Boot & Tax Live debut in Paris

The days before Xmas have been so exciting that we can still feel that mood. Discosafari family went to Paris for a big occasion, for which we were preparing from months: to assist to the live show debut by Boot & Tax, the milanese duo of producers exploded in 2013 with Acido Ep on Optimo Trax.

After the success of their second work, Fusci EP,  and after being included in FABRIC 77 by Erol Alkan, rumors keep spreading with the news that Boot & Tax are preparing their first album to be released in the early 2015. And now we can say it's true, since we heard a lot of new tracks played live during an amazing performance in Paris!

The date was on 20th December 2014 at Zig Zag Club, hosted by Remain from Meant Records and including the djset by Tim Paris and Ivan Smagghe as It's A Fine Line). That night, the atmosphere was really hot, but suddenly became hotter and hotter as the duo started with the live.

Here we have some breathtaking footage from Boot & Tax Live debut in Paris - have a look and enjoy yourself!



Boot and Tax official website

Stay tuned for more!

SERENDEEPITY 5th Birthday Party

Mercoledì 24 Settembre vi aspettiamo in store per un aperitivo a suon di dischi. Poi tutti al nuovo OSSERVATORIO ASTRONOMICO in DUDE CLUB per ballare su un dancefloor mozzafiato, in viaggio con il djset di JD TWITCH, leggendaria metà del duo Optimo Espacio e label manager di Optimo Music. Non mancheranno i local heroes, storia presente e futura di Serendeepity: 

The Barking Dogs, Boot & Tax, VG+.

*5 YEARS SERENDEEPITY - Line Up*

Serendeepity:

18:00 - 21:00 > FUTURO TROPICALE

Osservatorio Astronomico at Dude Club:

23:00 - 00:30 > VG+
00:30 - 01:30 > BOOT & TAX
01:30 - 03:30 > JD TWITCH (OPTIMO)
03:30 - closing > THE BARKING DOGS


* Ingresso libero fino a mezzanotte
* Dopo mezzanotte, 10 € con consumazione

SAD CITY - Introduction To Lisboa / Sloe - Phonica Special Editions

Following up from the stunning ‘You Will Soon Find That Life Is Wonderful’ 12” on Phonica’s Special Editions imprint, Sad City returns to the label with his new EP ‘Introduction To Lisboa/ Sloe’.
Glasgow-based producer Gary Caruth has evolved a highly original sound; deep, lush and widescreen electronics, from melancholic to ecstatic. Sonically, he continues where his last record left off and feels like the perfect companion to that well-received debut for Phonica. The record as a whole is composed of field recordings, with the basis for the first half of the EP, 'Introduction to Lisboa,’ utilising sound recorded in and around Lisbon. He explains, "I wanted the music and field recordings to meld at times, to obscure what was conventionally the musical element and what were field recordings, blurring the line between found sound and composition in the creation of a whole other.”
Opening track ‘Introduction To Lisboa’ builds and builds from near silence to a cacophony of field recordings and looped horns. It melds into ‘Baixa Saxaphone’, where carefully paced percussion patiently enters over a wash of synth. From then on a delicate balance of restrained percussion and spine-tingling atmospherics interplay before descending into a blissful outro.
As with the previous EP, the 12” is packaged in technicolour artwork by acclaimed London designer Jack Featherstone.


Tracklist:

A1. Introduction to Lisboa

A2. Baixa Saxophone

A3. Scyphozoa

B1. Apricot

B2. Sloe

B3. Stream

Dude Club & L' Osservatorio Astronomico Opening Week

Friday 12/09/14 Running order: Dude Club: • ABSTRACT (Dude Club - Ita)  • GERD JANSON (Running Back - De) • BEN UFO (Hessle Audio - Uk) Osservatorio Astronomico  • WALKING SHADOW • THE BARKING DOGS Saturday 13/09/14 Running order Dude Club: • VG+ (Dude Club - Ita)  • SHXCXCHCXSH live • SAMUEL KERRIDGE • THE END OF ALL EXISTANCE Osservatorio Astronomico  • MCMXC • ABSTRACT • CRISTIAN CROCE

BRASSICA - Man is Deaf - Civil Music

All nervous energy, ill-defined brilliance, detached emotion, and subdued minimalism, Man is Deaf is the debut album from London based electronic musician Brassica. Sophisticated and distinctive it distills Michael Anthony Wright’s storied musical past; capturing new wave, psych, synth music, avant garde electronics, house, and italo disco; without sounding consigned to any part of it.
Brassica’s obsession with sonic detail and fascination with composition have created something self-consciously experimental and intellectual yet wonderfully refined and thrillingly accessible. Seamless, idiosyncratic and immaculately produced yet wilfully lo-fi, the album is rich with musical and lyrical detail and while the originality and non-conformity at play is to be applauded, this album will not scare off anyone with an interest in music beyond the mainstream. Man is Deaf is not exactly a dance album; and although there is music you can dance to on it, it’s ability to excite is accomplished with no diminution on its makers creativity.
With the album full of melody lines by Moog and Fender Rhodes, rather than Roland 303s or 909s, Brassica is more likely to cite paragons like Talking Heads, King Crimson or Return to Forever as inspirations than Derrick May, Cabaret Voltaire or Aphex Twin, yet all these influences and more are cultivated to create something new that still manages to be oddly familiar. It’s in the pathos of the promiscuous liaisons between noirish anxiety, elements that could have been caned by Belgian new beat and Italian Cosmic DJs, naughty MIDI riffs and orchestral moments that this album generates a gripping power of its own.
Brassica’s vocals appear on three tracks; the hope giving and Arthur Russell resembling Tears I Can Afford, the theological questioning in Air esque Psychic Heartburn, and Deplore, a song for Travis Bickle. Guests vocalists include long time col- laborator Stuart Warwick, avant garde electronic producer Ghostape and notably Veronica So from celebrated noise/art band Teeth; (who begins her contribution on album opener Be Lost with the line “Everything Not Saved, Will Be Lost”, famously the unintentionally profound quit screen message from a Nintendo console).
Appealingly non-linear Man is Deaf is able to throw you off balance, grabbing your attention with moments that seem alternate- ly unnerving and endearing. Many overt eccentricities hide in this record. A vocoded Italian translation of Slayer’s “Dead Man Skin” in Ballo Dei Morti. Brian Ferry’s Saxophonist Jorja Renn appears on Be Lost and Psychic Heartburn. Anagrammatic Art Eb Lull Us was written on an old Hammond Organ with a nod towards Mike Oldfield. The Lodger contains the breaths and grunts of a contemporary dance troupe recorded in a collaboration 15 years prior, and the voice of Emile Bojesen (whose little doc- umented collaborations with Brassica as synth punk band Gold Blood) appears on No Apocalypse.
Louis Pasteur said “Chance favours only the prepared mind”. In creating the record Brassica adopted this ‘prepared- minded’ approach. As he tells it...
“This means I can generally go beyond the limits imposed by my education, social conditioning, etc. Rather than write with a theme or clear vision in mind, I work with semi-informed but broadly indiscriminate strokes, throwing ‘paint’ around, ob- serving where it lands. This can take various forms.. giving an experimental piece to an MC or an electro beat to a cellist, trying to play an instrument I can’t play or I dare say, overcoming a lifelong fear by exploring my own voice and lyric-writing ability..... Then there’s a process of looking for patterns amongst the chaos, After a while words form sentences, sentences form paragraphs, paragraphs form chapters of a story and eventually you end up with something more profound than if you’d planned the journey outright.”
Man is Deaf is released on 10th November on Civil Music and follows standout EPs ‘Hayat Zor’ and ‘Temple Fortune’ for the label and much coveted 12”s for innovative underground labels including Andy Blake’s Dissident, Tartaruga and Cyber Dance. Brassica’s remixes include Bicep, Errors, Ford & Lopatin, Alison Moyet, Fan Death, James Yuill and Teeth. His excellent an- alog live show features much of the ageing analog equipment used to create the album, and with it he has performed alongside artists like I-F, Egyptian Lover and Factory Floor at many of the europe’s top venues including London’s Fabric and Berlin’s Renaté in addition to being showcased by Dazed and Confused and I-D Magazine.
Listening to Man is Deaf is an easy pleasure, the sequencing, the pacing, and the mixing make it punchy and nervy, there is movement in it’s fibre and it gleams with the thrill of creating such appealing musical moire.
“Nature isn’t mute... Man is Deaf“. (Terence McKenna, Opening the Doors of Creativity).


Tracklist:


A1. BE LOST (FEAT. VERONICA SO)

A2. DANCE (FEAT. STUART WARWICK)

B1. TURN ME (FEAT. GHOSTAPE)

B2. PSYCHIC HEARTBURN

B3. DEPLORE

C1. TEARS I CAN AFFORD

C2. ART EBB LULL US

C3. SPIRAL

D1. THE LODGER

D2. BALLO DEI MORTI

D3. NO APOCALYPSE

MY PANDA SHALL FLY & MAU' LIN - Push - Project Mooncircle

'Push’ sees the bridging of two minds, a spontaneous event of shared loops, ideas and vision. My Panda Shall Fly & Mau’lin join creative forces giving birth to five abstract free-form compositions. Having followed each others work for some years, the pair found themselves in an East London studio first commencing a sonic dialogue just days before Christmas.
Each track breathing a new life; a conventional genre is hard to pin down. Fusing elements of neo-jazz, broken house and down-tempo ambient, results as an eclectic product of unforeseen creativity.
Opening track ‘Sea Beast’ heralds entrance into a murky journey through time and space. With jilted, broken keys drizzled upon a throbbing bassline, a distant moan finds its way through dense textures. ‘Red', eases up tightened bolts, it lifts a hazy smog with its loose, almost 'Buddha Lounge’ melodies. A poly-rhythmic venture of crossing synths, snares and percussion each teasing the other in & out. Taking you into a videogame-like realm, ‘Gingerbread House’ summons intrigue with a conflict of virtuous and sinister emotives. Its minimal pulsing bass line transports an ethereal synth with playful bleeps and shuffling stirs.
Calling in Irish outfit Lakker, they instinctively gravitate towards the more organically moulded ‘15Keys’. Dismembering a canon of cascading marimbas and chromatic percussions, they splice and reconstruct it into a euphoric slow burner. Marking the last leg of an enchanted journey, ‘I’ finds its dance-floor energy in swelling melodies and a confident staccatoed bass gifted with sharp hi-hats & breaks. Twinkling keys descend as if embossing a newly-cleared night sky with falling stars. 
Devoid of preconceived concepts, MPSF & Mau’lin have managed to bind together their own musical idiosyncrasies creating an EP of seductive suspense and intelligent textures.


Tracklist:

A01. Sea Beast
A02. Red
A03. Gingerbread House
B04. I
B05. 15 Keys (Lakker Remix)
B06. 15 Keys (Bonus Digital)

MIDLAND - Duster Ep - Aus Music

2014 has been a continuation of what was a very busy and successful 2013 for Midland. Having set up his own imprint, Graded, last year he has gone on to contribute to JD Twitch's Autonomous Africa project, a yearly charity release which raises money for different African Charities. This has been swiftly followed up by the release of 'Before We leave' on Phonica White - the label that fathered his first solo release. And it doesn't stop there as we welcome Midland back for the 'Duster EP,' out on 15th September.
The secret to Midland’s success perhaps lies in his ability to keep his listeners guessing; with each new release, a new sound palette is presented, always adding more colour to his catalogue. This new EP is no exception as this time he draws out immersive pads and understated melody over the top of percussive grit, in parts channeling some of that irresistible Autonomous Africa flavour.
The release has already garnered support DJs and radio alike with Jamie XX playing out ‘Reflex’ on both his recent Boiler Room and BBC Radio 1 Guest mix, while another early unveiling of 'Pitch Drift' dropped recently on Benji B's show.


Tracklist:

A. Duster
B1. Reflex
B2. Pitch Drift

DAISUKE TANABE - Floating Underwater - Ki Records

The Japanese producer Daisuke Tanabe is back on Ki for a full 15-track LP that will be released on a double 10” Vinyl. Tanabe was initially one of the first to contribute his music to the German imprint with the second release in the labels catalogue back in 2009. Some time has passed since then and the former Red Bull Music Academy participant has evolved even more and cemented his unique sound scape to a recognizable trademark. With his debut album “Before I forget”, a few EP’s, many Remixes and an album in collaboration with Kidkanevil as Kidsuke, he’s now back for more on Ki. 15 tracks full of surprising twists and turns and genre defying sounds and rhythmic patterns.
It was always hard to put Tanabe’s production into one genre and it’s not easier now. If you want to, you will definitely be able to put his music somewhere but you better listen closely and get lost in his incredibly deep and intelligent arrangements. It’s an album that tells the listener a story. Which story that is? It’s solely up to you.
The track “Paper Planes” is a perfect example for his dreamy lo-fi sound taking you on a voyage. Full of bells and wobbling synthesizer lines.
“Fun Robbery” shows how Tanabe can take any influence and give it his own trademark. A beautiful deep and dubby chord meets twisted bell patterns and analogue drums that you better listen to on a good sound system.
“Pinebee” for example flirts with oriental sounds but is basically driven by a rhythmic pattern that is known as.., well, drum and bass.
“Expo” and “Blue Rat” get you trapped in a video game. Beautiful arpeggiated synths and strong melodies take you on a night ride through Tokyo.


Tracklist:

01. Arrow
02. Paper Planes
03. Pinebee
04. Walking Muu
05. Origami
06. Sunny Tunnel
07. Allergy
08. Shopping Mall Super Star
09. Fun Robbery
10. Chugger
11. Rest
12. Blue Rats
13. Cloudy Water
14. Night Fishing
15. Expo





download "Origami" via XLR8R

SERENDEEPITY presents Dance Drugstore Records 1994 ‐ 2000 - Music, Adventure, Fun, Excitement

Dance Drugstore 1994-2000 is the first release of the Milan, Italy based record store Serendeepity run by Nicola Mazzetti. It features a collection of tracks formerly released on 7” vinyl only by Dance Drugstore Records in the Netherlands. The original coloured 7” singles were released in the period from 1994 to 2000 in small limited editions quickly sold out around the world.

All tracks have been recorded and restored from the original DAT-tapes and vinyls. This will be the first time the tracks are available on a larger format and in prestine sound quality. The compilation exclusively holds one previously unreleased track from the same time period. There are 8 tracks in total compiled from the original 7”s.

All have been written and produced by Miss Elke K., Hennie V. and friends in various analog homestudios across the Netherlands. The tracks have been recorded with classic machines such as the Roland TB303, CR8000, TR606, TR808, Korg MS10, Speak & Spell Machine, Casio keyboards and more. The Dance Drugstore label supported classic analog acid and techno sounds only. Their ambition was to spread music, adventure, fun, excitement.

The vinyl only release comes in a full colour cover containing 2x 12”, and a 30x30 insert with sleeve notes and photos. A limited edition of 50 copies contains a bonus original 7” and a sticker.
“THE TREASURE IS REVEALED”


Tracklist:

A1. Miss Elke K. - I.O.U.A.C.I.D.
A2. Zoofea - Untitled
B1. Dimitri S. - Filter Slide
B2. Matko - Ellipse
C1. Beaufort 106 - Storm Warning
C2. Miss Elke K. - Danger *
C3. Deflection - Why Me
D1. Miss Elke K. - L.O.T.T.E.
D2. Mathen - Jazzcid

Format: 2x12”
Cat no: SER-­‐001
Label: Serendeepity
Distribution: Rush Hour

Leo Mas live recorded At Kundaluna - 8.30 am

Take some friends, a bunch of the best djs and clubbers of the milanese scene and the italian legend of house music Leo Mas. Bring them to an immaculate valley nestled in the mountains some way after Lecco's lake.

Turn up the music, choose the right vinyls and let the party start! This is what happened in a fresh night of late July, even if we can't exactly say what really happened that night. Happyness, hours of groovy music dancing in the nature with the stars above our heads. Who was there, knows: it all ended as it started, with the music.

Here you can listen and download an exclusive, pure and breathtaking djset by LEO MAS, live recorded at Kundaluna Bar (San Martino, Sondrio, Italy) at 8.30 in the morning.

Leo Mas At Kundaluna - after The Mutant Valley Party on Sunday Morning July 27 2014 powered by Discosafari / Dude Club / Serendeepity / Kundaluna

Now, tell me what the music really is, if not just love.

MARTIN DE BRIG - Morning has Broken - Titanic City

Emerging producer Martin de Brig is given the honour of inaugurating a brand new label, Titanic City, with a fantastic EP that features remixes from Hermez and Takeski Kouzuki.

Titanic City is a digital and vinyl label with a sound rooted in the classic structures of house and techno. The label will look to use modern methods to promote and share their music and aim to unearth and nurture plenty of new talent along the way, as well as putting on showcase parties around the world.
Martin de Brig’s first single ‘Morning Has Broken’ is a deep bit of house with nice emotive pads, kinetic drums and pleasingly analogue, frayed textures that sound like the most genuine Chicago offerings you could wish for. Gurgling acid lines, crisp lead synths and nicely loose percussion all make for a track that very much announces the arrival of this new producer in some style.  The Hermez remix makes the drums more juddery and layers in more classically inclined percussive patterns that again speak of Chicago reference points.
‘Moving Down’ is the other original, and is an even deeper number with wallowing pads, tin foil like snares and a techno leaning bassline that burrows endlessly down below. De Brig clearly knows how to programme his machines and gets maximum feeling out them here: this is house music at its most authentic. Takeshi Kouzuki, a DJ and producer from Japan who has released on HotMix and Mathematics remixes the track into a stuff, loopy number that takes its cues from Chicago footwork and sleazy ghetto house, and it is a truly captivating track that is stuffed with energy and soul.
On the evidence of this first release, Titanic City is a label well worth keeping an eye on.


Tracklist:

1.Morning Has Broken
2.Morning Has Broken - Takeski Kouzuki remix
3. Moving Down
4. Morning Has Broken - Hermez Rethink

ØYVIND MORKEN - Gnagsar I Hjernen - Full Pupp

Another edition of Full Pupp´s jaw breaking, tongue twisting, mouthful original nordioc language series. gnagsar i hjernen, fjerde av den forste bolgenm, bot sure what that means... but it does sound good! this time introduced by Oslo`s highly talented Oyvind Morken. His weekly wednesday night residency "Untzdag" at Jaeger has become an institution in Oslo, drawing in a crowd of open-minded party freaks. In the last 10 years, he has been caught DJing throughout Scandinavia and the Balkans, from the north to the south of Europe and around the UK getting support from various different heads across the scene, such as techno godfather Juan Atkins and notorious crate-digger Lovefingers.


Tracklist:

1 - Gnagsar I Hjernen
2 - Fjerde Av Den Forste Bolgen
3 - Dr Zoidberg

AIRHEAD - Believe - 1-800 Dinosaur

1-800 Dinosaur and Airhead announce a new 4 track EP ‘Be- lieve' released in July 2014
!


Airhead, (aka Rob McAndrews) a resident, founding member and spiritual ocelot of the 1-800 Dinosaur crew, will be releas- ing a four track EP ‘Believe’, the first of a series of re- leases from Dan Foat's emerging artist collective.

This Believe EP is a turning point for Airhead; equivalent to the moment in the film ‘Witness’ when Harrison Ford, as John Book, realises that the hitmen (witnessed by the Amish kid in the toilets) are actually policemen. The inward has been ex-changed for the outward. Where Airhead’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘For Years’ was all about tip-toeing barefoot into thick carpeted darkened rooms, this new EP, inspired by two years of 1-800 DINOSAUR parties, is all about the boom-boom oscillation and hands-in-the-air machine gun parties. The controls are set straight for the heart of the dancefloor where Rob has erected a Buffalo hide tipi and intends to live for the next 7 months.
The lead track ‘Believe’ has already caused a stir on the 1-800 DINOSAUR affiliated BBC R1 show, reminiscent of a sud- denly conscious anthropomorphic car alarm hurtling down a wa- ter slide with Leroy Burrell on Gary's. Both 'Shirin' and the Coki summoning 'Shekure' evolve out of the London-centric vapour trails of Grime and UK Garage, unsurprisingly causing the most damage at the 1-800 residency at Plastic People. The eery atmospherics of Hundred Years built around nascent chords and a vocal sample round off the EP perfectly!



Tracklist:


A1. Believe
A2. Shirin
B1. Shekure
B2. Hundred Years

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Gasolina - Comeme

This double vinyl compilation is 100% dance floor approved by comemian DJs. Its tracks have been making the body mechanics work from Santiago de Chile to Cologne, from Tbilisi to Medellin, from Bucharest to Buenos Aires, from Cholula to Hollywood and back! The music was crafted by DJs from the "Inner Circle", meaning the likes of Christian S, Ana Helder, Alejandro Paz, Carisma and Djs Pareja, but also by some lovely guests we are welcoming here, for the first time: Voxels from Lisboa, Portugal, Zombies In Miami from Aguascalientes, México, Auntie Flo from Glasgow, UK, Rous from Mendoza, Argentina, Vaskular from Santiago de Chile and Bryan Kessler from Cologne. We start off with Auntie Flo from the label Huntleys + Palmers: Jas, a pounding slow jam featuring a rave signal that will make your speakers crackle and burn and your arms go up while your body goes down, down, down, to the rhythm… This one's followed by cologne based Bryan Kessler collaborating with Christian S (the man with the masterplan). They deliver Nebel Dance, an underground club track with shoulder shaking toms and foot stomping bass drum and bass, for those who love the silly grooves of nowadays Cologne! Switching to the next side, please welcome, again, Ana Helder, known to all hardcore comemists due to "El Groove de tu Corazón", "Beating PC" and more, this time with Gasoline a crazy teknotika uptempo gem feat. Ana singing: "I wanna smell - Gasoline! I wanna swallow Gasoline!" On that same side of wax we got Vaskular from Santiago de Chile, with Black Jesus. Vaskular is a musician and DJ, belonging to that Santiago Underground crew of Discos Pegaos, vocals by Valesuchi. Side C features a very special collaboration of Djs Pareja and Alejandro Paz, recorded at The District Union, Cómeme's own studio in Berlin. Alejandro's dark latin house inertia meets Pareja's psychedelic dance floor terror to shape this darkroom anthem, in which Mariano from Djs Pareja gets very explicit….

Another psychedelia momentum follows with Zombies in Miami, that gorgeous couple from Aguascalientes that travel the world on their Zombie mission, check out also their soon to be released cover version of Matias Aguayo's "Las Cruces". Next track is a Remix done by Carisma from Buenos Aires (Cómeme 025) for Rous a young boy from Lujan, A Bailar, another of our pen drive's favorites who finally is making it into vinyl. Oh that electronic body bassline you'd like to wake up every morning with (in your parallel dark life) made it impossible to us not to appear here, and various are the moments and places where this bassline has made the cats give their bodies up to the music… The two last tracks of Gasoline where provided by Voxels and Djs Pareja! K-Hauz by Voxels reminds us of our roots that shaped the house of Cómeme, that southern hemisphere grooves and that cutting rhythms that will make people dance in more surroundings than just the club…And we close the whole package with Si Señor, by Djs Pareja, which gives us a glance onto what the future brings…


Tracklist:

A1 Auntie Flo - Jas
A2- Christian S & Bryan Kessler –Nebel Dance
B1 Ana Helder - Gasoline
B2 Vaskular feat. Valesuchi - Black Jesus
C1 Djs Pareja & Alejandro Paz - Cógeme
C2 Zombies in Miami - El Rito
D1 Rous (Carisma Remix) - A Bailar
D2 Voxels - K-Hauz
D3 Djs Pareja - Si Señor 

LORD OF THE ISLES - Greane / Gigha - Phonica Records

The prolific Lord Of The Isles (aka Scotland’s Neil McDonald) has had a string of stunning 12”s over the past few years on labels such as Permanent Vacation, Unthank, Shevchenko, Mule and of course his four track ‘Year Of The City EP’ on Phonica, which was widely acclaimed upon its release in 2012. This time LOTI presents two long-form tracks, each a mini-masterpiece in itself. The 10 minute plus ‘Greane’ bursts into life after an intro of kicks and white noise hi-hats. It continues to
slowly build, with pitch-bent synth lines and a pulsing bass-line making way for a melacholic shift in mood. Truly original stuff! On the flip, a swirl of synthetic strings introduces ‘Gigha’, in a manner that brings to mind Rhythim Is Rhythim’s legendary ‘Kao-Tic Harmony’, before the drums and infectious acid-line join in. Over the 8 minutes they continue to interweave and play off each other to dazzling effect. Artwork by Jack Featherstone, the designer of a number of sleeves for Border Community (including the highly praised campaign behind James Holden’s ‘The Inheritors’, its singles and live visuals), Electric Minds, Warm and of course, Phonica.


Tracklist:

1 - Greane
2 - Gigha

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Om Unit Presents: V.A. - Cosmology - Cosmic Bridge Records

Om Unit Presents Cosmology. 9 tracks showcasing a new wave of beat production in the realm of Cosmic Bridge & label head Om Unit's signature "slow/fast" sound.

Curated by Om Unit for his Cosmic Bridge imprint the compilation features tracks from the first wave of Cosmic Bridge artists and includes 3 collaborations with label head Om Unit.
In 2 short years Cosmic Bridge has released material from Om Unit, Kromestar and Boxcutter and has given us Moresounds, EAN and Danny Scrilla; who after making their debuts for the label have gone on to make waves.
Unifying the Cosmic Bridge sound the compilation features grime and dubstep kingpin Kromestar's blend of deep dubstep romance and road-raw sci-fi boogie, Moresound's digi-dub and soundsystem modulations, former Various Production lynchpin EAN's rapidfire darkstyles and deft footwork jungle chops, Boxcutter's lush fusions of Footwork and Electronica, Danny Scrilla's forays into the unnamed airspace between dreadnought dub, halftime footwork & O.G '06 Dubstep and two appearances from Keysound's experimentalist 140bpm updater Epoch.
Highlights include a VIP version on Danny's Scrilla legendary 'X', Danny's collab with Om Unit on 'Gentrification' featuring the unwitting Giles from Foxton's Estate agency in Brixton plus Om Unit's jungle referencing collab with Moresounds, the long waited release of Kromestar's highly sought dub 'V7STX' and Epoch's revisiting of Om Unit & Danny Scrilla's 'Hunch'.
Om Unit's A&R sensibilities and his focus in pushing boundaries show in Cosmology's curation. Representative the label's catalogue, the diversity of styles on show across these nine tracks is unified by the talent of the producers involved.


Tracklist:

1. Om Unit & Moresounds - Nuff Music
2. Kromestar - V7STX
3. Danny Scrilla x Om Unit - Hunch (Epoch Remix)
4. Danny Scrilla – X (VIP)
5. Moresounds - Sound Bizness
6. EAN - I Bus' The Mic
7. Boxcutter - Active Transformation (Feat. Star Fu)
8. Danny Scrilla x Epoch – Geometry
9. Om Unit x Danny Scrilla - Gentrification

PRIMITIVE WORLD / YOR - Obsession Recordings 002 - Obsession Recording

Obsession Recordings presents their second release - a killer split EP between Primitive World and Yør.

Primitive World's 'Purple Caps' opens proceedings - a PCP laced exercise in paranoia, a jerking filtered loop oscilates around a thumping kick and intermittent percussive bursts, while looming minor chords offer the only brief respite from the heavily swung and distorted bassline. 'Tides Of Lust'' 's protean techno ups the urgency with the phantom punch of its caustic toms, skittering percussion and low-res tones that ride the steady pulse of the 808 subs.

'Rites Of Passage Pts. 1& 2' see Yør delivering steady neo-equatorial rhythms - pt1. finds A constant throbbing bass and ritualistic percussion cut through w/ suggestive whispers and breaths that weave throughout as the track vibrates with intensity, capped off by a restrained acid line and rolling snares.
Pt 2. rounds out the package with a cut both jacking and haunting in equal measure - just below the surface of the rolling 909 and post-detroit chords, are the rogue cry of the abstracted re rendered voices and whistling that swim through its duration.


Tracklist:

A1. Primitive World - Purple Caps
A2. Primitive World - Tides Of Lust
B1. Yør - Rites Of Passage I
B2. Yør - Rites Of Passage II


listen here

BRENDON MOELLER - AS002 - Atrophic Society

Atrophic Society welcomes Brendon Moeller for it’s second release, delivering 2 deeply textured and emotive technoscapes. Wielding a warbled bassline and synthetic bleeps with a masters touch, the title track meanders within a natural landscape, fuzzing and washing around descending chirps and following the call of a distant foghorn, leading us through the Passage to Obscurity. Vohkinne takes the delicacies of the original and hammers them into submission, where the original meanders the remix charges, bringing the distant foghorn into focus as a challenging and stubborn lead. Closing out the EP, Contents Under Pressure surges forward with an insistent Bleep, purging and cleansing itself through gnarling bass, never questioning its purpose as it takes you to a higher state.


Tracklist:

A.   Passage to Obscurity

B1. Passage to Obscurity (Vohkinne remix)

B2. Contents under pressure

N.O.I.A. - The Rule To Survive 31th Anniversary - N.O.I.A. Records

Italian band N.O.I.A. was amongst the first electronic music groups to emerge in the late seventies and early eighties alongside peers like Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode. Nowadays they are re-releasing their back catalogue alongside a carefully curated selection of contemporary remixes and this latest package features two tracks, ‘Rule To Survive’ and ‘Time is Over Me’ with remixes from Kirk Degiorgio, Prins Thomas, Gaudi & The Orb and Baldelli & Dionigi.
In their time N.O.I.A. released on labels like Italian Records, had success both in the live arena but also in the studio and were always evolving throughout their active years, from a raucous and abstract sound into a more accessible outfit that were successfully on the Italian, German and Belgian dance markets.
First up is “The Rule To Survive” (Looking For Love), originally produced by Oderso Rubini and mixed in 1983 by Tony Carrasco at the Regson Sound Recording Studios in Milan. It’s a shiny disco cut with tons of bright synth lines, a real instrumental groove and fantastic melodies that shimmer like a hot sun. Nu-disco king pin Prins Thomas is the first to remix and does so in his usual epic, proggy, rock style with even more guitar licks and reflective synth lines.
Long time techno mainstay Kirk Degiorgio and the man behind London’s Machine parties with Ben Sims then reworks the track into a slow-mo bit of techno with whip lashing percussion, cosmic synth work and a healthy 80s vibe that harks back to the original.  Italo Disco legends Baldelli & Dionigi then get to work on the same track, slow it down even further and rebuild it in magical layers of arpeggiated synths before dropping some heavily filtered vocal lines for the true kraut-disco feel.
The second track on this EP is a previously unreleased one dating back to the second half of the 80s. “Time is Over Me”, written by Bruno Magnani and, up until now, recorded only on the old “8-track” stored away in the Piatto brothers’ studio-loft is a truly lush, dreamy and breezy bit of disco with clean and crisp vocals, loveably tinny drums and intergalactic melodies that cannot fail to cheer you up. As well as instrumental and a classic 80s dub version,  Gaudi and The Orb turn out a robotised version that is more driven and direct for the dancefloor, with groaning basslines, meandering synths and plenty of dramatic drum tumbles.  It’s full of far from banal reggae and electronic citations and atmospheres and closes out an EP that reminds us of some forgotten classics at the same time as providing the world with some amazing contemporary reworks from some of the best in the game.



Tracklist:

1.The Rule To Survive (Original Mix)

2. The Rule To Survive (Original Instrumental)

3. The Rule To Survive  (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)    

4. The Rule To Survive (Kirk Degiorgio Remix)

5. The Rule To Survive (Baldelli & Dionigi Remix)

6. Time is Over Me (Original Version)

7. Time is Over Me (Original Instrumental)

8. Time is Over Me (Dub Version)

9. Time is Over Me (Gaudi & The Orb Remix)

LURKA - Holding Ep - Black Acre

Bristol acetate carver and drum major, Lurka launches his Black Acre debut with three unpredictable Drum machine battle drills. Kicking off with ‘Holding’ a technoid inflected dancehall pounder with a relentless low-end theory. The anxious heartbeat littered with schizophrenic percussion and alarm bells bursting into an undead army marching anthem. With ‘Nah So’ we are back on slightly more familiar turf, crushing kick drums perform the body blows under intricate hi-hats programming. KMT the most meditative of the three with nods to Alan Howarth’s bleak synthesiser work while high-fiveing Schooly D’s drum machine.


Tracklist:

1. Holding
2. Nah So
3. KMT

INTERNATIONAL PEOPLES GANG - Ps - Hi-Phi Music

Fast shaping up to be one of the freshest imprints around, Hi Phi are proud to present International Peoples Gang aka Martyn Watson and Ric Peet.

This is IPG’s first release since 2010’s ‘Up’ LP and is another determined attempt to create music that knows no boundaries. Having cropped up on quality labels such as Heavenly, Is It Balearic? and International Feel, this duo are perhaps best known for their classic, ambient defining debut 3395 on the seminal em:t imprint. They’re now back with a bang.
Up first, ‘PS’ is a haunting slab of deep, disco house; sweeping synths create a sense of tension as whispered vocals bring a mysterious vibe to the cosmic beats. As the hypnotic groove gets fleshed out with even more twinkling melodies we’re taken ever higher into the night sky. It’s a magical track with a spine tingling breakdown. ‘Saffron’ is no less special.
This one is much slower, with lazily tumbling drums imbued with a sense of dusty Africanism. Star-spangled synths, sun kissed chords and a breezy, beach-bar vibe pervade the track and will have you dreaming of summer days of future past. Aching, emotive vocals add layer upon layer of human sensitivity and finish the track off in style.
The Coyote Low Spirits dub flips the track into a Balearic classic awash with sensitive piano lines, drums that lap like waves on a beach and golden synth lines that diffuse into a humid summer sky.
As we head into the height of summer this new EP is the perfect weapon for any DJs wishing to bliss out their crowds.

PS: IPG are currently making waves with ‘U R My Luv’ (the anthem of the summer) and collaborating with Crazy P, Begin and DIY. Watch this space.


Tracklist:

1 - PS
2 - Saffron (Coyote Low Spirits dub)
3 - Saffron

BENEDETTO & FARINA feat JAW - Your Smile - Leftroom Limited

Benedetto & Farina team up with dOP frontman Jaw for ‘Your Smile’ which drops this June on Leftroom Limited with remixes from Barem, Francesca Lombardo and Matt Tolfrey.



French duo Benedetto & Farina have stacked up an impressive back-catalogue of work on labels such as Chilli Mint, King Street, Way of House and Loulou Records. For their first release on Leftroom Limited they deliver a dynamic five-track EP featuring the charisma-riddled vocalist Jaw.


The opening track ‘Your Smile’ leads with soft pads and a shifting percussion, building towards the smooth and hypnotic vocal from Jaw to climax and breakdown into a warm, low-slung summer groove.


Leftroom head honcho Tolfrey teams up with Crosstown Rebels affiliate Francesca Lombardo to deliver a slightly punchier re-imagining, introducing submerged bass, mesmeric modulations and a steady 303 line which seamlessly dances around Jaw’s spoken word vox.
The Argentinian producer Barem steps up next, bringing him with him talents showcased on labels such as Kiara, M_nus and Jetaime. For his edit he works in space-dimensional atmospherics alongside sub-led low-end tones, rumbling bass lines and shifting percussion to deliver an ethereal third provision.

 For the final two tracks the French pair work out a bouncy ‘dub’ alongside a melodic ‘spoken dub version’ which featured as a focal point on Matt Tolfrey and Ryan Crosson’s ‘Don’t Be Leftout’ mix compilation that dropped on Leftroom back in April.

Benedetto & Farina feat Jaw ‘Your Smile’ is out on Leftroom Limited on 23rd June.



Tracklist:

1.    Your Smile (Original Mix)

2.    Your Smile (Matt Tolfrey + Francesca Lombardo Remix)

3.    Your Smile (Barem Remix)

4.    Your Smile (Dub)

5.    Your Smile (Spoken Dub Version)

LOCK SMITH - Settle Down Na EP - Thoughtless Music

Noah Pred’s Thoughtless Music imprint returns this August with a five-track package from Lock Smith, entitled ‘Settle Down Na’ and featuring remixes from Dave Aju, and recent Thoughtless signing Auk.

Lock Smith aka Marc Smith, better known as one half of the Mobilee Records duo Safeword, offers up his first solo venture here via Thoughtless Music. Smith’s style across the release, much like his offerings as Safeword, embraces a warm analogue sound and blossoming dynamic throughout, making it a perfect fit for the Thoughtless imprint. Following recent material from Arthur Oskan, Stone Owl and Auk.
The original mix of title track ‘Settle Down Na’ kicks off the release, an intricately melodic composition fuelled by swirling, reversed synth sounds, loose, stripped-back percussive elements and a meandering sub bass hook, resulting in a jazz-inflected electronica cut exuding elegance and personality.
Circus Company’s Dave Aju reshapes ‘Settle Down Na’ next, merging insistent organic percussion and throbbing sub-bass sounds to create an ever-blooming interpretation, which bubbles away with intensity throughout its near nine-minute duration. Canadian duo Auk turn in a remix of the title cut next following their recent debut, ‘Absolution’ on Thoughtless, the pair tip the focus over to deep and dubby sounds here impressively executed rework that underscores their versatility in the studio.
On the latter stages of the release we’re treated to two more original cuts from Lock Smith, the first of which, ‘Space Bucks’ skilfully blends eerie pad lines and glistening synth sounds to create a hypnotizing and mind-bending record. Smith then rounds things off with ‘New Sequence’, a smooth closing cut which as the name would suggest is fuelled by wandering arpeggio sequences, spacey atmospherics and penetrating low-end tones to close the release in style.

Lock Smith’s ‘Settle Down Na’ is out on Thoughtless Music 4th August 2014.


Tracklist:

1.    Settle Down Na
2.    Settle Down Na (Dave Aju Remix)
3.    Settle Down Na (Auk Remix)
4.    Space Bucks
5.    New Sequence

ROMAN FLUEGEL - Happiness Is Happening - Dial Records

An album by Roman Flügel is always a sensation. That holds true for his countless monikers and collaborations as it does for his 2011 Dial debut Fatty Folders. Being the first of its kind under his civic name, the long over-due association of Hamburg's cerebral label and its group of off-centre house and techno individuals with Frankfurt's favorite electronic music producer for the thinking man and woman, proved to be a seminal one.
Now, that sort of Happiness Is Happening again. Roman Flügel's follow up on Dial takes off, where Fatty Folders landed: on a runway that acknowledges the roots of house and techno as well as its fruits, but leads to a different location. Exempt from the burden that a concept album can lay on its author, Flügel seems not to be concerned with the current trends, retro fashion or a pre-conceived topic. Free-wheeling and with a freshness akin to morning dew, he rather takes us by the hand and through ten tracks that sometimes feel like songs without a voice.
Having said that, the strongest point of Happiness Is Happening is that it has a voice.
The voice of a maker who is not afraid to mix joy and pain, ambient textures with remnants dance floor euphoria, quiet spaces and loud places. So you have an almost Depeche-Mode-like ballad that the ”Friendship Song” is, next to the techno city ghost story of “Occult Levitation”. Slow-motion robot disco (“Wilkie”) appears as much at home here as the bulky “Stuffy” or the sudden impact in “We Have A Nice Life”. That list goes on and on. The most startling fact about Roman Flügel's tour de force is that its sum is as great as its parts. Nothing feels superfluous, ill-paced or forced here. Its a condensate of a life that has been spent in techno, house and its various mutations and archetypes with a sensibility for pop music, a consciousness of indie culture and an affinity for the avant-garde as such.
Happiness Is Happening is like a concept album without a concept. A testament to the fact that the concept of an album that works within the realms and boundaries of “electronic (dance) music” can be so much more than a loose collection of 12-inches or just an exercise in style: it can be, after all, a piece of art and at its best comparable to a successful singer-songwriter album without words. Especially, when the creator of all his seems to be truly comfortable with himself and at his best. Then, Happiness Is Happening, indeed.

GERD JANSON


Tracklist:

01 Connecting The Ghost
02 Friendship Song
03 Stuffy
04 Your War Is Over
05 Wilkie
06 Tense Times
07 Parade
08 We Have A Nice Life
09 Occult Levitation
10 All That Matters

TESSELA - Rough 2 - R & S Records

Since the release of Tessela's R&S debut, Nancy's Pantry, the momentum has snowballed.
Earning a Radio 1 residency alongside James Blake, and a busy gigging schedule, Tessela AKA Ed Russell now offers up 'Rough 2' - the eagerly anticipated next instalment of his alchemic blend of tripped out sonics and punishing percussion.
Russell has amplified the disorientating elements that swim around the fragmented drum breaks and squirting laser blasts, challenging dancefloors at the same time as tearing them up.
'Rough 2' opens the release up in classic style - a frenetic batacuda style drum announces the track before giving way to unhinged re-pitched synth chords and swirling filter blasts, on the flip 'Butchwax' provides a muscular drum track and crunched up, stuttering stabs of funk, whilst the twisted 'C'mon Let's Slow Dance' sees Russell going further and deeper then ever before with a semi beatless, hallucinogenic laser light show that really pushes the boundaries of his sound to breaking point.


Tracklist:

1. Rough 2
2. Butchwax
3. C’mon, Lets Slow Dance