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Etruria Beat boss Luca Agnelli returns to the label as he unveils four fresh originals in the form of ‘Dangerous’. A leading name within Italy’s techno landscape and beyond, DJ, producer and label owner Luca Agnelli’s musical journey continues to surge with releases and remixes via the likes of Drumcode, Soma and his own Etruria Beat imprint.

Having played a series of stand-out shows to close the year including Universe82 festival (Valencia), Duel (Naples), Die Rakete (Nuremberg) and Steam (Athens), not to mention a breathtaking performance from the top of Torre Del Cassero in his home region of Tuscany, early 2020 sees a welcome return to home turf as the Etruria Beat boss steps out to reveal his latest EP ‘Dangerous’, comprised of four commanding productions.

Title track ‘Dangerous’ unveils a high-octane ride through escalating synths, resounding kicks and menacing low- end tones, whilst ‘High Gravity’ utilises further infectious lead line work and slick, metallic drum licks. Next, ‘End Of Time’ sees the introduction of soaring melodies alongside off-kilter sonics and tripped-out vocal snippets, before closing proceedings with ‘Acidulous’, a driving acid-led effort that snakes through both tough and more melodic territories in impressive fashion.

Mr. Collage’s debut solo album “Layers” takes a traditional Hip-Hop approach, utilizing samples as well as recorded instruments. “Layers” is a sonic painting consisting of dusty vinyl memories and future plane tickets. Funky beats and basslines, afro percussions and a second-hand synth are layered to complete the musical background of the album.

Is that all? Def not! The album features some very talented artists from the USA, Australia, Spain, Greece and Belgium. The rappers Nico The Beast, S Squair Blaq, Mic Bles and 1989TRE get funky on Collage’s beats and lady MC Amira Lacrima with her mellow raps gets into a story telling.

Soul comes strong in the album too with Lady EMZ cherishing life over a Northern Soul-inspired beat and Mantique spicing up the funkiness with her deep voice. Not to mention vocalist Lisa Spykers adding an extra R&B/Soul vibe by joining forces with 1989TRE.
On the wheels of steel, the IDA World Finalists - Fly Immigrants (DJ Mysterons and DJ Hypercutz) and the heavy artillery of scratching of Mind The Wax, DJ Moya take care of the scratches in the album.

Layers will be released on vinyl by label Mind The Wax in December 2019, and includes 11 tracks.

Wah Wah 45's are proud to present "Cages", the third album from southern soul boys The Milk. Having released "Favourite Worry", their critically acclaimed sophomore album and first for independent label Wah Wah 45's, in 2015, the band are able to trace the seeds of the latest LP back to their recording sessions with producer Paul Butler (Andrew Bird, Michael Kiwanuka, Nick Waterhouse) almost five years ago, blending elements of soul, funk and rock together to create their own unique sound, inspired by some of their favourite artists such as Bill Withers, Traffic and the Isley Brothers.

"I can't wait to hear you write songs that look outward" - these words from Paul subconsciously had a lasting impression on the band. To atone for more inward-looking sentiments on "Favourite Worry", there had to be a shift in perspective. During the formative stages of the new album The Milk started pursuing a Nichiren Buddhist practice. The values and principles they discovered during this have informed every aspect of the record.

"We wanted to write an album that looked outside of the walls, to people, society and the environment - embracing real freedom in musical expression by utilising more complex rhythmic structures, extended harmony and dissonance to paint an original and authentic-sounding record" explains If their debut, "Tales from the Thames Delta", was inspired by hedonism and "Favourite Worry" by introspection, "Cages" is an impassioned conversation with the world. Racism and division are all on the rise. British society is being pulled apart by forces that seek to divide us and rip the compassion and empathy from our minds and hearts. We have become distracted from the more urgent challenges of boundless consumerism, climate change, and the mental health emergency reeking havoc on our streets.

We are the birds in the cage, tied by cheap thrills and fake news to a limited world vision that is no longer fit for purpose. The good news? We can all choose to challenge this view. "Cages" is equal parts the dark black shadow of how far we've fallen and the blazing sunlight whose rays of hope can still change the world. Four life-long friends, Ricky Nunn (vocals), Mitch Ayling (drums) Luke Ayling (bass) and Dan Le Gresley (guitar) formed their first band when they were still at school in Essex, playing countless working men's clubs, and finally became The Milk.

The band have built up a following of dedicated fans around the UK, which has resulted in them selling out venues such as Scala, Koko and Shepherds Bush Empire. Keen to get back on the road where they feel most at home and where the guys really shine, the band offer up a compelling set of diverse styles, matched with an ability to effortlessly intertwine songs together, gives their music a continuous feel to it. Since signing to Wah Wah 45's, the band released their second album "Favourite Worry", which became one of BBC 6 Music's albums of the year, sold out London's Union Chapel, toured with the Fun Lovin' Criminals and completed a sell-out UK tour climaxing at London's KOKO in Camden town. ... More live dates coming very soon!

“…Voices Heard From The Year Of Thirteen Moons…”
Beyond the decay of ruins hums the subtle sound of Vapor, a suite of dystopian instrumentals by Italians Do It Better visionary Johnny Jewel. His trademark analog synthesizers have never sounded more crystalline, their landscape never more evocatively barren. Chiming bells slowly twirl like the rusted music box of a child’s nightmare, a pitch-black bleak that is utterly frightful — Jewel channels the beauty & horror of a world that long ago abandoned its own destiny. This is a fever dream flashback. The kind that strikes you in the blur of night & refuses to weaken its grip until the sheets are drenched in sweat. This soundtrack is as elegant as it is violent, conjured in the deepest blacks & most vivid reds. These 21 celestial tracks clock in at just over an hour. Warping wind from a spiraling pinwheel…The sound of dust in the Garden of Hera, walking the tightrope between Life & Hades. The thin line that divides the Heavens from the Earth. Breathe Deep.

Produced & Mixed By Johnny Jewel
Mastered By Mike Bozzi At Bernie Grundman Mastering
Cut By Bernie Grundman In Hollywood
Artwork By Johnny Jewel

Alex Bradley's new reissue division at Utopia Records recovers the early works of Gianni Gebbia, a saxophonist and composer from Palermo, Sicily whose highly sought-after debut LP from 1987 is remastered with added unreleased material and updated art work by Gebbia himself.
A minimal and contemporary jazz album of the highest order, its beautiful sound, sentimental electronics and use of synthesisers - that were a precursor to the house and dance music scene of the early 90's - has made the album endure the years that have passed.

It will be sure to be a valuable addition to your home listening collection with stand out tracks like Cud evoking visions of a Sicilian beach stroll and the intense and brooding 'Vedersi Passare le Cose Attorno' with its Juno chords transports you to a Detroit night club in 1992 counterbalanced by Gebbia's soft saxophonic embrace...

The self taught Gebbia's works touches on the avant-garde whilst maintaining a musicality and fluidity with his technique of circular breathing adding an extra element to his playing, the ability to create Reichian like minimalism with a single breath whilst maintaining melodic structure.
The multi solo album artist is noted recently for working on the music score of Heiner Goebbels' music performance piece 'Everything that happened and would happen' at the Manchester international festival and for his curating of the "Anassimandro Festival of Music and Philosophy" in his home city of Palermo of which Bradley hosted last years after party.

Chicago-based contemporary electronic musician Steve Hauschildt has composed panoramas of synthesized sound for over a decade. First within his former band, Emeralds, an American touchstone of 2000s home-recorded psychedelic noise music, and later across a steady and critically-acclaimed stream of solo releases spanning ambient techno, arpeggiated electronica and post-kosmische styles utilizing synthesizers, computers, and digital processing. In 2018, he extended a collection of rich, visceral tracks titled Dissolvi, his first release on Ghostly International and his most collaborative work to date. Just a year later, Hauschildt returns with Nonlin, an album that's freer, leaner, and looser, both structurally and conceptually; less linear compared to its predecessor, but still captivating. Developed and recorded in several studios during and around the edges of tour - Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Tbilisi, and Brussels - this material emulates an alienating encounter with a smattering of places, a replicant of culture shock, a solitary and stark experience with uncanny environments, melody and dissonance as oblique locales. Nonlin finds Hauschildt evolving his palette of tools, integrating modular and granular synthesis. The improvisatory and generative nature of modular systems, when paired with his signature grid-oriented and hand-played techniques, guides these compositions slightly out of line to hypnotic effect. Opener "Cloudloss" permeates the mix with an unsettling smog, which reappears and all but engulfs "A Planet Left Behind." On cuts like "Attractor B" and "Subtractive Skies," pockets of air rest between sequenced pulses, whose crumpling and flattening folds build into a restrained rapture of crisp frequencies and milky reverb-swallowed coruscations. The album's title track and centerpiece logs on to a foreign network, a fractured percussion signal that modulates and stutters into static amidst curious melodic sparkling in the hazy bandwidth. "Reverse Culture Music" casts an elegant and brooding stream of strings, pizzicato and churning bow from Chicago cellist Lia Kohl, against chiming minimalist synth frameworks. A surprising pattern emerges in the taciturn systems at work. Hauschildt continues to expand his already horizon-wide repertoire, here exploring the effects of corrupting coordinates; a flight subject to the collapsable abilities of time in remote spaces, a smearing of the axis to elegiac ends.

Since relocating from Amsterdam to Bergen on the Netherlands’ north west coast, Tom Trago has gone back to basics. Every day he jams out tracks in his home studio using a small selection of electronic instruments, drum computers and effects units, a process that allows him to quickly capture ideas, emotions and the intense moments he experiences while making music.

It’s these diverse and sometimes surprising musical moments that will be showcased on Trago’s new DIY record label, Jong Nederland. The imprint is named after the building where he now lives and works, an historic and storied place that has been home to artists of all descriptions since the 1960s. Each vinyl release will feature tracks made by Trago using his improvised, straight-to-tape technique, packaged in handcrafted sleeves illustrated by internationally renowned Dutch artist – and fellow Bergen resident – Pieter Bijwaard.

The Jong Nederland story begins with two tracks of undulating, slowly shifting dancefloor voodoo rich in crunchy drum machine hits, lilting electronic melodies and instinctive dancefloor warmth. On the A-side you’ll find “Whisper”, a hypnotic but fluid affair where hushed melodies tumble down over off-kilter polyrhythmic machine drums, spaced out effects and bubbly, ever-changing analogue electronics.

B-side “Belltower” sees Trago up the tempo a little and bounce us towards the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Utilizing a rubbery rhythm track full of sturdy but supple kick-drums and hissing cymbals, Trago layers up fizzing synthesizer lines, poignant minor key chords, wiggling acid-style motifs and starburst electronics to fire the synapses and stir the senses. Like its’ A-side companion, “Belltower” gently twists and turns throughout, reflecting the real time, hands-on changes made by its creator during the spontaneous sessions that led to its creation.

Kicking off the year in style, with a new album by someone we've greatly admired and whose music we've followed for many a year; the mighty William Burnett aka Willie Burns / Speculator and Black Deer.

We first were introduced to his music through the wonderful Grackle remix by our pals T.Keeler & Capablanca. Over time we've followed his many aliases with much enjoyment and can still recall hearing the first Black Deer music being played one afternoon in Phonica and NEEEEDING to know everything about it. There's also fond boat party memories in Stockholm soundtracked by the UTTU release. Not to mention WT Records putting out some brilliant records by now familiar faces - our favourites include Art Crime, Kartei and Tummy Tummy!

Recently, William has started a new long form interview podcast, Talk Video on The Lot Radio and Marc Maron comparison isn't far off the mark. Well worth digging into. He's also been making music for himself and we're chuffed to be releasing some of that with you now.

Artwork by Belgrade's finest, floating.bstrd

Holy Fuck have today announced details of new album 'Deleter', which will be released on January 17th and is further previewed with the video for acclaimed latest single 'Luxe' (ft. Alexis Taylor). Having just concluded a US tour alongside Hot Chip, the seminal Canadian band will play a selection of European headline dates later this month (with a London show at Moth Club on October 23rd selling out immediately).

Arriving at a moment where attention spans are shot and anxieties are going into overdrive, 'Deleter', Holy Fuck’s fifth studio LP, is a defiantly full-bodied affair. Polyrhythmic and pleasure- focused, 'Deleter' sees Brian Borcherdt, Graham Walsh, Matt Schulz, and Matt “Punchy” McQuaid utilises their signature sound - seamlessly fusing the gauzy drive of krautrock and deep house’s dreamy ineffability, expertly blending purring motorik percussion with the sort of fuggy synthetic fizz and tang they are renowned for.

From the thrusting minimalism of opener ‘Luxe’ through to the triumphant chug of closing track ‘Ruby’, via club-ready rollocker ‘Free Gloss’ and the cosmic clatter of ‘San Sebastian’, Deleter is a record that joins the Holy Fuck dots within their widescreen, technicolour, crescendo- heavy sound.

For it’s second-release, Planisphere returns once more to the Berlin studio of Swiss-Turkish producer Mehmet Aslan, who has fast become one of the most fiercely individual and increasingly prolific emerging artists in some time.

This three-track EP is arguably Aslan’s most-refined work to date, aiming squarely at heads-down dancefloors, riding on sophisticated and hypnotic grooves. On ‘Comme II Faut’, a minimal beat unravels Aslan’s textural, traditional samples, delivering a woozy and intoxicating atmosphere.

Meanwhile, ‘Lobster Is Coincidence’ christens the EP with its title and a stop-start slice of unpredictable, cut-up psychedelia, utilizing obscure samples to generate esoteric funk. On the contrary, Aslan executes a tapestry of tightly-wound and no less entrancing rhythms on ‘Kakusui’, which evolves intriguingly with a subtle half-step and further echoes of Aslan’s unique musical heritage.

A survey of Moondog’s earliest recorded works - many of them unreleased until now - through a collaboration by Mississippi Records and Lucia Records. From 1954 - 1962 eld recordist Tony Schwartz frequently checked in with Moondog, his favorite street musician.

Tony Schwartz made recordings of Moondog’s earliest com- positions as they were coming into focus. Sometimes these recordings were made right on the street as Moondog busked, sometimes they were made in Schwartz’s studio, and sometimes they were made on NYC rooftops. The resulting recordings, many of which had never been released, were deposited at the Library Of Congress as part of the Tony Schwartz Collection in 2006 when Schwartz passed away, and this record was culled straight from these original tapes.

Side one kicks o with an unreleased version of Moondog’s classic composition “Why Spend The Dark Night With You?” fol- lowed by the rst ever complete recording of his “Nocturne Suite,” a beautiful piece of classical music performed with members of the Royal Philharmonic. The side ends with the complete “On The Streets Of New York” 7” EP, which was released on Mars records in 1955 and subsequently re-released by Honest Jon’s Records in 2004 on their excellent Moondog anthology. Side B features sketches of Moondog compositions never released, many with the man himself howling and chanting over his homemade percussion set.

Moondog’s music is as universal as it gets - part classical music, part Native American, part European folk, and part something completely unique. Moondog is one of the towering gures of 20th century music. This record comes with liner notes featuring never before released interviews with Moodog by Tony Schwartz and is housed in an old school “tip on” cover. All tracks fully licensed from the Library of Congress.

Mutual Intentions is proud to present “Mutual Friends" - their first compilation. The compilation is put to life by Stian Stu from Mutual Intentions and features top notch, jazzy hiphop beats from producers
such as FloFilz, Bluestaeb, Fredfades, Elaquent, Ol’ Burger Beats, SRAW, 10.4 ROG, Yogisoul and many more. Artwork by Boiler Room’s own Joe Prytherch.

R.Zee Jackson, a born Jamaican spent his early childhood in Clarendon and later in Old Harbour, St. Catherine, Jamaica, West Indies. In 1975, as a student, he moved to Canada with his Mom. There he met Oswald Creary of Half Moon label and studio. At Half Moon studio, he recorded the original tracks of ''Long
Long Time'' released as a 12'' vinyl record on his own label ''Ital''. Esso Jackson also recorded at ''Dub World'', the dubplates cutting studio in Toronto. All the sound men from all over came to see ''Snipa'' the dub cutter; “It was great, dancehall was rocking in Canada. We have it lock with all the big sound systems and artists from all over the world”. One day, the keyboard master Jackie Mittoo say to Esso “you can't stay cold up yourself in
Canada”. Because R.Zee had many family in the UK, it was easy. So he decided to see what was going on in London. In 1980 he released the album Trodding, produced by Mike Brooks (Teams / Coptic Lion). Few years later, he released "Ina South Africa", a heavyweight digital reggae to fight against Apartheid and also "At The Reggae Party", a pure dancehall anthem to mash up the dance. The songs were recorded at Utopia studio (London, UK) in 1985.

“Osondi owendi. What is cherished by some is despised by others. One man’s meat is another man’s poison. Different strokes for different folks. To each their own. Osondi owendi.

It’s a conventional aphorism in the Igbo language but if you utter the word “osondi owendi” in Nigeria today, the first thing that comes to anybody’s mind is the cucumber-cool highlife music maestro Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe and his legendary album that takes its name from the adage. Released in 1984, Osondi Owendi was instantly received as Osadebe’s magnum opus, the crowning event of an exalted career stretching back to the early years of highlife’s emergence as Nigeria’s predominant popular music.

Stephen Osadebe first appeared on the music scene in 1958 as a spry, twenty-two year-old vocalist in the Empire Rhythm Skies Orchestra, directed by bandleader Steven Amechi. With his dapper suits, urbane Nat King Cole-influenced vocal stylings and jaunty, uptempo, calypso-scented dance tunes, he personified the frisky spirit and anxious aspirations of a young, educated generation that had come of age in the wake of the Second World War, in a Nigeria that was rapidly shaking off British colonization and marching towards an independent future. 1959 would be the year that he truly made his mark in the business with his debut solo single “Lagos Life Na So So Enjoyment.” A giddy exhortation of the music, sex, fun and freedom availed by life in the big city, the song became a sensation and an anthem, and Stephen Osadebe became the leader of his own popular dance band, the Nigerian Sound Makers.

Osadebe would ride this wave of acclaim through most of the nineteen sixties, but a change in direction would be called for at the dawn of the seventies. As Nigeria emerged from a devastating civil war, so did a new generation of youth inspired by rock and funk, confrontational sounds reflective of a more violent, less idealistic era. All of the sudden, the idioms of the post-WWII dance orchestras that nurtured Osadebe’s cohort seemed quaint, the stuff of nostalgia. Osadebe needed to evolve to respond to the new tumultuous, turned-up times.

His response? He cooled it down.

Abetted by a new crop of fire-blooded young players, Osadebe slowed his music to a mellow, meditative tempo, brought forward the lumbering, Afro Cuban-accented bass and percussion, from the rockers he borrowed searing lead lines on the electric guitar. Over this musical bedrock, doesn’t so much as sing as he dreamily muses, coos, sighs aphorisms, words of wisdom and inspiration. “When one listens to my music, all I say appears meaningful,” Osadebe explained his lyrical approach, “at times they are in the form of proverbs which provoke much thought afterwards.” The result is a blend that is both rollicking and soothingly languid. Osadebe christened the style Oyolima—a tranquil, otherworldly state of total relaxation and pleasure. Osondi Owendi represents oyolima at its finest, and possibly Nigerian highlife in epitome.

Osondi owendi. What is cherished by some is despised by others. In some way, the album’s title constitutes a paradox. Because Osondi Owendi is a record that it’s almost impossible to imagine being despised by anybody."

2024 Backstock

After having released several solo works of both artists, Dauw announce the first collaborative full album by The Humble Bee & Benoît Pioulard; 'I suppose I'm your future'.

Both artists hold a very special place in the history of the label. The Humble Bee was already present from the very beginning and, in hindsight, definitely has put an important mark on the musical aesthetics we've been developing throughout the years. On the other hand, we crossed paths with Benoît Pioulard several years ago through our ongoing Living Room Concert Series in which he offered one of the most magical evenings to date. Given their mutual love for the tape medium and melancholic compositions, we only had to connect the dots as we were pretty sure that some magic was up in the air.

It goes without saying that we were uttermost happy when they both accepted our invitation to work on a collab album. Even though we didn't know where their efforts would end, it already felt like a victory that we, as a label, were able to link these artists. Above all, the art of curating can be considered as an essential feature of running a label but for us it is also the most wonderful part about it. Linking artists to each other, like we also did in our Dialog Tapes or Illuminine Reworks series, even goes a step further as it makes new connections, pushes boundaries and ultimately can result in an unexpected enrichment of the musical field.

"I always look forward to the Dauw collaboration releases. Most of the creativity for these lays within their curation: it brings together artists that, although arc in the same orbit but somehow never cross paths. The beauty of collaborating is that we learn from having to give space to another creative force, working alone we fall back on what we know and what we have already done. Although I wasn't paired with Tom for earlier projects, the guys at Dauw thought (and rightly so) that it was about time we crossed our musical paths for an lp." (The Humble Bee)

Following on from his beautiful release on Claremont 56 in 2018 - Alterleo aka Denis Leonovich, takes a different approach for this new e.p on the Kinfolk imprint and produces a storming world infused 4-tracker.

'Cabriodelic' is a mid-tempo march that utilises sublime keys, sci-fi ethics and military style drums to incredible effect. 'On The Way' keeps the drums heavy but ventures into a deeper sub tropical technoid-esque landscape.

'Tour De L'Afrique' is exactly that, a jaunty vibe that buzzes and rolls through an unknown afro-centric land.'In Sands' finishes off the package nicely with an acidic heavy Moroccan spiced percussive roller.

Essential music for the truly tropical dance floors of the world.

Any jazz lover will tell you that one of the main considerations in their appreciation of jazz is spontaneity, and the freedom it gives to improvise. In jazz, freedom is everything.

Here we have a record that was recorded simply because some musicians met in the studio one day in 1996. They were not under instruction, they had no plans. What they had was the presence of mind to make music with one another, free to collaborate and spontaneously create new sounds.

Drummer Harbans Srih tells us about 'Short story from Tabla, Drums & Trumpet': "We were tracking some funky jazz with a full band.
All left at the end except for Pandit and myself. As there was a bit of time left I said to Pandit to have some fun tracking tabla and drums. Engineer pressed the record button and off we went without any prior rehearsal. This take is the result. Colin had turned up, took one listen and said he'd like to play trumpet on it. Again without any particular discussion he went in and recorded this take, resulting in this fusion of Indo-Jazz."

... And then in 2003, 'Oye Maia' came about: "We met at the recording studio one afternoon. I had an idea of recording an Indian themed track and had brought along a kalimba. I showed it to Shanti who started to play it. It was suggested that he recorded a 2 bar loop while Pandit and I performed alongside. Shanti then improvised on trumpet utilising Indian phrasing. The track was named after his daughter Maia, and translated it means 'Listen Maia'."

Sound has the ability to heal. This is the primary tenet that has been driving Karma Moffett for over 35 years. Pure tones, resonant harmonics, the sounds of the earth. At the dawn of the 80’s, as the burgeoning movement of privately-issued New Age was taking hold, Karma Moffett was a pioneer. Eschewing the use of synthesizers and other increasingly-available electronic technology, Karma crafted his meditative, introspective music using ancient instruments. Primarily utilizing Tibetan Bells, and Singing Bowls, Karma Moffett crafted sounds that led the listener on an inward journey.

1982’s Sitting Still Within/Sitting Still Without s Karma Moffett’s earliest triumph. Combining the aforementioned Tibetan Bowls & Bells along with naturalistic field recordings, Karma’s first album is a testament to the power of minimalism and repetition. An ambient voyage that truly draws the listener inwardst, and outwards, Sitting Still Within/ Sitting Still Without is music for healing.

Following a string of releases via his own bbbbbb recors, along with bodies of work on трип Recordings, February 2019 saw Bjarki debut on !K7 Records with the ‘Happy Earthday’ album.

With the album considered to be the Icelandic producers first full debut LP, ‘Happy Earthday’ offered a conceptual collection of music which Bjarki thought he would never release. Influenced by his home country of Iceland as well as the planet’s environmental issues, the album received support across the board from the likes of The Quietus, DJ Mag, Pitchfork, XLR8R, FACT and CLASH Music, along with being crowned Mixmag’s ‘Album of The Month’.

As part of the limited edition 200 copy box set version of ‘Happy Earthday’, a secret album of original music was available to hear unbeknown to listeners. Now receiving a full release this December on double vinyl and digital platforms, Bjarki will release his second full album of the year via !K7 Records. ‘Psychotic_Window’ is a further extension of the experimental artists creative vision whilst continuing to address environmental themes and nature.

Combining influences from techno, breakbeat, IDM, electronica and more across all of his studio output, ‘Psychotic_Window’ is Bjarki’s final signoff for 2019. The new 14-track album follows in line with one of his most significant years to date, highlighted by performances at major events including Dekmantel and DGTL Festival, along with pioneering eclectic new sounds via his bbbbbb recors label.

“After ‘Happy Earthday’, people have been asking me about the secret tracks and it made me feel that they deserve a proper release. Each track means a lot to me as I made them during a depressing phase in my life; I was pretty broke, working many shit jobs and also just being super lazy, uninterested in leaving my apartment.

Before I started touring, I had these periods where I could write so much music without thinking, pouring my heart out to comfort my thoughts and feelings without trying. I doubt that this kind of window will come back to me anytime soon, my way of music making has changed a lot after going on tour. At that time, I was listening to a lot of Coil, Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti. I think every struggling artist goes through these phases of being sleep deprived, staying up and making music all night. This was my psychotic window.” -
Bjarki

Rich NxT heads to FUSE to deliver his ‘Suburban Skool’ EP this November, backed by fellow London favourite East End Dubs on remix duties.

An artist that has remained a central part of the London electronic music scene for over a decade, FUSE residentand NxT records boss Rich NxT is an artist that embodies the sound of the city’s evolution throughout the years, taking influences from all pockets of the scene - from drum’n‘bass and jungle through to the minimal and tech house sounds that later took hold of the blossoming after-hours circuit.

Having touched down on the label earlier this year alongside East End Dubs as the pairing released the impressive ‘The Four Slip’ EP, whilst also recently providing two collaborative cuts on label boss Siragusa’s latest ‘A Decade Of Rave’ LP project, November sees Rich return to home turf to deliver his second solo EP on the label of the year, with Eastenderz head East End Dubs also returning to provide an energy-fueled remix on the flip.

Opening proceedings, title track ‘Suburban Skool’ offers up a trademark slice of rolling house music as slick percussion arrangements meet bumping bass stabs and scintillating electronic melodies swirl around old school rave samples, whilst the slinking ‘Rex Press’ keeps the energy high as echoed vocals ebb and flow amongst bright lead lines, crisp drum licks, intriguing breakdowns and builds throughout. Shaping up the package, East End Dubs steps up to offer up a dynamic interpretation of ‘Rex Press’, utilising punchy kicks alongside soaring synth lines and driving snare rolls to impressive effect.

Elkka - the London based DJ, producer and founder of record label and DIY art collective femme culture - has announced her latest EP ‘Every Body Is Welcome’ on her imprint, following a very strong year constallated of live perfromances and DJ sets throughout Europe, and a growing radio presence in London and beyond.

‘Every Body Is Welcome’ will be released on 22nd of November. Smudging the boundaries between eras and styles, Elkka’s free-wheeling dance tracks float between club beats, earthy sounds, full of warmth, soft edges and lovely instrumentation which all lead to a completely captivating and blissful listen. The infectious new five-track EP looks set to further solidify her status as one of the artists changing the shape of dance music in 2019.

The EP kicks off with an acid-sounding dance thumper that elegantly moves along the piano melody, for a beautiful house start to the whole project. In typical Elkka style, the EP moves from the atmospheric, sun-soaked rhythms of ‘Compromise for What’ and ‘LVURSLF’ Interlude, to the more club-oriented, 4am nightscapes of ‘Avant Garde’ - ending with ‘Breathe’, the perfect union to these two different sides of her artistry in one elegant, thumping, soulful track.

‘Every Body Is Welcome’ was informed by Elkka’s own deeper understanding of who she is as an artist and what the dance floor means to her, claiming that “​Arriving in London in my early 20s I was a completely different person in every possible way and discovering club culture, the rave scene and queer spaces allowed me to explore myself fully as a woman and as queer person. For me, the dance floor has been a place where I have felt the most liberated, the most myself, unified with friends and strangers by the music and moment we are sharing. This EP is a celebration of those moments, of the dance floor, of dance music that has inspired me creatively and personally. Every Body Is Welcome symbolises what I hope the dance floor to be - a music utopia or haven, somewhere for everyone to feel safe to express themselves, to find themselves, to be whoever they want to be and feel part of a community of acceptance and tolerance. Idealistic? Yes but I think art should be a space to express idealism and where we hope to be.”

Her previous EP​ ‘​Full Circle​’​, released via femme culture, received acclaim and support from Annie Mac, Pete Tong, Tom Ravenscroft and Elkka was also named as one of the artists to watch in 2019 by ​Mixmag​. In addition, Elkka has garnered playlist and radio plays from acclaimed producers Four Tet, Floating Point’s and George Fitzgerald.

Elkka founded the femme culture label and collective in 2016 in response to the lack of support for womxn DJs, producer and artists, later teaming up with fellow DJ and creative Ludo who she now co-runs the platform with. Since then, the progressively minded collective have been swiftly gaining recognition with their boundary-free ethos that champions women, women-identifying, artists and the LGBTQ+ community whilst pushing forward-thinking music through their carefully, curated club nights and events.

Earlier this year they released their second label compilation ‘HeForShe x femme culture.’ Compiled in aid of the UN Women, the compilation featured fresh new sounds from the likes of Lone, Elkka herself, Martin Bootyspoon, India Jordan, Ouri, Nightwave and more - and earlier this summer they hosted their annual alternative Pride after-party ‘PROUD’, in which all the proceeds went to The Albert Kennedy Trust (a charity for homeless LGBTQ youthsworthy causes).

Following September 2017's release of "Imperfect Charm" a 5-track EP of post-club, haunted techno and heady sound designed industrial.
Evitceles has developed his sound far further, with releases on Seagrave, Yerevan and his own Amek imprint. "The Substance Of My Fantasies" is his first album and boils down the previous work into a narrative and truly dramatic session over its 9 tracks.

Opening gambit "Take Me to Common Ground" unlocks the gates with bruising rave stabs left to exist in a vacuum of sub-bass boom and augmented voice. "Nightcrawler / Third Night" is a diffuse future-garage roller, priming razor-edged basslines against a hollow melancholia, a theme present throughout this album. "Spit Hearts" cranks the busted drum patters out through a super hi-fi field of gothic synthesiser.

Closing piece "Behaviour Exercise" places off-thumbed emo-guitar lines and barely uttered exclamations into a gorgeous outro recalling sad boy rap styles from the darkest corners.

WRWTFWW Records is insanely happy to announce the first ever vinyl reissue for both volumes of Yoshio Ojima's superb environmental music project Une Collection des Chaînons I and II: Music For Spiral, originally released in 1988 on CD only. Each volume is sourced from original masters and comes as a double vinyl LP with liner notes in English and Japanese . This marks the inaugural release from the ESPLANADE SERIES by WRWTFWW Records which focuses on the works of Yoshio Ojima and friends.

Une Collection des Chaînons II (along with its complementary predecessor Une Collection des Chaînons I) gathers selected music pieces conceptualized and produced for sound-designing the Wacoal Art Center in Aoyama (Tokyo) also known as Spiral, a hub for a wide range of sophisticated cultural proposals spanning visual arts, theatre, music, design, fashion, and lifestyle.

Named after its superb curled-shaped structures laid in a vast atrium, Spiral is a monumental work of architecture by Fumihiko Maki, designed according to the principles of Metabolism, a movement advocating the fusion of the notions of megastructures and organic biological growth - in essence, evolving designs and constructions, adapting to human needs naturally.

Evolving, organic, adapting, these are notions that perfectly describe Yoshio Ojima's divinely designed brand of environmental music. Continuing, embellishing and bringing the Collection des Chaînons (which translates as collection of links) full circle, this second volume approaches sound design in relation to various contexts, sizes, and shapes. The nanoscopic neoclassical lullaby "Les Trois Grâces" brings attention to the importance of small details, "Pulse at Soothe" starts with the minimalism of a Satoshi Ashikawa piece and slowly drifts into mystical landscapes and cavernous echoes, "Entomology" and its melancholic artificial forest feels like a Twin Peaks mirage, and "Atrium" literally feels like a floating visit of a gigantic open space structure. With each timbre selected with extreme precision, each element placed in space with the utmost care, and textures worked to allow a wide canvas of emotion for the listeners, Yoshio Ojima's music is the constantly transforming connecting point between humanity and architecture.

Sitting alongside Midori Takada's Through The Looking Glass, Satoshi Ashikawa's Still Way, Hiroshi Yoshimura's Green, or Yutaka Hirose's NOVA, Une Collection des Chaînons is a pivotal work of Japanese environnmental/ambient/minimalist music.

A note from Yoshio Ojima: "Please listen to this album at around the same volume as daily life sounds such as air conditioners and refrigerators."

The modern, avant synth/dance-pop frolics of ‘Moi’ catch Steven Warwick (Heatsick) at his impish but droll best for PAN. Returning to PAN six years after his standout Re-Engineering album,
Warwick returns to similar zones of enquiry as 2016’s ‘Nadir’ - the first release under his birth name. With ‘Moi’ (which we definitely hear enunciated with a playful pucker), Warwick further emphasises the personal, playful nature of his work with 10 melodic, danceable and pop-tart arrangements accompanied by a range of vocal personas; from his naturally droll singing voice to more alien and leaned-out styles, plus a guest platitude by Turner Prize nominee, Jo Pryde.
Bubbling up with the pickled 2-step and Lolina-esque lilt of ‘Open Fire Hydrant’, Warwick clearly draws upon a UK dance music heritage - and its Afro-Caribbean and US inspirations - with the
freshest, exceptional style that percolates throughout the album, strongly informing its biggest dancefloor highlights such as the warped trancehall bumps of ‘Salvation’ and the crooked crankshaft of ‘Kaleidoscope’, along with the the brittle boned shimmy of ‘Rush’ and the hard but elegant drive of ’Silhouette.’
But they’re only half the story, which really comes together with contrasts in the fizzy downstroke of ‘Kind of Blue’, on the Black Zone Myth Chant-like psychedelic daze and blunted vocals in
‘Consolatio’, and the album’s standout ‘Danke’, which revolves around Jo Pryde’s gentle utterance of the title weft into ominous ambient clag, connoting a sort of humility that knowingly becomes
both less and more meaningful with each reiteration

After launching with Jaxe’s acid bomb Seekings earlier this
year, Dom Trojga is back with a bang (and five smiles). Uniting
artists from Ukraine and Poland, and ditching genre
considerations in favour of a shared wavelength, Domownicy
Różnoracy Cz.1 is all about further revelation of the imprint’s
purpose. First up is synth enchantress Poly Chain with the
storming ostinato of Moonhaze (first track ever signed to the
label, but not her last, by any means), followed by the beaming
legend SLG and his soother-shaker Hello Utopia. On the B-side
Jaxe strikes back, teaming up with the uncanny Bejenec
(CHECK OUT HIS LIVE SHOW, FOR REAL), for a hefty slab of
tekno-funk that is Seamless. Finally, label founder Eltron
rounds things up with his own quirky Rym Cymcym. The
beautiful label art has been drawn by the inimitable Martyna
Bolanowska. Playing this record is good for you, so don’t
hesitate.

Reissue of this 1976 LP from Zambia. Deep minimal African music, lovely compositions over scarce drum machines and (fuzzy) guitars.. Beautiful music with a deeper message in the lyrics which is explained better in the long review below. Some words from the label. There is music that falls right into place, a perfectly articulated expression of a few distinct influences. Then, there is another kind of median music, something more mysterious, the result of time, place, technology, and alchemy. Zambian writer and musician Smokey Haangala’s Aunka Ma Kwacha (The Money is Gone) released in 1976 is an example of this more mystical metallurgy, falling somewhere between psychedelic Zamrock, US folk, Kalindula, and Sundown Beat (music played after dark) from Tongaland. The unique mix of languages on the album (Bemba, Tonga, Lozi, and English) also suggest this complex cultural crossroads. Underlying the whole album is the insistent beat of a simple drum machine, which was totally unheard of in Zambia at the time, and parallels pioneering experiments by Francis Bebey, Sly Stone, and Shuggie Otis, utilizing a technology which would later come to define dance music. Then there’s the album’s original artwork by Peter Kependa, done in style similar to the infamous Jamaican dancehall illustrator Wilfred Limonious, interpreting the album’s title and primary theme; the burden of financial inequality.

In this sense the album is political, but the theme is extrapolated and explored through its impact on personal life; love, marriage, social status, and diet. The album is full of cautionary tales, folklore and references to magic, aspects of Zambian culture simultaneously mystifying and alluring to outsiders, part of what attracted Western readers to Nigerian writer Amos Tutuola’s hallucinatory Yoruba folktales. After becoming a household name in Zambia for his music, writing, and television appearances, Smokey Haangala died at the age of 38, the very week his book The Black Eye was published, abruptly ending his brilliant and ascending career. We are lucky to have his inimitable work to remember him by, Aunka Ma Kwacha resting comfortably in the pantheon of re-visionary works by Rodriguez, Kissoon Ramasar, TJ Hustler, and William Onyeabor.

2LP Gatefold Sleeve.

Lost Ethnography of the Miscanthus Ocean” contains six of their earlier works from 2013 to early 2014. The original release was on cassette from Guruguru Brain which was sold out less than a month. There is a new added D2. Miscanthus Ocean only for the LP version. The album is dedicated to Grass Mountain and the incredibly hot, humid summertime in Taipei. This is also the echo of their instrumental trio period before they moved on to digital composing.

Band Info:
Formed in Taipei, Taiwan in 2013, comprised of member Lu Li-‑Yang and Lu Jiachi, Scattered Purgatory is a name
derived from a Taoist ritual which expiates the souls of the innocent from a state in between life and death and then at last, release.
Growing up in Taipei, where two wheeled transportations are popular, the basin city of such population density and humidity had
inspired their sound distinctively differentiates from the US west coast desert drone. If we use Taiwan new cinema wave in 80s as
the analogy, the massive use of longshots of those films expressed a different halo from the Western Spaghetti; Scattered
Purgatoryʼ’s sound expresses soundscape to the world by using a familiar approach ‒– but with an oriental narration geographically
and spiritually.

Following the Stardancer EP and his remix for All I Need To Get High by Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons, Ae:ther unveils his most accomplished and daring work yet on the highly anticipated debut album Me released on Crosstown Rebels. Blazing a trail with his natural aptitude for crafting emotive, captivating compositions that have landed him releases on Crosstown Rebels Afterlife and Fabric, Ae:ther presents his debut LP. The album is a painstakingly produced collection of haunting melodies and narcotic rhythms that display his love and inspiration for ambient electronica, deep underground music and introspective atmospheres, culminating in dreamlike soundscapes programmed with taut percussion. The album begins on Stardancer, setting the tone with gentle keys and space influenced licks that portray a cosmonaut ascending into the stratosphere. This moves into the glistening, atmospheric Finferli, where synths depict aliens conversing in a distant, just-discovered world. Sub-aquatic ambient fills We’ll be Together, boosts of energy and intricate melodies weave in and out of the vocal, locked to the dubby groove. Ice cold subtlety and the otherworldly electronics of Costes drip slowly like water down a pane of glass. A mood of relaxation and weightlessness continues on Tina, a tender beat combined with pattering echoed chimes. N.62, a special ethereal piece, features warm chords and reduced percussion, gradually developing like the morning sun rising. Mysterious, playful charm unfurls on Elf, progressive harmony teases towards a crescendo before dropping back into the hypnotic beat. Clark is light and airy, funky melody constructing an interplanetary anthem. Stimulating a brooding mood, fuzzy clicks and glitches dance on the deep bass of Spektre II, conveying dust spraying off the surface of a moon landing. The shimmering ripples of electronica on title track Me fuse with delicate human vocals creating a heart-warming, personal account of Ae:ther’s relationship with his instruments. Trademark bleeps and blips wash over natural broken beats in one last final call to his utopia in the album outro.

2x12"

"Reactions" is the debut album from First Tone, the musical partnership of New Orleans-based artists Turk Dietrich (Second Woman, Belong) and composer Duane Pitre (Important Records). While the project has been at work quietly sculpting their sound for years, "Reactions" is the first available set of recordings. Those familiar with the respective works of the two artists will be happy to find a collection of music that is very much of the duo, and yet totally unlike anything they've produced before.

Over six tracks, First Tone unfurl poignant, flickering compositional works that utilize pitch material that is tuned using the system known as Just Intonation (which Pitre has studied for nearly 15 years) in conjunction with various software and a single hardware synth. The result is a collection of music that is both organic and alien. Layers of tone and texture build and dissolve from the ultra minimal to the enormous, on occasion seamlessly blending the two. A wide array of striking timbres patiently wash over one another, at times sounding like organic instruments, at other times sounding completely otherworldly.

"Reactions" is a masterclass not only in sound design and dynamic range, but also in sonic depth. The album's approach to the usage of time and dynamics work together to create the perception of a three-dimensional spaciousness of sound. The holographic effects produced from the spaces between the album's sounds are mesmerizing, with discreet arrangements that demand repeat listens to fully absorb.

In her most personally narrative work to date, A Fossil Begins To Bray is the follow up on Dais Records for NYC producer Hiro Kone, furthering the dialogue set forth on her 2018 release, Pure Expenditure. While the statements on Pure Expenditure rallied behind a point of dangerous excess and injustice, the material on A Fossil Begins To Bray embark upon a journey of discovery and selfanalysis, proposing a potential reorientation towards absence in hopes of illuminating potential futures.

In Mao’s own words, “This album considers the power of absence as neither a lack or deficit, but as a quiet, indeterminable force to cultivate in this time of looming and unrelenting techno-fascism. It asks that we take pause to consider our learned languages and actualities and to better consider how desire shapes our recollections and interpretations of this ‘existence.’” This allegory is expertly applied to every song on A Fossil Begins To Bray. Mao has established a long history of employing absence in her productions to maximum effect. With a vast assortment of diverse elements at play, no single track ever feels overly convoluted and further illustrates Hiro Kone’s skillful attention to dynamic tension and flow. Tracks such as “Fabrication of Silence” and “Submerged Dragon” perfectly represent the power of absence, utilized in a matter to create unique amalgams of decisive, cinematic techno rhythms from the electronic void. As the melodic elements contained within A Fossil Begins To Bray begin to unravel and slowly take form, the unaware are rewarded with a driving yet tangible refrain that offers resolve in contrast to the dense, textureladen backdrop that forms the album’s foundation. The first single, “Feed My Ancestors”, expands upon Hiro Kone’s signature take on electronic music structures. Seemingly free from the predictable contracts imposed by any one genre’s stereotypes, Hiro Kone throttles the foreboding bassline in favor of more calculated, abstract cut-ups that gracefully hold the track in place between hopeful utopia and something more ominous.

We at Antinote are proud to make our first French-Russian connection. Olga is from Moscow. She came to us after Dominique Dumont's show in Paris, winter 2018. We checked her music and immediately fell in love with the song 'Mojno'. Step by step we built a nice collection of tracks that now make up the 1905 LP! Very active in the electronic music scene, she’s spent the last ten years releasing music, performing, recording & DJing as well as being busy with her tech-project Playtronica (with them she's created 3 controllers that you allow to play scales on people, objects and colors). Across the "1905" LP she utilises some DIY devices such as Yamaha sampler vss-33, voice glitcher from the Russian company “Naked Boards” and organelle synth that creates this synesthetic tone in “ready when you are”. Besides dreamy pads and dancy beats Olga is ironically singing on Russian about her daily routine, in a positive way. There's no sadness and melancholy in the dark snowy days, where even the full moon or retrograde-mercury don’t even bother you ...if you are in harmony with mother nature's 5 elements.

Hollie Kenniff is a Canadian-American electronic musician. The Gathering Dawn is her debut solo album .
The album, which is her first ambient proclamation, displays a sprawling looseness in sharp contrast to her works as one half of Mint Julep with husband Keith Kenniff (Helios, Goldmund).
The Gathering Dawn wistfully utilizes glacial synths, blurred out guitars and Hollie's melancholic vocal plumes as a basis. The album finds Hollie effortlessly folding classic ambient motifs in with minimal modernist brushstrokes.

The Gathering Dawn will be out on November 15th on limited edition 180gm pink vinyl and compact disc.

East Man returns with a four track EP that explores his own Hi Tek take on Grime, stripping everything down to the raw, bare essentials.
Opening the EP is Fight For A Cause, a rough a fuzzy sub bass driven exercise in beat science that draws as much upon Dancehall as it does Grime. The second track, Selector, is a straight up DJ tool, utilising an alternating 32 bar pattern interspersed with splashes of pirate radio chatter.
The flip side opens with the storming Bandit Country.
The subdued intro lulling you into a false sense of security before the beats and bass are unleashed in full attack mode, the relentless onslaught pausing only briefly midway for you to catch your breath before continuing on it's devastating path.
The closing track, Darkage, is an ominous brooding affair that those of you familiar with East Man's sets will know well.

A real head nodding roller, it's definitely one for the technical DJ's.

XXX is back with an Split 12“ EP. On the A side we have Spencer Miles and on the AA side Zakmina. Once again XXX brings artists from all around the globe together on 12“. Spencer Miles brings us some dark brooding tracks all the way from Oregon, while Zakmina from Lithuania adds up to the heat with two bangers that for sure will shudder the dancefloor. The artwork is by upcoming photographer Joost Termeer, who is based in Utrecht in the Netherlands. When he heard the track he thought of fire, which was the inspiration for the artwork. We couldn’t agree more.

I felt totally unrestrained making this album” says Lindstrøm about his 6th solo album On A Clear Day I Can See You Forever (a title inspired by the 1970’s musical On A Clear Day You Can See Forever starring Barbra Streisand). “I’ve listened to Robert Wyatt’s solo albums and his Matching Mole’s debutalbum a lot lately. It so effortless, fearless and free. And not insisting. I was very inspired by this” In the autumn of 2018, Lindstrøm composed a commissioned piece for Norway’s premiere art centre Henie Onstad Kunstsenter. Sketches from the three sold-out performances became the foundation for the new tracks. “I decided to keep some of the initial ideas and develop them further. All the songs are based on long one-take recordings”, says Lindstrøm “Also I’ve been very conscious about the music on the album not exceeding the length of the physical limitations of the vinyl-format, finding that 2 long tracks on each side were the perfect balance for this album” This is also the first time ever Lindstrøm has made an album entirely with hardware instead of computer-plugins. He utilised thirty plus synthesizers and drum-machines during his performance at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter. The experience inspired him to embrace a similar set-up when making the album. “The joy of making music on actual physical objects and devices makes a lot of sense to me now. After working on a computer for over 15 years, I don’t think I’ll ever look back” he says with an almost childlike excitement. It was the accessibility to his enviable collection of music gear – largely consisting of sought after synthesizers – that allowed Lindstrøm to experiment so freely with ideas and soundscapes. “The title track is a 10-minutes improvisation on the Moog Memorymoog. I liked the loose feel so I decided to keep everything unedited. The other tracks were written and arranged prior to the recordings. I then set up the instruments needed for my sessions, then recorded more or less everything in a single take. I’m really happy with the way this album came together.” Lindstrøm has cited classical music as an inspiration the last couple of years “I used to study classical music at school. Back then I was listening to a lot of Opera, orchestral music and solo music on the piano. Listening to classical music again has been a revisit to my childhood days, just like I did when I embraced the 80s in the early 2000s”
Once embracing the freedom and the joy of making music without inhibitions, immersing himself in to the physical realm of making music with hardware, Lindstrøm learned something new not only about music – but about himself.
“I guess I've been trying to re-educate myself”

Photonz is the alias of Marco Rodrigues a DJ, producer and driving force of Lisbon's underground scene. For little over a decade now, he's been crafting his own deeply personal style of Portuguese house and techno. As a DJ, Photonz grew a reputation for deep crates and intensely euphoric sets and in 2017, together with Violet (co-founder at his Radio Quantica) and Lisbon's own Rabbit Hole collective, he started the now infamous Mina parties - a monthly, sex-positive, queer and intersectional-feminist techno party aimed at using the dissociative potential of intense raving to create a temporary space of suspension away from patriarchal expectations. 'Nuit' is Photonz?s debut album and a simultaneous reference the Egyptian Goddess of the Stars or Night. Marco was really swept away by the concept of ?freedom of form under the night sky?, the accepting embrace of Nuit. Ancestral, but also socially advanced and utopian; a deification of the night time. These ideas manifest themselves as eleven songs spread across two LPs that wax and wane like the moon. Photonz channels early techno, Drexciyan rhythms, balearic & atmospheric house; layering sounds, creating moments. All songs have been mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The vinyl comes housed in a royal blue and neon yellow jacket with duality/birth symbolism and trance-hieroglyphs designed by Eloise Leigh. Each copy includes a glow-in-the-dark sticker and a postcard with notes

Utopia Music are back for another release and it features the artists who have helped create its identity. Dropping in October, Mikal and Mako are here to take you into the darker months.

Their next release sees label head Mako join Mikal for a punchy a-side titled ‘Under the Earth’ and joins two masters of their craft for a track which is pervasive. Stabs of sub and clattering breaks draw you in whilst the second drop pad heralds back to old Bad Company.

On the flip, Mikal presents ‘Switch It’, with a howling ambient backdrop and ticking patches of percussion. Mikal goes for the dark and moody sounds and in doing so, highlights why he’s come under the guise of Goldie and Andy C. He has already proven his heavyweight formula through a variety of labels, including the esteemed Metalheadz imprint, showing a penchant for the darker styles of drum & bass and he boasts an enviable production standard.

Bristol based Utopia Music have recently relaunched the label and in doing so, have already reaffirmed why they grew to become such tastemakers. With the double-sided single from Break, M-Zine’s hard-lined ‘Equate EP’ and Hydro’s expansive ‘Lateral Thinking’ LP, they’ve delivered a host of releases to wet the appetites of drum & bass listeners who were waiting for Utopia’s return.

Goldie – “These guys are at the top of their game”
Break – “One of the best labels in dnb, very happy to be involved”
Ulterior Motive - “Big tunes”
Spectrasoul - “The quality is always super high”

Fresh from releasing his first artist album for Deep Medi (‘Dark 365’) and overseeing a prolific year in charge of his Navy Cut imprint, J. Sparrow debuts on Coyote Records with two tracks of abstract, excursive pressure. Although long revered as one of dubstep’s core UK innovators, Sparrow has also spent time experimenting with different sounds, palettes and rhythms over the last two years. ‘Single Time’ and ‘VHS’, both written during this period, not only spotlight Sparrow’s willingness to aim for the outer reaches, but also embed themselves neatly within a Coyotediscography defined by the new-gen grime of producers like Last Japan, SilkRoad Assassins and Utah?. Still cut with a rolling dubstep lean, A-side ‘Single Time’ is heavy on the hollowed-out, dubby weight and scything bass jabs, while B-side ‘VHS’ – referred to by Sparrow himself as ‘Egyptian grime in the 1980s’ – is a bleepy, filmic, widescreen stepper that draws from the past as much as it does Sparrow’s take on shiny, sci-fi grime of the future.

Very few albums manage to unveil their roots so honestly and at the same time succeed in creating something utterly distinct. "Of All The Things" from Jazzanova is one of these albums.
Originally released in 2008 on Universal, it now gets a luxurious reissue on Sonar Kollektiv as a 3LP with pop-up gatefold cover including previously unreleased instrumentals.
This format corresponds perfectly with the elegant opulence of the music that shines even brighter eleven years after its initial release. At no time is it unclear that this album is a deep bow to soul from the 1960s and 70s as well as genres like jazz, brazil and pop music in the vein of the early Beatles.
Along these lines, "Of All The Things" is meant to be perceived as a tribute to the music that Jazzanova has been honoring affectionately in their DJ sets and which has always had a decisive influence on their own productions.
At the same time, the Jazzanova guys have been successful in casually creating elaborate musical pieces which convey a deeply contemporary vibe - not least because of the multifarious references to electronic productions.
The path to this sophomore long player, which features the contribution of over 50 studio musicians, had been laid out beginning with Jazzanova's first album "In Between" from 2002.

DJ Richard's first release of 2019 sees him drop four invigorating electro tracks on Flexxseal titled "Eraser".

Emerging from the Providence noise scene, DJ Richard forges a path of disciplined selectiveness as a producer and DJ with his idiosyncratic style allowing him to make impressive, self-assured connections between 80s EBM, new beat and Italo disco, electro, techno and "post-minimalist" house. DJ Richard's feral approach evolved from the roots of his White Material imprint which quickly achieved cult status after early releases from himself and co-founders Galcher Lustwerk and Young Male.

As a solo artist, DJ Richard continues to push the boundaries of his talent and influences reflected in his two utterly distinctive and bewitching albums released in alliance with influential German electronic label, Dial. "Eraser" sees him join up with fellow American Christopher Joseph and his Flexxseal imprint as DJ Richard masterfully maintains his skill in propagating ephemeral and raw sounds with his aptitude for electronic body control.

"Critical Damage" kicks things off with resilient oscillations fused beautifully with angelic leads and thudding percussion reflecting a post-punk aesthetic while "Eraser" delivers tough, acidic swirls undulating beneath sharp, broken grooves and growling undertones.

On the flip, a slow, chugging drum sequence balanced with haunting modulations and machine-like vibrations that echo throughout take the focus in "His Threshing Floor" before "Casca's Theme" concludes the EP with meandering, robotic synth flutters and distorted bass resonations driven by hypnotic rhythms and world-ending atmospheres in this powerful electro cut.