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Aural Imbalance - Fragile Shapes 2x12"

Aural Imbalance

Fragile Shapes 2x12"

2x12inchSPTLP010
Spatial
Release unknown

The master of ambient soundscapes, intertwining authentic old school breakbeats with his inimitable style returns with a fresh album of choice cuts for the Spatial crew. A1 - Form of Defraction Opening the LP in his gloriously unique style, Aural Imbalance sets the tone with a powerfully ambient intro of padwork and delicately filtered breaks before dense, analogue old school breakbeats roar to life sending the track skyward. The sublime 808 bassline simmers beneath an ever-evolving soundscape of twinkling melodies and strings, the very essence of serenity captured in just under 7 minutes of audio bliss. A2 - Discreet Function Enveloping the listener with a warm blanket of silky ambience, Discreet Function soon jolts to life with a crunchy breakbeat that counteracts yet compliments the pads and myriad of delicious micro melodies so well, you wonder how it’s possible to take such extremes and mix them down so expertly that our ears accept it as one. After a relatively brief breakdown the track rolls out before the breaks are snatched away at the death - capping off a quite unique composition. B1 - Softlight Light cymbals and delicate textures introduce us to Softlight, a track which sees Aural Imbalance guiding the listener through the clouds to a haven of gentle serenity where your troubles simply fade away, punctuated by a stunningly programmed and memorable Hot Pants break pattern, timid classic basslines and an overall plethora of sun-baked energy - perfect for the headphones and the record box - as always. B2 - Airwave Immensely old school vibes are immediately present in Airwave, with analogue breaks and succinct female vocal samples that mingle with echoing melodies and synthwork to create a beautifully flowing and unique slice of atmospheric gold. Additional breaks are fused into the mix as the track progresses, elevating the piece to the heights we have come to expect from Aural Imbalance, yet never cease to amaze. C1 - Speed of Light Gentle cymbals and filtered breaks open Speed of Light, before a crisp barrage of amen goodness descends and dominates proceedings - just as a good amen should! Programmed to perfection with an immensely danceable rolling pattern, the amens lead us through a sea of washing synths and delicate melodies, intertwining and frolicking in the mix, completing a charming and memorable piece. C2 - Fading Star Playful strings and a luscious 808 bassline play with sumptuous padwork in the intro to Fading Star, a track which sees Aural Imbalance capture the essence of 90’s jungle and it’s symbiotic relationship with atmospheric drum & bass perfectly. Developing throughout with an array of unassuming effects and a quietly moving vibe, Fading Star is the perfect addition to sets spanning the entire history of this music. D1 - Drifting Under Bright Skies Aural Imbalance resurrects the excellent break last featured on Spatial in his sublime track Surface Area, this time chopped and sliced to a different vibe, with kickdrums at the forefront and that fantastically crunchy snare deployed more sparingly. Shimmering padwork and light melodies dance across the mix throughout to leave us with a refreshingly unique and memorable track you won’t be able to get enough of. D2 - Violet Completing this fine LP of old school ambient breakbeat mastery, Aural Imbalance deploys Violet to see us out - a climactic-feeling romp that opens with quiet intent before launching the listener through cheery melodic tones and bustling soundscapes, sprinkled liberally with airy pads and fluttering micro melodies that zip and whoosh around thick analogue breakbeats. A fitting end to a thoroughly enjoyable album. Words by Chris Hayes (Spatial / Red Mist) credits

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26,85
r.hitect - Avono EP

r.hitect

Avono EP

exclCRQS001
Croquis
Release unknown

r.hitect opens a new chapter with a refined vinyl release that signals both evolution and intention. Exploring subtle textures, intricate rhythms, and a deeper, more introspective sound, this record marks a shift toward a more personal sonic identity.

The release also introduces Croquis, a new label concept focused on capturing music in its purest form — raw, spontaneous, and essential. More than just a label, Croquis is a space for stripped-back expression and meaningful sound.

This vinyl sets the tone for what’s to come: minimal, emotional, and deeply authentic.

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11,72
Transparent Sound - No Call From New York

No introduction required for the The legendary No Call From New York EP by the uks cult electro act Transparent Sound, the finally reissued for everybody that missed out previously is finally here.

A long time Favourite of Helena Hauff, stingray and B traits the essential track of the year twice on radio one.

Transparent Sound repress this classics slap of forward thinking electro in its original format including remixes from Sync24, Mr Velcro Fastener and Larry McCormick. Grab it quick before its sells out and prices get crazy on discogs again.

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12,40
Rob Pearson - Slipstream

Rob Pearson

Slipstream

12inchOLC002
Online Collective
Release unknown

A snapshot of UK tech house in its formative years, OLC002 finds Rob Pearson laying down the blueprint for a sound he’d continue to refine through Evasive Records. Released on Online Collective—the label arm of South London’s Online Studios—this EP captures a raw, forward-facing moment in underground dance music.

The title track Slipstream leads with intent: tight tech drums ride alongside a chopped breakbeat groove, underpinned by weighty sub bass and warped melodic textures. A fluid lead synth drives the track forward, locking into a hypnotic, evolving flow built for the dancefloor.

Vortex channels early Detroit techno through a South London lens—crisp edits, filtered drum machine rhythms, and a hypnotic vocal loop combine for a stripped, late-night roller with serious intent.

On Metaphor, Pearson taps into the spirit of early bleep and warehouse house, fusing it with late ‘90s tech house sensibilities—raw, swung, and deeply functional.

The Metaphor (Bonus Beats) rounds things off as a pure DJ tool, primed for layering and extended blends.

A sharp, authentic document of a pivotal era, Slipstream EP showcases Pearson’s early command of groove, texture, and dancefloor dynamics.

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12,56
Andrew Macari - Uprock Jazz EP

This solid jackin' house EP feat. PAKA PROJECT is packed with groove and a summer-ready vibe. Crafted with DJs in mind, perfect for layering, cutting basslines, and blending.. Cool brass elements, soulful textures, and hints of blues-style vocal samples woven throughout. Full pic sleeve.

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19,96
Ion Ludwig - Because We Aint Heard Nothing Yet And Have Not Even Tried 3x12"

Across twelve original compositions, Ludwig traverses a broad sonic landscape, each track threaded together

by a signature touch that feels unmistakably his. Opener ‘Three Cases Forty Years’, alongside ‘E-Trinity’ and

‘Dieper en Dieper Goes Portugal’, highlights his singular take on dub techno, while ‘This I Didn’t Know’, ‘Practice

All Their Life’ and ‘Metropolixer’ drift into more textural, exploratory electronica.

Elsewhere, Ludwig leans into the raw, stripped-back aesthetic he’s long celebrated for on ‘Come to The End’,

‘Starlab Translate’, ‘Ill Progressions’, ‘Go Real Cloudy’ and ‘Things Are Moving’, before closing track ‘Galaxie C’est

Boom’ surges forward with a percussive, driving house energy primed for the dance floor.

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35,25
pdqb - Direct Hits Remixes

pdqb

Direct Hits Remixes

12inchSC012
Synaptic Cliffs
Release unknown

Six tracks. Six undeniable hits. Science can't explain it.

Four dazzling pdqb originals: pop-infused disco house transmissions where retro dreams collide with absurdly modern groove technology and hyper-modern circuitry. Hooks everywhere. Basslines that flirt shamelessly with eternity. Rhythms that know exactly what they're doing.
And then Roman Flügel arrives at the party. With two remixes of such dubby, technoid magnificence that they bend the laws of physics wherever they're played.
The cover? Pure gold. A radiant golden surface punctured by bullet marks - courtesy of world-renowned artist Maurizio Cattelan. When the music hits this hard, the artwork should too.
And the vinyl itself is no less extravagant: it reveals a dramatic close-up of the Direct Hit - a colossal crater surrounded by smoky burn marks, gleaming like a tiny golden monument to impeccable taste.
A small but undeniable upgrade to the cultural history of planet Earth. Play loud. Repeat often. History will thank you.

P.S. Real-world violence is neither glamorous nor welcome - this record stands firmly for peace, joy, and the radical idea that the only explosions worth having happen on dancefloors.

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17,61

Last In: 41 days ago
Ellis Swan - 3 AM Remixes

Ellis Swan

3 AM Remixes

12inchATM004
Altrimenti Records
Release unknown

Following up on the hidden wonder of Ellis Swan's twilight folk-noir masterpiece 3 AM (Quindi Records, 2022), Altrimenti commissions three bold remixes by Madteo, Simone and Mass Prod, with a wayward slant to rival Swan's own outsider status.

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17,61
ADSR - Incidents

Adsr

Incidents

12inchUSR039
Undersound Recordings
Release unknown

With great pleasure we welcome on board ADSR. This is not a standard EP but more a collection of 5 tracks made in the years between 1989 and 2001.

“Kicked” (1989) rides a driving dance groove with subtle Depeche Mode–influenced melodies, fueled by rolling arps and crisp string plucks. “Unit 3” (2001) hits with tough basslines and hard pads over a relentless beat, nodding to mid-80s EBM in the vein of Nitzer Ebb, Skinny Puppy, and Front 242. “Unchained” (1990) drifts on a late-night 808 groove with glassy pads and house-leaning chord stabs, sliding into early techno territory.

The EP closes with two well known tracks but those versions of them have never seen the light before today. “Windswept (Desert Mix)” – 1994 is a pounding early-session track built on tripped-out SH-101 leads, evolving arpeggios, long sweeps, and a steady 909, made for getting completely lost in.“Suboceana (Early Version)” – 1991 serves seductive chord progressions and drawn-out, reflective melodies, a liquid journey for both listening and the dancefloor.

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12,56
ManooZ - Jack The Bass / Time For House (7")

Germany's MANOOZ dials in a big one for STARCREATURE/GLOBAL CARESS. Heavyweight hardware house that is like a teleporter back to 1988. “JACK THE BASS” starts off with a hypnotic command, impossible to deny, followed by “TIME 4 HOUZE”, with some of the best house lyrics ever

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11,47
Igor Boxx (Skalpel) - Refleks LP

Born in Wroc?aw. Known and liked as a member of the Wroclaw-based duo Skalpel. Much less known and liked as the author of several solo albums that illustrate and explore different states of consciousness: Breslau (solo debut released on Ninja Tune) - the frenzy of war, Dream Logic - the meanders of dreams, Delirium - psychedelic hallucinations, Fyodor - religious exaltation and ethical illusions. On the album "Refleks", he explores the state of consciousness of an old digger and beatmaker. He lives in Wroclaw.
About Refleks:

Refleks is tender and free. Of the two meanings of this word in Polish, I choose the one that is a reflection of light on a river. Hypnotic and never monotonous, brilliant and charming, with depth slumbering beneath. The whirlpools we encounter on the album are only slightly cunning; they are rather playful. Although one can look into the abyss, it is not greedy-it allows you to stay on the shore and does not consume you unconditionally.
In some tracks, it even throws you out: you think you're still riding that slide-a tunnel you think is endless-but it ends safely and suddenly in the grass. In the plush. As if a momentary wind carried you away, only to stop at the least expected moment, finding yourself in a completely new yet seemingly familiar space-time-at home, which is not yours, yet not foreign either. While the titles clearly suggest Wroc?aw-based situations, in my opinion, we are moving on a higher level of intimacy and abstraction. On the waves of the ether, the forgotten element of everything that cannot be measured, weighed, or counted. What we know for sure, but might only seem so to us. In the hospitable cosmos of a well-settled head.

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21,81
CURIO CURIO - CURIO CURIO LP

CURIO CURIO

CURIO CURIO LP

12inchMRBLP343
Mr Bongo
Release unknown
  • 1: Tô Chegando
  • 2: Bem Querer
  • 3: Menina Passarinho
  • 4: Vem Pra Casa
  • 5: Raiz
  • 6: Vida Que Entorna (Interlúdio)
  • 7: Amor Doente
  • 8: Mar Sem Dar Pé
  • 9: Canto De Calma
  • 10: Amizade
  • 11: A Cor Do Meu Sonho
disponibile anche

neon orange vinyl[26,85 €]


Curió Curió came to flight by chance. Two artists, Rio-born, Austria-based singer and actress Luiza Monteiro and German producer Dustin Braun, had separately reached a fork in their journeys. An opportune encounter soon blossomed into an uplifting, heartfelt Brazilian MPB-groove project shaped by psychedelic disco and studio experimentation. In their own words Curió Curió’s sonic vision “is not straight disco, not straight samba, not strictly old-school but inspired by all of them, creating something contemporary but still nostalgic”.

A modern fusion influenced as much by Gal Costa and Jorge Ben Jor as Say She She and Bala Desejo, their sound deftly plots a course all of its own. A celebration of freedom, movement, love and life, intertwined with introspective moments of reflection. Treating tradition as something alive, migratory and unresolved, the album is not simply bound by a shared love of Brazilian music, but by a deeper question that runs through every track; where does one belong when home becomes plural? As a Brazilian living in Europe, Luiza's lyrics explore themes of identity, culture, and existence. The tracks move between cities and emotional registers without settling, tracing a sense of identity that shifts rather than resolves. Songs like ‘Amor Doente’ and ‘Mar sem Dar Pé’ circle around relationships that resist clarity, while ‘Menina Passarinho’ captures the fear and necessity of committing to music as a path. For Luiza, deepening her commitment to music alongside years in theatre was both inevitable and difficult. Braun’s production follows a similar logic. Initial ideas were often built without obvious reference points, only later incorporating rhythmic and vocal elements that hint at Brazil without reproducing it. Analogue techniques, tape, ribbon microphones and live ensemble recording bring a tactile quality that reflects the duo’s interest in process as much as outcome. Highlights include ‘Bem Querer’, built on an authentic samba street vibe with a super-catchy sing-along chorus, and ‘Vem pra Casa’ with its cosmic-tinged Brazilian boogie flavour. The album closes with ‘A Cor do Meu Sonho’, a quiet act of insistence. A refusal to shrink in unfamiliar environments, and a belief in the strength of difference. It is less a conclusion than a continuation, leaving the central question open. “I started to understand that I can belong to many places at once”, Luiza reflects. “And that can be something to embrace”. Lyrics from the song ‘Raiz’ translate in English to “I value a burning sun and the cold in the air. Constant change is my companion”. With Curió Curió, that idea is lived through sound, story and collaboration. A debut that feels both searching and assured, grounded in heritage yet shaped by distance.

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25,17
CURIO CURIO - CURIO CURIO LP

CURIO CURIO

CURIO CURIO LP

12inchMRBLP343NO
Mr Bongo
Release unknown

Curió Curió came to flight by chance. Two artists, Rio-born, Austria-based singer and actress Luiza Monteiro and German producer Dustin Braun, had separately reached a fork in their journeys. An opportune encounter soon blossomed into an uplifting, heartfelt Brazilian MPB-groove project shaped by psychedelic disco and studio experimentation. In their own words Curió Curió’s sonic vision “is not straight disco, not straight samba, not strictly old-school but inspired by all of them, creating something contemporary but still nostalgic”.

A modern fusion influenced as much by Gal Costa and Jorge Ben Jor as Say She She and Bala Desejo, their sound deftly plots a course all of its own. A celebration of freedom, movement, love and life, intertwined with introspective moments of reflection. Treating tradition as something alive, migratory and unresolved, the album is not simply bound by a shared love of Brazilian music, but by a deeper question that runs through every track; where does one belong when home becomes plural? As a Brazilian living in Europe, Luiza's lyrics explore themes of identity, culture, and existence. The tracks move between cities and emotional registers without settling, tracing a sense of identity that shifts rather than resolves. Songs like ‘Amor Doente’ and ‘Mar sem Dar Pé’ circle around relationships that resist clarity, while ‘Menina Passarinho’ captures the fear and necessity of committing to music as a path. For Luiza, deepening her commitment to music alongside years in theatre was both inevitable and difficult. Braun’s production follows a similar logic. Initial ideas were often built without obvious reference points, only later incorporating rhythmic and vocal elements that hint at Brazil without reproducing it. Analogue techniques, tape, ribbon microphones and live ensemble recording bring a tactile quality that reflects the duo’s interest in process as much as outcome. Highlights include ‘Bem Querer’, built on an authentic samba street vibe with a super-catchy sing-along chorus, and ‘Vem pra Casa’ with its cosmic-tinged Brazilian boogie flavour. The album closes with ‘A Cor do Meu Sonho’, a quiet act of insistence. A refusal to shrink in unfamiliar environments, and a belief in the strength of difference. It is less a conclusion than a continuation, leaving the central question open. “I started to understand that I can belong to many places at once”, Luiza reflects. “And that can be something to embrace”. Lyrics from the song ‘Raiz’ translate in English to “I value a burning sun and the cold in the air. Constant change is my companion”. With Curió Curió, that idea is lived through sound, story and collaboration. A debut that feels both searching and assured, grounded in heritage yet shaped by distance.

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26,85
Sainte Vie - Pablo

Sainte Vie

Pablo

12inchSV003
Sainte Vie
Release unknown

Sainte Vie's debut album titled 'Pablo' transforms the abyssal somberness of grief into a vibrant expression of the transcendence of love. Sainte Vie delves into the labyrinths of his past to create unique sounds from the treasured memoriesof his father, Pablo. The somber tones of the album emanate from Sainte Vie's grief. His father passed away in 2023 and he has been working on this album since then. A tribute to his father's life, this album is also a creative and highly personal exploration of their enduring connection. Though an aura of melancholia and darkness colors every track, the ethereal and dynamic quality of Sainte Vie's sound makes our deepest fibers vibrate with the radiance of life and the joy of experiencing love.

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15,76
PRÂSLEA - Habitual Psychosis EP

Spacebased Recordings 003 - Prâslea.

Where there is love there is life.

We are taught to hold a shape. To repeat, to conform, to control. Over time the repetition becomes us - rigid, fearful, grasping for power, emptied of feeling. We live without living. The mechanical overtakes the organic. We lose ourselves, and in losing ourselves we lose our connection to everything.
This is the psychosis we call normal.
Yet something remains underneath. A flicker. A recognition. The long effort of reopening begins with glimpsing what we have become.

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13,40
Brennan - Forged Dubs EP

Brennan

Forged Dubs EP

12inchSHIW002
Shibui
Release unknown

London based imprint SHIBUI follows up with a second 12" on the label, with a four track EP from Brennan.

SHIW002 features Tech-House cuts with an unmistakeable old school feel, an essential for every DJ's record bag.

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12,40
Blue Vision - Machines Will Transform Us EP

Phosphor returns with its fifth release and a new chapter for the label’s founders, Blue Vision. As their second EP on the imprint, Machines Will Transform Us (PHP005) confirms the project’s direction: a precise balance between club-driven tech house and more immersive, hypnotic electro textures.

Across the EP, Blue Vision asks a simple question: after spending our days connected to algorithms and modern machines, can repetitive rhythms and mechanical grooves on the dancefloor turn us into machines once again, or instead help us reconnect with ourselves?

Machines Will Transform Us (A1) opens the EP with a driving Italo bassline and tight, tech-driven drums. Melodic 80s synths contrast with sharper electro elements, gradually building tension before a final drop designed for peak-time impact. The track sets the tone for the release: machines transform us as much as we transform them.

Then comes Just a Game (A2), blending spacious 90s progressive and synthwave influences over a rock-solid club bassline and crisp drums. Playing with atmosphere and emotion, the track explores the feeling that we are never too far from a simulation, that maybe everything is just a game. Perfectly suited for introspective yet intense moments, it acts as an ideal bridge between harder tracks in a set.

On the flip side, I Love Acid (B1) is direct, hypnotic, and designed to lock the dancefloor into a steady flow. Stripped back to punchy drums and a raw acid line, it takes a minimal approach that works equally well in early hours or late-night sets. Behind the title lies the idea of acid as both machine energy and mental escape, where repetitive sequences blur the boundary between human emotion and mechanical movement.

As a final touch, Scan Your Brain (B2) shifts into deeper, more immersive territory. Analog pad textures create a drifting atmosphere over a hypnotic bassline and electro drums. With this closing track, Blue Vision answers their initial question by imagining the dancefloor as a space to disconnect from rigid thinking. The vocal serves as a reminder that the brain is constantly overloaded, and that dancing becomes a way to let go, reset, and reconnect.

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13,03
Telfort - The Drift

Telfort

The Drift

12inchTLFT006
Telfort
Release unknown

Telfort continues his considered run of self‑releases with a sixth outing of deep, expressive house music that captures the warmth, emotion and subtle evolution of his signature sound.
Across three cuts, he balances classic dancefloor instinct with a deft melodic touch – from driving grooves and warm, rolling low‑ends to lush, uplifting turns and hazier, introspective closes. The result is a rich, diverse yet cohesive statement from an artist still refining what makes his music resonate, further reaffirming the inimitable style that has defined Telfort’s output since the label’s first release over ten years ago.

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12,40
Vladw - Uncharted Echoes

Vladw

Uncharted Echoes

12inchNAVIGARE007
Navigare Audio
Release unknown

Our previous remix-EP of Ness' classic album "Flesh Of The Gods" was, for various reasons, a long and slow process. When Ness himself suggested us to ask Vladw for a contribution we finally had a good reason to reach out to a long time favorite @ the Navigare HQ. Although located, literally, on the other side of the planet, his deep, driving and breezy productions ring true to our, slightly northern, musical vision. So we are not surprised that his excellent remix of "Transilient" is, already, one of the most celebrated tracks in our half decade long history. We asked for more, and finally we are able to present three brand new originals, seeded, watered and harvested with a Navigarean intent. Three highly functional pieces, aimed at focused dancefloors underneath open skies, balancing the beautiful and lush with the edgy and slightly twisted. Although being our first ever collaboration, any Navigare listener would understand that Luigi Tozzi has played a huge role for us on our path. Since his first releases with Hypnus we've listened carefully, on repeat, for a dozen years by now. A guiding light for our scene, always curious, always pioneering, yet always on point. His remix of "Drya" takes the harmonix of the original, adds a monstrous bassline and - trust us on this one - that massive clap will cause a mass frisson on the dancefloor. Trust Navigare Audio...

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14,08
Chris Isaak - Heart Shaped World (2x12")
  • A1: Heart Shaped World
  • A2: I’m Not Waiting
  • A3: Don’t Make Me Dream About You
  • B1: Kings Of The Highway
  • B2: Wicked Game
  • C1: Blue Spanish Sky
  • C2: Wrong To Love You
  • C3: Forever Young
  • D1: Nothing’s Changed
  • D2: In The Heat Of The Jungle
  • D3: Diddley Daddy

There was nothing in contemporary music like Chris Isaak’s Heart Shaped World when it hit shelves in June 1989. More than three decades later, the singer-songwriter’s third album still sounds unique — and claims a backstory nearly as fascinating as the retro-leaning material and standout performances that propelled it to sales of more than 2.5 million copies. Home to the Top 10 smash “Wicked Game,” the set remains a masterful mood piece that invites you to pour a late-night drink, sit in a dimmed room, and relish Isaak’s elegant albeit raw ruminations on love, relationships, and questionable decisions.

Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, and featuring the bonus track “Diddley Daddy,” Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set of Heart Shaped World unearths the staggering inner details, saturated tones, and brilliant atmospherics of the crisp production. It brings you up close and personal with Isaak’s spectacular singing — impeccably controlled, tense, brooding, steamy, smoldering, haunted — situated amidst stripped-down backdrops that allow every note to fully bloom and decay.

While Isaak’s ever-steady baritone remains the anchor, the contributions of his trusty backing band, the aptly named Silvertone, come across with just as much cool, command, and realism. The indispensable playing of guitarist James Calvin Wilsey particularly emerges with superb clarity and dimensionality. The character of his 1965 Fender Stratocaster, shivering twang of his spring-coiled fills, and his signature use of reverb, delay, and vibrato seamlessly match Isaak's patient deliveries and the band’s unhurried rhythms. Experienced on UD1S with ultra-black backgrounds and a nearly invisible noise floor, Heart Shaped World is in every regard a demonstration disc.

The premium packaging of this UD1S pressing befits its elevated status. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, it features foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics. Aurally and visually, this reissue is for discerning listeners who desire to immerse themselves in everything involved with the album, not the least of which is the cover art depicting a lost-in-thought Isaak staring ahead and sitting in what appears to be an efficiency apartment. The image epitomizes the record’s lonesome temperaments and pensive themes.

Of course, if not for director David Lynch hand-picking two cuts from Heart Shaped World for his 1990 film Wild at Heart, the record would’ve probably suffered the same fate as Isaak’s prior efforts and gone unnoticed by the mainstream. Despite receiving raves from outlets such as NME, Chicago Tribune, and Rolling Stone upon its original release, the album stalled in the lower quadrants of the Billboard charts and, after a few weeks, dropped off.

Cue the ear of Lee Chesnut. Then the music director for a large Atlanta radio station, Chesnut heard the instrumental version of “Wicked Game” on Lynch’s soundtrack and started airing the album rendition at all hours of the day. Aided by a sensual video featuring Isaak and supermodel Helena Christensen, the song found its way into the public consciousness by early ‘91 and helped make Isaak a most unlikely mainstream star in an era where his techniques had little to nothing in common with popular tastes.

Despite its vintage vibes and shared DNA with legends such as Roy Orbison, Chet Baker, and Glen Campbell, Heart Shaped World transcends nostalgia, rockabilly, and throwback tropes. For all the melodrama and sadness at hand, Isaak’s gorgeously transparent singing dives deep underneath emotional surfaces. He mines subtleties that indicate his feelings go beyond heartbreak and anguish, and occasionally suggest frustration, menace, and anger. You can hear it in his quivering falsetto, and the slow and methodical ways he allows delicate whispers to break into shadowy phrasing that crosses over to the darker sides of romance and desire.

That approach bolsters the title track, which suggests calm yet moves on ominous currents — its simmering pace and snare-drum snappiness foreshadowing Isaak raising the volume and urgency during the coda. The southwestern-tinged “Wrong to Love You” plays with similar concepts of hesitation, unease, and discord, Isaak careful never to fully erupt and give anything away. His poised deliveries offer a master class in the art of insinuation and hurt on “Nothing’s Changed,” sent up with a wordless backing chorus and crackling guitar lines straight out of a Memphis blues joint.

Heart Shaped World further boosts its merit via its abundant stylistic variations, from the upbeat country-and-western trot of “I’m Not Waiting” and Spanish acoustic shimmer of the jazz-based ballad “Blue Spanish Sky” to the swinging horn-accompanied grooves of “Don’t Make Me Love You” and desert smokiness of the understated “Kings of the Highway.” On the latter, Isaak comes across as resigned and absolute. His singing and pain worm their way into your soul, and echo akin to the way the music prepares to strike when you least expect.

“Trouble going 'round,” Isaak croons right as the album begins. “Trouble going down.” Damn straight.

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