Raveld
Slowdive

"Previously unreleased, Manchester, 1991. Betonska hits hard with their second release traveling back to an essential period of dance music history. A record blending rave, downtempo, ragga, dancehall, and early hardcore/breakbeat; a crossover that continues to shape and define some of the most innovative sounds of contemporary club culture.Produced by Philip Kirby, with vocals/rap by Martin Merchant (together Two The Hardway). On the A-side Graham Massey (808 State) accompanied them on the synths, and Howard Walmsley played the saxophone on the B1 and B2. All tracks were recorded in ’91 in Phil’s house, where “funnily enough Massey co-wrote ‘Army of Me’ with Björk!”. Find more info about it in the text below.The whole release consists of solely ’91 originals: a deliberate choice to not take it out of context. The A-side serves two versions of ‘Who Said?’, a mysterious midtempo jam with a jumpy acid line, organic yet punchy drums, and a mesmerizing lead synth played by none other than Graham Massey. The instrumental version has a more elusive feel to it, while the Vocal version tops it off with toasting by Manchester’s very own Martin ‘Sugar’ Merchant. Both tracks were pressed on the earlier test pressing from ’91, but have never been released officially before.The flipside boasts two mesmerizing versions of ‘Hot Number’. Driving proto-jungle rhythms and Sugar Merchant’s ragga vocals are fused with secondary vocals by Phil and a saxophone solo by Howard Walmsley to form a seamless and smokey sonic concoction that will get bodies moving. Whilst the B1 surfs on a slick breakbeat rhythm with a deep bassline, the B2 bounces on a 4/4 beat with a pulsing hardcore bassline.To top it off, the B3 and final track in the running order is a deep and dub track. Originally produced in the 90s, but recently finished by Phil, ‘Blossom Street Dub’ has an added synth line and an iconic King Tubby filter which help to enhance a time-warping, headrush effect. This track, alongside the ‘Hot Number (Alternative Version)’ B1 tune, will both be pressed for the very first time on vinyl, having been absent from the original ’91 test pressing. "ARTWORK BY SUSANNE JANSSEN

Coming soon.

YOYAKU007 is the first collaboration between Janeret and DJOKO. The two artists’ encounter with each other’s productions marked the beginning of a strong musical connection.Over the years, this musical connection was found humanly giving birth to mutualized sessions in studio. This synergy between Paris and Cologne pushed the two artists to collaborate on a bigger common project.More than a simple featuring, the two composers wished to mix their musical identity, pushing this collaboration until the fusion of their artistic identity: JANEKO.

Scissor Kick delivers careful introspection, experimentation, and rich conceptual development. The beatless interludes and expansive sound worlds that stuck out their heads on earlier releases are embraced in full here. It’s claustrophobic, but space is found in the right areas; tension and release to the nth degree, never becoming a trope. Percussion remains, but slowed to a crawl.

A timely reissue of UK house maestro Charles Webster’s heavily sought-after Spectrum EP, originally released under his Presence alias back in ’96. ‘Gotta Be Paid’ sets the tone, a huge deep house number reminiscent of the Prescription/Murk/Shelter Mix camps with shuffling drums, sweet low end and a looping vocal sample. Across the rest of the tracks Webster nods to various strains of US dance music that inspired the British club scene of the era but shows why he is regarded as one of the best in the business. A2 ‘Partyboy’ continues on with the well-swung, punchy attitude, underlying keys seemingly harking back to the bleep days prior to the hardcore continuum. The sound is classier and more refined though, mostly due to the improvement the mid 90s saw in production opportunities and Webster’s clear affinity to the New York scene across the pond. The EP is an exercise in the classic house template of addition and subtraction, yet with all of Webster’s chosen elements oozing quality and nothing ever sounding out of place. ‘Work on Me’ opens the B-side with a big room diva mantra imploring all the dancers to get to work. Simple and totally effective. ‘I Believe’ grooves along ever more subtly, an after-hours burner rounding the 12” off in a wide-eyed romantic fashion.

The 2nd installment by Bricks & Synths “The Way Out”EP on Binh’s Time Passages!