Various Artists
Kāthā Remixes

Best Effort dives deeper into the archives of Anthony Maher (Sheriff Lindo) and Andrew Armstrong aka Nutcase & Papachubba. Reissued as a 7 inch, these two tracks see the duo blending their diverse range of shared influences, stepping outside of the Drum & Bass and Jungle blueprint that they carved out for themselves for their singular full-length release, ‘Flex’.

Opening slash002, Copenhagen's Peachlyfe delivers a deviously ambient interlude. Rising into a transcendent crux, 'Sane & Awake' flirts with breakbeat's signature percussive style, teasing a drop, before taking a U-turn, panning out into evermore blissful peaks. Full of bounce, DJ Lucid brings the build with 'Entry Plug', drawing together dramatic strings and a pounding kick drum, while Narciss expertly splices up a haunting vocal fragment on 'Once More With Feeling'. Geared towards festival stages - huge crowds and height-of-the-night summer climaxes - the record takes its cues from the hedonism of the 1990s, delivering a powerful punch that's anything but backward facing. DJ Car Keys, part of Dutch-pop sensation Goldband, makes a special appearance in his debut as a solo producer. Closing the B-side, 'Spinning' is a 155-bpm belter, where a looped hit-hat collides with psychedelic spoken word passages.

E.R.P. is back with 4 electro cuts drenched in soul, machine funk and style. Pure E.R.P. dopeness

Next up on X-Kalay it’s fresh heat from one of the finest among a current generation of prog-inclined producers. Guy Contact’s ‘Out of My Head (Into My Body)’ speaks to a sublime, utopian conception of dancefloor utility; dance music primed to achieve ascension through collective physical experience.Navigating mystic, offbeat zones, Contact sets out his stall from the start. ‘Out of My Head (Into My Body)’ is as pristine as it is expansive, inducing trance states as trippy flourishes oscillate over driving rhythm in impeccable lysergic style. Then, with another dose of melt-on-the-mind groove, a radiant bliss-out arrives in the beautifully buoyant flex of ‘Sacred Mist’.Taking its name from a part of the brain associated with emotional processes, ‘Amygdala Tongue Wobble’ propels into fractal introspection with dense, insistent pulse. Finally, ‘Optimystic’ finds Contact channelling new age spirits as he assumes the role of innerzone healer - wide-eyed downtempo to close things out.

Luther Vine's Fragments Of Reality and its various artists series have been a real doozy for 20/20 but now the sub-label offers up a first solo EP. It is Snad who gets the gig and he is a house producer from Berlin making big waves right now. This one follows outings on Chicago's Kimochi Records, Chez Damier's Courtesy of Balance and the Dungeon Meat label and is another raw, stripped-back offering of tough house. 'Bootlickerz' is a bristling cut ready for the peak time, 'Goobernatorial Candidacy' has a more stripped-back but just as compelling groove and 'Per Savour' goes deep into late-night goodness before closer 'Butt Heads' picks up the pace once more.