Big Zen
Prayer Bass

Manchester-based producer Pach, who you may remember from his much loved 'Pull Up & Dance' anthem on Darius Syrossian's popular Moxy Muzik label last year, produces a generously proportioned four track EP for the Aesthetic stable. Take note of the title, as it dictates the contents, with the A-side's two tracks, the title track and '21 Bump Street', proving to be the definite uppers, both adding a delirious feel of disco euphoria to a sturdy tech-house framework. The flip side features the slightly darker and more mysterious cuts 'Sticky Fingers' and closer 'Six N Switch', the latter featuring the sound of some rather decadent X-rated activities in full swing. Nice work if you can get it.

A new wave hits with our close friend Locky Mazzucchelli. The record matches his sound as a dj, one of a kind. Trippy hardware minimal to influence the mind of your crowd.

Gems Under The Horizon, the chillout division of Belgium’s Basic Moves returns with its second release this July, comprised of four original cuts from various artists across the globe.Gems Under The Horizon was launched by Basic Moves label boss Walrus originally as a Sunday daytime party series aimed at sharing electronic music in the chillout, ambient and downtempo sphere to wind down the weekend. The affiliate imprint was launched in April 2021 with material from Astral Industries artist Sonmi451 and Dylan Thomas Hayes.Here the label returns with four new tracks welcoming an array of new artists onto its roster and leading the way is &Apos who delivers ‘Vigo’, a hauntingly beautiful journey through swelling textures, plucked strings ethereal voices and synth modulations. Salamanda’s ‘No Vacation’ follows, the Seoul, South Korea based duo of UmanTherma a.k.a. Sala and Yetsuby a.k.a. Manda turn their focus towards an amalgamation of gamelan like chimes, metallic percussion, organic drum grooves and flute like synth work. Ugné & Maria’s ‘Into Orbit’ opens the flip side, as the name would suggest embracing a spaced-out aesthetic with intricately unfolding melodies, cinematic atmospherics, and gritty broken drums. Bogota, Colombia’sManta Ray then rounds out the release with ‘Mysterious Ways’ as she traverses through off-kilter rhythms, unfurling pads, choppy scratches, broken vocal cuts and meandering subs.

The UK Electro duo Transparent Sound reissue the infamous Slang City EP.Long before electro returned to prominence Transparent Sound were serving up world class must-check slabs of body-popping electronic brilliance.In fact, Transparent Sound are now approaching the third decade of continuous releases and and yet remain more current now that ever with releases lined up with Tresor, Pressure Traxx, John Selways - Serotonin and various others in the pipeline along with clusters of live sets and Dj gigs around Europe and US lined up this year.It seems Orson Bramley the original founder of Transparent Sound one of the UK longest running electro acts is unstoppable.

Halvtrak returns to Cold Blow with techno-romantic rave escapism, riding Chi House-leaning rhythms and intergalactic Techno sculptures. If his previous “Images By Night” dealt with things nocturnal, Digital Dawn opens the curtains to a blue-eyed retrofuturism, bursting with colour and spark. The A-side shows Halvtrak at his most upbeat vibe to date. X-pressed and Rhythm Overture teleport us on a nostalgia trip to the acid, rave and breakbeat era which is re-imagined by an artist too young at the time but who parsed the ethos from the artefacts of its heyday. The B-side throws a deeper counterbalance to the release. Born out of studies in the Chicago house tradition, Phase Distorshun quantum leaps into a turning point in time where disco influence was long abandoned and sights set into the unknown deep space. The closing number, Doubt, does not relent on the 4-to-the-floor but turns the gaze inward, exploring our inner vulnerabilities while musically standing on the shoulders of New York-style house and the early UK-produced Detroit Techno a la B12, Stasis and the like.

Limited 180g 12", single press, individually numbered, no repress, no digital.