Steve Rachmad’s richly melodic strain of techno has resulted in a huge body of work he has been growing since the early 90s. His sound is the perfect distillation of machine soul – dubby atmospherics and crisp, danceable dynamics balanced in perfect unison. Amsterdam’s Delsin Records gathers together some of the Dutch techno figurehead’s most important, sought-after works in a new EP series, all remastered from the original DAT tapes from Steve’s archives. His flagship Sterac project is present with Asphyx EP, featuring four absolute classic Sterac works dating from 1995.
Absolutely essential 1982 proto house Italo burner back on repress as part of Emergency / Unidisc’s 40th anniversary series of releases. Electra’s ‘Feels Good (Carrots & Beets)’ is one of those hugely influential cuts that shaped modern dance music as we know it. It’s a record that has been absolutely caned around the world, from Detroit to London to Rimini and beyond. An anthem on 1000s of mixes, tapes and shows on the likes of influential radio stations like Chicago’s infamous WBMX where it helped pave the way to the sound and styles of numerous early house pioneers such as Frankie Knuckles (the track was a major inspiration for ‘Your Love’) and Lil Louis. This is truly a must have record from the Italian production power duo of Sergio Cossa and Franco Falsini (Shannon, C.O.D. etc). An unmissable classic officially reissued from source by the Unidisc / Emergency records family, fresh for 2021.
First Word Records presents a brand new album from Kaidi Tatham. On ‘An Insight To All Minds’, Kaidi says it’s ”not about a destination, but a process. It’s about how you drive, not where you’re going. Nothing in this world can torment you as much as your own thoughts… We are all going through it. We can all feel what the next person is feeling, believe it or not. It’s learning how to tap into it”. The album is comprised of an assortment of Kaidi’s unique flavours – uptempo jazz-funk bruk, laced with rhodes, flutes, live bass and delicious percussion. Using that blueprint he moves effortlessly through latin and samba, half-step, deep afro house and a sprinkle of curveballs, all presented in Kaidi’s inimitable way.
Originally released in 2010 on their own label, Brooklyn nu-disco group Escort’s ‘Cocaine Blues’ is now lovingly revisited by Glitterbox Recordings, re-introducing the dancefloor essential to a new generation of disco fans. A loose remake of disco-reggae classic ‘Cocaine in My Brain’ by Jamaican DJ Dillinger, Escort’s ‘Cocaine Blues’ with its relaxed, disco approach and catchy vocal soon became a hit, with this special 12” package featuring Escort’s original and their instrumental, as well as Greg Wilson’s remix, where he takes the stripped-back approach with minimal vocals and enhanced drums. It may have been over a decade since it was first released, but this package still sounds just as good as it did when it first graced dancefloors.
Chemise’s 1982 boogie classic ‘She Can’t Love You’ is back on repress as part of Unidisc’s 40th anniversary series of releases. Backed with an exclusive new Purple Disco Machine re-edit as well as the original dub and the killer 1986 Marc Hartman remix. An essential release for all disco / boogie heads, officially reissued and remixed by the Unidisc / Emergency records family, fresh for 2021.
Transparent Sound returns in 2021 with another well overdue reissue. Originally released on Solid Groove in 1999, Night & Day is an EP that showcases the versatility Transparent Sound offers as an artist. All while retaining the groove focused backbone which makes him a legend in the electro scene.
Chiwax presents the second release of Robert Armani on his own platform called Robert Armani Traxx Series. This time in the rebound the masterpiece from 1990 formerly out on legendary Dance Mania: : Armando presents Robert Armani – Armani Trax / Circus Bells.
A stone cold old-school classic right here, from the year of 1984. Forged within the furnaces of electro and freestyle, Shannon’s sound was ubiquitous in post-disco clubland. Washington DC native Brenda Shannon Greene had a long career and released numerous records that soundtracked the clubbing experiences across the world, but ‘Let The Music Play’ was undoubtedly her calling card and still resonates today with it’s clipped booming 808s, bubbling acidic bassline and soaring synth lines. An absolute masterclass that rocks for the b-boys, the fly girls and anyone within 2 feet of the dancefloor.
WRWTFWW Records reissue Swiss cult band Grauzone’s self-titled album in an expanded 40 Years Anniversary Edition packed with the original 1981 album plus 9 extra songs, as well as extensive liner notes by Swiss music historian Lurker Grand. The pioneering band from Bern (Switzerland) had a short-lived but highly-regarded career which birthed a cult discography that still fascinates and resonates today. Consisting of core members Martin Eicher, Stephan Eicher, and Marco Repetto, and on-and-off participants Christian GT Trüssel, Claudine Chirac, and Ingrid Berney, the elusive group broke new grounds in the early 80s, experimenting with punk and industrial music, early techno sounds, minimalism, new wave, pop, and various electronics. With an innovative and polished approach to design, visuals, performance, and all around style and philosophy on top of their superb music, the constantly transforming unit developed a whole experience – the Grauzone experience: wild and unpredictable, yet sophisticated and cohesive, or as Swiss music historian Lurker Grand would call it, “an Art band with a Punk attitude”. Completely rejecting the music industry rules and refusing to play the game of promotion, touring, release schedules, and TV appearances even though they had a multi-platinum international hit with the song “Eisbär”, the band quickly disintegrated in full convention-defying glory, leaving behind an inspiring music legacy for the world to discover and discover again, one generation after the other. This extended version of their debut (and only) album beautifully crystallizes the Grauzone miracle/accident – where pop and youthful experimentation meet at (new/cold/no) wave and industrial crossroads.
Originally released on CD in 1999, Astral Industries present a first vinyl issue of Monolake’s much-loved ‘Gobi’, licensed from Imbalance Computer Music. Set to the backdrop of the Gobi desert in eastern Asia, two shimmering vistas plunge the listener into a vast and deeply hypnotic nocturnal soundscape. The perennial hiss and rattle of insects float along the fresh night air in soft waves. The desert thrives with quiet activity as a westerly wind skitters across moonlit dunes, granulated folds dancing like sheets of thin silk. Tectonic plates murmur beneath the shower of stars overhead, their millennial cycles whispering of aeons past. Vividly textured and enticingly synthetic in its sound design, Gobi succeeds as a stunning piece of minimalism.
Dark Entries is again presenting an essential classic: the Chicago house anthem Essence of a Dream, by Risqué III. K’Alexi Shelby’s illustrious career has included releases on legendary labels such as Trax, DJ International, and Transmat, as well as collaborations with high profile artists such as Marshall Jefferson and Pet Shop Boys. But his musical journey began at the young age of 12, when he befriended Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles while frequenting the Music Box and Warehouse. In 1987, Shelby’s first solo release, Risqué III’s “Essence of a Dream” b/w “Risqué Madness,” was to be cemented in Chicago dance history. He was accompanied in the studio by his cousin and production mentor, Mr. Lee. The tracks effortlessly propulsive house rhythms (courtesy of the Roland TR-727, TR-707, and TR-909), salsa-inflected bassline, and oneiric strings fuse magnificently with K’Alexi’s steamy, Prince-esque verse.
Produced by Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards of Chic, this song was featured on the 1982 Soup For One movie soundtrack album. Includes an 8-minute 12” version, instrumental, and radio version. Pressed on opaque olive green vinyl with white detail.
It’s been 25 years since the anthem ‘Freak O Holic’ by Los Angeles electro legend Egyptian Lover was first released. His label Egyptian Empire Records serves up a repress for all the fans out there, featuring an extended version of the track, presented here as the super sleazy Alternate Universe mix on the first side, followed up on the flip with ‘2 The Extreme’ (long version) taken from the seminal album of the same year – the 1986 LP. A true pioneer, Egyptian Lover’s (real name Greg Broussard) earliest material is name checked by producers such as as Autechre and I-F as influential.
By the late 1960s, drummer Roy Porter had already worked with some of jazz’s true greats (Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie included), spent time in prison and weened himself off heavy drugs. It was at this point that he founded Roy Porter Sound Machine, a heavyweight jazz-funk combo with a penchant for raw rhythm and blues. The band’s 1971 debut LP, Jessica, is one of the most magnificent sets in his vast discography. Featuring sweaty, floor-ready rhythms from Porter, beefy bass, wild electric piano licks, fuzzy guitars and some fine brass arrangements, the album is as good a collection of jazz-funk/funk fusion tracks as you’re ever likely to hear.
Finally available again as a 12 “maxi single! From the legendary film music of John Carpenter’s box office hit “Assault On Precinct 13” from 1976, including the “John Anthony Scratch Mix” and the “Remix” of The End.
E-MAN was the first project of Norwegian musician Geir Jenssen (electronics, well-known from being in Bel Canto and especially Biosphere) with guest vocalists Ragnar “Spiss” Larsen and Frank Jensen, and Per Martinsen on additional electronics. They only released one cassette on Likvider in 1984 (LIKV 4025) with tracks recorded in 1983/84.
Third release on Steve Pickton’s co-owned Fencepiece record label features something special from the Other World Studios archive – the first ever Stasis release from 1993. Three sublime examples of classic UK Techno from one of the true originators – Vanmannans Answer also features an early studio collaboration with fellow UK legend Nuron. Originally released on the tiny Time is Right label.
Dark Entries reunites with longtime idols Xymox, also known as Clan of Xymox, to reissue their Peel Sessions. Xymox was founded in Nijmegen, Netherlands in 1983 by Ronny Moorings and Anka Wolbert, who were joined shortly by Frank Weyzig and Pieter Nooten. Melding the synthesizer-driven experiments of post-punk and New Wave with the doom-laden atmospherics of the burgeoning goth rock scene, Xymox were one of the key progenitors of dark wave. The success of their 1983 debut EP, Subsequent Pleasures (reissued by Dark Entries in 2014) paved the way for a string of epochal releases on 4AD, where they honed their lush, despairing sound. Following their 1985 debut LP, Clan of Xymox, DJ and tastemaker John Peel invited them to BBC studios to record for his Radio 1 show. These recordings were released in 2001 via the Strange Fruit label on CD and are now available here for the first time on vinyl.
Wamono A to Z Vol. II: Japanese Funk 1970-1977, selected by DJ Yoshizawa Dynamite & Chintam. Following the highly acclaimed Volume I, dig further into the Wamono sound – the cream of the Japanese jazz, funk, soul, rare groove and disco music developed throughout the years since the end of the sixties in Japan. Fully licensed Nippon Columbia and Victor Japan masters available for the first time outside of Japan, featuring rarities from Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media, Hiroshi Sato, Bread & Butter, Hatsumi Shibata, Fujio Tokita and more.
The Hipodrome Of Music 