beedle’s Black Science Orchestra turns Unloved’s heartworn torch song into seven minutes of glimmering dreamlike percussive house and Katy J. Pearson’s freak flag is flown high thanks to The Umlauts’ throbbing filtered electro mix. It ends similarly to how it began as TONE takes

Fran Lobo’s ‘All I Want’ on a gorgeous slow motion spacewalk.

Crucial Toronto rapper / producer / DJ myst milano. returns with thrilling new album Beyond the Uncanny Valley, an exhilarating ride through hedonistic experimental hip-hop and house music that reinterprets the breadth of Black electronic music with addictive singular energy.

“I offer Beyond the Uncanny Valley as a working anthology of Black electronic music across generational, geographical and genre lines,” myst milano. writes. “I thought a lot about staples of Black art across the world that can be traced back to Africa, and that link the diaspora regardless of where our people end up and throughout all eras.”

A mighty example of this omnivorous and multifaceted awareness of Black creativity, Beyond the Uncanny Valley is a tidal wave, swallowing up Canadian House, Detroit Electro, Chicago Footwork, UK Jungle and Dubstep, Jersey / Baltimore / Philly Club, Southern Hip-Hop and West Coast Funk into the trail of euphoric destruction left by myst milano.’s trademark grimy, sweaty, lusty neo-R&B take on contemporary hip-hop.

Opening with “Thirteen”, the album hits with punch and immediacy. The track’s thumping kick and swirling, haunted synthesis represent myst milano.’s keen ability to nurture perfect symbiosis between production, arrangement and lyrical theme. It is equal parts dreamy, provocative, sexy and powerful, and, together, entirely unique to myst’s creative voice. As with Beyond the Uncanny Valley as a whole, it is evocatively storytelling, mixing vivid imagery with slick wordplay. We are introduced to myst’s groupie (formerly “a hater”), as their crew “causes damage you can’t afford”, while witty threats and erudite posturing flow out over a steadily expanding instrumentation that mimics myst’s breathless, sweatbox DJ sets.

“Ring Ring” is another key track. Glitching nuclear alarms give way to a bulldozing kick drum and in-the-red distortion on myst’s voice. The vocals hit at breakneck speed while the production retains a dirty, dirging stomp. It is formidable, intense, fun, and intimidating in all the right ways.

Underpinning the album is a mechanised female voice that has possessed the record like a replicant ghost. “When we go beyond the uncanny valley, we reach a state of perfect harmony where the robot has mimicked the human to the point of being indistinguishable,” myst says. “Who are we when we become perfect imitations of what the world wants instead of who we really are, which is imperfect and flawed and a little uncanny, anyway?” While the music of Beyond the Uncanny Valley is human, with real emotion and expression, it occasionally flirts with the beyond, reaching into a near future where reality and technology bleed into one.

Beyond the Uncanny Valley is myst milano.’s second full length, following 2021’s rapturously received debut Shapeshyfter, and a monstrously successful accompanying house remix on the UK’s legendary Defected Records.

Italian DJ/producer Marco Faraone returns to Rekids this August with ‘Any Good Vibe?’

Tuscany-born, Barcelona-based Marco Faraone runs the UNCAGE label and event series, where he showcases the breadth and depth of his tastes. Returning to Radio Slave’s Rekids imprint after multiple appearances on the label, ‘Any Good Vibe?’ sees Faraone bring another potent EP of stylish techno.

Leading the A-side is the title cut, with yelping vocals and flaming percussion all adding to the wild energy of the track. The superb 'Ego Kills' follows, with swinging drums, chord stabs, and dubbed-out stylings that suit it to sweaty back rooms. Rounding out the release is 'Ghana', a heavy techno groove layered up with plenty of percussion, urgent synth sounds, and a vocal that adds unease to the intense atmosphere.

As it celebrates its 50th anniversary, Bill Withers' Still Bill remains true to its title – and stands as the greatest male-fronted soul album not made by a singer named Marvin, Al, Sam, James, or Ray. Though the saying "keeping it real" did not exist in popular parlance when Withers released his sophomore effort on Sussex Records, no words better capture the music's approach, mindset, and value. Every facet of Still Bill radiates honesty, truth, and emotion.

These characteristics – along with Withers' strong singing, hybrid arrangements, and deceptively simple songwriting – have allowed the album to endure to the point where it sounds as fresh today as in 1972.

After rising into the Top 5 of the Billboard Album charts and attaining gold status within a year of release, Still Bill has long been evaluated not by sales – but according to its merit, spirit, and agelessness. Included by The Guardian on its "1,000 Albums to Hear Before You Die" list (2007) as well as in Tom Moon's 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die book (2008), its contemporary standing as one of history's most venerated soul efforts eclipses the positive reception it enjoyed in the early ‘70s.

Still Bill walks the same hallowed ground as What's Going On, Call Me, Night Beat, and Genius + Soul = Jazz. Like those landmarks, Still Bill plays with a mix of consistency, effortlessness, and complexity that rewards repeat listening and transcends categorization.

In combining four of the era's predominant styles – Philly soul, sweaty funk, Southern-reared blues, acoustic-based folk – and melding them with standout production borrowed from both minimalist affairs and sophisticated singer-songwriter albums, Still Bill occupies a distinct universe.

Its rhythmic fare is equally laidback and invigorating; relaxing and rollicking; eloquent and muscular; soft and tough. Withers' calm, self-assured voice hovers above it all, doubling as a warm blanket that adds comfort and grace to lyrics steeped in maturity, perspective, and compassion.

Withers' balanced outlook on human desires, needs, and situations stem from his own existence as a former blue-collar employee who believed his time as a musician would soon end. That grounding forever separates Withers from other contemporary soul greats – and stamps Still Bill with a conversational nature and egoless approachability.

"I mean look, I'm really a factory worker," said Withers in 1972. "That's a real job." There's that word again: real. The songs on Still Bill are tethered to modesty and actuality, wedded to a belief in simplicity, and connected to universal truths that link us all – independent of our economic or social standing. No track better exemplifies those principles than "Lean on Me," a feel-good paean to brotherhood and community that hit No. 1 on the pop and R&B charts en route to becoming a mainstream staple.

Withers approaches the plainspoken insight on "Lonely Town, Lonely Street" and heartbreaking vulnerability of "I Don't Want You on My Mind" with similar sincerity and straightforwardness. His proclivity for authenticity extends to the record's other big hit: the sexual, funk-laden "Use Me," which reached No. 2 and reflects the singer's everyman persona. It's an identity couched in keeping it real, the very inclination that ultimately led Withers to retire in the mid-'80s rather than bend to industry pressures or risk credibility.

That commitment to truthfulness and realism helps make Still Bill feel as unaffected as the air we breathe. Looking back on "Lean on Me" years later, Withers said it seemed like "something that was there before I got here" – the kind of song that could be 100 or 10 years old, or one we encounter anew 10 years into the future. The same can be said for every note on Still Bill.

Eli Escobar returns for his 9th full length LP. While his last few projects found him exploring downtempo beats, EBM and ambient in§uences, this latest offering of Eli's studio craftsmanship marks a return to the sound of his early releases like Up All Night and Happiness. Warm samples expertly woven into classic drum machine rhythms and searing synth lines, The Beach Album takes listeners on a journey through golden era hip hop beats, feel-good NYstyled house grooves into sweaty techno bangers. Similar to Eli's DJ sets, the 16 track long player has something for everyone. Created during the uncertainty of the pandemic when as Eli put it, "It didn't feel like the right time to release dance music," The Beach album celebrates the return of NY nightlife and optimism for the future.

Remastered reissue of another stone cold New York club classic from the legendary
SAM Records label - home to so many fabulous disco/boogie recordings from the
1980s.
• Pure early 80s electronic disco joy for the packed, sweaty dance-floors. A true boogie
classic, a huge club hit that got spun from The Garage to the streets of London.
• Not much is known about Komiko, an undercover studio outfit that featured guest
vocals Carol Williams, Tracey Weber and Vicky D. This single is their sole release.
• Remastered by Phil Kinrade and presented in a 7” Discobag sleeve.

Tel-Aviv based duo, ‘Project Runaway’, return with a new release on LDN/LA based ‘All My Thoughts’.

The 4 track e.p opens with title track ‘Charly’, a mesmerizing hypnotic percussive bomb, with voodoo-like vocal mantras and trance flavours throughout.

‘J&S’ is up next, a minimal sunset/sunrise house track full of raw layers of sensitive percussion and bouncing rhythm.

The B side opens with ‘Export City’, a psychedelic percussive trip into the city that never sleeps.

‘Tunnels’, brings us to a close with a mysterious flow of melodies alongside PR's signature percussion, equally suited to both festival stages and sweaty basements.

Tooloop IX comes as usually by an Unknown Artist in Winter to heat you up! Two cuts produced straight for the dance floor will make you sweat and forget the cold outside.

Zurich’s Elvis Cassetta delivers a dazzling four-track debut EP to his brand-new WhyNot imprint. Complete with a refined deep house sound, this is an expertly crafted body of silky smooth grooves to get floors shaking.

'Down With Us' instantly displays Cassetta’s effortless ability to create a hot house swing using just a handful of elements – subtle groove, skittish percussion and a sultry vocal sample. The whole track is thrown out wide in the breakdown, but then as the bassline is brought back in, Cassetta draws it all back in close for an intimate dancefloor moment. Definitely one of those hands-in-the-air peak-time scenes.

Dreamy synth pads steadily build under a thunderous kick drum pattern on the EP’s second track, 'Focals Finest', which takes the tempo up a notch for a real sweat inducer.

Finally, it’s all about a raw bassline on the metallic and techy 'Jupiter Groove'. Contorted slices of spoken word dip in and out throughout to create another level of leftfield, danceable percussion. While the low end is the main focus on the original, in Silat Beksi’s remix, we hear a brighter take on the deep groove. There’s a swirling sample, more prominent key stabs, eerie vocals and a teasing smattering of melody. Percussive elements are thrown from all angles, and they pulsate up into the rafters of the lofty house track, leading you further into a state of hypnosis.

Overall, these are house tracks made right – a classy release fit for warming in crowds in style.