james dexter has been incredibly prolific over the last few years, with numerous taste-making labels show-casing his ear for refined, dynamic house music. with his first release on the poker flat wax series, the young brit drops three new mission statements from the underground, each unified by a slick production sensibility and irresistible feel for groove. voices is a deep bomb - a shuffling, kinetic rhythm with oceans of space for subtle melodic elements and textures. spread out over eight and a half minutes, this is one to get lost to. point blank’s deep pads and detuned kick drum reference detroits classic house sound, the raw drums and vocal snippets adding a truly basement vibe. area 51 is another atmospheric late night jam, with a bumping rhythm track and subtle pad washes - stripped down and weaponised for the serious dancers.

fantastic triple 7 inch vinyl box + 16 page fanzine “the melodies melozine” on sam shepard / floating points reissue label - including one of current most sought after 7 inches around - a future collectors item!
melodies international are happy to announce the long-awaited reissue of three of the most desired records from the modern soul scene. privately recorded in the detroit area between 73 and 78, and scarcely distributed since, the rare aged in harmony 7-s have become highly sought after and much revered by soul enthusiasts around the world. the unique vibrations emanating from these very special records have resonated at the heart of the melodies label since it s conception, originally prompting the birth of the internationally acclaimed -you re a melody- party and forever inspiring generations of soul collectors to dig that little bit deeper. all originally written, arranged and produced by arnold moore, the six recordings bring together strings, vocals, guitars, synths, horns and drums for the perfect marriage of textures, each track contributing it s own individual energy to the warming aura which surrounds the whole collection. there s something about these compositions that draws you closer to anyone in your vicinity - trust me. after lovingly remastering these gems in conjunction with their creator, melodies are proud to present the masterpieces together as a set for the very first time, accompanied by the second edition of the label s very own melozine, which features an exclusive interview with arnold himself, amongst much, much more…

josh praus has been involved in san francisco’s bay area scene for the last two decades. a prolific collector and player of records, what we tellin’ them marks his first public outing as a producer. as debuts go, it’s pretty darn impressive.
praus has been working hard in the studio over the last three years, creating tracks that draw influence from a wide range of styles and artists. he cites “downtempo, disco, house, italo and techno” as major inspirations, and listeners may hear elements from all of these disparate styles on this assured, confident ep.

chord memory house and wobbly-jawed electro on masked man dj après ski’s classy debut run.

the tiger is back finally on full length again! the second studio album for tiger & woods not only marks a desired return to a specific format, but is also a huge leap forward in their area of expertise: their brand of fun and functional dance music gets broadened by influences from electronica, italo disco and up-tempo house, while keeping a groove that is distinctly linked to what some people refer to as boogie

in the spring of 2015, max d flew west for an extended stay at the mood hut chalet. a week of studio haze with various configurations of music people produced “always on” — presented here in three versions: the club mix, bonus beats, and original mix. plus a special club bonus track, four, for all the tripping djs in the local area and beyond.

after his last ep b.a.b.e on drumpoet community look like aka luca duran is back with a new release on akoya circles. the solid and versatile four-tracker spring and you again shows his capacity to produce tracks that are inspired by the old detroit and chicago house music combined with modern elements. opener spring & you is oriented by the early detroit sample process and reminds us of the beauty and simplicity of this area. a2 arms akimbo the most disco oriented track on this 12inch is a timeless swing weapon. on the b side nothing to fear a heavy disco-house tune that certainly demands a shaking hip. followed by b2 white stairs a late night stomper. unsurprisingly the releases of the young colombian - swiss producer look like are receiving support from heavyweight diggers like laurent garnier, ben ufo, dvs1& dam swindle.

for over five years, all day i dream has been where deep and emotive meet house music. propelled by a community of forward thinking artists drawn around the scion of master curator and sunset/sunrise set specialist, lee burridge. all day i dream formally welcomes lost desert to the label with the release of lingala, a two-track collaborative effort with burridge himself, that also features junior on vocals. lost desert was picked out of obscurity after burridge discovered his music while trekking in a remote area of a long lost land. a fast forged friendship inevitably lead to the studio, and lingala’s the enrapturing sophomore result. the duo’s first project together debuted on lee’s night time imprint, get weird, earlier this year to widespread support. lingala, is a beautifully composed ten-minute sonic journey. built around a mystical lead vocal sung by newcomer junior in his native linagles the raw emotion slowly builds in intensity over propulsive basslines and deep melodic grooves . gorje hewek & izhevski’s interpretation of lingala is a markedly different affair. focussing on musical layers rather than the vocal the duo’s signature spacey atmospheres and minimal rhythmic percussion add extra strings creating uplifting moments that contrast the original’s mood.

seeing as public release is a san francisco label and sister to face, a long-running local party, you could say it was inevitable the label would put out a record that candidly celebrates its hometowns talent, color, character. 415-pr10, whose name is an ode to s.f.s first, emblematic area code, is exactly that: a frenetic survey of some of northern california’s finest producers— and a blueprint of sorts for more similarly-minded and themed eps in the future

based in montreal, ombossa appeared on dvs1 s mistress recordings in 2015. the young and talented french producer is set to have his first ep released in september on fracture, with a remix from silent season s asc. the blinding flare of 61 virgins is an elegant techno trip, an ode that goes deeper and deeper during 8 blissful minutes where you lose your own sense of time. on remix duty, asc skillfully makes it weirder, for a first ep that will please the more daring selectors out there.

despite his artist name and his trademark sound, steve murphy does not come from chicago, but from mira, a little town on the suburban area of venice. steve has been djing since 2001, and in the past years has been rocking almost every club in his region. he is serious and professional behind the decks: playing only with vinyl, he blends electro and house, techno and new wave, acid madness and pop appeal. steve has produced together with die roh an album (-the chasm-) and one e.p (-windy city-) on chiwax, and a solo 10- (-planet earth-) on rawax, these records have quickly gone out of stock and that have been acclaimed by the lovers of the classic warehouse sounds. in 2012 he has started the riviera project and has founded the muscle records label, together with lucretio, dj octopus, caio, madì grein and chevel. the label is a facility to spread what has been called -the sound of brenta-: a raw, nasty, machines powered clash of house and techno. in 2012 he also released -the dove ultimatum- on vae victis records, under the moniker of durant: an unfriendly 12- of distorted electro and funky acid beats produced with die roh and lucretio.

seth troxlers play it say it label looks to sean miller for its next essential bit of dance floor dynamite. this 11th firing release on the label features two killer cuts from the canadian producer. miller has been turning out taste making tracks on a consistent basis for a decade now. releasing on mobilee, area remote and ovum he is no stranger to the best labels out there and this latest missive is another offering that will keep djs and dancers happy all summer long and beyond. the momentous a side ‘tiger spirit it’ is ten tantalising minutes of deep and seductive house music. clever drum fills, poised synth stabs and vocal coos all add oil to the groove as playful kicks punch out an infectious pattern below. this is proving to be one of key tracks in seth’s tracks this summer: ‘it’s driving the crowds wild’. ‘together’ is less physical but certainly more emotional offering. playing out perfectly effortlessly, it has swirling pads and trilling chords adding some sensuous summer sunshine to the vibe fuelled house drums below. troxler has once again unearthed a brilliant release from a talented producer right at the top of his game.

nice price deal !!! slamming tribal house

full cover limited vinyl. qnd philosophy second release sees label’s mastermind marco dionigi veering to a more clubby galaxy of sounds. this new ep spectrum is a solid mix of spacey arpeggiator guitars, funky bass lines and electro disco bleeps that only dionigi can make… follow the space ship!

liam blackburn s transformative night of visions lp as ancestral voices forged a bold new sonic identity for an influential figure on the electronic music scene. from his groundbreaking work as indigo and onto the success of akkord s hybrid electronic melting pot (with synkro), the quest for forward movement is intrinsic to everything liam produces. to further celebrate the night of visions lp release, we asked some of our favourite producers to reconstruct some of night of visions highlights in their own style. each remixer chose their own track from night of visions to work with. the first name on our remix list was swedish producer and northern electronics label head - abdulla rashim. choosing invocations , his remix focuses on the hypnotic power of the original, turning the tune into a golden loop with subtle kick drum stabs, sweeping percussion and a dangling tension that hangs through the entire 7.33 minutes. asc & sam kdc chose feathered serpent and using just touches of the original tune have masterfully built an all new backbone that demonstrates clearly the ability of the grey area sound to work at 2 different tempo s and weld together with straight techno.

born in sao paulo to a deeply religious family, laercio has been around music all his life - amidst the challenges of daily life, his adventist parents would whip out all sorts of instruments whenever the situation would allow it, introducing a young and curious mind to a wide range of musical expressions. it should come as no surprise, then, that our hero quickly felt at home with notes and bars, choosing the flute as his first weapon of choice which he eagerly studied from the age of seven. even later non-musical career choices always reflected an infatuation with the world of sounds, like his stint as a capoeira teacher, combining martial arts, acrobatics and dance. with such a multi-faceted background in music, the inevitable tinkering with synthesizers and other means of electronic sound generation was rather a question of time than one of ambition, and sure enough we find laercio roaming the parties of the mid-noughties, absorbing the unique melange of styles and scales that inform club culture to this day. in stark contrast to most other rave inductees at the time, however, he never wanted to become a dj: his area of expertise is the performance, not the collecting and curating of other people s releases, and it shows in the unusual fact that laercio has held club residencies as a live electronic musician in venues like sao paulo s the edge without ever so much as touching a record. in these release l_cio has worked with d.o.c. mastermind gui boratto. and the result is music for the dancefloor.

on july 8th bodytonic music return with their third release of 2016, following on from the recent manzana kicks & ocho (featuring contributions from the likes of mr fingers and metro area s darshan jesrani) with the long awaited return of adultrock, back with a 3 track ep of moroder esque,melodic, hazy dancefloor cuts. the title track, push and pull, features his vocal debut over arpeggios, crisp rhythms and a rolling, rumbling bassline. rounding out the ep is the peaktime monster ok, followed by the mechanical swing of naoko. so far its getting support from the likes of severino, anthony naples, nialler9 & more

raw raw records presents 2nd vinyl release from savas pascalidis

birdsmakingmachine are back on track and continuing their series in style with bmm 007. kicking off things on a1, at 124 bpm, “the draft” is a joyful number that bursts with relentless energy while managing to fuse sharp metallic drum patterns with juggling ambient hooks. the more dancefloor-oriented track is nevertheless found on a2. as the title suggests, “area 52” is quite literally a journey through the unknown and mysterious, a metaphor for the deep minimal house amazon, a track that stands out with an extra subby bassline, swinging hihats and those ever-so-warm sequenced analog pads in the background. flip the record over and you find yourself with two slightly more industrial affairs, “the voice of kudha” on b1 offering a breakier alternative than it’s predecessors and “zagonity”, on b2, galloping its way to close off the record with shuffling vocal hits and an amalgamation of bouncing hats and snares.

that night, we answered a regular call, something about crazy loud noises coming out from a basement. while driving to the area all i could think when i first heard the bass stomping was: “man, whatever, this doesn t even sound like music to me.” and we were at least a 100 meter away from the source of the sound. when we got there, after knocking several times on the door, we decided we had more than enough probable causes to bust in. after a warning, we kicked the door open. what we saw inside was a five feet tall woman jumping around in that cacophony. we screamed and she ignored us, my colleague then panicked and shot her with his taser several times – she then simply pulled the probes out of her body shouting moments moments – and continued to jump around..

admaiora is proud to announce another release. no one other than arado makes his debut on our label with even if u have ep. hailing from düsseldorf, arado made his strong entrance in the music scene back in 2010 with ‘uganda express’ (with den ishu): since than hes been loco dices protégé for a long time, with several appareances on desolat, area remote and snatch! to name a few. he also had some very successful collaborations with italian marco faraone, which were released on moon harbour and etruria beat too.

storming into our fifth release from the dirty shores of new jersey, green village is proud to present village elders 001, a compilation ep featuring new material from artists who have already flown the flag for gv. the a-side is held down by the plan b duo of dj spider and dakini9, purveyors of the metro area s dirtiest and deepest house sounds. spider gets toxic a second time,following his 2013 instruction drop with toxic trace 2, a thickly layered deep house cut whose seedy percussion underbelly contrasts vividly with the more traditional deep house pads that accompany it. dakini9 s lost paradise is dark and mysterious like its title, the hats, trumpets, and vocals emerging in tangled webs of dub effects, a strong follow-up to her dope ep for the label. disaroen, a duo from toronto, half of which previously appeared on gv, turns in the most barren of the four tracks, serious doorman, heads-down techno that crackles to life halfway in and an auspicious debut for a promising new group. last is nj heavyweight nicuri, a rising star whose ripples of time closes the ep in his signature searching, melodic style.

after inaugurating the ‘opera’ sub-series of his outis music label with the sublime omonimo double lp this april, dino sabatini has invited some choice allies to help define the vocabulary and expand the vision of the new imprint. the aforementioned album, which wove together sabatini’s atmospheric conjuring skill with the piano flourishes of antonello salis, already exhibits the labels commitment to dismantling the either-or logic of contemporary genres by successfully merging a variety of supposedly irreconcilable styles, talents, and worldviews (e.g. both mythological and the technological perspectives). the follow-up ep, concentrica, draws on the material from omonimo and delivers it into the hands of additional remixers in order to continue the outis opera voyage.

raffaello & palermo is the union of two friends and old lph brothers, damon palermo, aka magic touch, and raphae&#776,,l valensi, aka laura ingalls. palermos an angeleno who came up in the bay area scene of the mid-aughts and valensis a frenchman dwelling in shanghai, perhaps best known for his work as the horses, a duo comprised of him and cle&#769,,ment pony. so there s the backstory. what s actually on this slab of wax, though? four chunky anthems that nimbly weave ravey mayhem into filter house and disco edits, sometimes touching on almost psychedelic trance-like tropes. if you dont hear one of these out every weekend night this summer, you re going to the wrong parties

medical records presents the second release in our transfusions 12- singles series. not too far from medical s headquarters in seattle, resides josh rose aka derivatives in vancouver, bc. known for intense live hardware sets, derivatives has been making waves in the pacific northwest playing alongside multiple notable producers who have toured the area. transfusions presents the first release by derivatives containing 4 distinct and uncompromising tracks that could be loosely associated with minimal techno but with a more complex and certainly darker edge. the tracks were recorded late 2015 in vancouver. for fans of labels such as token, mote-evolver, and avian, you should dive in. presented on classic 160gram black vinyl in our transfusions 12- sleeve. mastered by martin bowes at the cage studios, uk.

those familiar with the world of dub disco and modern balearica should know all about layne fox, a san francisco-based producer who has released some killer records over the last decade as part of noted collective 40 thieves. the bay area ensemble has been responsible for some killer records, including gems on rong music and leng, who released their expansive debut album the sky is yours back in 2014. now, fox has decided to go it alone for an outing on magic feet that marks his first solo outing since 2005 s move me under the tuffy alias. its something of a gem, too, effortlessly combining many of his familiar influences with nods towards druggy italo-disco and horizontal pop.

the next release on lag is from bay area to berlin transplant jamaica suk. the kontort ep (lag006) is another 3 cut record with all original music. the title track kontort is a composition with the big room in mind with thunderous kicks and bass with intricate panning and dub inflections. holographic is a another big room techno workout with a deliciously infectious piano line which allows the producers personality to shine through. depth between waves is a dub techno roller. this track shows restraint till the break then re-emerges with a synth sound that pushes the groove forward in a simple yet undeniable manner.

the new release from help presents works from various help-releated artists. another release from the arhus-imprint that doesn’t directly state club-proof, but still, this one wouldn t mind having a spin or two by your local dance pusher.the opening track is by central, a ripe house tune with both melodies and good-vibes - probably the closest this young man has come to making an anthem. next up is the four piece group maizena with an ambiguous rhythmical ambient-house jam from the area of denmark with the least rainfall. on the b-side you’ll find a raw and to the point recording of dj sports and c.k joining ph 1 in his throwback techno-studio in the suburbs of arhus. next up is the long awaited debut from manmade deejay, who has been cooking a floating rhythm jam for this 5 course meal of modern danish cuisine. last but not least amsterdam-based kaap joined central on a fine day at rubber studios to create this dreamy and galloping ride. all in all this genuine piece of wax is filled with local devotion and love from the help-crew. thanks for the support!

club lonely s first 12 inch coming from san francisco drum machine freak vin sol. vinyl only wild chicago trax for club destruction. west coast producer and clone affiliate vin sol has been steadily banging the box creating his twisted takes on house, techno and whatever weird ass grey area that exists between the two. his sound is uncompromising, carefully crafted trax for the dance floor hinging on raw and stripped back grooves with relentless movement. this sentiment is also expertly conveyed in his dj sets and mixes.with his production getting support from both techno and house heavy hitters like marcel dettmann, larry heard, seth troxler, richie hawtin, len faki, scuba, joey anderson and boddika.

limited edition of 300 copies with unique artwork made by russian street artist (grisha), which were carefully adapted to sleeve design by mikhail myasoedov. the vinyl lp contains 4 selected tracks from the full 8-track album.
after 9 years of silence, here’s the 11th album from the unclassifiable brussels-based duo. with their usual tamping drums (just mention the two parts of “the decision to exist” or “same area”, led by a ferocious 808), a regular bass guitar hammering, some bare minimum poor voices, threatened violins, skinbound flute and oboe here and there, a distorted furious piano everywhere and finally some tiny cautious optimism (the extra-human guitar in “enough slaps”), the whole is carefully assembled in order to obtain an accurate picture of life on earth. “pain” and “pleasure” are different aspects of the same mental construction.

stamp records delve into the past for their next release, giving a new lease of life to one of swayzak s least characteristic and most sought-after tracks. swayzak are true heroes of the uk underground, having clocked numerous seminal releases in the late 90 s and early 00 s straddling the grey area between house and techno. disco dub plate volume 2 - originally out in 2000 - was an obvious anomaly in the duo s discography, that has managed to forge a path of its own amongst a completely different crowd to swayzak s usual disciples. one cut from that ep, stronger love , is a carefully arranged marriage between a certain pair of quintessential aor darlings and the soul voice of the 80 s. can we be more specific? no can do...it shouldn t really work, but somehow it does! it s been caned by many a balearic dj over the years, including mark seven who included it in his mythical originals compilation, where it holds its ground amongst other balearic heavyweights. as an added bonus for this 2016 edition we re treated to two brand new mixes ! frank agrario teases in bits of the original making for his chunkier version that is aimed squarely at the dancefloor, while brun (1/2 of swayzak) delivers a bang up-to-date dub that keeps its elements to the bare minimum, building into a deep hypnotic house chugger.

siren sind darshan jesrani (metro area, startree) und dennis kane (disques sinthomme, ghost town). ihre erste recording sessions fingen im winter 2013 an, aber die anfänge ihrer zusammenarbeit reichen zurück zu ihren gemeinsamen residencies im berühmten new yorker hot-spot apt und anderen parties, die sie organisierten. nach dem mitreißendem und euphorischen a/way mit mr. reed, im herbst 15 veröffentlicht, klingt ihre dritte maxi paradise sowohl eindringlich, als auch recht kolossal und treibend. paradise kommt mit einem zugleich fesselnden, düsteren und mechanischen late-night techno dub von gavin russom (black meteoric star, dfa), und als digital bonus bekommt die maxi eine hagere, futuristische, drum machine-geleitete 5-uhr-morgens-in-new york-mäßige reinterpretation von siren.

legendary techno innovator neil landstrumm returns to the don t label !
limited copies
legendary techno innovator neil landstrumm returns to the don’t label with 5 tracks of outside the box‚ dance floor pummelers, all boasting an unashamedly wild edge. these tracks have been doing the damage as a part of his live shows that he constantly tours around the world. with game changing albums and 12”s on tresor, planet mu and his own scandinavia, neil is one of the old skool who’s still here today evolving and mutating his sound, winning new fans and drawing influence from sheffield bleep, grime, old skool uk hardcore and almost every area of the uk’s rich electronic music heritage. neil still enjoys ruffling a few feathers and his latest release for don’t fits perfectly with the label’s uncompromising agenda “to release music by a whole host of un-likeminded producers that pushes further than the accepted norm-…

vinyl only
echoes of paradise is the first collaboration ep on lmd. it sees long time lmd affiliate mikael stavöstrand team up with lmd s very own shaun soomro to create something truly special. the ep was a long time in the making with full use of their studios and no holds barred. street code symphony (w10) opens the ep and is dedicated to the w10 area of london namely ladbroke grove, it s past and present musical institutions - dub vendor, honest jon s, notting hill carnival. paradise lost is a open thought, is paradise a place or is it in our imagination.

james duncan - producer of a flawless string of ep s for labels such as real soon and his own le systeme imprint, horns man for metro area, morgan geist and lem springsteen (mood ii swing) and currently on trumpet duties for sal principato (liquid liquid) - invites us to join him on a whistle stop tour through some of the subway stations in his neighbourhood for the first in a series of “brooklyn beats”.

padez is a producer from a town near mannheim which meant growing up fully submersed into the vibrant electronic music movement of mannheim and frankfurt area, but his influences grow roots deeper into the golden age of hip-hop, as well as jazz, soul, funk etc… he started producing in 2009, sharing music just in between a circle of friends, and it was not until 2013 that he had his first digital release out on basti grub’s hoehenregler records. in the meantime he took the chance to dive deeper into the sound with his friends sedee. releases on valioso recordings and medeia records among others can be expected as a result of this collaboration. the love reloaded ep on kanzyanis jesus loved you label is his first vinyl release and a homage to the music he is essentially influenced by. the ep features 3 intrinsically groovy tracks, permeated with heavy baselines and driven by upbeat, slightly broken rhythm patterns, oozing a sublime soulful vibe at the same time. truly a dance-floor delight!

this time we dive into lo-fi area, introducing precipitation, vancouver based artist who delivers 4 cuts of sweet sounding sound sculptures, recorded live in all-or-nothing, single take approach with minimalistic setup, showing real commitment and heart for the less is more process, and a lot of feel for handling harmonies, melodies and moods. all music written and produced by zefan sramek 2015. dedicated to j.l.

we had only one ep in 2015 but we will do better in the future. here we have the 006 cat number from polen made by teluric from bucharest. house on one side, dub on the other. artwork by roxana benea. 180g.

the ronda’s are various motorways that cross the condal city from it’s opposing corners, just as it’s bell way counterparts, this one’s take you into many different perspectives of the metropolitan area, locations where there’s a park full of green and sun every day, are also tunnels full of pollution, machines and constant darkness. drive carefully

le loup prowls a lot by night with his bougs, in château d eau area or in some other parisian african districts. the 2 original tracks seek to express the moods of those meanderings in the sweaty clubs and dark bars, where the players and pimps order champagne magnum bottles and dance collé serré against the walls with some hot chicks. forget the eiffel tower and the champs elysées: this is the real underground side of paris. dewalta was just back from an us tour when he started to work on the champagne magnum remix. but one remix was definitely not enough compared to all the inspiration he had absorbed during his travel. he finally offered us 2 champagne magnum remixes: one filled in with the soul of lake michigan, and the other chilled by the cold wind of illinois. 4 tracks for dance, sweat and feed your soul.

after a successful debut last year, london-based label welfare returns with its second release. once again, music comes courtesy of the label’s owners and is aimed at the dance-floor. zigzagging the grey area between house and techno, hypnotic and relenting moments offered by the turbine hall and anicca are offset by more melodic and experimental sounds of narcopaloma and a is for atom.

ltd warehouse found! support by josh wink, nick curly, 2000andone, dubfire, matthias tanzmann, raresh, davide squillace, nekes and johnny d... the new jewel from mannheim, ray okpara finally celebrates after his great records on oslo, drumpoet and area remote his debut on cecille records. ray okpara belongs, together with nick curly and johnny d., to the rajo crew. hes an inherent part of the mannheim house scene. what you get is a strong three tracker with soul, heart and energy, a great constellation for showing up rays skills and style. dear friends and music lovers, check your case for the new talent! hope you enjoy...

battle of the beats ep, a musical journey near the sea. nick anthony strikes again. as usual, he gives us a full analog work. a vintage sound, designed with a modern mind. after two years of silence, rowtag records the label * born from fire* is back an

ltd 2016 repress !! helsinki based common labour gives birth to its second offering on this limited vinyl only release. continuing in the same vein of quality twisted deep house, potholes unravels the mahla ep. the title track mahla gets the juices flowing with a hypnotic deep house groover. serenades head honcho roberto rodriguez takes the remix reins and works mahla into a more percussive and refined interpretation. its an honour having him on the common labour imprint. on the flip side, gambler sleazes off into b-grade italo disco spaghetti western territory. a possible soundtrack to a horror flick with kenny rogers stumbling into a truckers rest area after a messy night out. rounding off the ep, spoekhus picks up the pace and mood giving the handbag circle some ammo to shuffle their stilettos too. cementing another polished offering from this artisan label.

on november 13th, pnn records will release the debut album of its most enigmatic artist myr. diamondbacks make wonderful pets is more than just a strange name, it nine tracks represent an exciting evolution in myr.s trajectory as an artist. following his debut ep nobody knows avalon myr. seems to have dug deep and discovered another level to his sound. each of the tracks on the record are confidently offbeat and precisely composed.a little-bitty bowl (with b.hotton), mixes thunder sound-effects with glitchy synth bleeps, layering them above darker tones which build to a perfect storm in the middle. this 10 minute track fails to get boring and is representative of the album as a whole. myr.s ability to carry off strange hybrids is what makes his music unique. from the ghostly warbles of i think i hear them coming to the sunnier sounds of eleanor, myr.s disregard for the norm has lead to an exceptional record that surprises at every turn.

straight out of the ukraine comes io (mulen) aka aleksandr voznichenko, a man whose back catalogue includes releases on labels such as rejected, eklectisch and area remote to name but a few. now he links up with one of paris’ premier labels, run by one of paris’ premier crews – apollonia. with one solid track and a classy remix from danish young gun malin génie, this is another surefire winner from apollonia. ‘to the unknown’ kicks things off with a steady build up. shrouded in a hazy mist it draws you to its understated groove, io turns in a very considered production that evolves at a slow yet utterly gripping pace. the energy levels rise like the tide of the ocean, engulfing you before you know it. io’s dexterity and cunning ability to keep the listener engaged manifests itself here, bomb! on the flip side, malin genie steps in to give ‘to the unknown’ a new lick of paint and what we get is a jazzy, minimal rework with a jaunty skip in its step and a wicked bassline.

sold out! what happens when scales and patterns of contradicting emotional imprints combine? when light and darkness, bitter and sweet, frost and blaze collide? those are the questions that johannes heil chooses to address on his upcoming album, opening up a vast grey-scaled area for the listener to traverse with techno as a blindfold. <black light> sees the german techno mainstay return to the album format for an intimate ten track odyssey of close-curtained introspection. heil chooses the words of fellow futurist nikola tesla to set the stage of the black light story: >black is the true face of light, only we do not see this<. track names are dropped in favor of a chronology of scenes, better adapted to the seemingly polar opposition of the forces that the figure and cocoon regular conjures throughout the album. everything that we perceive is processed and set into relation with past memories, digested emotions and iron-branded impressions. battling the current, johannes heil chooses to challenge certitudes by forcing us out of our comfort zones into the absence of light. if the pictures painted on >black light< are dark, they are also far from monochromatic. the machine-driven sonic prism acts both as the heavy cloud and the burst of light that shoots through to guide us. its the aggressor and the victim, the clenched teeth and the jubilant, the paranoia and the sanity of the mind. its pure heads-down driving techno with volumes of grandiose. provoking our senses, extending his art onto our personal canvases, the exile boss gives the listener the freedom to interpret the emotional context of each piece, to write the scripts of the individual scenes. the impression that >black light< leaves upon first listen testifies that 20 years down the road, johannes heil shows no sign of slowing down.

the idea that france once had a genius and let him go to california where he was more welcome and appreciated than in paris is, in the digital area, a trivial issue. every single web entrepreneur heads towards the silicon valley to develop his ideas. during the 70’s, this was less ordinary. back then, it was another area, music, which witnessed the departure of a very talented guy for the united states, a country that quickly understood he was a star. marc cerrone, a trained drummer and disco phenomenon who sold more albums than many other artists put together, saw his career magnified by america but also slightly twisted by france which quickly reduced him to a style, disco music, without trying to understand who he was and how relevant his talent was. his path went through two phases, two complementary moves.

debut full length from this quirky french pair after a couple of very impressive singles. we are pleased to hear antinote continuing to delve the of experimental pop electronics area. excellent stuff! tip!