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

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

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

6th Borough Project are all set to release the follow up to their 2011 debut LP One Night In The Borough at the start of March. A hectic couple of years have been lived out by Graeme Clark and Craig Smith during the making of their Borough 2 Borough LP with Graeme continuing to play week in and week out as Revenge and setting up his new imprint Roar Groove whilst Craig has established the brilliant Fifty Fathoms Deep label. Studio time has been tight to say the least but that hasn't stopped the duo from pulling out all the stops and ensuring that this LP surpasses the already sky-high benchmark set by it's predecessor.

As a taster for the LP we present you with this sampler single containing three gems that'll whet your appetite and leave you gagging for more! Kicking off we have In Your Arms which sees the duo deliver some classic 6BP business with a party-starting house track laced with Philly strings and a heavy dose of soul. Next up things take a slightly darker direction on U Know U with this heads-down track incorporating a crisp, stripped-back beat joined by filtering pads and a distant vocal for company. Flip over for Read My Mind which brings some deep and brooding warehouse vibes to the table. This is the sound of 6th Borough Project doing techno with just a hint of 909 ride adding to the layers of bouncing stabs and off-kilter vocals.

Kill Frenzy, our Belgian booty-loving Jean-Claude Van Damme look-alike returns with his latest ode to the female form. It never ceases to amaze us that the crew member with the tightest pants consistently turns in some of nastiest ghetto funk.

Whilst radio producers will be quaking in their boots, fans of his crunkin' creations will be singing 'Tongue n Lick' for months to come. A summer hit for the dirtybird crew its now set to make your winter walls sweat. Taking an even heavier path, Kill Frenzy brings together classical piano, lazer-edged synth, marching snares and a bulbous bassline on the epic, Naked Piano.

Narratives Music proudly present the debut EP of the artist Rhyming in Fives. The 'Hindsight' EP sees a well respected producer
embark on a new journey under a new alias, with an intention to breach the boundaries of Drum and Bass and the 170bpm template.
Fusing drift space ambience, glassy synths and retro drum machines with gritty warm bass grooves, Rhyming in Fives has gathered
sensibilities from the austere 80s pop of Depeche Mode and Gary Numan, the soundscapes of Cliff Martinez and Vangelis, and
transcended to something altogether more futuristic.
This highly anticipated release has already caught the imagination of DJ's across the genres with huge names such as Paul Woolford,
Om Unit, Com Truise and Zomby working it into their multi tempo sets while still finding its way into the record bags of Drum and
Bass' hottest players such as Doc Scott, Jubei.and BBC Radio's Friction.
Lead track 'Hindsight' glistens with the trademark Narratives sound of emotion and contrast. Melancholic calling synths build over
pumping kick drums and beckon the classic bass to grow and soar to an euphoric drop of arpeggiators and driving percussion. The
ability to draw the listener completely in to its immersive groove and simplicity, only feigns the depth of this beautiful track, a depth
which reveals more with each listen.
Turning many heads has been the track 'With You'. Instantly recognisable, it builds on the same retro influences as the flip but is
injected with the vocals of Hana. Bubbling basses, beautiful keys and a song like structure make this a golden addition to the
Narratives catalogue; one that evokes the summer decadence of Kavinsky's 'Drive' movie soundtrack.
The last track on the EP, 'All's Well' takes the Rhyming in Fives sound to a much more brooding and meditative place. Cavernous
bass, reverbs and FX lead this wave of haunting ambience to create a heartwrenching close to this debut EP. Sentimental, emotional
and relentlessly engaging, 'All's Well' refuses to let the listener do anything but be drawn in.
Only furthering Narratives reputation for releasing music of bold quality and longevity, this EP embraces experimentation and genre
shifting sounds whilst having relentlessly moved dancefloors and festivals over the summer months.
DJ Support includes : Friction, Paul Woolford, Doc Scott, Om Unit, Kuedo, Com Truise, Zomby

BNJMN pops up with another splendid and relevant EP.. featuring a remix from Legowelt/Xosar combo, Xamiga. TIP!
Artistic inspiration can come in many forms. On his latest 12' for Rush Hour - his third for the label since 2012 - BNJMN was inspired by one of the wonders of nature, namely the curious combination of speed and grace that is the humble hummingbird.

'I was really interested in how hummingbirds have much faster wing speeds to other birds, so they can hover and fly slowly,' he explains. 'This seemed to tie in with some ideas I'd been playing around with, to create tracks that are fast and accelerated, but could also sound slow.'

'Hummingbird', the title track of an impressive four-track EP that's noticeably cleaner, crisper and sharper than his most recent outing for Rush Hour, 2012's Unknown 2, captures this idea perfectly. Propelled forwards by a lone, 140 BPM kick drum, its waves of crystalline synthesizers and picturesque melodies seem to gracefully hover above the stripped-back rhythm. It's intoxicating, exciting and calming in equal measure, whilst retaining BNJMN's usual dancefloor punch.

'At a club recently someone came up to me after I'd played 'Hummingbird' and said he didn't realise how fast he was dancing till afterwards,' BNJMN says. 'I was really pleased with that, because I'm fascinated with how the energy and tempo of a track can feel different depending on the environment you're in, and how you're feeling.'

He took the same approach with the EP's other original tracks. 'Slow Wave', with its relentless sequenced arpeggio, tumbling melodies and sludgy groove, performs the same trick of the ear, thanks in no small part to clever combinations of fast and slow elements. The melancholic 'CRVD', with its mournful chords and darting, techno-influenced grooves, is similarly schizophrenic.

The EP concludes with its most straightforward dancefloor moment, an inspired remix from Xamiga (AKA Xosar and Legowelt). Decidedly cosmic - like layered, melody-driven analogue techno beamed down from a distant galaxy - it delivers a deeper, hazier alternative to BNJMN's pin-sharp original.

Markus Fix has been one of the early companions of Deep Vibes Recordings and we're happy to see him back with this stunning 3 Track solo EP. In fact this record somehow seems to close the circle between his early playful works and today's club sound. ' Wanna Let You Go' is a beautiful warm house track with a sweet piano line. What might seem like a perfect sundowner has potential to become a secret weapon for early morning hours too. Release your mind and let the body follow! Whilst speaking of that: ' Back On Earth' will make you jack! Pure energy, compressed to a juicy baseline. No more words needed. ' Reagy Dub' makes the round up and fills in somewhere between the two others. Warm up, cool down or open airs sun splash. Check out this diverse as beautiful record! Have a great summer! Yours truly, DVR.

Almost exactly three years after the first, Redshape has readied his second Red Pack, due for co release by his own Present imprint alongside his frequent Dutch home, Delsin, in June.
Whilst the world is still enjoying the German's latest album "Square", the man himself has typically moved on once more. On Red Pack II he offers up six tracks new of hugely atmospheric and romantically industrial techno across two pieces of vinyl.

First up, 'Disco Marauder' has raw, jangling beats, traumatised vocal cries and plenty of sci-fi ambiance all coalescing into a filmic techno tapestry, before 'Path Dub' goes deeper and more streamlined with rattling claps peeling off taught synth cables in hypnotic fashion. The same track also comes in an original version, which is a much more jagged, roughshod and textured affair.

'The Source' is a track slowed to a crawl that almost seems to want to collapse under its own weight. Machines gurgle and gargle, the beats march on with a heavy heart and widescreen synths all that ever present sense of cinematism that makes Redshape such a unique producer.

Standout track 'Daft Mode' features a beautiful Reese bassline and rich layers of classic Detroit chords of the sort Inner City once championed. Redshape then pairs them with slicing percussion and loose limbed but tough edged beats and lets them roll on to a blissfully emotive oblivion... Fans of 'Mucky Bones' from the first Red Pack might see this track as a close relative. Last track 'Bulp Head' is one of Redshape's more euphoric tracks thanks to the glistening and pixelated melodies which rise up and up through choppy, metallic percussion. It closes out another release from Redshape that offers six more classic pieces that are as idiosyncratic as they innovative..

As if our recent releases hadn't already been spreading the sound of Circus Company into new and exciting places, now our very own silver-tongued enchanter JAW emerges with the first details of his own autonomous project. Somewhere in between the electronic drive of his day job in dOP and the folky, organic instrumentation of Les Fils Du Calvaire, JAW shares with us a new venture that has thrust him into the studio with Lebanese musician Kevork Keshishian. After a chance meeting on the streets of Beirut, the pair struck upon a creative buzz and so "Hazihi Laylaty" was born. Translated as "this is my night", the title references one of the most famous pieces sung by the celebrated Egyptian singer Umm Kalthoum in the early part of the twentieth century. The dusty crackles and haunting strings that begin "Hazihi Laylaty" instantly call to mind the mystery and allure of traditional Arabic music, and the track as a whole fuses this spirit with a subtle wielding of modern electronics to create a thoroughly moody piece of pop-noir. Paying full respect to the complexity and consideration of the original version, both The Sorry Entertainers and Soul Clap embark upon unusual approaches for their remixes, managing to enhance the electronic elements in the track through more prominent production without losing the core ambience of Jaw and Keshishian's creation. JAW has been quietly working on a solo project for many years whilst also engaged with the relentless demand of his life in dOP, and now finally the time has come for people to hear the first snapshot of this venture. Bringing together a vast array of people, singers and producers from all corners of music, JAW's voice provides the glue with which a brave and boundary-l

Fresh from the success of the Guilty Pleasures EP by Satin Jackets & Ejeca, next up from the ever growing House of Disco Records is Finnebassen's - 'Baby' EP. Boasting make overs from Monitor 66, Ron Basejam and Debonair along with the original track itself, this is a vinyl with credentials that speak for themselves.

The EP opens with the original track 'Baby' from the Norwegian born producer Finnebassen. With previous releases titled 'Babies' 'Footsteps' and 'Bleedin out' I'm starting to wonder if there's some sort of subliminal message at work. However with the rate at which he's been outputting releases lately there are no signs that he has anything other than more music on the way. 'Baby' is not what we have become accustomed to expecting from Finnebassen, it strays away from his usual deep poignant echoing house tracks. Instead it's a rich funk filled gem of a track that he's shown he is capable of through his 'silly pilly edit' of It's gonna take a long time. With bluesy lead guitar riffs and his trademark bass line it's the perfect soundtrack for a blossoming summer season.

The first remix of the EP comes from Swedish trio Monitor 66 who produce under the ethos of creating ''music for sunsets.' The track certainly embodies that motif as gorgeous saxophone licks and chiming synths over a shifting bassline give it a deep tropical feel. Next up is the remix from James Baron, or as the anagram works and we know him as, Ron Basejam. His remix is more of a straight up boogie house track letting the echoing vocals do a lot of the work whilst being complimented by sprinkles of playful keys. The sliced vocals work a treat and he manages to maintain the tracks strong groove throughout. The final remix of the EP comes from London based artist Debonair who strips down the track into a deep atmospheric affair making it the perfect weapon of choice for an after hour set. Ominous kicks and the spades of tension and atmosphere will make sure that fists are pumping well into the early hours of the morning.

The whole EP is brimming with groove and if you find yourself missing Finnebassens deep echoing trademark sound from the original track then you can find essence of it in the remixes. This release speaks volumes for the trajectory of 'House of Disco Records' as a label that's constantly maturing and sidestepping pigeonholes.

Following up his EP 'String Theory' on Simple, Julian 'October' Smith has teamed up with label head Will Saul, for 'Light Sleeper', Aus Music's final release of 2012. The EP comes with a remix from Kompakt boss Michael Mayer. Jules & Will met last year when Will relocated to Somerset and they seemed to click instantly in the studio. A natural division of labour emerged which proved to be both effective and fun whilst also playing to both's strengths. Jules mans the drum machines and outboard FX and Will controls the synths....they hit record and see what happens. Look out for another 12 from them in Feb next year with a remix from Fred P. October's profile has been steadily rising since the launch of his first label, Caravan Records in 2007. In the last few years, his brand of off-kilter house and techno has also appeared on Skudge, Misericord, Jack Off and Applepips, and been championed by the likes of Ewan Pearson, Skudge and Appleblim. Smith's label 'TANSTAAFL', has been widely praised by the music press, and sets the course forv more of the jacking dancefloor house and techno he is known for. This year Will Saul revealed he was behind Close, a project he's created as a vehicle for his forthcoming album 'Getting Closer' and a A/V show which will feature Will on various machines and Al Tourettes on drums all backed with lovingly crafted visuals created & mixed by Silent Studios. The A/V show debuts at Fabric on the 23rd February and the album will be released in May 2013 on !K7 and features vocals from Joe Dukie of Fat Freddies Drop, Peacefrog artist Charlene Soraia and Paul 'Tikiman' St.Hillaire as well as collaborations with Scuba, Appleblim, Ewan Pearson, and of course October. In the eight years since Michael Mayer released his debut album 'Touch', he's maintained a tightly packed schedule of DJ gigs and remixes.

Diva is a project which explores the outer regions of techno's psyche - combining the trippy sensuality of Chris & Cosey with the brutalist analogue aesthetic of the likes of Robert Hood or Liasons Dangereuses.


Inspired by the vocal histrionics of strobe lit sirens such as Loleatta Holloway and Jocelyn Brown, Diva calls on the protean roots of basement club music. Lead track 'Paris Stabbing' is a stunning excursion into motor city madness, abstracted disco vocals clash with a broken digi-arpeggio and hooverish bass break down, whilst the flip side 'But I've Never' imposes a detuned synth siren over an industrial bass sequence and sp1200 piano stabs to eerie effect. Also included is the 'Paris Stabbing (Beats)' which pares down the original, adding detuned melodic percussion into a minimalist after hours tool.

Newly established music connection House is OK from Frankfurt and Zagreb is raising the roof with the upcoming We Make Music Vol. 1 release. Get into the party mode with Janis, Oliver Achatz, Homeboy and The Citizen's Band this December. We Make Music opens with JANIS 'Mind Made Up'; a reminder of the early Frankfurt House sound with a scent of the Soylent Green Remixes from the late 90ties. A distorted Techno siren that evolves over a tough and jacking 909 groove and finally leads into blissful deepness. Homeboy, who got some attention with his playful Hypercolour release, brings out the edgier and deeper sound in 'Sedam'; a track based on the elements of classic House, whilst breaking the borders through its arrangement and musical form. The jazzy synth riff that locks to a hypnotic 7/4 groove is what makes this track a quality gem. Previous support on Jimpsters Freerange podcast shall suffice as evidence. The flip-side starts with Oliver Achatz' track: 'It Won't Last'. Oli, being the sentimental one in this joint, proves that House music can work with a very sensual touch. The smooth and warm use of analogue synth lines combined with suggestive vocal samples, are played over a steadily drifting rhythm. This compound, of an almost meditative nature, will provide the perfect atmosphere for early morning club hours. The Citizen's Band, one half of Arto Mwambe, closes the compilation with a remix of Janis' 'Mind Made Up". TCB shows that a track doesn't need much to get the crowd jumping and the party working, by returning the tune to its basic elements and making it a club banger for the 'heads". We Make Music Vol. 1 is only the first out of the three upcoming releases set to shake your solid house ground.

Aroy Dee's MOS Deep returns with a new EP from Italians Ksoul & Muteoscillator, both of whom have appeared on labels like Uzuri and Ksoul's own Kinda Soul with a gauzy, dense sound somewhere between techno, acid and full on electronica.
'Criminology' comes in two parts on the a-side: the first is a fizzing, almost impenetrable network of analogue lines with acid buried deep below sharp percussion and behind a mysterious little melody phrase, whilst the second features a different sort of acid: it's brighter and seems to twist and turn with a life of its own.The b-side is 'Aphrology' as edited by Aroy himself. The underlying vibe here is house, though a squealing world of ticking machines, squirming synths and jangling percussive rhythms make it a heady and intense listen.Finally, the same track appears in its original form where tumbling drums, bleeding acid and a steppers rhythm join the dots between many different worlds: the heady results are sure to make dancefloors go cerrrrazy.

RAWAX IS PROUD TO WELCOME MR. K-ALEXI SHELBY TO THE FAMILY!
Mr. K Alexi Shelby
Like a moth drawn to a flame, there is something utterly infectious about the music of Mr.K Alexi Shelby, better known as K-Alexi one of the founding fathers of house music direct from his home city of Chicago. Since the late 1980s, he has pioneered the true house sound, leading to a DH and production career spanning over 20 years, including collaborations with artists ranging from The Pet Shop Boys to Derrick May and from Larry Heard and Felix da Housecat to Will Smith, as well as gigs across the globe.
An impressionable young teenager, Mr.K Alexi Shelby developed friendships with Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy whilst attending seminal venues like The Warehouse and The Music Box in the mid 1980s. Being here at this embryonic stage of dance music culture, there were no rules or precedents, so K Alexi drew on a rich musical heritage that had seen him grow up in the 70s and 80s listening to Stevie Wonder, Prince, Curtis Mayfield and David Huff. Those roots continue to influence his music to this day.
It was under the moniker Risque III that Essence Of A Dream was released in 1987, firmly establishing the name of Mr.K Alexi Shelby amongst the most prominent of all house producers at the time. Moreover, those early tracks are still recognized to be the quintessential Chicago house sound. The rumbling and dark bass, smooth strings, incredible percussion and the spoken word poetic and erotic lyrical flow became the trademark for classic Chicago house and the template for everything else that followed. To reiterate, there was no template before this. This was the beginning.
This initial success has lead to Mr.K Alexi Shelby working with the leading names across the electronic music world and beyond. Collaborations and remixes for Chicago peers like Mike Dunn, Mr. Lee and Marshall Jefferson merely served as the springboard for Alexi to work with the best in the electronic scene, from Derrick May to Paul Johnson ,Ron Trent Dave Angel to Felix ad House Kat. Furthermore, his talents have also lead to him working with The Pet Shop Boys and Will Smith.
On top of this, his tracks have appeared on compilations by artists varying from Laurent Garnier to DJ Hell, who used It's Me 2010 contribution to the Body Language series for Get Physical Music. Produced under the Club M.C.M. moniker, the 1991 EP It's Me/Club M.C.M. has been a frequent selection for compilations for 20 years and is rightly regarded as a true underground techno classic.

Arriving at their fourth release, Emotional Rescue's knowledge of forgotten musical gems and their commitment to give them the chance of wider appreciation they fully deserve cannot be in question! After digging out that Bob Chance classic, the focus switches to something of an equally balearic nature with the release of Jaki Whitren & John Cartwright's lost folk rock album International Times. Originally released as a private press on the obscure French label Living Records back in 1983, this eight track album is filled with dusty soul nuggets which are given extra life by the silky vocal stylings of Whitren - formerly a backing singer for Alan Parson. Opening track "Stay Cool" sounds quite ahead of it's time, whilst there are some true dancefloor gems for the more adventurous DJs out there, such as the title track and the laid back bump of "Go With The Flow."

SLEEP D's BACON EP is the next offering from Sydney's excellent DEATH STROBE imprint

SLEEP D are a couple of young cats from Melbourne, the production duo are sure to be an integral part of the deep house explosion coming from their city, spearheaded by the likes of Tornado Wallace, Fantastic Man and the Melbourne Deepcast crew.

The record has a range of flavours all tied together by a fundamental warmth and soulfulness.
The title track flows and floats in a dreamlike state, whilst simultaneously nailing the groove from beat one.
Bubbles vs The Cat takes it up a notch, entering the club realm with rich bass and tight rhythms.
Their remix of Chet Faker's Love & Feeling is certain to give any dance floor a collective orgasm, oozing an erotic strangeness as it heaves and thrusts away, while Ischa has a tickle of Techno thrown into the mix and, despite its druggy sedation, has a hidden energy for dancing feet.

Sven Kacirek, the much praised multi- instrumentalist from Hamburg, releases his third album with Pingipung. "Scarlet Pitch Dreams" presents intimate solo works, following his debut "The Palmin Sessions" (2007) and the interna- tional success "The Kenya Sessions" (2011), which was honored with German Record Critic's Award for the second quarter 2011. Whilst "The Kenya Sessions" revealed fruitful col- laborations with Kenyan musicians, almost every single instrument on "Scarlet Pitch Dreams" has been played, recorded and produced by Sven Kaci- rek himself.

A new label offering from the ever active vaults of Mr. Sascha Müller is the new imprint named Psychocandies which is setting things straight for an Acid-poisoned future with cat.no. 001 which is a marbled, limited to 200 copies 7" pressing holding Sascha Müllers "Tempelrotation (Edit)" and Acidfloors "Goja 3" on the flip. Whilst the first mentioned tune is on a grinding, distorted MonoAcid tip clearly influenced by long gone labels like Labworks or Propulsion 285 we see Acidfloor working on a mind bending fusion of dry ElectroPhonk and a tweeking 303 that is about to make all breakers twist their legs and the rest of the crew jump around like mad. If you love alltime classics like "Higher State Of Consciousness" you'll surely appreciate this little tune as well. Watch out for more candy!

It is a great honor for us to welcome such a living legend, a pioneer from the Chicago House scene: Mr K' Alexi Shelby !
At the age of 12 he was already moving in the right circles, befriending Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy whilst frequenting the famous Warehouse. His upbringing in Chicago in the 70s and 80s meant that he was exposed to a range of genres and different styles of music including Stevie Wonder, Prince, Curtis Mayfield and David Huff. These same names would prove to be the roots of his influences.

Returning with another debut release, Second Circle's eighth record to date comes this time from young Viennese musician Giuseppe Leonardi. Performed on an array of synthesizers and experimenting with spoken word and vocals from various local singers, Giuseppe's 'TBC' EP take us on a dance through the catacombs and out through the jungle floor with ritualistic rhythm and haunting song... Whilst at other moments Giuseppe's horizontal ambient pieces leave us gazing out on the shores of a distant half-remembered planet.