im jahr 2014 hat mano le tough Ÿber 100 gigs weltweit gespielt und landete auf dem 8. rang im dj poll von resident advisor. nach seinem vielgepriesenen debŸtalbum changing days (2013) egt der in irland geborene kŸnstler nun ein beeindruckendes zweites werk vor. trails fŸhrt den weg fort, den mano seit mehreren jahren gekonnt beschreitet: trails ist voll von sich langsam aufbauenden, von melodien getragenen stŸcken. gleichzeitig zeigt sich mano in trails souverŠner denn je zuvor. seine zahlreichen sets in clubs wie berghain und trouw haben seinen produktionen nach und nach ein beeindruckendes gespŸr fŸr den aufbau eines tracks und den richtigen augenblick verliehen. die songs auf trails haben es nicht eilig, sie gedeihen in wohlŸberlegten schritten, wŠhrend dabei die linien zwischen house, techno, new wave, ambient und pop zunehmend verschwimmen

welcome back to the movielike resonating sound world of the 23s. already in 2008 the mysterious one-man band proofed with the album ÒboliviaÓ that they are trying to do another kind of music Ð something that isnÕt entertainment, something that isnÕt show, something that goes gently straight to your soul. now the producer from nord-rhine-westphalia did it again and tuned in the longplayer ÒflamingoÓ. anew he delivers a special kind of cinematic journey music that grooves opposite to his other, more rhythm based hypnotic dance productions. also as the 23s he produces pattern-based music, but it pursues a different intention: each listener should dive into a hallucinatory world of seen and unseen films that his inner eye creates unprejudiced. all ten tracks are romantic smooth operators. they put themselves in service of an artistic vision, in which the listener should get lost in music. the album can be seen as a love-letter to the movie scores of the french 70s cinema or the impressionistic sound arrangements you can hear in the early cinema of peter greenaway. with double bass heat, discreet piano melodies, levitating guitar chords, some gentle horns here and there and beats that recollect the warm jazz influenced soul of oldschool hip-hop the 23s generate a sublime get-down-deep instrumental journey. you can listen to it attentive. or you can just play it in the back while doing whatever you like to do. it is recommended to play ÒflamingoÓ in a decent amount of volume as all loungey tracks begin to live bigger and brighter with sound intensity. if you play it flashy you will experience an atmospheric sometimes light-flooded, sometimes foggy 40-minute electronic journey that offers open-minded souls to fill the room between the notes with their very own milky fancy. soon the album will be accompanied by a bunch of remixes tuned in and twisted by producers like giegling and white artists edward, christian s of the c—meme tribe, canadian producer the mole and the german post rock and electronic music band to rococo rot.

lost my dog co-founder pete dafeet unleashes his highly anticipated debut album the root, the soul. a musical record of the year he married, pete evokes a sense of house music s glorious past in these eight beautifully crafted cuts. early dj support from chez damier, ian pooley, charles webster, milton jackson, manuel tur, moodymanc, blakkat.

heinrich mueller takes his musical journey further away from his welknown early dopplereffekt releases and several side projects and merges those early projects with hi-technology applications available for modern studio engineering. re-issue from the dub backcatalog

* mumdance & logos present proto , tectonic s first major release of 2015, set for release on 16th february. * recorded by the duo over 2014, proto is a collection of 10 future-facing club tracks that, against the odds, also provides a deep and involving experience for the listener. * proto focusses on the very brief sparks of innovation when new scenes were just forming and genre rules and paradigm were still grey areas, the early bleep track days when imported american techno was starting to be appropriated by the uk, the 93-94 proto era when hardcore was morphing into jungle and later when the darker sound of tech-step reared its mechanical, dystopian head. * all of this is underpinned with Òwot u call itÓ grime sensibilities and mumdance & logos trademark sonic disortientation. mumdance & logos concentrate on taking the moods and colours created by these leaps forward in sound and twisting them into something new, keeping in line with the futuristic visions of the originators.

strut return to the archives of seminal chicago house label dance mania in january 2015 for dance mania: ghetto madness. the follow-up to struts acclaimed dance mania label retrospective hardcore traxx from early 2014, this new instalment places the spotlight on the raw, stripped back, hyper bpms of ghetto house and the rise of the movements fresh generation of stars during the mid 90s including dj deeon, dj funk, jammin gerald and dj milton.

new york, early 90s, the haydays of the new york and jersey clubhouse! with labels such as nugroove, nervous, freeze, strictly rhythm, henry street music taking all the spot light, there is jovonn working on a small but sensational catalogue of music that somehow gets overshadowed by the popular releases on the mentioned labels. the honest productions, jazzy melodies and playful vocals (rooted in gospel) were taking things into a more musical, more spiritual way, lacking gimmicks or dispensable samples. for the real diggers, the true lovers of house music jovonn always was a name to watch, a producer of some of their favorite ny house tracks, tracks that have a raw edge combined with a sincere human touch and pure underground house vibes

kink spent years of backwards-engineering the sounds of detroit, chicago and early warp. tweaking whatever software was available, he learned all the sideways possibilities of hacking into the sonics of analog classics with the beauty of digital degradation: alias noise, bit crush, noisy fft grains - his one-of-a-kind results electrified dance floors all over the world ever since. now, all the elements of kinks live sets have been bundled like a laser beam in his debut album

real jazz-funk with an hip hop attitude. as their band name says, they only play cover of dope gems. rare tracks from the late 70s and early 80s from ost or valuable vinyls

crux is a refined contemporary techno album with some unexpected twists. early support by: luke slater, tommy four seven, answer code request, paco osuna, par grindvik, echologist, developer, psyk, woo york, mosca, joseph capriati

man is a rope is not a band but rather a process developed by new york songwriter / producer / artist, evan t. q. kreeger. using live instrumental and vocal performances with analog effects to make electronic hybrid music rather than employing virtuals, loops or samples, man is a rope creates its own unique dark dynamics and complex churns which invoke elements from no wave, early mute/4ad, rowland s. howard, the cabs, detroit / birmingham techno, a certain ratio, the swans, coil, 70s crimson, and film music. these works are composed in parallel with video treatments and storyboard development. from conception, audio is forever bonded to its symbiotic images.

frames of reference is the some 12 years in the making debut album from uk based techno producer o phase. early support by marcel dettman & ben klock.

down paris after being the main artist on dirt crew recordings for over seven years and with a staggering 13 eps in that period either solo or with his buddy till von sein, the berlin based alexander krueger has finally concluded a full album for us. he is one of germanys most consistent producers an has an huge release list on discogs ranging from the mid nineties when he started out as korsakow and dub taylor on classic labels like force tracks, mueller and raum musik to date.

hot creations, the hottest electronic dance label right now who have two sold out showcases at brixton academy in april, celebrate three years of dancefloor dominance with a compilation of the labels highlights.

for fans of early warp records, first genberation detroit electro and techno, feat. bonus remix by kassem mosse

home & garden is the debut album from the already established artist jay shepheard due for release in early 2013. shepheard has been releasing 12s and singles, and remixes steadily since 2007, blending disco and deep house seamlessly into his own unique sound.

the definitive compilation of super biton de sŽgou, one of malis most important orchestras during its golden age of music. this album contains the best of the 2 early 70s albums previously released on mali kunkan and recorded under the aegis of sound wizard boubacar traorŽ. tip!

the ked kandi mix 2012! 3cd feat, hot natured, riva starr, pirupa, maceo plex, solomun, tensnake, miguel campbell, atfc, joey negro, grant nelson , and many many more

endangered species is the eagerly awaited full-length album from wolf + lambs musically virtuosic no regular play, a duo equally at home in the rehearsal rooms of julliard as in the main room of fabric. their debut album was made in early summer 2012, exclusively in the studio of new york citys marcy hotel. over the course of 11 elegantly interlaced tracks, greg paulus and nicholas debruyn create a veritable cornucopia of beautiful forms.

daniel blackbelt andersen has been active in the norwegian dance music community for a number of years. he got into electronic dance music in the early 90s, and first started emulating the sound of detroit techno on his fathers home computer..

80s classics and rarities!mixing traditional senegalese mbalax with cuban rumba, hip hop, jazz, soul and beyond, youssou n dour is one of the most celebrated african musicians in history. featuring the prime of his early 80s senegalese recordings and the material he recorded for virgin in the late 80s >from senegal to the world< covers the decade when youssou became a world music icon.

kuduro was born in angola in the early 90s but truely blasted its way on to global dancefloors in 2008 with buraka som sistemas debut album >black diamond<

the first live performance of the steve hillage band in 25 years!

back from mystery city follows a similar blueprint, with the core duo employing a cast of live musicians (including string ensembles, brass ensembles and the prague symphony orchestra) to perform their organic disco compositions. all of the tracks were composed, arranged and produced by maccari and bellentani and recorded in rome in 2010 and 2011.

rome s egisto sopor has been making waves with his releases for quite a while now: he put out a cdr album on legowelt s strange life records and a cassette on the much admired 100% silk label, both under the name polysick. as theawayteam he released the dvd relax & sleep and cd star kinship on japanese label maomoo. he is also one half of the low-key video unit aavv, whose work has graced many of the important releases of the new lo-fi electronic movement. digital native is his first album properÑfifteen tracks of glowing, nocturnal, analog grace that recall the days of acid house and early techno, but with a mood and intent designed for watching images dance on closed eyelids. it s no surprise that his work as a video artist resonates so strongly with the music he makes. polysick has tapped straight into the synthetic pleasures of early dance musics otherworldly pulses: the hypnotic arpeggios of italo disco, soaring detroit chords, cosmic disco, the -fourth world music- of jon hassell and the library exotics of piero umiliani. this is body music for the resting body. imagine the nexus of early acid house and italo music used for mental therapy, exotic traveling and imaginingÑexciting the brain waves and journeying into imagined spaces.

mannequin and sacred bones are honoured to join their forces to offer you one of the best uk new wave reissue from the 80s. uv p¯p were an early 80s post-punk group from the south yorkshire region of england.

what is this? we actually dont know but it is new and wonderful! as one of the most successful artists in contemporary techno music hendrik weber aka pantha du prince presents his new studio project together with workshops stephan abry: ursprung. after several studio sessions in the cold and charming winter of the swiss alps, abry and weber were driven deeper and deeper into some microcosm of sound to almost cut the edge to the myth. influenced by krautrock, the ambient music of harold budd and early brian eno, avantgarde, and the minimalistic guitar sound of durutti collumn the ursprung project cant resist to make the guitar a main source. coming together with highly futuristic sounds as we know from the researches of pantha du prince. a truly unconventional structure of slowly growing beats hold this universe which came from the cold mountains together. it is not the first time the protagonists behind ursprung worked together. they met some ten years ago in hamburg as the photographer and musician stephan abry worked on his workshop project together with the artist kai althoff. hendrik weber was involved in the band stella and both released on hamburgs legendary ladomat 2000 label. a frequent conversation, exchange of music and some sessions made them work on pantha du prince works. mostly recorded in that white out background of the alps it was clear from the beginning- a unique project will come one day. now ursprung is here and lets us forget time and memory. stephan abry and hendrik weber wonder what is this? we actually dont know at all but it is new and wonderful!

bong-ras new album monolith is a new step in pure hybrid electronics. seamlessly mixing all styles with ease. be it metal, drum and bass, hip hop and dubstep. a musical characteristic he has gained international praise for. monolith is divided up into two segments: alpha and omega. alpha are four hiphop-esque colossals featuring the american rapper sole, who has proven himself over the years with his crew and label anticon. omega is the dancefloor orientated part of the album where bong-ra continues with his trademark metalbreaks style which made him remix the likes of bolt thrower and even screamo legends therapy? since 1996 bong-ra has released 5 full length albums, and has released on labels such as djax. planet mu, ad noiseam, kid 606s tigerbeat 6, jason forrests cock rock disco to name a few. the biggest success came with the 2003 album bikini bandits, kill! kill! kill! managing a full rotation with the videoclip 666mph on mtv. bbcs radio 1 dj, john peel, was also a big fan, inviting bong-ra to do a famous john peel session in 2001, and was asked to be part of the peel tribute cd kats karavan containing peels 125 favourite session artists. this cd contained the likes of bob marley, boomtown rats, the jam, pj harvey and bong-ra amongst others. in the last decade bong-ra has played all the big festivals: glastonbury, lowlands, fusion, dour, eurosonic, etc and has toured europe, the us and japan. bong-ra is further known for being one of the pioneers of the breakcore genre. together with artists like venetian snares, shitmat and jason forrest they developed this unique and energetic crossbreed in the early 2000s. with monolith bong-ra continues to pave the way into heavy electronics, always re-inventing and evolving himself with every album. he recently won the dutch 3voor12 award (the largest dutch music platform) for best musician, for his bong-ra and the kilimanjaro darkjazz ensemble projects.

come take a journey down memory lane with us on back 2 the old skool garage classics, the greatest collection of garage anthems ever compiled!this essential album retrospectively maps out a journey through garage with over 60 vocal anthems across 3cds and provides a documentary of the seminal tracks which have shaped clubland and beyond. just some of the anthems on this epic anthology include shola ama imagine, monsta boy sorry and tina moore never gonna let you go alongside chart favourites like artful dodger movin too fast, dj luck & mc neat masterblaster, pied piper do you really like it and shanks & bigfoot sweet like chocolate. not forgetting the darker side of the bassline - those with a penchant for mcs can get their fix on early grime foundations from so solid crew 21 seconds,ms dynamite boo and oxide & neutrino bound 4 da reload.

coole mischung aus drum & bass, dubstep, jungle u.v.m. neu auf hospital!!!!

amazing masterpiece by pawas! this album is an unreleased discography which includes tracks and sketches from his early years, some of which were specially saved for this album and some new sketches. the tracks also distinctly portray inspirations from many great artists which have influenced him over the years. the track names represent his journey through a spiritual world, which was, is and will be a huge part of his life.

uk collection from the 60s soul legends. smokey robinson and the miracles are one of the greatest vocal groups of all time. they made some of the most important popular music of the 60s and early 70s, that sounds as fresh today as when they were first recorded. this 20-track collection contains some of the groups most loved moments such as the tracks of my tears, the tears of a clown and i second that emotion. this collection takes the listener on a journey through the vocal groups back catalog of albums, taking in many of their best loved tracks.

the album has a very fragile, stripped down and haunting sound and is being roundly praised for it s beauty and simplicity drawing numerous comparisons to his early work with the beta band on the -3 eps- album. having previously recorded as both king biscuit time and black affair, both largely electronic based projects, steve mason enlisted the help of producer richard x and consciously made a decision to go back to basics: the album was written entirely on acoustic guitar with many of the finished tracks stripped back to reveal his undoubted songwriting talent. this special bonus edition includes a bonus disc of the album -ghosts outside- which sees the original album given a dub reworking by dennis bovell.

overview in the 1980s, as hip hop caught fire around new york, sparky d was coming up in the van dyke projects in brownsville brooklyn. she would go on to be one of the first recorded solo female rappers and rise to hip hop stardom. early in her career she was a pivotal player in what came to be known as the roxanne wars. it all kicked off with utfo s roxanne roxxane followed by roxanne shante s debut roxanne s revenge and then a salvo back at shante with utfo and a female mc known as the real roxanne. sparky d then started a trend that ran for what some say was over a hundred assorted answer records and nearly the rest of the decade by jumping into the roxanne trend with sparky s turn (roxanne, you re through). massive spins and sales throughout the city followed. the success of the cut lead to another handful of 12 releases, and this release, her proper full length debut this is sparky ds world,- produced by her boyfriend and old school legend spyder d. though the record didn t take off to the extent that her label mates boogie down productions found with criminal minded....well, what ever did take off like criminal minded. to this day the release serves as a testament to the power of one of hip hop s first female mcs, after all, this is sparky d s world. traffic entertainment group in partnership with b-boy records is proud to release this extended version of the album, out of print in any format for over 14 years. housed in a handsome 6 panel digipak featuring extended artwork and audio including all the 12-cuts, mixes and instrumentals from sparkys classic -throwdown- and -i can t stop- vinyl singles.

el rego is a true legend of african soul music. here for the first time on album are 12 of his greatest recordings from the late 60s and early 70s hand-picked by daptone records. afro-soul collector/ dj frank gossner had spent years combing west africa tracking down 45s by theophile do rego (aka el rego) before finally meeting him face to face in his home in benin. from that relationship came this album, which we present to you here in a 20 page hardcover bookcase cd featuring el regos own story of his life and music along with pictures from his personal collection and artwork from his original 45s. the music has been remastered with great care, and the vinyl contains an exclusive bonus 45 (while supplies last) of se na min, one of his most sought after afro-funk tracks, backed with e ma non tin me, a beautiful and somewhat more traditional song about two blind men who agree to go together and leap to their deaths into a river.

fun, folky and charming oddball music from the short-lived, but often re-broadcast fingerbobs series for the bbc in the early 70s Ð starring hand puppets fingermouse, gulliver the seagull, scampi (who lives on a hand by the sand and the sea), flash the tortoise and canadian folk singer and narrator rick jones Ð whose songs and narration are the heart of this great soundtrack put together by the obscure sound library and soundtrack champion johnny trunk! the music is really sweet, with acoustic guitar, flute and bits of percussion Ð cheery and fun without being cut or cloying, with oddball, post hippie childrens show charm to spare! includes -fingerbobs theme-, -fingermouse theme-, -fingermouse incidental-, -scampis theme-, -seeds-, -enochs wheel 2-, -plasticine-, -shapes-, -little link-, -shiny thing-, -story of the wooden tower-, -fingermouse plays the organ- and more.

demissions is the album every in-the-know electronica fan has been anxiously awaiting for the last ten years. phoenecia, the duo who put experimental electronic music on the map in the us with their soul oddity releases, their infamous schematic label, their early releases on warp and their brilliant albums brownout & echelon mall, are back with new album destined to be as ageless & influential as any of their previous contributions. what strikes the listener at first is how seamlessly the songs throughout the album integrate acoustic percussion with electronics, most notably on the twelve-minute epic first track two-part invention for bodhran & computer.

this is the first part (of four) of the much anticipated reissue series of drexciya s early catalogue, marking 20 years since the release of their first ep deep sea dweller , and 10 years since their final album grava 4 . one of the most influential techno acts ever, and part of the heritage of detroits underground resistance, drexciya explored techno like no-one else before: raw and uncompromising music that reflected the harsh environment of the city where drexciya was conceived, with a mythical approach that only added to their cult appeal. drexciya arguably stands for the darker side of techno and electro, made not only for the club scene, but a further development of the music as an expression and extension of the mind. journey of the deep sea dweller is a near-complete collection of their early works, released in four parts, with all audio remastered from the original master tapes. since the original releases have such a strong character and stand on their own, these reissue can never recreate the magic of those originals. instead, clone have stirred up the catalogue, taking tracks out of their original context, giving the committed fan a fresh experience and the new listener a document that is the best possible introduction to the aquatic world of drexciya.

2011 debut album from tropics aka british producer and multi-instrumentalist chris ward. since planet mu released his first single, -soft vision-, the synthpop of his early tracks has evolved into a more substantial and personal style. parodia flare features ward as a multi-instrumental auteur, weaving together vintage sounds, rhodes keyboard, banks of old synths, software and guitars, live drums and electric bass.

andy vazs straight vacationing, his first full-length artist album, since the 2006 release of repetitive moments last forever, registers as less a straight-up collection of dance-floor burners and more of a variety pack that mixes club tracks and full-fledged house songs. listeners hungry for just ordinary 4/4 throw-downs will not entirely get their share of those, but theyll also get a whole lot more on this dynamic and well-rounded set of eight album tracks and that is exploring house music not just as a simple one way street, but give you a very personal view of the music we call house. straight vacationing dives into the genre in all its rich variety: from deep melodic, early chicago influenced acid house, jacking-jedi mind tricks to disco-type grooves and last but not least excursions into bizzaro world, with a vaz typical almost psychedelic experimental-edged sound, its all there.

this latest release by the ever impressive trunk records consists of two jazz recordings from 1964. the first four tracks, credited to west indian trumpeter shake keane, are taken from an unreleased acetate belonging to garricks private collection. the final four tracks consist of the shake keane & michael garrick quartettes a case of jazz ep that had a limited pressing of just 99 copies. much like trunks earlier michael garrick release moonscape (which was recorded in the same year), this is indeed obscure 1960s uk jazz. the first four cuts from the untitled acetate are very much jazz of the bossa nova variety. the hastings girls choir feature on the first two tracks and their lush vocals add a cool exotic vibe. tracks 3 & 4 are taken from the flipside of the acetate and were recorded with the gordon langford orchestra. the final four tracks from the a case of jazz ep are freer flowing and keanes trumpeting accompanied by garricks piano makes for some quality early modern british jazz. moody album closer regrets is a stunner and best showcases how well they both compliment each other.

one of the most referenced producers of the last year and one of the most influential producers on the scene: mk aka marc kinchen presents a sublime collection of his work, much of which has been previously unavailable digitally, on this latest volume in the house masters series. during the halcyon period of house music in the early 90s, marc kinchen became one of the genres most respected producers and in-demand remixers. starting out at an incredibly young age in detroit as a protŽgŽ of techno god kevin saunderson before later moving to new york, he fast became a prolific figure in the dance music community. here twenty of his most influential of recordings are collected and made available completely unedited, unmixed and dj friendly for the very first time. this package includes 9 tracks that have never been made available digitally.

anders trentemoller has become one of the most respected names in cutting edge electronic music in the last few years. his rise to notoriety was sparked by his early, techy releases for poker flat and audiomatique and has since gone on to stellar highs with his own personal take on the genre, spanning, pop, rock, indie and classical. his debut album >the last resort< was released in 2006 to much international acclaim, and the producer also began to become an in-demand remixer in the house and techno world. as the decade wore on his sound continued to progress, opening up his studio to more live instrumentation, and a looser, rock-meets electronic vibe with his stunning >into the great wide yonder< lp. now this special double cd and double vinyl release celebrates some of the producer s favourite remixes he completed for other artists, and also some of his personal picks where other musicians have reworked his music.

byetone s new record symeta opens with a combined track - a transit - since topas and telegramm could be seen as one single piece. both tracks convey the atmosphere of a live session rather than the character of a studio production. the tracks are quite long and deal with repetition, layers of sounds, density and energy, more than melodic and engineering finesse. the whole album follows this approach, as it was fashioned within the context of live performances during the last two years. neuschnee Ð the third track Ð has an obviously reduced tempo, creating a wide landscape of sound with an intimate aura, which works as a counter draft to the other tracks of the record. with opal, the tempo speeds up again, a polyrhythmic phrase whirls around a straight beat, filters are turned, all that evokes the impression of early-90s minimal techno. byetone is basically interested in remembering, in a way to preserve, in citing rock/pop styles, without getting stuck in the past, whereas non of the tracks really fit into a specific genre. seen from this perspective, helix opens the final, more rocky block of the album. here, the tracks are offensive and rude and sound like a band in a rehearsal room. this part peaks with black peace in a high speed heavy metal session. finally, golden elegy closes symeta and a band-like situation occurs. the track ends with a wired lament, presented by jan kummer in the tenor of chemnitz, hometown of both artists. in former gdr-times, they started their musical activity with the brilliant-dilettantish ag geige, together with frank bretschneider (komet). symeta , the title of the album, appears mysterious. this synthetic word arouses associations with symmetry, synthesis or (meta-)structures. it doesn t stand for a definite object, there isn t any solution, and that is the reason why the title has been chosen. byetone s music tries to create such associations without really fulfilling these expectations. in this sense, symeta consequently follows death of a typographer (r-n92), the well received predecessor.

unmixed cd album !!! over the past six years, parker has worked with labels like ovum, tsuba and crosstown rebels, but his debut lp will see release on nic fanciulis saved records. a gun for hire features 11 new productions from the english producer, including a collaboration with dan beaumont. parker spent a year in the studio working on the album just after his move across the channel to berlin, whilst also maintaining his relationship with rekids, namely through the labels residency at panorama bar. the result is a conflation of different strands of house music, with hints of london and berlin as well as chicago, detroit and new york.

boom bip was one of the canniest underground beat producers around before he hooked up with gruff rhys of super furry animals to create the fascinating neon neon project, which took as its focus automaker john delorean and what his car (and charisma) meant to the 80s. bbs return to the solo realm finally came on 2011s zig zaj, which has more in common with neon neon than with his early solo joints. (features for cate le bon and franz ferdinands alex kapranos, among others, certainly fit in.) as always, its impeccably produced - hollon has only gained in proficiency and maturity as a producer. but compared to seed to sun or blue eyed in the red room, whose fascination with sound was positively contagious, zig zaj sounds like an overly safe record, the type that most producers would avoid if they wanted to keep innovating. heavily influenced by rock and 80s new wave, similar to neon neons stainless style, its impressions are largely textural, and as talented a producer as boom bip has become, zig zaj sounds more like a rehash than the entirely new recipe that music fans are undoubtedly looking for.

walls alessio natalizia and sam willis dont deal in perfect wholes. the kompakt duo return swiftly on the back of 2010 s critically lauded self titled debut, an album that picked up mojos coveted electronic album of the year, featured in nmes end-of-year lists, not to mention winning fans such as of jamie xx, caribou, james holden and impressing us trio battles so much that they have invited the pair on tour around the us this coming october. yet it isnt these admittedly impressive accolades that make the announcement of second lp >coracle< such an anticipated one, what makes walls so alluring is the fully immersive experience of their mellifluous electronica Ð reaching out far and wide to pull influences sonic, emotional and theoretical together into patterns of blissful phantasmagoria. taking their debut as the prototype, willis and natalizia have taken those initial early-sunrise evocations and pushed them to even more grandiose expanse

wretch 32, real name jermaine scott, is one of the uks most loved mcs - from the underground up. from his early years in londons flourishing grime scene back in the early 00s, the tottenham-raised lyricist has always stood out from the crowd. his conscious and reflective bars, along with an extremely relaxed flow, made him a firm favourite on the uk hip hop circuit. much like tinie tempah, wretch 32 has proved that british mcs can reach the mainstream without selling their soul to pop. the first fruits of this crossover success were tasted in january 2011, when his single traktor broke into the domestic top five following an appearance on the bbc sound ofÉ list. and his second official single, unorthodox, fared even better, peaking at number two in april. so its clear that much has changed since his debut lp of 2008, wretchrospective - but has public recognition come at the expense of what marked wretch 32 out as such a talent in the first place? not at all - on the opening title-track, the rapper lets the listener know that its the same old wretch at work. over a drum-heavy hip hop beat he sets up the rest of the album well, advising everyone to fasten their seatbelts as he prepares to take them on a ride that they wont forget in a hurry. never be me finds wretch delving into his past, opening up about making certain decisions in life that got him to where he is today. featuring rnb newcomer angel on the hook, the track has an inspirational feel to it - all over another impressive, but this time more grime-influenced, beat. a true standout is anniversary, with alex mills on singing duties - its a love song, minus any cheese. then the album lurches into the electro-infused sanes the new mad - a glimpse into wretchs party lifestyle, with ladies and alcohol at the forefront of his attentions. and closer dont go just might be one of the tracks of the year.