Johannes Heil – Exile 008 [EXILE008]

With no track names, minimalist artwork and a matter-or-fact EP title (simply the record’s catalogue number), it would be fair to assume that Johannes Heil’s latest EP is a forthright, no-nonsense affair. Predictably, it is, with the long serving German producer dishing up a quartet of throbbing techno box jams. While each track is a loopy, rhythm-based trip, there’s still variety across the EP. Contrast, for example, the fluttering, alien-sounding synth loops and crunchy snare hits of “Track 2” with the buzzing, industrial-tinged intensity of “Track 3”. Or, for that matter, the jacking drum machine percussion and heavy bass of “Track 4”, and the clandestine creepiness of standout cut “Track 1”.

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Johannes Heil – Exile 008 [EXILE008]

Glenn Underground – Atmosfear [PFG043]

‘Atmosfear’ Glenn Underground’s debut album was originally released in 1996 and set the standard for sophisticated dance music. Dreamy melodies, heavy basslines and acid grooves blend beautifully with jazz vibes and Detroit techno. Glenn Underground is the founding member of the Strictly Jaz Unit. He was raised on disco classics and freeform jazz in Chicago’s Southside, the place where house music was born. Taking inspiration from Chicago’s original pioneers, Larry Heard, Ron Hardy, Lil’ Louis, and the like, Glenn has produced many sought after house gems for some of the most well respected deep house labels such as Prescription and Guidance.

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Glenn Underground – Atmosfear [PFG043]

VA – Plaza 001 [PLAZA001]

Plaza’s first physical release features 4 tracks from an all local lineup of Atripat, Consulate, Lanngman and Mike Midnight. This one comes from a special place, a place where raw electronic excursions go head to head with heavy machine fuelled jams. Conceived in the North Western Coast and commemorated from the depths of the City.

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VA – Plaza 001 [PLAZA001]

Ekman – Sturm Und Drang [SHIP051]

Roel Dijcks, better known as Ekman, is no stranger to Shipwrec. Following his Heimwee EP and Synaptic Feedback Loops comes a two tracker of serious proportions. “Sturm un Drang” gets the ball rolling. A rasping beat cuts into thick bass. A pool of liquified notes shimmers as an isolated world unfolds, a tactile world of arcing strings and clean complexity. If “Sturm un Drang” is a glimpse into an alien realm, “First Mover” is surely the beast that inhabits it. Bulbous bars trudge through a swamp of static, distortion drips from cymbals leaving melodies buried in the marshland.

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Ekman – Sturm Und Drang [SHIP051]

Abstract Orchestra – Dilla [ATA006]

“Dilla” by Abstract Orchestra has been generating a buzz since it’s inception in 2016 and subsequent UK tour, during which the album was presented to the public in its live form. Led by Saxophonist Rob Mitchell, Abstract Orchestra seeks to reflect the diversity of music sampled by Hip-Hop producers by presenting music that has the complexity of jazz, framed within the simpler structures of Hip-Hop. Complex harmonies are framed within simple loops and complex bar structures and time signatures can pass by unnoticed. “I selected the tracks on the album with very much the live performance in mind” says band-leader and arranger Rob Mitchell “So the album is a reflection of the tour and the music we performed”. Inspired by the legendary live performances of The Roots with Jay-Z and the 40 piece orchestral arrangements by Miguel-Atwood Ferguson of the work of J Dilla, classic arranging techniques underpin modern loop-based structures.The band itself is based on the classic jazz big band instrumentation of saxes, trumpets and trombones and features the cream of the north of England’s jazz scene who collectively have played with Jamiroquai, Corinne Bailey Rae, Mark Ronson, Martha Reeves, John Legend & the Roots, Roots Manuva and Amy Winehouse. “Dilla” by Abstract Orchestra is a tribute to the work of the highly acclaimed and influential producer.

vinyl / CD

Abstract Orchestra – Dilla [ATA006]

Ian Fink – Middle Birth [DSCVRY009]

Ian Finkelstein is a jazz pianist and producer. He has been an active member of the Detroit jazz community since the age of 14. A student of Geri Allen, he performed with Marcus Belgrave from 2010 until Belgrave’s death in 2015. He currently performs with the Robert Hurst Quintet, and is a founding member of Detroit music collective Video7. Ian self-released his first album of house music It’s Time in 2016. His keyboard work can be heard on tracks by Scott Grooves, Omar-S and Shigeto among others. He is a regular member of Scott Grooves’ Overdubs. Middle Birth EP highlights Ian’s dual talents as a producer and instrumentalist. Side A features two electronic cuts, Middle Birth’ and Mort Crim’ with Ian playing live drums and bass on the latter. SIDE B showcases Ian’s jazz quartet, he is joined by several of Detroit’s most talented young musicians: Marcus Elliot on sax, Ben Rolston on bass and Alex White on drums.

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Ian Fink – Middle Birth [DSCVRY009]

Loud-E – The Brasserie Heroique Edits Part 4 [BH040]

Berceuse Heroique pluck four percivals from Dutch disco DJ supremo, Loud-E’s Loudiefied [2008] album of edits, plonking them on one fine 12” for DJ use and exercise. You get four choice picks, a symphonic strut, a belting Afro-psych bit, some electrified rutting gear and a killer slow-mo stroke to close.

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Loud-E – The Brasserie Heroique Edits Part 4 [BH040]

Baltra – Rearview EP [NSAF002]

Baltra’s Rearview EP is back by popular demand! NYC resident and upstart producer Baltra has humbly created worldwide buzz for his saturated, NY/NJ House-inspired, RnB-inflected jams via a series of YouTube-only music videos, alongside self-released cassettes. This blissed out set of tracks had a limited press on Baltra’s own 96 and Forever label, and now inaugurates the birth of IDNK.

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Baltra – Rearview EP [NSAF002]

Owen Ezard – Acid Last [SHM003]

Shara Music presents “Acid Last” from Owen Ezard, owner of Shara Music, an EP that comes with 4 very effective cuts of slow vibes. As appetizer presents “First reload” a cover letter to open the appetite giving some clues of the tracks that follow …. acid at soft speed to start the walk by enveloping sounds that take us to the second proposal,”Acid Last ” where Owen develops an acidic sequence that evolves until getting into his spiral. And with some more bpms comes the wonderful remix by our beloved favorite Italian, Fabrizio Mammarella. the main course shines with percussions influence of Alien Alien, mysterious synthesizers taken from outer space and cosmic sound that will make lose your head … Last but not least comes “Break & Slow” with your hypnotic voices will guide you towards the exit of this labyrinth of Eclectic sounds that surely will not leave you indifferent …

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Owen Ezard – Acid Last [SHM003]

Outermost – Intruder EP [EVR025]

When the derangement has reached the limitless limits. Like the sound of a light-beam reaching the immense gravitational waves of a black hole. Is there sound in nothingness This is your Outermost reality.

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Outermost – Intruder EP [EVR025]

Charles Manier – Luxus Steroid Abamita [BOP007]

Tadd Mullinix’s Charles Manier project returns with a third double-LP, Luxus Steroid Abamita, an edict of nine new amorphous transmissions and clustered, clangorous, hemi-synthetic funk. This is experimental machine music: it’s inspired by the fringes of dance, but skirts petrified arpeggios and other stock Wave and Technopop emblems. Its spirit elicits Sheffield Post-Punk and Düsseldorfer NDW desiderata, but exploits are crisp, psychedelic, and expansive.  Lyrics come as laconic Dada, sociopolitical impressions—in counterpoint to concrète tape smears, echoing guitar deluges, and entrenched in ever-shifting grime. A wide spectrum of density is proffered. Atmospheric zones are submerged, modulating knells. When tempos increase, sample & hold mutations make synthesizers sputter and writhe. The title track and opus,“Yopo (Calcium Tree)” carry this with heavy pulses—storming like locomotives.

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Charles Manier – Luxus Steroid Abamita [BOP007]