Khidja – El Fadaa [MT003]

For its 3rd release, Malka Tuti is welcoming Khidja to the ever expanding family. The Romanian Duo appears to be in great form after their successful releases on Emotional Especial and Love on the Rocks. With their unique approach to production that combines recording alot of friends playing live instruments (Saz, Guitars, Violins, Persian Poetry just to name a few) and with references to obscure Fusion Jazz as well as to early Industrial and techno music, a very fertile and creative ground was made. Out of it Came Racheta El Fadaa, a unique slow hypnotic tune with some Arabic and Andalusian touches, that keeps on evolving, Drums of Taksim, a timeless tune, with the mesmerizing speech in the beginning followed by heavy bass and uncontrollable string grooves, and Monkey Tiger, a pure Industrial mid-tempo power track for all the chuggers out there to go mental to with its heavy baseline, screaming violins and dance floor scorching synth lines. On the remix to Drums of Taksim we find a collab between Turkish maestros Baris K & Mehmet Aslan, that strips the original down, pitches it up, and give the ep a bit of a mid-tempo house touch and a final seal of approval.

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Khidja – El Fadaa [MT003]

Joey Anderson – Invisible Switch [DKMNTL029]

The art of omission is a craft New Jersey native Joey Anderson masters like few others. After releasing his acclaimed debut album After Forever in 2014 and the 1974 EP earlier this year, Anderson returns to the Dekmantel label serving up the signature sound we love him for. Invisible Switch is the perfect example of what Anderson can do with very little, catapulting him to one of the finest and most original techno and house producers to date. Hammered to loose 4/4 rhythms, and without the use of the obvious percussive spasms, Anderson serves up some of the strangest dance floor tracks around. The lack of snares in ‘Waves in the Organ’, the schizophrenic ‘Blind Light’ and the sprawling ‘Reset’ show his fresh take on what modern dance floor music can sound like: elegant and urgent at the same time, while the wonderfully weird ‘Invisible Switch’ vouches for his versatility as a producer. Anderson’s minimalism doesn’t affect the musicality of the tracks. The strength lies in the details and unexpected twists. Freaked out chords cut through ‘Nabta Playa,’ a peak-time club track that stands out thanks to its enchanting madness. One of the many highlights is the impressive, more-than eight minutes-long ‘Disappearance’, which builds around a wrung synth line and neurotic rattling hi-hats, leading the dance in a hallucinatory techno trip that excels in originality.

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Joey Anderson – Invisible Switch [DKMNTL029]

Gnork presents DJ Shark – Space Beach [UTTU058]

Unknown To The Unknown’s early ’90s inspirations are well documented, with boss man DJ Haus frequently signing and releasing tracks that doff a cap to ghetto-house, acid, Belgian techno and early British hardcore. Despite this history, Gnork’s “Space Beach” feels surprisingly fresh. Described, somewhat matter-or-factly, as “jungle techno”, the title track does a brilliant job combining booming, skittish, energy-packed early jungle rhythms with the kind of spacey melodies and chords that you’d expect to find on vintage Detroit techno records. Flipside “Double Sunset” jettisons the Motor City inspirations in favour of a more straight up, bass-heavy early jungle flex, with rich dub bass enhancing the mood.

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Gnork presents DJ Shark – Space Beach [UTTU058]

Massimiliano Pagliara – Connection Lost Part 1 [UV034]

Synth wizard and disco don Massimiliano Pagliara is the latest addition to Uncanny Valley’s roster. From the first bass drum it is clear that “Connection Lost” pulls out all the stops. There is an urgency in its drumming and synth work that shouts “dance floor anthem” right from the get-go. “I Am Running All My Drum Machines At Once And Dancing” plays out like a percussive orgasm triggering pretty much all the drum sounds you could imagine. On the sleazy Disco affair that is “Don’t Give Up On Love” Massimiliano gets vocal support from Sigrid Elliott. This is a oh-so-sexy alliance that would have shined bright even in the heydays of Boogie. Finally, “I Enjoy Myself While I Am Here” shows off once again that when Massimiliano Pagliara is at the keys he creates glorious vibes like nobody else.

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Massimiliano Pagliara – Connection Lost Part 1 [UV034]

VA – RDY #25 (Ron Hardy Edits) [RDY025]

All three tracks here are on a stretched-out, dubbed-out electronic disco tip, beginning with what appears to be Hardy’s reel-to-reel extension of Disco Dream & The Androids’ quirky 1979, Moroder-ish arpeggio-jam “Dream Machine”. Flip for an all-instrumental dub take on Craig Peyton’s decidedly wonky, electro-disco cover of “Be Thankful For What You’ve Got” and “116 BPM Trax”, an un-credited, boogie-era, proto-house jam full of bubbling electronics, cheeky synthesizer riffs and clanking drum machine hits.

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VA – RDY #25 (Ron Hardy Edits) [RDY025]

The Pilotwings ‎– Molitor 71 [BFDM005]

The Pilotwings are back on Brothers From Different Mothers with another ode to rurality and old-fashioned analogue. Including 4 tracks, Molitor 71 goes deeper into retrofuturist nostalgia and bucolic
mood.

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The Pilotwings ‎– Molitor 71 [BFDM005]

VA – Nemas Problemas Vol.1 [PTP002]

Nemas Problemas are a crate-digging crew linked to Malmo’s Wildlife Records. Here, they make their first appearance on Passport To Paradise, editing up a quartet of suitably obscure tracks found on various dusty-fingered record hunting trips. Rizzolo DJ kicks things off with “Ride To Paradise”, a suitably rolling, dancefloor-friendly version of a stoner rock/cosmic disco gem, before Kool DJ Dust raises the pressure further with the vocoder-laden electrofunk jam “A Brew With My Crew”. Flip for Rastanils lo-fi, synth-laden disco delight “Darling”, and arguably the highlight of the entire EP, The Keeper’s deliciously Balearic, melody-rich jazz-funk chugger “Quivering Crevice”.

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VA – Nemas Problemas Vol.1 [PTP002]

Megadon Betamax – He Can’t Love You [TBE702]

A tri-continental modern funk teamup with Tug Boatmen joining Megadon to rerub 2 of his deepest cuts. The A-side is a funky boogie classic with a Cylon-esque robotic vocal. B/w ”Don’t Ask” a floor filling modern disco knockout-one of TZ’s personal secret weapons.

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Megadon Betamax – He Can’t Love You [TBE702]

TWINS – Standard Of Truth [COTF010]

Crimes Of The Future rounds off the year in fine style with an absolutely essential EP from TWINS. Three moody US house cuts straught out of Atlanta and a sublime deep remix from label boss Scott Fraser.

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TWINS – Standard Of Truth [COTF010]

Basic Soul Unit – Under The Same Sky [DKMNTL028]

Stuart Li, better known as Basic Soul Unit,  brings his rugged house to the Dekmantel imprint for the very first time, serving up this finely crafted follow-up to his 2012 debut album. Delivering ten Detroit and Chicago-inspired house tracks of the finest calibre, Li’s offset and grubby bruk drums are a constant nod to the dance floor, while his melodies lean towards an unparalleled industrial edged emotion. From the LFO-like synth-line and crunchy jack of ‘Fate In Hand’, to the Levon Vincent-esque techno shuffle ‘n mutter of ‘Landlocked’ and the Morphosis-gone-wild style of ‘Unwavered’, on the to the dark subbass welt of ‘The Rift Between’ and the relentless floor destroyer ‘Temptress’: ‘Under The Same Sky’ sets the bar fly high for raw yet extremely original house music.

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Basic Soul Unit – Under The Same Sky [DKMNTL028]

Sneaker – Algerian Rai [RAT006]

SNEAKER - Algerian Rai

Sneaker is going deep with his interpretation of Rai music on RAT 6. “Rai is a type of Algerian popular music that arose in the 1920s in the Algerian city of Oran, back then known as “little Paris”, it was a melting pot of various cultures, full of nightclubs and cabarets, it was the place to go for a bawdy good time. Out of this milieu arose a group of Male and Female Muslim singers, who rejected the refined, classical poetry of traditional Algerian music. Instead, to the accompaniment of pottery drums and end-blown flutes , they sang about the adversity of urban life in a raw, gritty, sometimes vulgar, and inevitably controversial language that appealed especially to the socially and economically disadvantaged.” sounds like the definition of Rat Life! Put some drum machine patterns on top of it and here we go: long overdue Sneaker solo EP on Rat Life Records!

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Sneaker – Algerian Rai [RAT006]

Napoleon Cherry – Walk Alone [MFM007]

CHERRY, Napoleon - Walk Alone

Napoleon Cherry is perhaps not the unknown name that Music From Memory excels at celebrating but the Philadelphian musician’s releases are certainly suitably hard to find. This career retrospective offers a mix of impossible-to-find tracks, many from his deliciously rare 1990 debut full-length, and previously unheard cuts. It portrays Cherry as a master of warm, evocative, Balearic soul and lo-fi synthesizer funk, whose analogue-rich releases were always out-of-step with the musical trends developing around him. Crucially, all 10 of these tracks are superb, making Walk Alone yet another essential Music From Memory purchase.

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Napoleon Cherry – Walk Alone [MFM007]

MR TC – Soundtrack For Strangers [OM030]

Glasgow based Thomas Clarke encompass Left-field Disco, Tropical Oddity, House and Techno whilst channelling the spirit of a youth spent playing in psychedelic rock bands in Luxembourg, listening to krautrock and worshipping Lou Reed and David Bowie. Another ep from the depths of the Glasgow underground. Unique, organic, mind expanding.

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MR TC – Soundtrack For Strangers [OM030]

SHMLSS – Special Edition Volume Three [SE003]

Following strong releases on Disco Deviance and To Rack n Ruin, Dutch Disco fiends SHMLSS return with 2 killer reworks on Special Edition. Both cuts work the trackier and clubbier side of the discotheque and are 100% guaranteed to shake the dance floor.

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SHMLSS – Special Edition Volume Three [SE003]