Slip-D – Hypnoelectronix No.1 [HPNX001]

The North East of England is known for its role in helping to shape the UK House and Techno club landscape during the late 80’s and throughout 90’s. It’s infectious and raw energy engaged Slip-D from a young age exposing him to a number of venues including The Riverside, Empire, Pleasure Rooms and the hedonistic Rockshots. Drawing inspiration from the scene along with potent labels like Svek, Guidance and Shaboom that came in to prominence in the late 90’s, a bedroom studio set up of amassed hardware funded on a basic income was then formed over time. Residence in Teesdale Avenue, regular local Car Thefts and the wail of the Rag and Bone man all assembled themselves as a formula of what was happening outside the 4 walls of the studio. The vaulted Hypnoelectronix No.1 finally got pressed after some years, and transports us to the true crux of that era.

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Slip-D – Hypnoelectronix No.1 [HPNX001]

Brian Bennett – Voyage: A Journey Into Discoid Funk [ISLELP001]

Isle Of Jura’s first LP reissue, the highly sought after ‘Voyage – A Journey Into Discoid Funk’ by Brian Bennett originally released in 1978. A cosmic disco classic completely re-mastered from the original master tapes by Matt Colton.

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Brian Bennett – Voyage: A Journey Into Discoid Funk [ISLELP001]

Mori Ra – Trapped In The Sky [TRACYISLAND001]

Tracy Island, surrounded by natures greatest and ever rising force of the Ocean, is a place emanating peace and joy. The label is a concept representing the isolation and appeal of Island life, contrasted with thought provoking and mesmerising melodies to draw us away from main land mentality, offering feelings of tranquility and wonder. In these controversial times the necessity to escape or break away grows as we feel increasingly submerged by the world’s realities, now more than ever we should strive to protect both the environment and the purpose of this planet. Tracy Island will follow a 10 episode framework taking inspiration from Thunderbirds, all of which aptly named after the original series. The first episode welcomes Mori Ra of Osaka, with four old edits from way back when on “Trapped In The Sky”. “ Located in the South Pacific, the heavily camouflaged Island’s ulterior function is to serve as the secret base of the International Rescue Organisation. Music For Hope. With love from Tracy Island.

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Mori Ra – Trapped In The Sky [TRACYISLAND001]

Theo Parrish – Gentrified Love Part 3 [SS066]

PARRISH, Theo/AMP FIDDLER/IDEEYAH - Gentrified Love Part 3

The third release in Theo’s Gentrified Love series on Sound Signature. Side A, ‘Trust’, features Amp Fiddler and Ideeyah. Flip the disc over for another excellent collaboration between Theo and Amp on ‘My Soul’!

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Theo Parrish – Gentrified Love Part 3 [SS066]

Osunlade – Dedication EP [YSD082]

Yoruba presents a new Osunlade release. The high priest of house, his sound legitimizes the unseen spirit world that informs the pulse in every song he crafts. ‘Dedication EP’ functions like a sound library, a place where you can find indigenous rhythms from around the world, making Osunlade’s musical signature both ancient and futuristic. Jazz and global citizenship come through in his latest work, a decade based in Greece and a lifetime submerged in the participation, creation and production of music. With ‘Dedication EP’, Osunlade boldly presents a mid-tempo meditative musical essay with reflections in the form of everyday conversations and everyday life. These selections meet global feelings of political anxiety with rhythm patterns that bring you closer to the gift of transcendence.

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Osunlade – Dedication EP [YSD082]

Jeff Mills – Planets [AXCD051]

The history of Planets … It has been 100 years since the British composer Gustav Holst introduced his most famous score «The Planets». An elegant musical tour to each one of our Planets in the Solar System, Holst brought forth imaginary visions of space that would survive many generations and decades after. As an important piece to the classical universe, ‘The Planets’ is regularly played throughout the World every year as it had been the most vivid translation of our cosmic neighborhood until now. The Electronic Music artist and producer Jeff Mills, pays tribute to this century of incredible musical production. He embarks to compose a sonic journey to re-discover our neighboring planets in a 18 piece suite that explores the nine planets, including the portions of space in between the Planets, the nine regions Mills calls Loop Transits.

Continue reading “Jeff Mills – Planets [AXCD051]”

Jeff Mills – Planets [AXCD051]

Dopplereffekt – Cellular Automata [LSR020]

“Cellular Automata” is the new album from Dopplereffekt (Gerald Donald and Michaela To-Nhan Bertel), their first in ten years since 2007. Cellular Automata approaches mathematical growth and decay as an iterative process, with each data input considered individually relative to the overall model. The result represents one of the group’s boldest creative endeavors, defying expectations while remaining unmistakably Dopplereffekt. Cellular Automata is the third Dopplereffekt release to come via Berlin’s Leisure System label, following 2013’s “Tetrahymena” and 2014’s “Hypnagogia”.

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Dopplereffekt – Cellular Automata [LSR020]

Microlith – Subtle Variance [CPU00101011]

The recent passing of Rhys Celeste, the young producer behind the Microlith alias, adds extra poignancy to this posthumous EP. Given the tragic circumstances of his death, it’s hard not to hear a touch of melancholy amongst the yearning synthesizer melodies, fizzing electro beats and “braindance” style TB-303 work of “Acid in a Church”. It’s also true that the chord progressions and melodic structure of electro shuffler “Remember Members” are undeniably poignant, as are the outer-space electronics and sweeping synth-strings at the heart of “8oh8 Freight”. “Backwards”, an eyes-wide-shut chunk of 4/4-electro bliss, feels a little more positive, but is still laden with poignancy. Regardless of the connotations, Subtle Variance is a superb EP. Rest in peace, Rhys.

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Microlith – Subtle Variance [CPU00101011]

Romansoff – Colonial Past / Bodylock [SPORTIV002]

Bucharest’s Romansoff brings post-industrial heat on the second Sportiv release. Tudor cranks it to 11 and does crunchy, saturated beats under a killer analog riff on “Colonial Past”. “Bodylock” on the flip is equally intense but chooses a more stone-cold approach. Gripping, energetic material from a country at peak creativity. Sportiv is a dexterous white label operation that brings you heavy-weight rhythmic performances from the world of techno athletics.

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Romansoff – Colonial Past / Bodylock [SPORTIV002]

Jann – Murder People [PBD006]

Jann arrives on Pinkman with a soundtrack of breathless panic, an ode to a blighted world of diesel fumes and indifference. Rhythms are grizzly, gored and torn. Thick chords judder, revving like a clapped-out engine as metal slashes at savaged snares. Acid scorn is poured on this inhospitable world, amplified by the haze of distortion that clouds Jann’s hard and cold vision.

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Jann – Murder People [PBD006]

Alien Rain – Alien Rain VI [ALIENRAIN006]

Man of many aliases Patrick Radomski has saved some of his best material for the Alien Rain series, which has been delivering bombastic blasts of acid-fired techno hedonism since 2012. “Alienopolis”, the track that kicks off this sixth EP, is a suitably no-holds-barred romp through intense club techno territory, with genuinely mind-altering TB-303 motifs weaving in and out of a no-holds-barred rhythm track. Over on the B-side, he opts for a slightly deeper, darker and more intoxicating feel on psychedelic creep-out “XOX 31”, before sharpening his acid lines further on the otherworldly hypnotism of “Illusion”, where sampled vocal snippets help enhance the druggy mood.

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Alien Rain – Alien Rain VI [ALIENRAIN006]

Keytronics – Keytronics Ensemble EP [ROYAL036]

Warm, balearic tinged deep house tracks from the italian house master Kekko Montefiori who became immortal with his 1990 Calypso Of House release. Here we have some tracks recently found on some unreleased tracks found on old tapes recorded in that same era by Kekko.

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Keytronics – Keytronics Ensemble EP [ROYAL036]

Toby Tobias – Gravitator / Right Turn To Nowhere [ESP061]

Toby Tobias can be found in the shadows of South London. This is his first offering for the ESP Institute. On side A, ‘Gravitator’ evolves slowly over ten minutes from a somber intro of supernatural sighs, pulsing machine feedback and techno squelches into an ethereal landscape peppered with dissonant fragments of synth. With side B’s ‘Right Turn To Nowhere’, Toby stretches out even further, flexing a tasteful programming of the 808 while taking the long road to a reverb-drenched crescendo of distortions and expansive string swells.

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Toby Tobias – Gravitator / Right Turn To Nowhere [ESP061]

From Nursery To Misery – Pixies In The Woods [DE153]

From Nursery to Misery were three teenagers who grew up together on the same street in Basildon, Essex. Formed in 1987, the band was comprised of vocalists (and identical twins) Gina and Tina Fear, along with keyboard player and producer Lee Stevens. Lee invited the twins to over to record some music with him, suggesting they try singing over some instrumentals he had written and recorded on a newly purchased 4-track. They played a sum total of four gigs before splitting in 1991. Their recorded output, however, was relatively prodigious, with the band appearing on over 22 compilations, as well as self-releasing two album-length tapes ‘The Oak Tree’ (1989), and ‘Equilibrium’ (1990), and a split EP with Germany’s Nostalgie Eternelle, ‘Art is the Tool’ (1990). All these releases were home-produced, hand-made cassettes distributed and swapped via the Mail Art scene. ‘Pixies In The Woods’ is a 13-track career spanning compilation including three previously unreleased tracks. Tracks range from no-fi synth pop overlaid with ethereal, child-like vocals, to audio collages of animal noises and harrowing, double-speed monologues. Lee’s expansive synth productions, informed by the Blade Runner soundtrack, early electro records, and 4AD acts like Dead Can Dance, provided a rich, spacious platform for Gina and Tina’s sung-spoken introspective lyrics. Their songs are disarmingly direct and unfiltered, the product of three self-confessed misfits exploring difficult, often intensely personal issues.

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From Nursery To Misery – Pixies In The Woods [DE153]

Digital Poodle – Revision! Vol 2: Soul Crush [SUCTION037]

Suction Records presents the 2nd volume in a vinyl reissue/remix series by Toronto’s Digital Poodle: “Revision! Vol2 – Soul Crush”. Formed in 1986 by Heiki Sillaste, Digital Poodle began self-releasing experimental/EBM tapes in the late-80s, and by the early-‘90s had several releases licensed to international labels like Hyperium, Cleopatra and Ninja Tune. “Soul Crush” was an underground hit in EBM/alternative clubs around the world – particularly in Toronto, but also making an impact was Zoviet France’s Virtual Mix… This hypnotic, 13-minute psychedelic techno trip, actually a live-in-studio jam between Digital Poodle and industrial music legends: Zoviet France:, became an unlikely rave staple. Both mixes are featured here, alongside a killer revision by none other than Adam X, one of this legendary techno producer’s rare remix appearances.

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Digital Poodle – Revision! Vol 2: Soul Crush [SUCTION037]