Ruffy's back with a new four track EP "Casita Más Alta" and it's a love letter to Ibiza - as he takes us on an alternative tour of his favourite parts of the pine covered island.

The title track opens slowly, spaced out with motifs and pads washing in like an incoming tide, before charging headlong to the beach with a thumping kick and distorted keyboard solo. In contrast, we get a more sundown feel with "Cala Vedella", soaking up the forest breeze and sounding like The Art of Noise but fed through a modulator and left to float in the iciest pitcher of 7Up.

Meanwhile, the rolling congas and percussive synths of "Las Cicadas" take us deep into tribal territory, Lost Woods style. The EP closes out with "Niu Blau", built on beautifully optimistic choir pads and steel pan sounds, and the evening could just go on forever, especially if you've taken any of those power ups. It might be an homage to Ibiza and the Balearics, but seen through the Ruf Dug prism, there's always something new to discover.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Ruffy's at it again. Taking us on a sonic tour of his second home - Ibiza. It's as colourful and as varied a selection as we've come to expect from this tropical cyberpunk.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Casita Más Alta
B1. Cala Vedella
B2. Las Cicadas
B3. Niu Blau

Hot on the heels of last year’s Mermaids reissue retrospective, Hull’s deep listening house forerunners return: this time revisiting a pair of originals as well as previously unreleased versions.

It’s testament to the depth of feeling that Steve Cobby and David McSherry can conjure, that these tracks sound as potent and impactful as they did when they first came out - and not just for the dance. Throughout their 30+ years, the Yorkshire duo have produced ten albums amid many more collaborations, and transformed the remix into an artform, putting their fingerprints on everyone from Busta Rhymes to The Orb to Radiohead.

This EP collection finds them at the full scope of their powers: from disembodied mood music, to tripped-out dubby beats and raw house sessions for the club. The title track Subtle Body sounds like it drifted in through the window in the middle of a snowy night. Its layered chimes, looped delay feedback and floaty chords (played on a Wurlitzer Electronic Piano that Steve bought from Bill Nelson), mark it out as an enduring piece of ambient music, and a favorite for film-makers, able to soundtrack both haunted memories and afterparty comedowns with finesse. It precedes an unreleased instrumental version of Nightfall from Fila Brazillia’s 2002 album Jump Leads (named Mixmag’s chill album of the year), and as an instrumental, the chunky electro bass and mix of ephemeral tones and bird-like chirrups are brought clearly into focus. The attention to detail is what makes Fila Brazillia’s sound palette so rich, and Nightfall a certified smokers’ anthem.

On the B side, the tempo and temperature rises, and we’re treated to The Light Of Jesus, a favorite from Fila Brazillia’s 1994 debut LP Old Codes: New Chaos. Atop a bumping house groove, the song weaves together smooth organ pads and electrified guitar licks with syrupy bass and gospel-tinged exaltations from Charles Bukowski. The EP rounds out with Room ‘96, a live house jam from Hull’s Room nightclub, and a veritable time capsule back to the halcyon ‘90s rave days, when the lights were still on, everyone was home, and anything seemed possible.

The songs here on Subtle Body might be a window into a time long past, but they remain in the present: and as long as bodies seek pleasure, and dancers want to keep going til sunrise, Fila Brazillia will endure, and soundtrack those moments for us all to get lost in.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Subtle Body
A2. Nightfall (Instrumental)
B1. The Light Of Jesus
B2. Room ’96 (Recorded Live At Room Nightclub, Hull)

Manchester’s Balearic synth provocateur Ruf Dug teams up with Private Joy for a sizzling slice of laidback street soul - if the streets were lined with palm trees, that is. Ruffy admits to not having any recollection of making the beat, which adds to the sundrenched, day-dream quality. Modulated pads evaporate in the heat haze, while a synth saxophone riff dances on the breeze, all setting the scene for a tropically-tinged marimba and a piano solo that respectfully nods to Vladimir Cosma’s Sentimental Walk. When Gerd enquired about a possible vocal, Ruffy reached out to Private Joy, who sings like the fate of the track was entwined with her own, and it elevates the track to a whole other soulful level. In true ‘90s tradition, Ruffy delivers an alternate reggae mix for the flip, putting an off-beat bump to the track, while the instrumental versions shine a light on Ruffy’s pitch-perfect production, and provide plenty of ammunition for acapellas of all sorts. Highly recommended! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Firmly in a newly established purple patch, local superstar Ruffy continues his sterling run of 12"s with a doozy of a street soul hit, introducing us to the joyous vox of Private Joy and even nudging in a slinky digi-reggae version to boot. Massive!

TRACK LISTING

1 Ruf Dug X Private Joy - Don’t Give In (Street Soul Vocal Version)
2 Ruf Dug X Private Joy - Don’t Give In (Street Soul Instrumental Version)
3 Ruf Dug X Private Joy - Don’t Give In (Reggae Vocal Version)
4 Ruf Dug X Private Joy - Don’t Give In (Reggae Instrumental Version)

Hypernatural, comprises of Dan Whitford, better known as one of the pillars of Melbourne heavyweights Cut Copy, Mirko Vogel, the engineer extraordinaire who has recorded for Modular and Room40, and Mike Gamwell, also known as Knightlife, who’s racked up several releases on Cut Copy’s own Cutters Records. You could say their roots are in Melbourne, Australia, but it seems unfair to pinpoint the trio to any specific location.

That’s because their sound lies somewhere deep in misty forests, or half-remembered dreams and subconscious wells of ancestral emotion. The transformative power of these 7 tracks was no accident however. The music was pieced together during two trips - one to the remote Swedish coast and another to the Scottish highlands. The three producers used a set of guidelines that allowed each of them to compose and arrange tracks separately yet collectively, like a connected Oblique Strategy. They took inspiration from the stark beauty of their natural surroundings, which had a huge effect on the music they were making.

The resulting tracks inhabit a world of their own, full of shimmering arpeggios and drifting pads, taut drums and sound effects. The opening track Longboat cruises into view with white noise washes and galley master rhythms, conjuring Old Norse battleships and a sense of sailing the open sea, destination unknown. The single Stormfront is a depth-charged deep house burner, bristling with atmospheric energy and rolling like thunder. With its cascading synth arpeggios and weighty drops, it swells like moody clouds on the horizon and releases tension like the first rain of a summer storm.

Hypernatural particularly succeeds in its world-building, and there’s a cohesion to the tracks despite their many differences in tempo and style. Spirit Walk joins marimbas with modular pulses, as well as slide guitar and snappy shakers, to bring out some Ry Cooder swagger. Unknown Caller taps into the phone line at the speed of 5G, sending breakbeats down the wire on a cold calling mission to recruit ravers for the next after hours. But there are also tracks nodding to blissed-out comedowns and daydreams. Both Changing Tides and New Dawn slow down time to an introspective moment, a catch of the breath, the witness to a beautiful moment. Album closer Valley harks back to classic rave-era ambient, an avalanche of optimism down a majestic mountainside.

Hypernatural evokes panoramic vistas and serene countryside, and you could certainly imagine it soundtracking a hike along coastal hills, or a field at a festival. But it also resides beyond the pastoral, finding a home in airport departure lounges and autobahn service stations, until it eventually settles down inside us - even without the headphones on.

TRACK LISTING

1. Longboat
2. Stormfront
3. Changing Tides
4. Spirit Walk
5. Unknown Caller
6. New Dawn
7. Valley

International Feel welcomes Jolly Mare. Hailing from Italy and being a well-versed producer. Multi-instrumentalist and passionate DJ, his first release on the rekindled label sees him delving deep into the mystical and magical realms of vintage synthesizers, drum machines and effect units (please see back sleeve or below for a full instrument list). Sounding like a one-man band from the late Seventies conferring with a studio wizard from the 2020s, it has all the components of a cosmic or balearic master thesis: traces of Krautrock, Italian pop sensibilities, dance rhythms, cosmic curveballs and capturing chants. The single Vivo melds those ingredients and is just the first bite in an extraordinary Omakase.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: I'm mad for a bit of Jolly Mare and delighted to see him join the esteemed ranks of International Feel. Fusing electronic and organic instruments with ease, he turns out a trippy cosmic classic which flirts with Balearic and disco before becoming its own hypnotic, hippy dance music.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Sabbia Bianca
A2. Anatema
A3. L’Età Dell’Oro
A4. Gaul Tanz
B1. Vivo
B2. Il Capriccio
B3. Epsilon 

The International Feel label is back from an extended meditation. Well-rested and with a cornucopia of new ideas and records, IFeel is happy to announce the debut album from Charlie Charlie as the starting shot. „Little Things“ is the brainchild of Gabriella Borbély alias Bella Boo and Jens Resch better known as Chords. Born on a beach in Southern California instead of their hometown Stockholm, it is exactly what you would hope for such a record to be: pop music that is informed by hippie or counter culture and by a Balearic ethos (hence the International Feel address) that is free of blinkered definitions. In equal parts, the duo’s ten songs take the listener through honey dripping r&b, while respelling that certain Californian recording studio sound aesthetic, revisit vintage yacht rock and pop tropes as well as they are reflecting dance music influences in a broken, yet gold framed mirror. Most of all, it’s like a day dream that you don’t want to end. To quote our Italian friends from Edizioni Mondo: good listening experience!

Charlie is Gabriella Borbély – also known as Stockholm's deep house virtuoso Bella Boo. Charlie is Jens Resch – also known as prodigious producer/musician Chords. The two Charlies met on a beach in Southern California and immediately decided to write a song together.
That first track was built on the sampled sounds of a rusty drainpipe. Charlie fired up a dusty ARP Odyssey and played a woozy solo over the drainpipe beats, then the other Charlie did the same, using that same legendary 70's analogue synth. When they realized the two separately recorded solos played together in perfect harmony, they knew they had to keep heading down their newly found, shared musical path.
Charlie & Charlie have since continued making music together, describing their common process as liberating, free-flowing, genre-less. "Little Things", their debut album, is made up of tracks recorded in Los Angeles and Stockholm, using that very same ARP as well as pianos, electric guitars and machines like the Prophet 6, the Juno-106 and the Syncussion SY-1. Vocal contributions come from the Charlies themselves as well as friends like Mapei and Julimar Santos. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Charly
A2. Nothing Here But You & Me
A3. Say It's Gold
A4. Save Us (feat Mapei)
A5. Venice Chocolate
B1. Hill St
B2. Frosty (feat Julimar Santos)
B3. New Hall
B4. Lorena (feat Mapei)
B5. Run

On the white island, between Ibiza Town and the infamous fish shack high up on a rock next to a bird sanctuary, you will find the beach of Talamanca. Plagued by too much seaweed, anchored middle-class yachts and joggers, it is also surprisingly the spiritual home of a correspondent post-Balearic group. As luck would have it, a remix request by Mark Barrott bedded the International Feel boss in a trio with Philipp Lauer and Gerd Janson, alias Tuff City Kids.

A highly sought-after 12-inch later (“Balanzat”), as well as fantasies of getting together to work on more material, led to a fruitful and effortless studio session on the non-Balearic outskirts of Frankfurt am Main. The outcome of that meeting forms the homonymous debut album of Talamanca System. A documented vision, or a sunburned imagination of a day and night spent on said island, during a moment in time that probably never was or will be. Still summed up best by dungarees, long hair, yellow sunglasses, espadrilles or that famous picture of people grouped around roofless Amnesia's pyramid well, it is the food of the Balearic gods. But, dear nostalgia, stop right here!

Even though Talamanca's debut flies the Balearic flag, it is not about turning back the clock, but rather about a past that could be the future. Dusted, danceable, driving, dreamy and dapper at the same time, this is an album for the club, the car, the beach, the (coke)float and the fountain. Coined by the colourful and respective talents of the three individuals behind Talamanca, you will hear nine tracks ranging from up to downtempo, piano house smashers that would have deserved the prefix Italo-, percussion rituals captured by a group of Zoo animals on the loose, soundtracks for dusk and dawn, hushed vocals, rites of ambient passages, powerful synth ballads and vamp choirs. If this album were a car, it would be a Citroen 2CV remade by Tesla.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Balearic rhythms meet headfirst with sweaty dancefloor neon numbers, beautifully effervescent but inexplicably laid-back, close your eyes and get lost in the vibes.

TRACK LISTING

1. Talamanca System - Transatlantique
2. Talamanca System - 104
3. Talamanca System - Ancona Ancona
4. Talamanca System - Ocean Grill
5. Talamanca System - Tres Secadas
6. Talamanca System - Conga Cage
7. Talamanca System - Distant Shore
8. Talamanca System - Experc
9. Talamanca System – Aurorca