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"Early Doors documents many of my travels, interactions and celebrates the wonderful connections I've made through music since 2007. From Glasgow to São Paulo and back again, many of the tracks included have been in my life for years at this point and remain obsessions. Some were lying unheard on hard drives, others tucked away in a corner of the internet. They’ve all reached my attention through a combination of lasting friendships, chance encounters and staying curious. After appearing on the occasional mix over the years, it's a real buzz to share them with you now in a more formal format. Musically you’ll find synths, dub, gay electronics, self taught piano compositions, improvised jams and intriguing covers." Andrew Thomson

Despite their early success, The Valentinos’ story was, like many other groups, a ‘what might have been’ story. But there could not have been a more hardworking group. Every night, Friendly Womack Sr. taught his boys all the gospel songs he knew before he kicked them out of the house because they wanted to switch to secular singing.
“Bobby, you’re singing too church!” shouted Sam Cooke across the recording desk at the United Recording Studios in L.A. to Bobby and his brothers…
Still torn here between gospel and secular singing, Friendly “June” Womack told me about both these two lost tracks from the group: “Between you and I, we were looking hard to get another ‘Looking For A Love’. We were desperate for that, as that was such a big seller for us”.
Ultimately these sides failed to be released, yet they were both great tracks. Wouldn’t it be great though if, this time around, Soul4Real Records were able to hang out the ‘sold out’ banner that all the Womack brothers really deserved?

2025 marks 50 years since the release of Donna Summer’s debut international hit ‘Love To Love You Baby’. To herald in this milestone anniversary, we proudly present this newly expanded edition of Donna’s classic hits collection “On The Radio”. • This 24 track/2LP collection features the international hits that propelled Donna’s popularity through the decades, from her 1976 UK Singles chart debut up until her 2008 studio album and includes eighteen UK Top 20 hits. • They include ‘Hot Stuff’, ‘Bad Girls’, ‘This Time I Know It's For Real’, ‘Down Deep Inside (Theme From 'The Deep')’, ‘I Remember Yesterday’, ‘Love's Unkind’, the vocal powerhouse track ‘No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)’ with Barbra Streisand and the groundbreaking #1 ‘I Feel Love’. • Donna Summer gained prominence during the disco era of music, rightly earning the title "The Queen of Disco" and becoming one of the most successful recording artists of the 1970s and all-time best-selling female Artists. • She was the first artist to have three consecutive Double Albums hit No. 1 on the US Billboard charts, as well as becoming the first female artist to have four No. 1 singles in a thirteen-month period. • Donna’s catalogue has sold more than 130 million units worldwide and her music is still relevant today, as her music continues to fill the radio airwaves, appears in TV programmes, movies, as well as TV commercials. • In 2023, her daughter, Brooklyn Sudano, who along with Roger Ross Williams, directed “Love To Love You, Donna Summer”, a documentary that followed Donna’s personal life and career. The film had its world premiere at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival and was screened at SXSW. HBO released it in May 2023. • Earlier this year, Donna was posthumously awarded a Recording Academy Special Merit Lifetime GRAMMY, as well as ‘I Feel Love’ being inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame

a 1. Love To Love You Baby Single Edit
b 2. Could It Be Magic 7" Version
c 3. I Feel Love [Edit]


[f] 6. Love's Unkind [7" Version]
[g] 1. I Love You [Single Version]
[h] 2. Rumour Has It [Single Version]
[i] 3. Last Dance [7" Version]
[j] 4. MacArthur Park [Single Version]
[k] 5. Heaven Knows [7" Version]
[l] 6. Hot Stuff [Single Version]
[m] 1. Bad Girls [Single Version Edit]
[n] 2. Dim All The Lights [7" Single Version]
[o] 3. No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) [7" Version]
[p] 4. On The Radio [7" Version]

[r] 6. State Of Independence [7" Version]
[s] 1. She Works Hard For The Money [7" Version]
[t] 2. Unconditional Love [Edit]
[u] 3. Dinner With Gershwin [Edit]
[v] 4. This Time I Know It's For Real [7" Mix]
[7" Remix]
[PWL 7" Mix]

We’re teaming up with ELUCID and Fat Possum for a limited edition of 300 copies of a Rush Hour black ice coloured edition.

E L U C I D, one half of the illustrious duo Armand Hammer, is here with the full-length follow-up to 'I Told Bessie'. Further experiments in the sonic, expanding on the 'live' side of music paired with the embracing of chaos. Something you haven't heard, or not so for a very long time. E L U C I D is here to reveal the bleakness of reality.



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''There is never time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment; the time is always now.''
James Baldwin

A raw, crackling urgency runs through rapper-producer ELUCID’s new album REVELATOR like an underground power line. There is no space here for sepia-toned reminiscences or indulgent self-mythologizing. Intellectual rabbit holes have been filled in with concrete and rebar ; there is nowhere to hide and no off ramp from the audio Autobahn that ELUCID has fashioned—a renegade Robert Moses with gold fronts, bulldozing the homes of the powerful and the complicit. REVELATOR brims with the energy of now, with a refusal to look away. Carpe diem in a murder one mask.

Born in Jamaica, Queens, ELUCID has been on the cutting edge of New York’s underground scene since the mid-2000s. From the beginning, he has defied both convention and expectation. He ran with Okayplayer darlings Tanya Morgan, but his own music eschewed their throwback charm for glitchy noise experiments and bass-swamped culture jamming. His 2016 debut studio project Save Yourself (re-released in a deluxe edition last year) announced him in earnest. But in recent years, his Armand Hammer releases with partner-in-crime billy woods have received significant attention and acclaim. Serving as a followup to his last solo album—2022’s comparatively balmy I Told Bessie—ELUCID hoped to “re-distinguish” himself with REVELATOR, setting himself apart amidst the increasing attention around the music he and his friends are making together.

For ELUCID, this meant setting bold new challenges for himself. One of these was diving further into live instrumentation than ever before—”getting my Quincy Jones on,” as he puts it. The testing ground for this approach was Armand Hammer’s most recent project, 2023’s We Buy Diabetic Test Strips’ Möbius strip soundscapes, warmed with instrumental flourishes and skin-shedding beat progressions. With REVELATOR, though, ELUCID strove to create an atmosphere of chaos, embracing experimental electronics and atonal sample bursts. He worked on much of the album with co-producer Jon Nellen, who comes from a background in avant-garde and Indian classical music. “I wanted to get as freaky as I could at this moment. I wanted people to hear things, maybe for the first time, or in a way they haven’t for a long while,” the rapper explains.

ELUCID arrived at the studio with a collection of noise sources: non-referential samples, glitches and noises. Together he, Nellen, and others created forms out of them and, as ELUCID recalls, “just started playing drums with it.” Their fried, distorted sound was directly inspired by Miles Davis at his most uncompromising—specifically, the tone-clustering funk track “Rated X” from his 1974 double LP Get Up With It. At times, the pairing of rap with avant-fusion sounds also brings Emergency! from The Tony Williams Lifetime to mind, perhaps in an alternate timeline where the late drummer was listening to Ice Cube’s AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted.

“The World is Dog,” REVELATOR’s lead single, functions as the album’s aesthetic thesis statement. Like the Davis track, the textures are punishing, the tonality is in free-fall, and the driving breakbeat of a groove cuts in and out unceremoniously. Avant-jazz bassist Luke Stewart, who appears throughout the record, holds the whole thing together just long enough for ELUCID to tightwalk over the beat. This tension is exactly where REVELATOR sets itself apart; in a time of drumless loops, and safe soul samples, this is a high-wire act with no safety net. Similarly, the song announces the themes of the album within just a few phrases, evoking the way societies accept and adjust to new levels of debasement and brutality while suffocating under the weight of history: “Can’t clock the kill, all a mystery/Forced past will eating everyone eventually/The world is dog.”

Many of the songs on REVELATOR grapple obliquely with dissolution and disenfranchisement in America and across the world—the grim realities of our domestic sociopolitical climate and our involvement in foreign conflicts. “Much of my artistic and political sensibility comes from the Black arts movement here in New York,” ELUCID explains. “Recognizing the interconnected global struggles against oppression, artists and thinkers created works and actions in solidarity with freedom movements in South Africa and Palestine.” ELUCID cites intellectuals like Amiri Baraka, Kwame Nkrumah, Audre Lorde, Sonia Sanchez, and Nikki Giovanni among his heroes. (One track on the album is specifically inspired by Lorde’s work, “SKP,” citing the scholar’s paper “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic As Power.”) Songs like REVELATOR’s insistent closer “ZIGZAGZIG,” find ELUCID applying up-to-the-minute messaging, making explicit reference to the conflict in Gaza: “Feed a war machine…from river to sea, in lieu of peace.”

Despite ELUCID’s preference for cacophonous system overload here, the rapper also provides moments of respite. Recorded at The Alchemist’s Los Angeles studio, the laid-back, wheezing “INSTANT TRANSFER” is a collaboration with billy woods, which crystallizes their shared sense of creative determination. “With much momentum behind us and even more on the horizon, I knew a purpose, and that every step was ordered to that purpose,” ELUCID said of the experience. Meanwhile, the jittery “HUSHPUPPIES” is a playful anomaly on the track list, providing a snapshot of ELUCID watching his grandparents in the kitchen while preparing for Friday night fish fry dinners.

“Love still rules over on this side,” ELUCID says. ”I’m raising a family. We are making meaning and finding joy in the midst of all the fucked up-ness of everything around us because the alternative is cowardice and slow death. We remain rooted. We celebrate our people and our wins. Struggle is necessary.”

“IKEBANA” is one of ELUCID’s strongest statements of purpose on the record, blending the record’s heaviest themes with its most hopeful sentiments. supported by a shoutalong refrain and an urgent prog-funk groove. Breaking away from images of dissolution and crumbling societal systems that populate REVELATOR, ELUCID notes that the only way to navigate life’s bleakest landscapes is to cling to love and believe in those around you—to look forward toward something better that may or may not be possible. For the rapper, one of the album’s most trenchant lines comes during a centerpiece of a beat drop: “Being alive/I must look up.”

“The lyric ‘being alive I must look up’ is important especially in the context of this album. Much of the album imagery is harsh and reflects the actual doom some of us experience. But still I/we exist,” ELUCID explains.

Every artist is, in one way or another, the product of their time, bound by life’s leaden gravity to operate within the space of that which is already known. But there are some who are able to shake free of these ties, to shape the culture as it unfolds, to make the present their own.
Revelation, as a concept, points to the scales falling from people’s eyes—something that has been hiding in plain sight becoming clear. “The revelator relates to things that have been talked about, things that have been forecasted,” ELUCID adds. “And now they’re really here, and everyone sees it. And there’s no escaping.” REVELATOR plays out with the unmitigated power of those storms, laying waste to any genre conventions in pursuit of a certain physicality. Here, ELUCID develops a wholly distinctive musical language to explore our fractured modernity.

REVELATOR's packaging was designed by longtime Armand Hammer / Backwoodz art director, Alexander Richter.

Glenn Astro leans into the twilight months of 2024 with a new album from his Delta Rain Dance project. Divining fourth world sensibilities from his restlessly curious studio workflow, Astro weaves a mesmerising tapestry of sound on Music For Autumn which treads the line between horizontal meditation and head- nodding, backroom-ready groove.

Amongst his constellation of myriad aliases, Delta Rain Dance spells out the inspiration Astro takes from fourth world pioneer Jon Hassell. The project first surfaced with a string of tapes, LPs and digital releases around 2018, all carried on a label of the same name to keep Delta Rain Dance enclosed in its own space
independent of Astro's many other musical endeavours.

"I’m really into the world building aspect in science fiction and fantasy," says Astro. "This is my way of creating worlds and spaces that co-exist next to each other. Sometimes they collide but mostly they exist peacefully next to each other or pursue some form of cultural exchange by collaborating with each other."

There's a strong sense of balance and cohesion throughout Music For Autumn, as organic percussion and instrumentation wraps around delicate synthesis and patient drum machine pulses so naturally it's hard to spot the joins. The sound has plenty of room to stretch out, from the mantra-like chimes and rattles of the album opener 'Green Light Fade' to the luxury funk of 'Mmmh, Nice' (featuring fellow Tartelet alumni Nelson of the East). At times the electronic elements seem to entirely dissolve, not least behind the loping strings and tumbledown percussion of 'Second Sleep', while achingly beautiful closer 'Plucked' centres on the fluttering movement and expression Astro elicits from his modular setup.

True to the project's influences, a consistent ambiguous mood lingers in the air over Music For Autumn somewhere between far- flung mystery and comforting familiarity, reliably calm but equally contemplative. It's an odyssey of serenity with enough nuance to make you really think, perfect for the days getting shorter, leaves crunching underfoot and the last fading rays of warmth from the sun.

Michael Mayer albums don’t come round too often, which is one of many reasons why his fourth collection, The Floor Is Lava, is a genuine event. It’s been eight years since his last one, the collaborative & released on !K7; its predecessors, Mantasy (2012) and Touch (2004), took their sweet time, too. It’s no real surprise, given the many hats Mayer wears – globetrotting DJ, revered remixer, inveterate collaborator, and boss of both Kompakt and Imara – that his solo productions are relatively sparing. But this also speaks to their quality: Mayer’s name on a record sleeve is a sign of quality, of music that’s both looking to the future and calling back to the past, that balances the imperatives of the dancefloor and the loungeroom, that’s as exploratory as it is functional.

On The Floor Is Lava, Mayer seems to be taking the temperature of both the music that surrounds him (past and present), and the ides of the industry he works within. There’s that iconic album title, for a start. “The album’s mindset,” he says, reflecting on those four words together. For Mayer, it’s partly a critique of the way the industry boxes in both producer and listener, focuses them on genre, on market, on the next new thing: “Being a free minded spirit that transcends genres has become an uphill battle.” A battle worth fighting, though, and with The Floor Is Lava, the result is an album that’s varied, quixotic, idiosyncratic, charming, and deeply, addictively listenable.

Throughout, Mayer finds thrills in exploration and juxtaposition, allowing unexpected things to blossom and giving them their life, their platform, throwing the listener exciting curveballs: “It’s a DJ album by a DJ that’s easily bored.” Either easily bored, or endlessly curious, The Floor Is Lava is rich with ideas. It opens with “The Problem”, which looks back to look forward, embracing the rickety way early house productions threw samples together with gleeful abandon. Mayer mentions Pal Joey, and the scene around Rockers Hi-Fi and their Different Drummer imprint, as reference points, and you can hear that freewheeling spirit throughout.

It’s followed by “Vagus”, a slinky, sensual minimal house number that Mayer describes as his “musical catnip”. The flow of these two opening cuts defines the dynamic of The Floor Is Lava, defining the dialectical drive at its core: thesis and antithesis leads to synthesis, but with a welcome prickliness that means you’re always excited, always engaged. It’s also productive in the way it derives energy from rubbing genres and sounds against each other, in unexpected ways, for maximum musical frisson. There’s psychedelic techno on “Feuerstuhl”, more minimal techno with “Ardor” (Mayer mentions ‘Immer 1’ era 90s minimal as inspiration), slippery, Shepard-tone breakbeat through “Sycophant”, a lovely, lush vocal turn on the poppy “The Solution”.

The album closes with the melancholy “Süßer Schlaf”, where Mayer sets a poem by Goethe to one of his most haunted, moving pieces of music yet, in abstract tribute to a lost friend. It’s one of the most affecting moments on The Floor Is Lava. There’s also an update on 2020’s wild Brainwave Technology EP, with the surrealist glitter-stomp of “Brainwave 2.0” (check out those handclaps!),where Mayer’s thinking about the socio-political precipice of the now: “I’m reading with great interest about this whole complex of how humanity is about to cross so many lines and the implications that the resulting financial and educational inequality will bring.”

That’s The Floor Is Lava: then and now, brainwaves and nerve structures, problems and solutions, genres on fire; the real, the unreal, and the surreal. An album for the easily bored and the endlessly curious. Mayer has the last word, telling us all you need to know about the album’s spirit: “Burning for the cause, being zealous, being addicted to the heat of the night, the exuberant powers of music.”

Michael Mayer veröffentlicht nicht oft Alben, was einer von vielen Gründen ist, warum ‘The Floor Is Lava’ ein echtes Ereignis ist. Es sind acht Jahre vergangen seit seinem letzten Werk, dem Kollaborationsalbum &, das auf !K7 erschien; seine Vorgänger, Mantasy (2012) und Touch (2004), ließen ebenfalls auf sich warten. Es überrascht nicht wirklich, da Mayer viele Rollen gleichzeitig erfüllt – weltreisender DJ, vielbeschäftigter Remixer, unermüdlicher Kollaborateur und Chef von sowohl Kompakt als auch Imara – weshalb seine Solo-Produktionen eher sparsam ausfallen. Doch das spricht auch für deren Qualität: Ein Album mit Mayers Namen auf dem Cover steht für Qualität, für Musik, die sowohl in die Zukunft blickt als auch auf die Vergangenheit verweist, die das Gleichgewicht zwischen den Anforderungen des Dancefloors und des Wohnzimmers hält, die genauso erforschend wie funktional ist.

Auf The Floor Is Lava scheint Mayer sowohl die Musik um ihn herum (vergangen und gegenwärtig) als auch die Strömungen der Branche, in der er arbeitet, zu reflektieren. Da wäre zunächst der ikonische Albumtitel. „Die Grundhaltung des Albums“, sagt er, drückt sich in diesen vier Worte aus. Für Mayer ist es teilweise eine Kritik daran, wie die Industrie sowohl Produzenten als auch Hörer in Schubladen steckt, sie auf Genres, auf den Markt und auf das nächste große Ding fokussiert: „Ein freier Geist zu sein, der Genres überschreitet, ist zu einem steinigen Weg geworden.“ Ein Kampf, der sich jedoch lohnt, und mit The Floor Is Lava ist das Ergebnis ein Album, das vielfältig, eigenwillig, charmant und tiefsinnig, aber auch süchtig machend ist.

Im gesamten Album findet Mayer Freude an der Erforschung und Gegenüberstellung von Stilen, lässt unerwartete Dinge erblühen und gibt ihnen Raum, überrascht den Hörer mit spannenden Wendungen: „Es ist ein DJ-Album von einem DJ, der sich schnell langweilt.“ Entweder langweilt er sich schnell oder er ist unendlich neugierig – The Floor Is Lava ist reich an Ideen. Es beginnt mit „The Problem“, das in die Vergangenheit blickt, um nach vorne zu schauen, und die wilde Art, wie frühe House-Produktionen Samples mit fröhlicher Unbekümmertheit zusammenwarfen, aufgreift. Mayer nennt Pal Joey und die Szene um Rockers Hi-Fi und ihr Label Different Drummer als Referenzpunkte, und dieser freie Geist zieht sich durch das gesamte Album.

Es folgt „Vagus“, eine sinnliche Minimal-House-Nummer, die Mayer als seine „musikalische Katzenminze“ beschreibt. Der Fluss dieser beiden Eröffnungstracks definiert die Dynamik von The Floor Is Lava und den dialektischen Antrieb im Kern: These und Antithese führen zu einer Synthese, jedoch mit einer willkommenen Schärfe, die dafür sorgt, dass man immer aufgeregt und engagiert bleibt. Zudem gewinnt das Album Energie, indem es Genres und Klänge auf unerwartete Weise aneinanderreibt, um maximalen musikalischen Nervenkitzel zu erzeugen. Es gibt psychedelischen Techno in „Feuerstuhl“, mehr Minimal Techno mit „Ardor“ (Mayer erwähnt ‘Immer’ Ära Minimal als Bezugspunkt), gleitenden Shepard-Ton-Breakbeat in „Sycophant“ und einen lieblichen, üppigen Vocal-Auftritt im poppigen „The Solution“.

Das Album schließt mit dem melancholischen „Süßer Schlaf“, in dem Mayer ein Gedicht von Goethe vertont und eine seiner bisher eindringlichsten und bewegendsten musikalischen Kompositionen schafft, als abstrakten Tribut an eine verschiedene Freundin. Es ist einer der ergreifendsten Momente auf The Floor Is Lava. Ebenfalls gibt es ein Update der wilden Brainwave Technology-EP von 2020, mit dem surrealistischen Glitzer-Stampfer „Brainwave 2.0“ (hör dir diese Handclaps an!), in dem Mayer über den sozio-politischen Abgrund der Gegenwart nachdenkt: „Ich lese mit großem Interesse über diesen ganzen Komplex, wie die Menschheit dabei ist, so viele Grenzen zu überschreiten und welche Auswirkungen die daraus resultierende finanzielle und bildungstechnische Ungleichheit haben wird.“

Das ist The Floor Is Lava: Damals und heute, Gehirnwellen und Nervengeflechte, Probleme und Lösungen, brennende Genres; das Reale, das Unreale und das Surreale. Ein Album für die schnell Gelangweilten und die unendlich Neugierigen. Mayer hat das letzte Wort und sagt uns alles, was wir über den Geist des Albums wissen müssen: „Brennen für die Sache, leidenschaftlich sein, süchtig nach der Hitze der Nacht, den überschwänglichen Kräften der Musik.“

Astral travel with Cybotron into the meta-narrative of the Parallel Shift, a new sonic fiction that raises many questions about military science of the near-future and the possibility of other worlds.
Descending backward through the rhythms of time, the Skynet module retracts from the hyper-structural society of 2100, edging toward the mid-century modern age teetering on the brink of what was then the frontier of “the future”. The system boots the Infiniti process, morphing into a cosmotechnic vessel coursing the superhighway of burgeoning general intelligence, seeking data from just before “the overshoot and collapse.”
R&D methods, rhythmanalytically applied, dissect the aftermath of an industrial society that burst through the ecological capacity of Spaceship Earth. Fractal visions of war and innovation spike and recede from and into the surfaces of reality being bent and guiding the eyes, ears, touch towards a laboratory in the year 1961. A nuclear expert, Don Lewis, receives orders to decrypt the mysterious black dodecagonal disc known as Fortec and the extraterrestrial biology unearthed in Roswell. He joins a team disassembling Fortec and studying the recurrent dodecahedral patterns linked to the human nervous system.
Through dismantling and probing, the team cycles through a saecular search devoid of finite conclusions, limited by Earth’s intellectual and technological prowess. One 1960s night, Lewis, while meddling with Fortec’s cyborganic innards, accidentally electrifies himself. His cyclotron and missile experience guides him to circuit-bend Fortec, stirring the entity from a mechanical slumber. Lewis and Fortec communicate in resonances, until it drifts back into a tranquil stasis.
The US Defense and contractors, unbeknownst to them, observe this breakthrough. They later permit Lewis to exit military service as the Air Force forms the Foreign Technology Division. Concurrently, MJ12 evolves into CY12, delving into second-order cybernetics. Lewis clandestinely keeps working on Fortec fragments, transitioning from military engineer to musician, pioneering the LEO module, a fusion of Fortec’s essence and audio engineering.
He shares his insights with Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi, aiding the creation of the iconic TR-808. Meanwhile, Fortec branches out, coining “Cyberspace” – a collective illusion of liberty unshackled by physical, political, or spiritual bounds, anchored in the equitable distribution of The Golden Ratio across realities. Yet “Cyberspace” morphs into a chaotic truth reservoir, spilling over into deception.
The Parallel Shift manifests in the perpetual “Now,” a collapsed event horizon where past and future are ensnared in a relentless present, unfurling along a dissolving timeline, overseen by a monolithic simulation under ceaseless watch…
— The Rhythmanalyst aka DeForrest Brown, Jr.

cat can do presents M SERIES VOL.10. A double LP 12" Vinyl with a printed cover that will go straight to your all-time collection. Techno as a conductive channel with Detroit and Acid overtones will make you never stop listening to this organic and timeless album. A masterpiece that will last forever.

Fresh off a rework of Papa Levi with single Ribena, London’s jungle pioneers 4am Kru drop their highly anticipated debut album Incognito Rhythm featuring all the tracks that have cemented their reputation as the go-to act for raw, live jungle music.

Having already taken the 2024 festival circuit by storm with appearances at Outlook Origins, Boomtown, Boardmasters, Reading+ Leeds, The Blind Tiger, Parklife Waterworks, Boundary and a milestone Saturday night closing set at Glastonbury’s Temple Stage, 4am Kru continue to draw audiences into the madness of their raucous blend of 1993-1994 influenced jungle. First bursting onto the scene post-lockdown, the falling monitors and flying bodies of their shows were particularly thrilling for ravers who had turned 18 in isolation.

Originally developing their live sound in indie bands while sharing a studio in Tottenham, the duo quickly realized that the traditional DJ set couldn’t contain the energy of their act. They have since surrendered to the chaos of their incredibly physical performances, nursing chipped bones and back injuries, deep finger taping, chalking up and wearing shoes designed for skipping rope whilst rewiring what it meant to move their bodies. Their innovation extends to the equipment, with the duo reinventing a way to deliver their signature throbbing basslines with a Roland SPD SX drum pad as thick as a car tire. Their upcoming UK tour this October promises to further showcase their immersive, disruptive sound.

4am Kru’s latest single Ribena breathed new life into Papa Levi’s iconic British reggae classic Militancy following the release of hard-hitting Wutt this past July, setting the stage for their most ambitious project yet. Their debut album draws from a wide range of influences in addition to 4am Kru’s signature blend of 90s jungle flavours, from obscure slow jam R&B like Angela Bofill, Janet Jackson and Prince, early hardcore bands like Hüsker Dü, off kilter Scottish folk, and even classical music. The project is a snapshot of the incognito, nocturnal world that the duo have dwelled in for the past two years, a time capsule of well-worn songs played between midnight and 4am. An extraordinary debut, 4am Kru’s Incognito Rhythm is an immersive, razor sharp, face melting journey through their show-stopping live sound.

A sonic portal to a parallel universe where neon-soaked dreamscapes transform the stark realities of a post-pandemic world. Music for a forgotten future, where echoes of the 80s cast long, enigmatic shadows through a rich tapestry of emotion that charts a journey from isolation and fear towards healing and hope. This is the journey of Season One and Season Two, the debut companion albums for the solo project of Italian composer Battaglia, both out this fall on Four Flies Records.

In 2020, as the world retreated onto itself due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Battaglia entered the recording studio. Driven by a desire for experimentation, she decided to focus on the classic synths that have made history to create a sonic and emotional alchemy that reimagines the 80s to resonate with our current experiences and sensibilities.

Drawing inspiration from the cinematic magic of iconic early-80s films, and especially the haunting soundtracks of Tangerine Dream and John Carpenter, she crafted a soundscape that goes beyond nostalgia to capture the spirit of a generation navigating uncertain times.

Season One and Season Two explore the complexities of a world grappling with lethal pandemics, climate catastrophes, and nuclear disasters through themes such as longing, fear, and hope, set against a scenario that blends elements of dystopian and post-apocalyptic science fiction and, at times, horror.

Season One delves deeper into the darker aspects of this new reality, evoking a sense of unease and uncertainty, occasionally interspersed with soothing flashes of light. In Season Two, while darkness still lingers, the sonic landscape is infused with a sense of optimism and determination, offering glimpses of a possible salvation.

With Battaglia's signature blend of dark wave, synth-pop, suspenseful electronica, and cinematic vibes, Season One and Season Two create a sonic world that is at once hauntingly familiar and utterly captivating -- the perfect soundtrack, one is tempted to say, for the countless sci-fi/horror-fantasy series that have been flooding streaming platforms in the last decade.

The covers of both albums were designed by Eric Adrian Lee, who conceived them as two sides of the same image, two versions of a world in crisis but whose ruins contain the potential for rebirth.

Battaglia's Season One and Season Two will be available on black vinyl LP starting from October 25th. Digital versions of both albums will also be released on the same date, featuring five bonus tracks (two on Season One and three on Season Two).

A sonic portal to a parallel universe where neon-soaked dreamscapes transform the stark realities of a post-pandemic world. Music for a forgotten future, where echoes of the 80s cast long, enigmatic shadows through a rich tapestry of emotion that charts a journey from isolation and fear towards healing and hope. This is the journey of Season One and Season Two, the debut companion albums for the solo project of Italian composer Battaglia, both out this fall on Four Flies Records.

In 2020, as the world retreated onto itself due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Battaglia entered the recording studio. Driven by a desire for experimentation, she decided to focus on the classic synths that have made history to create a sonic and emotional alchemy that reimagines the 80s to resonate with our current experiences and sensibilities.

Drawing inspiration from the cinematic magic of iconic early-80s films, and especially the haunting soundtracks of Tangerine Dream and John Carpenter, she crafted a soundscape that goes beyond nostalgia to capture the spirit of a generation navigating uncertain times.

Season One and Season Two explore the complexities of a world grappling with lethal pandemics, climate catastrophes, and nuclear disasters through themes such as longing, fear, and hope, set against a scenario that blends elements of dystopian and post-apocalyptic science fiction and, at times, horror.

Season One delves deeper into the darker aspects of this new reality, evoking a sense of unease and uncertainty, occasionally interspersed with soothing flashes of light. In Season Two, while darkness still lingers, the sonic landscape is infused with a sense of optimism and determination, offering glimpses of a possible salvation.

With Battaglia's signature blend of dark wave, synth-pop, suspenseful electronica, and cinematic vibes, Season One and Season Two create a sonic world that is at once hauntingly familiar and utterly captivating -- the perfect soundtrack, one is tempted to say, for the countless sci-fi/horror-fantasy series that have been flooding streaming platforms in the last decade.

The covers of both albums were designed by Eric Adrian Lee, who conceived them as two sides of the same image, two versions of a world in crisis but whose ruins contain the potential for rebirth.

Battaglia's Season One and Season Two will be available on black vinyl LP starting from October 25th. Digital versions of both albums will also be released on the same date, featuring five bonus tracks (two on Season One and three on Season Two).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Music From Memory is thrilled to introduce Dead Sound, the collaborative project of Marco Sterk (aka Young Marco) and Berlin-based pop-auteur John Moods. Both artists are no strangers to the label; Sterk forms one third of the trio Gaussian Curve, while Moods released the 2022 album ‘Hidden Gem’ with The Zenmenn.

Their collaboration was both planned and spontaneous; Sterk initially reached out in 2022 expressing his desire to work with Moods. The pair finally got together in 2024 to produce ‘Into The Void’, an album that burst into life over the course of a few creatively charged days in each other’s company.

Moods’ dream-like, emotionally charged music wears its heart on its sleeve; its very human vulnerability makes it a perfect match for Sterk’s strong sense of melody and textural sonic visions.

‘Into The Void’ carries these psychedelic traits in its DNA, but they exist layered deep amongst the shadows. Painting on a wide canvas that effortlessly skips between genres, the pair weave anything that inspires them into a truly unique tapestry; a bold attempt to touch at the beyond.

Exploring the space between perception (level of the mind) and the nature of the universe (actual level of reality) seems traditionally like an impossible task. But there’s gotta be a time and a space for the profound and this album invites the listener to go deep, letting go of concepts such as love and opening oneself up to one’s own authentic journey. This transformative force of healing is a central theme of ‘Into The Void’, a path that is lined with light and darkness in equal measure. But, as Moods says, “do not skip the darkness, let that door open and swallow you. And maybe you’ll find, it's not as dark as you perceived at first."

Sleeve art by Michael Willis.

Hot off the press this riddim from No Ice Cream Sound sees Charlie P & Jman go truly back to back inna sound system style and pattern.

This instrumental fuses elements of both rubadub and roots. The heavy organic drums and the rattling bass line is seasoned with driving horns and a skank perfectly suited to the incredible lyricism of Jman & Charlie P. Don't sleep on this one, especially if you are after a hard copy as only a run of 300 X 45s will be up for grabs. A must have for any discerning collector.

The B side takes a delve into the depths of a true dub mix; an amalgamation of spring reverb and tape delays take this mix into a different listening space. The dub keeps true to the A side's rhythm while simultaneously entering a new realm which gives a nod to some of the great dub mixing engineers of our time.

Liquid Memory presents their third release, "Pick up the Slack," featuring the deep and dynamic sounds of Terraflow, the night-time alias of renowned Jazz/House producer AJ Edward. With this project, Terraflow delves into the realms of progressive house, crafting a sonic experience that is darker, faster, and undeniably captivating. This release is a key moment for Liquid Memory, as it marks their first single-artist release. The EP also includes a remix by co label head Ori Raz, providing a different take on Terraflow's “Pick up the Slack”.

Step into the realm of legends with « This Thing EP » by Lukas Lyrestam & Simoncino, featuring the iconic voice of Robert Owens—a true gem on vinyl. This release brings together the visionary talents of rising stars Lukas Lyrestam and Simoncino with the remix artistry of house music luminary Chez Damier, crafting a blend of past and future that resonates with the magic of timeless house. The EP opens with « This Thing » a creation by Lyrestam & Simoncino, elevated by Robert Owens’ soulful vocals that weave effortlessly into the groove, setting the tone for a transcendent sonic journey. Chez Damier, one of the genre's most revered figures, takes the reins with a masterful remix that transforms « This Thing » into something even greater, infusing his deep and emotive style to further enrich the track's essence.

« This Thing EP » is more than a release; it's a celebration of house music’s enduring legacy, uniting legends across generations. Available in limited edition on Skylax Records, this vinyl is a must-have for true aficionados. Don’t miss your chance to own a piece of house history secure your copy and join the legacy.

A sense of destiny hangs over Sentir Que No Sabes, Mabe Fratti’s fourth solo-credited album released in a five year span. Her work has always possessed a finely tuned sense of drama capable of expressing a range of emotional states, and across this new album, she conveys the struggle to process various relationships or situations–and the actions that come next. Sentir Que No Sabes is urgent and clear, poppy, generous and approachable, while showcasing a considerable emotional hinterland. It is also, as Fratti is quick to mention, “groovy.”

Written and recorded with her partner, multi-instrumentalist, and co-composer Héctor Tosta (I.La Católica, Titanic), Sentir Que No Sabes is the result of an intense, detail-oriented process. Fueled by a new confidence gained in their collaborative project, Titanic, and its critically acclaimed 2023 LP, Vidrio, the two hunkered down in the familiarity of their studio (aka Tinho Studios) to bash out the initial sonic coordinates of her new record. “We talked and talked, and discussed ways of playing and recording, until things became inevitable,” Fratti explains. “We recorded a bunch of demos at our home studio and that meant we had a lot of time to re-edit and experiment. We really dug in. We were super focused on detail.” Tosta also took up the controls as producer and arranger-in-chief for all additional instruments. The album was later completed at Willem Twee Studios in Den Bosch in the Netherlands, and Pedro y el Lobo Studios and Soy Sauce Studios, in Mexico City.

For the final studio recordings, the pair were joined by drummer Gibran Andrade and trumpetist Jacob Wick to fill out and expand on Tosta’s percussion and brass arrangements. This small group of friends were able to work quickly and openly, and without fear: a testament to the exhaustive groundwork put in at Tinho Studios. This can be heard in three short, intermediary tracks that also manage to be the most aggressive on the record: “Kitana” (a scratch-laden instrumental that acts as a strange prelude for the last track, “Angel nuevo”) and a pair of two-minute instrumental interludes, “Elastica” I and II. None are throwaway mood pieces; rather they act as emotional cue cards, and hint at the way Fratti and Tosta created the overall atmosphere of Sentir Que No Sabes.

A strong sense of rhythm irrigates the sound from the jump, as heard on the glorious opening track, “Kravitz.” Here, the brilliant plucked cello line acts as a bassline and props up the steady thump of the kick drum. The cello’s growl serves as a conduit for a set of slightly paranoid lyrics that tell us “Quizás haya oídos en el techo” (“maybe there are ears in the ceiling”), while the song also introduces another staple of the record: the clever brass stabs, whistles, parps, and other interjections that paint a canvas of traffic in a city. It’s a postmodern, widescreen sound that for some might recall The Blue Nile’s Hats.

Sentir Que No Sabes is a record full to the brim with a modern pop sensibility, invoked by the sort of magpie spirit that ensnares anything it can find, repositioning sounds for the here and now. The keys and melody on the melancholy “Pantalla azul” (“Blue screen error”) transport us back to the glossy mid-1980s. “Oídos” (“Ears”) is a beautiful slice of contemporary, hybrid pop, in which Fratti’s vocal lines delicately spin themselves around the lean structures erected by the brass and drums, and the descending “plink” of a set of piano chords. Then we have a gloriously strong ending with the swell of “Angel nuevo” (“New angel”), another cinematic track full of gentle, instrument-rich swells and eddies that manages to be almost endless in its range–and yet intensely personal, as Fratti’s voice is close, almost whispering in your ear. A much needed lullaby for our fractious times.

The lyrics, for their part, have a stop-start quality to them, and hint at the small, incremental emotional taxes we pay through just living our lives. They circle around the music like birds waiting to swoop. There is something of the spiritual in all of Fratti’s work that expresses itself in a form of yearning: she looks to new horizons while personal dramas find themselves internalized, contextualized, and then dealt with through metaphor. Here, she was keen to mention Tosta’s constant encouragement in her finding a path to best sing or phrase her words to impart their maximum effect. “Hector was super inquisitive about my lyrics and asked me questions about what I meant, which sometimes is something you don't wonder so much about in isolation,” Fratti explains. “Besides, he is a great poet, and you can see that in what he did on the Titanic record. This made me go deeper into my lyric writing and definitely transformed it into something that I feel super happy about now.”

Take “Enfrente” (“In Front”), a track that initially comes across as a languid, glossy number, with plucked cello strings standing in for a bass line and brittle synth parts. Soon we catch on to a brilliant minor chord switch, which mirrors the fear and doubt expressed in the lyrics as someone “trembles up to the podium” in a “search for meaning.” There’s also the startling introduction of a vocoder in “Quieras o no” (“Whether you want it or not”); it comes precisely at the point Fratti sings “Quieras o no es un desastre” (“Whether you want it or not, it's a disaster”). Moments like these leave room for interpretation and, over time, create a strong bond between the listener and the record.

In fact, across Sentir Que No Sabes, each phrase–whether instrumental or vocal–becomes at some level emblematic of acts and moods that impart deep emotional significance. We see this best on “Intento fallido” (“Failed attempt”), which could be the score to feeling trapped in self-doubt, only to suddenly be sprung free by the song’s gloriously upbeat ending. On “Márgen del índice” (“Index margin”), the quicksilver switch between initial disharmony and a beautiful melody is breathtaking, all augmented by evocative arrangements, textured production, and the slightly playful, gnomic lyrics. The track’s emotional ecosystem allows another brilliant ending, which uses the simple repeated phrase, “Cómo lo va a ver?” (“How are you going to see it?”).

So what to make of Sentir Que No Sabes? High gloss Pastoralism? The sound of a city-bound, post-post modern soulscape? No matter the emotions evoked, it's the work of an artist coming into their own, and creating a benchmark record.

We pressed this vinyl for the club sound lovers.

Lots of percussion and catchy harmonies with influences from New York, Detroit and a touch of English style.

You will be listening to the real underground house.

On the "a" side we feature one of our residents and creators of Mostly Records Bs As deep, which includes a track with his alias System T.

On the "b" side from Italy we present for the first time a great friend and artist Nicola Brusegan, who really knows how to make music for the dance floor.

“Artifact” by Novo Line makes a departure from his Atari ST fueled FM synth journeys, here reimagining the soundtrack of our collective memory. Born from a live performance at a listening festival in Berlin by the Camp Cosmic crew, this LP transforms universally recognized pop anthems, beckoning listeners into a kaleidoscopic realm of sound, where familiar melodies fracture and our brains attempt to reconstitute them.

Using era-consistent equipment – turntable, 12″ maxi singles, classic samplers, and iconic drum machines – Novo Line deconstructs and reassembles songs etched into our cultural DNA. From the soaring emotions of “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” to the disco beat of “Heart of Glass,” these are melodies that have scored countless lives, now reborn in startling new forms.

Recorded live to tape, ‘Artifact’ doesn’t just play; it unfolds like an auditory hallucination. It taps into the deep emotional reservoirs these songs have built over decades, twisting familiar refrains into new shapes. One festival goer recollected that it uncovered “the dark inner universe of Kenny G, suddenly splayed out into a whole new cosmos.”

As the needle traces its path, ‘Artifact’ peels back layers of shared musical experience. It’s an aural alchemy that transmutes the known into the profoundly strange, yet achingly familiar. Listeners may find themselves adrift in a sea of frequencies, where every warped note triggers a cascade of personal and collective memories.

Rooted in the “copyriot” tradition of 1980s punk and industrial scenes, “Artifact” challenges notions of authorship while celebrating the universal language of pop. It doesn’t merely suggest a trip – it becomes a journey through the very fabric of our shared musical consciousness.

Mastered by Rude66, cut by Helmet Erler, and pressed at Objects Manufacturing.

DJ Support from Danny Howard, Annie Mac, Mistajam, Pete Tong, Charlie Hedges, Kraak & Smaak, Maxinne, Todd Terry, Alex Preston, Full Intention, GW Harrison, DJ Rae, Rudimental, Alaia & Gallo, Illyus & Barrientos, Johan S, David Penn, Sam Divine, Riva Starr, Claptone, Nice7, Dario D’Attis, Mousse T, SMan, Huxley, KC Lights, Friend Within, Dombresky, Gorgon City, Chris Lake, Format:B, Pirupa, TCTS, Alan Fitzpatrick, Low Steppa, Mat.Joe, Raumakustik, Eskuche


Kicking things off on Toolroom’s next 4-track vinyl sampler series is Mark Knight’s hugely successful rework of Groove Armada’s seminal classic ‘Get Down’. Considered one of the holy-grail records of their back catalogue so it’s an absolute honour for us, and Mark Knight, to be re-presenting this incredible record to a new audience. Fusing those unique vocals from Stush and classic Groove Armada synth line, coupled with the energy and insatiable groove of a Mark Knight record, this is a sure-fire dance floor weapon for 2024! Next up are a fan favourite of the label, the mighty duo Illyus & Barrientos who make their long overdue return with ‘When You Gonna’. Tracks such as ‘Shout’, ‘Promise’ and most famously, ‘So Serious’, propelled them to be one of the most exciting and sought after acts in the World. This record is trademark Illyus & Barrientos and reflects their personalities as artists perfectly. Think high energy house music filled with fun and peak-time dance floor vibes! Leading the charge on the b-side is an incredible collaboration from 2 heavyweight house artists, working together for the very first time! David Penn has a career spanning over 25 years. He was recently crowned the #1 house artist on Beatport and boasts over 1 million monthly listeners across leading streaming platforms. OFFAIAH appears on Toolroom for the first time in his career under this alias, although he was a firm part of the original Toolroom Family line up as Michael Woods. So this is a SPECIAL ONE! The record screams sun-drenched terraces, pool parties and chilled cocktails! A huge bass line, infectious tribal vocals and some lush house pianos for good measure. Last but not least, Long-standing Toolroom Family member and fan favourite, Ben Remember returns to the label with ‘Waiting 4 You’. As with all of Ben’s records, this is super creative and super original. Based around an infectious disco vocal sample and all created using out-board, analogue studio gear which gives the track a real gritty
undertone.

Countless radio plays on Radio 1 from Danny Howard, Sarah Storie, Pete Tong Other notable radio plays – Kiss FM, Toolroom Radio, Sirius XM, Data Transmission Radio, Radio 1 Dance Anthems, Radio 1 Party Anthems, Rinse FM, Select Radio, Tomorrowland Radio

“The Blue Hour” is the second VA of Berlin-based THISBE Recordings, following “Black Ink” released in 2022. Curated by label owner Pyrame, The new compilation is an invitation to cruise through the blue hour, that unique time of the day from dusk to night.

During that special time lapse, as the sky goes through several shades of blue, so goes the record: Dominik Marz´s “Bura´s Hymn” brings us straight above the Earth´s surface with a track as atmospheric as it can get, before Radial Gaze & Balam´s collab tune “Foreclosed” sets the scene for a groovy dance above the clouds.

We have already lost sight of the ground when World Wild Web initiates an immersion into an enigmatic phase of the voyage with his track “Extase”, where we do not really know in which time-space we find ourselves any more. Agle hints at a possible spot: “Sahel”, a tune that feels like a breeze across the desert, before Philip Lawns shakes everyone up with the upbeat “Johns”, bringing our feet back just above the ground. Volta Cab wraps up our imaginary trip with “Krasnodar Nights”, bringing a treat for the soul and some peace of mind. The night can now settle down.

“Wild Boy …” is a reissue of the well-known 2016 release curated by Brian Chidester, renowned researcher and biographer of Eden Ahbez. Especially for this album, Brian wrote an interesting text about Abi’s life, which definitely became the decoration of the release.
With the new 2020 re-release, we went a little further and kept what is commonly referred to as studio cuts. It’s a few more minutes in the studio with ahbez himself, full of emotion and life. In addition, to the delight of fans, the edition includes an additional composition Nature Boy (Mantovani Orchestra).
Especially, it is worth noting the outstanding mastering prepared from practically decomposed tapes by the Grammy-nominated Jessica Thompson, which guarantees the deepest and warmth possible sound. Jessica a huge ahbez fan and we’re highly appreciated for what she has done to save his music for the future.
Eden Ahbez is definitely at the origin of psychedelic music and this release can be taken as further proof. Over the past twenty years, the iconic figure of the world’s first hippie Eden ahbez has become famous primarily for his 1948 song “Nature Boy”, praising universal love, and his amazingly solo album from the 1960s called “Eden’s Island” – one from the first concept albums in the history of music and probably the first psychedelic music album. “Wild Boy: The Lost Songs Of Eden Ahbez” deepens understanding of the origins of the psychedelic movement in the 1950s.
The disc contains a musical selection of works by Eden ahbez himself, written by him in the period after Nature Boy. The inclusion of songs such as “Palm Springs” – Ray Anthony Orchestra and “Hey Jacques” by Erta Kitt gives the listener the chance to discover for the first time the little-known recordings of world-famous artists composed by Eden ahbez. Through “Wild Boy” and “Surfer John” you can hear the author’s handling of absurd rock and exotic experimentation, as well as sweet psychedelic pop like Monterey (with Paul Horn on flute). Overall, Wild Boy: The Lost Songs Of Eden Ahbez offers an overview of the lost works of 1949-1971 with seven unpublished recordings and eight rare singles.
If in 2020 you are missing the hallucinogenic content in Eden Ahbez, it amazingly makes up for that deficiency with simple chords, expansive arrangements, and lyrics about travel, relaxation, free love, and spirituality. Thus creating the standard of psychedelic music. Eden Ahbez’s songs weren’t only fantasy and his personal philosophy was the real thing that he lived.

reviews:

“This carefully and extensively researched compilation culls covers by top notch mainstream artists juxtaposed with unreleased Eden recordings. What might sound like a mixed bag is actually more like a chronological, musical non-fiction novel about Eden Ahbez. While Eden was writing hundreds of songs and performing live and making recordings in various styles, his songs were also being picked up by popular artists like Nat King Cole and Eartha Kitt who recorded with a more polished mainstream style. There are also some early rock n roll style recordings here. Eden’s professionally recordings often end up as Novelty Pop records such as “Child of Nature” and “The Clam Man” but if you read between the lines and listen to the lyrics it is pretty eye-opening that he is singing about Eastern-religion-style and pre-hippie philosophies about being at one with the planet Earth.
All of this is explained in the lengthy liner notes inside the lp along with a few choice photos that establish Eden as a founding father of Southern California mystic/psychedelic music.” – Tiki_News
“Eden Ahbez’s life philosophy was summed up in the lyrics of his most famous song, “Nature Boy,” a 1948 hit for Nat King Cole: the song describes a “strange enchanted boy” who wanders the world in search of truth. “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn,” he concludes, “is to love and be loved in return.” Ahbez was a pre-cursor of California’s beatniks and hippies, and an exalted icon of ex-otica via his rare 1960 album Eden’s Island. Beyond “Nature Boy” and Eden’s Island, though, there were nu-merous lesser-known Ahbez record-ings. Ahbez biographer Brian Chidester has been doing an exemplary job of archiving and documenting that catalog of work. The Exotic World of Eden Ahbez (reviewed in UT#38) appeared a few years ago, gathering together 14 Ahbez-related rarities” – Ugly Things

Köhncke rides again with another 12“ having 2 sides that couldn‘t be more different: the A-Side, „Timecode“, is a clock-ticking electronic disco tease promising a joyous release by building up tremendous expectations over its course of 8 minutes – and of course not delivering the final dance floor orgasm since the night has to continue in mutual happiness and expectations on the floor. But well, surely lots of „pre-cum“ spreaded...

The „flip“, „The Answer Is Yes“, displays Köhncke‘s love with The Beatles or Prefab Sprout and the likes, in a masterly programmed digital simulation of the „played“ sound of the likes (Köhncke cannot play any „real instruments“ except for a bit of Barré-Punk-Guitar). It‘s a love metaphor about 2 photons in „entanglement“, which is a proven very psychedelic effect in quantum physics. The photons are „entangled“ and „know“ each other‘s „spin“ in immediacy, thus not bent to the speed of light, even if they are 100000 light years from each other - a theory that even Einstein considered absurd when the pioneers of quantum physics came up with this in the 1930s. So Justus put his fascination with quantum physics into a pop love song metaphor – how much more do you want?

Köhncke kommt zurück mit einer 12“ - 2 Seiten, wie sie unterschiedlicher nicht sein könnten: Die A-Seite, „Timecode“, ist eine tickende elektronische Disco-Versuchungs-Zeitbombe, die über ihre Laufzeit von über 8 Minuten extreme Erlösungsversprechen macht, sie aber selbstverständlich nicht in einem endfinalen Floor-Orgasmus auflöst, denn die Nacht soll ja weitergehen in gemeinsamer Glücklichkeit und Erwartung auf der Tanzfläche. Allerdings, eine Menge „pre-cum“ wird schon versprüht in dieser unwiderstehlichen Spannungserzeugung von Track.

Die „flipside“, „The Answer Is Yes“, stellt Köhnckes Liebe zu den Beatles oder Prefab Sprout etc. ins Licht, in einer meisterhaft programmierten digitalen Simulation des „gespielten“ Sounds der Großmeister (Köhncke kann keine „echten Instrumente“ spielen außer ein bißchen Baréegriff-Punk-Rhythmusgitarre, sein Instrument ist der Sequenzer). Es ist eine Liebesmetapher über zwei Photonen im Zustand der „Verschränkung“, was ein heute wissenschaftlich nachgewiesenes extrem psychedelisches Phänomen aus der Welt der Quantenmechanik ist: die Photonen sind „verschränkt“ und „kennen“ ihren aktuellen „Spin“ (Rotationsrichtung des Teilchens) unmittelbar, also nicht gebunden an die Lichtgeschwindigkeit. Auch wenn sie 100000 Lichtjahre voneneinander entfernt sind – eine Theorie, die sogar Einstein absurd fand („Spukhafte Fernwirkung“), als die Pioniere der Quantenphysik sie in den 1930er Jahren postulierten. Köhncke verewigt seine Faszination für Quantenphysik hier also in Form eine Retro-Pop-Lovesong-Methapher – was will man mehr?
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Death Is Not The End's 333 series continues with this killer slice of digi roots out of late 90s NY, also a big Jah Shaka selection at the time.

Take It Easy was produced by Ricky "Mad Man" Myrie - a reggae/dancehall producer active since the early 90s, and who was also providing writing and production on breakthrough albums for VP from Sean Paul, Capleton & others at this time. Featuring a sharp and poignant vocal from Gumbae Culture, it was recorded at the legendary Philip Smart's Long Island-based HC&F Studio, under the engineering guidance of Smart's brother-in-law and long time studio partner, Michel McDonald. The record's haunting xylophone licks, razor sharp snares and menacing subs perfectly combine throughout the vocal cut, and really come to the fore on the version for a raw and stripped back masterclass in digital dubwise.

As we get into the groove of the summer time; it comes with great pleasure to introduce the next release instalment that comes as a collaborative pressure of collectivity & quality musicianship to produce the EP that we had decided to title as the 'Forward On Riddim' which best describes the vast amount of works that has been going on with this link up between Ashanti Selah & Hark's riddim factory (many work in yet to be released in the pipeline!)

Featuring on the Forward On Riddim we have the vocal works of Zed Regal with a version called 'Magical Connection' which describes the deep sense of understanding and empathy between what would be seen as a search for the search of that divine soulmate.

Then leading into the next version on the riddim 'Overstand' with a message of upliftment for the good of Humanity to rise up and stand as one for the right cause in the spirit of Equal Rights & Justice for all Mankind - that is what we must overstand!

Last but not least we have the real deal artist Mad Sam with a track that he had voiced with no rehearsal fresh from the vibes of JA called 'Unbreakable' preaching words of wisdom to the youths of today to keep it firm and always show love & respect to receive it!

Hope you feel the vibe and message in the music as we bring you these heartikal sounds with an immense line up of top-class international musicians in what turned out to be the first collaborative project between Ashanti Selah and Zac Harkavy!
credits

how do we live in times when nothing seems safe, how do we listen to music when rockets and bullets make the air scream, how do we produce music when the building with our studio is simply no longer there?

over the last 2 years, AMAS and KONSTANTIN KOST have been trying to produce a techno EP across the borders of the war in ukraine. KONSTANTIN KOST was never able to leave ukraine for this, while we were able to move freely through europe.

this ambivalence is part of this album, it is part of every note and every line of the poems that can be heard here. we all associate techno with bass-heavy and dancing through the night, but ODESSA is more, it is a journey without being able to travel, an experience without being able to experience, an escape without being able to escape and a life without really being able to live ...

neither AMAS was able to travel to odessa during this time, nor KONSTANTIN KOST to europe, neither was able to experience the other personally. however, the exchange of music and lyrics has built up a relationship to a country at war, as well as to its people, musicians, women and children.

while we were dealing with our everyday problems in germany, the situation in ODESSA became increasingly confusing. the constant fear of being drafted and producing videos and images for the album at the same time were extremely ambivalent moments.

how do you deal with your counterpart in such moments and what do you say to someone in a situation that we can hardly imagine? we often talked about friends simply disappearing and corrupt officials and soldiers embezzling money and in the next sentence it was straight back to the vinyl production. these conversations were very rational and at the same time extremely surreal.

this EP is not meant to be a political EP, it is meant to be a human album and to take away the feeling of powerlessness from the people who were and are involved. this production and its music is a triumph over the destructive and dark side of war, it is meant to show that art is boundless and that people are connected all over the world even in the darkest times.

in the first track RED GLOW our guest TANYA (musician and djane from Odessa) stoically repeats the words LOVE and FEAR, followed by the words: “i meet you with red glow, in your eyes i quickly dissolve!” the track is part of everyday life, everywhere you meet this red glow and yet everything has to flow on and yet people still live and dance ...

in NIGHTCALL we walk through the streets and follow the call of darkness. the words “through the night” are used here repetitively like a percussion. but the highs and lows also give us hope and the belief that we will wake up again tomorrow and start a new day. in the dark there is always light, which must be preserved and found.
OLD KINGS is also the title of the poem we have written, based on the poem OZYMANDIAS by percy bysshe shelley. OLD KINGS determine our times and our political systems, seemingly unteachable old men hold the world in a stranglehold and it seems as if there are an infinite number of them. yet we continue to fight against these people, we cannot and do not want to do otherwise ...

in TALK TO GOD, KONSTANTIN KOST reads from the well-known ukrainian poem “a cloud floating behind the sun” by TARAS SHEVCHENKO, a famous ukrainian poet and writer. he is considered the founder of modern ukrainian literature and, in part, of the ukrainian language. it is about red fields, the fog and its darkness, as well as the sea and the calmness of the heart in nature, the longing for peace and peace with god.

in addition to poetry and music, all photographs and videos are original recordings by KONSTANTIN KOST of his city ODESSA. although we cannot visit each other, we still share strong visual impressions of a city that, in all its beauty and resilience, will hopefully soon be open to the world again. the cover is therefore also a picture of the port of odessa, a place where people and goods from all parts oft he world will soon be able to sail in and out again.

Official re-issue of Andy Vaz's 2012 “Imaginary Beings” EP originally released on Chiwax + Bonus track. Serge from Clone called this the best authentic Chicago Acid House heard in a long time – sounding like something Jack Frost (aka Adonis) would had made.

We don't have much to add to this. If you are looking for some real Chi-Style rough and raw acid house. THIS IS THE CLOSEST IT CAN GET. Comes as strictly 150 copies limited HANDSTAMPED EP.

25 killer library music cuts by the German film music maestro on audiophile pressing in deluxe 2x10" set. Uberrare and never released before material from 1968-1976, sourced from Peter Thomas' personal reel-to-reel tape archive. Limited edition of 500 pieces.

From brassy big band funk, space jazz, krauty synth experiments to proto-hiphop, cosmic schlagers, heavy easy listening, soulful soundtrack moods and absurdly dreamy LSD ballads, this compilation encompasses the composer's most obscure and yet most transcendent work.

Peter Thomas is widely acknowledged as Germany's most inventive film music composer of the 1960s and 1970, best known for his iconic soundtrack work. He scored over 600 films and episodes, from the crime blockbusters of Jerry Cotton and Edgar Wallace to indie arthouse films like Playgirl, Bruce Lee's The Big Boss and the extraterrestrial Space Patrol and Chariot of the Gods.

His recordings for music libraries often provided an even more leftfield approach. Their visionary 'dope beats' appeal provoked a keen interest from vinyl aficionados, beatmakers and rare groove DJs alike. Unavailable for the public, the original "for professional usage only" albums are now sought-after collector's items that fetch astronomic prices on the 2ndhand market.

This double 10" album is the definite selection of Thomas' best library cues from the Golden Ring Records, KPM and DeWolfe catalogues, many of them available publicly for the first time - plus four recently unearthed "lost" tracks from Warner Chappell's CPM Archive series that have never been released on vinyl before. All music was carefully transferred from Peter Thomas' private master tapes and cut in full dynamics, housed in a beautiful fold-out cover with liner notes and private pictures. The compilation was realised in cooperation with Peter Thomas' son Philip who takes care of the Peter Thomas Sound Orchester catalogue after his father's death in 2020.

Hello 24! Nice to have you here. 23 is so yesterday, so over the top, really. Well, we’ve been dancing the following dances recently. What about you?

What lasts a long time usually turns out well. Having admired TEE MANGO from afar for many years, our A&R Michael Mayer took heart and invited him to this year’s TOTAL. “So In Love” is in the best tradition of the KOMPAKT minimal funk of the early years. We are delighted to have this lovely Englishman on board!

REINHARD VOIGT has always placed great emphasis on loving animals. On the track with the unsurprising title “Der, der mit dem Gummiball sang (Orange)”, he lets whole hordes of different four-legged friends and poultry on the microphone. Hopefully the stench will dissipate from the studio.

When Rhenish cheerfulness meets holiday anticipation, the result is something like this Hawaiian shirt turned music called “Chee-Caruso” by JÜRGEN PAAPE. No animals were tortured for this piece either, even if it sounds like it.

We stay in the realm of fauna and turn our attention to London’s award-winning pedigree dog REX THE DOG. “Laika” is a heart-warming ode to the mongrel dog of the same name, who was the first living creature to make it from the streets of Moscow into space. She would have loved that bleep.

A little-known fact about MICHAEL MAYER is that he is one of the fastest crossword puzzle foxes on the left bank of the Rhine, always in relentless rivalry with Wolfgang Voigt, who thinks he is even faster. The big battle is yet to come. Uninvited guest with five letters? “Urian”.

As an integral part of the family, JONATHAN KASPAR is of course not to be missed. “Are You” celebrates the kind of early morning rapture that is commonplace at his new DJ venue, the brand new Cologne superclub FI. Everything is so colourful here.

SASCHA FUNKE takes a bow to one of the greats of German showbiz with the trippy electro smasher “The Heck”. Born – like DJ Koze and Barnt – in Flensburg, died in Berlin in 2018 and wore glasses. More will not be revealed.

More emotion, more love, more sing-along factor? Si, claro! ARGIA’s “Love Keeps You Running” masterfully combines groove and pop – a blend that sounds very familiar to us. She may be at home in Madrid, but there’s Cologne DNA in her somewhere. We’re sure of it.

Let’s meet the legends, the veterans! JÖRG BURGER is still in a psychedelic mood in 2024. That suits him, that’s where he needs to be, that’s where we want him to be. A parallel universe is conceivable in which such music is affectionately called Goa.

Before going to bed, the WASSERMANN reads us a fairy tale from the Arabian Nights. At the same time, we focus on a point between everything, but really everything, and absolute, stark naked nothingness. 3, 2, 1… Let go.

Hallo 24! Schön, dass du da bist. 23 ist ja sowas von gestern, geht gar nicht, echt. Also, bei uns tanzt man neuerdings die folgenden Tänze. Und bei Euch?

Was lange währt, wird meist gut. Schon seit vielen Jahren aus der Ferne TEE MANGO bewundernd, hat sich unser A&R Michael Mayer ein Herz gefasst und ihn zur diesjährigen TOTAL eingeladen. “So In Love” steht in bester Tradition des kompaktschen Minimal Funk der frühen Jahre. Wir freuen uns, den quirligen Engländer an Bord zu haben!

Tierliebe wird im Hause REINHARD VOIGT schon immer groß geschrieben. Auf dem Stück mit dem nicht weiter verwunderlichen Titel “Der, der mit dem Gummiball sang (Orange)” lässt er gleich ganze Horden verschiedenster Vierbeiner und Federvieh ans Mikro. Hoffentlich zieht der Gestank wieder aus dem Studio ab.

Wenn rheinischer Frohsinn auf Urlaubsvorfreude trifft, dann kommt so etwas wie dieses Musik gewordene Hawaiihemd namens “Chee-Caruso” von JÜRGEN PAAPE heraus. Auch für diesen Beitrag wurden garantiert keine Tiere gequält, auch wenn es allenthalben so klingt.

Wir bleiben im Reich der Fauna und wenden uns London’s preisgekröntem Rassehund REX THE DOG zu. “Laika” ist eine herzerwärmende Ode an die gleichnamige Mischlingshündin, die es von den Strassen Moskaus als erstes Lebewesen ins All geschafft hat. Den Bleep hätte sie bestimmt gemocht.

Eine wenig bekannte Tatsache über MICHAEL MAYER ist, dass er zu den schnellsten Kreuzworträtsel-Füchsen links des Rheins zählt, stets in unbarmherziger Rivalität zu Wolfgang Voigt, der sich für noch schneller hält. Der große Battle steht noch aus. Ungebetener Gast mit fünf Buchstaben? “Urian”.

Als fester Bestandteil der Familie darf natürlich auch JONATHAN KASPAR nicht fehlen. “Are You” zelebriert frühmorgendliche Entrückungszustände, wie sie in seiner neuen DJ-Wirkungsstätte, dem nigelnagelneuen Kölner Superclub FI Gang und Gäbe sind. Alles so schön bunt hier.

SASCHA FUNKE verneigt sich mit dem trippy Electrosmasher “The Heck” vor einem der ganz Großen des deutschen Showbiz. Geboren – wie DJ Koze und Barnt – in Flensburg, gestorben 2018 in Berlin, Brillenträger. Mehr wird nicht verraten.

Mehr Gefühl, mehr Liebe, mehr Mitsing-Faktor? Si, claro! ARGIA’s “Love Keeps You Running” vereint meisterlich Groove und Pop – eine Melange, die uns durchaus bekannt vorkommt. Sie mag zwar in Madrid zuhause sein, aber irgendwo steckt in ihr eine Kölsche. Da sind wir uns sicher.

Auf zu den Legenden, den Urgesteinen! JÖRG BURGER zeigt sich auch in 2024 in einem psychedelischen Mood. Das steht ihm, da muss er hin, da wollen wir ihn haben. Es ist ein Paralleluniversum denkbar, in dem solche Musik liebevoll Goa genannt wird.

Der WASSERMANN liest uns vor dem Schlafengehen noch ein Märchen aus Tausendundeine Nacht vor. Wir fokussieren uns gleichzeitig auf einen Punkt zwischen allem, aber auch wirklich allem und dem absoluten, splitterfasernackten Nichts. 3, 2, 1… Loslassen

Headquartered in a broader domain of Mixcult Records, Blackinstock Records focuses on the very first release with "Reel Phase EP" BLIS001, representing the most profound property of Mixcult Records' Black Gold Dub Techno. This great collection includes legendary Dub Techno maestro Federsen, plus the innovative minds of Yagya and Ohm.

Submerge in a sea of minimalism and sonic depth, where every single track is a journey in itself. "Reel Phase EP" is such music, emanating from the very heart of Dub Techno. A lot is vested in these expansive and immersive soundscapes, embracing highly detailed constructions. The spaciousness and depth of this release create an unrivalled listening experience, allowing for a deep dive into the pensive and genre-evolutive nature of this sophisticated kind of music.

Federsen, Yagya, and Ohm blend their different skills in masterly fashion, cooking up something timeless and forward-thinking. Each track is a stamp of class and introspection, hallmarks of the Blackinstock Records label, making this EP a must-have for any Dub Techno enthusiast.

Give a different feel to your collection with this genre-defining release. "Reel Phase EP" BLIS001 is not just music; it's an auditory journey to the very heart of Dub Techno. Make no mistake: this is your chance to get a share of musical evolution – get your copy now and dive into the deeper realm that Blackinstock Records holds in store.

Norwegian talent Meera makes her Crosstown Rebelsdebut with the atmospheric ‘Stikk’. Landing on 30th August, the EP sees the young artist flex her production prowess with remixes from Dennis Cruz and Tripolism.

Riding the success of her debut single ‘Music For Humans’ in 2023, Norway’s Meera was swiftly recruited by Damian Lazarus, joining him at his Hï Ibiza residency before heading to Rebellion for the release of the resonant ‘Teflon’. The sought-after artist has shown no signs of slowing, releasing a series of remixes this year amongst European shows, festival appearances, and Ibiza
pit stops. Continuing this momentum, she now makes her label debut on Lazarus’ renowned Crosstown Rebels with ‘Stikk’, with imprint regular Dennis Cruz joining on remix duties alongside melodic Danish trio and former collaborators Tripolism, who also make their first outing on Crosstown.

Landing in realms of afro-house, Meera’s production is cool, confident, and creative. With eclectic influences audible throughout her standout sound, her ‘Stikk’ EP proves why she first garnered the attention of artists such as Jimi Jules and John Digweed. The title track leads with minimal climbing percussion, introspective piano melodies and delicate, dreamlike vocals. In contrast, Tripolism’s remix turns up the intensity to a biting crescendo, adding sharp synths for a more dancefloor-focused feeling. ‘Sykkelkurv’ reaches for higher planes of emotion with its atmospheric soundscape, moody chords and driving drums, toeing the line between light and dark. Next, Dennis Cruz’s interpretation drives the track off the line and into deeper rhythms with chunky low-ends, picking up the pace for peak time. Digital purchasers are treated to a bonus track titled ‘Stikk Reprise’, a pulsating trip back into the lead single, with a heightened focus on the song's hypnotic vocals and raw emotive energy.

Full of bounce and experimentation in equal measure, ‘Triple Transit,’ Braille’s new album for Hotflush is about leaving his Sepalcure project (with Machinedrum) in the rear mirror, moving back to New York and using its energy to fuel new moves, confronting our hyper layered world and overcoming personal difficulties by being creative.

Focused squarely on utilising modular synthesis in sprawling studio sessions, the album covers a wide stylistic range and draws on the artist’s formidable battery of experience to craft a body of work that packs real emotional punch as well as a dancefloor sensibility.

We had a quick chat with him to wet your appetite…

Praveen Sharma aka Braille:
Moving on from Sepalcure
“That period of time when Sepalcure was at its peak was really inspiring. I’m still really in awe and humbled by the fans. It’s always amazing to hear about how music you’ve made has brightened up other people’s lives in some way, but ‘Triple Transit’ is really about transitioning from that period to something new. I’m intentionally not using many vocal samples on this album. That became quite a crutch for Sepalcure and I wanted to try and find ways to evoke those emotions and connect with the audience in other ways.”

The roots of his Bounce
‘Sour Patch Kiss’ and ‘While We’re Free’ are inspired by classic house and some early Detroit stuff. Songs like ‘Big Fun’ (Inner City), ‘I Wanna Be there’ (Model 500) and slowed down ‘Sex on The Beach’ (DJ Assault) have stuck with me since the beginning. I used to listen to this slowed down and doubled version of ‘Sex on The Beach’ on an early Juan Atkins mix cd on REPEAT when I was in high school.

Getting ambient
Triple Transit slows down and transitions through a bit of sadness and eventually acceptance at the end of the album. A lot of the music I’m making these days is trying to recreate that manic feeling so many of us have in 2024. Between social media, ridiculous hustle culture expectations and depressing global and national political events, it’s hard to not feel overwhelmed. I feel like Triple Transit is kind of a parabolic curve from mania to joy to a sober realization that yeah, actually the world is just fucked but somehow we carry on.

Sasha returns with atmospheric gem 'How to Wear Raybans Well' Featuring remxes from heavyweights Roman Flügel and Nathan Fake.

Electronic luminary Sasha has had a busy 2024 that has so far yielded standout collaborations with the likes of Super Flu & Sentre and a solo single 'Florian Drift' that proves he remains at the cutting edge. His Last Night on Earth label continues to serve up a rich mix of melodic house and techno from the most exciting names in the scene and this latest solo single finds the boss head into new realms once more.

The superb 'How to Wear Raybans Well' is awash with fizzing dub chords and electric lines that flash about the mix. The deep rooted drums have a subtle bounce as they serve to sweep the floor off its feet and lock them into a state of melodic techno bliss.

First to remix is Nathan Fake, a UK talent who has always had his own unique sound. It's based on his mastery of synths and melody and has arrived on labels like Ninja Tune and Border Community as well as his own Cambria Instruments. His remix ups the ante and strips things away to bring more defined drums and crisp hits. The synths bring a range of emotions as they unfold with a mind of their own throughout this most captivating track.

Roman Flügel has been an ever present in the electronic world almost since the start. The German's output has covered endless ground from micro house to acid to techno on the most tasteful labels from his own Playhouse to Mule, Dial and Live At Robert Johnson. His remix is timeless surging techno that comes with waves of warming synths and unrelenting drum pressure designed for peak time dance floor wig-outs.

2024 Reissue

Strut present the first definitive retrospective of an icon of 1970s and ‘80s soul, jazz and disco, Patrice Rushen, covering her peerless 6-year career with Elektra / Asylum from 1978 to 1984. Joining Elektra after three albums with jazz label Prestige, Patrice had shown prodigious talent at an early age and had first broken through after winning a competition to perform at the Monterrey Jazz Festival of 1972. By the time of the recordings on this collection, she had become a prolific and in-demand session musician and arranger on the West coast, appearing on over 80 recordings for other artists. She joined the Elektra / Asylum roster in 1978 as they launched a pop / jazz division alongside visionaries like Donald Byrd and Grover Washington, Jr. “The idea was to create music that was good for commercial radio / R&B,” Patrice explains. “We were all making sophisticated dance music, essentially.”

Drawing on some of the leading musicians in L.A. like saxophonist Gerald Albright, drummer “Ndugu” Chancler and bassman Freddie Washington and keeping an open minded approach from her training in classical, jazz and soundtrack scores, Patrice’s music was a different, more intricate proposition to many of the soul artists of the time. “L.A. musicians were not so locked into tradition,” she continues. “None of us were accustomed to limitation and the record label left us to take our own direction.”

Early classics like ‘Music Of The Earth’ and ‘Let’s Sing A Song Of Love’ were among Patrice’s first as a lead vocalist before her ‘Pizzazz’ album landed in 1979, featuring the unique disco of ‘Haven’t You Heard’ and one of her greatest ballads, ‘Settle For My Love’. “Although ballads make you feel more vulnerable as an artist because they are often personal, I think listeners relate to that sincerity,” she reflects. By now, Patrice’s records were supremely arranged and produced as her confidence as an all-round writer, producer, arranger and performer grew. Slick dancefloor anthem ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ and the ‘Posh’ album in 1980 led to her landmark album ‘Straight From The Heart’ two years later. Receiving little support from her label, Patrice and her production team personally funded a promo campaign for the first single from it, ‘Forget Me Nots’. It went on to peak at no. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the album was later Grammy-nominated, while the track became a timeless anthem and popular sample, inspiring Will Smith’s theme for the film ‘Men In Black’ and George Michael’s ‘Fastlove’.

Patrice’s final album for Elektra, ‘Now’ kept the bar high with sparse, synth-led songs including ‘Feel So Real’ and ‘To Each His Own’. It concluded a golden era creatively for Patrice which remains revered by soul and disco aficionados the world over.

‘Remind Me’ features all of Patrice Rushen’s chart singles, 12” versions and popular sample sources on one album for the first time. Formats included a 3LP set and 1CD fully remastered by The Carvery from the original tapes. Both formats include an exclusive new interview with Patrice Rushen and rare photos.

• First definitive Patrice Rushen compilation released on vinyl since the ‘80s
• Includes all of her chart hits, DJ favourites and sample sources
• Official release featuring full interview with Patrice Rushen about her career and music • Features rare photos from her personal collection + some of the photographers she has worked with during her career
• Fully remastered by The Carvery from the original ¼” tapes
• Start of full Patrice Rushen reissue programme from her Elektra era

DJ Support: Louie Vega, Ralf Gum, Jihad Muhammad, Zepherin Saint, Mr. V, Doug Gomez DjPope, DJ Beloved & Brutha Basil to name a few.

Sean McCabe’s Good Vibrations Music label opens the vault doors for a peek inside some of its closely guarded & much-loved releases courtesy of this special limited edition 12 inch. Featuring 4 new to vinyl releases & including a raft of luminary names from across the soulful spectrum this is sure to be a be a hot fave with long standing fans of the label.

Glenn Underground’s Jazz-Funk fuelled rework of 'This Place' kicks things off and needs no introduction… heavily supported & much loved through the soulful circles & beyond with the likes of Louie Vega, Dave Lee, Jimpster, Jamie 3:26 & Fred Everything (to name a few!) all loudly banging the drum – people have been clamouring for this to be on vinyl. You spoke, we listened!

Up next is 'Modulate', a collaborative force of the highest order between Sean & long-time friend Black Sonix. Expertly fuzzying the lines across Deep, Soulful & House is somewhat of a speciality for the duo respectively and there’s bags of all 3 intertwined throughout alongside a hefty sprinkling of sun-kissed, Latino-inspired pianos.

'Still Standing Here' kicks things off on the B-side and begin in March 2022 as vocalist Madeeha recorded an accapella vocal idea in a phone voice message, quietly singing into her phone to avoid waking the neighbours. She sent the idea to drum & bass producer from Bristol, DJ Mixjah, who then approached friend Sean McCabe with the idea. Together they produced a hypnotic afro-tinged soulful backing track to fit with the voice message, with an intention to re-record it in a studio environment. Sean and Mixjah soon realised that the music they had created blended perfectly with the sincerity, intimacy & rawness of Madeeha's heartfelt performance in the original voice message and decided to stick with it. A firm fave for Atjazz, Crackazat , DJ Spen & Emmaculate.

Wrapping things up is 'You Don’t Know', a slick & energetic dancefloor bubbler from London based producer/DJ ‘David Bailey’ and Canadian soulful songstress ‘MissFly’. David Bailey is a firm favourite amongst the London house music community. He’s produced standout releases on labels such as Idris Elba's 7wallace, Makin Moves, Good Vibrations Music, Rhemi Music & Unquantize. MissFly is known for her soulful serenades and ability to write songs 'on the fly' in the studio. She has carved out an impressive discography on soulful house nuggets such as '1972,' 'Wanna Love You' and 'Thankful'

Raining Heart is a studio project originally created by the German musicians Peter Heckmann and Tobias Freund in 1986 in Frankfurt. Very much in the same vein as Art of Noise with its studio sound experimentalism, but with a Kraut edge to it. If there was one track that could be played for everyone at the G20 Summit whilst on LSD in hopes of achieving world peace, it might be “Raining Heart”, the first track on this EP, it’s just one of those tracks that makes you wonder what these people were eating for breakfast at the time. Nothing technically mind blowing, just crafted to perfection in terms of all the elements coming together in therapeutic beauty, (also clearly exposing Peter’s relationship with theatrical production). A downtempo chugger with the dreamiest of sounds, effortlessly transporting the listener to another dimension, the vocals are unthinkable, by Yucca Rose, an East Javanese Jazz singer, almost as if she was broadcasting from a radio station in a parallel universe. “Alien Beat” takes a more aggressive turn into some kind of neo rock direction generously decorated with a wide range of studio tricks that might have been ground breaking at the time. B-side offers two new remixes by Castro, a “K-hole Collage” version of “Raining Heart” taking the original theme to another dubbed out realm, and a “Bonus Beat” extension of “Alien Beat” that dissects the key elements of the original track in efforts to develop a more dancefloor oriented DJ tool. Remastered with original artwork.

2024 Reissue

Ova Doce is one of the original ravers, growing up attending the illegal and legal gatherings across the Midlands, while also holding down a slot on a local Walsall pirate radio. Around this time he released his one and only white label record – the Feel The Rush EP. This was limited to about 200 copies and over the years ended up being a really sought-after releases, commanding prices up for £200+ a copy! In 2020 Nathan hooked up with Vinyl Fanatiks and we re-released some of the tracks form that EP along with other tracks he had recently rebuilt from demo’s he created in 1992 – Rediscovered #1 and Rediscovered #2.

Back again on Amen Brother, following on from 2021’s rave induced It’s The Wax EP – Nathan continues to pick through some of his demo’s from back in the day and rebuild them into fresh tracks alongside brand new material.

We hope you enjoy this brand new EP of authentic future rave classics that will no doubt will become collectable in the years to come.

Seattle's own Manatee Commune (aka Grant Eadie) makes his long-awaited return to
Bastard Jazz with his fourth album, 'Simultaneity'. Lush and vibrant production is
familiar to his previous works, though Eadie has significantly matured in the activation of
space and character. A step away from standard songwriting, and a total disassociation
from lyrics at all, has made this record closer to the ambient genre than anything
Manatee Commune has released, all the while keeping one solid foot in the realm of
dance music.

'Simultaneity', as a whole, is an exploration of the collision between texture and time.
Captured recordings reminiscent of wind in wheatgrass, soft rain showers in the open
plains, and cascading beach sand wash over the mix, splashing into warm drones and
ascending melodies that cleanly syncopate against a steady rhythm. Though decidedly
electronic at times, a raw human element is ever-present in the form of a vocal motif:
just tiny moments of a loving voice lost in a sea of reverberation.

The album is a noticeably positive evolution from previous works. All nine tracks depict
a calmness and subtlety in musicianship, relying primarily on tenuous snippets of live
instrumentation and synthesis that hypnotically coil and coalesce with one another.
'Love Tone', the opening track, features Eadie's partner, a small voice memo clipped
and expanded into an ethereal vocal melody. A crisp felt piano delivers a complex
arpeggiation in 'Mosaic', a warm sonic bath scape reminiscent of Olafur Arnalds or
Kiasmos. Simple, undemanding bass lines drive tracks 'Path' and 'Faulted', though their
simplicity is contrasted with a variety of patterns that combine to create unique auditory
shapes, both building and landing in satisfying climactic movement. The album
culminates in the final track, 'Touch Theme', where a block of sound in the form of a
broad, open synthetic chord warms the ears, eventually twisting and shifting to rhythmic
chunks that shove against a familiar house rhythm.

microCastle’s second offering of 2024 welcomes Upercent back to the label for a new EP. Since first appearing in 2011, Valencia based sound architect Upercent has developed a distinct brand of electronic futurism. An enthusiastic attitude towards experimentation, coupled with extraordinary creative vision has made the Spaniard one of the more unique artists to emerge in the last decade. Upercent’s first microCastle project, 2018’s 'Vuit', not only served as the imprint's second ever vinyl release, but continued the Valencia resident’s mission to create contemporary club tools and destabilizing sound explorations. Seemingly in constant motion moving forward, Upercent would go on to record projects for Diynamic, Kompakt and Watergate, amongst others, firmly establishing his place amongst the underground’s premiere talents. Now more than five years on from this elusive string of projects, it has been Habitat, Innervisions, Sum Over Histories and TAU which have been vehicles for his creative swell over the last two calendar years, reminding us of the niche he carved out during his initial rise, as he continues to maneuver himself through the confines of electronic music. With 2024 being highlighted by ‘Falling’, a two-track collaborative project with Germany’s Adana Twins, Upercent now returns to microCastle with ‘Persevere’.

Beginning with the organic monochromes of ‘Oracle’, Upercent’s craftsmanship reveals itself across the slow-burning piece, one where funked-up beats and rubbery basslines get peppered with skittering rhythms, thought provoking vocal samples and glitched-out electronics. Its subdued yet swing-heavy suspense while perfect for an astute dancefloor, also acts as an ideal segue into the hopeful qualities of ‘As It May See’. Paul Brenning’s vocals feature here, falling like raindrops atop woody kick drums and clustered sonics, eventually giving way to an interlude of soulful phrasing, coaxing beautifully with granular textures and ghostly swirls of wind, before tastefully moving forward as panoramic arps emerge for a mesmerizing finale.

Upercent’s distinct aesthetic continues on the fourth selection ‘Cult’. Perhaps the most direct composition on the EP, its six-minute running time quickly sets you adrift in a techno-inspired wasteland of deconstructed vocals and retro chord stabs. Both intimate and wide-ranging, it's a series of crystal-like drones which engulf your attention whole, creating a sombre, ceremonial backdrop for misty glitches and fog-like swells to create a scenic storyboard. Reverberating hits and twitchy rhythms fill the space of closer ‘Blau Cel’, a production where Upercent crafts a trek through mountainous dancefloor trails. Unbound by gravity, orchestral gestures sweep across mossy plains and frost-filled sighs, offering listeners another immersive journey into the uncharted realms of musical expression.

Vast imbecile mentality of those
Who cannane tell a thistle from a rose This is for the others...

Jesse Rae: anachronist Celtic funk warrior, renegade pioneer of funk, soul & dub (collaborating with Parliament, Funkadelic, Adrian Sherwood, Roger Troutman & the Sugarhill Gang); mad pedestrian-punk-poet, steeped so much in his own mythology he exists not only outside of time but in a universe of his own making; three time runner as an independent electoral candidate for Scottish Parliament, kitted-out as ever in ever in his Scots regal (kilt, helmet and claymore); the original trailblazer of the MTV Age (see 1985 music video ‘Over the Sea’, shot on top of the Brooklyn Bridge - aye, you read that correctly). And that’s just the tip of the iceberg folks. The Real McCoy. Prince of Scotland, king of hearts.

Appearing on wax for the first time, three cuts from the world's first ISDN virtual album, Jesse Rae’s seminal ‘Compression’ (CD) - which first dropped on Echo Beach in 1995. ‘Almost Ma Sel Again’ - a Scottish Burns-Funk classic intercut with a reading of Nigel Tranter’s The Wallace, a breathtaking (de)construction of emotional-electronic-free-funk; as deep as the heart that reaps it. ‘Virtual U’ - a mad cut of downtempo Scot/US G-Funk cum hip-hop interposed with answering machine messages from New Jersey’s own Bernie Worrell. ‘Switch Tae U’ - an orchestral and sublime bit of downtown house music. And of course, joining these three is a re-mastered cut of Jesse Rae’s 1982 cult classic ‘Rusha’ - a tripped out slab of linguistic psychedelia.

There we have it then: real shit indeed! Jesse Rae on Pace Yourself folks. For the already initiated and first timers, welcome to the Caledonian wormhole.

Sure to be an outsider anthem for Scotland @ the Euros this summer. Pace & Luv xo

Ruby Red - Transparent - Galaxy effect vinyl in dub style jacket (jacket sleeve with center hole cut out so label of LP shows through) a black paper inner sleeve and poly bag.

PART ONE’ METAL HAMMER - 8/10 review. FOR FANS OF : Lustmord, Om, Sunn O))) . “An exercise in freeform ambience, ritualistic repetition and the rapturous, womb-like power of bass…strange and affecting. We remain lucky to share in the great man’s vision.”


At its heart, music has always been a questioning of inheritance – a dialogue with predecessors and forebears, the forging of one’s own perspective in relation to what has come before, and for some, a plunge into the boundless realms between. For Steve Von Till, that process has always taken on an added dimension to become the most sacred of tasks. Whether through the apocalyptic uprising of Neurosis, the sonic deconstructions of their sister project, Tribes of Neurot, the invocatory intimacy of his eponymous solo albums or his instrumental psychedelic reveries in the guise of Harvestman, that dialogue has never just been with musical influences, but with what underpins them: the primordial, elemental forces now banished to the peripheries of our contemporary consciousness, yet still broadcasting a signal for all who will listen.
Drawn to the megaliths, ruins and ancient sites mapped out along the British and European mainland’s geographical and psychic landscapes, the folklore and apocrypha forever resurfacing as portals from a rational world, “Triptych” is a meditation forged from traces and residues, and an hallucinatory recollection of artists who have tapped into that enduring otherworldliness embedded within us all. It’s a dream diary narrating a passage through Summer Isle where Flying Saucer Attack are wafting out of a window, a distant Fairport Convention are being remixed by dub master Adrian Sherwood, celestial scanners Tangerine Dream are trying to drown out Bert Jansch and Hawkwind are playing Steeleye Span covers, all prised out of time yet bound to its singularity.
Woven together from home studio recordings that span two decades, this latest outing as Harvestman finds parallels with nature’s cycles not just in its release dates but in the repeated structure that binds each album, like an imprint refracted through three separate strata. As with April’s “Part One” and the forthcoming “Part Three”, “Part Two”, starts on a collaboration with Om bassist and long-term friend of Steve’s, Al Cisneros, with a dub take opening the B-Side. Here, the opening track, “The Hag Of Beara Vs The Poet”’s languid, tribal groove expands into a chromatic wash, like an endless drip of oil spreading out under a midsummer haze.
A filtering of the alpha-state travelogues of its predecessor, “Part Two” reaches even deeper into primal yet pristine states. It journeys from the undulating drone and slow-thawing wonder of “The Falconer”, as if the Myst soundtrack were being broadcast from outer space, through “Damascus”’s perpetual-motion, dreamtime bazaar and “Vapour Phase”s seismograph frequencies measuring supernatural tremors to “The Unjust Incarceration”s distorted bagpipes, sounding a noise-frayed lament
If “Triptych” is a multi- and extra-sensory experience, it extends to the remarkable glyph-style artwork of Henry Hablak, a map of correspondences from a long-forgotten ancient and advanced civilization. As with “Triptych” itself, it’s an echo from another time, an act of binding, a guide to be endlessly reinterpreted, and a signpost to the sacred that might not indicate where to look, but how.

" In 2022, Guts brought together his musical family for his ‘Estrellas’ album. An ambitious project that brought together musicians from: Franc, Cuba and various African countries. For a journey that was as rich artistically as it was humanly. The list of superlatives was almost endless, "Formidable", "incredible", "unforgettable" and "magical" all thrown into the pot, during these magical moments in the Dakar studio. From the seventeen tracks heard on the original album, three have been entrusted to the expert and inventive hands of four producers, who have come up with new interpretations bringing Africa and the Caribbean together for a modern dancefloor.

‘Por Que Ou Ka Fe Sa’ (Poirier Remix)
From his studio in Montreal, Canadian Poirier has opted for a strong groove and relentless bass drum to keep out intruders, putting vocalists David Walters and Brenda Navarrete in a rhythmic cocoon. Accompanied in a slightly moody bassline that adds some driving muscle to the track. The hooky guitar line eventually gives way to the saxophone that emerges from the mix to parade around the front line. The original electric piano is replaced by a synth pad that loops and spins driving the track to its conclusion.

‘Por Que Ou Ka Fe Sa’ (David Walters Remix)
Before recording this track, David Walters and Brenda Navarette didn't even know each other. So in the magic of the moment that brought them together is a genuine and sincere artistic bond. It is no longer Guts but David who is at the musical helm, and before they too can savour the connection between the two artists, the dancers will have to pass through an overheated corridor where a Caribbean rhythm resonates with percussion. Digital and woodwind swirl and clash until the vocal encounter with the artists. It's a moment of respite that's as suspended as it is life-saving, because the exit is also via the famous corridor.

‘San Lazaro’ (Bosq Remix)
On Bosq’s mix, he’s opted to maintain things focused on the dancefloor, keeping the percussion persistent for the unleashed bodies of the dancers to smile. It's once again the walking bass line rises to the forefront of the groove, softening the shocks of the relentless kick drum. Roberto Valdes's timeless piano has disappeared, while guitars float and add to the atmosphere. The track is no longer awash in cigar smoke. Under Akemis's powerful vocals the low ceiling has disappeared, and the open roof is more a brass-lit spectacle. That doesn't make things any less overheated though, this one is sweaty until the end.

‘Medewui’ (Captain Planet Remix)
Captain Planet brings the dancer’s attention to the Afrobeat flavored jam that rocked the original, highlighting the Pat Kalla & Assane Mboup duet. Despite the track remaining mid tempo, laying back is no longer the order of the day as this mix really develops. The drums are more present jolting along with the organ in the first half. Once all the storytellers have taken their microphones, the rhythmic beats are doubled and the track is carried towards a frenzy of Afro-Latin dancing. Fired up by the brass and percussion, it’s this almost switch up that takes hold of the second part of the tune, with some righteous authority and relentless piano and trumpet."

Make The Ting is a project born out of my writing on creativity that lives online as post it style notes known as the ‘Yellow Squares’ found across Instagram and Twitter. The first square was posted on July 31st 2021, as covid-19 restrictions were lifting in the UK and I was thinking about what the music scenes and wider creative communities are after 18 months of lockdown. The idea’s developed into lectures presenting them in real life, but the platform felt right to explore my own creativity more broadly to challenge my own ideas in real time. My history as a DJ, Label Owner and Promoter in the Grime scene wasn’t at the forefront of these ideas, but I wanted to reconnect back to the ecosystem that inspired and gave me a creative career in the first place. Blay Vision’s ‘Cammy Riddim’ in the summer of 2022 inspired an idea to translate the ideas in the squares into song form. I approached Grime MC Jammz about the idea, and the first song ‘Yellow Square’ was done with the core principles that I had written about so far. 6 months passed, and while on a Muay Thai retreat in Thailand in February 2023 I thought about expanding the musical side of the Yellow Squares further. I text Jammz about turning this idea into an album, that we make as quickly as possible using my writing as a guide, and his voice and creativity to turn them into songs. We gave ourselves two weeks, set up a shared notes in iPhone did two zoom meetings, one phone call, exchanged messages on iMessage and he wrote 7 songs in a week, then recorded them all in one day at Ten 87 Studios in Tottenham, London. Jammz wrote all of the songs to one of his own beats, then we selected the final instrumentals we liked that we thought fit the ideas from both our camps the day before recording. The speed forced our hands creatively and it would have been a completely different project if we worked on it for months. Time is the creative director. Albums don’t have to be blockbuster projects with big budgets and huge campaigns behind them. Albums are just collections of ideas. Removing the pressure of trying to make a perfect one meant it got done and released with the least stress possible. Even the business of the album took 5 mins to handle. An equal revenue split on each song between me, Jammz, and the producer. Everyone gets paid quarterly into their own account automatically by our distributor. On announcement of the album in March 2023, we released the acapellas, for people to do their own versions, before most of the original songs had been heard by anyone. We encouraged people to Remix The Ting, and I did custom artwork for everyone that sent me a complete remix before the album came out on the 30th June 2023. The front covers are drawn individually by me. I wanted to make the record an extension of what I do with the yellow squares themselves and capture the energy of where my head is at in 2023. If it’s blank, it’s space for you to draw your own yellow square. Maybe what you think about the album, what it’s inspired for you, or just a snapshot of where your creative brain is at on the day you are picking up this record. This could be the first of many albums, this could be a one off. Nobody knows what is going to happen next. It all may make sense in the end – Elijah

Although all three tracks offer the listener valuable insight into the level of music production ingenuity that was going on in Japan at the time, it's "Electric City" that really stands out as an unmistakably unique dancefloor track, where the then teenage female vocalists from Shohjo-Tai are left out and a galloping 120BPM beat sets a blank canvas for a number of unexpected elements to present: completely unorthodox accents in a wide range of unidentifiable sounds, a very enthusiastic electric guitar solo, the Ennio Morricone-esque Spaghetti Western vocal moments, all of which get contrasted with a blissful chorus that reminds one that this is somehow still a collaboration with a Japanese female idol band from the 80s. A hard track to forget even in the less sober dancefloors, it is no surprise that it would be a fundamental secret weapon in the repertoire of diggers such as Dea Barandana. Can't go wrong, buy on sight. Remastered with new artwork.

2024 Repress

Berlin techno talent Regent is next up on Mutual Rytm as he returns with a compelling new five-track 12" titled 'Coral Knife', plus a digital bonus cut.

Regent emerged only in 2020, but has fired out quality tunes on Planet Rhythm Records, Arts Collective and Warg Records since then. His already extensive catalogue of standout releases combines tough and rapid grooves with cerebral qualities and a real depth of writing and sound design, resulting in timeless yet avant-garde material optimised for the dance floor. For that reason, he is one of the new forces emerging from the German capital and why his next EP, 'Coral Knife', sees him find a perfect home on SHDW's Mutual Rytm imprint as he returns with his first 12" on the label following his appearance on the 'Federation Of Rhythm II' compilation earlier this year.

The tight and funky 'Brickyard' opens with a high-speed groove and a taught synth riff darting about the mix to seductive effect, before 'Driftage' gets more raw with rickety percussion over bulky drums. The synths are dubby and liquid as they get smeared about the mix to bring dynamism to the groove. There is then darkness and heaviness to 'Nocta' with weighty kicks and alluring vocal sounds drifting through the late-night airwaves.
Title track 'Coral Knife' cannot fail to sweep dancers off their feet with its fizzing synths and smooth drum loops overlaid with icy hi-hats that get you into a meditative state, while 'Encoder' layers up bleeps and squeaks over a signature linear groove that is detailed with muffled vocals and distant cosmic stars.

As always with Mutual Rytm, the package rounded out with an impressive digital bonus in the form of 'Multiversa' - a driving and thunderous techno cut that closes the show emphatically.

LIMITED Quantity. Deep dive into the realm of electro music. Hypnotic multi-layered baselines, unpredicted drops and bursting beats would make precise, nevertheless not full definition of this EP. Following the
debut of the sequel with an exhibition showcasing artwork’s creation and conceptualization, we face SEQ002: False Destination, a new chapter where the story continues in an unexpected way. It holds the question, to which unknown territory did the agent headed from his collapsed dimention? – Side A takes you on a journey that echoes the spirit of interdimensional travel, a recurring theme in electro music. Impact One throws you into a captivating sonic environment, grabbing your attention with distinct sonic events, all layered over a foundation of subtly shifting rhythmic patterns. A2 is another mention of wrong dimention, hard alterations on early 90s Rave revivalism with peculiar artifacts and touch of blue note with breakbeat burst out conclusion. –
On the flip, a couple of heavyweights. Thick kicks jumping from 4 tothe-floor to broken beat, uncertain breakdowns and unexpected amen breaks driving audience on the edge. Hypnotic bassline for B1 was characterized as Giorgio Moroder on steroids. Last track is a calm blend in ending on a hybrid cosmic breaks combined with Yamaha DX7. – ABOUT ARTWORK This time comic-like backside artwork has an insert accompaniment to immerse within the world created by the artist behind the record. AI has been used to create artwork, generating imagery as a way to bring ideas to life. It offers a cryptic clue, a fragmented piece of the puzzle that complements the music to tell the story

Chamber music masterpiece with electronics

Albert Alan Owen was born in Wales in 1948 to parents of Welsh and Latvian heritage. His family later moved to Zimbabwe, where his father took up a teaching position. There, Owen was deeply influenced by local music and culture, while also exploring American RnB and jazz. It was during this period that he became acutely aware of the harsh inequalities under British colonial rule, which instilled in him a lifelong aversion to discrimination and racism.
In 1967, Owen returned to Europe to pursue his studies and enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He went on to spend time in Paris, studying composition with the eminent Nadia Boulanger and piano under Jacques Février, a favorite pianist of Ravel’s and Poulenc’s. Owen's focus shifted almost entirely to composition, and the acquisition of a Fender Rhodes electric piano marked the beginning of a divorce from his classical Western training. This transition allowed him to merge his passion for African and African-American music with the impressionistic styles of Ravel and Debussy while exploring the innovative realm of electroacoustic composition.
These formative experiences framed Owen’s career as a composer and educator at the Royal Academy of Music and London’s Working Men’s College. He eventually returned to Wales, where he continues to reside.

In 1979, 29-year-old Albert Alan Owen released Keyboards & Strings, a light magical chamber music masterpiece.
Transcending the formal conventions of its era, Keyboard & Strings is an acoustic and electric piano piece, where the violin is met by synths and electronics.
As is often the case in Albert Alan Owen’s most intimate works, there is a sense of ethereal beauty that emerges from the music, akin to the emotional state one might experience while contemplating a Félix Vallotton landscape or the unfathomable mystery of dawn’s first light.
Quiet, profound, and immersive, Keyboard & Strings stands out as an electronic-age tone poem, a rare gem that transcends time and place.

Having plied his trade around the world for more than three decades, German guitarist, bandleader and musical explorer Jan Whitefield has always instilled in his craft a natural aesthetic of authenticity, a key component which has seen him amass a sizeable and varied catalogue of material which has remained timeless where some of his contemporaries have faded away.

In the early 90s, as various UK bands were signed up by sizeable labels and enjoyed even mainstream chart success in the Acid Jazz and rare groove boom, Jan and his brother Max formed the Poets Of Rhythm, self-releasing their own uncompromisingly hard-edged take on 70s street funk on the then completely unfashionable 7" single format, forerunning the Deep Funk scene by almost a decade. 30 years on, in spite of a legion of retro-focused bands having followed in their wake, few have yet to come close to matching the energy and spirit of those early Poets 45s.

Since then, Jan has applied himself to all manner of new incarnations and innovative side-projects, releasing further funk surveys as the Whitefield Brothers before leading his own band under the pseudonym Karl Hector, with releases on labels such as Stones Throw, Daptone, Ninja Tune, Mo'Wax, Strut and more. An avid music lover, explorer and record collector extraordinaire, Whitefield's music has effortlessly absorbed his expanding interests along the way, particularly drawing influence from Ethiopian Jazz and West African funk and highlife, as well as Kraut-rock and ambient via his Rodinia alter-ego.

More recently, Whitefield has begun to venture into the astral planes of what's now commonly referred to as 'spiritual jazz', and this is very much where we find him manifesting on 'The Infinity Of Nothingness'. A set of mature, delicate and meditative orchestrations, like much of Whitefield's best work the album is studiously true to its key influences - and in this instance the twin figureheads of Sun Ra and Pharoah Sanders are particularly preeminent - but also completely avoids falling into a trap of mere tribute or facsimile. With subtle yet diverse accents of Hip Hop, Library and the Avant Garde appearing wholly unobtrusively, the album is unified by a marked trance-like feel, beginning with the sparse, processional opener 'Nothingness' through to the 3 part 'Infinity Suite' of 'Time', 'Space' and 'Energy'.

As he did as a schoolboy with the Poets of Rhythm, with 'The Infinity Of Nothingness' Whitefield achieves that exceptionally rare feat of creating music that is not only worthy of sitting alongside that of his overarching influences, but will also stand up with it against the tests of time.

On his new album always centered at night, moby has once again conjured into reality a collection of heartachingly beautiful, tender-yet-defiant songs, made in collaboration with uniquely talented, soulfully aware, other-worldly vocalists. All the songs are love letters to the unrestricted and enchanting music scene of late ‘70s, early ‘80s New York that shaped Moby as a musician. The featured vocalists were given the same assignment: “Please don’t write anything commercial. Let it be weird. Let it be personal. It doesn’t have to make sense.”

“Because of that randomized freedom, I’ve been on the receiving end of so much genius work,” says moby. “And the result has been one of the most exciting, surprising things I’ve ever done as a musician, and it’s one of the most worthwhile things a human being can do: make tender, gentle, vulnerable music that’s a clarion call to act.”

Featured on this album are some of the most exciting vocalists of our time. Some are well-known - such as serpentwithfeet on the breathless daydream of a song ‘on air’, the jazzy soulstress Lady Blackbird on the haunting ‘dark days’, or the astounding poet and activist Benjamin Zephaniah on ‘where is your pride?’. Other contributors have been found in relative obscurity - such as friend and vocalist Brie O’Banion on the Cream cover ‘we’re going wrong’, or Sheffield poet laureate Danaé Wellington on the powerful ‘wild flame’.

“The goal for always centered at night is to do something uncompromising,” says Moby. “To make music that is emotional, atmospheric and potentially beautiful. And what better use of this weird privilege I have than trying to foster creative expression that has uncompromising integrity?”

Artwork by Taychin Dunnvatanachit.

Siamese Twins embarks on its 10th release milestone with the acclaimed Thai performance artist Tul Waitoonkiat. In หนึ่งคำถาม (One Question), Waitoonkiat's poetry is conjoined into a versatile sonic meeting of minds, created in collaboration with producers Black Merlin, Sapphire Slows, and Sleep D. Aligning seamlessly with Siamese Twins' trademark ethos of cultural reflection and interdisciplinary exploration.

Waitoonkiat, known for his socio-political work "2553," which reflects on the 2010 military crackdown in Thailand, has presented his novel "Silence is Violence" through multidisciplinary art exhibitions across Bangkok. One of these collaborations with Siamese Twins’ Khun Fluff in 2022 established a profound connection and laid this release's foundational recording layer. The recorded poem explores existential themes, pondering the endless cycle of questioning and the dichotomy between silence and imagination, darkness and light, with its contemplative imagination setting the stage.

The A-side unveils George Thompson's universe, known in the terrestrial realm as Black Merlin, with two noirish cinematic explorations that compose Waitoonkiat’s trademark expressive and enigmatic voice into the release's fabric. Showcasing Thompson’s ability to create hypnotic, depth-charged soundscapes that captivatingly feed into a broader story rather than claiming center stage.

The B-side begins with a delicate approach to sound design, crafted through the Buchla synthesizer by Japanese modular artist Sapphire Slows. The charm of this version lies within the sustained notes that gently inhale and exhale between enigmatic vocoder effects and layers of beauty, nature, and technology.

B2 closes with a seven-and-a-half-minute peak timer revolving around a pulsating bassline and driving force of drum energy. One craving for packed warehouses and bush raves by the Australian wizards of OZ and Butter Sessions label owners, Sleep D, aka Corey Kikos and Maryos Syawish.

‘Diré’, Idrissa Soumaoro new album, comes as a surprise to Malian and international audiences. Composer, singer, guitarist and master of the kamalen n’goni Idrissa Soumaoro presents here a beautiful collection of songs on his third album, Diré, named in honor of the town where he met his wife and where his first daughter, who is no longer with us, was born.
In 1971, after his studies at the INA in Bamako, Idrissa was transferred to Diré to teach music at the lPEG (Pedagogical Institute of General Education). He was 22 years old when he arrived in Diré. Idrissa has always been nostalgic for this beautiful place in the 333 Saints of Timbuktu region. As Idrissa sings in ‘Diré taga’ (Going to Diré), the track that opens the album, the city evokes deep emotions for the artist, as if it were a long-lost friend or lover. Celebrating the memory of the city of Diré leads the artist to retrace stories and lived situations that marked and animated him in years gone by: ‘I really miss the people, the colleagues, the friends and that period. Despite the time that has flown by, I would ardently wish to see Diré again’. Today, at the difficult time Mali is experiencing, remembering the city of Diré in the 1970s also means for the artist not giving up hope for peace: ‘The memory of Diré, a beautiful town in northern Mali, strengthens my hope for peace, union and real independence for the happiness of my people’; as he sings in ‘Sababou’, ‘Without hope, there is no life. Together we will succeed’.
The ten highly original compositions of the album are strongly based upon traditional music of Mali, but Idrissa’s life experiences, travels, education, collaborations and personal musical career have led him to compose and perform music with other influences. As Idrissa quotes: ‘My inspiration generally comes from the donso n'goni, a Bambara instrument played by and for hunters throughout Mali. This is a pentatonic instrument, similar to the blues exported to the USA by black African slaves. I've also spent so much time playing a variety of music that my music also reflects rumba, salsa (as well as Bamanan blues and a few derivatives: jazz, country, soul, rhythm and blues) etc. I have looked for and hope to have found my own form of expression from these influences’.
Throughout the album, his strong, clear voice sings in French, Bambara and English. It rides seamlessly upon a complex rhythmic sea of distinctly West African stringed instrumentation and percussion with accents of flute and balafon. There are keyboards in a few songs, but these, happily, do not dominate the music as we hear so often in today’s music. This album presents the music of a mature artist who has ‘been there, done that’ and returned to celebrate his country, his roots and his dreams in a flawlessly produced collection of songs of love, reassurance, fatherly advice and hope.
The album already has a long history: it was initiated in 2012 by Marc-Antoine ‘Marko’ Moreau, former producer and manager of Amadou and Mariam. Moreau had plans to produce the album and invited Idrissa Soumaoro to start recording in Manjul's studio in Bamako. When Moreau suddenly passed away, work on the album was still missing. The pandemic still added time for the production to continue. With the help of Climax Orchestra, arrangements and orchestrations were finalized in France. At the artist's behest, 'Diré' will finally be presented to the public by Mieruba, the independent label based in Ségou, the home of the blues in Mali. 'Let's stand together so that Mali can flourish': from conception to production and distribution, this is the message that 'Diré' carries.

It is 1983 and you've just stepped into your Ford Capri with your girlfriend Julie. You live in Harlow, but in your head you're really somewhere near Salou in Spain, next to your yacht. But the thing you really love is soul and they play nothing but at Sups in Loughton. OK, so It's not 1983 at all. It's 2014, but listening to this electrofied soul, will put you back in the zone. Tom Findlay, one half of Grammy-nominated Groove Armada, has put this collection together: a stamp of authenticity in itself. Tom has also put a few of these through the edit wringer, reworking many of the tunes for maximum towelling sockability.

You'll probably recognise a few tunes. There's Mtume's incredible 'Juicy Fruit', still sounding advanced and modern, while 'I Specialize In Love, mixed by disco legend Tee Scott, is even older yet sounds equally perky.

The 1980s was a period that was pretty much owned by Minneapolis thanks to Prince and former cohorts Jam & Lewis and the latter weigh in with a pair of killer productions, Thelma Houston's 'You Used To Hold Me So Tight' and Alexander O'Neal's 'What's Missing'. And since this is Late Night Tales, there is always our exclusive cover version, this time done by Findlay and Tim Hutton's Sugardaddy, who've delivered an ace version of 'Don't Look Any Further'.

Grab yourself a bar stool, order a cocktail, take a sip and make believe you're lying on a shagpile carpet with the soul star of your dreams.

Bill Brewster

Automatic Soul, like my previously compiled Late Night Tales Music For Pleasure, is based very much on a sound. It's a sound that I feel has been overlooked: 80s R&B-infused music, with drum machines, synths and invariably brilliant vocals. It's formed the bedrock of my rare groove sets for all the years I've played. It's not the most fashionable, but to me it's the perfect marriage of technology and soul, hence the title for this album, Automatic Soul. There are plenty of songs I could have included, and no doubt some that I shouldn't, but I've tried to represent what's best to me from this era. It's not a classic Late Night Tales. It's a pretty personal journey, which I hope some of you might be willing to share... Tom Findlay Groove Armada September 2014.

These tracks are among my absolute favourites in the realm of house music. Their haunting grooves seamlessly blend into house, techno or even garage sets. Despite being recorded about 30 years ago the sonic quality remains unmatched for its time, embodying the essence of timeless music.

However, I’ve never been entirely satisfied with the sound of the original pressings. The vinyl limited total time length compromised the audio quality. Thus, I’ve long desired to remaster it in my studio and properly cut them, which led to our decision to undertake this endeavour.

I am immensely proud of this release and thrilled to include it in our exquisite collection on Pariter. YA.

These tracks are among my absolute favourites in the realm of house music. Their haunting grooves seamlessly blend into house, techno or even garage sets. Despite being recorded about 30 years ago the sonic quality remains unmatched for its time, embodying the essence of timeless music.

However, I’ve never been entirely satisfied with the sound of the original pressings. The vinyl limited total time length compromised the audio quality. Thus, I’ve long desired to remaster it in my studio and properly cut them, which led to our decision to undertake this endeavour.

I am immensely proud of this release and thrilled to include it in our exquisite collection on Pariter. YA

Glasgow based Seated Records return with more 1980s Scottish Post-Punk / New Wave material. In this 8-track mini compilation the label introduces the work of Stirling band 22 Beaches, offering a deep dive into music recorded between 1980-1984 - the majority of which has never seen the light of day!

22 Beaches formed in Stirling in the late 1970s as an evolution of the short lived group ‘Alone at Last’ - drummer Fred Parson’s and guitarist Stephen Hunter being the two who spanned the divide. Out of the six members of 22 Beaches, many were school friends, and the rest naturally fell together. The band toured extensively and played at a truly diverse set of venues across the UK: from a local swimming pool boiler room, to small nightclubs and university parties, to several fundraisers for the miners strike. Maybe most notably of all, drummer Fred Parsons described playing at what he calls “the Grangemouth International”, organised by local promoter Brian Guthrie and which featured an all-star lineup of 22 Beaches, The Exploited and the first incarnation of The Cocteau Twins. A coach was hired to ship the audience to Grangemouth from Stirling, the cost of which was included in the ticket. The gig then paused halfway through for a 'help yourself' buffet. Young promoters take heed. This is how it's done!

Over the course of the 80s the band released music on three different, and now sought after, various artists compilation cassettes. “What Day Is It?” and “Sadie When She Died” were released on a compilation of local Stirling artists 'The A.N.K.L.E File'. The track from which the current record takes its namesake - “Dust” - was initially released on a compilation-tape for the fanzine 'Another Spark'. And ‘‘Zoo” (also featured on this record) was first released on Glasgow label Pleasantly Surprised via compilation, 'An Hour Of Eloquent Sounds', where 22 Beaches rubbed shoulders with early music from Scottish names Primal Scream, Cocteau Twins, The Wake and Sunset Gun. Unfortunately, 22 Beaches never met the same level of commercial success as these others and decided to retire the project in 1984 - leaving their recordings and demos to gather dust (hehe)…until now!

This compilation, “Dust: recordings 1980-1984” follows the band's journey and the changes in their sound over the years. It moves from the raw, punk energy of early DIY recordings through to the A Certain Ratio style Balearica of their later pieces. The record's opener and title track “Dust” is perhaps the most shining example of the latter. Characterised by the plenitude of sonic space in the mix, “Dust” has an almost dub sensibility that is communicated through centrality of Parsons’ drums, McChord’s percussion, and Fildes’ Bass while the harmonising vocals of Sharkey and McGregor chant over the top to give the track its distinctive psychedelic edge. This is an atmosphere only exacerbated by the lofi quality of the recording which sits the vocals in the same aural realm as much 1960s psych-folk. On “Cartoon Boy”, the band strips things down further. A droning bass line persists through the tape fuzz and is accompanied by the sounds of a sole looping guitar chord sequence and McGregor and Sharkey’s vocals - respectively and carefully dancing around one another before harmonising in the most beautiful way. The result is a haunting and abstract Marine Girls style heartbreaker. ‘That Girl’ again delivers a dub adjacent rhythm section similar to that of “Dust”. However, on this instance crisp guitar chords, a distant, phased organ and blue-eyed soul vocal delivery, produce a track that could easily have been a lost Orange Juice recording from their sessions with Dennis Bovel. On “Somebody Got It Wrong” and “One Of Us” the band employ a more macro approach where a jangling guitar with an almost highlife-influenced tone, vocal ad-libs and syncopated percussion give the music a Talking Heads-esque swagger.

Taken together these tracks illustrate a clear trajectory in the band's sound, moving from from the high energy no-wave quality of early recordings towards a more dub influenced, and stripped-back sound - a sonic trajectory followed by so many bands of the time, not least those emerging from the diaspora of Manchester’s Factory Records.

On “Breathing’’ we hear the beginning of this transition, with the strong influence of the oddball NYC disco styles of Was (Not Was) and ZE records. All of this is meshed together with the residual punk rock energy of 1980s UK. This combination is employed to excellent effect with the addition of the distinctly Scottish (and what the band confirmed to me to be spontaneous) vocal delivery of: “Do you love me? Do you want me?” “Aye!” “Do you love me? Do you need me?” “Naw!”.

On the record’s closing tracks, “Zoo” and “Talent Show”, we hear early examples of the band’s work, playing with their rawest all-in-one-take live energy where Hunter’s spiralling guitar riffs and McGregor's distorted vocal exclamations lead the charge. The band recalls that these initial-forays did not always translate so well into multitrack recording and overdubbing: “the deconstruction took away some of the band's natural feel”. On “Talent Show” the record ends with Sharkey delivering an almost unintelligible spoken word section over the top of the track, making for one final, disorientating, almost manic slice of post-punk.

These tracks from 1980-1984 chart the progress of a unique contribution to the world of Scottish Post-Punk and New Wave, encapsulating not only the musical trajectory of 22 Beaches but also echoing the broader sonic landscape of 1980s UK, a testament to the adaptability and creativity of the UK’s underground music of the time.

It’s approximately been a year since Antoine lost what would have been his debut album, ironically dubbed ‘Humour. Positivity & Affection’. In its wake, stemmed the idea for the producer to reform his conceptually based project (Mise En Place) into a vinyl only label.

The Land Down Dunder EP being the first, of hopefully, many releases throughout this new imprint. The label head feels there is no better way to start this campaign, than with a body of work, entirely inspired by the modern, timeless TV Sitcom - The Office (US).


The opener ‘Australian Reds’ looks to bridge the gap between Progressive House and Antoine interpretation of Minimal. Matched with Ghanian inherited grooves of course.

‘Colombian Whites’ as suggested by its title, widens the eyes and warms the soul with its textbook, 90’s House inspired Kicks, Hi’s and Baseline. Synthy melodies run throughout the mid(s) of the track to marry the ensemble together. Fitting for all terrains, but would be highly favoured in the Summer.

The B-Side flips the script in tone, tempo and texture - pulling on Antoine’s repertoire for groove laden Techno - ‘Cafe Disco (AK’s Rare Groove Dub)’ brings you to the after hours of any setting with it’s full bodied percussive rhythms, beautifully automated soundscapes and highly persuasive swing. Lastly, the EP is capped off by ‘Threat Level Midnight’. A nod to Antoine’s versatility within the realms of House and Techno. An incredibly versatile track, structurally inspired by the producers love of Hip-Hop. A cacophony of ethereal chord progressions run throughout the track alongside one moody baseline, as well as solemn drum patterns which progress in both body-feel and stature.

Rosati launches his new imprint, Global Pulse. The label embraces a futuristic development of Techno, exploring unknown sonic territories while always staying true to its original essence.

The inaugural release, 'Automatic Response EP', features five original tracks that are pulsating with powerful dynamics and detailed textures.

In the first track, A1 'Automatic Response', the vibe is established by a steady bass line and hypnotic bleep sequences that are ensuring high pressure energy.

Continuing with A2 'Way Out', where a wide landscape is created through the use of well crafted sound design elements, juxtaposed to a minimalistic 909 groove.

With B1 'Ufo Memory', Rosati is diving into alien realms, blending atmospheric UFO textures with heavily saturated drum patterns, creating a dark, pumping, and futuristic mood.

In B2 'Feeling', the focus shifts to the late 90s era, where a story of freedom is told through the appearance of percussive loops, funky bass lines and pad melodies.

Inside the record there is also a digital bonus 'Time Tunnel': a melodic electro journey that transports the listener into a robo-dystopic, yet hopeful, future.

With this first release, Global Pulse lays the ground for a promising series that will push the envelopes of Techno, promising a platform focused on sustainability and authenticity of Electronic Music.

A mysterious release, not only for its unique expressive style but also because it isn't even known when it was initially recorded let alone its release date. According to non profit Studio Piccolo owner Vincent Bruley, it could have been recorded during the 70s and eventually released in the early 90s, sometime throughout Nilton Castro's time in Paris making music for contemporary dance classes (often led by his wife). This album was originally intended for accompanying dancers in classes with an emphasis on rhythm and coordination. Given Nilton's background and expertise in percussion, the focal point of this album is to present an array of Afro Brasilian rhythms performed by himself with additional moments of choir, flute and keys/metallophone. Effortless due to Nilton's prowess and unburdened by typical financial pressures (often behind the release of a record), the result feels like charmingly unadulterated and pure expression throughout the entire album. But what really takes the listener to places of unheard-of bliss is “Ondes (Les Vagues)” a track that has plagued the curiosity of diggers and collectors for a while now. With its harmony crescendos elegantly coming and going as per the title, overlayed on Nilton's subtle percussive patterns, an aural landscape of illusory beauty - listening is believing. Remastered and officially re-issued with its original artwork.

Sleep Now Forever is the second and final album released by Sorrow, the post-Strawberry Switchblade group fronted by singer Rose McDowall. Originally released in 1999 and long since deleted it is a cornucopia of pastoral, elegiac folk music, swirling atmospherics, hymnal compositions and above it all the alternating towering and fragile vocal performances of McDowall. Recorded in the late 90s with fellow band member and co-songwriter Robert Lee, Sleep Now Forever is the definitive statement by the now defunct group and Rose McDowall’s most complete long-form work to date.
Released through the group’s own Piski Disk Records, Sleep Now Forever was distributed by World Serpent which struggled through the early 2000s with financial woes, eventually folding due to bankruptcy in 2004. Due to the company’s troubles, Sleep Now Forever was never distributed widely and was a victim of the company’s failure. Released on CD only, original copies are now rare and only traded on second hand channels. Remastered by Mikey Young for a limited vinyl release, Sleep Now Forever will be released on April 20th on double vinyl format, with one side an exclusive etching by Glasgow artist Holly Allan.
Despite its rarity, Sleep Now Forever enjoys a firm cult following. The album’s textures are expansive, lush, deliciously detailed and celestial. Recorded in home study Velvet Hole by Rose McDowall and then-husband Robert Lee, the album enlists an array of players from the underground Neo-folk / industrial scene: Nigel McKernaghan (Uilleann pipes, Whistles), Susan Franknel (Bassoon), John Contreras (Cello) and Lawrence Frankel (Oboe, Cor Anglais). The eleven songs here revolve around McDowall’s instantly recognisable voice. Brought up singing in the Catholic Church, McDowall’s vocals are impeccable and angelic, particularly on tracks like Turn Off The Light where her experiences with religion are canted over soaring oboe and guitar backing. By far the most evolved and realised version of Sorrow’s vision, it feels somewhat criminal that music this beautiful could be lost to time until now.
McDowall’s lyrics throughout Sleep Now Forever deal frankly with mental health, depression, altered states, death and redemption. Wave upon wave of harmony drench each song, McDowal’s vocal multi-tracked and imperious. Opener Soldier benefits from Robert Lee’s use of the studio as instrument, summoning forth a lilting group performance of sparkling guitar and percussion that recalls the Velvet Underground. Mikey Love’s master treats the compositions to brand new frequency dynamics and space. Harmonium and string drones form the counter to McDowall’s vocal on Love Dies, a slow, lurching lament that feels transcendent. On Haunting, the arrangement is orchestral and aching, bleeding into Fear Becomes You, with chord and harmony structure that recalls the baroque sixties pop of West Coast Pop Experimental Art Band or the 60s psychedelic folk movement. A towering, beautiful statement, this elegy for times lost and moonlit-illumination is finally resurfacing from the darkness.

There was a long time I considered Raymond Richards the ultimate secret weapon. There were sounds he could make that other people just couldn’t. Pure, whole, yet complex sounds. The pedal steel is an extremely niche instrument outside of its Country confines, but its sheer and transcendent depth has never failed to floor me. Raymond’s ear for implementing the steel into literally 'anything' has always been uncanny. After decades of being savvy to his work ethic, multi-faceted studio skills and overall sense of musical honesty, it became a priority for me to channel some of this into narratives through the ESP Institute and get his stories told. Without further recounting the history and trajectory of our musical relationship (see the press release for 2020’s critically-acclaimed album 'The Lost Art Of Wandering'), I can whole-heartedly confirm this sophomore release, 'Sand Paintings', opens an even wider door into Raymond’s visceral, contemplative world. The cast of players has elaborated to include Calexico’s John Convertino on drums and percussion, a bevy of eccentric stringed instruments and even a hint of brass to collectively stratify context for the pedal steel. Through diversifying the timbral palette, we invite an increased soundstage acuity but also reveal untapped wells of emotion for the listener, perhaps even testing cultural literacies. One foot remains in our established ambient realm, while the other steps toward grand cinematic gestures, and despite the dense, insurmountable emotion in these songs, there is a stoic singularity, like a lonesome cowboy pulling up his boot straps to endure another day. 'Badwater Basin' opens with courage, an enormous chord evoking Raymond’s image of “hard dawn”, but in navigating through the dramatic depictions of 'Monument Valley', 'Saguaro' and 'Deer On Hwy 80', we grapple with a cloaked vulnerability—weathered by the elements, beaten down and alone, yet still madly in love with the world. —Lovefingers

For those seeking a musical experience reminiscent of the iconic LARRY HEARD, RON TRENT & KERRI CHANDLER, delving into the enchanting sounds of A VISION OF PANORAMA is a journey well worth taking. A VISION OF PANORAMA, much like MR. FINGERS, has mastered the art of crafting immersive and soulful electronic compositions. This latest release invites you into a sonic realm where lush melodies, dreamy textures, and intricate rhythms coalesce to create an atmosphere of pure musical bliss. In a landscape where electronic music continually evolves, A VISION OF PANORAMA stands out as an artist who skillfully pays homage to the timeless vibes of classic deep house while adding a contemporary touches of forward thinking smooth and Balearic jazz. The fusion of classic house elements with a futuristic flair makes A Vision Of Panorama the closest thing available to the legends that precede.

Dave Lee's "AC Soul Symphony" alias has been releasing delectable and sultry disco since 2005 but reached his magnus opus in 2023 with the release of the "Metamorphosis" LP. Here we find two tracks handpicked from the album and delivered, for the first time, in a 7" format. The single starts much as the album does with the track "Windy City Theme", beautifully scored, recorded, and produced legato strings envelope the track, punctuated with horns and vocals reminiscent of a Love Unlimited Orchestra production. This version of the track has been rearranged, speeding up the pacing of the track and reaching the juicy parts in a really satisfying way. On the flip side we have the title track from the album "Metamorphosis", which is the first time the vocal version has been made available on Vinyl. A bass laden intro gives ways to glistening pianos and those signature strings (have we mentioned how good the strings are?). A more laid back and seductive track than the A side, but no less appealing. Again, due to the limitations of the 7" format, "Metamorphosis" has been expertly rearranged with loving care and attention.

It’s True What They Say is the debut EP from Edinburgh-based, husband-and-wife duo Sarah/Shaun (pronounced simply Sarah Shaun), aka Sarah and Shaun McLachlan (pronounced “McLochlin”).

“Sarah and I both have a love for nostalgia,” explains Shaun. “We watched that amazing old 80’s Sci-Fi, (John) Carpenter movie, Starman, a few months back. Myself and my brother David used to watch it all the time. We must have been, roughly, 5-7 at the time. I remember loving the movie but the end, you know, with the beautiful, atmospheric, synth ending, I love that particular moment the most - best part of the movie, you know, when he goes home… It’s heartbreaking but stunning, all the same. It’s the music that moves you most… It did when I was 5 and it still does to this day. It must have had some form of a (much deeper) impact on me.”

The duo narrates stories across themes of love, hope, family, friends, dreams and sadness - the good that comes with the bad in everyday life, not just on a personal scale but within a community as well.

“Starbed is the first song I have ever written and just came out of the blue really, with Shaun playing a melody and me singing along,” says Sarah. “It’s simple and just about two people in love. Love songs are always the best songs, after all… Music has been a big part of my life from a young age. I was unwillingly dragged to piano and violin lessons, which I’m thankful for now! I’d say the first band I really became obsessed with growing up were the Beatles, and on the back of that a lot of 60s music and fashion. From then on, I had a love for music.”

“Shaun definitely opened my ears to a lot of sounds and got me thinking about soundtracks and all the noises that can be made,” she goes on. “We love just spending time experimenting in the house with instruments, pedals etc and Ali is a real magician to work with, too…”

The recordings took place over the summers of 2022 and 2023, with fellow Delta Mainline member Ali Chisholm (aka Jaguar Eyes) plus long-term friend and collaborator Gavin King. Further collaboration then came via the ‘net from the (international) likes of Chris Dixie Darley (Father John Misty), Darren Coghill (Neon Waltz) and Daniel Land (The Modern Painters), among others (see a full list of credits below).

Both Sarah and Shaun have a love for uber-soundtrack producers such as Hanz Zimmer, Max Richter, Cliff Martinez plus live acts such as Beach House, Spiritualized, M83, Suicide, Moby and OMD (to name a few). Shaun also credits the work of Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein (from Survive) on the Stranger Things score… “Even a moment in a movie, whether it be just 30 seconds during a particular scene, it grips you,” he says. But there’s something much deeper at play as well. “Music is a healer,” he goes on, “and I write from my own perspective but more so for others. Once I've done my bit, it doesn't belong to me any longer. It belongs to whoever wants it or needs it.”

The result is a cinematic, synth-wavey, dream poppy and downright beguilingly beautiful body of work. And they’re just getting started…

REVIEWS/RADIO/FEEDBACK:

“Starbed is folky, flavoured by pedal steel, cello, and brass. Dust Tears, in stark contrast, is a mini synth-pop rave epic. Part Bicep. Part Human League. Keep Your Eyes Closed summons a mood that’s romantic, but also dark and potentially doomed – like David Lynch’s Twin Peaks meets Cliff Martinez’s Drive score. My pick though is It’s True What They Say, whose interwoven jangle and picking recalls New Order’s more introspective moments (Love Vigilantes, Love Less… ). Drums crashing, cathartic. Guitar raising dramatic arcs. Its chorus a rush, like a reprise of Pains Of Being Pure Of Heart’s ‘Higher Than The Stars’.” BAN BAN TON TON
"Dust Tears sees them sharing vocal duties over a synth foundation reminiscent of Moby’s Go - Artist Of The Week” THE SCOTSMAN
"Woozy pop" NEMONE (Mary Anne Hobbs Morning Show, BBC 6Music)
"Nice one, very David Lynch meets Euro dream pop" YOUTH (Killing Joke, Paul McCartney, U2, The Orb, Spiritualized etc)
"Music sounds killer! Real emotion” DAVID HOLMES
"I’m enjoying it” TIM BRINKHURST aka LONDON (IKLAN, Young Fathers, Callum Easter)
“Oh, this is lovely!” SEAN JOHNSTON (A Love From Outer Space)
"It’s totally my cup of tea with milk and biscuit" BRENT RADEMAKER (Beachwood Sparks/GospelBeach)
"Beautiful, ecstatic electronica! Short and to the point" KEVIN BALES (Spiritualized, Julian Cope, Soulsavers, BE)
"Makes me wanna sit in the sun and sip an Arnold Palmer" CHRIS DIXIE DARLEY (Father John Misty)
“Really beautiful - Cocteau Twins / Spiritualized vibes but has its own thing going on, too - worth checking out!” JULIAN CORRIE (Franz Ferdinand, Miaoux Miaoux)
‘Sounded nice on a sunny day, makes me think of Twin Peaks, nice moods’ EAMON HAMILTON (Sea Power)
"Dealing in nostalgia, no bad thing at all, great to play that (Dust Tears) for you” RODDY HART (BBC Radio Scotland)
“I'll give the vocal tracks a spin before the release." VIC GALLOWAY (BBC Radio Scotland)
"Rather good!" IAIN ANDERSON (BBC Radio Scotland)

CREDITS:

Lyrics, Guitars, Keys, Synths, Drums, Drum Programming, Percussion, Mandolin, Glockenspiel: Shaun McLachlan
Lyrics, Vocals, Keys by Sarah McLachlan
Guitars, Synths, String Arrangements, Drum Programming, Engineering: Jaguar Eyes Percussion/Drums/Effects, Fire Extinguisher: Darren Coghill (Neon Waltz)
Guitars by Daniel Land
Slide Guitar by Chris Dixie Darley (Father John Misty)
Brass by Bruce Michie
Keys, pre-production & engineering on “It’s true what they say”: Gavin King
All produced by Jaguar Eyes and Shaun McLachlan and then mixed at Glasgow’s Chem19 Studios by David McCaulay (From Scotland With Love, Rick Redbeard, BBC TV’s Attenborough and The Mammoth Graveyard score).
Artwork: Jamie Walman (Fourteen Admirals)

MORE INFO:

Although Shaun released a pair of solo singles (When We Dance and Give Your Love To Me) during Lockdown, he will be better known to many via his work as the multi-instrumentalist in Edinburgh band Delta Mainline. With two albums released to date, Oh! Enlightened and Bel Avenir, both rapturously received by fans and critics alike, Delta Mainline have developed an international, cult following. Oh Enlightened (2013) achieved widespread critical acclaim on release, earning the band comparisons to Arcade Fire and Echo & The Bunnymen, while 2019’s Bel Avenir pulled in references to The Flaming Lips, Pink Floyd, David Bowie and krautrock. A third DM album is currently being mixed and due for release later this year…

Long awaited new record YOIONWAXOO9 is finally here!

We've been preparing for it for a really long time.
But there's a reason for that.

First of all, meet a brand new kind of records in our series - printed vinyl! Let's tell you a secret, our distributor made it exclusively for YOI, for which we thank him for such support and faith in our art! Now the incredible artwork made by our boss Alexey Mikheev is even easier, more exciting and fun to watch! So YOI becomes the first and only dance music label who makes printed vinyl with animated artwork.

Secondly, of course, the whole situation in the world cannot go unnoticed, and we cannot and do not want to remain silent about it, because we are as always, as from the very beginning, for unity and art, creation and development, friendship and love, happiness and peace. So this record once again brings together artists from different countries: Mariche from Argentina, Italian Sbruf, label boss Watsche from Russia and Englishman Yogi P, and the artwork reflects our planet, which is spinning thanks to our dancing day and night everywhere where the best house music is played!

Dominik Krammer's EP, "The Fields As She Left Me," stands testament to his unique style and profound grasp of electronic music and each track within this collection serves as a portal to the human experience. In this musical journey, Dominik Krammer takes the listener on a relentless ride through the depths of longing and the ecstasy of fulfillment. The EP's four tracks, though diverse in their individual flavors, are interwoven by an undeniable red thread—an overarching conceptual foundation consisting of the complex realm of human emotion, ranging from heart-pounding energy and bittersweet melancholy to raw passion and intense rage.


The EP kicks off with its main track, "The Fields As She Left Me," a sonic journey initiated by ecstatic synths and heavy drumworks that set the pace for what follows. The driving arp and caressing lead of "Nocturnal Desires" embody the ambiguity of being lost and simultaneously feeling at home in the night. "Ketaigel" follows suit, featuring a memorable melody that etches itself into your memory, guiding you through a sinister journey of joy and fulfillment. The remix by David Heine for "Ketaigel" introduces a different sonic sphere compared to the rest of the EP, yet excels in capturing and releasing the fundamental emotional world that defines this musical exploration.


As you immerse yourself in the emotional, melodic, and at times, disorderly soundscape of 'The Fields as She Left Me,' Dominik Krammer's prowess becomes evident. His EP not only resonates on a visceral level but also leaves the audience craving for more.This sonic journey is destined to linger in your memory long after the final note fades away, creating an enduring impact that transcends whatever boundaries of electronic music.

Syncrophone Proudly Presents the Latest Musical Revelation From Fred P, in the Form of the Three-Track Ep, “Preserving”. This Exquisite Collection, Available on a Mesmerizing Transparent Swamp Green Vinyl, Is Set to Captivate Hearts and Minds With Its Unique Blend of Sonic Exploration and Timeless Rhythms. “Preserving”is a Sonic Odyssey That Reaffirms Fred P's Position as a Pioneer in the Realm of Deep House. the Opening Track “The Sound Exchange” Sets the Tone for the Ep, Inviting Listeners to Partake in a Captivating Dialogue of Sound. With ‘Sonic Tour’, Embark on a Sonic Tour That Explores the Rich Textures and Ethereal Atmospheres Crafted by Fred P's Deft Hands. This Track Is a Testament to the Artist's Ability to Weave Emotive Chords and Subtle Percussion Into a Harmonious Blend, Leaving an Indelible Mark on the Musical Landscape. Concluding the Ep Is "The Kingdom," Fred P Showcases His Prowess, Fusing Artistic Creativity With Scientific Precision, Making This Track a Standout Addition to the Ep. “Preserving”is Not Just a Collection of Tracks; It's an Auditory Adventure That Invites Enthusiasts and Newcomers Alike to Delve Into the Heart of Deep House....

Repress

Obscure Shape & SHDW represent the new generation of German techno, they took over in a very small amount of time their own space, and they showed that their sound can fit in many different places. Now it's time for them to join the label with a stunning debut that represents all they did in this years, but even better what they want to aim for in the future. It's a refined release. Four full length tracks that are extremely helpful in any occasion from clubs to pure raves and warehouses, there is no real rule, it's all about energy and power. Welcome to Obscure Shape & SHDW.

Mad-heads, rave veterans and lovers of having their brains rewired by previously unexplored sonic realms unite, because here comes the first of four, yes four, new albums from the fantastic freak of nature that is Special Request. His 'What Time Is Love? Sessions' arrives in several different formats this month and across six sizzling tracks that re-wire the KLF's hit of that name, he taps into everything from "ephemeral ambiance to barnstorming hardcore, pummelling house to pointillist trance" and does so with a mix of the surreal and the psychotic, the psychedelic and the downright ridiculous. It's mental, and we love it.

SSR returns for its fourth 12” release and this time round we are buzzing to have ‘Andy Odysee’ at the controls.

Along with T Mirage, Andy is the driving force behind the seminal DnB imprint ‘Odysee Recordings’ a staple in the scene since 1994. Their label released early works from legendary artists such as Source Direct & Photek to mention but a few!

Not only is Andy an accomplished Drum & Bass artist but he is a fully fledged Jazz musician in his own right! His skill on the Rhodes keys speaks for itself & you will hear these influences on this release.

‘Spine Chiller’ delivers exactly what it says on the tin! A cinematic & tense DnB piece with the kind of excellent drum work will love here at SSR..

‘White Widow’ is a beautiful breakbeat joint running at 145 BPM. Lush keys & amazing drum textures, a real journey!

Andy Odysee has delivered the goods here big time!

We can’t wait to share this music with you.

Lee - SSR

KiNK is back with the ninth release on his Sofia imprint. He unveils his inaugural release of 2024 in collaboration with the talented Rachel Row. This dynamic release comprises three tracks and two engaging DJ acappellas. Showcased in recent live performances, and now unleashed into the wild.

SOFIA: Founded by Strahil Velchev and Konstantin Petrov, Sofia is not only the physical location where this music was made, the city where they met and developed as artists, but also a paradox that is reflected in the art and music that comes from the place. Beautiful and ugly at the same time, clean and dirty, brutal as well as romantic, it’s a place where aesthetically seemingly incompatible styles come together in a twisted, yet unifying form. The photographs for the sleeves are made by influential local selector DJ Valentine, effortlessly capturing the local reality.