For this Studio One release we return to the roots of Reggae music-The Soundsystem. Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s Soundsystems played throughout the city of Kingston, Jamaica. As well as Sir Coxsone's Downbeat Soundsystem other famous Soundsystem operators included Duke Reid (the Trojan), Prince Buster, Tom the Great and King Edwards. Learn More
This long-lost De La Soul gem, originally a promo-only release from 1994, finally sees the light of day. Featuring four tracks from their acclaimed Buhloone Mindstate album, this 12" also boasts two exclusive cuts showcasing De La Soul's collaborative spirit. 'sh.Fe.Mc's' sees them trading verses with fellow Native Tongues posse members A Tribe Called Quest, while 'Stix & Stonz' unites them with hip-hop pioneers Grandmaster Caz, Tito of the Fearless Four and Prince Whipper Whip. The real magic of this release lies in its ability to transport listeners back to the golden age of alternative hip-hop, where Tracks like 'iN tHe WoOds' and 'i aM I bE' showcase the group's signature blend of jazz-infused beats, playful lyricism and socially conscious themes. The presence of Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley and Pee Wee Ellis adds a layer of soulful funk, further enriching the sonic tapestry. This limited edition release offers a glimpse into a pivotal moment in De La Soul's career, where their adventurous spirit and collaborative nature were in full effect. Learn More
David Versace releases a conceptual masterpiece that traverses raw, organic concepts born in the moment and each of which represent his most refined and articulate work to date. For smooth jazz lovers, this is a must-cop with gorgeous sounds like 'You Really Mean It' and delightfully air and meandering space jazz cuts
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Rosebay Music presents its 5th release: a collaborative effort from Submorphics & Zar. These 2 producers linked up in Manchester for an inspired afternoon in the studio before playing at iconic club night Hit & Run.
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Renowned New York City house music icon Joaquin Joe Claussell has embarked on an electrifying project of ecstatic, spiritual club music with his latest endeavor: a double album worth of reinterpretations of the music from Italian jazz master Nicola Conte's 2023 album Umoja. Learn More
TWR72 takes the techno baton from the HAYES crew with four highly effective tools. '1N0V4T1V3' brings rusty loops and cantering drum funk, '7ECHN0L0G1' is more paired back with twitchy synth repetitions and kinetic drums while 'F4SC1N4T1NG' is an off balance and dynamic blend of fluttering metal snares and thudding drums. 'ID34S' is the taught, tense closer with oversized shakers and some more physical drum patterns. A fantastic addition to your record bag for when you need some real damagers.
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Archivio is a brand new label from a Brooklyn based record store. Affie Ysusf and Parkwalker are the artists charged with starting off this new chapter. Ysusf goes first with 'Uba Cuba' which is a Latin-infused house sound with plenty of layers of drums and lively grooves appearing through the percussion. Parkwalker's 'Pashtwo' then keeps it deep and stripped back but with plenty of style in the deft synth details and on the flip offers the loopy, dubby, airy jam 'Urgez Untold'. Ysusf then closes down what is a fine first EP from this new label with the fresh house grooves of 'Ode Reticular.'
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Italy's finest Alan Backdrop teams up with First Order Approximation for a split release exploring the darkest sides of deep techno. SENSE002 is a selection of mesmerising and mutable tracks that best suit smoky basements and late night moments.
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Issue Two of SEEN focuses on decolonising electronic music and features photography from Alina Akbar and writing from Iyunoluwanimi Yemi-Shodimu, Amelia Fearon, Dhruva Balram, Jessica Rogers, Jad Ghazali, Dr Zakiya Mckenzie, Sashwati Mira Sengupta and Stephanie Ewurama (aka SCAPA). Articles include a project linking Mancunian and Palestinian artists, an interview with AFRODEUTSCHE, the ethics of sampling and a reggae orchestra led by a visually impaired Jamaican. Long reads include a look at a Ghanaian festival, a thinkpiece on solidarity and protest sounds in South Asia and the diaspora and the role of social media platforms in framing beauty standards in electronic music. A review of our panel at WOMEX in October 2024 is featured too. For the launch contributors Amelia Fearon, Jessica Rogers, Sashwati Mira Sengupta and Iyunoluwanimi Yemi-Shodimu will be in conversation with the SEEN founders, exploring the themes of the latest issue. The night will feature a DJ set from Taxi Cab Industries (who also designed the issue) with the magazine on sale to the public. No tickets are required for the launch at 7:30pm. Learn More
Tom Carruthers takes the baton for Clone Jack For Daze here and in doing so offers up more of his irresistibly jacked-up jams. Each one distils plenty of classic tropes next to a keen eye for futurism with no-nonsense sound designs and hints of bleep techno all colouring the airwaves. 'Analysis' opens with a blend of bristling analogue beats and smooth chords, 'Confidential' has warped synth bass adding a dark edge and 'Lurk' is another menacing sound with eerie pads. 'Optic 2X' is a thumping closer with mystic atmospheres encouraging deep thought.
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This five-track remix collection weaves together deep bass-driven soundscapes with intricate, emotive detail. The opening track, 'Patient,' merges euphoric melodies with a stunning fusion of bass music and orchestral beauty. Next, Ehua's remix of 'Hold Me A Bit Longer' brings a burst of energy with broken beats, jittery keyboard edits, and a fragmented rhythm that's impossible to ignore. Sinistarr's take on 'Divinity' offers a lush, atmospheric journey, filled with ambient textures that captivate the listener. On Side 2, Synkro, an R&S favourite, reimagines 'Birth' as a downtempo piece, balancing deep bass growls with ethereal vocals and delicate piano flourishes. Finally, the collection closes with Itoa’s remix of 'Prayer,' which builds a slow, hypnotic groove, blending techno elements with inventive twists for a truly captivating sonic experience. Learn More
Back by popular demand, a limited run of t-shirts featuring the Tribe-inspired logo for the Air Adam "Manchester Marauders" Manchester Hip-Hop photo exhibition! Learn More
4 European beat makers @Dexplorist @Carlskee @Funkychild @Chilla Ninja come together as a beat collective to present volume 1 of their SKWR beat collective. 16 tracks of instrumental hip hop.
Influenced by golden era hip hop and packaged in a tribute to classic library records. Learn More
Following their critically acclaimed 2016 debut album, ‘Borderlands’, (nominated for ‘Best Album’ in DJ Mag’s annual awards), Conduct’s highly-anticipated second major work drops in 2017 via Blu Mar Ten Music. ‘Oma' is an immense LP, taking its sonic cues from 'Borderlands' while expanding them into far wilder territories. Organic clashes with electronic in a whirlpool of tribal head banging, fragile introspection and beautiful sonic architecture. Skittering rhythms, rock Learn More
Strike the Balance is another standout Dub Syndicate set featuring vocal contributions from reggae legend Bim Sherman on a cover of Lloyd & Devon's 'Cuss Cuss' and Shara Nelson, whose work with Massive Attack on Blue Lines was soon to make her a household name, but here offers her rendition of Serge Gainsbourg's 'Je T'aime.' Released in 1989, this album marked a significant moment in the evolution of Dub Syndicate and coincided with the group's emergence as a touring unit. The album blends reggae, dub and experimental sounds into a distinctive, genre-defying style. A welcome reissue.
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Timeless is regularly cited as one of the greatest dance music albums ever made., a Dark Side of the Moon for the rave generation. As Mixmag said back in 1995 "Timeless is a record that couldn’t have been made if it wasn’t for the party, the MDMA, the noise and the rage. Timeless tells you that you can’t ignore or erase this history because to Goldie, and to so many others, it holds their lives, dreams and feelings." Learn More
DJ Sotofett is one of those producers who operates on his own plane. His sounds are like no other, his ideas are weird and wonderful and his execution is always exceptional. He is a producer who does things in his own playful way and that bears out on this new 12-track album. It's couched in electro with 80s Nintendo console vibes and a fusion of analogue and digital synthesis that makes for a jubilant celebration. Along the way, things shift from acid-infected beats and catchy electronic pop to avant-garde electro cuts. Vital stuff.
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Santiago Salazar aka the Sci-Fi Chicano drops a deep 4 tracker ranging from the deep soulful Techno of "The Queen" onto the warehouse inspired "Mas Violencia" followed by the hands in the air "Rise Up" and finishing things off with the jazzy "Europa". Yaxteq's own DJ Dex found true inspiration in the jazzy chords of "Europa" and flipped it into a dancefloor banger for an homage to the Underground Resistance classic "Jupiter Jazz". Learn More
One of the two The Other People Place releases (the Warp full length and this 12). Drexciyan involvement in this classic release is obvious. One of the deepest and intense tracks with such a warm positive vibe. Flipside contains a track by Mystic Tribe. (not very mystical of course for those who know the history of Detroit techno. Unique track from a unique project... and there are not many projects with Tribe in its name. Their release on Retroactive is one Detroit techno collector items). One of those records that get you through the day.
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Carl Craig back on Honest Jon’s, in devastating form: nervy and urgent, epic and apocalyptic, kicking and funky. Lagos re-tooled in Detroit. Learn More
This is The Last Poets' 50th anniversary year, and they've celebrated it with an album that matters - not just musically, but as a record of the times we're living in. The Last Poets are weathervanes, warning of the future and past sins in poems that are indivisible from the rhythms they're voiced on. Think warriors reporting from the battlefield; but their work is also a test of our own courage, because are you ready to receive what they're saying? And is your heart clean and strong enough to withstand the truth?
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Originally released in 1970, This is Mwandishi by Herbie Hancock .There was plenty of improvisation going here. The departure from jazz was most obvious in the use of electronic devices and the choice of a forward thinking group of musicians to back him.
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Liner Notes by Marcus J. Moore: Over the past few years, concert patrons have stopped the musician Carlos Niño after gigs to ask two simple questions: “Are you a shaman?” “I hear the medicine in your music, can I come to your next ceremony?” The queries are fair enough: Looking at Niño, a tall man with a wild beard and kind eyes, one would think he’s from some faraway time and could maybe cast spells. Once you get to know him, you find that he’s just an incredibly sweet guy with a laid-back demeanor, and that he isn’t some guru claiming to have an all-access pass to the otherworld.
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2000BLACK returns once again with 'Circus Retreat' a song trying to navigate the continuous confusion that surrounds us today. Samii provides the voice and lyrics on a unique uptempo soul fusion track.
The originality continues with one of the signature sounds of 2000BLACK 'London Boogie 7', the music giving off the sound of modern boogie and house combined.
To round up the ep 'Shrug' displays the marriage of dub and techno residing in the big smoke. Learn More
.VRIL’s first EP for Kynant Records explores his trademark style of euphoric dub techno, whilst also diving deeper with spoken-word pieces in collaboration with two critical thinkers in the world of soundsystem culture and experimental music: Edward George and Isis Semaj-Hall AKA Riddim Writer. Acclaimed Dutch techno artist Steve Rachmad also dons his Parallel 9 alias for a remix. Learn More
Brian Harden is a second generation Chicago House head, starting in 1995 under the wings of Glenn Underground, being part of the legendary Strictly Jaz Unit. His work on Detroit's Mike Grant and his Moods & Grooves label should also be noted. One of his most famous works is his second EP on Cajmere's Relief Records, originally issued in 1996. Learn More
Purity was written in 2021 and was one of a few tracks I had completed, but remained unreleased. In 2022 I played a show for Dissonance in Bristol, and consequently played Purity, to which George (Artificial Red) contacted me the following day about this particular track I played, and I told him it was a piece called Purity. He really liked it and asked if he could remix it, and I agreed. Not long after he sent over the remix which I liked, but at that point I wasn't too sure where we could release them, so they remained unreleased for a time. In the latter part of 2023 we both played a show together and he played the remix, which caught my attention as I hadn't heard it in a while, and that was my first time hearing it on bigger speakers and I thought it sounded great! We had talked about sending it to labels so I sent them to one or two, but nothing Learn More
Barna mainstay oma totem is dishing out the cerebral and dubby like it’s nobody’s business. 3 tripped-out accelerators courtesy of the Oyster Cult debutant, complete with an OK EG rework for good measure. Learn More
With a much-loved signature sound heavily influenced by many active years in the trance scene, Fernie’s blend of emotive pads and cosmic soundscapes has secured him a discography that spans some of deep techno’s most revered labels. Having releases on the likes of Monument, Khoros, KVLTÖ and Informa Records to name just a few, as well as heading up his own imprint Space Textures, curating the Monument podcast, and co-running the Orbits parties with fellow Glaswegians Deepbass and Repart - Fernie’s passion for the deep techno community resides in the energy he consistently commits to our scene.
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Sound Signature's latest release is an all-star crew affair, with an impressive cast list of vocalists, musicians and producers joining main man Theo Parrish in the studio. He's at the controls on the sublime A-side mix, a jazzy affair where layered twinkling electric piano motifs, spacey chords, jazz-funk riffs and sumptuous deep house grooves combine on a fearlessly loose and organic dancefloor workout. On the flipside friend of the family Dego offers his interpretation, adding even more warmth and some tasty additional hand percussion parts whilst wisely utilizing most of the original version's intricate musical elements. Learn More
Fear of Dog is back with 5 tracks ready for dancefloor. Controllo 93, this mysterious producer, makes his debut for the first time on FOD Records. Get ready for a journey into dark lands, where gloomy sounds and psychedelic chorus will accompany every tracks. The key element of this release? Bleep sounds that will elevate the whole experience.
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Veteran producer Black Merlin aka George Thompson debuts on Transmigration sub label Crystal Ceremony with four dense and hypnotic dance floor cuts.
Informed as much by a deep knowledge of dance music’s history as well as extensive field recording work in some of the most remote parts of the world, the EP’s 4 tracks swerve modern techno’s expectations of high BPMs in favour of a slow, timeless journey through ritualistic drum patterns, atmospheric modular loops and ethereal vocals. Learn More
First Word Records is proud to present 'Nothing Leaves The House - The Anthology'. A vinyl-only album of 16 hip hop instrumentals from Mr Thing, kidkanevil, Tall Black Guy & Eric Lau. This is a collection of a long-out-of print series of beats from four of the most revered beat-makers in the underground scene. This double-vinyl collection features four brand new tracks specially created for this 10 year anniversary release. Learn More