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Beyond Time is the first album by acclaimed experimental group 23 Skidoo in fifteen years, released in a special double disc edition combining the soundtrack music to 2011 documentary film Beyond Time, and a DVD of the film itself.
Directed by Alex Turnbull and Pete Stern, Beyond Time is a journey into the life and work of artist William Turnbull, from his modest roots as the son of a Dundee shipyard engineer to his standing as one of the world's most highly regarded modern sculptors. Narration is by Jude Law. 'An insightful, irreverent documentary, yet with a palpable sense of purpose' said the Daily Telegraph, with the Guardian confirming that'William Turnbull helped change the way we see art today.'
The soundtrack music is performed by 23 Skidoo. Formed in 1979 as industrial, post-punk and funk genres coalesced, the group included Bill Turnbull's sons Alex and Jonny together with Fritz Catlin and Peter 'Sketch' Martin. As well as new music, the accomplished score features re-worked versions of older material. 'Johnny and I thought 23 Skidoo's anti-commercial tendencies came from a punk sensibility,' explains Alex. 'But it turns out we had a genetic predisposition to anti-establishment practices. Bill was a polymath at a time when that was a dirty word, shifting between sculpture and painting and putting both in a symbiotic relationship. Now crossing boundaries is everywhere: think of hip-hop. The name of the band referenced a William Burroughs short story. Burroughs used, as we did, cut-up techniques, collaging and sampling. We were oblivious to the fact that a lot of that aesthetic was in what Bill did until I made the film.'
Both the CD and vinyl versions of Beyond Time include a Region 0 NTSC format DVD of the documentary film (with bonus features), but feature different artwork. The CD/DVD package features a portrait of Bill by photographer Ida Carr, while the vinyl/DVD version features a detail from 05 by William Turnbull (oil on canvas, 1959) printed on matt reverse board.

This EP was made during a period where my whole outlook on everything was transforming. The Voidloss project started as an investigation, I was conducting a lot of research and study on the mind, the occult, on different thought modes, and the Voidloss project represented this. The idea was about a leap in to the void. A leap of abandonment into the dark, with total acceptance, total commitment. The idea was to lose myself to the void. This was mainly a spiritual journey for me, and could be best explained by 3 things, the void of Miyamoto Musashi from Go Rin No Sho, The concept of the Tao from the writings of Lao Tzu, and the concept of the abyss from the works of Aleister Crowley. Part of this journey deep inside the self was frightening and horrific, the total loss of self, of all identity and ego, and part of it was beautiful and enlightening. I wanted the music to reflect this, and I wanted the music to change as I changed, as I went to and through all these interesting places. In essence this was about freedom. So fast forward some years and I felt I had sharpened my mind quite effectively, the music had twisted and changed and flowed with me. At the point I began making the music for this EP, I had grown quite angry with the amount of conformity I was perceiving in life. Politically, socially, musically, there was this drive of conformity in the world. I think part of it, and only a part, comes from the prevalence of social media, the need to belong and to be liked, the idea of judging yourself and your works through the perception of others. Musically I felt that within techno there was a tendency for the music to fit within a set of confines dictated by fashion and hype, and this was reducing the diversity of the music, it seemed also that the practices of commercial music were seeping in to techno as the music became more popular. Hype and business driven decisions, brand building and so on. I always felt techno was more about art, and I began to get frustrated. Equally I felt that politically there was less and less choice, as all decisions seemed to lead to the same outcomes. I became more interested in the concept of anarchism, of the idea that government was no longer needed. I have always in my life had a drive to question everything. I've always been 'naughty' and rebellious and done things my way, to my advantage or my disadvantage, I could never accept being anything other than myself all the way. If everyone walks in one direction, I will walk the other way, even if it takes me over the edge of a precipice, just to see what is there. All this stuff influences my music, and during the period of making this EP I was angry, kicking against the things I no longer liked or wanted, screaming dissent. There is a lot of anger and rage, and of course rebellion. I wanted the music to capture that unbridled fury you have when you are in your late teens, when you just start learning about yourself and you start rebelling and questioning things around the time the world is really pushing you to conform. I was soundtracking my own philosophical riot. Previous to this my Voidloss stuff had been more introverted, more pensive and melancholy, more self destructive, more cerebral. For this new music I wanted something more immediate but without being too obvious. In terms of the choices I made I still leaned more towards broken rhythms for beat structure. I find it very difficult to do anything interesting with 4x4 kicks any more, it's too rigid for me, it limits my freedom. I like the looseness you get from more 'drummer' like beats, I guess probably because I have been playing drums all my life. The challenge is to get the same rolling power from broken rhythms as you get from 4 to the floor. It's not easy, there is a ridiculous amount of trial and error and the rejection percentage is high. I also was trying to use less 'synthy' sounds. I wanted to try to take a more acousmatic approach to sound design. With the current modular synth revival in techno I was hearing a lot of 'old' synth sounds re-emerging, and this didn't seem like a progression to me. I wanted to make sounds that were hard to source for the listener, where they weren't sure if it was synth or real world sample, digital or analogue. This involved a lot of experimentation. My process involved a lot of field recording, especially with contact microphones, which open up a whole new world of interesting sounds. You are effectively recording sounds through objects in the environment, 'hearing' the world as these objects hear them, I was using guitars, feedback loops, handmade instruments as well. So I was combining this with different synthesis, granular synthesis, sample synthesis, physical modelling, FM synthesis and of course analogue. Everything was reprocessed and re-synthesised, I tried hard to obscure the source and make something new as much as possible. The stuff on this EP was part of my live PA for some time, so as I learned how the music worked live I could go back and make changes, sometimes the environment I was playing in transformed the sound as well, and so I would try to go back an incorporate this in to the music. For remixes I wanted to choose artists that I respected for their vision as well as for their output, so my list of people I wanted was extremely short. Inigo Kennedy has always been an artist I have respected greatly. His music has always been unique to himself, he remains outside of fashions and trends even though his name has become very big recently. He takes risks with his work, experimenting and exploring, yet remaining relevant to the club, and just tirelessly forging ahead, seemingly for the sake of art above all else. And he's just a really nice guy to deal with. His remix is everything I expected it to be in that it is the unexpected. Regis is another artist who forges his own path in music, you cant really even begin to discuss the avantgarde in techno without including his name, he is one of the foundation stones for artistry and the outsider mentality in techno. His music is always unique to his own vision, and along with it comes an interesting artistic philosophy taking in situationism, post punk and industrial ideology and a good dose of tricksterism ala PT Barnum, all of which comes out in his music and the way it is presented. The man is a truly singular force and it is an honour to have him on this record. Overall the concept here is that of rebellion and dissent. Of asking questions, following your own path, of maintaining some place in yourself that burns like a forest fire.

Whether or not I have succeeded I guess is down to the listener, I'm never happy with my music, I keep wanting to move forwards, or somewhere else, and am constantly trying and failing to capture some essence of perfection. But like Bukowski said
'It's the only good fight there is'

Reminiscent of a time where we were releasing 4-tracks sampler every month (remember the Secret Gems From The Vault) It is naturally that we thought about a various artists sampler in order to introduce the new wild bunch.
I said new but some of them are pretty familiar, which is the case with the almighty D'julz or Raw District for an incredible update on 2007 « Fast Forward » which deserves its title, Do I need to introduce D'Julz I don't think so, one of the most sought-after French dj and producer, he never disappoints.
Then we are pleased to welcome Accatone, having several EP's and remixes released since 2008 and a full album in 2012 on labels like Dabit, Apparel, Piston Recordings, Roots & Wings, One to One, to name some, and having his work remixed by legendary Matthew Herbert or Jay Tripwire (Poker Flat, Tonality), Piek, (Cadenza, Paulatine, diynamic), Accatone is becoming a full-grown producer by conquering the likes of Dj Sneak, Laurent Garnier, Stacey Pullen, Slam, Timo Maas, Danny Tennaglia, Olderic, David Labeij, Mirco Violi, Severino Panzeta (Horse Meat Disco), Paco Osuna and many others !
Scan Mode aka Alberto Sánchez began his career in the year 1998 and has since traveled throughout the Spanish territory, performing in major venues and festivals alongside the likes of Jeff Mills, Sven Väth, Dubfire, Marco Carola and Richie Hawtin to name a few. He is regarded as an eclectic artist who has taken different professional profiles during his musical career. His music is on the edge of House and Techno with brilliant melodies and rhytmic, Kike Henriquez began editing in Alex Flatner's labels, Later released on labels like BluFin, Greenhorn and with some of the best artists from the tech-house & deep-house scene, Introduced to David Duriez by Something Different(s head honcho Jesus Pablo, Kike soon joined the task force behind this new BR100 release, Another artist to watch out.

Early Support from:

Raresh / Nathan Coles / Dan Ghenacia / Claudio Coccoluto / Fred Everything / Tiger Stripes / Doc Martin / Shur-i-kan / Luke Solomon & more

New York City-based DJ, producer and The Corner label owner Anthony Parasole makes his debut on Ostgut Ton with three new percussive-heavy Techno tracks on the My Block EP.

"Percussive music, that's my ground, my foundation but I am missing the feeling of tribalism in Techno today. I've been using a lot of different drum techniques over the past years, implementing them to Techno. The record 'Quickstrike', that I've released on my own label The Corner, was an edit record of an old sample-based house release. To me this was a test if people would gravitate to this sound and it was the biggest record on The Corner so far. From there I knew I could do this and two tracks off my new EP on Ostgut Ton work like this: 'Typhoon' features bongos, congas and all kinds of skin percussion, 'My Block' uses a different kind of percussive color.

HipHop in general and the Cut-up technique in particular have also heavily inspired me as a producer. During the 1990s music seemed really profound - a little bit tougher too. I listened to a lot of HipHop when I was writing the music for this new release and applied its methods to my own music. Many producers at that time were very forward-thinking. Wu-Tang Clan's RZA uses a sixteenth note technique that made me realize that I wanted this kind of hypnotizing sound to work in a Techno format. Another big influence were late 1970s Horror movie trailers. I was watching them while I was working on 'Bizarre' in the studio, I was inspired to capture the eerie tones and textures of those short clips in 'Bizarre'.

At the end of the day I work within certain parameters. Everytime I make a sample, I drop it into my personal folder - so all my music has a similarity of up to 50 or 60%. Maybe I'll use the same drumkit or kickdrum. I apply limitations to myself, but doing this also gives me my own voice. When I was learning how to produce, Levon Vincent taught me to make my own drum kit, to make my own synth kit and to work within this. Sample-based music is inspiring, and creating something out of found sound is very interesting to me. I think a sound signature is something that will always refine ones sonic pallet and skill set."

- Anthony Parasole, Berlin, September 2014 -

After great success of 2 previous releases, 'Sound Of Vast ' is now about to hit 3rd release. The producer of this deep monster is one of the most respectful Japanese artist, and Womb's resident Dj 'The People In Fog (aka DJ Sodeyama).'
Even though DJ Sodeyama is more known as techno producer, The reason that Sodeyama used the other nickname was, As you could guess from poetic sentence, to express his music in more deeper and emotional ways, he even choose EP name as 'Deep', also, all the track's titles contains the word 'Deep', funny but straight forward way of thinking, if you want to deliver right moods on the dance
floor, by not only sold beat but also unusual emotions that come from organic percussion, this whole EP will give you the answer.
As usual of SOV policy, this EP contain one each of exclusive digital, and vinyl only tracks, this time, 'Deep
Woods Remix' chosen as vinyl only exclusive, the remixer 'Elbee Bad' is the legend of US House, as known as 'The Prince Of Dance Music', if you are fan of Rush Hour Records you should be heard about his name, as he is one of the be loved, and featured artist from the label. His remix of 'Deep Wood' is indeed funky and sexy, one more reason to have this vinyl in your collection.
Lastly, this EP will pressed 500 copies only with out repressing, quicker people will have a benefit as usual.

Steve Frisco, of Serie Limitee fame, brings us the latest bundle of hot tracks to hit Wax Classic in 2014. As the title suggests, Steve takes us on a journey through low fidelity sounds and production techniques. Think dark, moody, yet crunchy basement house tracks with inspiration taken from all over the U.S and the rest of the house world. It's a generous offering as well. Six whole dusty tunes for those diggers who are looking for something with a bit more range than another record of generic piano laden, house-by-numbers pieces that still seem to be flooding the record store shelves in 2014. The moods do vary from track to track, but they remain very reflective and almost melancholic at points. The title track, 'Adventure in Lo-Fi', is the deepest of the lot with filtered chords, echoing claps and a sporadic kick pattern that often clears way for the track's bass hits. Now, compare that to 'Da Brooklyn Beat'. Whilst the former had a distinct sunrise/sunset kind of feel to it, the latter is definitely more of a club affair. Skippy snare hits and a strong organ lead the track on, and at the risk of utilizing very overused buzzwords such as 'raw' and 'ruff', this track, and the rest of the A-side for that matter, certainly captures that essence.Stalwart Wax Classic fans will no doubt be picking this one up to add to their collection. However, I strongly recommend this EP as a jumping in point to the label for any newcomers out there!

Sitting down and writing about our latest EP was a fun but challenging exercise, we scratched our heads and this may sound bad but we couldn't think of deep, dark interesting stories on how we made these tracks or what they represent. These jams are simply a combination of previous and random happy accidents that have come together and saying anything else would be a lie. This however does not mean that the thinking behind them is completely random, the three cuts that we selected for this EP we feel are a journey of experimentation and a culmination of unexpected sounds and feelings. A word that we found best described the EP was 'Irony'. The most ironic thing we feel is that the main basis of these tracks were born on the stage during our live performances and they have now been reworked and moulded into a record. We however feel that this brings an interesting element to the EP that yes it is recorded and set, but you are not quite sure where the next sound or feeling will come from. A hi hat A kick It is pure 'organised randomness'... I suppose we should talk about some of the music and try and explain what we mean! We start with 'Pe dos', which in plain English means inside out and it was a track that we had started back in 2011. We were flicking through our 'curiosity closets' one day and found it, we played around with it and heard a kick drum that was not arranged correctly in the sequence due to a random manipulation of the sequencer. Our first thought was to just change it, but then we decided to wait..... when all the other sounds of the tracks came together we threw the kick back in and BAM, Even the acapella voice of the track was screaming. Therefore it was a simple for us to name this track as we worked on it in a completely back to front and 'Inside Out' way!

Limited White Vinyl Pressing!
While some of you might think of Planet Rhythm as one of those old labels from back in the day, it may not necessarily be the correct judgement. Not only is it a product of its past achievements, but it's also pushing things forward in the present time, with Woo York being one of a few new artists emerging from the imprint's recent catalogue. That said, 2014 starts with Ukrainian duo taking over Planet Rhythm headquarters as the label's proprietors and getting in charge of all of its future development.

First out of press is the duo's own EP highlighting their shift towards brand new, hardware-driven studio setup. From abstract TB-303-ish structures of Acid Rain, through the building peaks of Analogue Swamp, a perfect example of stripping functional techno, to Come Closer's uplifting trance-y melodies and the closing sequence of Strobe 1, this record is shaping up to be Woo York's strongest release to date.

6th Borough Project are back with the follow up to their 2011 debut One Night In The Borough. A hectic couple of years have been lived out by Graeme Clark and Craig Smith during the making of this LP with Graeme continuing to play week in and week out as Revenge and setting up his new imprint Roar Groove whilst Craig has established the brilliant Fifty Fathoms Deep label. Studio time has been tight to say the least but that
hasn't stopped the duo from pulling out all the stops and ensuring that this LP surpasses the already sky-high benchmark set by it's predecessor. Followers of 6th Borough Project will be pleased to hear that all the low-slung, loopy, hypnotic vibes we've come to
expect are present and correct whilst the duo have still made sure to push things forward with their sound, bringing a minimalist, housier edge to many tracks.

Things kick off with the Intro setting the mood, coming on like a bizarre dream that's over in a flash but seems to include an entire episode of your life and succeeds in encapsulating the sentiment of the entire LP in 40 seconds! Soul, Beach, City, Gig, Party,
Energy, Relaxation.... It's all here.
On Our Love we find a brilliantly lop-sided shuffling groove laying the foundation for some classic 6BP-style vocal chops, easing us in gently with the warm up vibes. Things take a slightly darker direction on U Know U with this heads-down track, a crisp, stripped-back beat being joined by filtering pads and a distant vocal for company. Think It Over and In Your Arms follow seeing the boys building things perfectly and increasing the party
atmosphere with two floor-friendly tracks which look set to be just a couple of the DJ's favorites from the LP. Dropping things down a notch we're treated to the beautiful slow-mo gem entitled Through The Night before heading deeper still on the tripped out, dark and dubby The Call Back.

Back 2 Black picks up the tempo again for a percussion heavy workout with just a hint of Africa emerging through the echoing stabs and sub bass. The party continues with Read
My Mind which brings us some brooding, up-tempo warehouse vibes to get immersed in before F.E.E.L and a brand new LP version of previous single The Vibes pushes further still in a darker, more abstract and clubby mood. Finally, we wind down with Walk Away, making the perfect close for a brilliant, fresh and original LP from a highly talented couple of producers whose passion and knowledge of music shines brightly here. Difficult
second LP clearly not an issue with 6th Borough Project!

Part 1 of our 4 Sample 10 Years Full Pupp compilation. Each 12 has 4 brand new Exclusive tracks a 12. Norwegian´s finest Young Adults. Cost to Coast - Out of the Cold - Hot as Hell. 87392;"Doc Scott was on the decks. It was at Tribal Gathering (I think), 1996, standing in front of a wall of speakers to one side of the stage, enjoying myself, like you do, when this sound started growing inside my brain. My head was then ripped clean off my shoulders! Words are still hard to find! It was the first time I ever heard Shadow Boxing and its the only thing I still remember from that night. Om Unit's 2014 Remix is paired with the 1996 original. DJ support from: Fabio, Mark Pritchard, Friction, Surgeon, Toddla T, Laurent Garnier, Pinch, Zinc, Baliey, Rob Both, Billy Nasty, Krust & John B.

New label Back To The Balearics follow up the superb Maricopa EP with a stunner from Berlin based live music collective Spleen.
Part one in their musical odyssey 'Fusionary' consists of live jams and instrumentation over computer-based syncopation, their music has a strange yet organic flow to it, which is both hypnotic and rhythmic.
Think Kraut influenced, psychedelic dub funk with a touch of alt pop and you'll be on the right road, but still miles away.
Music is better than words...Spleen prove that.
LTD edition vinyl with beautiful printed sleeves.

Back in stock!

Some friends think that Shihab the man owes the balance of his soul to his beautiful Danish wife. They may be right; for Eros is the very essence of what Shihab plays.Yet Eros is a god with many a face. A tale of tender mournings Shihab's flute is telling in MAUVE - a piece that translates its title into delicately changing colors of sound. In UMA FITA DE TRES CORES he has his instrument wooing with the proud self-reliance of Latin grandezza. Calmly, softly, almost blandishly Shihab blows the solo flute in the Jimmy Woode composition MY KINDA WORLD. Serene and somewhat playful his own title ANOTHER SAMBA comes along - a most uncommon composition by the way: lasting for sixty bars as if growing independent out of itself, with solos that appear to be additional spinnings rather than improvised choruses; and yet; a perfect, self sustaining melody no element of which is superfluous. In the last of the pieces for flute, in Klook Clarke's THE WILD MAN, which is based on a flourish of trumpets, Shihab for the first time reminds of the sombre, the demon-like face of God Eros. He contrasts flawlessly intoned passages with challenging phrases, phrases raucously sung into the flute - really, he is a 'wild man' who is playing like that. This raucous challenging sound prevails throughout the four baritone-titles ('Shihab never withholds long to caress', Campi says). Shihab blows the instrument the same way he speaks: without any delay, directly coming to the point. And he treats it like a voice, not aiming at an artificially homogeneous sound in all the registers, but at their different modes of expression. In the high pitches the horn gains a brilliant tenor-like quality - for instance in PETER'S WALTZ, dedicated to Shihab's son Peter, and in Kenny Clarke's simple drum fills comprising theme JAY-JAY. In the deep register Shihab produces snotty sounds filling lady's ears with horrors like Pan - thus in JAY-JAY and in the boppy blues SET UP . Shihab's sense of a scurrilous humor breaks through in SEEDS (which reminds of the West-African heritage of jazz with its multiple rhythms and its renunciation of harmonious development - only the eight bars of the bridge base on a progression of chords): not only does he omit the notorious bombastic chord by the ensemble after his own final cadenza, he even ends with a minor second above the keynote. Seems as if Shihab now unrestrictedly conveys to his music all the experiences and emotions he formerly did not deal with in a musical way. Shihab the man need not be disturbed so that Shihab the musician may improvise passionate choruses. It would be unjust, however, to forget the choruses of the four other musicians for those by the 'born leader'. Francy Boland, taciturn and always introverted: he plays an extrovert, a masculine piano. Even with spare single note lines he produces a piercing and ringing sound that hitherto nobody except him has discovered, a bluesy sound bespeaking the very element of frustration that lies within the title of the trio number WHO'LL BUY MY DREAM. The unfailing feeling for rhythm the musicians of the CBBB praise with the arranger Boland, becomes manifest in the piano solo on SET UP. Francy's improvisation is rhythmically styled in a Monk-like manner, and yet no accent could be set differently. Maybe this is the secret of the Shihab-Combo. 'Rhythm is our business', this credo of Jimmy Lunceford could be the one of the five musicians as well. Sadi hits his vibes as dryly as if wanting to bring its ancestors to memory, the wooden chimes of West Africa's coastal tribes. To reach the fullest poignancy possible, he intentionally calms down even the resonance in MY KINDA WORLD. In UMA FITA DE TRES CORES Jimmy Woode bears out the crispy jazz beat against Sadi's Bongos and Klook's Latin-American percussion all by himself. Moreover - and that, too, is connected with the school of the Duke who was the first in the history of jazz to discover the instrument's potential as a melody instrument - Woode rips a marvelous counterpoint to the inventions of the other melody instruments, take for example PETER'S WALTZ. And then there is Kenny Clarke. Klook. On the entire record he only uses his brushes. Means by which different drummers only know to bring forward impressionistically blending noises: He drums a vigorous beat with them, fanciful fills, a solo, melodious and at once skillfully playing with cross rhythms in JAY-JAY. The 'born leader', the 'outstanding baritone saxophonist of modern jazz' (Joachim-Ernst Berendt), he could not wish himself different sidemen for this record overdue since some years.

April 2013 sees the release of Norwegian Disco Viking Rune Linbaek's latest long player, on his Drum Island label

Its his first album since the 2000 release (Sondag) on Paper Recordings RePap offshoot

Last year's single 'Wonder' feat Kurt Maloo on the label was a day one sell out here at All Ears and marked a significant maturing of Rune's trademark sound.
The influence of Norway on the world's forward thinking Disco scene & beyond is more than evident, with countrymen like Todd Terje, Prins Thomas and Hans Peter Lindstrom
all leading the charge for years now. The creative cauldron of the infamous 'club in a public toilet' Skansen has much to answer for !

Krasava is a very much vocal led project, with a cast of featured vocalists which includes Norwegian popstar Anneli Drecker alongside recent collaborator Øyvind Blikstad.
The album is steeped in Norwegian folklore, visually and musically and the gentle lilt of the Norse/Balearic sound, sits comfortably alongside more Cosmic flavours, Rock and beautifully crafted pop.

Belgium, not the first place you'd think of when it comes to Latin or Afro funk. Yet one of the greatest records to blend both styles came from the small northern European country, masterminded by Nico Gomez and his Afro Percussion Inc.

Ritual was originally released in 1971 on the Dutch label Omega International (Gomez was born in Holland before moving to Belgium in the late 40s) and is being reissued by Mr Bongo in 2013, bringing its blazing funk grooves to both new ears and those already tuned in to this masterpiece's legacy.

Across its 11 tracks Ritual delivers the kind of production, arrangement and musicianship that rightfully belong in a dictionary next to the definition of professional. Gomez' band was tight and they knew it, showing it off on their covers of Perez Prado's 'Caballo Negro' and 'Lupita' by injecting the originals with a deep funk that blends both Afro and Latin influences. On 'Samba De Una Nota So' and 'El Condor Pasa', another pair of covers, they switch to soulful downtempo with mesmerising ease. The title cut remains one of the album's highlights, a devastating dancefloor groove with horns to match that has aged beautifully and was heavily sampled by Liquid People for 'The Dragon'. 'Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!' adds touches of rock with fuzzy guitars for one of the album's headier experiences.

Kartel is delighted to announce the 18th March release on Soundway Records of Magical Thinking by Antibalas multi-instrumentalist, Chico Mann. Tipping a genre-bending wink at 80's funk, boogie and electro stylings, with just a hint of Afrobeat spicing the mix, Chico effortlessly merges a downtempo groove with timeless pop sensibility to create a contemporary dancefloor classic. UK/European dates for March/April will be announced shortly.

Alex Font is a serious guy who knows that now is his time. A multi-instrumentalist, as well as a producer and DJ, he can sometimes be seen on stage in trademark shirt and bow tie. He declares himself a lover of vinyl and, above all, what he calls real house. I think that says it all.

'NOW IS MY TIME' is the fifth release on the Oblack label and is available in black vinyl and digital. It is undeniable proof that Alex Font has arrived and is now a permanent force on the House scene, mainly in soul and dance, but who also knows how to reinvent his sound using new tech. Always with an eye on the future of sound innovation, he still manages to keep hold of his roots and respect his great influences. Well, nothing less would do. On this EP you can tell that Alex Font (remember, this is one serious guy) knows what he has in his hands and spinning on his turntable. His knowledge of musical composition, harmony and engineering skills jump out at you as soon as the first beat of 'Now is my time' hits the speakers: darkness, sophistication, soul and groove. There's a perfect command of tempo, of where, when and how. You pick up on the instrumental skills which allow him to do what he wants, when he wants. That's what's so great about this: you're struck by the ease of how such perfect technique and astoundingly good taste come together. Digitally analogical (or is it the other way round), this is the deeply profound vs. the dancefloor. It fascinates and liberates, carrying you off through different dimensions before breaking out of itself, with no need for artificial fanfares as it's so perfectly defined by Chicagoan pianos, hi-hats, funkoid vocals, etc. He's simply extraordinary: Alex Font signed by Oblack 005.

The remix by Martinez gives this track a technical edge and club splendor. Leaving out the more classic elements of house that are present in the original, the Swedish producer slows things down so that it doesn't lose any of its elegance, but at the same time the track gains punch on the dancefloor, and there's no doubt that it works. As cool as it is effective at inciting dance and everything else that comes with gyrating your pelvis in the early hours of the morning.

Finally, the Argentinian Shall Ocin plays the scoundrel here by adding diverse electronic elements that take the track into a new dimension. By giving the vocal more prominence, here it takes centre stage, and over a well-layered tech-house base, it makes the tremendous savoir faire of the original literally surf, while at the same time respecting and completing it.

In the end, it's great that you know that this is your time and that you want to share it, through Oblack and on vinyl, with all of us. Thanks comrade.

We know what you're thinking and you're probably wrong." tBd 2013 Being from and working in Sheffield you quickly learn not to worry what anyone else is thinking or doing and just get on with what you want to do, it's what artist's should do. That's not to say there isn't a community here, there is but it all works at a comfortable distance from each other, small pockets of talent all across the city, tiny satellites sending out their signal. It's always been about the bass! Starting the Electronic Supper Club with friends came out of nothing more than a vibe for the City, to create a canvas for us all to paint on in equal measure, it's from this work that this EP was born, it really connected us back into the City. It was and is our way to connect to past/present/future, while others may be dreaming of time travel and jet packs we accept that the future is much darker and more brutal. Welcome To SoYo

Terror Danjah's second Hyperdub album is 'The Dark Crawler', a well-paced and much more upfront and energetic journey through his musical world than his debut 'Undeniable'. The album revolves around the 'Dark Crawler' theme, a blistering grime track that pops up several times, vocaled by MC's Riko Dan, Mayhem, Deadly and Saf One, and then lastly Trim and Kossie. That's not to say the album is one dimensional or relentless. It's subtley balanced with the 'Dark Crawler' thread of tracks allowing the album to spin off in a web of directions without losing any focus. It's a much more contained body of work, paced to keep the listeners interest. From the 'Dark Crawler' intro into the cartoonish horror soundtrack of 'Mirror's Edge', which tricks you into thinking its just any dubstep tune, before scattering into Terror's signature broken kicks and claps. 'Dark Gremlinz' featuring D.O.K. is a classic peak-era asymmetric grime instrumental. The album then drops down into the 130ish speed of 'Air Max 90' featuring Champion, which builds from a soca-like drum drill stretching the rhythm to the point of collapse with a wonky synth, before concluding on a driving baseline house 4/4. The first 'Dark Crawler' vocal is next, with a ferocious performance from veteran Roll Deep MC Riko Dan, who drops bloodthirsty threats at a breakneck pace. Next, the tempo drops down again to the drunk funk of 'Full Hundred', with criss cross claps and a rasping bassline breaking down into live drumming and tight trap door edits. Things speed up a little again with the intricate 8 bar funky of 'Rum Punch', a hard drum tattoo rolling out over a heavy detuned bassline and intense bleeps. On the second 'Dark Crawler', mic duties are shared by Birmingham MC's Mayhem , Deadly and Saf One. Their hard vocals contrast with lush styled R'n'B of 'You Make Me Feel' featuring Meleka. The album then rolls out into the galloping drums and smooth G-Funk synths of 'Baby Oil'. Trim and Kossie drop the final 'Dark Crawler' vocal, with Trim dropping deadpan threats contesting with Kossie's focussed hysteria. Next up 'Delicately', with Ruby Lee Rider, starts in slow motion R'n'B mood, sweet Rhodes chords drift and bubble up as the track doubles up into dreamy drum and bass with a fluttering tabla keeping the time, and Ruby's tender vocals tempering the pace and aggression. Overall, it's a brilliant exercise in breathless rhythmic arousal. 'Moschino', on the other hand is a darker, chunkier and grimier mirror image to 'Delicately', switching up into a ferocious metallic riffage, before the album closes on an outro of 'Dark Crawler' again. Form, function, energy and talent fuse perfectly over 'The Dark Crawler' s length. Enjoy the ride.

Dennis Busch is an artist who is well-known to all Pingipung fans for his 'James Din A4' contributions to our catalogue. This man of many faces has also developed a reputation as visual artist. Therefore he decides to present his music under the same name: Dennis Busch - which we think might be his real one.

Unusually for a record (for me, at least), 'Constants' collects tracks written in four very different moments in time: some are recent - so recent I've only had the opportunity to play them out just a handful of times - while others are over one year old. I really wish the story behind this EP would be a bit more interesting so this text could completely blow your mind but I'm afraid there were no dragons, no sex, no drugs and definitely no rock'n'roll involved. All four were mostly produced by me while sipping coffee and wearing boxer shorts in front of a computer. I could somehow try to describe the music on here but it would probably take less for you to give it a listen. However, if you happen to be one of the humans that prefer reading about music, you might want to wait a little bit longer: hopefully some smart blogger will skip through the SoundCloud previews for you and describe them in detail using words he learned a few minutes prior to posting it on the internet. Anyway, I'm really happy to see these finally out, especially on a label I have always looked up to like Vakant. I really used to think Smoke, Kaden and Ozer were aliens at some point. Hopefully you will enjoy this music as much as I loved writing and playing it out. T PS: I was kidding about the blogger thing. Bloggers, I love you.