Amir Alexander – Love & Fear! [AC007]

“A recontextualized hybridization of that which is familiar to create the foreign….
Using classic Chicago, Detroit and New York as a reference, I sought to explore new sonic possibilities while limiting myself to the classic machines and sounds of the era that inspired me to dedicate my life to this art-form.
Revivalism was not my intent. Perhaps neo-futurism if any ism’s must be assigned. That, and a strict code of minimalism. I aspire to use time, space, and absence, as well rhythm and sound, all in equal measure to create suggestive music (pun intended). Defined as much by what is not there as by what is. Music for travel. For Dance. For Contemplation. In a club among hundreds, or at home in bed.
An album. Along player. A fantastical voyage through the soul and mind via abstract, minimalist etudes exploring the range of emotions that are joined to a particular year in my life. Using as few elements as possible to create the most emotive material I could, these studies are recorded documentation of one student’s pursuits to master the craft of creating raw, yet elegant. Rich and sonorous, yet stripped down modern electronic music. For the club, at home, and everywhere between. Modern music for modern living.
I hope to contribute to the progression of the form and create excitement in the next generation so that some of them will also be inspired to expressively create and add on to the culture. Peace”

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Amir Alexander – Love & Fear! [AC007]

John Heckle – Wet Noises [MNSX003]

The secret to John Heckle’s impressive productivity is probably his admirable commitment to jamming with analogue hardware. Certainly, there’s a loose, all-action immediacy to this outing on Midnight Shift. Tinged by acid throughout, and with more than a few nods to both Detroit futurism and vintage British “intelligent techno” (most obvious on the early Orbital style, stargazing shuffle of closer “Frozen Planet”). The title track itself is particularly potent, offering a surging combination of stomping techno drums and intoxicating acid lines, while the bleaker “Alpha Deux” sounds like the musical foretelling of some kind of post-apocalyptic future.

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John Heckle – Wet Noises [MNSX003]

Roger 23 – Future Jack Programs To Respond (Section 1 & 2) [RHYTHM013.1]

First release in a series of two by the bad boy from Saarbruecken, Roger 23, bringing 3 crystal clear future jackers and deep & deeper techno tracks.

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Roger 23 – Future Jack Programs To Respond (Section 1 & 2) [RHYTHM013.1]

Marvin & Guy – Egoista [HVN028]

Marvin & Guy with 3 tracks that push boundaries between disco culture & techno spirit. Ranges from hypnotic warm analog bass to pumping Italo-disco to obscure trip built around psychedelic synths & rolling bass topped w/spooky vocal samples.

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Marvin & Guy – Egoista [HVN028]

VA – Lab Our 05 [LBRM005]

LAB.OUR 05 showcases tracks by 4 different artists, displaying a diverse spectrum of deep sounds. Lab.our Music co-owner J-UL’s first ever release, Tempest, is a moody, beat driven track with layered synths. Maxwell Church returns to the label with Elastic Ban, a rolling rhythmic journey with tense strings. Newcomer, and Toronto native, Xavier Gonzalez drops Praise, a dancefloor burner with a barrage of beats and energetic vocal snippits. Last but not least, veteran Chicago Skyway brings us Vase Mix 3, an atmospheric and melodic jackin’ track.

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VA – Lab Our 05 [LBRM005]

Violence Fm – Etoiles [CCC516]

Cosmic Club 16 in the house, and for this one Skylax have delved deep into the mystic universe of the ever enigmatic Violence FM with a four track EP quite simply out of this dimension… Etoiles EP is an inconceivable work of art from Violence FM that will leave listeners stargazing for more, not to mention an extraterrestrial remix of Chez Damier’s ‘El Fin Esta Cerca’ on the flip.

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Violence Fm – Etoiles [CCC516]

Black Booby – Sun Lab Export [BB008]

Black Booby is back on it with the Disco NoT Disco Summer release. First up on the A-side there’s ‘Sun Lab Export’ from Richard Rogers’ mystery partner, an edit of the super-unknown ‘Laxton Superb’ by Dutch 80’s electronic outfit Spectral Display.  Next up is ‘I Need Somebody Raw’ a new take on disco’s campest hero Sylvester’s ‘I Need Somebody To Love Tonight’. Then moving on to the B-side, we have ‘Jungle Booby’ which is already attracting some underground heat, as this reworking of late 70s French disco group Kikrokos’ track ‘Jungle D.J.’ sees Rogers take the original’s intro for a long session on the dancefloor in its own right. Finally, ‘And She Walks’, a take on Kazino’s ‘Binary’, sees them revamp the original B-side (of Around My Dream) by highlighting its darker sonic sensibilities.

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Black Booby – Sun Lab Export [BB008]

JP Enfant – Dreaming Backwards EP [LET001]

Sophisticated deep and athmospheric techno by Les Enfants Terribles. An extra fine release number one to start this fresh venture by Dutch dj/producer JP Enfant. These terrible kids all ready made name in their local scene and are now ready to step over the border.

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JP Enfant – Dreaming Backwards EP [LET001]

L/F/D/M – Psychopaths Eating Jelly [CGI010]

Laid down with authority by L/F/D/M are four no nonsense cuts blasting fresh air into that perennially en vogue phenomenon known as acid house. Opener ”Spare Ribs, No Napkin” is meaty and greasy with abandon, as rude and distorted as it is irresistibly syncopated. ”Cutting Fingers” contrasts with a slow burn with a deep kick anchoring shifting rhythms and unsettlingly hypnotic riffs. Flip this treasure over and get pummeled by the rolling stomp of ”Heavy Clouds with its massive 808s and just-off-the-nose acid cycles. Closing things out is the bright paranoid jack of ippos In Slumber” with its muted chords adding freaky color to steady and heady 707/303 workout that charms and overpowers with an electric stink that lingers long after the needle has reached the lead-out groove.

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L/F/D/M – Psychopaths Eating Jelly [CGI010]

Severed Heads – Big Saints Reward (1988-1990 Dubs) [OT015]

Optimo Trax 015 sees label boss JD Twitch indulge his love of cult Australian DIY act Severed Heads with a trio of dub version culled from the B-sides of their 1980s 12″ output. Titled quite artfully Big Saints Reward (1987 – 90 dubs), perennial Twitch favourite “Greater Reward” features prominently with the Dub version accompanied by an all new “Piano Power Edit” from the Optimo man which takes full advantage of the glorious keys that characterise the track. Complementing these, the B-side houses “Big Car (Crash dub)” and “All Saints Day (Saints Dub Day)” which add further credence to the notion Severed Heads are one of the most important acts in the formation of club music as we know it today.

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Severed Heads – Big Saints Reward (1988-1990 Dubs) [OT015]

VA – DBA 019.5 [DBA019.5]

Following the release of DBA015.5 in 2014, DBA present another vinyl-only various artists excursion, once again mixing up new arrivals to the label like Detroit’s Radio Brovold, New Yorker Max McFerren and Paris’ Ben Cohen, with established label favourites like Halvtrak of Tampere, Finland.

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VA – DBA 019.5 [DBA019.5]

Sneaker – Holistical EP [LUN004]

SNEAKER - Holistical EP

The Leipzig-based label Lunatic return with this new EP by Sneaker. The artist also known as Dunkeltier and spotted in the past on Uncanny Valley, Ratlife and Macadam Mambo, signs here three tracks of moody leftfield techno/electro with a hint of cold wave.

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Sneaker – Holistical EP [LUN004]