The superduo formed by two authentic stars of the Italian dance scene is back with the ‘Rolling Wave’ EP on Mondo Groove. Daniele Baldelli & DJ Rocca are on fire in the four tracks of this new EP on Mondo Groove, which starts with the bleep sounds of the title track ‘Rolling Wave’, goes into orbit with the deep boogie of ‘Funk Infusion’ and a party number like ‘Marchin On’, and culminates in the refined disco-jazz digressions of ‘Focused Image’. A record that will be a future classic.
Timothy J. Fairplay presents ‘Dungeon Module Volume Two’ is a follow up to last years Volume One and as before a ‘compilation of tracks made by occasional visitors, Alias’s, pseudonyms, mystery producers, assumed names and alter egos who make music in Timothy’s Dungeon Module studio. The compilation begins with ‘Bad Guys’ by Timothy himself, sounding like one of those minimal wave records that were popular in Italo clubs, and ‘Success’ by Tear Jerker is raw NO-303 Chicago House music. Bizet’s ‘Farandole’ gets a west coast rework by TJF, and ‘Iron Thorn’ by Leon Kaiser is part of the unreleased soundtrack for the Poliziotteschi film of the same name. Starting side B, Based in Dawson City, Main Street Mining are back from Vol 1 with ‘Its About Time’ followed by Media Attention who is Timothy J. Fairplay and Jamie Paton, ‘Golden Era’ is heavy New Beat influenced club music. Crunchy jack track ‘Not Licensed For Use’ by P2000M made entirely with Timothy’s Casio RZ-1, and the enigmatic Antoine Rouge makes his return from Volume One with ‘Pocket Keyboard’ to close the cassette. Finally there is a digital only bonus beat track version of Main Street Mining’s ‘It’s About Time’.
Defected welcomes one of Chicago house’s founding fathers Marshall Jefferson into the illustrious list of House Masters with this exclusive wax release. An artist that has successfully navigated major cross-over success while retaining utmost respect from the inner circle of electronic music’s underground, Marshall has been behind countless seminal records over his five-decade career. Now a selection of the very best tracks from his new House Masters compilation appear together on vinyl for the very first time, showcasing the impressive output of this house pioneer from his most well-known solo records, to major production credits, key remixes and the underground gems still favoured by selectors today. ‘Defected presents House Masters – Marshall Jefferson’ is an all-encompassing guide to his tremendous career. A trailblazer and genre-defining artist, Defected is honoured to welcome Marshall into the House Masters Hall of Fame with this very special vinyl compilation.
Tom Carruthers joins Craigie Knowes. Tom’s commitment to the ruff n’ ready sound of dance music’s formative years is unshaken on the De-Facto EP, bundled with the same synths, drum machines, samplers and FX used in the by-gone golden era of the UK acid, breaks and hardcore scenes. Soul is found in disorder, not in a world that places false hope in perfectionism.
Carlos Nilmmns is back on Skylax with “Parisian Nights” 12 inch. His style is a mixture of refinement and smoky jazz infused House jams.
Steven Tang is back with a 4-track single as Obsolete Music Technology entitled, Loops From The Habitus.
HOTMIX Records re-issues Bluemoon Productions aka Gene Hughes “Track Show (Volume One)”. Formerly released on Code Blue Records in 1990.
Two powerfully effective club tracks by one of Berlin’s most talented Juan Ramos. A clear cut exposé of his vastly amassed knowledge in dancefloor experience throughout over a decade of dedication to the craft of steering some of the most significant contemporary underground dancefloors. Can’t really go wrong here, mandatory for any club focused record bag, with an entourage of 125 BPM percussion sample based mayhem on the A side and a slower industrial 115BPM chugger that grows into a tripped out narrative of playfully galloping transient elements.
Another well kept secret from the Italian cult electronic music imprint – Interactive Test. A 4 track EP with a wide range of flavours in “house” music, very much dependent on the different samples employed. A side starts off with a deep house track echoing similar atmospheric qualities as to some of the dancefloor oriented productions making their way into US underground scene around that time, specifically Chicago and Detroit. The Percapella Mix makes the dedication to the Canadian Disco legend Gino Soccio very clear with a lengthy sample of “There’s a Woman”, a track which uses early electronics in a pioneering way, with what could possibly be one of the first examples of an Acid Bass line. On the B-side, things slow down a notch with more clear cut explorations in Acid house featuring layers of synths and percussive samples and occasional placement of vocal samples from countries far away from Italy, all made possible thanks to the new exciting technologies that had recently been made available to producers at the time.
Maxime dB and Aline Brooklyn’s AirFunk label serves up five fresh ones in their usual vein of French pop and electro-influenced dance music. The fourth edition in their V/A series makes for no less than a masterclass in such inherited arts; the A-side comes packed to the brim with airy, upper-echelonic, sophisticated but not-tryhard electro-syntheses, from the introductory chord bursts and catwalk kick-claps of ‘Nrj’ to the lippy new wave lasers and speak n’ spelled interjections of Electrodynamique’s ‘That Is Right’. The B adds depth to the A’s surface tensity, with La Gugga’s ‘Gogo Danca’ and Paul Cut’s ‘Shoes’ lending a fashionista’s verve to stringing, saxophonic deep house and bass-driven Oizo-esque flat beats respectively.
Barcelona’s Anbau debuts on Bordello with a Giro d’Italia themed EP. Dedicated to its heroic riders and specifically the late Marco Pantani. He broke through in 1994, winning one of the hardest Giro climbs with an incredible time record; the Passo del Mortirolo. He eventually became second in the final rankings of this legendary tour of Italy.
The obscure operation madness label is back with an insane electro and acid release from Matt Whithead.
NDATL continues with DJ Aakmael’s vibrant EP, ”The Xposd EP”. Kicking things off is ”Track 109” a lively and rhythmic blend of Latin jazz infused groove with a bouncy shuffle guaranteed to set hips in motion. Next ”Imagination” a mesmerizing groove and Aakmael’s signature solo work, transports the dancers into a hypnotic zone. On the B-side, we encounter the dynamic collaboration ”This Is Not A Game,” a potent creation by Aakmael and label head Kai Alcé, featuring sparse piano notes and a penetrating synth solo. Aakmael then draws upon his Windy City influences for the final track, ”102.5” characterized by a smooth deep bassline and velvety keys. With its diverse soundscape, ”The Xposd EP” with its captivating rhythms and melodies invites listeners to immerse themselves.
Omar S’ first outing of 2024 on his own FXHE opens up with ‘Life Force’ which pairs Smith’s unique drum sounds – brushed metal, scruffy, raw – with his super sweet synths that always bring the warmth and soul. ‘All The Little Hand’s Around’ is another metallic sound tech house cut with celebratory chord loops up top and well-treated samples, then ‘Evil J’ shuts down with rasping basslines and glistening 80s keys. Another fine 12″ from the Detroit don.
Curtea Veche presents another edition of their Serii Speciale, this time featuring the legend that is Reboot. 3 groovers for the dancefloor , tried and tested by some of the biggest names in the buisness.
All musical movements require a spark to set them alight; in the case of Japanese house music, that spark was provided by the forward-thinking resident DJs of The Bank in Roppongi, Tokyo. In 1989, to celebrate the ground-breaking club’s first birthday, the venue released a 12” EP featuring first-time productions from three of its DJs, Junichi Soma, Shuji Wada and Strong Katsuya AKS Katsuya Sano. Widely considered to be one of the first ever EP of house music produced in Japan, 1st Unit was never officially released. Instead, 500 of the 1000 copies pressed were given away at The Bank’s first birthday party, with the rest initially being sold not in local record stores, but rather the venue’s own in-house shop. Three decades on, the 12” is finally set to get its first worldwide release via Rush Hour’s Store JPN Series.
From home recorded tapes in the 90s to a newly released vinyl record in 2024, The Comfort presents their third release, Siegmar Fricke’s Commercial Breakdown. Back in the year 1990, the working method of Siegmar Fricke and his contemporaries was one best described as a DIY recording process. With spare tapes, glue, scissors, and sheer determination, Siegmar sought to share his music with an audience hungry for adventurous electronic music. In an era of limited access to labels and platforms, those not conforming to commercial trends had little choice. Thus, tapes like this one, dubbed simply as “home-recordings,” circulated among DJs and friends, embodying the playful experimentation of musicians exploring unconventional sounds and even dabbling with mainstream pop sounds.
The Hipodrome Of Music 