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We are excited to present a 4-song EP by the iconic French synth duo, Deux, entitled Let’s Go ! Gérard Pelletier and Cati Tête formed Deux shortly after meeting in Lyon in 1981. They became known for their stripped-down synthpop compositions and suitably cold duets, through their first Minimal Wave release entitled Decadence (2010) and later their Golden Dreams EP (2012). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, they began to branch out and make more dancefloor-oriented music. The Let’s Go ! EP features three remastered mixes of their underground classic Let’s Go ! and an unreleased version of Everybody’s Night. This release is pressed on 180-gram black vinyl, presented in a heavy printed sleeve, based on their 1991 artwork, and accompanied by a black and white photo of the duo. The record is pressed as an edition of 999 copies.

Blue Vinyl
After Psychiatre's previous electro-focused Lost Palms release proved his artistic malleability, his latest sees him return to his signature sound. NMAV EP radiates warmth; music that sits back into itself, and invites its listener to do just the same.

It begins with three deep house soothers, the first taking disco as its springboard, and the rest stripping it right back to a minimal, soul-caressing effect.

On the B-side the sun doesn't stop shining, except this time Psychiatre injects a healthy dose of acid and the groove of a breakbeat. But far from the rave connotations of each style, Psychiatre teases out the most gentle facets of each, bringing the EP to a suitably laid-back close.

Bona Fide makes his triumphant return to Lee Burridge’s All Day I Dream label to release the Entropy double-EP.

For his debut EP release on All Day I Dream, Bona Fide showcases a diverse repertoire of sounds across the eight tracks. The record kicks off with the title track, where Bona Fide eases the listener in with soft percussion before incorporating fluttering melodic textures. Another highlight from the A-side is ‘Kikiri’ - a mesmerizing composition spanning nine and a half minutes which features filtered chanting over an enduring drum pattern, balanced out by mystical synth harmonies. On the B-Side, Bona Fide recruits Zone+ to collaborate on ‘Alter Ego’, a stripped-down groover with an infectious bass-line, and Wassu to collaborate on ‘Love Sparkles,’ a joyous track with maximum danceability.

Entropy may sound familiar to some, as unreleased cuts from the record have been staples of Lee Burridge sets worldwide over the last year and a half. Bona Fide’s main stage performance at the inaugural All Day I Dream Festival in Northern California left fans wondering when he would next be featured on the label. Delivering the eight track Entropy EP to be released in both digital and physical format, Bona Fide makes a massive contribution to All Day I Dream, as the world-renowned label adds another wonderful EP to their catalog.

2023 Repress

Marc Acardipane's Pitch-Hiker, originally released under Marc's Pilldriver alias, is without doubt one of the foundation tracks of European hardcore. From the moment it was released in 1995 it caused shockwaves with its stripped down, kick drum focused approach. Gone were the hoovers, sirens, breakbeats and vocal samples of that era's hardcore and instead a stark new minimalism emerged, focusing equally on the kick drum itself and the negative space and air around it.

Like all groundbreaking records it was soon followed by an endless stream of unofficial rip-offs, re-edits and remixes, none of which got close to the perfection of Marc's original. Now for the first time Pitch-Hiker gets officially remixed showing the level of trust Marc has in Perc Trax and Perc's own affection for PitchHiker and for Marc's enduring legacy as an electronic music innovator.

First up is Marc himself with his own take on his classic. Keeping the distinctive reverb soaked kick hits of his 1995 original mix he adds dive-bombing synths and scything hi-hats to increase the energy of the original mix without losing any of its dark charm.

Next label boss Perc adds more weight to the original's unmistakable kick drums, slowly building up the tension until his remix drops into the kind of noise assault not heard on Perc Trax since Tymon's devastating remix of Perc's own 'Hyperlink'. Kick drum specialists Ghost In The Machine step up next and work the original mixes' warping kick drums to the max. Updating and strengthening the track perfectly whilst keeping the sense of space that gave the original mix so much character.

Finally Sissel Wincent and Peder Mannerfelt team up for their Perc Trax debut following on from Perc's remix of 'Sissel & Bass' back in 2019. Flipping the script completely Sissel & Peder add multiple vocal hooks and fuse the original mix's 4/4 kick with half-speed broken beat rhythms to serve up a very different, but still successful interpretation of the original mix.

Techno trailblazer Amelie Lens presents her new EP 'In My Mind' on her own Lenske imprint, containing three explosive techno tracks.

Belgium's Lenske Records presents its next EP from label head Amelie Lens. The release marks a considerable high point of Lens' career, hot on the heels of the launch of her radio show and dropping just before her debut Ibiza residency with sister label EXHALE. 'In My Mind' will mark Amelie's first solo release on the label since 2020 and follows her collaboration with Airod on 'Raver's Heart' EP late last year. The EP also was inspired by electrifying visuals that Amelie takes on the road and showcases at selected gigs.

Title track 'In My Mind' opens proceedings with blasts, bangs and heavy reverbs whilst Amelie's voice swirls above. The build-up gives way to furious claps, and spiking synths that continue to dance around the vocal sample in a ruthless march. The beat is unrelenting with a venomous, pulsing bassline that creates this raw and atmospheric techno cut, while bubbling keys maintain vitality and lightness with their careful arrangement.

Multiple elements come into play for subsequent track 'First Light'. A stripped back kick synchronizes with distorted pads for the opening, soon accompanied by a heavier kick-drum counterpart and lick of acid to inject some sharpness. The true DNA of the track is the programmed claps and dark pads that rise and fall menacingly throughout, as splashes of effects are thrown into the mix.

Final track on the record 'Trippin'' undoubtedly packs a punch. Blasting off with a dominant kick and oscillating spring reverb that swipes through Amelie's wistful vocals, the harder elements gradually succumb to the softness of her voice. The listener's focus is momentarily shifted during an early breakdown before the kick returns with more vigor accompanied by hurried hi-hats and distortion that sends you into a frenzy.

Born Aaron Livingston, GRAMMY Award winning Son Little unleashes his album Like Neptune never sounding stronger or more confident than now, showcasing his original vision of r&b, informed by his love for hip-hop imbued with tinges of funk, pop, and psychedelia
While Little's collaborations with The Roots and RJD2 had already helped him make a name for himself by that point in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia.
Critics on both sides of the pond were quick to recognize the unique power of Little's solo recordings, which stripped the past for parts that could be reconstituted into something wholly new and original. NPR hailed Little's "impeccably crafted songs" as "honest and unpretentious," while The Independent proclaimed him "a formidable talent," and Vice declared that he was "dissolving
the barrier between R&B and rock 'n' roll one tearjerker at a time."

Musical legends from opposite sides of the world come together on Hell Yeah's next EP as Japan's Calm and Finnish musician Jimi Tenor collaborate on big city takes. It features two new singles as well as remixes from the celebrated tapes and Belfast's best-kept secret, The Vendetta Suite.

This most satisfying of eps came together when the psychedelic space-jazz-funk king and noted musician, composer and producer Jimi Tenor was in tour in Japan. Label head Marco arranged for him to head into Calm's studio in Kawasaki, Tokyo, and real magic happened.

'Big City Takes' is gloriously lush, with serene chords, delicate flutes and organic percussion. Tenor's airy vocal brings the soul as an intimate and late-night groove emerges to melt your heart.

Then come two remixes from tapes. The first is powered by dusty old-school drum breaks. They're doused in subtle euphoria with a nimble bassline down low, while the second one is stripped right back to a pulsing rhythm and killer phased bass. Spread chords bring sunrise feelings to this most colourful of grooves.

On the flip side, Calm offers a version of 'Time & Space' that is nearly eight minutes of exquisitely blissed-out downtempo. Chords ripple like waves, flutes flutter like birds and the whole thing is filled with the joys of a new spring day. The remix comes from The Vendetta Suite, a label regular and under-the-radar talent who is defining his native Northern Irish scene with his fresh fusion sounds. His version brings a new age ambiance to post-rave Balearic comedown. It's one that douses you in life-affirming synths as drums gently persuade you to sway along.

Bass Drum of Death’s new album Say I Won’t is the end result of a journey that took singer and bandleader John Barrett from a small town in Mississippi and sent him across the world and back home again. The music still rips, with blown-out guitars and drums that sound like bombs going off, and the melodies are catchier than ever, hollered in Barrett’s trademark yelp. But the music hits differently now, more at peace with itself, propelled by a new swagger. Say I Won’t is the record of a veteran band finding its stride and leaning into it, stripping back the excess and finding the raw core of their sound. Say I Won’t, the band’s fifth record, comes at a time of massive change for Barrett, having relocated from New York to his hometown of Oxford, Mississippi during the pandemic. The record is also a homecoming of a different sort, with the band rejoining the ranks of Fat Possum, also in Oxford, the label that released their first record GB City in 2011.

The third release on We Are FTR welcomes Oros to the family with his Inside Out EP, presenting a trio of cuts to perfectly showcase his sound. 'East' kicks things off, stretching out over the full A side with its captivating yet stripped back groove characterised by carefully crafted string samples. On the flip things get deeper, starting with the deceptively powerful 'Rek' which finds the perfect blend of head-down introspection and driving energy. 'Bartolomeo' closes out the EP with its alluring atmospheres sucking you in before more strings give a nod back to the A side and tie everything together perfectly.

Following on from the first edition released earlier this year, Les Disques Bongo Joe are pleased to announce "Ayiti Kongo Dub EP#2" by Chouk Bwa & The Ângströmers. Following on from 2020s acclaimed album Vodou Ale, Chouk Bwa turn up the heat for this exhilarating trip into their bush of ghosts by introducing a new stripped down line-up to fire up the dance floor, based exclusively on the drums and rhythms of the Haitian kongo rite and deep electronic dub expansions by their trusted Belgian counterparts The Ângströmers. As Afro-Caribbean polyrhythms meet bass-weight dub electronics, the two part EP has documented the group experimenting with a stripped back form which focuses on the dimension of trance. Opening with a cermonial chant and designed to enduce dancefloor delirium, the first track taken from the EP is the raw, high-octane, primordial techno of "Zemedo".

THE ANCHORESS TO RELEASE VINYL ACOUSTIC EP OF TRACKS FROM
THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED 'THE ART OF LOSING'
Following the raft of "Best of 2021" plaudits for 'The Art Of Losing', Welsh
songwriter & producer The Anchoress announces the vinyl EP release of acoustic
versions of tracks from her critically- acclaimed record.'The Art Of Losing -
Acoustic EP' is out on January 20th 2023 via Kscope & features a stripped back
piano version of 'Show Your Face', 'Let It Hurt (String Quartet Version)' & acoustic
versions of 'All Farewells Should Be Sudden' & 'The Art Of Losing' plus a solo
piano take on 'The Exchange' & a special French language version of 'Let It Hurt'.
Catherine Anne Davies aka The Anchoress says: "As an album that was designed
to be listened to on headphones as an intimate journey into the physical &
psychological landscape of grief, it's been fascinating to tackle these acoustic
reworkings & explore new textures & arrangements that strip back the songs to
their essential skeletons. I hope fans will find a new connection to the core of the
songs within these acoustic versions & be excited to own them on vinyl for the
first time."
The vinyl acoustic EP release coincides with news of a series of UK tour dates:

Released in partnership with SEGA of Japan and composer Tomoya Ohtani, The Music of Starfall Islands is a collection of beautiful instrumental and classical-inspired tracks which are used as the background music for the various islands in Sonic Frontiers. The music for each island is presented as a suite, containing several movements that layer upon one another and build up to a climax, each with its own distinctive tone and feel, much like the islands themselves, which range from green meadows, to arid deserts, volcanoes and beyond. The music, composed solely by Tomoya Ohtani, is often stripped down, melancholic, and unexpectedly experimental, featuring an array of unusual sound sources (including Iranian percussion, Celtic vocal samples and Armenian folk instruments). In other moments, it is often rhythmic and emotive, with the addition of subtle electronics and the grandiose strings of The Nashville Scoring Orchestra.

While this release is by no means the complete soundtrack to Sonic Frontiers, we are thrilled to be able to present these beautiful and intriguing tracks as a collection on their own. With its downbeat tone and new compositional approaches, this music is unlike any Sonic soundtrack that has come before and may well subvert the expectations of some long-term fans, but should also surprise and delight audiences both new and old.

As Tomoya Ohtani explains in his liner notes for this release: “I wanted to create an atmosphere for each song that, despite the sadness it carries, also has a glimmer of hope. I do not believe there are many other pieces of Sonic game music that focus so much on the atmosphere as the tracks on Sonic Frontiers do.”

Industrialyzer drops ‘Snake Whisperer’ on Rekids, backed with two Radio Slave remixes

Industrialyzer, real name Ricardo Rodrigues, is a Lisbon-born, Amsterdam-based DJ and producer who has released music on the likes of Ben Sims’ Symbolism, Tronic, Suara, and his Groove Matters imprint, under both his Industrialyzer alias as well as one half of The Advent. Arriving on Radio Slave’s Rekids for the first time, the DJ/producer delivers one hard-hitting original track backed by two stellar remixes from the label boss.

The original mix of ‘Snake Whisperer’ leads the release, bringing floaty bleeps, pounding drums, and grinding synths across the A-side. For the first of his remixes, Radio Slave extends elements of the original into a 10-minute trip with hypnotic low-end colliding with razor-sharp percussion. Rounding out the release is Radio Slave’s ambient version, which sees the Rekids head honcho stripping all percussion and emphasising the gorgeous pads and vast, reverberant atmospherics.

In the world of heavy music, few bands embrace dynamics and negative
space like Kowloon Walled City - Since forming 15 years ago, the band
has increasingly refined its deconstructed approach to noise rock, math
rock, and doom.Now, with Piecework (Neurot Recordings/Gilead Media),
the band's fourth album and first in six years, Kowloon Walled City
reaches new levels of restraint
Songs are bleak and slow, but also shorter and more concise. (Seven songs clock
in at about 30 minutes.) There are stretches of near silence. While the band has
always operated under the MO that less is more, it has doubled down on that
ethos for Piecework. Singer/ guitarist Scott Evans and guitarist Jon Howell, the
main songwriters, self- imposed restrictions to push themselves creatively
"restraining ourselves into oblivion," as Howell put it. Songs are written in more
straightforward time signatures. Evans and Howell also changed their guitar rigs
to sound more "clean and clanky."
With the gristle stripped away, bone and muscle remain: drums decaying in a
room, bass strings rattling, a lonely guitar chord. Sometimes, it's almost
uncomfortably barren. But the negative space also amplifies the ruptures of
heady aggressiveness that anchor Piecework. Angular guitar notes from Howell
skew off the neck, dissolving into space. Ian Miller's bass lines churn in the muck.
Drums and cymbal smashing by Dan Sneddon punctuate dead air. (Sneddon,
formerly of Early Graves, makes his recording debut with the band five years after
joining.) There's sadness and anger in Evans' shouted vocals, but also a desire for
something better.
Through the resignation and regret, Piecework also hints at perseverance and
hope. Pressed on Milky White color vinyl.

Cyclo Records (The Supermen Lovers, SunTrust, Gemini, JT Donaldson, BRS, Dr Drak, Rednail Kidz...) is proud to present the first single “Take a Pill” by southwest France collective DIS OUI, an original compendium of electro-pop and catchy House beats made for the dance floors and for radios. A progressive but obsessive track driven by old school (rhythm piano) and futuristic sounds on disillusioned male vocals. Check for the stripping Acid version on the B side !

Each realm moves its own time in the now. Our space in this realm moves in time with the greater mechanism, at our own pace. We focus less on the gears of the mechanism and more on the energy that turns motion. Our music is a reaction to falling; an instinctual jerk that breaks momentum. Our sounds are taken from the background of our environment. Conversations that blend, the rattling hydraulics of a bus, the ringing of your ears, the random bangs of a floundering stumble corralled into a rhythm and submerged in synth. Docile is a style that is gritty to smooth on an honest simple funk. It is a stripped down 4\4 minimalism with a backbone. We transmit the frequency of our time and space through the noise of the technosphere; determined to advance our movements into unknown areas.

Docile Recordings is owned and managed by Andy Garcia. Docile 31 was produced by Garcia in his laboratory located in downtown Detroit. Every Docile product is pressed by Garcia at Archer Records on an American made Lened press.

Lilies (Gothenburg, SE) starts a new vinyl series focused on techno made with the bare hands: Lilieskalla. On the first record, DJ Lily presents five all analog creations. The sequences are one-take live recordings, shaping a stripped down and slowly changing sound based on a Buchla 208c.

In hugo, there’s a central question that Loyle Carner keeps coming back to: “I’m young, Black, successful and have a platform - but where do I go next?” The answer is explored in this epic scream of a third album. With urgent delivery and gloriously widescreen production, Carner confronts both the deeply personal (“You can’t hate the roots of a tree, and not hate the tree. So how can I hate my father without hating me?) and the highly political (“I told the black man he didn’t understand I reached the white man he wouldn’t take my hand”). Cinematic in scale and scope, hugo is both a rallying war cry for a generation forged in fire and a study of the personal internal conflict that drives the rest of the album - as a mixed-race Black man, as an artist, as a father and as a son. With Mercury and Brits nominations, NME Awards and appearances in global brand campaigns (Nike, YSL, Timberland), Carner has undoubtedly had a meteoric rise to the top, culminating with his second album Not Waving, But Drowning charting at number 3 in the UK albums chart in 2019. However, hugo sees Carner taking a sharp detour from his previous work, putting it down to lockdown and the “hedonistic side of career being stripped away. There were no shows, no backstage, no festivals, no photoshoots”. By continuing to write in these tumultuous times with a renewed clarity and sense of artistic freedom, Carner reached deeper beneath the surface than he ever had before. The result is his most cathartic and ambitious record yet, a coruscating journey into the heart of what it means to be alive in these tumultuous times, and one which looks set to neatly cement his position as one of the most potent and vital young talents around today. Working alongside renowned producer kwes. (Solange, Kelela, Nao), Carner leaves no stone unturned on this album, in both its sound and its stories. In a 10-track album that moves from gorgeous neo-soul moments to thundering hip hop, with immediate, infectious bangers and sampled interludes from non musicians (mixed-race Guyanese poet John Agard and youth activist and politician Athian Akec) Carner shifts seamlessly from micro to macro, confronting everything from strained relationships with family to the societal tears caused by class stratification. It also lays bare bruises in his personal life that he has never revealed before – often in painful, deeply uncomfortable ways, focusing on Carner's experience of becoming a father in the context of growing up without contact with his biological father. With the song “Polyfilla”, against the backdrop of a warm melodic beat, Carner explores his desire to “break the chains in the cycle” of dysfunctional Black fatherhood, commenting on the narrative of fatherhood in the genre, and saying a key part of the process was realising that his father “grew up in a world where nobody showed him how to love or nurture”. The follow up track “A Lasting Place” is an exploration of the MC’s failure and inability to be perfect in this mission. The album closer is a powerful statement of love and forgiveness; with his signature lyrical dexterity, Carner declares his relentless commitment to his son and sees forgiving his father as a key part of this. The song closes with an emotional ending of Carner telling his dad “still I’m lucky yo that we talk”. There’s a striking duality of hugo’s bold, multilayered tracks and its often starkly intimate and tender lyricism, and that dichotomy is deliberate - it is a message for young Black men, but really, anyone, who is listening. Cognizant of the immense pain and fear and confusion that we are faced with everyday, Carner has thrown down the gauntlet, defying us not to rise above the fray, wake up each day and be ambitious. Ambitious in building strong personal relationships. Ambitious in our pursuit of our goals. Ambitious in never refusing to back down against injustice. Rejecting the title of leader, Loyle Carner sees himself “as holding up a mirror”, and that clearly translates into the album's universal messages.

Stripped down versions of tracks from Flicker. “On my debut solo album The View From Halfway Down I did all of my promotion via Zoom and pre-recorded interviews and acoustic sessions,” explains Andy of the EP. “I enjoyed making the acoustic versions and decided to do some more for this album.” “‘Something Like Love’ is the most popular song from Flicker and one of the oldest, starting life in the ’90s. It’s probably the only one that dates back to the Ride era. "The riffs for ‘World Of Echo’ were written while I was on tour with Oasis, at the height of my La’s obsession. It went through a few iterations from then onwards, but never had a final melody until last year. ‘She Calls The Tune’ was the first song I wrote after I joined Oasis, ending a period of writers’ block which I had started going through some time in 1999. The very first performance of it was to an audience of Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer and Richard Ashcroft in a Milan hotel room. No pressure! I don’t think I ever saw this as an Oasis song, but I have them to thank for the fact that I was able to write songs again at all.” ‘Lifeline’ was another riff I came up with while on tour with Oasis. I remember being on a UK tour with Shack, and sitting around backstage on acoustics with Mick and John Head jamming around the Simon & Garfunkel version of ‘Scarborough Fair’. The riff for ‘Lifeline’ followed soon after. It was always called ‘Lifeline’ but I never found the right lyric for it until recently. A1 Something Like Love A2 World Of Echo B1 She Calls The Tune B2 Lifeline

In celebration of legendary prog-rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s 50th anniversary, BMG are releasing ‘Black Moon’ as a limited edition Picture Disc vinyl.

Formed in 1970, Emerson, Lake & Palmer were torchbearers of the progressive rock sound and one of rock’s first super-groups. The world-conquering, stadium-filling prog giants helped to broaden the audience for the genre from hundreds of thousands into tens of millions and were one the most commercially successful rock bands of the 1970s.

Their first 7 album releases all made the U.K. albums chart top 10 and U.S. top 20. Black Moon is ELP’s eighth studio album. It was released in 1992 when the band re-formed after 14 years, having split-up after their previous album, ‘Love Beach’ in 1978, and represents a real return to form.

The music is a stripped-down, amped-up, more mainstream rock format, though in many places retaining the feel of their 70s prog epics. Expertly re-mastered in 2017 by celebrated rock studio engineer Andy Pearce.

It's coming home, it's coming home - house music is coming home! A second instalment of the Groove Access: series Chicago Is Home offers us five fresh tracks from the windy city landing in a glorious cavalcade of razor edged snares and hypnotic jack house. Ed Nine & Kid Enigma's 'Bandleaders' opens side one in spectacular fashion with spoken mantras lying deep in the mix, distinctive phasing arpeggios, poking keyboard riffs and ringing cymbals. JSquare's 'Get Wicked' kicks with even more power, tribal rhythms bouncing of bleepy melodies, before 'Move' by Geto Mark rounds off the side with the strutting, beautifully brutal 'Move', a proper 3AM peak time pleaser. Steve Noah's 'The Hater' opens side two, a wily acid line worming its way across a raw, stripped down backing before exploding into serious gnarliness when you least expect it. AFTR's 'Undercover' rounds things off with another knuckle duster of a tune, leaving no doubt that Chicago is still the place to be when it comes to house.

Green Vinyl

Föllakzoid are nearly unparalleled in the hypnotic lysergic drenched neo-psychedelic experience. On their debut it is mostly a rather bulky one, determined by the downright dirty, distorted electric guitar, which is also usually accompanied by a spacey, howling and herbaceous howling one. In addition, there is fat bass and powerful drums. During the prolific post-napster musical era dominated by myspace, the Chilean musical field opened up so that many bands could broaden their creative spectrum by taking global and timeless references as an aesthetic holy grail. This experimentation had the internet and specialized forums as a search engine, which not only provided the world parameters in trends, but also allowed to find true hidden gems, bands that were adored by a few connoisseurs of the real quality left behind by the record labels. In this context, a group of university students who have known each other from school began to rehearse in the Caracol Vip underground (Santiago, Chile), in a room owned by a local heavy-metal legend, Juanzer. Equipped with tube amplifiers, Marshall and other custom made, the members of that time: Gonzalo Laguna on vocals, Juan Pablo Rodriguez on bass, Domingo García-Huidobro on guitar, Diego Lorca on drums and Francisco Zenteno on second guitar, they began to play endless jams without a strict sense of songs or directed compositional notion. The rule was to follow the noise in a journey through valleys and peaks that allowed the spontaneous appearance of textures, lyrics, phrases and some invented chords that did not resemble anything that had been heard at that time. The rehearsals were transformed into true live performances without an audience, which were only seen by a few curious, among alcohol, smoke and deafening noise, which could only end when the owner of the room (Juanzer) entered to turn off the equipment. Over time he himself stayed as an auditor, witnessing how the musicians stripped themselves in their rehearsals. Considered at that time as play or fun, the idea of forming a band with a name came with the real live performances to which they were invited, without yet having songs made, at the end of 2006. The myth of their first live performance alludes to a numerical superstition, on July 7, 2007, in a small bar in Providencia (Santiago), which also provided the band with an upward recognition for the psychedelic-punk music they were doing, with a voracious vocalist who destroyed everything on stage and a band that stood firm on the endless songs they built. The name that was invented for that occasion was the result of a nonsense about the German word feuerzeug brought to the group by their close friend Alfredo Thiermann (who would later make the cover of the first album and become keyboardist), which the members of that time took and Spanishized at will. This neologism represents the second founding myth of the band since the interest in bands like Can, Neu! and AMON DUUL II and the characteristic motorik rhythm would soon arrive, in the form of kosmische musik. By 2008 the band had already added several live performances and some songs appeared, among which were Directo al Sol and Loop (nod to the English band), which allowed a greater deployment of ambient-noise resources, almost close to the 'concrete' music. The deconstructed rock of Spacemen 3 was also present in the form of repeated sequences on the bass and drums, as the layers of shrill guitars formed the foam of the tide bursting in the darkness of space. With the ideas and general feeling of the sound that they already had, the band made the decision to record their first album with the sound engineer and Juan Pablo's brother, Ignacio 'Nes' Rodríguez, who later together with JP would form the BYM label to make the first CDs of the forthcoming debut of Föllakzoid and other bands that Nes was recording. Sheltered that winter in the studio that Nes had built in an old house in Recoleta, the band recorded the bulk of the songs on the album with a new jam that emerged in that room composed of 1 note and moments of rising intensity: Sky Input I and II appeared to complete a set of songs that came from rock but were slowly passing to a level of trance and cacophony typical of orchestrated and atonal music. With three takes per song but only one take of the jam, the album was finished with a few extra takes and overdubs, some made in the house of Nes himself, who contributed a guitar to Loop, although it does not appear in the credits, and additional takes of "Pelao" Zenteno with delay and reverse for almost all songs. The names of the songs came from the lyrics that Laguna had worked from the live versions to the studio finals, except for Loop, Sky Input and El Humo. The cover of the album, which as mentioned was made by Thiermann, represents well the spirit of those days, when creative magma looked for an outlet through the instruments without any restriction or explicit direction from any of the members of the group. The image of the tree towards the sky speaks of the roots that rise towards the immensity, the nature projected towards the stratosphere. Ideas that the neo-psychedelia of those years seemed to capture well, echoing in the Chilean bands that at that time were gathering around the BYM label. Both the creative fluency and the lack of a musical director ensured that Föllakzoid was an original band that did not impose themselves a way of doing things or sounding, collective music took shape in the most wonderful way, without characters, without a record name, without faces. Just an instant in space. 2022 GALAXY GREEN coloured vinyl

MATTERS UNKNOWN is the new project led by multi-instrumentalist and
composer Jonny Enser.We Aren't Just is the debut album from MATTERS
UNKNOWN – Jonny Enser from Nubiyan Twist's solo project
Over 14 tracks, it travels through Afro- jazz, celestial blues, soulful funk,
electronica, hip hop referencing influences such as Mulatu Astatke, Pat Thomas
and Tony Allen all of whom he has worked with via Nubiyan Twist.This album
features some of the UK's finest young players including members of Nerija, Noya
Rao, Golden Mean and COLECTIVA. For fans ofJazz is Dead and Emma- Jean
Thackray. Every track on the album is inspired by a facet of Jonny's personal
development; drawing from his relationship to the city, whether in the delta
regions of the Mississippi river or along London's arterial Thames. The album is a
material testament to the flexibility inherent to MATTERS UNKNOWN; it can be
orchestrated to accommodate a 15-strong orchestra, replete with a string section
to move you to the dancefloor as Jazz originally intended, or stripped down to the
bare bones of a trumpet and tuba- led quartet whose intentions remain all the
same; to pierce into the audience's soul.
Jonny is honest, often laying bare his personal plights with his physical disability
and mental health, and the steep – yet rewarding – uphill climb as a musician and
Jazz instrumentalist. We Aren't Just is a multi- faceted study of the self, one's
relationship with the external world; the material, and the living within the inert.

Another side of Serge Gainsbourg permeates this 1963 film soundtrack about ‘a stripper lost in the nocturnal world’ of Paris, according to director Jacques Poitrenaud, who cast Nico in the lead role (after her appearance in La Dolce Vita and just prior to the single she cut with Jimmy Page for Andrew Loog Oldham). Created by Gainsbourg with arranger and longstanding collaborator Alain Goraguer, the music is fittingly the cool jazz of dingy nightclubs and seedy bordellos, with Gainsbourg on piano, and there’s the sultry title track, delivered breathlessly by Juliette Greco. Another lost gem for all serious Gainsbourg and Goraguer fans.

Freestyle Records drop an unmissable LP of foundational UK dance music made between 1982 to 1984, in the form of the collected output of Contact-U - aka Rick de Jongh and Andy Sojka's stripped-back electro boogie project.

At the turn of the 1980s Challenge Records was founded on North London's Holloway Road - formed by Andy Sojka & Rick de Jongh to act as a sister-label to Sojka's seminal soul & boogie-focused Elite imprint. Initially releasing a smattering of lovers rock singles, Challenge would quickly begin to focus-in on the emerging sounds of Hi-NRG & electro - with Contact-U, an alias for Rick & Andy's own stripped-back productions, becoming Challenge's first act in this vein.

Recording the sublimely wonky spaceage funk of 'Inside You' in November of 1982, de Jongh & Sojka followed this up over the next 2 years with three 12" releases for Challenge before hanging up the moniker. Providing infectious synth-based melodies & basslines with killer drum-machines & minimal but effective live percussion - and in a couple of instances (see "Inca Sacrifice" and "Breaking Point') crucial dub re-versions on their B-sides - these tracks are some of the strongest electro-funk records to come out of the UK during this period. Dig in!

Unholy Black Metal from the Holy Land, drenched in Middle-Eastern tones and mystique! An invocation of thousands of years of Darkness! Hailing from the urban Israeli settlement called Ma’ale Adummim in Israel, Arallu is a five-piece Black/Death Metal act that has been around the metal underground for twenty-five years. The band got the name Arallu from the Mesopotamian mythology, as it is the name of the underworld kingdom ruled by the goddess Ereshkigal and the god Nergal, where the dead are judged. Arallu’s music revolves around the traditional ancient Middle Eastern melodies of fellow countrymen Melechesh, the high speed savagery of bands like Angelcorpse and Absu, and the atmospheric feel of legendary acts like before mentioned Melechesh and Absu. In 2019 the band had released the record called “En Olam”, and that opus has solidified Arralu’s already known talent to the underground extreme metal community. “Death Covenant” is the band’s seventh full-length studio offering and the album offers the listeners a very stunning infusion of occult Black Metal music with the ancient Sumerian and Middle Eastern sound. The riffs found in here will satisfy the listeners with its frenzy of melodic tremolo picked riffs that is intertwined with some eerie folk instrumentation. The elements in the guitar department, thrown in with a few folk instruments such as a saz and a darbuka, reveals how the band had successfully stripped metal down to its core and added a personal touch of their own special flair. them and it provides that extra punch and low-end heaviness to the overall outcome of Arallu’s music. It basically lies steadily beneath the guitars as it backs them up with some thick lines that give a more deep feel to the strings and dispenses an ominous atmosphere to the tracks. The drum section also catches the audience’s attention with a variety of destructive pummeling double bass blasting to some Middle Eastern tribal drumming that helps a lot in terms of keeping the atmosphere intact. The record is filled with high-pitched piercing shrieks and screams which create a dark and raw soundscape. These vicious shrieks are sometimes jacked up with some uncanny backing vocals that tie together the brutality of extreme death and Black Metal music to the ancient Middle Eastern scales of the material. “Death Covenant” also parades the band’s strongest production to date in their twenty-five years of existence. Arallu had created a menacing and atmospheric beast in this style of metal with their release of “Death Covenant”. These Israelis had put out a savage album that is hardly comparable to its predecessors.

Bubbling up from the psychedelic tar pits of L.A., Frankie and the Witch Fingers have been a constant source of primordial groove for the better part of the last decade. Formed and incubated in Bloomington, IN before moving west to scrap with Los Angeles’ garage rock rabble, the band evolved from cavern-clawed echo merchants to architects of prog-infected psych epics that evoke a shift in reality. After a stretch on Chicago/LA flagship Permanent Records the band landed at yet another fabled enclave of garage and psychedelia - Brooklyn’s Greenway Records, now working in tandem with psych powerhouse LEVITATION and their label The Reverberation Appreciation Society, the groups latest effort is dually supported by a RAS / Greenway co-release. After years of searching for the specific alchemy that would tear open the cosmos, they found the formula with the addition of Shaughnessy Starr on drums in the summer of 2018. They began a new cycle and tripped into tip-on double gatefold territory, flesh-ing out their lysergic impulses into a monolith of sound that closes in from all sides. The band reached new levels of grandiosity and utilized every minute to manifest their psych-soul Sabbath in four dimensions, spilling psychic blood on a populace ready and eagerly waiting. Yet, as expansive, inventive, and immersive as any studio album might be, the band is born for the stage. As their live prowess caught the ears of some legends in their own right, the band practically lived on the road last year with stints opening for Oh Sees, Cheap Trick and ZZ Top. Along the way the constant pulpit of the stage would form ZAM into a transformative experience while plotting their next permutation of space and time. That transformation, Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters... (repeated infinitely,) rises like a Phoenix from the road tar, van exhaust, and ozone crackle of amps in heat. Once off the road it was recorded in just five blistering days. Though, while the tour may have hammered the album into shape and brought about a wind of change, those changes stretched to the band itself as well. In the wake of the tour the band’s longtime bassist Alex Bulli made his exit, with the majority of bass parts on the album being written and played by multi-instrumental magician Josh Menashe with occasional pitch in from songwriter Dylan Sizemore. Stripped to their core the band has created their most ambitious work to date, an album that takes the turbulence of ZAM and crafts it into a beast more insidious and singular than anything in their catalog. Moving forward, the band has taken on new blood. Completing their lineup, Nikki Pickle (of Death Valley Girls) will join them working the new album out roadside on bass. A new horizon of Frankie and the Witch Fingers draws near and we’re all set to follow them into the unknown.

Having torn up raves for well over a decade, the Detroit duo Rickers and Ted Krisko AKA Ataxia present their debut longplayer ‘Out Of Step’. Featuring guest spots from close peers DJ Minx, Andrés and Mr Joshooa, they twist house, techno, electro, breakbeat and rave into revitalized new shapes; embellished with a touch of soul, funk and hip hop. With backgrounds in hardcore and punk, Ataxia’s debut is suffused with that energy, attitude, and approach; this is raw, lean and unashamedly no-nonsense dance floor tackle that goes straight for the jugular. Heavily analogue, the album experiments with tape saturation, which harks back to the duo’s formative years in bands, recording demos to cassettes. These straight-up, in-the-red tracks give preference to overdriven drum machines, rather than generic polished sheen, but conversely, it’s all deceptively well-crafted too; ‘Out Of Step’ is a standout record that’s big in character, bringing to mind the renegade spirit of Underground Resistance, and the bombastic brilliance of The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers.

Defiantly optimistic despite the state of the world, a “life is good” vocal sample meets minor chords sliding over 808 hats on the exemplary house/techno pumper ‘Detroit Gospel’, before a lighter moment on the album, but no less impactful with its hefty low-end thump, is ‘Pine Island’ featuring Motor City hero Andrés. Together they cook up a Motown-inspired house cut awash with horn swells and backup singers, bouncing to wide swung funk bass, in classic 313 style. ‘Language’ turns the club on its head – busting out one of the most distinct basslines in recent times, and bristling with buzzy, undulating chords, whilst ‘Maxia’ features influential Detroit royalty DJ Minx. Inspired by her classic ‘A Walk In The Park’, with a fat distorted kick and stealthy bass groove, this is low-slung, stripped-back, heads-down coolness. The high-tech funk of ‘Spit In Your Percolator’, is laser-guided in its efficiency, with a strobe-like, increasingly intensifying energy, peppered with clever, tripped up vocal chops. With the next cut, conveyor belt noises and fast churning low-end gives way to a dubbed-out breakdown, on the deep breakbeat roller ‘98 Degrees’. Charged with a blistering, rave intensity, ‘Number Streets’, is a futuristic distorted techno workout that booms through the subs, whilst ‘The Formulator’ mixes filtered snippets, abstract synth noises and melodic bleeps with a bassline echoing Paperclip People’s ‘The Floor’. Closer to the UK definition of hardcore, combining 4/4 and breakbeat, ‘The Pusher’ evokes the spirit of late 80s orbital raves, adding a natty keys solo, and deadly bass used sparingly, for even deadlier effect. ‘Feels Like’ sees Rickers and Ted team up their studiomate and fellow TV Lounge resident and club booker, Mister Joshooa. Inspired by Photek but also almost UKG in style, this breakbeat session is stamped with MJ’s signature chopped vocals and intricate rhythmic interplay. The bubbling, wobbly loose swing of ‘WM’ is constructed around a classic chopped-up MTV cribs sample, with a filtered vocal creating a far out psychedelic effect – all of which is propelled apace by a huge bruising LFO. The LP concludes in fine style with ‘Dance The Bridge’, where bouncy beats and wigged-out keys meet bright, gently uplifting synth chords that bring a clear-skied mood; ending the record as it began, on an optimistic note.

‘Out Of Step’ marks another chapter in the ongoing relationship between Life and Death co-founder DJ Tennis and Ataxia. Their connection goes back to the earliest days of the label, where they played gigs together on some of Tennis’ initial visits to Detroit. It’s a friendship that’s blossomed organically over the last decade through their shared love of punk and hardcore, and led to the fruition of one of Ataxia’s most compelling projects to date. Labels to release Ataxia’s output include legendary Detroit techno imprints Planet E and KMS, plus the seminal American house label Nervous Records. Their catalogue also includes music for Visionquest, Leftroom, 20/20 Vision and Seth Troxler’s Play It Say It.

DJ Different dons his Terraform alias as he begins his journey in ‘Entering The Void’ on CYBERDOME; exploring phat electro bass-lines and party-starting ghettotech energy with its crosshairs fixated firmly on the club environment.

Born and raised in the culturally rich city of Malmo, the Swedish producer has previously released on London based label Deeply Cultured, Distant Hawaii, Mood Of Era, 1Ø PILLS MATE and Traxx Underground, spanning atmospheric techno, ethereal breakbeat and chunky electro.

‘Ultrasonic’ is an ear-wriggling cut of stripped-back psychedelia. As David Holmes would say, all the best electronic music tracks are made up of only a few components. Here, typical electro synth stabs, robotic vocal sampling and sparse precision allows the track room to breathe, whilst maintaining a deep and funk-driven groove.

‘Ghettotech’ sounds how you would expect it to; pounding kicks, frantic atmospherics and lairy screw-face hype combine on a certified fire-starter, before ‘Exiting The Void’ introduces itself on a footwork vibe that evolves into a sequence of interstellar-dungeon dub-electro.

‘The Rise of the Slavs’ takes its inspiration from the diverse group of tribes who lived in Central and Eastern Europe in the 6th to 10th centuries, establishing the foundations for the Slavic nations; it’s marching rhythm beaming historical context into 21st Century dance music.

Madison, Wisconsin producer Sam Link exploded onto the breaks circuit with his debut EP on Prague-based record label YUKU - exploring classic underground jungle and juke templates and stretching them into new and distinct formats - and now the emerging artist readies four varied cuts of stylish, club-ready breakbeats and bass on Low Battery.

With one gun-finger fixated on the past and the other firmly pointing to the future, Sam implements a unique form of production within his work. Holding down a full-time job as an artist is never easy, so Sam now works in 20-30 minute bursts, capturing the creative spurts and happy accidents, and allowing space between creation to allow ideas to breathe.

Ragga-tipped jungle at break-neck pace kicks things off on 'The Breath'; a cut of vortex-breakbeats that strikes a fine balance between meditative and energetic, like all great ragga-inspired cuts should. 'Uproar' lowers the tempo slightly in favour of stretching basslines, underwater-wubs and murky atmospherics on a growling cut of breaks that transatlantically shatters over the UK-sound.

'Chance' puts the emphasis on 'less is more'. Stripped-back percussion, nature-atmospherics and hefty low-end bass vibrations combine on a minimal jungle cut designed to vibe in the rave, before Teklife and Cosmic Bridge affiliate A.Fruit rounds out the release with a stuttering breakbeat-footwork remix of its predecessor.

New solo album from Seth Avett of the Avett Brothers (his first in 5 years), featuring songs written by lauded folk singer Greg Brown, whose songs have also been performed and recorded by Joan Baez, Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams, Carlos Santana, Ani DiFranco, Gillian Welch, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and more. For those who may need reminding, Greg Brown is the ultimate songwriter's songwriter. Over a forty-plus-year career, he's occupied the same rarefied air as Loudon Wainwright III and John Prine - a keen-eyed poet and diarist of the human condition. And he's done it mostly on his own. “This is a man who put forty records out because he had to,” Avett says. “He made his own record label. He played the coffee shops, the bars, the little theaters. He built it. He's a world-class artist who did it all under the radar, which is just mind-blowing to me.” As Avett's new solo record makes clear, this collection is an expression of admiration and gratitude for one of his heroes. But it's also a reflection of his own artistry and ability as an interpreter. Though Brown's songs have been a part of his listening diet for decades, Avett gained a more profound appreciation once he put his own voice behind them. And though on the surface it's a covers record, it dovetails seamlessly with the most recent Avett Brothers album The Third Gleam and Seth's solo outing IV, which find him in equally stripped-down settings exploring the light and shadows of his own personal stories.

LIMITED EDITION picture disc from the iconic Juice Recordings!

Oh Gosh… Don’t leave it too long to get your hands on this eye-catching picture disc as stock is extremely limited!

A supplementary addition to the recent Juice / Splash compilation, this collector’s item piece is the ideal companion piece for all vinyl completists. Don’t miss you chance to own the full audio collection on vinyl.

Undercover Agent has raided his original studio recordings to find exclusive cuts for this beautiful slice of wax. Cut to heavy weight vinyl, features 4 tracks from the incredible Juice Records back catalogue, all remastered for optimal listener experience.

Opening with a brand new 2022 remix, B-Key reworks of one of the labels biggest releases Oh Gosh! Which has gained widespread support throughout summer 2022 events. While being brand new, retains the original jungle flavours from back in the day.

Under his M.T.S alias, Undercover Agent has included the in-demand original version of Assembly Line from 1995. A massive bassline finished with stripped back drum work and heavily dubbed out samples remastered for this picture disc make for a sure fire winner.

On the B-side we’re presented with a never before released 96 Dub Mix of ‘Dream’ sourced from original studio DAT recordings.

Finally, the wobbly bass tones of the high value Undercover Agents own remix of Hypnosis rounds out this beautifully curated collectors item.

A NEW, STELLAR & ECLECTIC JOURNEY OF OLD METAL IN THE
DARKTHRONE ODYSSEY
From their formation back in 1986, to becoming one of Norway's finest musical
exports (with a number of highly revered black metal masterpieces released in
the early 90's helping to solidify their legacy), Darkthrone has continued to evolve
& challenge in equal measure, throughout their illustrious recording career
spanning over three decades. And now, the ever- productive duo of Nocturno &
Fenriz continue their own metallic saga with a new selection of fine, vintage
sounding headbanging classics in the making. 'Astral Fortress' is itself a swift
follow- up to 2021's 'Eternal Hails' opus, because of Darkthrone's consistent &
ongoing writing process, which has been in force for some years now. For
Darkthrone does not sleep - it only waits.
Carried on the brisk wind of eager rock, with foundations in black, thrash, doom &
heavy metal, 'Astral Fortress' is the latest album of stellar, eclectic old metal in the
Darkthrone odyssey. With a seemingly endless dungeon full of heavy metal
influences channelled through Darkthrone's dynamic riff-machine, plus also with
many increasing inspirations taken from their own past catalogue, Darkthrone
has truly become its own beast within the metal world. Even though sprinkled
with atmospheric touches such as synthesizers & mellotron on 'Astral Fortress' to
great effect, the Darkthrone sound remains stripped down to the core; always
primitive & organic.
'Astral Fortress' was recorded at Chaka Khan Studios in Oslo, the same location
used for the 'Eternal Hails' album, with Ole Øvstedal & Silje Høgevold.

We may already be this screwed, the Builders and the Butchers seem to
be suggesting throughout Dead Reckoning
High time we started shouting about it. The Builders and Butchers combine
folksy Americana with a hybrid of Celtic and Southern gothic traditions, creating a
sound that doesn 't evoke one specific location as much as a patchwork of longforgotten places. The guys keep things loose on their third album, Dead
Reckoning, whose 12 songs were recorded in a series of live takes with few
overdubs. The result isn't as lushly textured as Salvation Is a Deep Dark Well,
which found the Builders beefing up their old-time folk songs with 21st century
production, but it 's far more representative of their live show. Apart from guest
performers Amanda Lawrence and Zy Orange Lynn, both of whom add string
parts to the album, Dead Reckoning is a stripped- down effort, with acoustic
instruments taking precedence over their electric counterparts and a sense of
raw, off-the-cuff energy reigning supreme. Pressed on Turquoise Color vinyl.

Released on gold vinyl, ‘The Coincidentalist’ and ‘Dust Bowl’ are two discs of Howe Gelb filled with randomness and happenstance, a typical treasure trove spanning all genres from alt country to Cohen-esque grandeur. They traverse, unflinchingly, his chameleon-like repertoire. This deluxe re-issue includes ‘Dust Bowl’ on vinyl for the very first time, with the records housed in a gatefold sleeve featuring updated artwork and liner notes. ‘The Coincidentalist’, originally released in 2013, features a raft of friends and collaborators including Bonnie Prince Billy, Andrew Bird, M. Ward, Steve Shelley, and Jason Lytle of Grandaddy with John Parrish on mixing duties. Ever the focal point of Giant Sand and Gelb releases, the Arizona Desert serves as a key inspiration for the record, animating the barren landscape with stories of those that have navigated them. Praise for the release was not short, with AllMusic proclaiming that it’s “one of Gelb's most realized efforts; despite its relaxed, airy presentation, it's musically and lyrically provocative, as poetic, strange, and mysterious as the desert itself." The accompanying collection ‘Dust Bowl’ is a personal sketchbook of songs, a more stripped back set than it’s counterpart. Featuring everything from the country blues of ‘Porch Banjo’ and ‘John Deere’, to off-kilter piano ballads like ‘The Old Overrated’ and ‘Reality Or Not’ and the deconstructed desert pop on ‘Forever And A Day’ and the fragile ‘Man On A String’. ‘Dust Bowl’ is an insider’s view of Howe’s songwriting craft, a unique insight into the man himself. “‘Dust Bowl’ was primarily for fans that have followed me for a while. ‘The Coincidentalist’ is for the friends of the fans.” Howe told Under The Radar. While Nightlife magazine reported that; “Without warning, the Giant Sand frontman and polymorphous countryman dropped this compilation of house recordings via Bandcamp… At a time when so much harmless, soulless folk resonates, Howe Gelb is a mandatory point of reference for any fan of the genre.”

Thirty years into their career, Canadian indie rock perennials Sloan return
with their 13th album - Steady
Featuring the band's trademark harmonies and every band member taking lead
vocal duties on at least a couple tracks, there's no better musical commonwealth
than this quartet. You'll hear the power pop rockers like "Magical Thinking" and
"Keep Your Name Alive" to the moving, stripped-back introspective numbers like
"Simply Leaving" and "Human Nature", and the psychedelic trips of "Panic of
Runnymede" and "Close Encounters." It's hard to think of another band that has
stayed as consistent for three decades musically and still has all the same band
members for their entire career. Thirteen albums later, slow and steady wins the
race.

Vargmal Records is an independent record label and multidisciplinary platform founded by Gent Gjonbalaj. Operating from Prishtina, Kosovo, the imprint publishes hypnotic compositions of various forms, exploring the realms of electronic music and beyond. The label's debut release marks the birth of an initiative started several years ago, reflecting on a process of growth, research and refinement.

Conceived as a foundation record, the 'Classics' EP demonstrates Vargmal's concept and overall spirit. The Italian pioneer Leo Anibaldi inaugurates the label featuring two cuts on the A-side, originally produced in the early 1990s--'Muta 5' and an as yet unheard version of 'Endurance 4'--replete with Anibaldi's signature sound programming and high-octane output. On the flip, the torch is passed to another Italian master, Donato Dozzy, who takes them to another level with his peculiar and precise remix treatment. Where Anibaldi paves the way for a possible future, Dozzy applies a modern touch to the same fundamental approach--a balancing act that shows a spectrum within the conceptual framework from two different points in the continuum, transcending any individual style or place in time.

Selected by their ability to extract the full potentiality of the sound, the tracks on this release reflect a minimalist approach that is inherently resourceful and discerning, whilst maximizing effect and impact. The efficiency of the sound can be heard in the stripped-back elements, practical arrangement and execution of the creative idea. 'Muta 5' opens the EP, a throbbing mass of pressure cooker action, continuously building tension with rippling percussion lines and syncopated beats. Ahead of its time in 1993, 'Muta 5' has a raw, driving energy and commanding authority. Dozzy reworks it into a tighter, linear forma--whilst retaining the angst of the original, he applies new synth motifs and notches the speed down for extra poise. 'Endurance 4' (Version II) is a tribal workout with hallmarks of the classic Italian deep techno sound. With arching drones, chugging rhythms and dramatic narratives, 'Endurance 4' presents an idiosyncratic style and emotive character which later became the model for this sound. Dozzy's hypnotic faculty shines through on the remix, a polished re-run that elaborates on the ominous melodic theme, and lifts the sound majestically to a gliding altitude--marking the end of this record and the beginning of Vargmal's journey.

crystal clear vinyl / limited

Vargmal Records is an independent record label and multidisciplinary platform founded by Gent Gjonbalaj. Operating from Prishtina, Kosovo, the imprint publishes hypnotic compositions of various forms, exploring the realms of electronic music and beyond. The label's debut release marks the birth of an initiative started several years ago, reflecting on a process of growth, research and refinement.

Conceived as a foundation record, the 'Classics' EP demonstrates Vargmal's concept and overall spirit. The Italian pioneer Leo Anibaldi inaugurates the label featuring two cuts on the A-side, originally produced in the early 1990s--'Muta 5' and an as yet unheard version of 'Endurance 4'--replete with Anibaldi's signature sound programming and high-octane output. On the flip, the torch is passed to another Italian master, Donato Dozzy, who takes them to another level with his peculiar and precise remix treatment. Where Anibaldi paves the way for a possible future, Dozzy applies a modern touch to the same fundamental approach--a balancing act that shows a spectrum within the conceptual framework from two different points in the continuum, transcending any individual style or place in time.

Selected by their ability to extract the full potentiality of the sound, the tracks on this release reflect a minimalist approach that is inherently resourceful and discerning, whilst maximizing effect and impact. The efficiency of the sound can be heard in the stripped-back elements, practical arrangement and execution of the creative idea. 'Muta 5' opens the EP, a throbbing mass of pressure cooker action, continuously building tension with rippling percussion lines and syncopated beats. Ahead of its time in 1993, 'Muta 5' has a raw, driving energy and commanding authority. Dozzy reworks it into a tighter, linear forma--whilst retaining the angst of the original, he applies new synth motifs and notches the speed down for extra poise. 'Endurance 4' (Version II) is a tribal workout with hallmarks of the classic Italian deep techno sound. With arching drones, chugging rhythms and dramatic narratives, 'Endurance 4' presents an idiosyncratic style and emotive character which later became the model for this sound. Dozzy's hypnotic faculty shines through on the remix, a polished re-run that elaborates on the ominous melodic theme, and lifts the sound majestically to a gliding altitude--marking the end of this record and the beginning of Vargmal's journey.

Vinyl only

Zurescen Records... A new UK based label with a focus on purely vinyl and bringing some high quality releases. To start things off Jase delivers Zure01 which consists of 2 full sides of stripped back minimal tools. On the A side 'The Shapers', a straight up dreamy journey with a tight bass and shuffling hats with plenty of energy for the dancefloor. B side 'Ectopic' is a serious tool to drop anytime, with its cheeky bass, mad modulations and twisted vocals. A record worth bagging!!