make believe disco, the energetic younger sibling in the sleazybeats family of labels, continues to provide quality modern club jams ! this time they welcome ouvrijster to the make believe disco fold. ouvrijster might be dutch for old spinster , but we re not dealing with some old hag with edm aspirations here. a fresh face from amsterdam s bustling scene is behind the moniker, making his debut on the label with a three-track affair that ticks all the right boxes: sample-heavy disco gear, dusty basement beatdown and some proper mahogany vibes make for a killer ep.

the industry of dance music can be as soul-crushing as any other. those thrills and spills of late, loud nights come with a best-before expiry date, after which even the most seasoned selector-producer-scenemaker begins to wrinkle their nose. to have experienced it all over 15+ years and seek to see it unfold again through fresh eyes, what sort of lunatic would willingly put themselves through that? v would. so its a new character, but who was the mysterious v in a past life? make your own conclusions. a little digging will lead you toward the origin story, but sometimes the pleasure comes from the unknowing. opt to enjoy the silence. silence, however, is not the focal point for v. in fact, this new form is a way to discard baggage and revitalise the process of music making.

the uks best kept secret chocky returns to dessous recordings after the success of his first outing, the well received self knowledge ep. here we see the talented dj / producer drop four tracks via the playtime ep - yet more sublime house music for steve bugs imprint. ‘double dip is a chunky, stripped down vibe, reduced the vitals that will slay dancefloors - firing percussion over a shuffling groove and a cut-up vocal reminiscent of pepe bradock. ‘organism is a deep affair - spacy pads provide the counterbalance to the tough drum track, softening the edges but keeping the vibe high. ‘soul alive taps into chockys clear appreciation for the 90s, with a strong vocal, atmospheric strings and a loose yet crispy beat. ‘playtime (dub) brings the whole ep home with yet another stormer - beginning as a driving basement jam but then introducing an unexpected piano riff that flips the script and takes things in a welcome jazzy direction.

future music from new kanada s frontman adam marshall. sometimes its hard to categorize certain tracks and these ones are from outa space. it reminds me a lot of the time when we all discovered the first playhouse records from isolee, losoul and soylent green. magic moments which at first listen maybe not seem to work on the dancefloor because they are too challenging, but if you find the right moment they gonna work wonder…tip!

vocal trance? yes. but probably not as you would imagine. here is friday dunard from cologne.

3byk debuts with a release of a strong and uncompromising techno.
a1 track is a 12 min passage through distorted acid lines and a heavy bass groove
b1 has a powerful flow and a heavy but funky rhythm
b2 is a drunk synth over a strong drum pattern

180 gram brazilian polysom re-issue of the polydor original.
one of the hardest rocking albums ever cut by os mutantes – a record that’s got a slightly ironic take on rock and roll styles of the time – still performed with the sense of drama and humor that always made the band so great! rita lee and arnaldo baptista are still in the group at this point, and they’re working amidst a heavy wave of guitars that echo out with a bit of keyboards and some rhythms that are chunky enough to almost be called funky at times, but sweet and dreamy at others – all produced with a flanged-out finish that makes the whole thing sound great!

an incredible album from lo borges one of the best singer/songwriters on the brazilian scene of the 70s! borges first burst into the spotlight for his work on the club da esquina album by milton nascimento and his work as part of miltons corner club really helped shape the style of the more famous singer. yet borges is almost an equally great talent on his own with a soaring, soulful approach that’s every bit as great as the best nascimento material from the period and recorded in a wonderfully similar spirit! the sound here is completely sublime right from the start music that moves us, even if we can t understand the language of the lyrics like some of the best work by caetano veloso and gilberto gil. there’s maybe a bit more guitar than on some of the milton nascimento work of the period but used in a fuzzy way that slides in nicely with some of the jazzy phrasing of the instrumentation which is delivered with help from key contemporaries who include beto guedes, nelson angelo, toninho horta, and tenorio jr. the songwriting is amazing and titles include cancao postal, voce fica melhor assim, nao foi nada, calibre, faca seu jogo, toda essa agua,pensa voce, como o machando, and aos baroes.

cachai limited releases # 3, 4 & 5 all bundled up for one special price!

much may have changed over a two-decade period, but drumcode s commitment to releasing the scene s most cutting-edge and refined techno remains resolute. 2017 has already seen releases from adam beyer vs pig&dan, alan fitzpatrick, ilario alicante, julian jeweil, as well as a debut album from layton giordani. the label continues push forwards, bringing fail-safe, club-ready music to the techno community. perennial pushers of the techno envelope, dense & pika are renowned for their standout studio output that seems to constantly conjure up a particularly unique take on their distinct sound, d&p have rather outdone themselves in 2017. kicking off the year with a selection of back catalogue remixes from the likes of danny daze, scuba, slam and yotam avni that illustrated the high esteem in which d&p are held by their peers right across the spectrum, from heritage acts to current headliners and cutting edge talent, the duo have gone on to drop bomb after bomb after bomb. their universally lauded remix of tiga s louder than a bomb was the first of a run of chart topping cuts, with a remix of me & her s wild rage on jamie jones hottrax imprint and their own casino single both challenging the norm of what techno sounds like in the here and now. cooked up with a more melodic vibe and fusing elements of house and techno, dense & pika s latest outing on drumcode offers something different compared to their previous work. there is still that vintage feel to each of the tracks with analogue sounds and arrangements born and developed from experimental studio jams. indeed, suki heavily utilizes the distinct harmonic tones of the dave smith prophet 8 keyboard. while little sun - a staple of d&p performances over the last three months - delivers a more classic drumcode sound. lanky closes out the release with an infectious slab of wonderfully wonked-out raw funk

after solemnly closing out the spc-series in 2016, jeroen search hands in his second ep of the year for figure. carrying his signature style, these tunes embody the live-recording feel he is known for, perfectly executed and arranged in clean-cut layers. both tracks on the a-side feature big and beefy beats, their generous sub-range creating ample space for the juxtaposing elements to effectively slice through, whether it be the penetrating bleeps of deduced or the piercing rides on interval. things get bumpy on the flip when the rugged but undeniable groove of steady pulse firmly stands its ground against repeated onslaughts of flailing percussion. the jolty rhythms and tinkling loops of endless circles may seem like it being the odd one out, but unexpectedly merge into an intricate mesh of sounds, making for a most memorable closer to this jam-packed ep.

who is der opium queen? a royalty in the locality, but unknown to the masses, makes a wave to everyone for the first time with his 12” “in the clouds”. here you can find hot and humid tracks coming straight from the tschungle, then chopped and transported straight to the turntable.

there are tracks that only deploy their full meaning when pumping through the speakers of a dark club. to give shelter to the latter, hivern kick starts a new series of vinyl-only splits dedicated to club-ready cuts by artists in our orbit. to launch the series, we count with both a well-known hivern stalwart and a new addition to the label. side a is dedicated to cel avall , a track that has been hidden in marc pinol s vaults for way too many years. with it s slow pace and direct but hypnotic feel, it sounds as if one of the pioneers of the first wave of chicago house had spent a night dancing to danielle baldelli at the cosmic club. in the b-side, aurora 2 , by norwegian producer charlotte bendiks, also has something of the rawness and minimalism of the first chicago sound. a perpetually fresh energy that, combined with her nonchalant vocal phrasings, provides the track with her distinctive blend of darkness, sensuality and cheekiness. the visual concept of the series has been developed by london based design studio dr.me

byron s ballads is a dance treat on the housey-ish vibe showing ceephax s melodic skills in full flow. citylink is a smooth house/disco track ideal for cruising the ocean highways and downtown boulevards. sneaker is a poundy 303 classic with an emotional melody which is simultaneously uplifting and melancholy. haliphax is based on ceephax s earlier -friend track- but has a nice camelot chord arrangement and disco finale that takes it to medieval heights. the hague is a simple upbeat house track with wintery strings and distant pianos over a throbby bassline.

at its core, organn is a record about love and duality. taking inspiration from isidore-lucien ducasse’s poem les chants de maldoror, the record is antagonistic yet often drops its temper to reveal blistered beauty within the chaos. such are the contradictory elements within the compositions themselves: widescreen claustrophobia, glimmering sludge, piercing vhs ambience. visuals come courtesy of french mixed-media artist, thomas hauser. hauser’s imagery similarly evokes retrograde surrealism and further insists on a narrative at work here, with obscured characters playing out alongside mantric piano, filmic vox and hyperspeed jungle.

does this need an explanation? my two favourite dj sides from stark reality catalog, for say brother i fixed the eq and made it a bit more club friendly also editing the crazy tripped out ending out which maybe controversial but always freaked the dance floor out so i cut that out to gain some extra volume and bass. on the flip we got bustin out of doors which has always been a favourite warm-up record again without the random ending. to make it extra cute i used the o.g hoagy carmichael’s music shop illustration. 500 only, no repress.

limited 2017 repress !! / only 1 per customer
new andres 12inch debut on his own label la vida. andres is one that really needs no introduction, but for those unfamiliar here it is: andres, aka dj dez, is one of detroits unsung heros of underground music. since the late 90s andres has built up an extremely respectable catalog of that blurs the boundaries between genres, most notably his records on kdj and mahogani music. not to forget, dj dez is also slum villages dj, has recorded many hip hop instrumental on hipnotech records, and his hand is on countless other detroit records. definitely one of the most consistent producers we’ve got here whose music can be summed up in one word: quality!

a strong selection of remixes for dj emersons latest album >repetitive music<. johannes heil strips things down and delievers a monotone monster of a track with a heavy and dark kickdrum. yan cook puts the broken beats of >anonymous< straight and transfers it into a throbbing dark and heavy track. markus suckut aka tales of the machines is having one of his most succesful years ever with the release of his album and the uprise of his exile label. this track really shows what his t.o.t.m. moniker is all about. nothing but pure unadulterated techno in the most underground sense. oliver deutschmann delievers a groove driven version of >string theory< great rolling tune with a perfect sound and build-up.

dusk & dawn is private agenda s most conceptual work to date. sat at a grand piano, the pair composed two nocturnes over the course of twelve moonlit hours, chronicling the allure and mystique of the night. building on an emotive pop foundation, developed over releases on international feel and their own nightshift imprint, dusk & dawn is a deeper sonic exploration that pays closer attention to ambience and sound design. dusk is an enchanting take on new wave pop, referencing talk talk and early simple minds. a drum machine beats a half-time groove while a dusty but characterful synthesizer pulls the track towards it s cathartic dream-pop apex. dawn draws on contemporaries like imaginary softwoods and croatian amor, bringing the listener down to earth into lucidity. beautiful arpeggios soar over reverse guitars, wistful lyricism is coupled with detailed ambience. a blissful meditation to ease you into the day. remixes come from faze action, ron basejam and ian blevins who all add their deft to touch to dawn and offer up flavors from different corners of the dance floor to this adriatic / balearic influenced piece of music.

a true balearic classic. one of a handful of records that can comfortably boast this title, elkin & nelson’s 1979 classic jibaro sits in the canon of selections that enlightened the ears of the jet-set and globe trotting music fanatics in the heady and much storied years of the white isle in the 1980’s. the colombian brothers javier and leon marin velez brought their own rustic brand of folksy-rock-psychedelia to the listening public in 1974 with their debut lp angeles y demonios on columbia records. the brothers had relocated to spain, snared a major label deal and ran with it. the first of 3 lps it proved a big hit in later years with adventurous dj’s and selectors. a cult record you might say. of course, this lp featured jibaro in all it’s forms, but it is this 1986 reissue 12” promo pressing with its iconic, distinctive jacket that was the coveted slab sonic adventurers were seeking. fully sanctioned and legitimately remastered from the original sources and packaged in its original columbia promo sleeve jibaro is back on the shelves, still an incredible record that gets pulled by the most discerning selectors across the globe. a true classic, featured here in its long and short versions as per the ’86 release. absolute top-shelf stuff here, essential, must own and classic.

legendary los hermanos member santiago salazar’s album ‘aspirations for young xol’ is given a vinyl release courtesy of rekids. a heartfelt dedication to his son isaias, ‘aspirations for young xol’ takes us through the life of a pillar in the electronic music community - santiago salazar. from his formative years spent in california to his connection with detroit and the passing of a childhood friend, the long-player’s tracks signpost the musician’s significant experiences, both positive and negative. this meaningful body of work was released digitally on pastel voids and now rekids release the album on wax. ‘saturated fear’ sets a deep tone for the lp, flanging melodies and echoing claps float through the composition before the album’s title track ‘aspirations for young xol’ offers haunting arpeggios with occasional acidic overtones which are cleverly offset by beautifully designed lead synth transitions. ‘bloodlines’ follows a similar musical vein with delayed bass riffs that are suspended above shimmering hihats and a weighted kick. santiago provides three beatless pieces throughout, which digress into more emotional territory whilst offering brief respite from his heavier drum work. ‘xol’s pain’ combines orchestral strings and swelling synthesisers which build tension with a subtly complex, evolving motif. both ‘dark matter’ and ‘ode to stinson’ use arresting atmospheres, warped arpeggios and ethereal pads which lull the listener into a retrospective mood. an intensity builds in the later tracks, a gritty but powerful low end provides a solid foundation in ‘orange blossom thump”, eventually making way for a hectic and elastic lead synth before ‘pachuco dub’ displays drones that build a dissonant pressure in which the complex tom rhythms and rolling hi hats can grow. ‘sarah rivera’ hypnotises with its delectable chord progressions and complimentary melodies which seem to float above a rigid drum composition to close the album with style

forriner is lee forster and oli worriner.
i made music together with lee for years (alongside mick rolfe) as last waltz. he also worked as lizards with james hadfield (james released solo for me me me 02), oli worriner, is a talented young northerner who’s already making a great name for his solo output, both under his own name and his traela alias, as well his label “tunnyl recordings”.
i’m really flattered that they’ve let me release their first full solo release, and i love how they’ve brought out each others deeper and more emotive sides in these 2 tracks. shit robot is a hero of mine. i basically wore out the grooves on a bunch of his dfa stuff from just over 10 years ago, and i’ve avidly bought everything he’s released since. i met him this summer for the first time when we shared the bill at a festival, and was so happy to find that he’s also lovely guy in real life. they say you should never meet your heroes, but i don’t subscribe to that as this meeting led to not one, but two fantastic remixes for me me me 08. the originals are a bright mix of melodically analogue left leaning house, while the remixes zero-in on a punchier dancefloor vibe, with an epic version goodnight, as well a more heads down disco dub.
so yeah, links within links, and keeping it northeastern again i guess.

alex ferrazzi and matteo keemani a.k.a. blue mondays, longtime laterra friends and collaborators (with releases on sonar kollektiv, rebirth, snatch!, memento, manocalda as well), strike again. they do it, as usual, their very own way: shades of balearic flavours in there, but with a very dark and malicious twist. marvin & guy add some disco nuances (keeping it raw and obscure, though), while nick anthony simoncino delivers a solid, strict, gloomy dancefloor affair. no frills, mad quality.

needs is a new label that bills itself as a not-for profit concern, which may apply to many record labels, but this one in particular calls upon a strong cast of deep house producers to impart the kind of smallville-friendly sounds that discerning heads should snap up in a heartbeat. hubie davisons i know is a melancholic affair with heart nagging strings, while johannes albert injects a little spice into proceedings with a choice breakbeat and some excellent bird song on vigilia. dj swaggers 21st century slow jam is a peppy little shuffler with warm acidic bass and a kick ass swing in the beat, and then bobby pleasure finishes the record off with the wistful but tech-edged cloudspotting.

roberto aglieri is a noted italian flutist and composer, and his 1987 album ragapadani stands as one of his finest achievements. archeo recordings are ever hip to the finest treasures hidden away in the folds of esoteric music, italian or otherwise, and have done a great service in reissuing the album so that it might reach a wider audience. on this limited white marble edition of the album, aglieri s flute sounds haunting and evocative over the range of delicate synth treatments, largely orbiting the minimal realm but with a naive charm that makes the music wholly accessible at the same time. soothing, thoughtfully crafted music for tender times.

after kicking off with a strong various artists release, mexican label calypso records returns to showcase the talents of argentine producer thomass jackson, who has previously been spotted on gomma amongst other labels. head rejection takes on a ghoulish 1970s vibe that sports a little schlocky horror and a little spaghetti western in its discoid grooves, while witzelsutch feels equally vintage but with a more cosmic lilt to its oddball tones. creepy pc gets more of that noirish goodness lurking around the mix, and then boot & tax come on board to remix head rejection with a heads down tribal patter that keeps the atmosphere of the original intact.

kalita are busy adding more weight to their on-point reissue catalogue with this excellent single from caribbean funksters iwabo. reggae down does indeed feature a skank of sorts and all manner of sunkissed vibes, but there s a greater emphasis on laid back funk than you would find in typical jamaican output. smile on your face is a more light hearted track that equally draws on a variety of reference points to impart its infectious positive message. iwabo may have been a secret weapon of serious diggers for years, but now it s time for the wider record buying public to get in on the groove.

it s quite some years after starburst , the first record on internasjonal the japanese duo traks boys, consisting of kawasaki based producers and djs crystal and k404 did for us. but a short 7 years down the road the magic is still there. be with you and weekend lights are mesmerizing, sparkling with creativity and beauty. be with you is modern disco cut up of the finest while weekend lights is a hypnotic stringinfected warm groover that we can t get enough of. finally weekend (light) lover and friend of the house axel boman takes it all home in the biggest of ways. reduced with care and then build up again to one the neatest breaks that we heard this year.

> it felt like a long wait for us, but finally we can present the first artist on our label xxx, jack pattern<. with great honor we introduce to you this collective consists of three producers who live and breath deep in the heart of switzerland. they delivered four diverse and atmospheric stellar dance floor tracks with serious hints to the late 80s. this first vinyl only release on xxx, will be accompanied with custom made artwork by patrick van vliet. patrick s work has evolved from pop surrealistic, psychedelic imagery to a dutch social realism. he incorporates social annoyances and public degeneration from day to day life in his images. these images seem familiar but alienate. alienation by disrupting the familiar with uncanny elements and deviant colors. a perfect mix for this release. xxx is a new label that combines music, art and club nights curated by shmlss. every artist they invite has the freedom to fill in the x.

for ws021 we head to italy where we find a duo by the name of concret aka italo-mexican musician diego angelico escobar and producer q-pha. together, they submit a couple of ethereal, stripped-back and driving techno tracks that compliment each other so well they appear to be brother and sister from the same session. on remix duty we ve got another italian, rodion, who ads his signature sound to ritorno and flips it into a laid-back dark groover. last but not least is uk s heretic, aka timothy clerkin, who remixes andata into a classy acid burner fit for a massive warehouse party or dark, sweaty basement.

is it balearic? started the uber sublabel up a few years ago, but 2017 has undoubtedly been the strongest year so far for the imprint. following excellent stints from serene, wawawiwas and bonnie & klein, max manetti makes a debut appearance with a self-titled ep loaded with just the kind of slick, instrument-led island grooves we ve come to expect from the uber stamp. from the dense tropical trip of -jungle prayer- to the laconic guitar licks of -dub macumba-, the cyclical mysticism of -changuinola- on to -garrison- with its considered piano chops and stiff breaks, this is an ep of proficient musicianship and eclectic funk for all manner of situations.

fresh after his storming powerline ep on extrapolation records, lancashire based brandon vare delivers 2 more mighty tracks for jelly roll soul. with the a side, moonlighting he brings some relief from the 2017s darkness. with it’s glistening synth lines and warm chords, it delivers a sense of hope in a time of need. dug out from his archives, the track is now over 5 years old but now its time has come! the flip side yattering is its ugly, dark shadow. its conflicted inner life slowly reveals itself from under a razor sharp bassline, burbling to the surface as it breaks out in a full on panic attack

the definitive version of broken, meticulously prepared by trent reznor and nin art director john crawford. remastered in 2016 on 180 gram vinyl, with lots of details attended to that you may never notice but we care about. one 12 inch vinyl with etching on the flip plus 7 inch with 2 tracks.
original release date: september 22, 1992.

as proprietors of the will & ink label, yaleesa hall & malin genie have been maintaining a busy and consistent release schedule of top notch techno sounds, largely releasing their own, well received, productions. the duo appeared on hypercolours 10 years compilation in 2016 with the excellent buchan trap, and weve been blessed to secure a full single release with the on-point pair. the mechanical funk of artin swings with plenty of assured groove, the shuffling hats, dense kicks and dubby stabs that ping pong across this fierce production mark this out as a real killer cut. dario & marco zenker, aka the zenker brothers, take time out from their busy ilian tape operations to remix artin into a brutal yet funky techno goliath. congas perpetually roll forward, with frenetic 909 hats and raw and ready stabs in what may well be one of the zenkers finest remixes to date. the essence of funk continues in hall & malins music, with cahen, a great slab of compelling techno that never slips too far into darkness, instead keeping an ever evolving groove and some abstract drone like synthesis to keep the mood buoyant. wrapping up the release is brown, a track that finishes as urgently as it starts, perhaps with a cap doffed to the purpose maker sounds of a certain jeff mills, but broadening the palette to allow some trippy sound architecture and an effective breakdown mid way through. modern day techno supplied by a duo that will most certainly flourish over the coming months, yaleesa hall & malin deliver the goods aplomb on this hypercolour single.

having crept out of the tape undergrowth and respected haunts like clan destine and always human to earn more civilized recognition on bank records nyc and bliq, strahinja arbutina makes the move to vivod for yet more of that edgy, leftfield techno business that keeps mothers awake at night from worry. the grit, noise and distortion has been faithfully carried through from the cassette-based roots of arbutinas sound, but these tracks are more than ready to do the damage in the dance (where you re less likely to find a tape deck). hold on tight as the likes of way ahead give the sound engineer a fright when they think the system has overloaded.

alexander kowalski has been immersed in techno for a long time, and his sound is massively representative of the reduced, late night berlin sound. as d_func. he s contributed many times to marcel heese s finitude label, and now he s back to pay tribute to uk free party techno legends spiral tribe. kowalski s own interpretation may be more minimal and hypnotic than the wild, raucous energy spiral tribe was best known for, but his trancey approach comes on like a nostalgic vision into the early 90s, while also aligning with the modern masters such as donato dozzy and peter van hoesen.

orson bramley has a long-standing legacy in uk electro history as part of the transparent sound production crew, and hes been recently aligned with robin balls memory box parties in london where he s been able to display his years of experience whipping machines into funky configurations in a live environment. this release speaks to that experience, with the various versions of then again punching out an irresistible sermon of crafty synth lines, swooping strings and crisp beats. ball steps up for two remixes on the flip that equally reside in the electro realm, but come at the component parts from a different rhythmic angle. one refined idea done five ways what more do you need to know?

sunstrumental is a double single of two neck breakin, raw, dirty, mpc cuts. it s a nod to the boom-bap school but at the same time also breaks that dogma with fresh current details. instrumentals that many mcs would love to jump on but it s even better they didnt. sunstrumental is the first solo vinyl release by sunnysun, but expect this to be just the beginning of what is to yet to come. sunny is an all-round player: established as an mc (croatian freestyle vice-champion), he lately shifted his focus more on studio work and djing. he created the first mixtape of exclusively slovenian rap music selotejp, his beats underline the lyrics of numerous mcs and appear on compilations like stiropor, ctrl n and btf x rx:tx. all in all, an unorthodox whiz never afraid of gazing into different directions, never limiting himself to just one side of hip hop. truly one of the key players, linking the various clans, posses, crews and cliks. these are his beats.

finally the long-awaited second series of invisible family outings has arrived.label boss and compiler gk machine has this to say beyond ecstatic to get these tracks out. the gazeebo track i ve been playing in my sets for years. digital only but so great it definitely needed to get pressed onto wax! i would dj with it using ableton and speed it up a lot so for the vinyl i asked jon (nedza) who ive been a huge fan of since his community recordings releases on grayhound and imperial dub, whether he could speed it up a little bit before we pressed it up. now its 100% perfect: a moroder-esque cosmic stomper thats sure to set any dancefloor alight. the apiento track is another one that s been gestating for a long time first appearing around the time the original e.s.p. 12inch appeared on the wonderful golf channel recordings in 2014. secret circuit gave it a complete overhaul, in fact several complete overhauls, plus some of his signature guitar and has turned the already blissful track into an afro-esque, trippy, beautiful, beautiful piece of music that (imo) is one of his best yet. utterly gorgeous! then there s the boy-girl retro-future duo der kundalini coming from the wonderful lectric sands stable in ny who gave us zoovox. this one s also been hiding on my hard drive way too long! finally relative newcomers konzel (of junto club/optimo music fame) & natural sugars (pardon my french) round off the package just perfectly. the former so distinct that i felt it was a perfect opener for the a side. so, i hope you dig it and keep an eye out for the super limited 12-track cassette too! limited to 300 hand-numbered copies.

the sound is short and dry, like a fist colliding with leather or other flesh, but the repetition and reverberation transcend such violence and lead the listener to a heightened state by the time the parade is cancelled. a point of consideration. stick around because at least a few folks will still march and it could be a gorgeously lonely thing to witness

all flowers in time is the debut album from space captain, built around the themes of love and nostalgia with a pinch of bitterness and betrayal. with intricate arrangements of fluttering guitars, sparkly keyboards, and cyclical layers of background vocals, all bound together with dreamy indie-pop melodies for a sweet curve-ball of a finish, this beautifully crafted release takes the brooklyn 7 piece to new heights. extensive influences range from thundercat through amy winehouse to bon iver, but space captain are never anything but themselves, as this release shows. it sees the band moving away from the electronic and experimental sounds of their previous ep, instead taking them back to when they first formed, whilst also pushing the boundaries of their familiar r&b realm. for the band, all flowers in time quite literally signifies the flowering of their careers and the work they have put in to get there

recorded on september 10, 1964, prior to his well-known association with john coltrane, this eponymous album (later renamed pharoahs first) is the debut release of the iconic tenor saxophonist. (yes, there are some spelling oddities here: the artist birth name ferrell only later changed the spelling from the standard pharaoh to the more personalized pharoah.) with one foot in mainstream jazz – pianist jane getz had played with charles mingus and the other, tentatively at times, in the avant-garde, this is a fascinating glimpse of sanders’ style before he wielded the unremitting fierceness of his playing with coltrane and the modal mysticism of his later solo albums on impulse. interestingly, in recent years he has deployed a more polished version of this sort of vant-flavored bop, bringing his career full circle and strongly suggesting that the hybrid heard here was not due to any failure of nerve on his debut but rather was the cornerstone of his conception. esp-disk has issued this album under three different covers, for its 21st-century reissue on vinyl, we have chosen to use the second and most beautiful. it is augmented with liner notes by a current esp-disk’ artist, tenor saxophonist ras moshe burnett of the red microphone, who can be heard accompanying amina baraka on their eponymous 2017 release.

catherine ringer needs no introduction. shes the woman who created an inimitable, genre-defying personality who, along with her group les rita mitsouko, had a huge effect on the french pop music scene in the 80s right through to the noughties. in may 2011, she released her first proper solo album, ringn roll. ringer took the magic of ritas roots but towards something with a more music-hall leaning at its core. after a breath-taking dalliance in plaza francia alongside two founding members of gotan project, whereby she stepped into the shoes of a tango dancer, oozing elegance and sensuality, catherine is now back with a second album, chroniques et fantaisies.

the penultimate release on optimo trax (at least for now) comes from tel aviv’s mighty kalbata. i was already a big fan and was so delighted when he got in touch to see if i would be interested in releasing something by him. unusually for optimo trax this is one track in 3 versions but each version is so different that often i play them all in one dj set. originally there were two versions but as kalbata is a renowned master of dub (check out the documentary online about him recording in jamaica), i gently persuaded him to do a no-holds-barred dub mix too which appears here as enkuan pt 3. a few words about the record from kalbata – i went to ethiopia in the beginning of 2017 to record musicians. the most memorable one was mulugeta teshome who plays the washint flute on this record. it’s a traditional ethiopian flute made out of wood, and mulugeta came to the studio carrying a whole bag of them, each one in a different key. we chose the scale and started the recording session. i ended up taking the tracks a lot further with the three cuts on the record but really it all started that day, in a small studio shack in addis ababa.

as the cab passed by, the two stars collided with an enormous energy flash. for a few seconds, the galaxy fell dark and silent. but a, has barely noticed anything. her heart was full of music, and her body, full of love.
blorp is here again, ready to take you away and melt your soul. on board, serious a, a charming parisian astronaut with a crafted signature sound you’ll fall in love with and never forget.

for the second part of his -connection lost- series massimiliano pagliara teaches a lesson in how to translate disco music in a modern language of sound. without further ado -trying to hide but then i cried- comes across as pure dance floor material.

the 5th ep on the label of our man bastian bux goes one step beyond. this time he delivers a lovely vocal track featuring kyla millette and the final result is a modern techno track plenty of soul and elegant vibes. the remix package of this lights ep is awesome. steve rachmad delivered not one but two remixes, the first one in a first class deep way and the second one under his sterac nickname, electronic laidback pop for connoisseurs. fur coat did a raw techno remix, powerful but with all the elements under control. if you are a real electronic music lover, here you will find at least one track you will love, trust us

after 2016’s mini-album shady and light, composer and guitarist martyn heyne releases his first full-length record electric intervals on the new 7k! imprint. says heyne: the number of parameters that determine a recording appears to be infinite. the mood, instrument, tuning, mics, room, temperature, time of day, all contribute to sound. the magic, once captured, is impossible to recreate. this might seem a hindrance, but it’s really the whole point of recording for me.’ opener ‘carry’, for example, is a composition carefully developed over months with most of the production happening in front of the microphone. ‘wilde wide’, however, was recorded only once as an early-morning improvisation. having worked with dustin o’halloran on the emmy-winning transparent soundtrack and with clarinettist claudio puntin as part of the duo set aglow, heyne’s sound is one of simplified diversity. on his debut album he controls each melody with the precision of a veteran producer.

sam de la rosa, best known under the alias samuel kklovenhoof of the band led er est and with karen sharkey of the coombe, is back on mannequin records for a stunning 4-tracks electro-wave-experimental release. texas born but strongly connected with the new york cold wave and disco scene from mid 2000, and the wierd records family, sam s music is a clever mix of post punk, electronic hybrids, experimental pop and catchy melodies. additional mix by michael stein from s u r v i v e, already debuting on mannequin records back in 2011, before to get worldwide known for the netflix s stranger things soundtrack.