masaki messaged blueberry records soundcloud and signed an ep within a week. i guess sending demos is still a thing. the concept of the ep is to demonstrate all the colors in masaki s rainbow. a truly gifted studio engineer, there are many styles in which he moves across the mixing board. ark and blessing are pure sound design ticklers. as if he decided to make an updated blue-ray instructional soundtrack. soaring melodies and sub bass anchors the listener is literally pinned done by the pressure and beaten with an ugly beauty unique to masakis style. dolci and ilah both radiate on the dance floor like lost dark rollers from an updated mid 90 s estelia and fraewnuil demonstrate the beautiful thoughtfulness masaki also possesses. like a hidden runout groove, masaki leaves the listener pensive and wrapped in a warm embrace.

the ocean is closed is a collaboration of music ensemble zeitkratzer with performance group she she pop.
play – according to the cultural historian johan huizinga – is a free activity carried out within certain fixed boundaries in time and space according to voluntary, but necessarily binding rules. it has no goal outside itself and is accompanied by a feeling of excitement and joy. it creates social alliances that for their part often surround themselves in a secret or set themselves off from the everyday world by means of disguise.
in the ocean is closed the “modern composition super group” (the wire) zeitkratzer and the performance collective she she pop observe each other across the limits of their own categories. they look in fascination at their “exotic“ colleagues. outside eyes and ears are interested in different things, ask the right wrong questions, misunderstand the agreements and breach basic laws.
she she pop and zeitkratzer play a concert: secret, order and ocean. they celebrate music and play per se.

nice price deal !!! following our quest for inventive approaches within the sometimes tired and highly commodified house / tech house / techno / minimal or whatever you call it scene, we ve gone this time for landesvatter. regardless of having already signed a few full lenght lps on the highly esteemed normoton as well as on under_line and others, joachim landesvatter prefers to keep a low-key atittude. he offers us two great tracks, each one followed by a very special remix. the original of nome is a highly bouncy digitech house track for the dancefloor, with an infectious sinewave to keep you hooked from beggining to end. the remix of nome, in charge of arp aubert (marco niemerski aka tensnake & stephan lorenz) who run the great mirau musik, comes on the form of a hysterical dub house track that literally puts >the roof in the air<. we recommended for full effect to keep the volume on the red. as usual, the second half of the release follows at a quieter pace. hausse is a track on a out to lunch tradition, greatly influenced by detroit but at the same time distancing itself from the current plethora of nostalgics. in-house duo taron-trekka closes the package with a deep remix, rich on freaky jazz touches. we lack words to describe it.

portland label dark leader returns with three tracks plucked from deep within the underground. acid farm, a local portland duo, kicks things off on side a with -bala 303,- a retro acid piece that embodies the spirit of ritual dance. next, kaliningrad s muzikalist brings us -acid disco valley,- a track that builds and builds to a frenzied reawakening of your inner raver. then on the b side a remix by the one and only black merlin. his take on -bala 303- drags your newly awakened monster into the darkest reaches of the unknown. dark leader 002 is housed in a full color jacket featuring both artwork and design by eric adrian lee, and mastered by timothy stollenwerk.

the copenhagen based pop wonders blaue blume return with a new ep - sobs. the band formed around 6 years ago in a provincial danish town, drawn to each others love for rich, playful music. blaue blume (blue flower) is the epitome of a romantic band, their songs are brimming with love and yearning. now ‘sobs, the follow up to their ‘syzygy album in 2015, continues to build their reputation as a best kept secret, about to find a whole new audience of devotees. all four tracks for the ep were recorded in late 2016 in a three story villa, formerly owned by a religious cult. the band used the weird space away from the city to create a framework for the lyrics and the music. the band explains: blaue blume has been our band for about 6 years. in a bigger provincial town we started playing right out of highschool. at the moment we live in copenhagen and every day we play, write and work on sounds. its sort of become a life project. in our heads we make music that is playful, rich in detail and popish or somewhat smiling. for some beautifully inexplicable reason we ended up doing music together. in a way it seems sacred or at least meaningful. macabre is a happy song about being afraid of dying. some of us find that even the best life can be lonely sometimes. we found it interesting to address this taboo within the frame of a song that people could potentially dance or sing along to.

following a run of local transmissions from a sagittariun, crump, rob smith and atki2, idle hands turns its attention to berlin and the straight-up, no-nonsense techno thrust of johanna knutsson and hans berg. both respected artists and djs in their own right, the pair have been turning out 12inches together for the free spirit society, klasse and crime city disco over the past few years, but most importantly they ve been steering the excellent ufo station recordings as a vessel for their punchy, primal techno tracks. the sound on this ep taps into the pure form of stern, dark dancefloor tackle favoured at idle hands – no extraneous filler, plenty of space in the mix, but equally built with warmth and personality rather than monochrome functionality. if you need further proof, just look to the fact the ep is named after a swedish soap opera from the 90s. the bleeps and bass tones that pulse through -taggen- are so finely crafted they need not skip and dance around the arrangement. the melodic interplay on -klimax- is subtle but ultimately uplifting and optimistic where so much techno concerns itself with oppressive gloom. -bimbo- finds the pair embracing a more psychedelic approach, but even here the modulating effects processes are kept within certain boundaries so as to not dilute the impact on the floor. after all, this is music to dance to, to be felt over a large system (where possible). moving from leftfield bass excursions to minimalist 2-step, uk techno and now onto this much more continental sound, themälarviken ep continues to widen the range of idle hands musical tastes without losing sight of the complete picture.

interstate records is a newborn independent record label based between london and berlin. it’s run by the up-and-coming duo dial tone and aims to provide a vibrant and diverse platform for emerging and established artists within the techno scene, whilst occasionally touching upon ambient and other experimental music spheres.

from portland’s burgeoning music scene comes a creative statement in the form of “tease”, the full length collaborative album by singer/songwriter blossom and producer hot16. meticulously thought out in every detail, “tease” shows the work of two sophisticated artists making their mark with an expertly written, performed, and produced lp that will undoubtedly find its way into your home and heart.
what started as a single guest feature quickly transformed into a full 8-song joint venture when it became instantly clear that the two artists brought out the best in each other. blossom’s poetic lyrics and emotive tones meld effortlessly around hot16’s unique production. strong, black, and imbued with magic, blossom shows depth & feeling in every note while hot16’s soulful tracks work as the perfect backdrops for her beautiful odes to identity, empowerment, love, and its accompanying heartache.
with a multitude of styles reflected on the album, each song can rightfully stand on its own. however, “tease” is best understood within the context of the whole, as genres are allowed to meld together and a its larger narrative unfolds.
take note, as the album is both a sonic world unto itself, as well as only a tease of what’s to come.
the vinyl release includes a download code.

infinite density – the new album by the berlin based, cuban-american artist blush response – is a fantastical exploration into the depths of industrial and ebm techno in collaboration with techno frontman adam x’s infamous imprint, sonic groove. influenced by the progressive noise of autechre, front line assembly and skinny puppy the producer has previously released with aufnahme +wiedergabe and ant-zen, as well as getting his hands dirty with programming work for the industrial pioneers fear factory, rhys fulber as well as latin pop singer cristian castro. infinite destiny takes a firm grip on situationally influenced content, pulling every corner of berlin into its belly for a challenging and unique sound – a sound that’s able to maintain functionality whilst simultaneously exposing loose wires of wild flangers and disturbed sampling. these erratic waves are expressed through the productions infinite density, aum shinrikyo, survivor guilt and dead still air, showcasing the most alien meta-bodies of blush’s sound. as an appropriation on contemporary acidic sound, the sonic motions of serpentine and tryptamine delve into explorations within the acid genre. rhys fulber’s string contribution on painkiller initiates a whirlwind rhetoric of distortion. panic stricken, no solace and tessellate focus on strong industrial pads that carry the density of each track whilst infinite dread’s ebm back bone hits hard with heavy arpeggiation. crucial to its form, the album showcases new experimental sound that repurposes algorithms of today’s dancefloor dogma. blush response exposes these paradigms through mutated build-ups and drops. however, his innovative “modular synth heavy” sound design obscures the flow in a way that permeates the concrete arenas his productions are designed for – in true berlin style.

the extended mixes single of phase fatale s debut full-length album on hospital productions takes three of the most dancefloor-ready songs from redeemer into abstracted, surreal and uncharted territory aimed for unlit, claustrophobic chambers. aided by silent servant with additional production, together hayden payne and juan mendez transform -order of severity,- -operate within,- and -spoken ashes- further down the machine. with more percussion and editing, they tear apart and lengthen the tracks through temporal space. the redeemer (extended mixes) 12- will be released simultaneously alongside the full-length album, adding yet another dimension into payne s own universe of the degenerated present.

“i’ve said it before, but dancehall and its influence on uk music has been a massive inspiration for me, going way back to hearing chris goldfinger on radio 1 playing music that was like nothing else i’d heard before. i love that fundamental rhythmic pattern, and i love how within the same world you can have some tunes that are built around the sweetest melodies and harmonies, and others that are built around super-tuff minimal drums and crazy squeeks and bleeps.
when it came time to build another ep for critical, i decided to link up with my good friend and long-time collaborator rider shafique, who has a much deeper knowledge of this music than me, and together create something that references both old and new dancehall, while still being playable in the kinds of sets i ve become known for. there’s no halftime and no chopped-up jungle breaks here - we wanted to make something really focussed and even disciplined - and hopefully we’ve succeeded.
big shouts to the vocal collaborators - super hyped to work with stush on a tune, irah came through with the righteous fire, and tiffanie malvo absolutely bodied her beat - but ultimate biggups have to go to rider. this wasn’t a project where i made the beats and rider voiced them - for pretty much every tune, we worked and reworked the riddims together. we’re both stoked on the results, and it seems like people in the dance feel the same way.” - sam binga

sentiment of callousness was written over a one-and-a-half year period of total collapse, characterized by disconnection between the world within and the perception of the world outside.
each of the tracks embodies feelings experienced during this time - from dark to bright, sluggish to energetic, alive to dead, real to unreal, and the self to the other.

and so solar phenomena’s astral adventures continue into the furthest corners of the technoid galaxy having executed a safe and successful take-off earlier this summer with echoplex’s “solar experience”, the new label continues to explore the stars with rising roman antonio ruscito.
following releases on who whom and edit select earlier this year, ruscito navigates us through a conceptual suite that questions ideas of existence and loneliness within a reality that blurs with virtuality at such a pace we have to question everything. one thing that doesn’t need questioning is the forthright and stark nature of these constructions.

after releasing space control an intergalactic journey into synthesizers, back in 2012, the theremynt duo went on to release a successful, if steady, stream of eps, including robotique de l amou r and vampiros discos (a tribute to brazilian filmmaker ze do caixao). with remixes coming from the likes of david carretta, acid washed and club bizarre, these were playlisted by scene djs such as marvin & guy and ivan smagghe, amongst others. now yann and eva are striking back with their second lp, parallels. it s a record that sees them changing their colour palette and mood, but one that s still haunted by ghosts that lurk within their synthesizers and drum machines. the 10 tracks still exhibit peel s ever shifting vocal style and yann s sophisticated arrangements. but the second lp oscillates between ballad and dancefloor, landing between cosmic disco influences, krautrock and other progressive techno sounds. as a bonus, the album also features a cover of famous 80 s anthem self control. (raf & laura branigan).

phase fatale creates techno from disparate subcultures of dead industrial with a post-punk spirit, bringing back an immediacy and aggressive energy sorely missing in the contemporary electronic landscape.
with “redeemer,” the debut full length from phase fatale, conceived by dj and producer hayden payne in new york by way of berlin, deepens his exploration of the tension—both sonic and conceptual—begun on his eps released over the last three years on the jealous god and unterton labels. in intent and impact, phase fatale bears allegiance to the surreal influence of juan mendez aka silent servant, with whom payne has worked closely in collaboration.

the follow up to sbr001 is a solo ep from resident artist alci, who is no stranger to the scene having built a solid catalogue and following within the underground circuit. against all authority provides three outputs from alci, all strong and solid cuts built with an attention to detail and subtle elements. sbr002 continues on a strong form that echoes the philosophies behind the people and its music that form sunday breakfast.

in the field of minimal house reissues, this is a big deal. perlon main man dimbiman doesn’t appear on wax often, but when he does he makes it count. this early release on baby ford s seminal pal sl was originally out in 1998, when minimal house was a vague concept at best on the most outer reaches of dance music. -iso grifo- itself remains a masterclass of spine-chilling space and perfectly strange sonic matter, while -lava- pushes the notion of reduction dance music to its absolute limit. -round- is an even more immersive affair that hides many subtle layers within its seemingly simple construct. quite simply groundbreaking stuff, and highly sought after so don’t sleep on it.

nice price deal !!! founded in september 2015, silo is a collective of young artists. the silo project concentrates both a label of contextual and experimental music as well as a publishing house practicing both lead and digital. its fields of research, experimentation and dissemination are therefore inherently multiple, local and dispersed, poetic and political. the collective silo organizes each year, during a month, time of meeting and residence within the place of which it bears the name. fonde en septembre 2015, silo est un collectif de jeunes artistes. le projet silo concentre a la fois un label de musique contextuelle et experimentale ainsi qu une maison d’e&#769,,,,dition pratiquant tout à la fois le plomb comme le numerique. ses champs de recherche, d experimentations et de diffusion sont donc par essence multiples, locaux et disperses, poetiques et politiques. le collectif silo organise chaque annee, durant un mois, des temps de rencontres et de résidence au sein du lieu dont il porte le nom.

berlin based producer synthek is a renowned name within contemporary techno. besides succesfully running his label natch records, he has been also a resident at the infamous tresor.
for the seventeenth installment in the string of attic music releases, synthek (luca landolfi) comes up with a staggering ep that contains a lot of adventurous drum patterns, bold arrangements and swells of daring fx.
on the a side we find “loser”, which is a brave cut of spherical yet moody techno that uses a buldging percussion line and otherwordly fx to create an ominous vibe. “uneven mind” is an exotic cut with tough drum sounds that uses a hypnotic synth swell that cuts throughout to create an alarming atmosphere. french producer and concrete resident antigone comes up with an uplifting (eight minutes long) remix for “uneven mind” on the b side which is beautifully orchastrated throughout. “faithless” is a percussive cut with intense fx blips.

tv showw is a new record label from paris. we are very proud to launch the label with an ep from one of chicago s most prolific and inventive electronic musicians : jamal moss a.k.a. hieroglyphic being or i.b.m., among others. jai/mahl is his fresh new alias especially created for this ep. the three tracks are made for the dancefloor (four-to-the-floor) while not diluting his signature oddity made of sonic textures and damaged rhythms. moss calls his style -synth expressionism- or -rhythmic cubism.-

in physics, entropy is a quantity generally described as the measure of disorder within any kind of thermodynamic system, including the universe. it counts the microscopic states that system can assume when open, interacting with others or getting altered by external conditions.
thus, entropy makes for the perfect description of the way ilpo väisänen (pan sonic, i- lp-o in dub) and dirk dresselhaus (schneider tm, a s s, locust fudge) have approached music creation since the establishment of their collaborative project angel (now die angel) in 1999. allowing energy to flow freely through machines, bodies and different acoustic conditions, they’ve generated a powerful archive of mutating sonic states. a kind of creative attitude that favors exploring the physical complexity of unstructured electronics.
that’s where the title for their first release on cosmo rhythmatic comes from, “entropien” being the finnish word and the german plural for entropy. getting back to the stripped down set of their beginnings (modular synths, effects, and processed guitar), they’ve come out with one of their most, intense, rawest and noisiest albums to date, showcasing an impressing scale of dynamics while attacking the senses with belligerent tones. oren ambarchi also shows up on two tracks, intertwining his drums, field recording, and guitar within the duo’s discordant layers.
entropien i is dedicated to mika vainio. may your soul rest in peace.

beloved dj, compiler and incurable vinyl junkie, kev beadle returns to bbe with a 3rd volume of his much lauded æprivate collectionÆ album series. taking in a wide range of obscure jazz with a distinct nod to the dance-foor, the frst two æprivate collectionsÆ are already considered classics by the jazz-dance community. once again presenting a wealth of ultrarare sounds previously only available to record collectors with very deep pockets, vol.3 sees kev inviting us to travel even deeper into the vinyl vaults.

ambient shoegaze duo aris kindt launch the new kingdoms imprint with their second album, swann and odette. picking up where their first record (2015Æs floods) leaves off, swann and odette is an evolutionary leap forward for the duo. the sonic palette is deeper, the grooves more sparse and the melodies are given more room to seep deep within a mix so expansive it feels almost tactile. this is heady, opulent stuff. the album is immaculately produced and cunningly arranged to sidestep easy classification while not sacrificing accessibility and authentic feeling. aris kindt is the collaborative project of gabe hedrick and francis harris (scissor and thread). harris has previously released the albums leland (2012) and minutes of sleep (2014), both of which have been lauded ôfor (their) extensive use of live instruments, a contrasting feature to his work done beforeö (last.fm, 2016). building on this approach, hedrick adds his own sonic signature in effects-laden layers of electric guitar and modular synthesizer. collectively, the album swells and reverberates to create a seamless interplay of synths and instrumentation cast loose from their origins and awash in oceanic delay.

5 track ep. yamahas dx series of synthesizers has long been a source of inspiration for tom trago. the dx7, in particular, appeals to the dutch producer thanks to a unique sound that he describes as glassy but classic and icy. 34 years after it went on sale the same year as trago was born, interestingly the synthesizer’s sound still bristles with futurist appeal. trago, who was partially trained in how to use the dx7 by studio friends bok bok, sterac electronics and juju and jordash, has decided to pay tribute to this most distinctive of synthesizers by using it as inspiration for serene waters, his first ep for voyage direct since 2014 epic hidden heart of gold.

every piece of paper has its own role in the big picture of a complex collage. every fractal structure finds the same pattern as we continue to zoom into it. apply these facts to the echoes and reverbs wrapped around the atmosphere that resides into distant dub references and you can catch a fair glimpse from the newest motif release.
a master in applying the laws of reductionism within his signature sound, adrian niculae signs yet another powerful statement under the motif vision: consensual ep

auf seinem zweiten houndstooth-album take, inspiriert von einer skandinavien-reise, erstellt der londoner produzent guy andrews, bekannt für düstere und brodelnde atmosphären, klangstrukturen und pulsierende rhythmen im spannungsfeld zwischen energie und zurückhaltung, und erkundet so den raum, in dem wir uns bewegen. auf zwei tracks begleitet in die deutsch-türkische singer/songwriterin aus münchen, alev lenz. guy andrews diskografie wesit weitere releases auf hemlock, erased tapes und hotflush auf, zu seinen fans gehören massive attack, bonobo, mary anne hobbs, ulrich schnauss und max cooper.

a truly essential package for the die-hard disco aficionado or for those who are exploring this most important movement in dance music for the first time. curated with the full input and backing of salsoul records and carefully selected to reflect the truly timeless nature of the music contained within. for listening, for dancing, for turning on a party! remastered by optimum mastering. artwork & design by million dollar disco.

from deep within the uk underground special things can emanate without warning. this is exactly what happened here, a special one-off white label remix of one of disco’s biggest stars by one of the founding members of possibly the most influential electronic music crews in the land? yep.
originally released as a promo-only white label, this remix has been wreaking havoc on dancefloors over the course of the summer and has featured heavily in the hessle audio crew’s dj sets. gaining rave reviews on sites such as ra and with people literally passing out with excitement over this very special remix / re-edit it felt only right to give it a reissue on the label that serves as loleatta holloway’s spiritual home - salsoul records. the hype is real on this one, do not sleep!

skeleton recordings are proud to announce the release of the skeleton xxv project to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the label which originally launched in 1992. this is a five part collectors edition to celebrate 25 years of skeleton recordings. volumes 01 to 04 sleeve artwork when put together will form a big piece of artwork of the revamped original skeleton recordings logo that will look good on any wall. volume 05 will be a picture disc. the full digital album will only become available once all five volumes have been released. the project has taken just over 12 months to put together and is definitely something for the collectors. it has been generating quite a buzz within the underground circuit the closer it gets to release date and has been getting some really good support from the likes of bailey, storm and ray keith to name a few.

skeleton recordings are proud to announce the release of the skeleton xxv project to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the label which originally launched in 1992. this is a five part collectors edition to celebrate 25 years of skeleton recordings. volumes 01 to 04 sleeve artwork when put together will form a big piece of artwork of the revamped original skeleton recordings logo that will look good on any wall. volume 05 will be a picture disc. the full digital album will only become available once all five volumes have been released. the project has taken just over 12 months to put together and is definitely something for the collectors. it has been generating quite a buzz within the underground circuit the closer it gets to release date and has been getting some really good support from the likes of bailey, storm and ray keith to name a few.

eric maltz is a producer from new york city and now resides in berlin, germany. he is a former employee of halcyon records from its og glory days in it s first location in red hook/carrol gardens areas of brooklyn. -eric provided a sofa to me often through-ought my 20 s and vice-versa, we both cared about music above all else- we lived and breathed music- and we helped each other survive when we were penniless - if one was up, so was the other... eric and i were roommates, friends, we looked out for each other in a rough city with tough rules. every time one of us got a job at a restaurant or record shop, within weeks we would have the other working there too. we did that for a decade. we slang records for years at halcyon- a shop on smith street which had a portrait of stevie wonder painted on the front facade- and we threw parties all around brooklyn back then too.. every shitty bar that would have us lol. we were a dope team. he s the only person who has ever touched the third rail on a subway and survived too! true story. so you know i couldn t wait to release his debut lp. proud of this guy- - levon vincent

art present another landmark classic in electronic music history. originally released on stefan robbers eevo-lute label in 1993, ross 154 aka jochem peteri now best known for his productions as newworldaquarium released four tracks of deep, dark, mysterious hybrid techno interspersed with four delicate ambient interludes

another smasher from nous, this time courtesy of cofaxx, aka joseph magee and his boundlessly breathtaking pico vu ep, a seven tracker that manages to cover immense ground and knowledge within a compact narrative. and each track is a mandatory component of this cleverly assembled story with startling standouts such as dicey a deep detroity piece, layering into a sound signaturey space, while la s seasoned producer brown irvin closes side 1 with a bolshier bash at opening track tide pool s ambient, semi-conscious swirlings. over on the flip velvet is all golden era electronica stylings, early days warp and planet e on a lingering dinner date, while shape to fade in s smoky textures straddle irridescent sounds for a not-out-of-place jazzy backroom style builder.

a return to the source: ribcage is where it all began for the dubfire project. after years of exploring, subverting and setting brave new benchmarks in the house world, this marked the start of ali shirazinia setting out to set the same creative benchmarks in techno. restrained, drawn-out but beastly when it wanted to be, the original was a serious statement of intent. even at the time you got a sense it was going to be a historic tune. loco dice especially felt that when he signed it to desolat 10 years ago. to celebrate this time-flying milestone, dubfireÆs recruited two of the most respected names possible for remix duties. first up, the unstoppable, unavoidable, unquenchable dense & pika who keep within the dramatic rising template but with a whole new set of instruments and texturesà and a percussion palette that absolutely sizzles when the whole groove kicks in mid-way. phenomenal. hot on their heels comes a unique remix invitation to on-u legend and one of the ukÆs most decorated and treasured studio controllers adrian sherwood. turning in a serious techno re-cut that pays tribute to every element and takes over 12 minutes to make sure they each shine amid the head-twisting pools of tripped-out decay, itÆs clear his time with pinch has had a profound effect. two incredibly well considered and detailed remixes that remind you what remixes should beà brave new chapters of a story we all love being told. these will sound great when the 20th anniversary remixes are commissioned in 2027.

brahe opens with the romanian duo known as alsi delivering their signature punch with a 3 track ep. beautiful romanian music only found within the minds of the ubiqutious souls of this country.
support from rhadoo, cristi cons, vlad caia & raresh

the second ep of samuel rohrer’s range of regularity album presents two more striking reinterprations. these new remixes provide an intriguing parallax view of the original tracks, using the percussive eclecticism of the parent lp as a starting point from which to journey into sonically vibrant, feature-rich territories. the production specialists on hand for this project include burnt friedman and ricardo villalobos. villalobos, has already formed a strong working relationship with rohrer’s ambiq trio, lends his talents to both of the eps. (ror remixes i - amel-ep716). nonplace label boss friedman, as well, has carved out a unique space for himself within the electronic world, logging several decades’ worth of releases that with dub-wise production sensibility, skewed humor, and riots of tone color. though each individual remix has its own character, they are all united in their ability to provide a quick cure for fatigue with the common “loop”: though not improvised, they are strung together from fleeting phrases that evolve as if they are taking on a life independent of their creators. burnt friedman’s own dramatic interpretation of “microcosmoism” pairs up his consciousness of deep bass and analog inventiveness with rohrer’s continually transforming sound objects, making for a flowing and wordless narrative that simply dares listeners to stop paying attention. feeling more like a collaboration in “real time” than a remix proper, friedman brings his characteristic ‘mad scientist’ wit to the proceedings and delivers an energetic piece that simply glows in the dark. this is complemented nicely by villalobos’ remix of “microcosmoism”. it carries the energy level of the 1st ep over to a new disk, while heavily experimenting with feelings of emotional ambiguity. at some points aggressive and at other points merely curious, this mischievous collage of attitudes feels as inspired by the questing jazz of sun ra as it is by continental techno. contemplative keyboard runs, enthusiastic spring-like percussion and malfunctioning machine chatter all coalesce to make this a most fascinating piece of multi-purpose electronic music.

oaklands aybee will make his debut on mollys newly launched rdv (recit de voyage) with the labels second release. the nexus ep follows the dj/producer/filmmakers 2016 lp the odyssey on his own deepblak imprint and recent 12inch the motion syntax for londons dmk. having established a reputation as one of electronic musics foremost innovative and versatile musicians with a freeform, jazz-influenced approach to production that has lent itself equally to a prolific solo output under various guises and collaborations with afrikan sciences, ron trent and jerome sydneham - the nexus finds aybee again mining a deep & hypnotic house sound to maximum effect, employing the tribal drum patterns, hypnotic synths and signature grooves that helped establish the deepblak sound. the trio of tracks make for a perfect follow-up to rdvs debut from prophets of a new generation, and fit beautifully within the trademark deep, subtle & groovy style of the parisian dj & rex club resident molly, who herself is quickly establishing herself as a label owner with her own unique vision.

legendary philadelphia group first choice are undoubtedly disco legends. over the decades they have blessed turntables and eardrums with a slew of classic club records, look at any list of dj s choices or benchmark dance records and you ll see - doctor love , love & happiness , armed & extremely dangerous , double cross , love thang and many, many more! now, that s impressive. a truly legendary group, first choice came from humble beginnings during their student years in their native philly. off the back of some promising local appearances and some radio play they ended up working under the watchful eye of impresario norman harris who was managing soul legends the delfonics. the rest, as they say, is disco history! featured on this incredible compilation is some of first choice s classic mixes and cuts, touched by the old school masters, mixed by the heroes of disco - tee scott, shep pettibone, larry levan, tom moulton etc. truly an essential collection featuring all the classics listed above, and more, in their full 12- mix glory, untouched, respectfully remastered and compiled here with love and care. a truly essential package for the die-hard disco aficionado or for those who are exploring this most important movement in dance music for the first time. curated with the full input and backing of salsoul records and carefully selected to reflect the truly timeless nature of the music contained within. for listening, for dancing, for turning on a party! remastered by optimum mastering. artwork & design by million dollar disco.

the latest release on guy gerber’s successful label rumors is a remix ep of the dying seconds’ song ‘mora minn’. guy gerber himself turns in a dub remix, whilst acid mondays and elie nissan & jenia tarsol’s tales feature on the b side. guy’s remix see the acclaimed dj and producer turning the starting point into a wholly new and original sounding release. the dub mix puts guy’s outstanding production into the spotlight. subtle yet intricate, guy’s take on the record pulls together echoing piano chords, a delicate guitar line and emotive, building strings over a gently propulsive bassline. it’ll be familiar to those who have frequented guy’s famous rumors events series this season, with guy’s road testing of the release prompting many fans to ask what this new, distinctively gerber-stamped track could be. meanwhile, rumors label and events mainstays acid mondays take the track into deeper and darker territory, with a faster paced beat and sub-bass flourishes offsetting trippy vocal samples. two fellow tel aviv talents, eli nissan and jenia tarsol, round off the ep with a rework that matches more of the original’s drums, vocals ethereal piano line with amplified percussion and a dancefloor ready bassline. the ep drops towards middle of a busy season for the label and events series, rumors ibiza has become one of the busiest and most talked about daytime events on the island, with international parties in the likes of la, mykonos, sardinia and, most notably, a london street party selling out within hours. to accommodate his ever-expanding fanbase, guy will be playing a landmark headline show at london’s historic roundhouse on the day after this release.

the intergalactic research institute for sound presents de, a compilation of various artists representing georgian electronic and ambient music. / de is a compilation of music from artists of different backgrounds getting together in order to showcase the dynamic influences within the georgian scene. tbilisi is getting worldwide recognition at the moment for its booming club scene, but what this project aims to illustrate is what is happening outside of the club context. natalie beridze who has been performing worldwide since 2004 is known as the first female electronic music artist in georgia, rezo glonti has built his studio inside the hull of his boat, and zesknel is a resident of the renowned bassiani club, while myi and severiane were discovered thanks to myspace, soundcloud, and word-of-mouth. all these talents manage in their own ways to present / de, with murky and melancholic cuts. melancholia is at the core of beauty in georgia. that is not the case in germany and many other cultures, where melancholia is often charged and bound to a negative feeling, which some might perceive as weakness. consequently, one could be tempted to say that even if it‘s electronic music, de has a traditional georgian quality. but that would be putting art in boxes or cases because what is georgian art nowadays, when so many artists from this origin are scattered around? as giorgi maisuradze states in his mission statement for de, the world is their home.

h.takahashi, tokyo based architect and sound designer follows up his revered collection where to be? on where to now? records with raum, a full length lp suite of meditative pulse minimalism. raum draws its cues from a melting pot of closely connected yet wholly individual strands of minimalism - from the japanese minimalist works from the likes of hiroshi yoshimura and satoshi ashikawa, to masters such as erik satie and john cage, and ambient leaders brian eno and roedelius, takahashi soaks this historical influence and rings it out it through a modern filter to create a record of stillness, ethereal beauty, and transcendent energy. takahashi composes all of his music on his iphone, and this is no gimmick, rather a conscious decision which allows takahashi to constantly create on the go without the constraints of space, and for takahashi raum serves as a mediation on the relationship between sound and its environment. for takahashi this creative process feels something like an invisible phenomenon taking over & mutating these constantly changing spaces into abstract sound, creating a brief pseudo space which expresses and highlights the features of the environment for a moment in time.” although perhaps quite an abstract statement of intent, when deeply immersed into takahashi’s pieces this idea of slowly gliding through different architectural spaces is naturally conjured through the gentle repetitive pulse which runs through his work and the playful unstructured tonality of objects which weave around this forward (or upward) motion. raum was created across the city of tokyo, be it a café / park / office / road / platform / subway these pieces explore the power sound holds to emotionally enhance and mutate the listeners environment. the power of the music presented is in that which is barely there, embracing space, silence, and cyclical repetition. the music is to help us function - it s music to work to, to sleep to, to help us find a sense of space and oneness within a world that is increasingly wild and untameable.

iron curtis back catalogue is a formidable beast within the realms of deep and tech house, touching on labels like morris audio, jackoff, sudden drop and mule electronique. he s intermittently popped up on hudd traxx as well, and he returns with a fulsome new ep that hints at a forthcoming second part.lights- is a bold, chiseled peak timer with some emphatic string stabs coursing through it, while captured takes a slinkier route without dulling the impact of the curtis studio approach. 22 days is a funkier concern that lets the low end synths do the brunt of the work, and then my humming machines rounds the ep off with a warm and bubbling deep house roller for a cosier part of the night.

ruffien’s debut presents six songs of therapeutic ambience and enchanted basement workout. in its aesthetic, aired follows in the footsteps of modern day techno pioneers like actress or terrence dixon by creating a world in which all sounds are free-flowing but are fully under the control of the rigorous rhythmic chant of sidechain compression. the result is an ep that calmly embraces its dystopian and earthbound nature and keeps things organic and vibrant within its confines.

man power has proven on many occasions to be adept at all manner of different moods within the hardware house canon, but on this occasion hes particularly focusing on creating an exotic feeling out of mechanical means. tropical bastard is a fitting title for this project for not an animal records, with the original steeped in driving patterns of rhythm and melody that approximate a flavour of far flung lands while mutating the feeling into something more club-minded. lord of the isles goes one step further with a remix that ramps the modulation up to devilishly wonky levels. tropical bastard 2inch is an entirely different beast that plays on a cinematic vision of tropical escape, but with an acid thread pulsing through it. then the frank butters remix finishes the ep off with a more submerged, but equally mischievous take.

london s weekend circuit imprint returns with a 5 track ep from label owner michael wells entitled three marks of existence. the ep marks michael s debut on the label and is a signifier of his future direction as a producer - meditative, tense, unfolding electronics and monochrome ambient environments inform this release. the deepest of deep space is contained within ep opener antecedent , an almost menacing, enveloping track that engulfs us during it s 5 minutes or so of existence. verge follows and is driven by speaker puncturing taut, tribal drum programming and swirling satellite sounds, creeping further into the nexus. subtly heavy indeed. ‘three marks of existence mines an altogether different vein, an epic, widescreen vision of downtempo electro that is damaged, on the fritz, but containing enough melodic beauty to retain hope. souls in the machines. weekend circuit acolytes yyyy return to the scene of the crime with a monolithic remix of verge that opens the second side of this ep, showcasing their unique style and interpretation of the original mix, and following on from their previous split ep with stanislav tolkachev and their own ep ‘intention of mortal’. ‘ilmatar leaves us out and leads you into the cold night, the final transmission from the ‘three marks of existence signal. fierce drums punctuate the night sky and barren landscapes while somewhere deep inside, memories are remembered. equal parts thought provoking and anxious, the perfect end point for what will undoubtedly be a formative benchmark in the weekend circuit canon.

after the long awaited and acclaimed return of the notorious manie sans de&#769,lire on june records, one-half of the group, trenton chase, returns on the label with a bold solo lp marking his departure from the sound of his previous releases on the imprint. for his first album attempt, trenton embarks on the search for everything and manages to encapsulate the whole essence of the june records ethos within 43 minutes of music. although initially not planned as an album, deadlock was conceived organically as it only took a few months for its completion during the artist’s most abundant 2017 studio spring sessions. this body of work transcends formulaic attempts to showcase a very refreshing and uncompromising take on synth music. chase followed a crude approach to songwriting, rehearsing and improvising live until the best take would eventually become the final track. artwork by florent mazzocchetti.

the arrival of marvin parks on today’s musical scene can be considered a very fitting addition to the renaissance of the afro-american jazz crooner panorama, deeply rooted in the black music tradition. having his roots in gospel and in the ’50s and ’60s jazz singers by the likes of nat king cole, johnny hartman and joe williams, marvin parks yet remains by all means an artist of today.
in his debut marvin shapes his light baritone colors within the sound of a well-established group of musicians under the direction and production of nicola conte. the main idea was to create a soundscape to give a different light to well-known standards and some originals.

label boss, deepak sharma deliver a three-track gem on his solo debut for his imprint, hidden recordings. within annapurna lies his varied interpretations of techno vividly on display, all unique in their own ways but with a consistent, underlying gritty tone the label is famed for. he protects his house, and makes a bold statement as a soloist. from dj to curator of hidden recordings, deepak sharma has been entrenched in techno for over a decade. as the selector for hidden recordings, he began to expand the reach of his soundscape in order to appreciate all music, particularly techno. through these experiences, he had a moment where he started hearing sounds differently, and since then has been on a journey to make that sound. he s authentic to the mood and what feels right, combining raw, hypnotic rhythms that lay a foundation for an industrial monochrome minimalism with flashes of bright color while others fall deeper within the moody, darker abyss.