Various
22247004

Four epic space jams to play as your attack ship goes down in flames off the shoulder ofOrion. 'Go big or go home' could be Dream Ticket's motto by now, and Seoul-basedPyramid Of Knowledge has the sonic weaponry to live up to it: breaks, bass, acid and anextra heaping of laser noises. Hearing is believing!

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.

Small Moves is a Label and Record Store based in Tbilisi. These cautious selectors put together a Various Artist for their fifth release. The four artists produced finely crafted music for the occasion, aiming to transport both dancers and listeners. Round and tasteful sounds !

Verscheibung by Roman Flugel arrives for the rather fine Die Orakel label overseen by LARJ's Oliver Hafenbauer. The four tracks are split between stripped-back techno and druggy, off-piste ambient (the bubbly, post-party weirdness of closer "Track 4"). The most obviously floor-friendly cut opens the EP, with Flugel layering wonky, minor key melody lines over a dense but minimalist groove. Elsewhere, check the Villalobos-ish strangeness of "Track 3", and the druggy, pitched-down experimental throb of "Track 2".

Entombed between the approaching war machine, Berlin's squat metal underground and the corrosive electronics broadcast from the Hague's bunker network, Chaosy's "Bad Magic" marks his first on the label, with tracks pulled together from equipment left behind in Ukraine and resurrected in makeshift studios while on the road.

Nowadays family member Love Letters delivers delivers a beautiful 5 track release that meanders effortlessly from peak time banger to delicate experimental passages to off kilter poly rhythm. TIP!