Various Artists
Various Artists

Little is known about the origins of this project, grasping the curiosity of many 90's trance diggers, this mysterious EP was originally released in 1994 on the now defunct London based label ITP Recordings. Presenting 3 tracks that dive deep into the trancy electronics of the time, going well into the 8 minutes marker on each track the producer takes the time to allow a pallet of atmospheric qualities to gently grow and layer themselves throughout. A very unique aural signature, almost as if fractals had a sound, organised in a highly effective manner for the psychedelic electronic music inclined dancefloor.

Spray, founded in 2020, is a Berlin based record label providing the freshest old and new trance infused house, breaks, acid and downtempo sounds. The label focuses on reissuing slept-on ‘90s gems and aims to provide a platform for new artists. The first release brings in an outstanding reissue from one of LA’s finest artists from the ‘90s ‘Dimension 23’ including a remix from Spray favourite, Or:la - the perfect sonic combination between old and new and a testament to what the label aims to project.

Known for his collaborations with the underground collective Supernova and for his dazzling live performances, such as the one at Eglise Saint-Merri in Paris, Edith Progue is a master at melting aerial classical textures with minimalist techno rhythms, forming a unique sonic journey.

Following a short hiatus, Superlux Records returns for their 9th exploration into the expanses of house, techno, and electro by welcoming the exciting, emerging Dutch producer and DJ Mathijs Smit to their roster.As soon as Smit grabbed the attention of the Superlux crew with his hybrid production style and trademark vocoder work, they knew these were earworms destined for their catalog. Marking his first solo EP since 2021, Smit showcases his development In the studio on the 'Twisted Minds' EP with four modern, stylish house cuts loaded with versatility for use from peak time to warm up. The release starts as it means to go on with 'Changed My Mind (But Not Myself).' A sleek, forward-thinking house jam that salutes to the past with a fast-paced, organ bass melody and intricate drum-machine programming, setting the tone nicely for what's to follow. The A-side wraps up with 'My Mind Is Yours'. Shades of golden-era Italian progressive to this one, a straight no-nonsense feel-good party starter; mark your cards for summer. On the flip, we get deeper into the groove starting with 'Plugger'. A shuffling beat underscores a moodier bassline with acid flourishes to give this one a bit more of a basement feel, although the bright synths do leave enough versatility in this one to work in multiple settings; a testament to Smit's dexterity on the buttons! Closing out proceedings is the interminably funky 'Quiero, ' the last track submitted by Smit, which is suitably the one to close out a seriously impressive debut on the imprint. The release continues Superlux's proud lineage of discerning dance music, with Smit being a welcome addition to a roster already sporting the quality of N-GYNN, Paul Blackford, LVCA & Thoma Bulwer. Expect more as the label continues its development in 2024 and beyond.

In the beginning, there was just a box of tapes and “Fate’s Gentle Hand.”It was the autumn of 2010, and an anonymous figure known only as the Head Technician, an employee of Pye Corner Audio Transcription Services (“Magnetically aligning ferrous particles since 1970”), found himself at an auction in the village of Coldred, pop. 110. He was on the hunt for tobacco pipes when he chanced across a trio of boxes listed in the auction catalog, which described their contents only as “archived magnetic recordings.” The sole bidder, he won the lot, and upon receipt of his purchase took possession of an unspecified number of mouldering cassettes and ¼" reel-to-reel tapes. The collection contained no identifying information save for a single phrase scrawled on each box: “Black Mill Sessions.” And so, armed with razors, eyedroppers, and a bevy of solid-state circuitry, the Head Technician sat down at his machines and got to work.Whether anyone believed it or not, this was the framing device surrounding Pye Corner Audio’s Black Mill Tapes Volume I: Avant Shards, which took the mysterious tactics of artists like Boards of Canada and Burial and raised them exponentially. Much like the narrator of a 19th century novel, the anonymous Head Technician purported merely to be the messenger of secondhand sounds. These were not compositions, we were told; they were tape transfers—“transcriptions” of an unknown author, slathered

How do you get 'in the box'? Gal Tsadok-Hai knows. After some experiments with hardware, the Amsterdam-based electronic producer recently went back to his first love: computer composing. Thus keeping open all the options. Footsteps is his first EP for SoHaSo, filled with four tracks of adventurous, left-field explorations in rhythm and melody. cl_forwardspeed 5 is dominated by sub low baslines and razor blade rhythms, while mp_footsteps 1 nods more towards early Aphex Twin and the IDM trickery from last century. Flip the record for max_smokepuffs 999, on which Gal Tsadok- Hai proves he can also bring a straight four-four to great heights. It is both spacious and tense, which makes for a great combination. On closer sv_gravity 0 it's back to the days when melody was still the default in most techno and electro. If you like the abstract machine funk from Dopplereffekt, this might just be right up your alley.