As fantastic as anonymous Marvin & Guy deliver another amazing Marvin Gaye sample Italo edit.
001.Features
Gloria Ann Taylor – Deep Inside You [MGR001]
Reissue of one of the most wanted records on Discogs and being one the most expensive items sold on Discogs.
Push/Pull – Bang The Drums [RHRSS011]
Reissue of 1990 NYC house record. Ben Cenac aka Dream 2 Science with a master piece African influenced house LP. This sounds somewhere in between NYC band No Smoke (Koro Koro) and the Dream 2 Science’s signature sound.
Ron Hardy – The Best Of Ron Hardy Vol.1 [S3029]
Classic re issue of ‘The Best Of Ron Hardy Vol. 1’. Remastered from original DAT’s for 2014 and re released in original Streetfire artwork. Released in conjunction with Streetfire / Trax / Harmless.
Anopolis – Anopolis [LP005]
Anopolis are a collective of four Thessaloniki based producers (Dimitris Evagelopoulos aka DimDJ, Drum Machinee, Lowjac, Oldman Talkin’) coming together for their first release on Lower Parts. The EP starts with Anopolis 2, a long, disco flavored track, built up gradually with phasing pads , lead melodies and an arpeggiated square bass line. The hypnotic feeling of Anopolis 5 is up next taking things deeper and textural while Anopolis 11 stands strong with it’s relentless acid loop juxtaposed with sharp drums washed in reverb. The final track of the EP arrives in the form of a remix of Anopolis 2 by Elec Pt.1 creating a mysterious and sinister atmosphere.
Randomer – Russian Torrent Versions 10 [CCCP010]
Randomer aka Rohan Walder on the Russian Torrent Versions. Of the three productions, lead cut “Side Crack Lung” is the one the more adventurous selectors will gravitate towards, with a complement of vocal samples and degraded synth lines getting racketed around the channels by a tunnelling gutter techno rhythm. “Fun In The Sun” is pure screwface techno whilst the delicate sounding “Odd” ends matters on a suitably strange note.
MFO – Future City Traffic Part 1 [DKMNTL018]
Mephisto Frequency Oscillator (MFO) is a dynamic production duo made up of Italians Dario Di Pace and Massimo Di Lena. Here they release their first of a two part EP series, Future City Traffic, on Dutch label Dekmantel having only previously released on Early Sounds Recordings. Across three tracks they lie out some fine space funk and dirty deep house and prove they have a great understanding together.
L Neils – BAROC001 [BAROC001]
Baroc launch their imprint with two slices of tough, analogue house and techno from L Neils. Heat treated drums crack and thump underneath layers of ethereal synths and rolling, bubbling basslines.
Anthony Naples – Zipacón [TTT026]
Anthony Naples hooks up with Bankhead again for what looks and sounds like a sequel to last year’s much loved El Portal 12″ for The Trilogy Tapes. Apparently named in honour of the hospitable reception young Anthony received whilst playing a party in the Columbian town of Zipacon, this four track release opens with “Perron” which sounds like previous Naples hit “Busy Signal” hollowed out. From here, “Zipacon” feels like a real high point with fizzing, intricate drum patterns and a warbling pad line that really captivates. Flipside cut “More Problem” offers a undeniably booming interlude before Naples gets really bugged out on the excellent “Crazy Spirit”.
Voiski – Spotlight Diktat EP [SNBV002]
“Spotlight Diktat” in reference to the feeling some DJs have when they are on tour. A kind of DJ melancholia generated by airplanes, dehumanized hotels, waiting hours in boring terminals, basically traveling alone.
“I made these tracks out of this mood. At first they sounds like the typical groovy dance tracks, but when the melody comes out, you immediately feel there is something wrong… now the track is on and you still dance (of course it’s made for that) but you could almost cry to it too. So this is what happens when a DJ or a producer has to do their job, but they aren’t really in the mood for it. When the party comes, they just forget everything and make the show happen regardless. They have to bear the spotlight diktat and keep on entertaining people regardless of what they have in mind.”
CEOL – The Light [DBA016]
Versatile techno three tracker by CEOL, A moniker adopted by Glasgow’s Dom Cappello and Lee Duncan. Dom’s productions as Hutton Drive have appeared on cult labels like Soma and Frantic Flowers, whilst as half of Harri & Domenic he continues to hold down the residency at Glasgow’s legendary Sub Club. Fellow Glaswegian Lee Duncan records as Leeon and debuted in 2012 on the cult Seventh Sign label. Lee will also return under his solo alias later this year.
Conforce – Depth Over Distance [107DSR]
One of the most busy and consistently excellent producers in all of electronic music is Boris Bunnik, and now he is back under his most loved alias, Conforce, on his most regular home, Delsin. The Dutchman is best known for his serious deep and underwater tracks that are part dub, part ambient and part techno.
Cuisine Dub – Udacha 9 [UDACHA009]
Having previously impressed with an eccentric chunk of lo-fi, sun-kissed, house-not-house on the Udacha 6 EP, Croatian producer Cuisine Dub has been offered the chance to showcase his unique take on electronic music with an EP all of his own. It would be easy to describe his warm blends of traditional instrumentation, off-kilter house rhythms and toasty textures as “Balearic”, though that really doesn’t do them justice. There’s a pleasing eccentricity to the hypnotic grooves and incessant keys of “Track 3”, while “Track 4” sounds like psychedelic dub given the deep house treatment (without really sounding all that much like your average deep house track). The EP’s more downtempo moments, including the Bob James-goes-minimal flex of “Track 5”, are also superb.
Brian Ellis – Reflection [VR011]
Hailing from Escondido, CA, Brian Ellis has arrived with the “Reflection” EP, and has set out to push authentic drum machine synthesizer funk to the livest, rawest level. His gear list is strong, his output is prolific, and his work ethic is unrivaled…armed with his oberheim DX, oberheim Matrix-1000, Roland SVC-350 Vocoder, and an arsenal of various guitars, synths, and outboard effects. “Reflection” includes the Egyptian Lover, a master of the 808 and veteran party-rocker on vocoder detail, to guest on “Love Is”.
RX – Strung Out [PPU058]
Nicholas Benedek surprise hookup with LA Club Resources boss Delroy Edwards for a PPU seven inch under the RX name. Sound like a fine balance between Benedeks hazy boogie and the tape degraded grit thats been a hallmark of Edwards work.
Telephones – Lotusland [LOTR003]
Berlin-based Norwegian producer Henning Severud is in the midst of a fine run of releases as Telephones. Love On The Rocks is back again for the second time in as many months, this time with a true summer release. With EPs for Sex Tags Ufo and Running Back causing a huge stir, Telephones goes even further, offering the beautiful Meditiranian house anthem that is Lotusland and comes backed with remixes from Discodromo and Gatto Fritto no less.
Andy Ash – Connections EP [FBV008]
Leeds based Fullbarr sees the turn of Liverpool based Andy Ash, offering up fresh house that ranges from deep and moody to acid laced and angst ridden.
VA – Happy Jackin’ Birthday [STX010]
Snuff Trax celebrates magic record release number 010: Happy Jackin Birthday! For this little anniversary we asked four great artists to rework chosen tracks from the labels back catalogue. Leading us off, Mr White (you know him from his collaboration with Larry Heard) made an edit of Snuff Crews *Are You House*. Followed by Humandrone from Tokyo remixing Perseus Traxx – *Dont Feel Alone*. On the flipside you hear a remix treatment for Raiders of the lost ARP – *Stealing My Love* made by our man Takeshi Kouzuki of Kobe/Japan. And last but not least DimDJ from Thessaloniki created his own version of *Galaxian Journey* by Elec Pt.1.
LAAK – Invocations EP [CW007]
Laak has been invited over to Contrast-Wax for a solo EP. The EP kicks off with “Invoke A Response”, a driving deep house jam built around arpeggios and energetic synth lines for an uptempo end result, which contrasts neatly with the easy roll of the bongo-laden “Cadedance”. “Recant” nudges back into more intricate territory with a cheeky square wave bass line and slick hi hat shuffle, before “Coming Through” cools things off with a crafty broken beat excursion that works a little acid into the bottom end of the mix.
VA – Panorama Bar 06 Part II [OTON082]
A second 12″ sampler for Ryan Elliott’s soon to drop Panorama Bar 06 mix opens with “Take It Slow”, a rugged house jam of the finest order from The Oliverwho Factory and proceeds to take in cuts from former label manager Nick Hoppner, Deadbeat, Dettmann and Sushitech mainstay Makam. Individually the standard of these exclusives is remarkably high and it will be interesting to see how Elliott has slotted them all together for the free to download mix. If we had to guess, Deadbeat’s superb glistening house burner “Woah” would make an appearance towards the end thanks to his high tempo, whilst Dettmann’s swirling layers of ambience on “Light” feel very much like a set opener.
