Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Long-serving Italian producer Marco Passarani continues his newly minted Studiomaster label project with its second instalment, serving a quintet of typically floor-focused jams on 'The Temple' EP. Arguably best known for being one half of the looped-up disco duo Tiger & Woods, Passarani is also known and loved for the more techno-tilted offerings he turns out from his hometown of Rome. His latest work sits somewhere in between his two trademark sounds, starting with the throbbing sleaze of opener 'The Empty Temple', with its purposeful bass, paranoid synths and dirty vocal whispers. The fierce, snare-driven rhythms of 'Night Walker' power grubby bass and glistening synths, while the descriptively titled 'Rotten Disco' offers a brilliantly wonky glimpse of future Italo. The distorted percussion and jagged bass of 'Dirty Hands' are aimed squarely at the floor, while the storming closer 'Cheater's Smile' bangs as hard as nails to complete a suitably stirring and tightly produced set.

Review: Italian techno label Void+1 Recordings' newest release, 'Convergence Chapter 1', is one for those who like their techno extreme. Four tracks from artists not known for techno of deep introspection. These tracks are minutely produced, influenced by EBM, breakcore & harsh electro. The first cut, 'Loose Fit (Tensal remix)' is a fast-paced, four-to-the-floor rocket of a remix by prolific German techno artist Tensal. The next track by Australian CTSD sounds like a dark, modern interpretation of early 2000s breaks. Serbian hard techno artist Scalameriya's track 'I Am Soloing Your Egregores' mixes a cut-up beat with harsh feedback noise. The last track by Japan-based Cam Lasky sounds like techstep slowed down, No U-Turn meets Ancient Methods.

Review: TLM celebrates its 50th vinyl-only release with an exceptional offering of jazz-lounge house intonations. Legendary Canadian Mike Perras knocks down the first domino with 'Life Goes On', a jazzy house cut driven by a captive Rhodes groove. Craig Bratley follows with a deep houser featuring Tim Hutton on trumpet, while Mark Turner honours the legacy of Blaze on the A. The AA, meanwhile, introduces DFRA Experience Jazz Band from Argentina with 'Isolation', a smoothened pure jazz cut composed by Diego Ruiz and featuring Pablo Raposso on piano, Hernan Cassibba on double bass, Gonzalo Rodriguez De Vicente on sax, Joaquin Muro on trumpet, and Bruno Varela on drums. 'Sober' by Markus Enochson closes things out on a double bass boomer 'Sober', effecting a truly loose bonhomie.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


A mesmerising blend of organic textures and synthetic precision, delivering a fresh take on techno and house. The title track, 'Upside Down', kicks things off with a clever nod to the glitch and microhouse era of the very early 00s. Its gorgeous melody and intricate layering make it both nostalgic and forward-thinking. 'Eyes Between Letters' follows with a deeper bassline and spacious, intricate production. Side-2 opens with 'Beyond Light & Shade', where Asian-inspired melodics weave seamlessly with a balanced blend of techno and house, offering a richly textured and emotive piece. Closing the EP, 'Complementary Senses' delivers profound depth, bringing an introspective quality to its lush production. A unique release tailor made for fans of innovative, boundary-pushing electronic music.

Review: DBH welcome Mihai Popoviciu & David Delgado the the Pleasure Zone series with the 'Evolution' EP. Bringing jazzy, sloshy, jerking flavours to the tech house palette, 'Evolution' and 'Shifting' evolve and shift, convoking a delegated moot of propulsive chords and forward-driving janks, conveying the mood of a finely tuned closed clockwork system chugging away like the central engine of a wider contraption. Closer 'Black Light' operates more readily in the lower regions of things, proving unafraid of sounds that lean towards the more peripheral and umbral.

Review: In the mid 1990s, Kent Soul uncovered Joe Evans' master tapes and were thrilled to discover the unreleased gem 'A Broken Heart Cries' by The Pretenders - note, no relation to Chrissie Hynde and co. The track quickly caught the attention of Crossover DJs, who picked it up from Kent Soul's CD release, precipitating an avalanche of demand. This soul quartet is mostly recognised these days as but a wooden limb on Evans' everlasting music-mogul marionette, but their brilliance spans many an exquisite 7" and 12" released during the late 60s and early 70s, mostly on the Newark label Carnival Records. The boy-girl group commanded loose but masterful drumming and vintage, summery harmonies, with the A-side especially seeming to reflect a mood of hidden satisfaction in heartbreak. Now seizing the opportunity to bundle it in with the group's equipotent ballad 'For The Rest Of My Days,' Kent Soul do well to support both songs' first-ever UK vinyl release.

Review: DFA Records prime mysterious new Brighton signees Proper Monday Number with a sure start, flicking the proverbial Rube Goldberg machine into gear with a banging remix of their otherwise unreleased debut track 'High Horse'. Here, of course, it's LCD Soundsystem / DFA's very own James Murphy at the remix controls, together with resident DFA DJ and "decent human" Matt Cash. Toolroom dance moods extend over a lusciously simple seven minutes, bringing home FM stabs and LinnDrum faceslaps aplenty. And the lyrics: "stop what you're doing now... you ain't got no crown! get off your high horse! turn this ship around!" In our day and age, we need more anti-stagnation, ego-teardown anthems like this, so we welcome the sentiment by the masked duo.