Mads Bjerregaard & Philip Jun Kamata are Supertonic and they deliver some killer deep house with razor sharp analogue synth sounds on “Banned From Jolene”. “Five By Five” is peak time business with its infectious melody and catchy groove. “Organ Rollin” gets deeper but still retains the screeching synths and thumping 808 rhythm. On the flip is “Ecila” and “Analog Satellite” a sexy, slow mo nu disco number that ticks all the right boxes.
Khotin (Normals Welcome resident) returns for his second release on our imprint. He joins up with Australia’s Dan White, whose release on Forbidden Planet found its way into our record bags this past year. Deep space acid vibe on this one.
NYC’s ever-reliable party institution Rong Music train their sights on the mainroom with this white label promo from Savage Hymn, the new collaboration between Chicago veteran Mystic Bill and NY stalwart Jake Reif. Pumelling out the speakers on an undulate 303 bassline and a stampede of hard hitting percussion, “Indecision” soon establishes itself as the finest acid house record since Paranoid London’s “Paris Dubs 1”. The combination of detached spoken vocals, eerie synth lines and touches of almost post punk attitude supply an extra layer of snarl which pushes this above the other acid tracks floating around today. On the flip, Blakkat and DJ Spun revive their Black Spun moniker to drive “Indecision” even deeper and darker into the post peak thunderstorm of blazing strobes.
Although a relative upstart on the scene, Junktion has been getting some serious heads nodding lately with releases on Sleazy Beats and Outplay, and the Hot & Bothered EP continues to define his dusty and organic sound. From the summery ease of the title track, to the fresh take on the oft-sampled ‘I’m Wishin’ to the discofied chugger ‘Fling Cleaning’ followed by the slow-burning ‘Visions of You,’ this EP is a beautiful listen from beginning to end. And the kids are gonna dig it too.
The fine folks at Moton, that’ll be Diesel and Jarvis, hook us up with something a little special this summer, slimming their usual 12″ format down into superb colored 7’s of edit delights. A-side cut “Sister To Sister” does its thang with plenty of soul and sass, blowing our minds with far out funk, and full on frequencies. Last but not least, Diesel and Jarvis go beachcombing with the blue eyed boogie of “We Are The Sunset”, a jazzed out, funked up cut ripe for early hours or end of night play.
Esa returns with the final instalment for this Highlife World Series which included previous releases Cuba and Kenya. Having been invited to attend the East Africa music conference DoaDoa in Jinja, Uganda back in 2014 and again in 2015, Esa shares the sounds of a new breed of talent and ideas emerging from East Africa and beyond, showcases music not only from Uganda but artist from Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya and South Africa who all attended the conference.
Belgian techno powerhouse Token welcome back another label regular in Ø [Phase]. This Versions 12″ represents an interesting move for Surrey-based Ashley Burchett, a chance to delve into his back catalogue and offer up some versions of some of the heavy hitting cuts that helped establish him within the techno community. Versions opens with an ‘Enhanced’ and buffed up take on “Flyby / Falling” from his 2006 Espresso EP for Ingoma, complemented by an unreleased demo take on “Bulk” from the same year. Another Enhanced version, of “Obscura Mix 1” is perhaps the finest cut here though Token completists will find much to savour in the stripped mix of Mass, the title track from his 2007 label debut.
Ad Rvina Imperii is the first chapter of a series of various artists compilations co-produced by Kapvt Mvndi (Blackwater) with Love Blast Records and Stirpe 999 Anti Label. Fire At Work – Spartacvs is a slow motion track with increasing melody. A hypnotic industrial piece made with modulators. Somatic Responses – Dark Ervption is an experimental track mixing Drone and Rough music. On side B comes single track Luciano Lamanna – Giammai Per Sempre, a rough techno track with very deep influences and experimental sounds all made via modulator machines.
The Hipodrome Of Music 