Back catalogue: Broken Beat/Nu Jazz/Nu Soul

Review: Legendary Finnish label Sahko returns with a curveball on its sub-label Puu, meaning wood or tree. While the three artists featured on this EP may seem like unlikely bedfellows, American minimal producer Bruno Pronsato, French fourth world explorer Romeo Poirier & British ambient producer Memotone, their sounds are united in a quest for the organic, the tropical & the gaps between genres. Bruno Pronsato's 'Above The Laundrette (Manieres Bizarres mix)' is an exploration of organic percussion, treading similar paths to percussionist Eli Keszler. The second track is a welcome extended version of 'Thalassocratie' from Poirier's excellent Hotel Naga LP. The pick of the three goes to Memotone's 'The Way In(side)' which sounds like a lost balearic cut from Jon Hassell's seminal Dream Theory In Malaya.

Review: Italian DJ and Producer Jo Paciello proves that full length album do very much still have a place int he modern world wit his superb debut on Groove Culture. The title of this one gives you an idea of what to expect - jazzy melodies and sophisticated house beats. He does so with a modern viewpoint but also plenty of reverence for the glory days of jazzy house. Trumpets, saxophones and guitars all feature here and embellish the drums with quality, meaningful layers of melody adn mood. As he merges the past and present, this richly textured work shines with improvisation and timeless deep house warmth.

Review: Munich-based trio Prepared craft a hypnotic and high-energy journey that blurs the lines between chamber music, jazz and minimal dance. The trio i Chris Gall on prepared piano, Flo Riedl on bass clarinet and Christoph Holzhauser on drums i merges cyclical motifs and layered patterns into a trance-inducing soundscape. Drawing comparisons to Steve Reich, Jonny Greenwood and Dawn of Midi, their music pulses with rhythm and repetition, creating a hypnotic Gesamtkunstwerk that feels both innovative and timeless. Recorded live in a single room without overdubs, Module is a state-of-the-art production. Utilizing advanced 3D miking techniques for Dolby Atmos, the recording captures the raw interplay between instruments with breathtaking clarity. Across four expansive tracks divided into ten parts, the album flows through moods and textures. 'Modul Eins' opens with a downtempo introduction before evolving into an upbeat, swinging groove. 'Modul Zwei' offers a cinematic, film noir feel, while 'Modul Drei' dips into hip-hop beats with introspective breaks. The 15-minute opus 'Modul Vier' swells through four sections like changing seasons, showcasing the trio's virtuosity and cohesion. With Module, Prepared prove that repetition can be a riveting genre-defying experience that's impossible to forget.