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A1 - Desire
Opening the EP in quietly epic fashion, Desire begins with a delightful beat pattern with adistinctive cymbal hit set over warm bass tones and whale song samples. A smooth, thoughtful bass melody is introduced which joyfully intersects with gorgeous piano keys while swirling strings and atmospheric vibes layer and recede like tides of the ocean, creating a truly unique journey of a track that will linger anywhere it may be heard.

A2 - Voidscaping
Instantly setting the scene with crisp, striking breaks, Voidscaping is an atmospheric treatfor the senses with serene throwback pads reminiscent of the halcyon days of Good Looking. Bringing the piece up to date for the Spatial era is the typically intricate blending of reflection and intrigue ASC conjures with his sampling and reverb work, effortlessly thickening the soundscape with memories old and new.

AA1 - Let Go
Opening with the vibrant sounds of twilight nature and metallic bongos, ASC sparinglydeploys a glorious choral vocal before the breaks take off with an energetic pattern drivenby constant, playful hi hats. As the track develops, questions are asked of the listener bythe curious atmosphere, gradually unraveling with strings, synths and trademark vocalusage, offering a new perspective with each listen.

AA2 - Meltdown
A darkly, anxious undertone floods the mix as Meltdown grips the listener from the first barwith skillfully sequenced minimal breaks, hi hats that whoosh in and out like evening crickets you can't quite track, and intense ambient padwork. A longing female vocal occasionally yearns over the various melodies which enter at will, discreetly developing the mood with purpose, unfurling a stream of aural consciousness from this incredible producer.
Words by Chris Hayes (Spatial / Red Mist)

A1 - Deep Sea
Hefty jungle breaks shudder and thud as Aural Imbalance chartsa path through the depths with a shimmering backdrop of glorious synths and padwork that dance gleefully around asymphony of gentle rhythms. An over-arching earworm melody develops and rises above the mix, intersecting with the break pattern which gradually adds to its own character and texture with muffled breaks beneath, all combining to create this superb EP opener.

A2 - Echoes In Time
Flexing his breakbeat skillset in style, Aural Imbalance cuts andchops fine analogue jungle breaks effortlessly as Echoes In Time showcases his ever evolving production talents on Spatial.Wisps of airy pads are floated in the mix that slowly rise around the listener, somber in tone with delicate keys, bells and micro-melodies that build the atmosphere with a wondrous clarity feware capable of achieving.

AA1 - Sense of Space
A DJ-friendly intro opens with a plinky melody and hi hats asserene pads slowly usher in rumbling, weighty amen breaks, edited to perfection as is fast becoming trademark for Aural Imbalance's breakwork on the label. As the soundscape develops, a softly, hopeful xylophone melody innocently shuffles around subtle keys and synths to cap off a tale of two vibes effortlessly moulded into another sublime atmospheric collage.

AA2 - Regolith
Closing the EP with a stunning analogue break-laden workout, Regolith sees Aural Imbalance delve deeper still into the oldschool brand new vibes of Spatial with a beat pattern that immediately makes an impression. Scattered and flecked across the mix, the edits juggle restless snares and hats with a dense kickdrum and subtle 808 bass, while a tranquil blend of ambient atmospherics circle inquisitively above.
Words by Chris Hayes (Spatial / Red Mist)

Debut album from Los Angeles duo Los Yesterdays, Sweet Soul music meets Mexican Folklorico "Sweet soul music also known as lowrider oldies on the West Coast, rolas and souldies are typically early 60s-style tunes that emphasize vocal harmonies. Most songs are slow-to-midtempo, many are ballads, and the sub-genre is generally stripped down compared to the highly produced Motown hits of the time....there is a generations-long appreciation for sweet soul music among California’s Latino communities. Eastern Los Angeles teens.... helped foster a love of sweet soul in the early 60s by covering soulful ballads by artists like James Brown... Those sounds... were kept alive by record collectors and people who spent evenings cruising along East Los boulevards." BILLBOARD // Los Yesterdays are a Chicano soul band from Los Angeles based around the creative collaboration between Gabriel Rowland and Victor Benavides. They began working together when Rowland a drummer by trade, then creaky and exhausted from waking up at dawn to work construction decided to channel those struggles into song. He contacted Benavides, a former bandmate of Rowland’s deceased brother, to record the soul ballads that Southland Chicanos call “oldies.” Los Yesterdays filter love-struck R&B crooning through guitar-strumming Mexican balladeering; the result is something that sounds like the Los Angeles of yesterday and today the indelible, immovable Los Angeles of cruising Whittier Boulevard, of cold drinks on the porch on blazing summer nights, of watching a blue-orange toxic sunset and wondering if they are thinking about you. Los Angeles changes; Los Angeles stays the same. Los Yesterdays have changed, outgrown their childhood barrios and the bands of their early 20s and their private garage hermitude; Los Yesterdays are Frozen In Time. Tracks: A1. Nobody’s Clown A2. Frozen In Time A3. Something Happened A4. I Can’t Feel A5. Brown Boy B1. Last Request B2. I Want You To Stay B3. But You Did B4. Name On Me B5. Love Is A Game For Fools

Cindy is to release a new six song EP called Swan Lake on 4th October via Tough Love. The title isn’t a nod to the folktale or ballet in any real way, but to the fact that it all has ended up in the collective imagination as an object, vaguely recognizable, a little suggestive, and mostly blank. Karina Gill, Cindy’s songwriter, likes to make use of that kind of resonance to connect sound and experience. The six songs on this EP continue the stripped-down habits of previous Cindy releases, while adding a few departures and left-turns. Cindy likes to work at the essentials and the elements here say exactly what’s needed. In other ways, these songs present a soft filigree that’s unusual for their recordings. Oli Lipton (Now, Violent Change) on guitar and Will Smith (Now) on bass play counterpoint melodies to Gill’s structures. Staizsh Rodrigues (Children Maybe Later, Almond Joy, Peace Frog) sings vocal harmonies that both offset and deepen Gill’s voice and delivery. There are playful drums by Mike Ramos (Tony Jay, Sad Eyed Beatniks) and coolly elaborate guitar lines from Stanley Martinez (Famous Mammals, Violent Change, Non Plus Temps). Gill’s songs strike this balance too: almost nonchalant reporting tied up in unexpected knots. A ride in an elevator connects up with questions about peace and/or the nature of things; the title track wonders about associative thinking and associative feeling; The Bell is an account of one of those times when everything makes sense but you can’t explain it; and there’s the scene of a party viewed with admiration for how friends can love each other. As Gill herself says: "People have told me that they can’t quite identify my influences. Me neither. The foundational layers of music of the past and my past have been metabolized like breakfast and turned into more me, sorry to say. But I experience the music of people I’m connected with and it impacts me in the moment. There’s the music I’m around – April Magazine, Sad Eyed Beatniks, Violent Change, Katsy Pline, collaborating with Mike on Flowertown – that I can feel a direct line from. Then there’s music that is being made far away but feels close, like Lewsberg, specifically, for this EP. " CINDY – UK Tour Dates: Oct 31st WOE is 6 @ Walthamstow Trades Hall, London w/ Cuneiform Tabs & Bobby Would. Nov 1st Coventry, UK Just Dropped In Records, 2 Halifax, UK The Grayston Unity, 4 York, UK The Fulford Arms, 5 Gateshead, UK The Central Bar, 6 Glasgow, UK The Glad Café, 7 Manchester, UK Rat & Pigeon, 8 Cambridge, UK NCI Centre.

Arguably the biggest and most in-demand electronic artist in the World, James Hype, puts his spin on Toolroom’s classic ‘Feel My Needs’. James needs little introduction, attracting more than 12 million listeners to his music monthly, accumulating over a billion streams and selling out arena’s all over the globe including his weekly residency at Hi, Ibiza.

The record is a peak-time monster and has become the ‘ID’ everyone is asking for on his social media and in his DJ sets! James has taken the essence of the original and added trademark tough drums and bundles of energy, very much akin to the vibe of his DJ sets.

Included on the flip is the unmistakable original from Weiss.

Maelstrom returns to Central Processing Unit for the fourth time, and it's the one born Joan-Mael Péneau's lengthiest drop on the Sheffield label yet. The French artist has been a mainstay in the European electro game since the 2000s, and Malestrom brings that experience to bear on new LP The FM Tapes. He goes about this album with the assurance of a seasoned pro, combining his mastery of electro production techniques with a trademark guile to craft an expertly-paced eleven-track affair.

The first section of The FM Tapes sets out the album's stall with style and aplomb - listeners are in store for a rich feast of off-kilter machine-funk which will feature no shortage of intriguing detours. On opener 'Ondes Courtes' the mix throbs with all manner of strange electronic gristle: a distorted bass hum rattles the monitors; wisps of distortion float across the mix; eerily pretty keys wax and wane before giving way to a radar pulse.

'Ondes Courtes' is an ominous slouch of a scene-setter, and it lines things up perfectly for following cut 'Alt50ser' to lock in. This track's churning, gurgling mid-tempo rattle brings to mind the wacky insistence of Modeselektor. Maelstrom repeats the slow-fast one-two again directly afterwards - 'La Vie Sociale Des', a strange nugget that sounds like an early Eski instrumental stripped for parts and blasted into the cosmos, is an ideal prelude to the twitchy space-funk of 'My Digitone'.

Maelstrom's staying power in the electro world comes, in no small part, from his ability to apply his delightfully idiosyncratic choices to some of the genre's staple production tropes. On The FM Tapes, he marks himself out once more as a pleasingly unorthodox talent by taking tracks in unexpected directions to produce surprising - and often rather moving - results.

There are multiple cuts here which channel the more cerebral end of Richard D. James' AFX/Analord output: 'My Digitone' may be a quicksilver techno-electro number, but there's still something cinematic about the synth treatment here which softens the edges; 'Suede's minor-key oscillations bring other CPU veterans like Cygnus and Bochum Welt into view; 'Res 06', one of two Fasme collaborations on the record, is full of pathos even as the beat programming bangs and whirrs throughout.

While there's a deep emotional undercurrent to The FM Tapes, though, Maelstrom's commitment to bringing the thrills surfaces time and again. If 'Res 06' had Maelstrom and Fasme getting wistful, the album's other Fasme link-up 'Trempo' is one of the hardest club joints here, a piece of old-school Detroit energy replete with some great cascading drum production. Indeed, 'Trempo' comes in the middle of a run towards the album's end where Maelstrom takes the handbrake off - there's a wild-eyed sense of fun to 'The Operator' and 'Upside Down DX7' which has one thinking of the zany cut-and-thrust of KiNK's best work.

Maelstrom's latest drop for Sheffield's Central Processing Unit label is an album of leftfield electro numbers that bring both pounding beats and poignant production.

RIYL: KiNK, Modeselektor, Cygnus, Bochum Welt, AFX

2024 Reissue

DE-TÜ make their long awaited return to Infernal Sounds. Having previously released on IFS008, IFSXXX002 and also featuring on IFS018 alongside DRPTNDRP, this double header may be their highest calibre of dub-influenced 140 to grace the label. 'Roadblock' kicks off proceedings in the best way possible, hitting you deep in the belly with monumental amounts of weight on the drop, whilst layering a reverberating vocal lead and a daunting backdrop to bring you deeper inwards. The flip however, 'St. Paul's (City Road Dub)' takes things in a slightly different direction. Although it still provides that trademark DE-TÜ sound, it's certainly orientated more around the soundsystem, providing a perfect flex within the dubwise sound. It's the perfect example of progression as all the elements fold and merge, creating a track that will captivate you from start, to finish.

The release has already received heavy support from the likes of J:Kenzo, Truth, Leftlow, Kursk (Innamind Recordings) and a few other reputable DJs.

Punk collective TOKKY HORROR have released their brand new EP 'KAPPACORE', today via Venn Records. Order the EP - HERE. To celebrate the release the band have released new single 'MAXINE'. Speaking about the new single the band said, “Maxine is a perfect example of collaboration breathing new life into an idea. We’d been sat on the instrumental version for over a year, and wasn’t until we got into the studio with Blazer that it really came into its own. We wanted to capture the atmosphere of rave culture but play it as a band. It’s got all the breaks, bass lines, stabs that a rave track would carry. It’s just done live” Speaking about the EP the band said, “This is the last thing we’ll put out before disappearing to record our album. It’s road tested, high energy material from the first era of Tokky Horror. We’ve wanted to meld breakbeats with visceral guitars as we usually do, but expanded our range of sampling further and pushed our weirdness at times, there’s less out-and-out riffs and more times where our love of Orbital and Aphex Twin shines through. It’s still a record for the punks, just not purists.” KAPPACORE Tracklisting: MAXINE (feat Blazer Boccle) HAMMER 2 THE FACE JAZZ MUSIC TOILET TRANMERE RAVER (feat. MC NULTi) Tokky Horror who recently supported Enter Shikari on their sold out tour, have announced a headline tour for this October..

From the perspective of people who categorize music by genres and types, Evan Shornstein, better-known under his production moniker Photay, has created lots of different kinds of sounds over the past decade. There’s the Hudson Valley-raised, Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist composer’s quasi-IDM and electronic almost-pop tracks with the occasional vocal; the improvised organic and and experimental music sessions he participates in alongside new age giants, Laraaji and Carlos Niño; the diaspora electronic folk-jazz he makes with veteran musicians from all over the globe; and the disco and house adjacent records he tag-team DJs with Brooklyn producer Cesar Toribio and engineer Phil Moffa (who also masters all of Photay’s records — and those of dance-music dons around the world). But if you’ve listened closely to Shornstein’s prodigious output, you know that separating and classifying the work is actually contrary to the energy of Photay music. That what on-the-surface may lazily appear as differences, is actually brought together by a shared sonic warmth, a hardware pastoralism at play. Whatever category he engages, Photay makes outdoor music under the spell of the elements, for the purpose of different human movements — some physical, some spiritual, some emotional, some philosophica.

Worm Records is thrilled to present its debut release, featuring four tracks that blend danceable rhythms with melodic audible hints, from some of the scene's finest producers. The A Side kicks off with “Rockin”, a sonic deep-dive from Bristol-based producer Gallegos. Next up is “Festern” a track from Canadian native, The Mole with his deep trade-mark sound. The B Side switches the vibe with “Booster” a moody one from Wallace which feels like it lives in the same universe as Afefe Iku’s - “Mirror Dance”, but with the right amount stripped back. The final track on the EP is a stretched-out remix of Ruf Dug’s “Manctalo Beach”, a discofied journey by More Amour (Artwork & Jon Solo), described by Artwork at last year’s Pikes Halloween as Punk Electro.

All proceeds will support UK Food Banks through the LIVEFORLOVE campaign.

Big thanks to Prime for their incredible support on this project.

Designs by Jay Vaz & Daniel Lovrinov.

Das Londoner Post-Punk-Quartett Desperate Journalist kehrt im Herbst 2024 mit ihrem nunmehr fünften Studioalbum voller sardonischem, schrägem Humor und leidenschaftlicher Musik zurück. Auf ,No Hero", das die Vorab-Singles ,Unsympathetic Parts 1 & 2" und ,Afraid" sowie die kommende Leadsingle ,You Say You're Lonely" enthält, versucht die Band, ihren zerklüfteten, düsteren Trademark-Sound in immer interessantere Bahnen zu lenken. Als kreativer Neustart sind die vorab veröffentlichten Singles glänzende, strahlende Wegweiserfür die Richtung in die Desperate Journalist ihren ursprünglichen dunkelen Indie-Sound in neue, immer reizvollere Formen und zerklüftete Winkel schieben und ziehen, ohne dabei die ihnen ganz eigene glühende Essenz zu verlieren. Es gibt klirrende Synthesizer, erhabene Gothic-Anklänge, es gibt stürmische Melodien, es gibt gespenstische Klaviereinlagen, berserkerhafte Gitarrenausbrüche und das eine oder andere Stück, das ein bisschen nach den famosen The Icicle Works klingt. Und es gibt (mindestens) einen gigantischen, verzweifelten Desperate Journalist-Refrain im Song ,7", der mit höchster Logik tatsächlich als Track Nummer 7 des Albums fungiert. Die beste aller Album-Tracknummern, ganz sicher, in diesem Fall ein Song, der auch als mögliche Single funktionieren würde und deshalb Album Fokus Track ist. ,Immer wenn wir etwas Neues schreiben, möchte ich, dass es gleichzeitig verrückter und poppiger ist als das, was wir vorher gemacht haben, und ich denke, dies ist das Album, auf dem wir in dieser Hinsicht wirklich einen Sprung nach vorne gemacht haben." - Jo Bevan 2024 Desperate Journalist besteht aus Jo Bevan (Gesang, Synthesizer und Drum Machine), Robert Hardy (Gitarren, Synthesizer und Klavier), Caroline Helbert (Schlagzeug, Drum Machine und Percussion) und Simon Drowner (Bass und Synthesizer). Erhältlich als weiße Vinyl-LP, Digipack-CD & Musik-Kassette!

Das Londoner Post-Punk-Quartett Desperate Journalist kehrt im Herbst 2024 mit ihrem nunmehr fünften Studioalbum voller sardonischem, schrägem Humor und leidenschaftlicher Musik zurück. Auf ,No Hero", das die Vorab-Singles ,Unsympathetic Parts 1 & 2" und ,Afraid" sowie die kommende Leadsingle ,You Say You're Lonely" enthält, versucht die Band, ihren zerklüfteten, düsteren Trademark-Sound in immer interessantere Bahnen zu lenken. Als kreativer Neustart sind die vorab veröffentlichten Singles glänzende, strahlende Wegweiserfür die Richtung in die Desperate Journalist ihren ursprünglichen dunkelen Indie-Sound in neue, immer reizvollere Formen und zerklüftete Winkel schieben und ziehen, ohne dabei die ihnen ganz eigene glühende Essenz zu verlieren. Es gibt klirrende Synthesizer, erhabene Gothic-Anklänge, es gibt stürmische Melodien, es gibt gespenstische Klaviereinlagen, berserkerhafte Gitarrenausbrüche und das eine oder andere Stück, das ein bisschen nach den famosen The Icicle Works klingt. Und es gibt (mindestens) einen gigantischen, verzweifelten Desperate Journalist-Refrain im Song ,7", der mit höchster Logik tatsächlich als Track Nummer 7 des Albums fungiert. Die beste aller Album-Tracknummern, ganz sicher, in diesem Fall ein Song, der auch als mögliche Single funktionieren würde und deshalb Album Fokus Track ist. ,Immer wenn wir etwas Neues schreiben, möchte ich, dass es gleichzeitig verrückter und poppiger ist als das, was wir vorher gemacht haben, und ich denke, dies ist das Album, auf dem wir in dieser Hinsicht wirklich einen Sprung nach vorne gemacht haben." - Jo Bevan 2024 Desperate Journalist besteht aus Jo Bevan (Gesang, Synthesizer und Drum Machine), Robert Hardy (Gitarren, Synthesizer und Klavier), Caroline Helbert (Schlagzeug, Drum Machine und Percussion) und Simon Drowner (Bass und Synthesizer). Erhältlich als weiße Vinyl-LP, Digipack-CD & Musik-Kassette!

Das Londoner Post-Punk-Quartett Desperate Journalist kehrt im Herbst 2024 mit ihrem nunmehr fünften Studioalbum voller sardonischem, schrägem Humor und leidenschaftlicher Musik zurück. Auf ,No Hero", das die Vorab-Singles ,Unsympathetic Parts 1 & 2" und ,Afraid" sowie die kommende Leadsingle ,You Say You're Lonely" enthält, versucht die Band, ihren zerklüfteten, düsteren Trademark-Sound in immer interessantere Bahnen zu lenken. Als kreativer Neustart sind die vorab veröffentlichten Singles glänzende, strahlende Wegweiserfür die Richtung in die Desperate Journalist ihren ursprünglichen dunkelen Indie-Sound in neue, immer reizvollere Formen und zerklüftete Winkel schieben und ziehen, ohne dabei die ihnen ganz eigene glühende Essenz zu verlieren. Es gibt klirrende Synthesizer, erhabene Gothic-Anklänge, es gibt stürmische Melodien, es gibt gespenstische Klaviereinlagen, berserkerhafte Gitarrenausbrüche und das eine oder andere Stück, das ein bisschen nach den famosen The Icicle Works klingt. Und es gibt (mindestens) einen gigantischen, verzweifelten Desperate Journalist-Refrain im Song ,7", der mit höchster Logik tatsächlich als Track Nummer 7 des Albums fungiert. Die beste aller Album-Tracknummern, ganz sicher, in diesem Fall ein Song, der auch als mögliche Single funktionieren würde und deshalb Album Fokus Track ist. ,Immer wenn wir etwas Neues schreiben, möchte ich, dass es gleichzeitig verrückter und poppiger ist als das, was wir vorher gemacht haben, und ich denke, dies ist das Album, auf dem wir in dieser Hinsicht wirklich einen Sprung nach vorne gemacht haben." - Jo Bevan 2024 Desperate Journalist besteht aus Jo Bevan (Gesang, Synthesizer und Drum Machine), Robert Hardy (Gitarren, Synthesizer und Klavier), Caroline Helbert (Schlagzeug, Drum Machine und Percussion) und Simon Drowner (Bass und Synthesizer). Erhältlich als weiße Vinyl-LP, Digipack-CD & Musik-Kassette!

Napalm Death's "Apex Predator – Easy Meat," released in 2015, is a visceral exploration of
societal and economic injustices, delivered with the band's trademark intensity. This album
presents an overwhelming spread of wildly diverse musical abrasion from the grind chiefs.
A contemporary noise classic, "Apex Predator" showcases the band's ability to innovate
within the extreme music genre.

Napalm Death's "Apex Predator – Easy Meat," released in 2015, is a visceral exploration of
societal and economic injustices, delivered with the band's trademark intensity. This album
presents an overwhelming spread of wildly diverse musical abrasion from the grind chiefs.
A contemporary noise classic, "Apex Predator" showcases the band's ability to innovate
within the extreme music genre.

Napalm Death's "Apex Predator – Easy Meat," released in 2015, is a visceral exploration of
societal and economic injustices, delivered with the band's trademark intensity. This album
presents an overwhelming spread of wildly diverse musical abrasion from the grind chiefs.
A contemporary noise classic, "Apex Predator" showcases the band's ability to innovate
within the extreme music genre.

Italian-Austrian sound poet & vocalist NicoNote (Music From Memory, Mille Plateaux,Rizosfera, Rough Trade) presents new album ‘REGOLA’ A suite in nine movements inspired by the mythic medieval composer Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) (RIYL Björk, Anohni, Meredith Monk, Elizabeth Fraser, Lena Platonos, Anna Caragnano & Donato Dozzy) An ambitious, conceptual work of hypnotic, immersive electronics & transcendent, experimental vocals, exploring the enduring influence of the polymathic German saint & philosopher.

Nine visionary and ritualistic soundscapes harnessing the voice as an instrument of transcendent expressive power; a visceral, timeless exploration of human nature. ‘REGOLA’ (Italian for ‘RULE’) is a record that calls for a contemplative form of deep listening, a time-dilating experience in which the polyphonic voices of NicoNote ascend, opening up a portal into an archaic, eternal past, where lost sounds coalesce with future revelations.

'Freak The Speaker' is an evolution of The Allergies trademark sound, seeing duo Moneyshot and Rackabeat deliver their biggest beats to date on their latest album. They enlist a quality melting pot of artists to bring additional vibrancy with K.O.G, Ohmega Watts, Dynamite MC, Dr Syntax, and Skunkadelic, all stepping up to the plate. Long-time collaborators and live tour band members Andy Cooper Ugly Duckling, sax supremo James Morton and soul sensation Marietta Smith, continue to keep it nice and lively, rounding off another quality album full of funk, soul and hip-hop, guaranteed to provide good vibes and shake your sound system.

Promo

"A banger from those Bristol boogie boys" Craig Charles on 'Koliko'

"Obsessed with this new track from The Allergies." Lauren Laverne on 'Koliko'

"I love that it's recognisably you but also an evolution from what you've done before... " Adam Walton - BBC Wales

"All over this one. Absolutely incredible." Lauren Laverne on 'No Flash'

"Hot new release." Steve Lamacq on 'No Flash'

"Boom-bap rap cut from the finest cloth." Chuck D (Public Enemy) on 'No Flash'

Baraka returns with a fresh Rock infused EP named Psycho. Six new songs blending big beat, drum’n bass and trance with their touch of madness. A powerful piece shaped for the live with a nameless energy from start to finish. Psycho dives the duo into a new sonic and visual universe in which they reveal their alter egos. A more sharpened and distorted sound that would transform a concert hall into a dance floor or build up a club's energy to the level of a punk show. The first single going by the same name is supported by a bonus digital remix from acclaimed dj and producer Roza Terenzi. A way for the duo to push the boundaries of their music and give it a real club aspect, trademark of the band.

We are delighted to offer a very limited hand-stamped repress of Black Loops’ debut EP, 7 Hills on Freerange

The Italian producer who splits his time between Berlin and his native country has had a solid few years rising through the house music ranks through releases on respected labels such as Shall Not Fade, Pets, Toytonics, Aterral, Gruuv & Neovinyl.

His broad-ranging influences taking in funk, soul, disco and 90’s NY house inform a depth, warmth and musicality to his productions which has seen him in demand DJing around the world and makes him an obvious fit for us here on Freerange.

This EP, produced almost exclusively during an extended tour in Australia opens with title track 7Hills, the area where he stayed and worked on this release. The trademark Black Loops swinging groove, smooth Rhodes stabs/ keys licks courtesy of Nikos Haropoulos and a deep, rolling bassline all come together to form the perfect warm up track - uplifting, understate and with a subtle sense of anticipation.

Next up we have Parisian producer Mad Rey getting stuck into 7Hills for a raw, bumping interpretation which jacks things up a notch taking it into heavier peak-time territory. Mad Rey has been responsible for some brilliant releases on French label D.Ko, Rekids and most recently Mamie’s Records and alongside label mates Flabaire and Paul Cut he has helped reestablish Paris as a hotbed of fresh, musical talent.

Flipping over we have two more Black Loops originals. King Paul takes an old soul vocal sample and works it to great effect over crisp 909 beats and sun-soaked keys whilst a vinyl-only bonus track Linda38 treads a similar path but with a punchier groove and warm pads rounding off this EP in fine style.