Perfectly timed for Systematic’s 20th birthday, the label presents a transparent vinyl version of one of the biggest club hits on the label, “Freakin” by Blake Baxter and Marc Romboy, 19 years after its release. In addition to the two versions from 2005, there is an exclusive and brand-new SID, which teleports the track into the pixelated worlds of SID and Commodore C64 sounds.
S. Crosbie returns to Weapons Of Desire with ‘Dark Weapons’ a digital release featuring five new tracks.
Type-303 returns to ProForm Series with a blast. This four tracker offers something for everyone. A-side starts with a solid acid banger named “Abso-Funking-Lutely!”. Second take on A-side is “Bad Moms”, a nice percussive track to make every dancefloor to jack. On B-side the mood goes to late 80’s/early 90’s italohouse-balearic-flute-Ibiza style with a track named “Midnight Sun”. This is pure niceness with everything essential in right place showcasing the talent of Type-303. The record ends with Kalle Karvanen remix of “Midnight Sun” which replaces flutes with saxophones and adds more acid into mix.
The obscure operation madness label is back with an insane electro and acid release from Matt Whithead.
For the second release this year Weapons Of Desire presents five tracks of jackin’ acidhouse, techno & pumping bleep from Manchester man Marcus Paulson. Added to the fire are two remixes by label co-pilot Iron Blu and the mysterious Spittal Hardwick.
JTC returns with a four-track EP, a mint encapsulation of his signature, decades-established style, machined from original remembrances of the Midwest’s party heydays and future visions of jakbeat tekno and underground acid-house progenies. ‘All Access No Excess’ is the first release in 2024 from Tadd Mullinix (Dabrye, X-Altera, Charles Manier) under his techno guise JTC, following his 2023 Album, Intra.Actae
George from Heerd returns to the Stomping Grounds label, this time marking his debut under his new solo project George Heerd with the Acid Garden EP. Drawing inspiration from the golden era of UK tech house while adding modern touches, George crafts an EP that reminisces about the early 2000s while embracing a contemporary twist.
The fourth installment of the ‘Tracks From The Alley’ series continues to explore the oblique edges of the jackin zone, dragging recognizable primitive elements of dance music through narcotic madness; a possible soundtrack for sleepless nights at the skate park. Involved in this 4 tracker mini-compilation are the Greek dj/producer DimDj, the Berlin-based Italian producer and part of Sons Of Traders, TANS, the Portugal-based Brazilian Unrealistic Expectations label owner Nothing Was There, and the Alley Version’s brothers FLML.
Timothy J. Fairplay finally lands on Pinkman, furthering his sonic excursions into raw, jacking, yet evocative house music. ‘Convictions’ rattles through drum-machine workouts topped with soaring synthlines, inviting you to spiral in the club’s darkest corners. Between the shuffled claps, ominous melodics and delay-laden syncopation, ‘Convictions’ playfully evokes both the mechanical exploration of urban space, and the claustrophobic intimacies encountered within it. There’s even a nod towards 1980s’ cult cinema hit ‘The Bronx Warriors’ at the end. Naturally, these six tracks find a perfect home on Pinkman.
Paranoid London, the electronic band of Gerardo Delgado and Quinn Whalley, has become synonymous with stripping acid house back down to its basics, rescuing the sound from smiley faces, rave, and sugary excess while paying respects to its gay, black, American roots. Performing mainly live with hardware only, often with vocal guests, as well as unique hybrid DJ sets, the duo has established a tongue in cheek, grumpy punk sound and attitude without taking it too seriously. Their new long-player “Arseholes, Liars, and Electronic Pioneers” refers to the cavalcade of c***s we find ourselves surrounded by. Our only respite being the joy that musical geniuses bring. As expected, PL has recruited a bunch of special guests on vocals including Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, US house veteran Monica “DJ Genesis” Lockett, the novo-New Romantic/gothic, Jennifer Touch, and Joe Love, from Fat Dog, Brixton’s current ones-to-watch. As well, previous collaborators Josh Caffe and Mutado Pintado return for new recordings.
Colombian producer Felipe Gordon returns to the Razor-N-Tape catalog for his 3rd EP. It’s a signature FG affair, from start to finish with deep jazz house chuggers like Homage to Bossa and Flutes of Gold, to the wistful and mysterious energy of Beside Me and the arpeggiated synth stomper Acid Party at Santa Barbara.
Anatolian Weapons is back with part two of his remix/studio work for Sound Metaphors, this time a 2 track EP featuring downtempo chuggers high in dubbed out acidity. The A side feels like a perfectly put together composition that grows with a playful industrial beat paving the way for trancey melodies to develop in unison with acid nuances. B-side goes into more percussive directions still with heavy acidity well presented in full Anatolian Weapons effect – a solid investment yielding high returns on any music focused dancefloor.
Partout continues its Latin America series with a four-tracker EP by the DJ Lou Flores, who display his creativity and his talent of producer under the concept of Log In.
Most of these jams and edits haven’t seen the light of day, and aren’t available separately (except for the 2nd track which was on a Secret Gang digital release).
NYC’s Sweater on Polo delivers a hammering six track mini LP for L.I.E.S. indebted to the sounds of early-90s psychedelic Chicago house, names like Gherkin and Pierre come to mind over this release but the young producer tastefully and effectively puts his own vision to the forefront with this record. In the misguided world of modern dance music production, Sweater on Polo, throws all trends aside and sticking to the bare essentials…letting the 808s,303s,727s do the job and making this one of the most crucial modern House records to come out of New York City in the last 10 years.
The Hipodrome Of Music 