alan abrahams aka portable aka bodycode is an artist very much defined by his past and his journey from south africa to paris via berlin and lisbon has seen him develop into a critically acclaimed producer, singer and video artist working with some of the biggest players in house and techno. part of his constant drive to evolve and challenge himself, this autumn abrahams launches new project ranger, teaming up with london label waella s choice for the debut release. the five tracks on portable presents ranger are a delicate mélange of jazz , soul and electronic and one of abraham s most explicit nods to his south african roots. on the a-side, the ep makes a steady start with bazokonwaba accompanied by a lullaby from south african a capella group korus, hailing from the small township of mbekweni in the western cape. they also feature heavily on the ep s most exuberant moment in nomaliso - already a favourite in esa s recent boiler room - and the more languid b-side opener indaba with a choir of cowbells all harmonizing in unison. reset and vessel provide a self-reflective conclusion to the ep, holding their own as instrumentals with cameroonian bass player stan on bass and parisian saxophonist chisneg lending a hand on the latter. early support from tama sumo, lakuti, gilles peterson, rinse fm, esa, stamp the wax, dimensions recordings

following the amazing debut ep from yse saint laurant, we have the long-awaited follow up after releasing the incredible >abah dabah dis< on ppflimited, yse expertly handled the debut on pickpocket & now returns with the monster erasmos a mid-tempo throbber of the highest order mysterious newcomers fence handle proceedings on the flipside, letta from soweto is a dub rework of the afro-balearic beauty >normalizo< while yebo ! takes on an early 80s b side from art of noise, skillfully reworked into a super chunky slo-mo, chant laden frugger.