Buscar:the birth

We are very happy to present our first vinyl release named The Sinergy between light and darkness.

We believe that when 2 forces as powerful as light and darkness merge, they create an omnipotent unit, giving birth to amazing creations, works of art like this release.

For this release, 4 tracks have been carefully selected that create a balance and synergy between light and darkness.



On side A we have Alquimic, curator of this project, with his track Reloaded, and Artesano Titer, a great Uruguayan artist who made us vibrate in the first edition of Cosmic Dance with his live set around the mountains of the Sacred Valley, and where he played for the first time this gem called Shake it.

Vibrant synthetic sequences, enveloping rhythms and bass lines and cozy melodies are manifested on this side.



On the other hand, on the B side we have Samuel Jabba, a great Colombian artist with countless incredible releases and a unique style with his track Schizoid, and Nicolás Longo, a great emerging Uruguayan artist who we had the pleasure of meeting and experiencing his music in the city of Cusco, with his track Secuencias en Capital.

On this side, dark and enveloping melodies, retro-futuristic atmospheres, vibrant rhythms and a lot of mystery are evident.

On his latest full-length, Low End Activist swerves towards weightless grime and suspended hardcore miniatures to tell a very personal story. The UK-rooted producer continues his habit of zeroing in on a distinct approach for each release, leaving a logical breadcrumb trail of soundsystem science in his wake as he channels decades of bass absorption into 14 atmospheric cuts that prize patience and precision over obvious club functionality.

Municipal Dreams plays out as a semi-autobiographical tour through the Blackbird Leys estate that the Activist grew up on. It’s a lived reflection on inequality and the ripple effect it has in working class communities, using the sonic palette to set the mood and scattering pointed samples throughout to spell out the story.

In sampling the exhaust of a stolen Subaru Impreza, ‘TWOC’ looks back to the recreational car theft which was standard entertainment for the kids in his community. There’s an underlying idea that this ‘council estate sport’ wouldn’t have been so prevalent if there were public services and opportunities presented to the scores of disaffected youth looking for somewhere to direct their energy and frustration.

In ‘Just A Number (Institutionalised)’ LEA alludes to the shattered juvenile detention system, growing up seeing friends and family members locked up at ease with little to no support on being released back into society, just meant that the same cycles of behaviour would play out over and over.

‘Violence’ samples from a short film shot by the drama division of the Blackbird Leys Youth Club to evoke the physical threat which formed a background hum to life on the estate. The industrial mechanics of the local car factory, which served an integral role as a workplace for many in the community, gets sampled in ‘They Only Come Out At Night’ while the ‘Everyone I look up to are either junkies or criminals’ sample in ‘Broke’ looks to a lack of positive role models.

Municipal Dreams isn’t a one-note indictment of life on the estate, ‘Innocence’ captures the simplicity of a child at birth before their environment has time to shape them. The Hope interludes cut through the grim honesty of the longer tracks while a subtle thread of wry humour finds its way into some of the talking heads cutting through the signature LEA murk.

But honesty is the operative word here, and the message feels all the more meaningful at a time when the UK’s social divisions are laid bare in the wake of a devastating stretch of austerity. Returning to Blackbird Leys to shoot images for the photo-zine and album cover, the Activist found the local community centre being demolished. The local pub stands derelict, its faded Welcome sign a grimly ironic portent of the options facing children of the estate in the wider world.

Funnelling his memories, hopes and fears into a singular twist on the bass weight tradition, LEA captures evocative scenes that land somewhere between kitchen sink realism and rave futurism.

Ephemera is the debut album by Fergus Jones, the artist formerly known as Perko, an Edinburgh-born, Copenhagen-based producer, DJ, and founder of the FELT record label. The nine-track release is out on Numbers on 18 October 2024.

Ephemera was developed with collaborative energy as the creative priority, produced by Jones alongside an extensive list of like-minded musicians, lyricists and vocalists including Huerco S, James K, Koreless, Birthmark, ELDON and Withdrawn of Bristol’s Cold Light crew, Laila Sakini and Lia T. The album embodies Jones’ inner journey as he ranges further than ever sonically and emotionally, emphasising instinct, intensity, tactility and rapture.

“Heima” was written and produced with Huerco S and James K between Iceland, Copenhagen and the United States’ East Coast. Developed during and named after the same Icelandic artist residency that birthed Perko & Huerco S’ debut collaboration “Prang,” “Heima” is a shimmering piece of fortified trip-pop featuring vocals from James K, appearing here following solo releases for AD 93 and collaborations with Yves Tumor. “Tight Knit” aligns Jones’ graceful production with the raw emotions thundering from the performances of Birthmark, ELDON and Withdrawn of Cold Light, the shadowy Bristolian collective channelling the city’s deep sonic history into an equally rich future.

In his own words, Jones says “This album was made over the last five years in various studio and outdoor locations around the world, reflecting my ongoing emphasis on natural collaboration as a creative ideal. It’s my most personal record yet, written with experimentation and an open attitude as guiding lights.”

The album makes a distinctive impact that reverberates and glows long after its runtime. Analogue audio sculpting, adaptive processes and imaginative approaches to creating sound are at the forefront – whether resulting from an endless exchange of iterative stems with Huerco S, or hydrophone recordings with Koreless. Evocative vocal performances and songwriting combine with weighty sound design, gliding easily between the organic and synthetic to reflect and expand the thin spaces of transcendence in each.

RARE & PREV. UNRELEASED PSYCH-FUNK AND GARAGE ROCK !!!

Say hello to Down & Wired Vol. 7 as Perfect Toy Records unleashes yet another instalment in its long-running compilation series! Once more, the label provides a delectable selection of obscure funk and soul-influenced psychedelic and garage rock tracks to delight even hardcore collectors of both genres.

And make no mistake, there is plenty to discover among these eleven tracks. At the funkiest end of things, Function's Free Style morphs from West Coast psychedelia to country funk to swamp rock and back again in its sub-three minute length, Dandy King provide psychedelic funky-soul and The Whiz Kids take a heavy dose of funkiness with them into psych-rock territory – sample fiends watch out for the fat twenty-second drum break towards the end of the latter! Purer psychedelia can be found in the offering from Third Stone while Würzburg band Prisma provide all-out epic psych-rock carnage. And if rock carnage is your thing, you'll be feeling the dirty garage rock onslaught of The Comin' Generation and a previously unreleased cut by Synod - soon to be a 45 single on Perfect Toy. That just leaves The General Store, The Soul Society, The Vestells and another unreleased cut from The Villagers (from whom the label will be dropping more unreleased material soon!), to close the circle by adding a heavy dose of garage soul.

A worthy successor to the previous volumes, Down & Wired Vol. 7 is once again accompanied by an insert containing detailed information and photos of the bands and a download code is also included with every vinyl LP.

Theme: collaboration. Or how to remain creative in the modern world. Nanocluster started as a bespoke one off pop up gig that turned into an album series. Built around Colin Newman from acclaimed UK post-punk band Wire and his partner in life and sound Malka Spigel from Minimal Compact with various guests, they define collaboration. Colin met Malka when he produced her band in 1985.The collaboration started there. They became a couple and created their own projects like the instrumental electronic duo Immersion in 1994 and Githead in 2004 - spaces where they both 'feel really comfortable.' Growing out of Immersion, Nanocluster was birthed as a series of one-off gigs at the Rosehill in their new hometown of Brighton in 2017 with an added cast of influential and cutting edge musicians. These were not ad hoc jams. The songs had been written and rehearsed prior to each performance. This adventure led to a debut album, Nanocluster Vol 1, released in 2021 with Stereolab singer/guitarist Laetitia Sadier, German post-rock duo Tarwater, electronic musician Ulrich Schnauss and experimental artist Robin Rimbaud (Scanner). Released again as double 10 inch with each collaboration taking up each disc, the new album Nanocluster Vol 2 has further developed this idea with a stark beauty that sounds like a future pop with sleek lines and unexpected great melodies. Disc one is built around Thor Harris, the charismatic percussion player from Swans and many other projects, who they met and performed with at South By South West in Austin, Texas in 2023. Thor adds ideas, his tuned percussion instruments, clarinet and trumpet to the sessions. Disc two is built around Cubzoa (Jack Wolter from the band Penelope Isles) who brings his musical craft, beguiling voice, guitar and much more. Meanwhile Matt Schulz from Holy Fuck plays drums across both combinations helping the resulting music become a third entity. What results is a true collaboration that, enhanced via Immersion's production, merges its elements to develop a new harmony. Key to the process is Colin and Malka's radio show for Slack City radio, 'Swimming In Sound' with its entertainingly diverse playlist that has widened their horizons. It's also helped build relationships not only with these collaborators but also musicians like ambient country masters SUSS, with whom they plan an extended Nanocluster tour in the USA with in 2025 and Brighton via Falmouth's "jangly pop punk" Holiday Ghosts with whom they will perform the next Nanocluster event in their hometown, as well as many more in the pipeline. Malka: 'Nanocluster is collaboration but in a very specific form. We don't have rules. It's a series of creative snapshots. We start as the gig with our collaborators with tracks that we rehearse because this is not a jam and where it stops is an album.' Colin: 'It's chemistry & music. Malka & I operate as a team and now we've taken it to another level. Malka comes from a band where they would stand in a room together and work out the material. In Wire, I would present the songs, so when Malka and I first started working together, we had to find a third path, and that was the concept behind our collaboration.' Nanocluster Volume 2 is a 21st century collusion of shared ideas, creating a momentary extended musical family. It's about musical and personal relationships and the meeting place in the middle. A temporary band of house guests. The place where Immersion happens.

A true Detroit Techno masterpiece gets a well overdue re-master and re-press! Los Hermanos ‘On Another Level’, originally released on Submerge in 2005, is an unmissable collection of the most soulful spiritual techno ever made. Here with a new tracklisting including nthems like ‘Birth of 3000’, ‘Quetzal’ and ‘Resurrection’!

We have invited for the first time in our closed creative community the soul and creativity of an old colleague, friend and fellow traveler on the road of DAO of life.

This is K▲NZ

If read from back to forth it comes from ZNAK, which means SIGN when translated into Bulgarian.

Originating and still gravitating in the suburban area of Lyulin district, these areas are known to give birth either to crime, or to art. In the case of Kaloyan “K▲NZ” Gavrailov, the shady Lyulin area, thankfully sparks the latter.

K▲NZ has had a lot of attention in regards to nightlife participation and on behalf of labels, but definitely not yet the deserved one. We are proud to present the platform for his first ever 12″ vinyl release with slightly odd in taste selection, and thus, rich in soul and creativity. -M-E-L-M-A-K-’s LKVBHR-12 installment is to be released also later this summer and by this we would like to tell Kalo: “welcome to the mob, big! Small-town-dogma-free techno rulez!”

In May, fans were treated to the first new music from Trentemøller since 2022. A new single, "A Different Light," showcased a stunning blend of prismatic space rock and folk. For anyone wondering if it foreshadowed the release of a full-length, Dreamweaver will drop in September, on Friday the 13th.
Featuring 10 tracks that traverse Trentemøller's many musical strengths, Dreamweaver also represents an obvious artistic leap, treading new ground while retaining the overall plot. Tracks featuring vocals come courtesy of of Iceland's Disa, who has been in Trentemøller's fold since the Memoria tour.
Dreamweaver's nylon string-led opening track, and first single from the album, "A Different Light," contains many of Trentemøller's trademarks: exploring dichotomies, musical shadowplay, Nordic frigidity, and warm waves. It opens the door for the steady, hypnotic "Nightfall," with its tetherless vocal, wistful guitars, and early morning desert chill. The third track in the opening trifecta, "Dreamweavers" finds its footing with a percussive soft trot, which starts after what feels like a shortwave radio scan in search of the right chords, eventually dialing in a weightless voice. Ostensibly keeping a ruminative pace with the previous two tracks, the song and, by extension, album soon opens up as the rest of the elements drop into place with a grand, luxurious burst.
Dreamweaver is about to enter its next phase. With the hatch blown off of the portal, the noisy "I Give My Tears," driven by its glissed and fuzzy bass line, pours into the void. It's followed by its sibling, the most chaotic track on Dreamweaver, "Behind My Eyes." Arriving as a piece of noise rock pandemonium, "Behind My Eyes," can't be contained in its plush vault. A whip-crack snare and convulsing guitars smash against each other in the song's verse chamber. The tension builds, as the particles collide, pushing past the point of critical mass, kicking off the chain reaction which is the chorus. At times it harkens back to the proto-gaze tracks that gave birth to dream pop, at others it newly defines what that is. There's no time to contemplate it, though, as the song disintegrates in a microphonic feedback instant.
A respite follows with the somnambulistic pair of "Hollow" and "Empty Beaches." Then, a moment of intensity returns as the soaring textures and tribal drum bursts of "In A Storm" take control, before being taken out with the ambient slo-core of "Winter's Ghost" and "Closure." This diptych wraps up an album which certainly feels on-script for Trentemøller, but is also much more psychedelic than previous offerings.
Dreamweaver will be released on Trentemøller's own In My Room label. It is an exceedingly immersive experience, bound to release any dormant hallucinations you may be harboring.

“Fading Like A Rose”, a brand new track consisting of elements from six classic Roxette songs leads the way for a physical ROX RMX release. Created by original Roxette producer Clarence Öfwerman together with Roxette bass player Magnus Börjeson, “Fading Like A Rose” is an homage to the Roxette history of hits on the dance floor. Brilliant remixers David Björk and Yaro also made their own interpretation and gave birth to “Fading Like A Rose (Everytime Remix) / Per Gessle. Galantis’ remix of Fading Like A Flower and Alle Farben’s remix of Listen To Your Heart are also featured on this vinyl.

Upon examining the eventful life of Can bassist Holger Czukay,
one might conclude that this intrepid musician was a loner. His
turbulent career exuded an enduring eccentricity governed by a
boundless free spirit. Yet Czukay, who passed away
unexpectedly last year at the age of 79, constantly emphasized
that his creativity was always contingent upon a musical
partner, whether that was a skin-and-bones counterpart or an
anonymous manifestation that interacted with him through
radio waves or, as happened later, the internet. Nonetheless,
most of his partners were of flesh and blood.
His oeuvre, which is in itself cinematic in nature, boasts a cast
worthy of a Martin Scorsese film. Only the most interesting
character actors were cast: Brian Eno, Phew, Rolf Dammers,
David Sylvian, Annie Lennox, Jah Wobble, his Can bandmates...
the list could go on and on.
Many of these masterpieces are now out of print, so Groenland
Records, who already released the highly acclaimed
retrospective 'CINEMA' to mark the occasion of Holger's 80th
birthday at the beginning of the year, has taken it upon
themselves to release reissues of Holger's music in order to
make it accessible once again.

Cinthie returns to her 803 Crystal Grooves label with You Know How EP German mainstay offers up three varied and vital house weapons to relaunch her label after 2.5 year hiatus Cinthie is one the most revered voices in underground house music and has been for more than a decade. Her take on the genre always puts the groove first.

It is informed by the classics but with a contemporary edge and comes on 803 Crystal Grooves as well as cultured outlets like Aus Music and Heist. As a DJ she mixes up records from her vast collection with equal style and skill, and is also now live artist who serves up impromptu jams on her collection of hardware.

Hot on the heels of several remixes already this year, the Elevate. Berlin record store boss is back with a new release just three days before her birthday. As a gift to herself she is relaunching her label after a 2.5 year hiatus due to pressing plant delays during the pandemic.

Opener 'You Know How' is a joyous piano house anthem that will get hands in the air. Classic, smartly deployed vocal samples inject an old-school edge while the textured bass brings serious low-end weight to this utterly timeless gem. The superb 'Mellifluous' rides on smooth drum bumps as waves of synth wash over the dance floor.

They bring feel-good warmth in a subtle, dynamic fashion that locks dancers in for a blissed-out ride. Last of all, 'Can You' swings irresistibly with punchy kicks and dry, raw claps. It's a physical house sound with chopped-up vocal fragments and rolling bass that makes a huge impact.

Cinthie's You Know How EP comes on 803 Crystal Grooves on DATE.

Morevi Records from Tbilisi present their first EP - MRV001, after several releases on various formats (lathe-cut, digital) Morevi is back with 4 Tracks of Tbilisi's finest Skyra!

Expect some atmospheric, warm, dubby deepness!

Classic South African house / Kwaito album on vinyl for the first time.

Originally released on CD in 1995, this album which is associated with the birth of South African street music genre – ‘Kwaito’ and dance/dress style ‘Pantsula’ is now remastered for vinyl from the original tapes – resulting in the best sounding version of the recording to date.


Regarded as one of the earliest full length Kwaito albums, ‘Sigiya Ngengoma’ was released just one year into South Africa’s new democracy in 1995. Characterised by ‘mid-tempo’ beats, heavy bass hooks, adapted breakdancing and vocals in informal Zulu and other South African languages; ‘Sigiya Ngengoma’ would form a critical part of the South African street music movement that now has its own fashion, crews and dance style.

It helped post-democratic South Africa define its own musical identity and would pave the way for other Kwaito releases that ultimately led to the emergence of Amapiano years later.

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.

"Deep Dancefloor Jams of African Disco, Funk, Boogie, Reggae & Proto Electro Music 1977-1986reggWhen a passionate DJ and crate digger intuitively selects music for a DJ compilation, without artistic compromise and without the burden of trends, AfroMagic vol.1 emerges from the depths of his soul. Herewith we present the new favorite phonomancer’s tool for all the DJs who experience the dance floor as a sanctuary and a source of freedom and love.

The most fundamental thing that defines African music is that it was created for dancing. In African dance, there is often no clear distinction between ritual celebration and social recreational entertainment – one can seemlessly merge with the other. Because dance and rhythm have more power than gesture and more richness than words, and because they express the deepest experiences of human beings, dance is in itself a complete and self-sufficient language. It is truly an expression of life with all of its emotions – joy, love, sadness and hope – without which there is no African music and dance. For the African people, dance and music are integral parts of the body and soul, thus depicting the expression of life, current emotional states, visions or dreams. Through hypnotic repetitive music and dance, people communicate with each other and with the souls of the dead, the animals, the plants, the stars, the Gods… They free the body and the spirit through ecstatic states, reaching a healing sense of freedom, happiness, and satisfaction.

Throughout history, this transcendental perception of rhythm and dance originating from Africa, influenced popular music worldwide, thus creating new living and breathing forms of musical genres – freeing them from their industrial mold. Funk, disco, soul, boogie, reggae, dancefloor jazz etc., developed in parallel all over the world. It is foolish to perpetually discuss where they originated from and who were the creators of all these fiery dance floor genres – being obvious that they directly or indirectly originate from the African continent and its people who were as well, over the centuries, influenced by disturbing socio-cultural factors of colonialism. However, no one can enslave the soul. The seeds of free and uninhibited dance and rhythm, true to their original form, initially first sprouted onto the USA’s fertile fields of clubbing and popular music while later evolving in other parts of the world.

The disco funk club culture manifested itself as a phenomenal explosion of artists and grooves in the second half of the 70s in the USA. Shortly it spread around the world continually reigning over charts in its various forms – to this day. Clubs emerged where the DJ is an almighty shaman and the dancers are a tribe united under one roof. This urban ritual had and still has a single goal: togetherness, freedom, and love. Clubs have evolved into temples where we free ourselves from the burden of a consumerist lifestyle and suppressed emotions – a place where we receive love and give love – to be who we really are.

Disco funk clubbing was such an influential global phenomenon that its influence can be observed in various other genres from the disco funk era i.e. progressive rock, which mutated by layering complex rock arrangements with a disco funk groove resulting in hybrids, highly sought by today’s diggers, producers and collectors. The profit-hungry music industry of the 80s very quickly commercialized the original disco funk sound by amputating of its original Afro groove to be able to easily ‘sell’ it globally. So, the original disco funk groove became underground again, and it has remained so until this day. Today, for a DJ to unearth that ravishing groove that will lead the dancers to the stars, he must dig passionately like a true musical archaeologist in search of that groove that picks you up after just a few initial beats. That groove which forces the atoms in your body to vibrate, that groove which unites the body and releases the burden.

The AfroMagic compilation series is created as a tool for real DJs who stick to the aesthetics and essence of clubbing.

This continuation of the Afromagic compilation by DJ Borovich was created in a private jam session which served as an escape route from intense and complex love problems.

Unconsciously driven by intuition and emotion and following a live mix tape framework where many tunes are arranged instantaneously, Borovich narrates his story with a strong rhythm that cuts loose even the most blocked off energy nodes and restores happiness to the spirit and the body.

The musical experience of the groove is completed by the lyrics of the songs, which symbolically give DJ Borovich universal answers to his questions arising from questioning the boundaries, nuances and other forms of love.

When considering that Borovich’s selection was created to facilitate an escape from the burdens of reality through rhythm and dance, we can be sure that Afromagic Vol. 2 will have a 100% uplifting, energized and spaced-out effect on the listeners.

The intro to A1, “Feeling Happy” by the Apostles, introduces us to an experienced and slow, cool and irregularly tight groove containing a confidently sung chorus that instantly gives a sense of freedom and hints at the remainder of Afromagic Vol. 2: “I’m gonna feel happy, ´cause I know I’m gonna be myself.” After the anthemic song mantra of the Apostles, Aigbe Lebarty uncompromisingly continues with a dirty disco rhythm. Acidified by accented synths that elevate it to shamanic levels and held together by a female tribal choir, we embark on an uncompromising ritual disco journey. Without a moment to take a breather the prog funk band Mighty Flames and their Road Man launch a highly vicious and raw, thick funk groove spiced with acid synths and dirty RnR breaks, raising the bar for the A side. Jimi Hendrix himself would surely praise it given the ultimate freedom and virtuosity in the solo sections. With the last tune on A side DJ Borovich decides to burn the floor with Geraldo Pino’s psychedelic, acid furious groove and lyrics which describe this HEAVY part of love problems: “The way she walk, the way she talk, the way she does a funky dances, she is really really heavy – that woman”.

While the A side represents a compact intoxicating afro groove machine that separates us from reality and lifts us up to the stars in over 23 minutes, the B side is a treasure trove of proto sub-genres gems. This selection represents the mission of the Afromagic: to find singular events in African recorded discography of popular music from the 70s and 80s that give evidence to the birth of new modern genres on the Dark Continent even before they emerged in the U.S.A. or Europe. The beginnings of electronic music influenced genres are represented back to back with 80s synth jazzy pop, all painted in African colours.

The B side opens big with Jake Sollo and a huge reggae blues number singing about the humiliation of a man – goosebumps guaranteed! “You think I’m nobody that’s why, you don’t know the way for me, I’m somebody I know, I found myself at last”. Adolf Ahanotu then enters the scene with a hard sliding tackle at B2 and an exotic rare disco funk dancefloor napalm. A ‘Sensation’ that would ignite even the coldest of introverts. While we approach the end of the compilation the narrative revolves again and takes a different turn. No less and no more than to the proto-electro that Baad John Cross serves us in “Give Me Some Lovin´”. The fat and repetitive broken electro synth groove, championing many early 90s electro tracks, is presented here without hesitation and with constant tension accompanied by a mantric chorus “Gimme some, gimme some, gimme some looooovin’, EVERBODY!!!”. Finally, we’re guided to the end of Afromagic Vol. 2 by Eji Oyevole’s 80s synth pop style presented in an authentic afro manner, giving us a glimpse at yet another released Afromagic edition, as well as giving an answer to DJ Borovich’s love problems. A smoothly broken electronic rhythm resembling electrified highlife sounds, carried on the wings of a virtuoso dreamy saxophone on top of which Eji presents the most intimate parts of himself. Finalizing the track with a symbolic chorus, on the surface referring to the dancefloor and simply having fun, but in actuality referring to the skill and happiness of living: “I´m a dancer, I can dance”. So, get up and dance among the stars with DJ Borovich and Afromagic.

2024 Restock

SPACIOUSNESS - Music Without Horizons - 'Spaciousness' is the first volume in a series of releases that seeks to explore the connections, the overlaps, the roots and the future of a music variously referred to as ambient, deep listening, new age and even post classical. Further to this our aim - in association with Strange Attractor Press - is to explore the concept of 'Spaciousness' not just through music but also through writing, still and moving image and through live events. Featuring Abul Mogard, Matthew David, Private Agenda, Cathy Luca, MJ Lallo, Jon Tye & Ulrich Schnauss, India Jordan, Blackwater, Susumu Yokota, Laraaji & Seahawkes, Andras, Teleplasmiste, Yamaneko and Carlos Nino & lasos.

not many artists are able to develop a distinct sonic identity releasing just 5 solo records. through his selective output in the course of 5 years on nina kraviz's Trip, vladimir dubyshkin gained not only an army of loyal fans analysing his live sets for new music, he also inspired many who followed and continued to develop his unique sound.

his tracks, many of which became underground hits like "lady of the night", "ticket to childhood" or "russian porn magazine", always stand out and are immediately recognisable. be it weird syncopated euro dance reminiscent bangers with crazy vocal snaps or haunting hypnotic beauties on a techno side. his music always has that genius dubyshkin groove, a pinch of irony and the ability to make just anyone dance, from a small underground club to a huge festival dancefloor. this universal appeal ensures his tracks resonate across sound systems of all sizes, embedding themselves in the listener's consciousness long after the music stops.

on "ivanovo night luxe", his first double ep on Trip, vladimir sounds as amazingly unhinged as ever embarking on a surreal journey, from the eerie echoes of a haunted funfair ride to the core of a peak-time set.

"ivanovo night luxe" continues to captivate and intrigue, solidifying dubyshkin's standing as an artist of unwavering integrity and reminding us that sometimes 'less is more'.

The story of Ultrasonic Grand Prix is one of two vintage 60s guitars and their owners. I love my 1967 Vox Grand Prix guitar,” declares multi-instrumentalist/producer Shawn Lee - creator, among other feats, of the soundtrack for Rockstar video game classic Bully, and one half of Ultrasonic Grand Prix. “It is a serious beast and an important part of my arsenal. Every tone you need…’For guitar maestro Barrie Cadogan - of Nottingham Freakbeaters Little Barrie, best known for the main title theme of ‘Better Call Saul’, The The, Liam Gallagher and playing on the soundtrack for Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’ - it was the Vox Ultrasonic, also from the same period, that caught his eye. “I first became interested in Vox guitars because of people who used them like Spacemen 3 and the James Brown band of the late 60’s”, he explains, “but it was when I was part of a recording session at Anton Newcombe’s studio in Berlin that I had chance to get to know the Vox gear better. I was borrowing an Ultrasonic from a friend for a while and Shawn already had his Grand Prix. I thought it would be a good name for our project whenever we got it going.’ It was with this shared passion for these weapons of vintage, psychedelic gold that the suave, velvety, and off-kilter cool of INSTAFUZZ was born. While a project born of recent times, the flames of INSTAFUZZ were first ignited all the way back in 2010, where the two met during mixing sessions for Little Barrie’s 2011 LP King of the Waves. Snap forward a decade and we find Cadogan ripping guitar licks on Instagram, the workaholic Lee using these as inspiration to lay down rhythm tracks on analogue drum machines. And not long after that, cut to the two trading files back and forth furiously online, birthing music together in ever more completed forms. And the music that did emerge was weird, startling, and insatiably groovy. With one foot dipped in the organ-warbling garage of 60s psych, and the other vibrating in the mind-expanding fractals of the British Acid House boom, INSTAFUZZ plies the earthly quintessence’s of blues, rock, soul and jazz, against the preternatural discomforts of programmed drums and unhinged synthesisers to produce something distinctly and nostalgically futuristic