Review: Audiosex and Hanoben stepped out together on Discos Capablanca back in 2018 with the on-point acidities of Phone Sex, and now they're teaming up once again for this killer clutch of edit tackle for the always interesting Duca Bianco label. Rather than the well-mined stocks of disco and funk that usually get dusted down by edit scavenegers, these two have turned to synth pop and German new wave sounds, coming up with four deep cover, deliciously dishevelled pieces which align perfectly with the brand of acidic club music they make themselves. 'Elvira's Katzenfisch' is a prime case in point - a broad, sweeping slice of synthwave which sounds like it might slide off the reel to reel at any moment, while 'Frank's Einsamkeit' swells into a searing 303 burner for the darkest dungeon dancefloors.
Review: Native Soul Recordings has been around a long old time in dance music terms and now it looks back over some of its finest works with this first in a new series of Best Of comps. Music writer Harold Heath is first up with 'Slipstream,' an effortless smooth late-night house cut with introspective chords and silky pads bringing real depth. The Candy Dealers get more lithe and elastic with the spraying bass and jumbled percussive house of 'Train Of Thought' and last of all, Asad Rizvi remixes Jevne's 'Moderize' with a funky little bassline and chord vamps that keep you on edge. A tasteful package of timeless house grooves.
Review: Scott Hallam has been an acid devotee since the early days, and he's largely put out his music on his own Axia label. While most of that is digital-only, now Cartulis have picked up on the considerable talents of this hardware lifer and presented five of his finest works on wax. The vibe veers tremendously, touching on dark and sinewy dungeon acid, boxy electro workouts, strangely psychedelic hardcore and plenty more besides. Hallam's style feels betrothed to the outboard approach - it's all synths and drum machines to these ears, and its immediacy is a big part of the charm. That, and the playful personality he works into those wigged out acid lines and pinging FX.
Review: Freestyle 'Turn Up The Music' courtesy of this new 12" from Roy Hamilton, Cosmo Bowen and Dennis Palmer. The trio worked together way back in the 80s and back then it was as part of a nine-piece outfit known as Breeze. Anyone who attended the iconic Ronnie Scott's in London back then will probably have heard them play upstairs with the likes of Hi Tension and Gonzalez. In 1984 they decided to lay down this one and only 12" on the HBS label they ran. It's a stomper but a laid-back one that is now well in demand on the funk and soul scene.
Review: Sean Johnston has put together some righteous compadres to form a new project - The Summerisle Six. Featuring Jo Bartlett (Yellow Moon Band) on vocals, Andy Bell (Oasis and Ride amongst others) & Duncan Gray on guitars, Kev Sharkey (That Petrol Emotion, The Undertones, Elvis Costello to name a few) on percussion, Mick Somerset Ward on Sax (Clock DVA, Was Not Was, Crooked Man). This Is Something is a driving pop groover reminiscent of a late 80's early 90's Indie Dance anthem. The Dub mix invites the OG mix to ALFOS, turns the lights off and presses the smoke button for a chuggy heartwarming trip across the dance floor. There are no words to describe Rico Connings mix other than to say this 10 min journey has to be heard to be believed. A genuine Balearic gem.
Review: Healing Force Project is prolific Italian artist Antonio Marini. Over the last decade he has dropped plenty of heat on the likes of Firecracker, Berceuse Heroique, 2 Headed Deer, Random Numbers and more. Drifted Entities Vol 1 is his latest offering and is an experimental take on dub, cosmic funk, jazz and drum & bass with the HFP signature unifying it all. 'Tiny Germs' opens up on dark, sparse drums that are kinda haunting then 'Upbeat Damage' is a deconctructed jungle jazz cut with squealing synths that bring the horror. The flip side continues in that eerie manner with fresh musicality and loose arrangements drawing you in.
Review: A new label out of Mexico, Short Attention Records launches its second release with a five track offering of proper melodic house & techno from Hector Ram with the word 'quality' stamped large upon them. 'Midnight Sounds' starts things off with the grand rhythmically-building 'Midnight Sounds', almost New Order-esque at times. 'For Our Small Parties' follows, old skool again in flavour, blending subtly employed breaks and a sturdy house framework, then 'Dear Dancefloor', probably the gentlest and most fragile effort here, opens side two. 'On The Road' boasts a more electro feel and Orbital-esque synths, and is deemed worthy of a second airing via a nicely throbbing remix from Detroit's Generation Next closing proceedings.
Review: Emergent Italian producer Herva has been responsible for some truly unique music committed to wax in recent times - see last year's album for Delsin as well as his hook up with Massprod on the mighty Kontra-Musik. His run of fine releases continues here with How To Mind Your Own, a six track EP for Dublin's All City operation which doesn't so much as defy easy genre categorisation, it laughs in the face of such futile gestures. Some may call it deep house but really Herva has crafted some mutant brands of the genre where individual tracks contain more ideas and rhythmic deviations than you are likely to hear in whole 12"s from many other artists. Totally crazy and totally refreshing.
Review: The uber powerful voice of Jamaican reggae singer songwriter John Holt appeared on countless seminal singles and albums - our favourite being 1974's superbly entitled 10000 Volts of Holt. It was a year earlier that he dropped this single on Clocktower. 'My Happiness' is a steady ska sound with natty acoustic guitar riffs and neat little motifs under a freeform trumpet that rises from the mix. His trademark gravelly vocals are all present and correct, too, of course, with a version on the flip that stops them away and leaves the drums to roll.
Review: Borrowing a title from a 50ft sport climbing route in Oliana, Spain, there's definitely something big and wonderfully overbearing about the debut offering from Hot Face. Freshly pressed onto London's revered and always-forward thinking Speedy Wunderground imprint, the work here more than lives up to the label's name, going at listeners with pedal to the metal for the most. Comprising two tracks, an original and 'dub', the opener nods to the likes of King Gizzard and other sprawling, epic prog-metal-psyche outfits, offering up huge guitar solos and switching tempos with cunning, guile and groove. Flip it to find the alternative take, which ups the impact of drums, taking us closer to dance music as it's more widely recognised, and the heyday of big beat, if anyone remembers that one?
Snake Funk (SASAKI Hiroaki - Kurashi City mix) (7:19)
Tech Sea (Tom Ellis mix) (6:46)
Snake Funk (6:30)
Review: The seventh release of Sasaki Hiroaki's Yotsume-Music sees Hisashi Ito aka Hulot (Raum...musik, BELOW, FROGMAN/U.S.B.) welcomed to the fray, quite possible, given the EP's title, taking influences from Mr Hulot, the hero of Jacques Tati classic film 1953 'Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot'. Like said hero, there's a kooky, loveable eccentricity to his two productions - he counts Herbert and Moritz von Oswald among his main influences - with Tom Ellis Remix and Sasaki Hiroaki Remix adding a remix, one on either each side.
Review: This is a new CD version including bonus tracks of Hi Tech's self-titled album which comes here on Diners Club International but first landed on Omar S's FXHE. It is a full ghetto tech workout with pumped-up booty-bouncing beats that traverse a wide range of tempos. The high energy highlights come thick and fast with the likes of 'Big Prism' riding on juke beats, 'Milf Milo' bringing some lithe synth chords and raw claps and 'I Swear It's A Bop' (feat KAYY & ALLGIRLSALLOWED) featuring broken drum patterns, glistening synth stabs and r&b vocals full of soul.
Glitch N Ass (feat Cheapskate Skutta, Dastardly Kids)
Birthday Pearls (feat QuikKash)
Pocket Pussy (feat Milfie)
TakeOffOnnaPorsche
TeeTees Dispo (feat Sprng4evr)
No Games (feat Nlghind, Dastardly Kids)
Track 13
Track 14
Track 15
Track 16
Track 17
Track 18
Review: After its initial release on vinyl on Omar S's FXHE last summer, Diners Club International have put together a new CD version of Hi Tech's Dttwat album featuring some new bonus cuts. It's a stylish blend of Motor City beats, ghetto energy and r&b vocals that all get cut up and chopped and spliced into short, quickfire but potent tunes that make a lasting impact. A wide range of guest vocals come from Cheapskate Skutta, Dastardly Kids, Nlghind and many more so these beats brim with colour and character. With the added bonus cuts this is a must-cop CD direct from the D.
Review: Disco bossmen HiFi Sean and David McAlmont return with their new album, Daylight, on Plastique Recordings and a fine one it is too to follow up their acclaimed 2023 debut, Happy Ending. Daylight features twelve exhilarating tracks that celebrate the essence of summer and do a good job of capturing its vibrant colours and joyous moods. This is the first of two albums from the duo in 2024, with the nocturnal counterpart, Twilight, set for release on December 1 and therefore likely to be a celebration of the moods of winter. In the meantime, your days will be long and bright and full of dancing with this one.
Review: A warm welcome back to perennial genre-benders Hot Chip, who return to stores after three long years with their eighth album, some 21 years after making their debut. Freakout/Release is no dramatic change in direction, but instead a further distillation of what has always made the band so appealing - a trademark fusion of synth-pop, loved-up house sounds, lilting and sometimes melancholic lead vocals, loose-limbed organic drums, nods to Prince and an ability to craft killer hooks. There are highlights aplenty, from the gravelly live hip-hop funk of 'The Evil That Men Do' (where rapper Cadence Weapon delivers a star turn) and the subtly post-punk influenced, saucer-eyed brilliance of 'Hard To Be Funky' (featuring Lou Hayter), to the classic Hot Chip sing-along flex of 'Time' and the krautrock-tinged 'Out of My Depth'.
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