Review: Sundries' Disco Goodies series, which rounds up the best of the label's digital releases and presents them on multi-artist EPs, reaches its fourth instalment. It hits home hard from the start, where Berobreo's 'Soul Driven Dynamics' provides an attractive mix of 1970s orchestral soul samples and rubbery deep house beats. Experienced re-editor Oldchap brings the goods with a lightly tooled-up and beefed-up rework of an orchestra-sporting disco gem ('Coloridos'), before X Gets The Crest delivers a percussive, hot-stepping and filter-smothered re-wire of a much-loved Cymande classic ('Still Come Home'). Over on side B, Alexny's heavy disco-funk re-edit ('People Says') is joined by a hazy and horn-heavy revision courtesy of Sould Out ('City Gal') and the pitched-up disco loop-funk of 'Since You Came' by Workerz.
Review: The wonderful new 'Womp In My Spirit' blends flashy 80s-inspired beats with smoothly delivered and rhythmic lyrics that together capture the essence of West Coast vibes with American Moniquea's distinctive vocals shining alongside masterful boogie beat maker XL Middleton's typically faultless contributions. Once again they have cooked up a gem for the modern funk scene and the instrumental version allows you to fully appreciate the depth of the production without the vocals. This one has already been getting bumped by renowned DJs like Walla P, Zackey Force Funk and Soul Clap and hits a perfect sweet spot between funk and hip-hop.
Review: The latest from Burnski's Vivid label is a three way split, six track affair with Oldboy, Xander and Longeez each dispatching a pair of tunes in the label's trademark roughneck breakbeat style. - Oldboy kicks off proceedings with the speedy junglisms of 'Blackbird' before the chunkier, funkier and a little more traditionally paced breaks heft of 'Walrus Party'. Xander's 'If I Tell EM' and 'Get To The Point' both plays off two step rhythmic twists and menacing bass against dreamy synths and more breakbeaty flourishes, before Longeez closes proceedings with the slightly sparser 'Evermore' - super sharp hi hats and echoing rasta dialogue - and the appropriately spinback-peppered 'Wheel Up'.
Review: Sweet Harmony is back with a compilation bursting with colourful shapes, textures and fresh techno rhythms. Anatole Serre's 'Hyperdulia' is a fast-paced fusion of drums, breakbeats and subtle allure that is followed by Xiaolin's 'Breath of Water,' a more ethereal yet still-driving percussive trip. On the B-side, Feenicks' 'All Fairies Tell Tall Tales' delivers an uplifting blend of trance and new wave that has a dreamlike energy and the closer from Alfred Czital is a fast, progressive wonder.
Review: Riviera's early momentum continues here with a punchy four-tracker from six on-point artists. Lewis Taylor kicks off with 'Non Stop' which is a straight up and funky peak time then pumper with bright chords and plenty of fun in the atmosphere, Cult keeps the energy high with 'Total Kill' and X Coast & DJ RaDa then offer the acid-laced and turbocharged bass stomps of 'Come Together.' LIL NASSTY then flips the script with some sleazy trap beats with menacing bars and futuristic synth patterns on 'Get It Up So' and DJ Pacifier shuts down with some high-speed ghetto-tech in the form of the relentless 'Fried Again.'
Review: The Peoples Potential Unlimited quest to unearth the Atlantic boogie that time forgot continues unabated - this time reviving a1983 gem from Detroit's The X Man. Wrapped in an excellently presented sleeve, the somewhat mysterious X-Man supposedly had what should have been a fruitful musical career cut short by a 30 year stint in a Motor City psychiatric hospital. This was no obstacle for PPU however, who were granted the master tapes to press up "That Body" and "Fired Up" at 45rpm on a nice fat twelve! There's an undeniable funk swagger to "That Body" which sounds like Jimmy Edgar if he was a child of the 70s - in a word, killer. The B Side proto hip-hop bump of "Fire It Up" proves to be just as infectious, driven by some loose limbed synth flourishes.
Review: Explosive rave flavours! X-Plode strikes Amen Brother again with more high energy pieces. 'Space Piano' says it all - a lavish twist of detuned rave stabs and high vibe keys wrapped tightly around each other to squeeze as many positive vibes out of the situation. The feels remain high throughout the rest of the EP: 'In The House' is all about that rolling jungle techno 4x4, 'We Run Tings' nods towards the bleep side of the foundation and that aggy, tense Prodigy Experience vibe before 'Sonic Tonic' closes with a big hoover riff that drops into the most euphoric element of the EP. X-Plode: putting the bang into bangers each and every.
Review: X-Press 2 signed a deal with Acid Jazz that not only means all their back cat is now more widely available, but also that the legendary house outfit will release new music with them. However in the midst of that and a superb new album comes this, a reissue of a 1992 classic for Record Store Day 2024. It features two bold and anthemic treks that tap into their signature style which is raw, stripped back, driving and hypnotic with subtle but smart samples adding just enough detail to really keep you laced in for the ride.
Review: MELMAK's new 12" is entitled All Stars: The Rave Years which gives you an idea of what to expect. These are high-tempo, dense and rave ready sounds from the drum & bass vanguard. There is plenty of space out cosmic energy to the exploratory leads of X Termal's 'Tragnal Kozze' then 'What If' (The Doulo Klan edit) is a tightly coiled stepper. Bugger lays down a hyper speed rhythm with drilling bass and slapping hits on 'No Silence Now' and Umbra's 'The Big Dumb' is a real slow-motion churner with textural synths and alien sound designs. All four are ready to get the party going in different ways.
Review: Great deep techno with two respected artists bringing their favourite cuts on this collaborative split release. Goettingen's finest Kosta Athanassiadis aka XDB delves into the sublime sound of resonance on the hypnotising dub techno cut 'C.O.N.' on the A-side. Over on the flip, you've got Dresden's Stephan Schindler - better known as Kryptic Universe - with 'Cloud Riders' an emotive deep cut for the late night. Limited copies on blue wax.
Review: The second release on X Files. This waxy, splattered green and black 12' features 'two extremely dangerous peak time recordings that have been causing destruction on dancefloors the world over.' On the A-side, there's some proper heads down tackle in the form of bass-driven minimal cut 'Txxic' which samples a particular pop princess' hit track - guess which one? Over on the flip, the Rominimal vibes continue, well into the afterhours of course, on druggy microhouse cut 'Itta'. Tip!
Review: More unearthed disco edits from the godfather of house music Frankie Knuckles, courtesy of the legendary Disco Queen. On the A side we have some rather deep down and dirty blaxploitation vibes (also sampled by Jamie 3:26 on "Dr F**K" several years ago) over a minimal proto-house drum track on "XXX" by XXX. On the flip, we have the powerful soul explosion of South Shore Commission's "Free Man" from their self-titled album of 1975. Now this one shows you all what a 'respectful edit' really is - listen and learn!
Review: Following on from 2020's exceptional return to form Alphabetland, which saw the first full-length from Los Angeles punk pioneers X in 27 years (35 years with the OG line up), the incomparable four-piece of Exene Cervenka, Billy Zoom, John Doe and DJ Bonebrake finally get to go out on their own terms with the self-proclaimed swan song LP Smoke & Fiction. Between line up changes, differing visions, commercial flops and radio-baiting sonic shifts, the band's tumultuous 90's era would cause many a hiatus and add further blemishes to their early iconic catalogue, ultimately leading to an unsatisfactory conclusion to their life's work that they've managed to reclaim in a manner not many seasoned veterans ever get the chance. Ten bangers infused with their quintessential rockabilly-punk charm and elevated by Cervenka's still ludicrously intense cadence, with a coinciding farewell tour to come, this is the finale for X the band and we dear listeners have always deserved.
Review: Say the words 'pre-teen pop' to most people and they'll make for the hills faster than you can say "be afraid, be very afraid". In the case of X-Cetera, though, the presumption of garbage is inaccurate, albeit the underlying feeling of something being off i perhaps even unsettling i remains. Self-recorded in a very different time and a very different world, on the cusp of a new millennium and all its promises (lol), Jessica Hall, Ayden Mayeri, and sisters Janet and Mary Washburn give a wonderful example of how talented kids can be on Summer 2000. It's also a strange and weirdly i accidentally i trippy ride from beginning to end. Marrying elements of trip hop, r&b, indie, sugarcane pop and acoustic, the sickly sweet and naturally childish lyrics and delivery leave a macabre air lingering. Like the nursery rhyme in a horror movie, sort of. Once filed under chart hopeful, now avant garde.
Review: Serbian-born, NYC-based DJ and producer X-Coast returns with a new set of high-energy tracks designed for big arenas and main stages. As shown when remixing Shygirl's '4eva 'and DJ Gigola's 'La Batteria', he blends house, techno, electro, drum & bass and trance on labels like Steel City Dance Discs, Higher Ground and Mama Told Ya. X-Coast's signature sound fuses 90s and 00s rave nostalgia with modern production here and results in the tribal-infused 'Neapolis', soaring trance of 'Desert Storm,' and diva house energy of 'Hold Me Baby'. They all make for a dynamic collection which shows off X-Coast's genre-spanning versatility.
Review: X-Ray Pop play live at Rockomotives Festival in 2020. The cult band was first formed back in 1984 by Didier Doc Pilot and Zouka Dzaza and are said to be inspirations for the likes of Beastie Boys and Stereolab. Their set at Rockomotives marked a triumphant return to the stage for the group with Charlotte Barfuss and Zouka Dzaza providing vocals, Doc Pilot on space guitar and Olivier Gicquel on drums amongst others. The setlist takes in tunes from four albums - Surrealistic Pilot, Fuzzy Soundtracks, All that Jazz and The Dream Machine - with psychedelic jazz mixed with novo beatnik overtones.
Review: One fateful night on September 6, 2008, London's Camden Roundhouse played host to the iconic punk rock/new wave legends X Ray Spex in all of their frenetic glory. Celebrating the 30-year anniversary of their singular classic album Germfree Adolescents, the sold-out show amassed an immensely fortunate 3000 souls in attendance including The Slits bassist Tessa Pollitt, Chrissy Boy of Madness and Eater drummer Dee Generate. With the untimely, tragic passing of punk pioneer frontwoman Poly Styrene in 2011, the show has gone on to become the stuff of London punk mythology, as history proports her beret-sporting swagger was on top form across the evening. Sleeve notes included by Celeste Bell, Pole Styrene's daughter, who also features on the encore of 'Oh Bondage Up Yours!', adding further weight and insight to an already iconic piece of musical history.
Review: Radiation Reissues has put plenty of effort into this welcome reissue of X-Ray Spex's seminal gig Live At The Roxy Club. It comes with remastered audio, updated artwork, and exclusive sleeve notes from original saxophonist Lora Logic almost fifty years after it was first recorded on April 2, 1977, at the legendary London venue. It was an early performance by the new wave punk icons ahead of the arrival of their debut single 'Oh Bondage Up Yours!' and their genre-defining Germfree Adolescents album. The setlist includes tunes that went on to become future hits such as 'Let's Submerge,' and 'I Live Off You,' which were both performed months before their official release. As such this record offers a rare glimpse into the band's vital formative days.
Review: The third full-length from one of the UK's "big four" thrash metal acts, Xentrix, was quite the controversial project upon its initial release in 1992. Leaning into a more progressive metal influence saw the band abandon some of their metallic potency in search of more texture and artistry. They've since gone on to refer to the work as the biggest mistake of their career, while it also led to the departure of vocalist/guitarist, Chris Astley, until his 2006 return after the band reformed. Like most albums steeped in artistic self-deprecation and early fan backlash, 'Kin', has gone on to find its audience, with expectation and anticipation now removed from the conversation, the group's attempt to strive for material beyond their integral make up is as refreshing as it is forward thinking for an early nineties thrash record.
Review: A whole series of XTC classics are being reissued right now and the latest is Mummer. It has been freshly cut at Loud Mastering and pressed up onto an eye waveringly good 200g vinyl. It was the sixth record from the British rock outfit and was released in 1983. It was the last record to feature the drumming of Terry Chambers and though it didn't have much album chart success it did spawn singles 'Great Fire', 'Wonderland' and 'Love on a Farmboy's Wages', which managed to hit No. 50 on the UK singles chart.
Review: XTC's cult 1984 album 'The Big Express' was essentially just that - a 'big expression' of brash indie noise, tempered by the shadow of the industrial old Wiltshire town in which the band grew up, Swindon. In true post-punk fashion, the band combined the electronic Linndrum with guitar, bass and vocals. But the 'Express', in their words, wasn't just self-expression; electronic rock, to XTC, also reflected the quite literal concept of the 'railway express', reflecting Swindon's reputation as one of the core towns behind the UK's railway system. A remarkable album, and a slice of history at that.
Review: English band XTC served up White Music, their debut album, in 1978 having already impressed three months earlier with their debut EP. The album had modest chart success, making number 38 i the charts, and spaced the infamous single 'Statue of Liberty' which the BBC promptly banned on account of the line 'In my fantasy I sail beneath your skirt. It sure seems tame by modern standards but it helped gain the band more notoriety for their hyperactive post-punk sounds. While one reviewer at the time said the album was "aimed at bored Yes fans" it was a fine and hard to define debut that set the band in good stead.
Review: Here it is: the long awaited second album from Mercury award winning, waif-like London trio The xx. The band have enjoyed a huge amount of success since their eponymous debut album dropped in 2009, and Coexist sees them subtly tweak their sound rather than wholly reinvent it, with their booming drums traded in for something less grandiose. There are some stunning moments on the LP (opener "Angels", "Reunion" and "Swept Away" all linger long in the memory) that will ensure it swats any "difficult second album" talk to one side; this is the sound of a band comfortable in their own skin. Caps doffed to Young Turks who present the LP on sumptuous heavyweight vinyl with included CD and booklet.
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