Magic Waves delivers the third and final installment in its series of EPs focusing on established artists working in disguise and encouraging the listener to put the “music first” ahead of names, trends or gimmicks. ‘Music First Vol 3’ opens in serious style with Fashionable Male’s epic EBM/New Beat stormer ‘Hardbody’; slow, deep and hard, building pressure to a crushing crescendo and guaranteed to drench any industrial basement dancefloor in litres of sweat. As if that wasn’t enough of an audiophysical workout we’re also treated on Side A to Deflektor1000’s ‘Krunch’, a punchy analogue technoid jam for the DJs that raves the bpm’s up to the next level in classic Detroit-Chicago style featuring whooshing strings, grinding bass and generally heavily elevating vibes. Flipping over to Side B things quickly get deeply hypnotic and very acidic indeed courtesy of Pagan Ritual’s squelching and jacking box-jam ‘Think Like Me’, another bomb no doubt destined to sit in many a DJ-bag for a long time. And closing things off we have an analogue Italo-Electro instrumental hard-rocker from Albert Ross in the shape of ‘Fly Away’, one that has been doing the rounds in the underground for some time and even popping up in the occasional I-f mix or two, finally available on wax but just as mysterious as ever.

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