Sacred Grove
Through The Mire

More Oligo reissued on the next Rota Bene!

In 2022, Dreams launched a new label, Dance Data, which has quickly gained the attention of the underground dance music community - and set the stage with a new two track EP called ‘Paraxotica/Vessel’. 50 copies only!!

Vital Detroit label FIT Sound has put together its first compilation here, all with the aim of showcasing tracks from revered label artists Jared Wilson, Bizz O.D., and FIT Siegel. Wilson is now synonymous with wild acid workouts and 303 magic and he serves up more of it here on the mind-melting10 minute 'Mind Travel'. The lesser spotted veteran Bizz O.D. then brings some jack to her previously unreleased bomb 'One Two,' which was recorded in the mid-'90s but still sounds future. Last of all is the label head FIT Siegel with 'No Feedback,' a studio sampling exercise turned experimental broken beat techno workout with hypnotic effects. Here's hoping many more of these will follow.

Fsk24 delivers three new trance tracks on his label City of 3000. Three new futur town concepts where analogue hardware music is back and became the way of life, hypnotic and shamanic acid trip style.

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.

Four new deep, rhythmic works from Lyon producer Vardae inaugurate new London imprint OODA, co-curated by Forest Drive West and localhost. The Kaipos EP drifts from ritualistic half tempo drums into deep warping techno and tripped out drones, illustrating Vardae's unique genre-breaking approach to crafting powerful percussive entrancers for headphones and dancefloor. A fitting prelude to the OODA project, conceived to explore polyrhythmic techno, bass and ambient experiments in all forms. Observe-Orient-Decide-Act.