Richard Brook
Thira Traks

The 18th segment of Haŵs’ sonic anthology comes from a hot piece of artistic talent you will know as Anderson. The US-born producer featured on the labels Viral Syndicate digital compilation series back in 2020, and they’ve had him in the crosshairs for a full release ever since. Unsurprisingly, Anseron’s output has been prolific in the last two years, breeding fire for labels such as the force-majeure ‘Wex’, as well as Day By Day and Tresydos.The A1, ‘Sunbeam’, is a new mix of the track originally released in 2020. It has been revisited and refined but the core remains the brilliant same; dynamic prog littered with acid squelches, iconic jungle samples and beautifully arpeggiated keys perforating the backdrop as the new sun rises. ‘It’s Time’ is your reminder to attend the party. Classic intoxicating house with crunchy breaks and doofing kicks. A vocal that never gets old, and is also a mantric verbal formula. Dance, chant and live by the words of the 90s.Protoza kicks off the B-side, a trippin’ acid lowrider with a wonderfully body-wobbling percussive touch. Swampy synths, some rave-classic chords with a balearic feel, what more could your afters desire? Finally we have your Electrified Encounter. Unequivocally trancey elements have been painstakingly rebuilt and embedded into a magnetic creature at the top end of the chug-ometer. Throw in pulsing acid for good measure and the power is unparalleled. Use wisely to avoid a voltaic overload.

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.

Heels & Souls Recordings’ fifth reissue sees them reach across the Atlantic to Vancouver, pressing up Pilgrims Of The Mind’s 'What’s Your Shrine?' for the first time ever on vinyl, 25 years since its CD-only release on Map Music. A departure from the label’s previous releases, the LP is a beautiful smorgasbord of styles - progressive house, downtempo, ambient, tech house and trance all nestle together, a wiggling journey of sonic delight from the mind of Stephane Novak.Turn the dial back to ‘97 and Vancouver's underground had a distinctive buzz to its rumblings, an amalgamation of scenes and styles gave rise to a cohort of producers that were unconstrained by genre, offering up a heady mix of sounds to expand the mind. ‘Welcome To Lotus Land’ the key 1996 compilation on Robert Shea’s seminal Map Music, championed much of this output including two cuts from POTM. Stephane then released his first and only full-length album, ‘What’s Your Shrine?’ on the same label the following year.Picking out choice moments from an album as considered and complete as this is tough. Those horizontally inclined will be drawn to the ambient dwellings of ‘Sandcastle’ & ‘Following the Sofuto Kuriimo’, tracks like ‘Nothing Can Pull Us Apart’ and ‘L’Amour? Encore?!’ are perfectly suited to warming up limbs on the dancefloor, ‘My Baby Likes Rum’ and ‘Loosejaw’ prime for one in full swing. Yet to pick individual tracks misses the stunning sum of its parts that this 70+ minute cruise is, surely one of the finest albums from the American West Coast during its halcyon days of the ‘90s.Digging deep in his vaults, Stephane managed to uncover the original unmastered DATs that have been given a fresh mastering by Justin Drake at the Bakehouse Studios. This beautiful, double-disc gatefold comes complete with liner notes from Ciel, words from Stephane himself, plus never-before-seen photography - the complete package this music always deserved.

Wormhole Wisdom returns with a reissue of 3 essential 90s techno trax by Oligo & Lost Sector. Written and produced by Bill Fuller & Ben Garner between 1995-1996 and previously released on Fishtank return to the surface in 2022 via Parts Unknown and Craigie Knowes reissue label, Wormhole Wisdom. Vinyl only release. Remastered with care from the original recordings by Johanz Westerman at Ballyhoo Studio Mastering, NL. Serious club material resurrected. For DJ use ONLY.

Alex Neri strikes back with another well rounded EP. He is a Master of the craft, with clear prowess for the grooves, and the right balance of emotion and punch. A true italian trailblazer in top form.

The sounds across these four tracks were made by SIM and NAP from 2021 to 2023 with lots of love and bass... the sessions started from the first time they met at NAP's studio, point always to kick it, jam and see what happens. After a couple months of that of course a sound develops, a process shines and a friendship grows. After a year or so trust built and a language made present. Transcending the spoken word and feeling unique to both...things start to really go off and the jams turn to songs. Two years pass and it’s time to celebrate with the marker and archive of all those deep sessions, now in edited form to be shared with all. And yeah, you can have all in common with someone when it comes to digging wubs, riddims and drum machines but add vulnerable earnest meetings with meals in between and good conversation about things other than music (or maybe how other things relate to it) and then you get something really special, something like SINNAZ. SIM and NAP journeying into collaboration with a debut EP of rhythmic noise, driving bog beats, swampy dembows, radioactive Dancehall and unhinged experimentalia.