We’ve come to the third and final installment of Dam Swindle’s ‘Keep on Swindling’ series, finishing off their 10-year anniversary with a bang. This final EP holds 2 new originals, remixes by Nightmares on Wax and DJ Bone and the long-awaited re-release of their seminal track from 2013: ‘The Wrap Around’.

‘Keep on Swindling part 3’ kicks off with ‘You’; a fast-paced slice of electronic funk that sees the boys dive into heady club territory. With this track, they show a new direction in their sound that combines their vintage sampled-based soulfulness with modern percussive and melodic elements. Whether it’s the moody arpeggio, the techno-ish stabs or the bell-driven percussion in ‘You’; it’s all coming together in a way that is both heartwarming and rush-inducing.

The A side also holds ‘More Love’; a track that takes you back to what has been the center of the Dam Swindle sound in the past 10 years. Conga loops, vocal chops, synth stabs and a simple string to keep the tension; it’s all in there. Add to that a simple funk bass loop and you’ve got yourself a modern-day Swindle classic.

On the flip, you’ll find a special song from the Dam Swindle catalog: ‘The Wrap Around’. When released on Huxley’s now defunct Saints & Sonnets label back in 2013, the release made its way into many record bags and sold out quickly, never to be repressed again. Discogs prices went through the roof, while the title track became one of the biggest tracks for Dam Swindle in their early years. It's had a few touch-ups in arrangement and mixing for the 2022 mix, but the boys have worked hard to maintain the rough edges that made the original loved by so many fans.

The B2 is a collaboration with none other than Nightmares on Wax, who delivers a brilliantly creative version of ‘64 Way' feat. Mayer Hawthorne. N.O.W. completely flips the original, opting to use the spoken word intro in a mangled and chopped way on top of a nasty groove and soaring bassline. The main vocal comes in during the second part of the song and adds to the buildup with new Rhodes chords, cowbells, and electronic chops. It's a fitting remix from this legendary UK talent.

The EP closes off with another special track: DJ Bone’s Doc Ciroc remix of ‘The Wrap Around’. DJ Bone has been living in the Netherlands for a long time already and it was only a matter of time before the legendary Detroit producer and DJ would meet Dam Swindle. Bone goes for pacey percussion with a classic Detroit techno feel. His version is minimalistic and raw, chopping up the vocal and using the original Prophet pad as a base layer of warmth. The track gets even beefier when the bassline comes in: A dirty modded 101 lick with so much electronic funk that makes it impossible not to dance.

On ‘Keep on Swindling part 3’, Dam Swindle showcase a more electronic side of their sound and sees them connect with likeminded artists who have delivered amazing interpretations of some of the most loved DS tracks of the past years. With that, we’ve come to a banging conclusion to 10 years of Dam Swindle. Where will they go next?! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Third part of this crucial Dam Swindle retrospective which has boasted plenty of secret bonuses. Aside from three killer originals the DJ Bone and Nightmares On Wax remixes are worth the entrance fee alone. Dam Swindle are proper bastions of modern house music with a flair for dancefloor engineering; demonstrated wonderfully across the EP. TIP!

TRACK LISTING

A1. You
A2. More Love
B1. The Wrap Around (2022 Mix)
B2. 64 Ways Feat. Mayer Hawthorne (Nightmares On Wax Remix)
B3.The Wrap Around (DJ Bone’s Doc Ciroc Remix)

Holy schmokes! If you thought the Bicep ascent had reached its peak and couldn't get any higher you were wrong! Aptly timed for the forthcoming 'festival season', when rolling around in fields of mud whilst on various illegal narcotics is considered de rigueur, this little beauty should have you removing clothes and inhibitions quicker than you can pour that MDMA-laced vodka-Redbull down your thirsty neck. The title track kicks things off and suffuses a broken kick and snare combo with a poignant sequence and heart-rending synth strings. A vocal refrain (Bagarre?) drops in and out throughout a lucent breakdown before Bicep lay a soft, filtered croon over a swelling piano motif. Tension is astutely balanced, never quite boiling over and keeping the listener pinned before the duo drive a tough, gravelly kick under gentle flecks of acid and rich sweeping pads. "Celeste" leads with intricate conga patterns before an overwhelmingly emotional series of melodies and chords converge on the track. A heavily reverberated, ghostly female vox drifts elegantly in the background while the track's delicate beauty marches on, ascending into a spine-tingling section of crescendo of epic piano stabs and infectious congas. Massive! Finally, "Back 2 U (Tranz Dub)" touches on the 'rolling around a field on drugs' vibe I mentioned in the first paragraph. Mixing influences from 90s trance and progressive house, the pair have crafted a mighty, hypnotic beast of a tune which should be at the front of any big name DJ frequenting the festival circuit this Summer. Essential tackle. Move quick!

TRACK LISTING

A1 Just
B1 Celeste
B2 Back 2 U (Tranz Dub)

Early February 2011: Decided to make an album inspired by the Japanese post-war economic miracle. While searching for more information I found an old photo of the Mihama nuclear plant. The fact that this futuristic-looking plant was situated in such a beautiful spot so close to the sea made me curious. Are they safe when it comes to earthquakes and tsunamis? Further reading revealed that many of these plants are situated in earthquake-prone areas, some of them are even located next to shores that had been hit in the past by tsunamis. A photo of Mihama made me narrow down my focus only to Japanese nuclear plants. I wanted to make a soundtrack to some of them, concentrating on the architecture, design and localizations, but also questioning the potential radiation danger (a cooling system being destroyed by a landslide or earthquake, etc). As the head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the plants were so well designed that "such a situation is practically impossible." The album was finished on February 13th. On March 17th I received the following message from a FB friend: "Geir, some time ago you asked people for a photo of a Japanese nuclear powerplant. Is this going to be the sleeve of your new coming album? But more importantly: how did you actually predict the future?"

TRACK LISTING

1. Sendai - 1
2. Shika - 1
3. Joyo
4. Ikata - 1
5. Monju - 1
6. Genkai - 1
7. Oi - 1
8. Monju - 2
9. Fujiko

Following the release of Netflix’s inspiring documentary short, ‘Hold Your Breath: The Ice Dive’, Galya Bisengalieva presents her official soundtrack, via One Little Independent Records.

To accompany the gruelling journey of freediver Johanna Nordblad as she tries to break the world record for distance travelled under ice with one breath, Galya has crafted an expert ambient narration that highlights the rising intensity toward the films looming climax.

Galya uses warped solo violin techniques and electronically manipulated strings to produce compelling and emotive compositions that induce complete submersion. The soundtrack commands attention while giving the characters their own space to breathe.

“Employs swirling drones and saturated textures to evoke a fragmented world” - MOJO.

“[The tracks] beautifully storyboard the titular film, but also stand on their own as life-affirming ambient pieces” - Electronic Sound.

TRACK LISTING

Prelude
First Dive
Sisters
The Crash
Elina’s Fears
Healing
Melting Ice
Tapani
Lake öllöri
Should I Panic About Dying?
Rebuilding
The Night Before
The Dive
Ending

Canopy returns, following up their previously well received singles, with the fourth release on the label. This time around the focus is entirely on the remixes, with the original titles from Nigerian Band The Celebrant to feature on the forthcoming reissue of their self-titled LP. The remixes are built around the afro funk breaks and cosmic synths which the 3 producers have re-calibrated and re-celebrated to devastating effect. Stylistically the vibe sits between searing outer space afro funk and classy afro-disco.

Opolopo dons his astronaut suit for his first outing on Canopy, propelling “Off Beats” into the off-world stratosphere in a remake that never rests in its irresistible groove. Weighting down the beat with shuffling house beats while his signature funky synth work augments the synth solos of The Celebrant. Together they ignite the rockets to raise this track into another dimension.

Captain Planet marks his return to Canopy with a deliriously danceable remake of “Off Beats”. Upping the tempo and adding a muscular flex he serves up a bassline with just the right amount of grit. Framed by this powerful electronic architecture, the horn lines and guitar solos do serious collateral damage. Impeccable production values combined with the scorching afro funk breaks make this an incendiary weapon indeed. Once the synth lines kick in, there is no doubt who is in control. Prepare to lift off!

Aroop Roy blesses Canopy for the first time with this remix of “Funky Music”, adding his infamously smooth and funky touch. The maestro is well renowned for his skill at flipping already killer material into highly addictive dancefloor bombs. Here he adds an undeniably groovy bassline to back the afro horn arrangements and interstellar synth solos. Setting it all ablaze he transforms these afro chops into a proper late night disco affair. When the Balearic pads ascend, the vibe simply levitates! Wide eyed and euphoric, this joint will sooth even the most savage of souls as they start to elevate into the aether.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: We're all absolutely suckers for Opolopo here at the moment, so we didn't need much persuading on this one. Thankfully Captain Planet and Aroop Roy also turn out exemplary efforts, gifting The Celebrant with a remix EP of royal proportions. Don't sleep on this one folks.

TRACK LISTING

The Celebrant - Off Beats (OPOLOPO Tweak)
The Celebrant - Off Beats (Captain Planet Remix)
The Celebrant - Funky Music (Aroop Roy Rework)

The third release from Psssh completes the trilogy of EPs from label founder Dauwd, with a cameo from Sied. Typically primitive, rhythmically intricate with a tubby feel; a revamp of the tribal techno sounds of the early 2000s with a hint of the right now and a delicate, organic touch. Sound good? Psssh 003 is possibly the best one yet. Do not sleep!!! 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Dauwd - The Yuzer
B1. Dauwd - SpaceSamba
B2. Dauwd + Sied - Body High

A composition simply means things being put together. In music, we usually think of composition as a classical idea. But in recent years, the possibilities of what ‘composing’ can be, have dramatically increased. Based in Oslo, Norway, Deathprod (aka Helge Sten) has been making his own forms of music with no compromise since the early 90s. His specialty is a deeply atmospheric, grainy minimalism that slows time down and explores the very particles of sound itself. This music can sound forbidding and alien at first, but compared to his more brutal output, it’s an extraordinarily close and intimate experience. The first new Deathprod studio project since 2019’s OCCULTING DISK, Compositions is the result of an intense period at his legendary Audio Virus Lab studio in central Oslo. All tracks are released in chronological order – in other words, the order in which they were recorded. Helge used a personal, unique combination of obsolete digital audio processors and sound generators, combined with his own secret-sauce tuning system. Like gazing at the wonders revealed by an electron microscope with Helge compositional control directs your attention to a succession of ever more spellbinding details and textures. Helge adopted the Deathprod alias in 1991. A complex array of homemade electronics, samplers, sound processing and analogue effects – cumulatively known as the ‘Audio Virus’ – combined with obsolete samplers and playback devices, to distort and transform sounds into unrecognizable relatives of their former selves. On the new album Compositions, the virus has evolved into even more fascinating and kaleidoscopic new strains.

Electronically generated sounds vibrate and tremble like undiscovered metals ringing and resonating together. Sonic forms attract or repel each other as if under the influence of a strange magnetism. None of the tracks are over four minutes, but no way are these ‘miniatures’. Each one contains its own fully-formed galaxy of tones and clusters, while all tracks audibly belong in the same universe. These are 17 compositions in search of a sonic ideal. His off-grid audio control centre created a parallel acoustic universe which he filled with mutated samples and electronic textures. Even the gaps between the tracks are part of that universe. Helge left the almost silent, twitching crackles of his snoozing analogue gear intact, ensuring a smoother transition between them. Helge is continually striving to find new parameters and possibilities for what music can be – what you can affect with the medium of sound. From the intricate homemade miniatures of Treetop Drive to the bonecrushing electronic barrage of Morals and Dogma and OCCULTING DISK, the different sides of Deathprod are all products of the same obsessive focus and self-discipline in pursuit of sonic exploration. His Compositions are private rather than public music: like introspective chamber or solo compositions instead of the more strident, outward-looking tones of a symphony. Helge is a founder of Norwegian improvising group Supersilent and has produced records by Motorpsycho, Susanna, Jenny Hval, Arve Henriksen and others. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Composition 1
2. Composition 2
3. Composition 3
4. Composition 4
5. Composition 5
6. Composition 6
7. Composition 7
8. Composition 8
9. Composition 9
10. Composition 10
11. Composition 11
12. Composition 12
13. Composition 13
14. Composition 14
15. Composition 15
16. Composition 16
17. Composition 17 

Strictly limited to 300 / screen printed gatefold sleeves & stamped labels.

***Taken from Leaked Whatsapp messages between DJ Absolutely Shit and Il Bosco***

Yo cousin Bosco...how's ya raisin widge?

Nice one for that last lot of dough i'm starting to well buzz off all this music industry bollocks now you know...mad what you can do with a catchy DJ name and pure absolutely mega tunes wot are miles better than anyone elses init?

Anyway i've been diggin' me fuckin' 'ed off ant I recently and got some more well primo gear for yas here...done 8 this time - was thinking if i'm managing to sort me life out banging out EPs for yas - if I do an album or two i'll be mega wedged in no time deffo init.

Yeah i'm thinking fuck this i need to get out this rank shit-hole quicktime... spotted this sick 3 bed thatched cottage gaff in Cadishead the other day, well smart. Detached n everything G, so can deffo get a proper grow on in there piece of piss. Gran's doin me ed in n all here G, big style the old slapper. She keeps robbin' me cash!
Turn me back for 5 mins and she's fuckin chonged it all the little turd... fuckin fuming ta fuck g cant wait to do one from that shitty flat...and if she thinks she's keeping me dodgy sky box she suck me widge haha.

Anyway shout me soon init. fuck knows what to call this album g. ask Pharaoh to come up with a name for it the turd. i can't be arsed thinkin... Seen him the other day actually bumped into him and that Crispy Duck guy who does those sick comics. They was outside some posh coffee gaff in Ancoats with a few other chumps lobbing bricks at a pile of other bricks down near the canal drinking pink hooch the turds. Get em to do the artwork for it n all g. if they want paying or owt tell 'em to suck me widge haha.

Nice one

**********

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Pardon the cryptic fax above. We've been waiting an eternity for this! Taking us back to the sound of Bowlers and Thunderdome, it's Red Laser's international anti-hero DJ Absolutely Shit ready to blast us out of Tory misery in the same way as The Second Summer of Love did way back when. Hardcore will never die!

SUPER limited edition, clear vinyl dubplate of the new DJ Absolutely Shit EP - "Sloggers Bar". Featuring exclusive track, "Drop The Face" - only available on this 12"!!

DJ Absolutely Shit has fast injected new life into the old tropes of hardcore breakbeat and vintage rave music - updating the blueprint with fresh, soundsystem tickling techniques and modern sounds for the discerning 2023 dancefloors! Effortlessly becoming cult cultural leaders of the emerging new hardcore movement and easily one of the most collectable artists to grace our dance section for many moons!

"Sloggers Bar" contains the EPIC, "Close Your Eyes" - with that discombobulated vox that's haunted The White Hotel and anywhere else the Red Laser crew has DJed of late. "Breaktalo Dark" is equally anthemic; it's sub-reinforced rave stabs ricocheting through even the quaintest of rave dungeons whilst a whole manner of pill-poppin' yoof erupt into reckless abandon.

"My Desire" is perhaps the most retrotastic track of this new set - utilizing classic hip-house / electro vocals, a tidy old breakbeat and with superbly timed drops, this one of those precision arrangements tha’llt cause alchemical bonds to form between dancers and DJs under the heat of a Big Night Out. Imperative!

Finally, the dubplate only track, "Drop The Face" concludes. This WILL NOT be available anywhere other than on this 12" pop pickers, ensuring the enduring collectability of this wild record! It's another essential from the Ab Shit studio - a foot stomping mid-sessioner with both proto-house and proggy influences; perfect for simmering up a heady broth of tension as the floor fills up and the sweat levels start to rise.

Limited to 50 copies for the entire world - do not fuck about with this one folks! E-e-e-e-eeessential! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: SERIOSULY exclusive, limited edition dubplate PRESHA! from the Red Laser / DJ Absolutely Shit axis. Only 50 copies for the entire world. Road tested to buggery and the crew's parties and set to become a cult collectors item.

TRACK LISTING

1. Close Your Eyes 
2. Breaktalo Dark 
3. My Desire
4. Drop The Face (Dupplate Version)

As 'Portrait With Firewood' is Felix’s most personal body of work to date, the product of an emotionally turbulent 2017, capturing the range of feelings and emotions he went through in vivid sonic beauty. By putting aside his previous sampladelic approach he returned to his childhood instrument of the piano as a core starting point.

"It's a confessional record… I realise that's a word mostly used to describe singer/songwriter rather than (largely) instrumental music, but I think it's apt. There's a sort of emotional candour.”

Felix is classically trained in the jazz tradition and influenced by the likes of Keith Jarrett and Alice Coltrane. Previously he was shy at the prospect of fans hearing his piano playing, but determined to overcome this fear he has brought forward a new honesty to his work.

"Finding the confidence to work with my own piano improvisations was a big part of that. Once I had figured out how I was going to make the music, it actually fell in to place rather quickly.”

Felix's goal was to create something "overwhelmingly beautiful", but also to capture the "inherent melancholy in beauty in all it's impermanance and fragility". He took inspiration and solace from performance artist Marina Abramovic.

"She has an incredibly deep understanding of the human condition, and expresses it in such a poetic way. Many of the themes of her work had particular resonance for me over the course of 2017 as I worked on the album. I was moved to tears on several occasions watching her videos or reading about her work.”

Felix collaborated with cellist Zosia Jagodzinska and vocalist Lola Empire. Jagodzinska recorded several takes of improvisations over the track 'Creature' which Felix would chop, pitch and layer into new melodic lines and seed throughout the album.

Felix's new approach expanded to experimentation with field recording, contact micing his beloved piano and purchasing his first hardware synth, all in service of enriching the personal, humane quality of the record.

"Music helps me to communicate the sorts of things that I find almost impossible to put in to words. I think the process for this album has helped me create a more rich and emotionally complex body of work than I have managed before.”

TRACK LISTING

A1. Unblocked
A2. Waters Rising
A3. Creature Pt.1

B1. Creature Pt.2
B2. Sex

C1. Blue Violet
C2. Sparrows

D1. Showreel Pt.3
D2. Blood In My Mouth

Having co-produced Duran Duran’s acclaimed fifteenth studio album, ‘FUTURE PAST’, Erol Alkan returns to recent single ‘ALL OF YOU’ to deliver a very special Extended Rework. Paying tribute to the band’s pioneering ‘Night Version’ remixes that tipped their earliest material towards the dance floor, this grandiose reimagining equally recalls Alkan’s beloved reworks from over the years.

Recorded with founding members Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Roger Taylor, ‘All Of You’ also features lead guitar from Graham Coxon and backing vocals by Barli. Blessed with the raw material, Alkan distills each element into a glorious disco odyssey totalling nearly ten minutes, an epic but sensual dance floor trip that already ranks amongst his finest work. 

Phantasy is proud to release 'ALL OF YOU (Erol Alkan's Extended Rework)’ (backed with an instrumental version) on a limited run of 12” vinyl.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Massively over-ordered, so likely to have gone when you read this. But don't panic! The label have already ordered a repress. That's what our 'wish list' button is for. More copies due in a couple of weeks or so, so don't dismay!

TRACK LISTING

A. All Of You (Erol Alkan's Extended Rework)
B. All Of You (Erol Alkan's Instrumental Rework)

This is THE FIRST EVER commercial vinyl release of the classic folk horror score, presented in an incredible pop up Witchfinder sleeve!

For many, this is the long LONG awaited score that completes the “holy trinity” of folk horror: The Wicker Man, Blood On Satan’s Claw, Witchfinder General. And all these albums were first commercially found and released by Jonny Trunk. This is the first time Witchfinder General has been commercially released on LP (previously only available as a mega rare 1973 library LP or withdrawn CD!). As well as the superb Matthew Hopkins / Vincent Price pop up, the gatefold sleeves feature stills from the classic film, plus comprehensive notes about the film production history and the music. This is just the package the folk horror fans really want. This is the first pressing, if there is a second it will not come with the pop up sleeve.

Classic pastoral, melodic and scary music. 

"Never Been" is the first collaborative release by Loradeniz and Interstellar Funk, who produced the EP at a Volkshotel artist residency in Amsterdam in 2021. The record examines the interplay of synthetic melodies and Loradeniz’s vocals, which are underpinned by meticulously crafted rhythms. Steeped in melancholy, many of the tracks on "Never Been" evoke the essence of departure, complex emotions and fading memories.

"Freefall" - which has already been caned by DJs last summer - opens with a solid bassline and crystalline melodies. An urgent kick and racing hi-hats intensify the composition, while the dominant topline brings to mind a rapturous dance at twilight. An allegory of communication, "Hidden Tongue" has Loradeniz pronouncing splintered vowels, like a malfunctioning public service recording, over a reverberated snare, deep kick and repeating glockenspiel figure.

"Fly Me In" begins with an arpeggiated melody, before slowly combining multiple electric accents and delicate vocals with spoken word passages exploring notions of escape. The heroic overtones of "Situational Lullaby" develop subtly with layers of synths reminiscent of mid-90s soundtracks, while "Lurking Orange" closes the release with its listless refrain and snake-like percussion.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Brilliantly inventive and evocative synthscapes; considered song writing with a futuristic sheen. Original whilst also highly listenable. If Interstellar Funk & Loradeniz weren't on your radar yet - they should be now!

TRACK LISTING

Fly Me In
Freefall
Hidden Tongue
Situational Lullaby
Lurking Orange

Kavinsky (1968 - 1986)

Rest in peace.

Kavinsky died in 1986 in a car accident, at the wheel of his Testarossa. He reappeared in the skin of a zombie in 2005, for the release of his first EP " Teddy boy " on Record Makers.

Teddy Boy marks the entry of Kavinsky on the French electronic stage. "Testarossa Autodrive" makes the unanimity and forges the artistic print of the artist, Mr Oizo / Quentin Dupieux will make a remix. It follows this EP which Kavinsky will enter into the "French Touch" and will begin to be known, in particular with the amateurs of the worlds.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Testarossa Autodrive
A2. Mr Oizo Autodrive T42
A3. Transistor
B1. The Crash
B2. Testarossa Nightdrive
B3. Arpanet Nightdrive Rework
B4. Ghost Transistor

Spechen make a return to the magical world of vinyl with a 4 track release of sublime musical proportions which comes courtesy of Lena C; who's Promenade EP transcendences the smokey basements & subterranean dancefloor dwellings we often inhabit. It's all aboard the Zen-Express for this release that incorporates the musical & cultural influences this French born (but now Hebden Bridge based) DJ and music producer has experienced so far on her journey.

"Shokran" (from the Arabic 'Shukran' meaning 'thank you') is a breathy affair with hooky arp lines and a chest warming bass with almost playful synth lines joining in along the way. Percussion keeps up the chug factor but never derailing from its beauty.

"Haku" takes in the sounds of Japan with a hypnotic bass melody wrapped around soft synth stabs, soothing strings and a dream inducing percussion arrangement which when all wrapped up together is destined to be played / heard in the sun with waves crashing, breeze blowing & a mental reset taking place.

"Breeze" blows in & continues to take us into the unknown and cranks the audible wonderment up to 11. A broken beat carries spaced out synth lines & bass melody with skippy percussion which all sounds like it would be frantic but in Lena's hands its a perfect delivery of aural beauty.

"Azur" closes off this trip in perfect harmony and we'd maybe even book this under the 'Balearic chuggers' category (though the jury is out!). Hooky melodies with a warped vocal sample (which we think is Lena but she swears it isn't!) and some truly uplifting synth & pads make this the only way to close off this stunning EP.

STAFF COMMENTS

Mine says: The latest contributor to the Piccadilly Mix series, Léna C, releases her own record on Manchester based label Sprechen, and just as her monthly Reform Radio show 'Jet Lag' it evokes major wanderlust not just in travel enthusiasts! Lovely stuff.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Shokran
A2 Haku
B1 Breeze
B2 Azur

The long awaited return of Nosaj Thing AKA Jason Chung, his 5th album and his debut for LUCKYME®, Continua is an ensemble work from the artist Pitchfork dubbed the ‘preeminent modern minimalist’.

The record features 12 artists at the fore of jazz, hip hop, rock, soul and the avant garde, brought together by the cohesiveness of Chung's signature atmospheres: Toro y Moi, Julianna Barwick, Duval Timothy, Panda Bear (Animal Collective), Eyedress, serpentwithfeet, Pink Siifu, HYUKOH, Mike Andrews, Sam Gendel, Slauson Malone, Coby Sey, Kazu Makino (Blonde Redhead) and more contribute to this future classic.

“There’s multiple energies on the record and every time I hear it, it feels alive to me. It’s a communal record and we all tuned into something. My hope is that this could impact whoever's listening to it in a positive way. Continua invites you forward. To keep going.”

The heightened emotional undertones of Continua nod to a golden era where virtuosic electronic, downtempo and hip hop-inspired production transcended the late 90s MTV2 pop canon. Nosaj Thing's expertise is in crafting soundscapes that imply his journey, tracing back to the noise and punk shows at DIY venue The Smell, to working behind the counter of Turntable Lab, to his debut at Low End Theory, his opening performances for The xx and then The Weeknd. He’s played a decade of ambitious, headline experiences with Tokyo-based visual savant, Daito Manabe. This essence of IRL live-ness imbues his music with such a visceral emotional range that it would be reductive to describe it as a 'mood'. But it's exactly that communally-shared 'mood' that has made Nosaj Thing such a cult artist across his 16-year-deep discography.

TRACK LISTING

A
1 Continua
2 My Soul Or Something Ft. Kazu Makino
3 Process
4 Woodland Ft Serpentwithfeet
5 Blue Hour Ft Julianna Barwick
6 Grasp Ft Coby Sey, Slauson Malone & Sam Gendel

B
1 We Are (우리는) Ft HYUKOH
2 Condition Ft Toro Y Moi
3 Look Both Ways Ft Pink Siifu
4 All Over Ft Panda Bear
5 Skyline
6 Different Life Ft Eyedress

WRWTFWW Records drop the first ever best-of compilation of Soichi Terada’s amazing project Omodaka. including 14 songs never released on vinyl before. The 18-track ZENTSUU: Collected Works 2001-2019 album is available on double LP in heavy 350gsm sleeve with printed inner sleeves, as well as in CD and digital formats.

Initiated in 2001 while trying to create a ‘boat racing song’, the Omoka project features sublime music by veteran electronic / house / jungle / video game music producer / DJ Soichi Terada and the vocals of Japanese folk min'yo & enka singer Akiko Kanazawa for a never-heard-before colorful blend of retro game 8bit / chiptune sounds and traditional Japanese music with wet electro rhythms, joyful 90s house grooves, and slick downtempo vibes. Feel-good, sexy, and fun, Terada’s project brings forth one of the most unique sounds in recent memory. The smile-inducing sonic adventure is packed with irresistible hits and a good dose of dancefloor-ready gems: a well deserved delivery of good times for 2022 and beyond!

Tokyo born genius Soichi Terada has built an impressive career in different music genres. He co-founded respected label Far East Recording with Shinchiro Yokata, composed the soundtrack for cult video game series Ape Escape, released tons of amazing house music records (some included in the beautiful compilation “Sounds from the Far East” released by Rush Hour in 2015), and has been a celebrated world-touring DJ.

- For fans of folktonica, house, dance, Japanese traditional music meets video game music, chiptune, Soichi Terada, Far East Recording, good times, good times, and more good times.

- First ever vinyl release of collected works from Soichi Terada’s project Omodaka!

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Absolute madness from Soichi Terada! You might associate him with crafting deep house masterpieces; but he's also a dab hand at video soundtracks! Alongside Akiko Kanazawa this is a singular chiptune curio with amazingly catchy pop sensibilities and beguiling 8 bit sound design. Wild and wonderful!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Aranjuez
A2. Galaxy Deca
A3. Kiso Bushi
A4. Iyano Kobiki
A5. Kusatsu Bushi
B1. Nanbu Ushioi Uta
B2. Chakkiri Bushi
B3. Ryotsu Jinku
B4. Hyamikao
C1. Cantata No.147
C2. Kokiriko Bushi
C3. Fortunate 1mark
C4. Otemoyan
D1. Yosawya San
D2. Hietsuki Bushi
D3. Monkey Turn
D4. Kyoteidaiski
D5. Plum Song

Gemma Ray takes an unexpected detour from her acclaimed psych-soul and torch song oeuvre with a hard-edged experiment in cinematic electronica.

Epic despite its underlying simplicity and groove, ‘Gemma Ray & The Death Bell Gang’ blends the funereal and the sinister with tenderness and yearning, with a dash of automaton-pop and a Dada-esque playfulness for good measure. Front and centre are Gemma’s trademark stirring voice and harmonies.

Released on eco-mix and splatter coloured vinyl formats, with download card and exclusive pull-out poster by British painter Deryk Thomas (Swans, Angels of Light).

The record was recorded at Tempelhof Flughafen in Berlin and features collaborations from sound designer Ralf Goldkind (Fantastichen Vier, Mona Mur), lap steel player Kristof Hahn (Swans), and syncussion by Andy Zammit (Jon Spencer).

Accompanying videos for the singles ‘Come Oblivion’, ‘Howling’ and ‘Procession’ by animator Lucy Dyson (Paul McCartney, Beyonce, Courtney Barnett).

TRACK LISTING

No Love
Procession
Be Still
Howling
Come Oblivion
Tempelhof Desert Inn
I Am Not Who I Am
The Point That Tears
All These Things
Blowing Up Rocks

Deep fried to perfection, Manuel Sahagun is next up to the plate for your favourite potato-based label Pomme Frite. A five-track disco house menu, served extra crispy with all the sauce you could ever need. Comfort cuts with summer firmly in mind.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: 'Pigeon tackle' as my friends and co-workers often remind me - repetitive concentric club shit that has you spinning around in circles with your eyes wide shut. As good an example as you'll ever find! Love the centre label too. 10 / 10

TRACK LISTING

A1. Get Closer
A2. Boogie Sister
B1. 1,2...
B2. Shit And Run
B3. Spoon

The impact Belfast born duo Bicep have had on Irish music is unmeasurable, capturing the hearts and minds of the next-gen with their future-facing sonics. The pairing started their FMB label in 2012, going on to support a plethora of Irish artists in the process, from Cromby and Hammer to Brassica and Brame & Hamo.

The label's latest record comes from yet another Irish artist. Swoose, a name that should be familiar to any Irish electronic lover, began his career handing out flyers for legendary club Stiff Kitten. From here Swoose went on to become a resident of Shine and AVA Festival, and has released a string of killer records on Shall Not Fade and Lost Palms. Now residing in London, his record on FMB brings the OG Belfast dance music community back together for a fittingly euphoric release.

Title track ‘Breathe’ produces poignant undertones and contemplative thought, meditative breaks channeling the producer's fascination with wild flora and fauna. The track's interior begins to distort our sense of time and self, liquid textures forming over celestial harmonies like psilocybin. ‘Hyphae’ takes a 4/4 approach, while keeping the EP’s emotional personality present. Its pulsating bassline is balanced by far-reaching syths and dancing hi-hats, resting in a unified space of motion and colour.

Rotterdam via Belfast based artist Kessler has been on the tip of everyone's tongue since the return of clubbing. He has released music on Sherelle’s BEAUTIFUL black and LGBTQ+ label and his debut Shall Not Fade release was one of the most celebrated EPs of 2021. Kesslers knackt to create beautiful, other-wordly soundscapes that are both functional and edge on the side of melancholy are unmatched. His flip of title track ‘Breathe’ swaps gentler tones for his signature UK-sound inspired drums and crowd-evaporating atmospherics. The arrangements gentle ebb and flow, maintaining that signature blend of pace and etherealness.

Toronto’s Peach is on hand for the second remix – ‘Hyphae – a stripped-back early-morning groover that mixes psychedelia with flexible percussion. The track gives off a subtly uplifting vibe that blends heads-down club with minimal, punchy aesthetic. Just when you thought it was time to go home too...

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Plasma pools, hydroplaning water vehicles, deep ripples; it's a highly textures electronic soundscape provided by FMB newcomers Swoose - get involved!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Breathe
A2. Hyphae
B1. Breathe (Kessler Remix)
B2. Hyphae (Peach Remix)

With "Leave Me Alone", Detlef Weinrich presents his fifth album under the moniker Tolouse Low Trax. Weinrich, who has meanwhile turned his back on Düsseldorf and lives in Paris, has long since ceased to be an insider tip and is a guest in renowned clubs and festivals all over Europe. With his new album, he succeeds in an exciting, unforeseen new direction. The velvety heaviness and rawness of earlier records seems to have given way to a new playfulness. A playfulness perhaps in the sense of an electronica reminiscent of the late 1990s, which in its idea of deconstruction and reduction is currently enjoying a new appreciation in the clubs. But also in the sense of an urban vibe of hip hop and dub references, which are woven into a very unique mix in Weinrich's tracks.

Nervous mechanical murmurs, drifting comic-like through razor-sharp rhythm cliffs: welcome to "Leave Me Alone", a loop meta-level dreamland of styles and mental meteorology. A repetitive notion on the overwhelming speechlessness towards the world, its clocking, and all the despairs that come along with it. Wholly veiled in a sharp sonorous language, that brings a complete agreement of the expression with the idea, a sense of harmony, of a secret beauty, that often escapes the judgment of the crowd. It marks the latest longplayer by Tolouse Low Trax. After his stunning collaboration with French singer and hurdy gurdy player Emmanuelle Parrenin and myriad remixes for artists like Aksak Maboul, Ex Ponto, or Sebastian Tellier, he sharpened his artistic skills for a fresh musical treasure hunt. "Leave Me Alone" is a renunciation from the industrial slow drone zones, waving into spectacular decon- structed style collages.

13 veiled drum machine experiments, featuring dubby jazz districts, hip-hop flair, haunting little melodies, and the TLT signature funk. Again, he listened to the prose of his rhythms deeply, connecting the tones, placing rhythmic commas judiciously, like stops on a long road. All obscured into a new, ironic, yet totally serious sound layout, that is mirrored in the minimalistic shaped cover art- work full of suggestions to ramified cultural meanings. For a wonder, this time almost no pocketed vocal samples in the TLT creations. Instead, freshly recorded spoken words and singing by Brooklyn based producer Chris Hontos aka Beat Detectives, poet and multidisciplinary artist Fran from Paris and Italian synthesist and singer Andrea Noce aka Eva Geist, chanting introspective verses and Pier Paolo Pasolini poems over rugged grooves and suggestive sounds, opening his creative universe into a crisp manic eroticism. A cluster of genres, dancing in a rebellious, blistering swing, whirling styles upside down with an overall atmosphere that is flourishing on a positive spirit. An accessibility unusual for TLT and his non- conformist MPC driven music. So, let’s leave him alone and get lost in a wavering jaunt that chase away angst and depression with smoky musical spells and dramatic interlocking beat patterns.

TRACK LISTING

1. Albatros
2. How To Beat The Sea
3. Gates
4. Impure Nature
5. I Would Prefer Not To
6. My
7. Non Giudicare
8. Yellows
9. A Great, Strange And Moving Work
10. Ossia
11. White Flicker
12. Muddy Floors
13. Bianca From Rome

With 'Parallel Light', AndrewWasylyk offers an alternative mix album to 2020's spiritual-jazz and neo-classical masterclass in melody, 'Fugitive Light And Themes Of Consolation'. This new LP, his third with Athens Of North Records, is as much a different perspective as a companion piece.

The ten songs still circle landscapes for meaning, channelling half-heard melodies and misremembered memories; caught somewhere between settling down and setting out towards the shining levels of the estuary and beyond. Each magnifying the bold, expansive arrangements of FL&TOC with layers are lifted and peeled away.

The soft-focus glow of gently pressed piano keys, the well and wash of strings and brass remain, but the deduction of instrumentation serves to highlight the ornate and offers comfort with this new found space. In the warmth reshaped, a romanticism illuminated.

At the essence of these reframed compositions Wasylyk's blue and gold, mellifluous refrains prevail. It's a seamless, sublime flow from a restless artists and an album quietly reawakened.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Love a bit of Wasylyk, me. For those of you that loved Parallel Light, this is MORE of that stunning loveliness, brimming with moments of tension and release and the same tender melodies. Reworked versions still swim with the soul of the original LP but with the background and textures pulling into view a whole world of harmonic variation.

TRACK LISTING

1. A Further Look At Loss (Alternate Mix)
2. Last Sunbeans Of Childhood (Alternate Mix)
3. Fugitive Light Restless Water
4. The Violet Hour (Alternate Mix)
5. Everywhere Something Sublime (Alternate Mix)
6. In Balgay Silhouettes (Alternate Mix)
7. Awoke In The Early Days Of A Better World (Alternate Mix)
8. (Half Light Of) The Cadmium Moon
9. Black Bay Dream Minor (Alternate Mix)
10. Lost, Aglow

“Enter The Decagon” assembles friends of the label - near and far - for further excursions into the abyss of industrial, folk, jazz and ambient music.

From Copenhagen hails Kristi Brud (Bride of Christ) extending us with a shimmering violin contemplation initially made for the short art film piece The Abduction of Europa, absorbing a modal ambiance of harmonics rooted in central European renaissance. Recorded in Svalöv in rural Skåne comes a hillbilly folk jazz piece constructed by Joel and Ivar on equal parts violin, flute, upright bass and percussion, recorded somewhere in the misty era of of 2012-2015. Then, an interlude follows, reconstructed from the very early live sets of the label's own Inre Kretsen Grupp, laden with tuned metallic percussions and synthesized bow sounds. Following up, the idiosyncratic local talent Fai Ling offers a piece of Basinski/Hassel-esque horn repetitions in full deterioration. Concluding the A-side of the compilation is the band that never was - the only released material of Prins Emanuel and Golden Ivy's Börringe Kloster project - encapsulating their minimal maximal approach of low quality sound samples turned in to a wall of sound of rhythm of sorts.

The B-side picks up on different musings in the form of ambient cadence and carefully sculpted soundscapes signed Phillipp Otterbach, who gives us an unraveling journey into kalimba-hampered harmonies carried through a bed of industrial, synthesized sounds. Moonilena follows up with an eerie yet beautiful minimal composition of radio disturbances and repetitive, ear catching melodies.
Breaking the barrier of stillness, local producer and Catholic chant music fiend Digge Shim performs a rhytmical, tongue-in-cheek number that pulls widely from both the hymnal traditions of medieval Europe as well as the zonked out ambient trance sounds you'd meet in a mid nineties Goa chill-out room.
Near the tip of the decagon, we find the Cypriot producer, singer and lyricist Spivak presenting us with a feeling of the-familiar-but-never-heard in the form of an ambient pop breakbeat number with carefully crafted choirs oscillating on top - hauntingly beautiful and equally danceable.

Ending in the best of styles, well-mannered umarel and purveyor of drum-smitten metallic sounds shows us what Moisture is really about - the mental image of finding your true self dancing in purgatory in a never-released Kenneth Anger film set, encumbered with red lights and occult paraphernalia.

TRACK LISTING

Kristi Brud - Variations Of La Folia - The Abduction Of Europa
Joel Ivar - Svalov 9 Juli
Inre Kretsen Grupp - Interlud
Fai Ling - Ikaros Svett Short Version
Borringe Kloster - Hommage A Eva Ramel
Philipp Otterbach - The Lost Track
Moonilena - Onio
Digge Shim - A Friend In Deed
Spivak - Oauver
Moisture - Blue Tea

Gems Under The Horizon, the chillout division of Belgium’s Basic Moves returns with its second release, comprised of four original cuts from various artists across the globe. Gems Under The Horizon was launched by Basic Moves label boss Walrus originally as a Sunday daytime party series aimed at sharing electronic music in the chillout, ambient and downtempo sphere to wind down the weekend. The affiliate imprint was launched in April 2021 with material from Astral Industries artist Sonmi451 and Dylan Thomas Hayes.

Here the label returns with four new tracks welcoming an array of new artists onto its roster and leading the way is &Apos who delivers ‘Vigo’, a hauntingly beautiful journey through swelling textures, plucked strings ethereal voices and synth modulations. Salamanda’s ‘No Vacation’ follows, the Seoul, South Korea based duo of Uman Therma a.k.a. Sala and Yetsuby a.k.a. Manda turn their focus towards an amalgamation of gamelan like chimes, metallic percussion, organic drum grooves and flute like synth work.Ugné & Maria’s ‘Into Orbit’ opens the flip side, as the name would suggest embracing a spaced-out aesthetic with intricately unfolding melodies, cinematic atmospherics, and gritty broken drums. Bogota, Colombia’s Manta Ray then rounds out the release with ‘Mysterious Ways’ as she traverses through off-kilter rhythms, unfurling pads, choppy scratches, broken vocal cuts and meandering subs.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Beguiling Belgian compilation of Balearic beats, Reichian minimalism and electronic serenity. Came outta nowhere this one and really had us by the short and curlies!

TRACK LISTING

&Apos - Vigo
Salamanda - No Vacation
Manta Ray - Mysterious Ways

Darius Syrossian’s Moxy Muzik Editions is fast becoming a firm favourite for all manner of reasons, from the consistently top-level tracks from some of the scene’s best producers, to the bespoke hand-drawn artwork from artist Charlotte Archer that decorates each new volume's sleeve. A must have series for any vinyl head out there and volume four is no different. From Glasgow via Leeds through to Southampton, Syrossian shines a light on some of the UK’s rising stars in the world of house music.

Up first Glasgow’s Tiptoes who provides one of Darius’ tracks of the summer, ‘Cuss Tomato’. Driving, soulful and skippy with nods to Grant Nelson and king Kerri that has been doing damage everywhere it’s been played.

Next, Syrossian remixes fellow Leeds producer Tomrob with his track ‘ Professor Shellington’, taking the original’s minimal grooves, upping the tempo, filling the breaks with hands in the air pianos and injecting another dose of bounce into the beats.

The flipside has not one, but two tracks from Southampton’s Ronnie Spiteri, a double header of peak time bombs, one of which entitled ‘Scorpion’ had its first play at Creamfields by Alan Fitzpatrick and Darius in Manchester, leading to a flurry of track ID requests and Darius' TikTok post of the track going viral. A monster of a cut with an Enzo Siragusa style bass, a heavy thundering kick and a solid groove.

Four absolute winners once again from Moxy Muzik.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Tiptoes - Cuss Tomato
A2. Tomrob - Profesor Shellington (Darius Syrossian Remix)
B1. Ronnie Spiteri - Scorpion
B2. Ronnie Spiteri - Fusion

Young Marco mines deep into the hazy euphoria of Italy's early ninties underground for this expansive retrospective of the dream house scene. 
At the tail end of the 1980s, a new take on deep house began to emerge from Italian studios. 'Dream house' drew inspiration from key U.S deep house records of the period – the spacey melodiousness of Larry Heard's productions, and the rich jazziness of tracks originating in New Jersey in particular – but sounded distinctly different. Its' 'head-in-the-clouds' feel – all rich chords, tactile basslines, fluid piano lines and starry electronics – made 'dream house' a uniquely Italian proposition.

First and foremost, the style echoed the wavy, glassy-eyed positivity of the period more than any other. While music in the UK and the low countries was getting faster and heavier, Italy's 'dream house' producers continued to create music shot through with warmth and colourful musicality until 1993. While few 'dream house' records were made after then, its' sounds and loose aesthetic influenced subsequent styles such as trance and progressive house.

During its' peak, dream house – or, as it was tagged by leading Italian label DFC, 'ambient house' (echoing the similarly minded work of UK pioneers such as The Orb and The KLF) – could be heard blaring from club sound systems across Europe. The style's popularity was fuelled, in part at least, by the runaway international success of "Sueno Latino".

Welcome To Paradise gathers together some of the finest examples of the style for the first time since the turn of the 90s. It includes a smattering of scene anthems – Key Tronics Ensemble's peerless "Calypso of House", Morenas's "Sonnambulism", the ambient mix of Last Rhythm's Italo-house classic "Last Rhythm" – alongside a swathe of hard-to-find, in-demand and forgotten gems.

There are cuts from key players in the movement – the likes of Don Pablos Animals, Sasha (later to find fame with a strong of bouncy, piano-heavy Italo-house cuts), and Dreamatic – plus a string of lesser-known names whose contribution to the evolution of the sound should not be overlooked. Young Marco has also found space for Leo Anibaldi's "Elements", a rare deep house outing from a producer who later helped define the sound of Roman techno.

Over the course of two double-vinyl compilations (and one extended digital download package), Welcome To Paradiso celebrates one of the most evocative and imaginative musical styles of electronic music's golden era. Kick off your shoes, turn your gaze skywards, and immerse yourself in the music.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Key Tronics Ensemble - Calypso Of House (Paradise Mix)
A2. Dramatic - Audio Trip
B1. Night Communication - Nocturne Seduction
B2. Aqua Re - Holy Dance (Large Sound Mix)
B3. Deep Choice - Fix Of 4:38 PM 
C1. High Tide - Time Unlimited
C2. Don Pablo's Animals - Paranoia
C3. Open Spaces - Sunrise Paradise Garage
D1. Jacy - Trax
D2. K2 - In My Garden 
D3. Last Rhythm - Last Rhythm (ambient Mix)

Wooahh! Outta nowhere comes the third installment of this now cult-adored series. Over the first two volumes, Safe Trip have treated us to the dreamy and heavenly side of Italian house music - and now they're back with another double disc set of cushion soft and cerebrum tickling house music from the Med.

Featuring a who's who of Italian talent - Jacy, Optik, Leo Anibaldi, Cosmic Galaxy & Don Carlos to name a few - it really is an allstar cast!

TRACK LISTING

1. Jacy - Resounding Seashell
2. Optik - Illusion
3. Leo Anibaldi - Universal
4. Green Baize - Tramp Heart
5. Deep Choice - Children Trip
6. Deep Blue - Deep Blue (The Inner Part Of Me)
7. Cosmic Galaxy - Walkin' On The Moon
8. Golem - Sun City
9. Lonely Dance - Sweet Pieces"(alternative Mix)
10. Neurostate - Dance To The House (unreleased Edit)
11. Don Carlos - Ouverture