over the past few years orchestral instrumental music from outside the classical establishment has become huge, and neil leiter and margaret hermant of the belgian echo collective have witnessed the evolution and extraordinary rise of this movement right up close. they ve worked with some of the most important players, including stars of the lid, dustin o’halloran and adam wiltze’s a winged victory for the sullen and o’halloran’s solo projects, as well as jóhann jóhannsson. and though the echo collective members themselves very much do come from within the classical music establishment, they don t care which side of the fence they are seen to be on.

for house heads of a certain persuasion, dj duke is a name that resonates for all the right reasons. the u.s. veteran has been responsible for some of the 90’s most seminal moments, chiefly through tracks such as 12 minutes to do it (under his pleasure dome alias), party time and the prosumer-endorsed deep house classic, heard. he returns here courtesy of emerging imprint solo werks, who host his latest ep, green pastures. a momentous house-led workout, it compounds duke’s reputation as a producer of considerable panache while also acting as an auspicious start to life for the dublin based label. the title track is a grainy, old-school cut that bears all the hallmarks of a dusty analogue-jam and harks back to the days of vintage chicago with the sort of zest you’d expect from a man of duke’s credentials. the other original, skyscapes, is packed to the brim with industrial motifs and is characterised by the sort of effortlessly catchy baseline with which duke has made his name. mysterious and ethereal, it takes the listener on an uncompromising and throughly captivating house journey from the off. on the flip side, we have two stunning remixes, the first of which arrives from new jersey don, ruben candelario aka nicuri. a long-time favourite of nyc-based producers a la joey anderson, nicuri turns green pastures into a dreamy, acid-led space, adding layers of suspense and a glittering vocal intto the mix as he goes. last but not least are dublin-based producers slowburn, who serve up a stunning version of skyscapes. a carefully construed voyage into the deep, it caps off a fine ep with some aplomb.

caul is the new album from last harbour. based in the northern english city of manchester, last harbour play music with a dark, gothic heart yet their songs are always beautiful and transcendent. after working with producer richard formby (wild beasts, spacemen 3, ghostpoet) on two previous albums, the band took time out after touring to build their own studio in 2013. this new album was recorded in that self-created space over a year between 2013-4 and bears testament to a patient and detailed recording process that allowed time for experimentation and careful arrangement.
the vinyl lp includes a code for free download of the full album.

new york native shawn o’sullivan returns to avian as 400ppm with debut lp, ‘fit for purpose’.
as an artist, o’sullivan has long since explored the juncture between hard-hitting, functional dance floor material and more lofty, conceptual work. from a purely structural standpoint, the artist’s return to avian bears all the hallmarks of previous output under the alias, utilising the same palette found on early ep’s for guy brewer’s label. stripped back and driven, the music marries caustic drum-machine polyrhythms with warping, pitch bent leads and characteristically atmospheric use of reverb. it’s a decidedly dance floor offering, but the music comes refracted through o’sullivan’s own lens, with plenty of elegant references to a career spent exploring much of the techno genre’s periphery, from noise to new wave. crushed vox bubble up from beneath wrought-iron percussion and the artist takes time to step away from high energy 4×4 workouts to explore more complex rhythmic structures and harsh, low tempo grooves.

with the masters at work name under contract elsewhere at the peak of their career, kenny dope and louie vega had little choice but to work under other names for their strictly rhythm projects. hardrive became popular, largely thanks to the iconic ‘deep inside’ whose vocal hook (from, barbara tucker’s ‘beautiful people’) and bass line helped made the track become one of house music‘s most memorable hits. “sometimes a record just manages to capture and distill the true essence of what this is all about and deep inside is one such record, it bears all the hallmarks of golden era masters at work, all the signposts of what was happening in nyc s clubs in the early to mid 90 s were there within it s grooves. you know a record is good when it s still being, quite literally, hammered nearly 25 years later”. it’s no surprise even kanye west would sample this classic to make another chart topping track! this one s a straight up essential for any self-respecting house music aficionado. availble for the first time as a 7”. original mix on the a, dub on the flip. you know what to do!

flying circus music, returns with its second release, this time rocking the deep, extended, dramatic house vibes of radio slaves interpretations of humates love stimulation. the new-berliner matt edwards took his popularity from underground to overground, and right back round again. the world-travelling dj founded his solid, big room production style while his infamous bootleg and remix work was a mainstay of the uk electronic scene. now, with the strength of his rekids label and his unmistakable production approach, he re-works this early classic of german techno/trance élove stimulation into two remarkable slow burning epics. the >full length vox remix< builds from very opening bars, carefully combining classic house sensibilities with a totally free and organic, long flowing arrangement. at over 15 minutes, its a heavy weight tool for those late, hedonistic hours! carrying on the blissed out theme, weare also treated to a panorama garage remix, that bears a more raw, jacking house vibe, with its straight up beats and deeply-swung chord stabs. radio slave is a master at keeping things ear-tinglingly stripped, yet still filling the room with power, energy and tension. these two remixes certainly pay their dues to classic days gone by, but they also stand out as superb examples of the modern state of house. judging by this release its still as strong as it ever was!!

without a doubt, chicago native huge hephner has garnered quite the reputation as an international playboy - pimpin and whorin his way into the electronic music worlds stream of consciousness. however, behind the tough guy persona is a highly underrated producer with an unbridled passion for music and love of the analog gear he uses to produce such increasingly in-demand sounds. it is this perversion that lends meaning to the title of his debut album, nymphotech, released on none other than the label that helped launch his career, siteholder records. unflinching in its house vibe, yet relentless in its dance floor attack, nymphotech is a highly impressive debut album by a producer who continues to up his game with each successive release. hephner kicks off part one of a two-part vinyl album sampler with the chugging acid burner sharing the same title as the album. nothing less than 4 a.m. packed club material, to play nympotech at any other time would be a failure to recognize this bombs full potential. jack n coke is undoubtedly huges nod to his hometowns house legacy, showcasing a flirtatious bass line that screams funk in all caps. wheres the acid? fans of hephner might ask. leave that up to freaky $ean da don, featuring the vocal debut of huges body guard and reputed hitman who bears the same name as the tracks title. if nymphotech is any indication of whats to come from mr. hephner, we can only hope huge will manage to stay out of jail long enough to produce a follow-up