Various
Powerpuff Trax - Ten

Orphic Apparition is a new label born out of a transatlantic meeting of minds. Facilitated by a long, hedonistic party in one of present-day London’s ‘meanwhile use’ venues Grow Tottenham, Canadian producer Raf Reza and British acid house luminary Paul Chivers spent a precious day in the studio to record a 3 hour straight to DAT session before Reza's return to Canada. The result of this spontaneous yet intuitive collaboration blurs the lines between Chiver’s long-standing Ramjac Corporation alias and Reza’s genre-spanning approach to dub, breaks and house styles. Part of the early 90s rave scene and an important member of the blueprint-setting Irdial label, Ramjac locks heads with the self-professed ‘lazy music guy from Toronto’ to adapt their studio session into five separate mixdowns.‘In The Grow’ begins with a bouncy, cut-up sounding Errorsmith-esque rhythm, the recurring fright night melody that distinguishes the record coming in all quick and powerful. The A2 ‘Rotten Mix’ offers a more traditional house approach in its composition, with dub FX and a nice DJ friendly outro. On the final uptempo choice the pair opt for a head-scrambling electro take. Choose your fighter! The ‘Swampy Dub’ on the flip really dismantles everything we’ve heard prior, slo-mo drums allowing a much different DJ experience and altering the freaky synthetic propulsion into an almost modern classical sound. A little like Paul Dresher’s eternal ‘Channels Passing’ (tip). Combined with the other edits this version almost becomes a totally different track. The final ‘Rootless Dub’ gives its clues in the title, removing all the tough drum sounds and allowing for an ambient decompression.Orphic Apparition will return soon.

Vinyl only

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.

“Devil’s Work is the younger sibling to Chris Farrell’s long running Idle Hands label. Dancefloor focused, direct and to the point House and Techno tracks. Exuberant music drawing inspiration from the UK and further afield.The first release comes from Bristol based Human Resources, last seen working with Techstartup as Floral Resources and The Business. They can also be found co-running Lisvane Records.These three tracks riff off the same theme. Fast paced, skeletal and intensely rhythmic.”

Mineral Cuts 04T.E.W. – Superficiality © 1996 Habitat.Sigma Tibet – Mantis Religiosa © 1992 Evolution Records.2 tracks45 RPMCompiled by Rey Colino.Mastered and Cut by Marco Pellegrino.Design by AJAM.

Its been five years since Belgium's WeMe Records lovingly selected the first ever collection of Heinrich Mueller's (Drexciya/Doppleffekt) best remixes/remodels for a new generation of listeners that won't have to pay collector prices to have them on vinyl. Volume 2 of False Vacuum is now with us and still has riches to choose from. These 13 rare and hard to find tracks (3 of which make their vinyl debut) all deliver in different ways as he systematically reinvents each one. Beginning with his raw and now classic remix of Ultradyne's 'Clones', the hard-edged dance-floor friendly 'Woman's Scent' by Cisco Ferreira (The Advent), the more laidback and futuristic sounding 'Bohrium 274' by Jauzas the Shining and Victoria Lukas, the slow and mysterious and first time on vinyl 'Somehow' by Rough Days For Diamond Trade, reinventing the darkest of dance-floors on 'Rytumtraks 0002' by Albert van Abbe, the moody masterpiece and first time on vinyl 'Now We Continue' by White Car, Duplex's 'Autoslug' sounding like its been rearranged inside a black-hole, a balancing act between the light and darkness on Fasenuova 'Cachito Turulo', an insistent rise and falling workout for As One's 'Where Did He Go and Why', a tightly wound and almost meditative 'The Truth' by The Exaltics, an angular stomping march of the robots 'Longwang' by 6D22, a jumpy fidgety groove for first time on vinyl 'Forty Eight Hours' by Yan Wagner and perhaps one of his most sublime pieces is kept for last with 'So Long For A Small Storm' by Dollska.