J Dilla – Dillatronic [GSE781DLP]

The previous 3 volume series is now compiled as a compact 2LP. The late, great J Dilla is rightly celebrated as one of the greatest hip-hop producers of all time, in part because his ear for music was so diverse and expansive. As Dilla’s mother Ma Dukes explains, “He didn’t come with a limited capacity, and real producers produce, produce, and produce. “There are no formats for genius workers…just non-stop creations.” Now, a fresh batch of those creations will be made available to the world for the first time, in the form of the latest official J Dilla release, Dillatronic. Presented by Ma Dukes and compiled by DJs Alien Villainz (fellow Detroit natives who worked closely with Dilla), Dillatronic contains over 40 rare instrumentals that showcase Dilla’s undeniable electronic influences. J Dilla’s music was impacted by the diverse musical history of Detroit – the birthplace of Techno and one of the most important cities in the history of electronic music. “You can hear it in songs like ‘Raise It Up’ for Slum Village or ‘Make It Hurt’ for Busta Rhymes,” says Young RJ (Dilla’s protégé and member of Slum Village). “The Detroit influence is part of what gave him an edge in production.” With today’s music sounding more electronic than ever, Dillatronic has a shockingly contemporary feel. “These tracks are still ahead of their time sonically,” explains RJ. “The things producers are doing now, Dilla did that 15 years ago.”

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J Dilla – Dillatronic [GSE781DLP]

Stefano Torossi & Giovanni Tommaso ‎– Echoing America [SP130-45]

A record that definitely lives up to its title – an obscure Italian sound library session that blends instrumental touches that evoke an America at the start of the 70s with some of the hipper, deeper currents you’d expect from the team of Stefano Torossi and Giovanni Tomasso. There’s plenty of expected sound library funk in the mix here in a way that makes for one of the most unique sound library sessions we’ve ever heard.

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Stefano Torossi & Giovanni Tommaso ‎– Echoing America [SP130-45]

VA – BEST 003: Need Some Friends EP [BEST003]

The world of Bestiole is like a giant disco ball, where she likes to dance all around and meet some friends to share some music : Roger Thornhill gave classic disco perfection, Hysteric sent a letter from the far east, or maybe from Italy, Turbo Boom-Boom chewed a funky bubblegum song to make a housy rolling track and Baerlz reworked a boogie track, just what it needed to have the righteous construction for the dancefloor.

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VA – BEST 003: Need Some Friends EP [BEST003]

Hanoben / Karawane – All Channels Are Open & Flowing Freely Vol I [DISCOSXXX01]

Two edited monster jams that you actually need. A side adjusted by Berliner Discos affiliated Hanoben aka Benji DF, while B side is delivered by Eastern promise olta Karawane.

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Hanoben / Karawane – All Channels Are Open & Flowing Freely Vol I [DISCOSXXX01]

Vive La Void – Vive La Void [SBR198LP]

Vive la Void is the new solo project of Sanae Yamada, co-founder and keyboard player of Moon Duo. Yamada wrote and recorded the self-titled debut album over roughly a two-year period, during windows of downtime in Moon Duo’s substantial touring and recording schedule. The dense, shape-shifting atmospheres of the seven songs grew out of late-night basement experiments in the layering of synthesizer tracks, a process that also led to meditations on the changeable nature of memory and perception. The result is an undulating blend of ethereal swirl, low end thrumming, and electric crackle, buoyed by Yamada’s understated but captivating vocal melodies and her striking lyrics.

vinyl / CD

Vive La Void – Vive La Void [SBR198LP]

Dollkraut – Fetish EP [CHAR014]

Charlois welcomes back label inaugurator Dollkraut, this time in company with De Ambassade. The label grants permission for them to share this 10” and create their own world, so they can coexist and share stories about lost love, condolence and isolation. On the A-side they come together in a dark room anthem about sex, lust and worship. It oozes with cold, heart-stabbing melancholia, yet carries the artists idiosyncratic warm and crunchy sound. The flip side scratches open the wounds left by the first song and sees Dollkraut drop his soft touch. What follows is a hypnotic voodoo track, summoning dark spirits with unsettling synths, shamanic vocals and tribal Jewish harp.

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Dollkraut – Fetish EP [CHAR014]

Garçon Taupe – Kiklop EP [NM077]

Garçon Taupe returns to Narrominded Records with ‘Kiklop EP’ featuring it’s typical mix of electro beats, eighties synths and acid. The B side offers some serious dance floor material with Dok, followed by the slower and dirtier title track.

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Garçon Taupe – Kiklop EP [NM077]

VA – Innate 001 [INN8001]

Since 2014 the Innate blog has been delivering high quality “slow journalism”, serving up articles that shine a light on artists that have otherwise gone under the radar. Four years on, the Innate team has decided to launch their own label with the same stated aims, namely to showcase deep electronic music with warmth and soul, produced by unheralded heroes old and new. The label’s first release – a four-track, multi-artist missive – offers a neat summary of what listeners can expect to hear in the months and years ahead. Tracks by Gilbert, Mark Hand, Lerosa and Innate founder Owain K.

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VA – Innate 001 [INN8001]

Casey Tucker – Alternative Faction [LVNO15]

Casey Tucker is up to bat once again for Love Notes from Brooklyn. This time, though, it’s a more complete three track artist EP on offer. The music, of course, encapsulates everything that’s great about Casey’s sound: the lush pads, the crispy percussion, the emotional strings, and the dance-floor destroying basslines. Alternative Faction utilizes one such dancefloor destroying bassline to create a real fist pumping moment in the title track; That Time of Year uses a wriggly acid synth line over the aforementioned emotional strings, and to great effect; and New Mission ends the EP in a unwavering fashion; with heartstring-tugging, terk jerking, emotional pads over an acid line in signature Casey Tucker fashion.

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Casey Tucker – Alternative Faction [LVNO15]

VA – Elsewhere MMDLXXVI [OYSTER10]

Compiled by soFa, the second installment in this recent series ties together eighteen artists, each venturing down their own musical path, to produce an audio atlas that transverses not only styles but also cultures and continents. Disparate musicians come from far and wide have been brought together across two slabs of beautifully mastered vinyl and, somehow, someway, found a jittering, skittering and juddering balance. Tracks from Puma & Dolphin and Khidja conjure up images of thick jungle scenes as tribal rhythm patterns hypnotise and mesmerise alongside shamanic samples. The heady exotic aromas and tactile textures of the East are on display with Zatua traipsing through baked dunes and deserts before arriving to the shamanic organized chaos that is Bear Bones, Lay Low. Darker moods loom and lurk, skulking in the alleys of Konsistent or in T-woc’s lurid tones. These duskier elements are countered by the brightness of Velvet C’s future disco sounds or the laser synthwork of Rony & Suzy. The buzzing Chicago inspired sounds of Weird Dust, the dawning pulses of Twoonky and the triumphal charges of Föhn blur the lines between mystical places and the cruel reality of the modern world.

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VA – Elsewhere MMDLXXVI [OYSTER10]

Parasols / Antoni Maiovvi – Black Gloves III [GD030]

The franchise goes one cut deeper as Parasols AKA Ali Renault and Antoni Maiovvi team up on this dark as hell during an eclipse set of grime soaked grease sleazers. Parasols throws forth two sharp as blades numbers with a guest appearance by the one and only Unit Black Flight with his first ever remix. Antoni Maiovvi closes things with something from the vaults, the 808 and sub bass sleekness of Shivers, remixed by Black Metal EBM overlord Equitant. Guaranteed nightclub nightmares as we put on the gloves one more time.

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Parasols / Antoni Maiovvi – Black Gloves III [GD030]

Hieroglyphic Being – The Language of Strings [MATH105]

The 105th record on Mathematics, freeform electronic artist Hieroglyphic Being aka Jamal Moss offers a selection of audio memoirs (Cosmic Bebop & Experimental House). ”The Language of Strings” features sonic madness, frequency enlightenment, & Hedonistic modulation.

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Hieroglyphic Being – The Language of Strings [MATH105]

Betonkust & Innershades – Forever In Boccaccio [COTF15]

Making their debut on Crimes Of The Future are Betonkust & Innershades with ‘Forever In Boccaccio’ their homage to the legendary Belgian nightclub & neon lit club scene which no longer really exists. Made in January 2017 under grey Belgian skies, while listening to a lot of New Beat, Acid & Trance.

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Betonkust & Innershades – Forever In Boccaccio [COTF15]