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Fresh from his 'Vanishing Point single on UK label Hypercolour, which saw the lead track hit the Beatport Leftfield House & Techno sales chart at #1 for four weeks, A Sagittariun is back on his Elastic Dreams label with the 'Slightly Ajar' EP. As always, A Sagittariun brings an eclectic melting pot of flavours to each of his EPs, blending Detroit techno, ambient house, highly charged electro, dramatic synths and transcendental vibes. 'Stingray' combines future techno beats with apocalyptic bass and melodious keys, with an almost early 1980s synth pop vibe to it, whilst 'Burning Crystal' is the kind of introverted and deep ambient electronica that has shaped the two A Sagittariun albums (2013's 'Dream Ritual' and 2016's 'Elasticity'). 'An Infinite Number Of Possibilities' is relentless, frenetic and funky, as a myriad of warped sounds and riffs flash past the heavy drum work, and '720 Degrees' closes the EP with crunchy 808 electro patterns, FM bass and huge melancholic strings straight out of the Derrick May rule book. A Sagittariun will be performing at the Berghain, Berlin on 26th August, showcasing a new live set before embarking on further dates at the end of the year.

KSMISK drop three atmospheric techno cuts for their second release on Norwayís PLOINK this August.
Made up of Truls Kvam and Robin Crafoord, the Scandinavian duo are well known under their Trulz & Robin moniker and have released on the likes of Prins Thomasí labels Full Pupp and Rett i Fletta, not to mention their own imprints Cymasonic and Cymawax.

ëMagmaí is a deep and mesmerising production that continues to evolve as more elements are incorporated, blending crunchy kicks with serene pads and otherworldly effects.
ëLavaí is a dark and suspenseful number in comparison, establishing a raw hook and ominous nuances at its base whilst sci-fi inspired synths cut in and out of the mix.
Finally, an ebbing beatless track titled ëTuyaí generates a melancholic aesthetic to conclude the release.


Mixmag - September 2017 (Techno Review):
'Seductive stuff from one of our favourite labels (..)
Ploink is fast becomming one of our favourite techno labels, and the Norway-based imprint brings the goods once again with this killer new cut from KSMISK. Magma is probably about as deep as the earth's own magma pools, with a bassline that penetrates every atom of your being as it pulls you into its seductive web.'
9/10

Freshly dressed after a double helping of made to measure goodness, Aficionado size up another summer time smash for the sandal-wearing masses.
Keen to capture the coastal cool of the Wirral peninsula, the label crack out the crystals and summon strange-wave sorceress Brenda Ray for another hit of her interplanetary excellence.
Wandering from new age haze to celestial rays on this tripped out trio, our genre blending genius takes the fourth world into the fifth dimension of psychedelic sound.

Our spiritual journey begins with the chakra cleansing 'Solartude', an out-of-body beauty which bathes us in swirling flute, dreamy chimes and shimmering tape delay before sending us off towards the Orient.
Eastern tones and hushed vocals ride a glistening sequence as this flawless fusion of exotica and dub suggests a medicated Martin Denny stumbling out of Chinatown and into a humid mangrove.

Next stop on the voyage of self discovery is 'Space Dustin', a lunar lullaby for lucid dreamers which sees Brenda spin Fairlight mallets, celestial keys and whispered vocals into an immersive ode to the outer rim. Floating free of space and time, perhaps you too can glimpse the excellent birds.

Over on the flipside and the temperature begins to rise. 'Skip, Hop To Bop' sees Brenda dabbling with dub Techno, setting Basic Channel synths and stirring strings to a skittering rhythm. Dislocated and disoriented we descend into a strange subterranean world of Rothschild parties, Lynchian noir and muffled Techno.
Surrounded by swirling voices, shuffling percussion grabs hold of you and all that remains is to sway.

Officially Aficionado.

Belgium 'Popcorn' borrows its name from the 1969 James Brown LP, The Popcorn, which also became the moniker for the Popcorn Club in Vrasene, Flanders which, in its heyday, attracted 3,000 youths to its Sunday sessions. It was DJ Gilbert Govaert who pioneered the sound, blending blues, soul, jazz, latin, doo-wop and high-school pop in a unique melting pot that appealed to dancers seeking that chugging cha-cha beat.
Our POPCORN SOUL PARTY carries on the tradition with many tracks culled from the original playlists and others, such as the incredibly elusive Willie J Charles Feelin' Kinda Lonesome' which has become popular in more recent times.
This unique set will appeal to Popcorn oldies fans, new breed Northern Soul fans and R&B collectors alike. Look out for new-to-vinyl reissues courtesy of Ki Ki Page and Chance Halladay!
The Party Continues...

Zeb Wayne returns with a majestic and scintillating song titled 'Wulfman', featuring a trio of top tier remixers including Alva Noto, Calibre and Radio Slave.
Following the release of 'Float' on Rekids last year, 'Wulfman' is a beautiful song that demonstrates how musically versed Wayne is as a producer, blending a serene vocal by Ziwi, with intricate sounds to create a truly beautiful song from start to finish.
Alva Noto, who composed the film score for The Revenant alongside Ryuichi Sakamoto, as well as being the co-founder of esteemed minimal imprint Raster Noton, is the first of three heavyweight remixers. The renowned German producer employs his signature elements of grit, static and glitch resulting in an inimitable melancholic cut.
Well respected for traversing numerous electronic music sub-genres, as evident in his recent album on Craig Richards' The Nothing Special, Calibre ups the energy in his remix using sultry synths, syncopated percussion and mesmerising effects.
Concluding the colossal package, Rekids founder Radio Slave creates a club-ready reinterpretation of his own, complete with fine-tuned kicks, looped vocals and a heady bassline.

A new My Rules release from the always on-point Justin Van Der Volgen featuring two previously unreleased remixes that showcase his varied and unique style.
The A-side sees him take both the original and Spencer Parker remixes found on the the 2016 Shit Robot single Lose Control and through editing, blending and layering of FX concocts one serious bomb of a mega mix .
Think classic DJ bootleg remixes on legendary labels like Razormaid, Disconet and Hot Tracks.
The B-side is an altogether different affair where Justin dispenses with all of the original music and only keeps the vocal from Felix Dickinson's 2014 acid jam 'Burning Flame'.
What comes out the other end sounds like Lee Perry and Murk made a tune once they got back from a sleazy NY after hours.
Early plays and support from Gerd Janson, John Talabot, Tim Sweeney.

Translated from Spanish as 'The Shade', Chip Wickham's debut album La Sombra drops after a 25-year career touring, recording and experimenting across three decades of jazz, funk, soul, hip-hop, Latin and electronica. La Sombra is a monumental record for Chip as it symbolises the moment he stepped out into the light as a director of his creations with freedom to explore his roots, express and tell his version of jazz and pay testament to his heroes Roland Kirk, Yuseef Lateef & Harold McNair.

Now living in Dubai after an intense and productive six years in Madrid, it was Manchester where Chip studied in the late '80s and became enmeshed in the chaotic and thrilling music scenes emanating from one of the world's most culturally prominent cities of the time. Recording and generally 'keeping things real' with Manchester's hip-hop collective Grand Central Records, Rae & Christian, The Pharcyde, Fingathing, Nightmares on Wax, Graham Massey (808 State), Chip was in a city that was undergoing a music revolution with the Haçienda as its temple. Yet it was the headlights of the M62 motorway and not the strobe lights that were lighting Chip's path during his student years ('88-'92). The lure of the jazz and funk clubs of Leeds, where The New Mastersounds were breaking out and building the blocks that would lead them to UK funk royalty status, proved too strong.

In the 1990s Chip continued to refine his craft in the rainy city and the gigs booked were growing in stature. It wasn't long before he was on the road with Roy Ayers and Badly Drawn Boy. Around that time Chip met up with trumpeter Matthew Halsall that was the beginning of a friendship that lasts to this day. Chip was a recording artist on Matthew Halsall's breakout album Sending My Love and continues to work with him, with live dates confirmed in spring 2017. This close connection with Halsall gave rise to other collaborations, such as with Nat Birchall and Go Go Penguin's Rob Turner.

Three decades after his late night excursions to Leeds, Chip found himself recording with Eddie Roberts from The New Mastersounds in Madrid, as part of their new band, The Fire Eaters, which he'd formed soon after he moved to sunny Spain in 2007 - the same year he released the Fried Samba album under his moniker Malena, his electronic Latin band that became a hit at the turn of the century for Freestyle Records. During his time in Spain he connected with the local scene and brought together many of his musicians colleagues from the UK to Spain and it was for a local and well established label, Lovemonk, that he released two 45s blending raw funk and Latin. These new roads and musical leanings led to an invitation to play for the prestigious Craig Charles Fantasy Funk Band. Based on a poll from Craig Charles' top rated BBC6 radio show, Chip was chosen to play alongside the cream of the UK funk & soul scene: James Taylor (JTQ), Snowboy, The Haggis Horns (Mark Ronson), John Turrell (Smooth & Turrell), and Mick Talbot (The Style Council).

La Sombra takes an altogether more rooted direction than Chip's recent collaborative work, with the jazz of the late '60s and early '70s a dominating influence to the recordings. Comprising of seven tracks recorded in Madrid with musicians assembled by Chip from Madrid's jazz scene, it combines contemplative explorations akin to Yusef Lateef's early work on tracks like 'La Sombra' and 'Pushed Too Far'. There's a fiery cover of Camarón de la Isla's classic 'La Leyenda Del Tiempo' and tracks like 'Sling Shot' and 'Red Planet' are locked in a groove harking back to Freddie Hubbard's Blue Note era and Luv N Haight's Nathan Davis.

Bristol based Afro-beat band, Matuki are releasing their debut 7 single on December 2nd via Stutter & Twitch, featuring an exclusive remix by Shunya. As each side of the record paints a juxtaposing image, Matuki drives forward as they make a name for themselves as Bristol's most engaging afro-funk band. Side A 'Sanimenteren' showcases fiery horn melodies and liquid guitar riffs, whereas Side B 'INJO' changes direction completely, as Manchester producer Shunya takes the reins. By morphing Matuki's steadfast rhythm into a lucid downtempo glitch, Shunya creates a unique and mesmerizing new perspective towards the urban band's signature style. Likened to the legends Fela Kuti and Afro Manding the authentic Afro band punctured Bristol's music scene after an exceptional debut performance at Glastonbury's Glade Stage, blending jazz & psychedelic influences with urban-funk. The result Mesmerizing tracks and heavyweight horn lines that reflect on how the 12-piece collective are never afraid to venture out of their comfort zone, to create something special.Turbo-boosted grooves and fusing Afro Manding with intoxicating Fela Kuti horn lines, Matuki creates a rhythm so deep and hypnotic, it takes you on a journey' - Rhythm Passport'Matuki mix the classic ingredients - brass, beats, vocals and electricity - into something suitably hot'n'spicy..., If Bristol's Afrobeat scene gets any hotter we might as well move to Lagos' - Canteen Bristol. Fronted by master drummer and vocalist, Abraham Ebou Sanyang (Savanna, Magoma), Matuki mixes traditional afro-beat sounds with heavy doses of contemporary urban funk, into an exciting concoction of world music. The ensemble recently expanded after merging their sound with the Bristol Jazz Student ensemble Jamba Horns, and has previously collaborated with an array of versatile musicians including the Bristol Samba community. After the success of their debut performance, Matuki saw airplay from Bristol based DJ Hiphoppapotamus, and Miles Chambers of Lyrical Minded as well as BCFM, Bristol City Radio, Radio Ujima and Radio Helsinki, as an energizing sound bled into the airwaves. Touring the UK festival circuit, performing at Secret Garden Party, Green Man, Farmfest, Kendal Calling, Glastonbury to name a few, saw Matuki turn unassuming audiences into dancing frenzies, wherever they play.

The Gold Play is a compilation of all Tangram-related artists to date.
Tangram Records is an independent Belgian-based record label. It was founded 4 years ago by Up High Collective and Mophito to promote a batch of unreleased beats and live-show by Up High. Throughout the years their releases got picked up by Gilles Peterson, Lefto, XLR8R, Boiler Room, Kutmah...amongst others. Now 4 years later Tangram have introduced a wide-range of talented musicians to the world. Without wanting to limit them to a certain genre you might say their releases are a celebration of electronics and hip-hop.
The compilation itself holds 6 previously unreleased tracks by Up High Collective, Faisal, LTGL, LoneBlue x Halibab Matador (aka YellowStraps), Le Motel and Sokoto. Each side of the vinyl ends with a previously released track on Tangram by Day Fly and Moodprint blending the entire release nicely together.

The artwork release is beautifully crafted by Dzia. Dzia is a graphic artist from Belgium and fine artist in every sense for that matter. His creations range from paintings, through sculpture to taxidermy and street works. This gatefold holds two versions of a fox and a play-full scenery of dear.

Double 180 gram, half-speed vinyl re-release of the orchestral epic. Norwegian Grammy-nominated and critically acclaimed masterpiece «The Mechanical Fair» finally gets it's long awaited vinyl release

Jampacked with a wellspring of harmonic slingshots, pumping beats and melodic rollercoasters, critics called The Mechanical Fair «the best movie you'll never see» and drew comparisons to Igor Stravinsky's «The Rite of Spring» upon it's original release in 2014. It's apparent appeal to an surprisingly wide range of musical communities finally brought it right into DJ dance-wiz Todd Terje's hands. And make no mistake: the physicist hands doesn't settle for an iPad. It craves vinyl. His wholehearted endorsement led the captain of the Olsen Family to clear the rights, assemble his own killer remix and requisition Grammy-winning cutting engineer Matt Colton for a gorgeous double 180 gram, half-speed vinyl re-release of the orchestral epic.

Originally written for a quintet including heavily merited jazz cats Erik Nylander, Ole Morten Vågan, Petter Vågan and Even Helte Hermansen in 2013, The Mechanical Fair expanded at the initiative of the Trondheim Chamber Music Festival, growing bolder and more powerful with the addition of the adventurous and Grammy-winning chamber orchestra The Trondheim Soloists in 2014.

Having just spearheaded seven genre-blending shows in just six days as the «Artist in Residence» of this years prestigious Molde International Jazz Festival, the multi award-winning Norwegian violinist/multiinstrumentalist, composer and producer Ola Kvernberg (35) can look back at an already impressive recording- and performing career. The once 17 year old jazz manouche violin sensation quickly and impatiently moved beyond the jazz realm for inspiration - resulting in seven albums as a solo artist, eight feature films as a movie score composer and countless additional recordings as a sideman. His list of collaborators range from jazz legends Pat Metheny and Joshua Redman, via post/prog-rock act Motorpsycho, to collaborations with world renowned novelists Lars Saabye Christensen and Jo Nesbø. His fearless attitude and relentless drive towards the boundaries of genres has given him a well-earned high standing on the Scandinavian scene today.

Don't miss out on this rollercoasting, genre-twisting magnum opus as it finally hits is true potential on the Olsen label on November 11 this fall.

Official reissue of the ultimate Brazilian classic: Arthur Verocai - Arthur Verocai. Comes in a gatefold sleeve, 180 gram vinyl, remastered audio and a printed innersleeve. BIG TIP
Originally released in 1972, the self-titled album by Arthur Verocai became one of the most sought after releases from Brazil to date. The last copy on ebay went over 5000 USD. The entire album is a true masterpiece, containing funk flavorings, a touch of folk, jazz style soloing, 20 piece string arrangements, the blending of electronics and keyboards with organic sounds, and superb soundtrack style music. !

The seminal 1994 double album by the original PAINKILLER line-up BILL LASWELL, JOHN ZORN and MICK HARRIS on vinyl for the first time! Avant-jazz, grindcore, dub and ambient melt into eerie tracks of haunting atmospheres.

When PAINKILLER started in 1991, their first two albums "Guts Of A Virgin" and "Buried Secrets" (both released on extreme metal label Earache) were heavy attacks blending grindcore and free jazz that brought together the musical backgrounds of the three protagonists: drummer MICK HARRIS had just left grindcore legend NAPALM DEATH, JOHN ZORN explored new extremities with his NAKED CITY project while BILL LASWELL had as a member of roaring free jazz quartet LAST EXIT ( PETER BRÖTZMANN / SONNY SHARROCK / RONALD SHANNON JACKSON) proven that he was not only a visionary producer but also an accomplished bassist. But it is their 1994 double album "Execution Ground" that remains the opus magnum of the brilliant trio: ZORN's unmistakable shrieking saxophone, HARRIS' pounding drums and LASWELL's growling sub-bass lines were given heavy mixing desk treatment, resulting in extended tracks that are no less intense than their early works but display the full range of the musicians' skills. Soaked with reverb and delay, avant-jazz, grindcore, dub and ambient melt into eerie tracks of haunting atmospheres - even more so in the ambient versions of disc 2. Mastered and cut by RASHAD BECKER at D&M Berlin, "Execution Ground" is now available on vinyl for the very first time as 2x 180gr LP incl. a download code and insert in a limited edition of 500 items.

After making some massive claims regarding electronic music last year which caused a stir in the dance music community, Mat Zo had a lot to live up to with his long awaited second album "Self Assemble". What didn't help was the fact that his first album, "Damage Control" was critically acclaimed by many within dance music and is now considered a modern-day masterpiece with mesmerising tracks such as The Sky and the massive Easy with Porter Robinson.Blending genres and sounds in a way only Zo can achieve, this record flows incredibly well as the tracks move from one to the other almost telling a story of the different styles of electronic music. At times the album is reminiscent of Zo's incredible Essential Mix from back in 2013 in the way that it progresses and constantly surprises the listeners. A lot funkier than Damage Control, it's no less incredible.
Beginning with the beautifully atmospheric "Order out of Chaos" which starts with an absolute wall of sound that boggles the mind in how Zo even went about designing something so complex, this sets the tone for the rest of the record in a cracking way. The melody soon crescendos and we're introduced in to the meat of the album with "The Enemy". Bringing out all the good funky vibes on this track, again Zo exhibits his insane production talents which are a staple of the album. Featuring vocals from the wonderful Sinead Egan, this is a great uplifting tune that'll no doubt have you dancing in your chair or in the club.
'Sinful" acts to continue the funky good-time vibes and transports us to a cool summertime drive. It has us yearning for happier times and again the guest vocals from I SEE MONSTAS go a long way in getting across this happy vibe. Featuring an uplifting almost french house inspired bassline and squelch synths that wouldn't look out of place on a Daft Punk or Madeon record, this is another stunning track from the record. "Patterns Emerging" feels like a bridge into the next section of the album and is unfortunately short. The orchestral element really brings out the emotion on this track and we only wish it was longer. "Killing Time" has those classic chopped up vocals that Zo uses to great effect and some nicely programmed drums that could be a nod to the drum and bass he used to put out under MRSA.'Smacked up on Jack" features some cool middle eastern sounds and a wacky vocal sample that helps to progress the album and keep the listener interested, again though we feel like it's a bit too short and are left wanting more. The next tune "Ruffneck Bad Boy VIP" is an absolute mammoth and one of our favourites off the record. Opening with an immense rhodes melodic sequence and after some nice vocals, the track rips into the electro house and dubstep infused banger that it really is. Some dirty, dirty sound design and drum production will have the dance floors going wild and shows us again why Zo is so good, it's a far cry from the funkier elements of the earlier stuff on the album and shows how Zo can show off a range of electronic sounds. "Lights Out" is a straight up hard hitting electro banger with an infectious vocal sample that only needs to be heard to be understood. Not much more needs to be said about it! Coming into the last section of the record, "Soul Food" returns us to the groove with an astonishing house beat and bass line that have us questioning how Zo makes it so hard not to smile listening to this album."Stereo no Aware" starts sounding like it's taken straight from a space movie epic and soon transforms into a goose bump inducing melody with a driving growling bass line that bring back the epic dubstep we all used to love a couple of years ago. Skrillex eat your heart out. Finishing off this record on a more emotional note, "Too Late" starts off like a guitar ballad and then transforms into something totally different. Egan's melancholic vocals enhance this track to great effect and is all backed by Zo's lovely downbeat production until we're treated to a monster of a climax around half way through the track which will surely blow the cobwebs right off you. Zo says goodbye to us with the phenomenal "The Last Transmission" and what a way this is to close out an incredible sophmore album for the English producer. The melancholic piano chords are a subtle and pleasing way to close out this journey of a record. Mat Zo really has outdone himself here and we're really looking forward to hearing some of these bombs dropped live. Surely a contender for album of the year at such an early stage, yet again it's only the best delivered by Mat Zo.
Latest album, Damage Control was Grammy-nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Album last year

Beautifully Designed 1LP, 180g Vinyl Press kit: Following his Extended Play EP on Other People last year, Jream House is the turbulent and spiritual debut LP of Mark Hurst aka A Pleasure. Blending mathematical composition with an unrestrained studio experimentalism, the sound of A Pleasure charts a space where formative influences confront the most immediate performative impulse. Using a process of numerical transposition, the names of personally significant bands and composers are converted into drum patterns. He then lets loose, improvising around these structures with a variety of traditional and unorthodox instruments: bass and guitar, bowed cymbals, drum machines juggled like turntables, blowtorch on aluminium, to name but a few. With his influences as start-points, he builds rhythmic structures literally in their namesake, blasting their hulls with walls of noise, monolithic basslines and any other jam-yielded shrapnel. Despite the chaos and complexity of the process, the results sound neither clinical, nor garbled. The tracks always find their way to an emotive melody or strong groove. Lush guitar strums and yearning keys ride the high-speed beat of Slow Channel", which seems to soar through cloud-cover as one snaking mass. The Order of Things' folds a cosmic guitar-part into a backdrop of heavily side-chained noise. Arthur Russell' features a neck-snapping rim-shot and crushed snare that splash up the bits of an elegiac vocal part. Through violent and idyllic atmospheres, Jream House jettisons its inspirations like landing shuttles, always in search of new ground. These are songs, not just experiments.

Dark Entries and Honey Soundsystem Records have teamed up again to release another volume of gay porn soundtracks by San Francisco-based musician and producer, Patrick Cowley. Perhaps one of the most revolutionary and influential people in the canon of disco music, Cowley created his own brand of Hi-NRG dance music, ''The San Francisco Sound.'' Born in Buffalo, NY on October 19, 1950, Patrick moved to San Francisco at the age of 21. He studied at the City College of San Francisco where he founded the Electronic Music Lab. During this time, Patrick, along with his classmates Maurice Tani and Art Adcock, would create radio jingles and electronic pieces using the school's equipment: first a Putney, then an E-MU System, and finally a Serge synthesizer. He would make experimental soundtracks by blending various types of music and adapting them to the synthesizer.

On his album Songs from Okinawa, Sven Kacirek explores the traces of a unique traditional music from the famed Pacific islands south of Japan. He recorded a wide range of local musicians - both amateurs and well-known figures - and carefully wove in his own instrumentation: marimba, xylophone, and piano. The result is an album of timeless beauty and quiet elegance. The southern Japanese archipelago of Okinawa has a complex and turbulent history, particularly shaped by the conflicts between Japan and the United States - an aspect thoughtfully outlined in the liner notes by Mina Mermoud. Over the centuries, this layered past has given rise to a rich and distinctive musical culture. During the U.S. military occupation of the islands, Okinawan musicians began blending traditional forms with Western styles. Today, Okinawan music is recognised in Japan as a genre of its own. "I"m fascinated by the sublime simplicity and precision of Okinawan music - from its orchestration to the phrasing of the singing voice," says Kacirek. True to this admiration, he keeps many of the original vocal and instrumental recordings intact, gently adding his marimba or percussion without ever pushing himself into the spotlight.

Uber picked up this beautiful mellowed out pop song by Shining Bird for a vinyl release after becoming totally captivated by its warm laid back Balearic feel. Shining Bird hail from Austinmer a coastal town just south of Sydney, Australia. They are a collective of friends who got together over their love of the sea, Australian cinema, Dennis Wilson's "Pacific Ocean Blue" Lp and the great Australian poet Henry Lawson. The second track Stitzing/Wipeout is another great alternative pop song in the same vein as Destroyer with the song blending into a 5 min piece of psyched out ambient. On the flip side Coyote remix Distant Dreaming into a horizontal percussion led dubby contemplative trip with pitched down vocals and a throbbing bassline. Uber continuing its crusade of finding and releasing music that captures their Balearic ethos.

* Hospital Records present their latest compilation 'Fast Soul Music' - a welcomed lesson in the art of soul-inspired drum & bass of the high-speed variety. After nineteen years spent building upon it's lounge-core esthetic their extensive library of smooth-rolling sounds is at the ready, now it's time to get retrospective.

* From the work of thirty artists, a carefully selected forty-six tracks highlight the quintessential sounds of soul music in the Hospital Records back catalogue. Not only effortlessly blending classics from Hospital mainstays London Elektricity, High Contrast, Danny Byrd, Nu:Tone, S.P.Y and Logistics but also showcasing the fresh wave of talent that's reached our ears in recent years. The work of Fred V & Grafix, Hugh Hardie, Keeno, Etherwood, Anile, Tokyo Prose and Technimatic showcasing just how prominent soul music is in drum & bass today.

* Accompanying this two-CD collectors item is a perfectly polished mix by longstanding practitioner and newest member of the Hospital A+R team, Nu:Tone. With over two hours of soul-inspired sounds that effortlessly create the ideal soundtrack for any daydream-filled afternoon.

* With a nod back to London Elektricity's '03 classic 'Fast Soul Music' and a look forward to the fresh influx of talent passing through, Hospital Record's latest compilation provides any drum & bass fan with a chance to rediscover those once forgotten gems and dust off the cobwebs from their favourite nostalgia-fuelling drum & bass anthems.

* Digital Marketing: Youtube upload schedule for music and video content on Hospital Records YouTube channel - (260k subscribers), cross promotion exclusive mix upload with UKF Youtube channel.

* Press / Promotion: Comprehensive campaign in-house serving all UK music and dance titles as well as national, regional and student press - Mixmag, DJ, Trap, Notion, Music Week, Future Music, Time Out, Metro, London Evening Standard, The Guardian, The Independent, Dazed + Confused, Vice, The Wire, The Fly, Vice Magazine, Clash. Kmag (interview), D&BA (interview). UKF Website and Youtube Channel. Reddit AMA, FACT Mag TV interview.

* Radio / Internet: Comprehensive in house campain from Hospital Records. BBC Radio1 & 1Xtra support from Mistajam, Friction, B Traits, Annie Mac, Andi Durrant (Kiss), Eddy Temple-Morris (X-FM), DJ Hype (Kiss), D&BA TV Takeover, Rinse FM Hospital Records Show, Hospital Podcast Hospital Records Podcast USA series, Kmag Podcast, Ministry of Sound Podcast. D&BA Podcast, Hospital records Website, Hospital Facebook (262K Likes), Twitter (64K Followers), Soundcloud (48k followers), YouTube (238k subscribers), Hospital Records Mailing List (53k Subscribers)






aG CD 1-7 | Logistics feat. Nightshade and Sarah Callander 'Crystal Skies'
















DISC 2

The french producer 1977 delivers with his first EP a bold and subtle blending of ambient textures, deep pads and raw rhythms perfectly mixed with some minimal sequences. In Brief, a fine and complete piece of electronic music, made with constant attention to detail.
New release by 1977 with 4 tracks. Don't miss it

Mathias 'SHOW-B' Schober makes his Pooledmusic debut with the Arps EP. A talented producer & engineer, Schober has been releasing under his SHOW-B alias since 2007, since when he has had EP releases on Poker Flat & Compost Black Label, an exclusive track featured on La Fleur's Watergate 16 compilation, and a release on Delusions of Grandeur with Milton Jackson as Pattern Select. The Arps EP sees SHOW-B blending his various talents in the A side 'Arps To Heaven', a heady deep house track with a swirling melody that recalls the trippier end of Strength Music and Deepblak's respective outputs. On the B1, Ian Pooley follows up his huge Innervisions EP 'Floris' and the Rejected re-issue of his anthem Chord Memory by fusing the original's psychedelic elements with a classic, irresistible Pooley groove. The B2, 'Isifuba', sees Schober focusing on a swinging house beat structure for the early hours dancefloors.

My Panda Shall Fly AKA musician and visual artist Suren Seneviratne, is set to release 'Tropical' It's a brand new 6 track vinyl release.

A kaleidoscope of rainbow textures and rhythms disperse into the exotic soundscape of 'Tropical'. Electronics, real folk instruments and noise-making objects feature here generously on this six-track concept album, blending together a sonic palette influenced by a rich variety of music, people and places.

The material was initially written over the course of a few months during what Seneviratne called "a beautiful burst of inspiration". Working with veteran producer Asier Leatxe Ibanez d'Opakoa (Electric Lady Studios, NYC), Seneviratne then set about disassembling all the songs and re-working them meticulously, enriching the sounds by adding a huge range of live instrumentation, before processing the audio through vintage analogue studio gear.

Suren Seneviratne, born in Sri Lanka before settling in London in 1996, first caught the attention of the music world with a remix that featured on Pitchfork back in 2010. Since then he has released a plethora of diverse records, gaining support from the likes of Clash Magazine, The Fader, Mixmag and Dazed Digital, as well as regularly touring internationally. He has also remixed the likes of The Weeknd, Stay Positive & Little Boots as well as appearing at festivals like BBC Hackney Weekender, Outlook Croatia & Glade as well as performing at prestigious venues such as The Design Museum, Tate Modern & Barbican.

With the release of 'Tropical', My Panda Shall Fly has yet again set himself apart as one of the most unique contemporary electronic musicians around today.

The world of roots reggae & dancehall has been fully awoken to the fantastic analogue sounds of Kalbata & Mixmonsters' music - and even Rob Da Bank, Robert Elms, & Toddla T and The Wire magazine have supported and enthusiastically raved about their brand new yet wonderfully old school music.

And now - in time for summer festivals and carnivals, the floor shaking, speaker rattling track Congo Beat The Drum featuring Major Mackerel gets the 12 inch single treatment. The pounding drums and the larynx busting vocal performance from the Jamaican veteran is an unstoppable, unforgettable and frankly mesmerising experience!

Released alongside the original (and an instrumental version of stand out album track Out Of Road) is an amazing remix by Kahn - the Bristol based producer, renowned dubstepper, remixer, member of the Sureskank Collective - who with this remix displays his mastery of blending all kinds of styles, and injects his remix with some of his favourite influences - including Middle Eastern music scales - which ensures his reworking of Congo Beat The Drum is fresh, original and inspiring.

This single will be one of the sound system hits of summer 2014!

EAN steps up to bat for Cosmic Bridge, bringing 4 tracks of heavyweight, eyes down 80/160-range BPM rollers blending footwork rhythms with deep soundscapes and tinges of Jungle and Techno. His past work has come in the form of remixes for Om Unit's Searching on Stretched records, Ghostpoet's Cash and Carry Me Home and his contribution to Project Mooncircle's recent 10 year anniversary box set entitled Pictarus. More recently Civil Music enlisted him for a blistering re-rub of XLII's No Cure which has been very well received.

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Some friends think that Shihab the man owes the balance of his soul to his beautiful Danish wife. They may be right; for Eros is the very essence of what Shihab plays.Yet Eros is a god with many a face. A tale of tender mournings Shihab's flute is telling in MAUVE - a piece that translates its title into delicately changing colors of sound. In UMA FITA DE TRES CORES he has his instrument wooing with the proud self-reliance of Latin grandezza. Calmly, softly, almost blandishly Shihab blows the solo flute in the Jimmy Woode composition MY KINDA WORLD. Serene and somewhat playful his own title ANOTHER SAMBA comes along - a most uncommon composition by the way: lasting for sixty bars as if growing independent out of itself, with solos that appear to be additional spinnings rather than improvised choruses; and yet; a perfect, self sustaining melody no element of which is superfluous. In the last of the pieces for flute, in Klook Clarke's THE WILD MAN, which is based on a flourish of trumpets, Shihab for the first time reminds of the sombre, the demon-like face of God Eros. He contrasts flawlessly intoned passages with challenging phrases, phrases raucously sung into the flute - really, he is a 'wild man' who is playing like that. This raucous challenging sound prevails throughout the four baritone-titles ('Shihab never withholds long to caress', Campi says). Shihab blows the instrument the same way he speaks: without any delay, directly coming to the point. And he treats it like a voice, not aiming at an artificially homogeneous sound in all the registers, but at their different modes of expression. In the high pitches the horn gains a brilliant tenor-like quality - for instance in PETER'S WALTZ, dedicated to Shihab's son Peter, and in Kenny Clarke's simple drum fills comprising theme JAY-JAY. In the deep register Shihab produces snotty sounds filling lady's ears with horrors like Pan - thus in JAY-JAY and in the boppy blues SET UP . Shihab's sense of a scurrilous humor breaks through in SEEDS (which reminds of the West-African heritage of jazz with its multiple rhythms and its renunciation of harmonious development - only the eight bars of the bridge base on a progression of chords): not only does he omit the notorious bombastic chord by the ensemble after his own final cadenza, he even ends with a minor second above the keynote. Seems as if Shihab now unrestrictedly conveys to his music all the experiences and emotions he formerly did not deal with in a musical way. Shihab the man need not be disturbed so that Shihab the musician may improvise passionate choruses. It would be unjust, however, to forget the choruses of the four other musicians for those by the 'born leader'. Francy Boland, taciturn and always introverted: he plays an extrovert, a masculine piano. Even with spare single note lines he produces a piercing and ringing sound that hitherto nobody except him has discovered, a bluesy sound bespeaking the very element of frustration that lies within the title of the trio number WHO'LL BUY MY DREAM. The unfailing feeling for rhythm the musicians of the CBBB praise with the arranger Boland, becomes manifest in the piano solo on SET UP. Francy's improvisation is rhythmically styled in a Monk-like manner, and yet no accent could be set differently. Maybe this is the secret of the Shihab-Combo. 'Rhythm is our business', this credo of Jimmy Lunceford could be the one of the five musicians as well. Sadi hits his vibes as dryly as if wanting to bring its ancestors to memory, the wooden chimes of West Africa's coastal tribes. To reach the fullest poignancy possible, he intentionally calms down even the resonance in MY KINDA WORLD. In UMA FITA DE TRES CORES Jimmy Woode bears out the crispy jazz beat against Sadi's Bongos and Klook's Latin-American percussion all by himself. Moreover - and that, too, is connected with the school of the Duke who was the first in the history of jazz to discover the instrument's potential as a melody instrument - Woode rips a marvelous counterpoint to the inventions of the other melody instruments, take for example PETER'S WALTZ. And then there is Kenny Clarke. Klook. On the entire record he only uses his brushes. Means by which different drummers only know to bring forward impressionistically blending noises: He drums a vigorous beat with them, fanciful fills, a solo, melodious and at once skillfully playing with cross rhythms in JAY-JAY. The 'born leader', the 'outstanding baritone saxophonist of modern jazz' (Joachim-Ernst Berendt), he could not wish himself different sidemen for this record overdue since some years.

* Vinyl LP includes MP3 download for all tracks on the CD version *
C.K. Mann made his name as a virtuous guitar player in Ghana when he played with Moses Kweku Oppong in the Kakaikus Guitar Band in the early 60s. He then became the leader of the band Ocean's Strings until 1966. In 1968, he enjoyed a hit with the single 'Edina Benya'.
Mann was known for blending authentic African music with European influences. He was inspired by Latin American music and created a style all of his own. He became known as the 'King of Highlife' in Ghana in the 70's, when he released the record 'Nimpa Rebre' featuring vocals from Pat Thomas and Kofi Yankwon.
Funky Highlife came out of the Essiebons label run by Dick Essilfe Bondzie. According to Dick, this album could have been a massive hit in Ghana but the vinyl factories ran out of stock because of Ghana's economic downturn, so the demand for the record could not be met. The album is a fusion of highlife and soul. The best-known track 'Asafo beesuon' is a multi-layered, drum heavy, funk medley and is over 13 minutes long.

Finnish DJ crew Rollomatik break out on the Boogie Boutique imprint with a two track release that aims to represent the Arctic Circle fully in the nu funk/breakbeat scene. Formed of Hesh & Eaves, Rollomatik aim to rock the party and that much is evident on this cheeky 12" with "We Love To Party" deftly blending Will Smith with Chic amidst a melange of other recognisable samples. A similar approach runs through flipside jam "The Greatest" as Rollomatik lay down the vocal from an oft used Q-Tip solo joint over a heavily filtered take on Sister Sledge's most ubiquitous track.

Australian producer 'Well Being' returns to the Fokuz imprint with that sort of track we would place in the 'halftime' segment nowdays. 'There's A Place' contains a soothing trumpet, spaced-out strings and delayed piano riffs all blending together perfectly. Souful vibes on this one!
On the flip Technicolour and Komatic deliver a track called 'Ever After'. It seems this duo has the Midas touch, they can simply do no wrong! A moody vocal, deep bassline and tight cuts. The kind of track track that makes you reflect on whats important.

In a career of myriad highlights Nightclubbing remains the high water mark of Grace Jones's imperial years with Island Records. It is indisputably the album on which her musical legacy rests, and rightly considered one of the greatest albums of all time. A sophisticated melee of sound, blending post-punk cool with a hot Caribbean vibe and a catwalk Studio 54 sensibility, it's a perfect example of artist and musicians working in complete accord.

It contains the all-time Grace classics in "Pull Up To The Bumper", "Walking In The Rain", "Demolition Man" (written by Sting) and of course the Bowie / Iggy Pop-penned title track. There is magic in its every groove. In keeping with its reputation as one of the best sonically sounding albums of the '80s and for the first time since its debut in 1987, Nightclubbing has been comprehensively remastered using the latest studio technology.