Review: Re:discovery has got a superbly illusive reissue eon its hands here with 1993's Clouds Over Europe EP from Aquarian Atmosphere, 39626 and Unit 2. It is a cosmic deep tendon voyage that tingles all of your sense as you ride on the gloriously serene synths of opener 'White Clouds'. It is one of the three tunes from Aquarian Atmosphere, the others being 'Floating On Boyne' a dreamy downtempo number that leaves you gazing at the stars and also 'Rhiannon', a thinking melodic masterpiece. 39626' 'Elixir Of Life' is an intense mix of synth modulations and minimal rhythm and Unit 21s' 'Clubtraxx' (Movement 1 - unreleased version) is pure Detroit techno goodness.
The Umoza Music Project - "Down By The Beach" (3:05)
Woodfield Rd Allstars - "Ghetto Guitar" (4:25)
Review: The crucial Original Gravity label is busy this month with three red hot new 7"s all dropping in quick succession. The top-notch funk crew has this spilt 7" from Umoza Music Project and The Woodfield Road Allstars up here on limited wax. The a-side is a sunny bit of original rousing 70s reggae direct from the islands. Backing vocalists provide plenty of butter while the lead laments a love lost and the rhythm rolls on. On the back side is a much more stoner-paced and funk drenched laidback instrumental with Balearic guitar licks that look to the stars as organ chords warm you through and the rocksteady rhythm gently sways to and fro. Two gems for sure.
Un Dos Tres Y Fuera Vs Gaudi & Don Letts - "Relafica Negra En Tiempo De Siembra" (Gaudi & Don Letts aka The Rebel Dread) (3:49)
Cumbia Moderna De Soledad - "Busca Perro" (Greg Foat & James Thorpe remix) (3:52)
Review: Cultural icon Don Letts joins forces here with the masterful musician Greg Foat and producer James Thorpe to make a new entry into the Relatin project series. It is one where artists engaged with Latin musical roots from another era and update them for the here and now. Here they bring plenty of heavy dub vibes and great special awareness to a tune by Venezuelans Un Dos Tres. Greg Foat & James Thorpe also step up with a remix that is just as heavy and summery.
Ella Andall - "My Spirit Is Music" (Luke Una Machine Soul Tops Off edit) (7:16)
Slick Mission - "Time's Up" (Luke Una 5am Shabeen Proto House edit) (7:13)
Manu Dibango - "Jingo" (feat King Sunny Ade - Luke Una Dancing In Outer Space edit) (5:51)
Review: While he's not put out many re-edits of late, Luke Una has serious scalpel-job pedigree. Back in the 2000s, he and then DJ partner Justin Crawford released a series of largely disco-focused edit EPs on the hush-hush Electrik Souls series. Here he returns to the format with the first in a series of reworks focused on his popular, dusty-fingered E Soul Cultura project. He begins by teasing out and lightly toughening up a killer Caribbean cut from the 1990s, Ella Andall's 'My Spirit Is Music' - an insanely rare and hard to find number that the Sheffield-born DJ has naturally tweaked sensitively. Elsewhere, he emphasises the 'proto-house dub' feel of Slick Mission's early UK house number 'Time's Up', before going even dubbed-out and more percussive on Manu Dibango's lesser-known cover of Latin disco classic 'Jingo'.
Review: Universal Cave set out on a brand new cosmic spelunk. Flipping a pair of raucous Latin disco pancakes on a searing summer lowrider bonnet (in lieu of a non-stick pan), these free-range disco ovules pack much underfoot promise for the discerning dancefloor. The Philly collective kicks things off with the spry 'So Soft So Sweet', with an elusively sourced sing-along hook, blazing synth-gasms, and impulsive drums. 'Mishugina Mambo', on the other hand, gleans its inspirations from the classic Sofrito Specials series: bold horns fly in the face of relentless percs, urging everyone and your mother to get moving.
Review: Upstairs P. is also known as Garrett Rowley) and is a DJ and producer who is currently based in Los Angeles. So far his sounds have come on the likes of Germany's Public Possession in the form of a collaboration with Baba Stiltz, who has contributed to part 2 on the flipside of this new 12" on Punchy & Friends. 'Grem Freche (part 1)' is a melon-twisting bit of psyched-out dark disco, chug and downtempo no wave with endless percussive evolutions and winding rhythms. 'Grem Freche (part 2)' has a more loose, DIY and dubbed out edge but is just as excellent
Review: First released back in 2007, UR's 'Hi Tech Dreams' is widely regarded as one of 'Mad' Mike Banks' most perfectly formed EPs - in part because its blend of optimistic techno futurism with dancefloor darkness offers a neat summary of the 'dreaming of utopia, living in a dystopia' message at the heart of Underground Resistance's militant ethos. But analysis aside, it's simply a terrific record - as this timely reissue proves. A-side 'Hi Tech Dreams' lives up to its promise, with far-sighted melodies, tactile riffs and soulful vocal samples rising above a loose-limbed Motor City techno beat. In contrast, 'Lo Tech Reality' is a moodier and more melancholic chunk of breakbeat-driven techno, while 'Hold My Own' is a murky, hip-hop influenced downtempo head-nodder.
Review: "The message was clear: this was not necessarily music for dancing - even though the rhythms were compelling enough. This was music for the thinkers." When it came to the music of Celestine Ukwu, from where was this message communicated? In his case, it was the coalescing of his fashion sense and performance style, which combined unorthodox dress for highlife musicians - turtlenecks and drab coats - with a polyrhythm-focused, less intense highlife sound. With his bands, most notably The Philosophers National, Ukwu pioneered a more pensive and slow-burning version of the West African style, earning his place in musical history and this compilation of his greatest works.
Review: Foam On A Wave is a brand new London-based reissue label. Its first offering is a carefully dug out delight from Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond aka Ultramarine, one of the UK's foremost ambient techno artists. Folk is a seamless weaving together of "unique instrumentation and sonic influences into rich, ethereal soundscapes" that have all been fully remastered for this 30th anniversary release. Mixing up organic and synthetic sound is what this pair did best and this album has a kaleidoscopic pallet drawn from Canterbury's jazz-infused psychedelia, the contemporary Benelux scene, and plenty in between. It manages to be both thoughtful and playful, serious yet irreverent, and has aged as well as a fine wine.
Review: Check classic dance music books of the 1990s - and even some later music texts, such as Richard King's The Lark Ascending - and you'll find plenty of praise for Ultramarine's work of the early 1990s, which added pastoral and folk-rock inspired sounds to the sample-heavy pulse of dance music. What you won't find is any reference to their final album of the decade, A User's Guide. Yet it may well be their best album. A conscious exploration of techno and IDM shot through with references to Detroit, Berlin and Sheffield (well, Warp Records at least), it reportedly took the duo almost two years to record. A largely unheralded British techno classic, it has been painstakingly remastered for this first ever vinyl reissue and boasts extensive contextualising liner notes from UK techno historian (and sometime Juno writer) Matt Anniss.
Review: Four Flies thrillingly reissues Piero Umiliani's soundtrack to the 1969?giallo thrille Orgasmo (curiously retitled Paranoia in English speaking countries), the firstof three erotically charged? ilms directed by Umberto Lenzi and starring cult siren (and Oscar nominee) Following the first ever release of this OST in 2020, this follow-up version hears Four Flies top up the release with a fuller restoration, after some serious detective work in the composer's archives revealed a post-hoc salvaging of the original tapes, where they where first thought to be lost or unusable. Bringing Umiliani's score back to life for all to enjoy, Orgasmo perfectly captures the stylish and sleazy vibe of Lenzi's film, its acid-drenched visuals, and its themes of sick psychological mind games (courtesy of the devious characters played by Swedish enfant terrible Lou Castel and?French beauty?Colette Descombes).
808 State - "Pacific State" (Massey Conga mix) (4:04)
Magma - "Eliphas Levi" (10:53)
Homelife - "Stranger" (6:05)
Michael Gregory Jackson - "Unspoken Magic" (5:25)
Dora Morelenboum - "Avermelhar" (4:27)
Simone - "Tudo Que Voce Podia Ser" (2:17)
Experience Unlimited - "People" (6:09)
Otis G Johnson - "I Got It" (4:26)
Mel & Tim - "Keep The Faith" (3:56)
Review: In this collection, Luke curates music with the perfect blend, inviting listeners on an esoteric journey of enlightenment through sound. Exploring late-night, after-hours musings; Everything Above The Sky (Astral Travelling with Luke Una) is a new compilation by the enigmatic DJ, promoter, and cultural curator. Following the E Soul Cultura phenomenon, this compilation comes at a pivotal moment in Luke's career as he travels the globe. Avoiding any chance of his sound being pigeonholed, Luke has assembled a tracklist that feels transcendental, stepping off the grid and back to source. Luke's Everything Above The Sky manifesto describes the music as Astral Travelling in the meadowlands with acid folk, spiritual jazz, midnight hocus pocus, cosmic psychedelic soul, magical whirling love songs, Brazilian ballads of light into machine soul gospel dreaming, Balearic bossa and Outer Space ancient African drums. Expect something different and highly unique with this listen.
Review: The Mellophonia label offshoot Fusion Sequence won us over with its well-presented and great-sounding first EP, and now a quick follow-up does the same. This one is another various artists affair that starts with some nice futuristic robot disco from Vanity Project. There is more organic and lush Balearic from Bobby Bricks and Pacific Coliseum follows that spine-tingling Ibiza sunset vibe. On the flip side, there is everything from late-night electronic house to lazy disco via Sorcerer's blissed out 'Just For Love' which would entrance any dance floor. There's as much quality as there is variation on this one, which makes it a useful EP indeed.
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